Over at The Gospel Coalition, they have published my article on the top ten book on the authority of Scripture. I go through what I think are the best modern (Reformation and later) treatments of this issue from a theological perspective (as opposed to just historical). I then give a paragraph description of each book.
Here is the bare list (you will have to go to TGC to get the full article):
10. D. A. Carson and John Woodbridge, eds., Scripture and Truth (Baker, 1983); idem, Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon (Zondervan, 1986).
9. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena (vol. 1): Part IV: Revelation (Baker Academic, 2003).
8. E. J. Young, Thy Word Is Truth (Banner of Truth, 1963).
7. Ned Stonehouse and Paul Woolley, eds., The Infallible Word: A Symposium by the Members of the Faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary (P&R, 1946).
6. J.I. Packer, ‘Fundamentalism’ and the Word of God (Eerdmans, 1958).
5. William Whitaker, Disputations on Holy Scripture (Soli Deo Gloria, 2000).
4. John Owen, The Divine Original: Authority, Self-Evidencing Light, and Power of the Scriptures, vol. 16 of Owen’s Collected Works (Banner of Truth, 1988).
3. Meredith Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority (1971).
2. John Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (P&R, 2010).
1. B. B. Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, with intro by Van Til (P&R, 1948).
In my original article I included an addendum of “honorable mentions,” but this was left out of the TGC version. So, I give you that list here:
Honorable mentions: Herman Ridderbos, Redemptive History and the New Testament Scriptures (P&R, 1963); Cornelius Van Til, The Doctrine of Scripture (P&R, 1967); J.W. Montgomery, ed., God’s Inerrant Word (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1974); Carl F.H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, 4 vols. (Word, 1979); R.L. Harris, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978); J.W. Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Downer’s Grove, Il: InterVarsity, 1972); N. Geisler, ed., Inerrancy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980); Greg Beale, The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism (Crossway, 2008); Paul Wells, Taking the Bible at Its Word (Christian Focus, 2013).
Kevin N says
As a Christian geologist, I found it interesting that a majority of your sources defending the authority of the Scriptures seem to accept that how one interprets the first chapters of Genesis (“literal,” day-age, framework, etc.) isn’t a critical issue for defending the authority of Scripture. This provides an encouraging balance to the “if the Earth is older than 6,000 years then the Bible isn’t true” position advocated by some both inside and outside of Christianity.
I’ve written about this at http://geochristian.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/many-top-advocates-of-biblical-authority/
Thanks for your work.
Michael Kruger says
Thanks, Kevin. Appreciate your comments. I would agree that you don’t have to believe in a young earth in order to defend the authority of the Bible. But, that is not the same as saying that the old-earth position is, in fact, compatible with the Bible. One does not follow from the other. Whether the old earth view is compatible with the Bible has to be determined on exegetical and theological grounds, not on counting the number of people who defend the authority of the Bible and also hold an old earth position.