Clothed In Inerrancy
“Habit with him was all the test of
truth,
It must be right; I’ve done it from my
youth.”
George Crabbe 1754-1832
Hans Christian Andersen wrote a popular
children’s story titled The Emperor’s New
Clothes. In it, he told the story of a proud emperor who loved fancy
clothing and the two con men who used that fact to their gain. They told the
emperor that they could weave a special, magic cloth that was invisible to
those who were unfit for their office or were very stupid. The emperor paid
dearly for a new set of clothes made from this special cloth, hoping to discern
those in his kingdom who were unfit for their office or very stupid. He wanted
to view the fabric as the weavers worked, but feared that he might not see
anything. He sent his faithful old minister to get a report on its progress.
The minister was shocked when he saw the men pretending to work on the cloth,
but could see nothing in their loom. “Am I unfit for my office?” he wondered.
He decided to lie to the emperor and told him the cloth was beautiful.
The emperor went to view the cloth with
the rest of his officers, each man thinking that he was the only one who didn’t
see the cloth, and all of them praising its beauty. The emperor held a parade
when the clothes were finished and marched proudly through town to display
them. The people of his kingdom all applauded to avoid looking stupid even
though they saw no clothes. Then a small child spoke up and said “But he has
nothing on at all!” Soon, all the people began to whisper that the emperor has
no clothes. The emperor felt very silly, for he knew that the people were
right, but he thought, “The procession has started and it must go on now.” So
the lords of the bedchamber held their heads higher than before and took
greater care to pretend to hold up the train which wasn’t there at all.
This story is a wonderful parallel to
modern, fundamentalist Christianity and the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. The
emperor is the fundamentalist, Christian establishment, the church. The clothes
are the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. The fundamentalists are sold on the
idea that if you can’t see the Bible’s inerrancy you are either unfit for your
office or very stupid. The church has clothed itself in this doctrine of
Biblical inerrancy and gone proudly on parade. In the past the subjects of this
particular kingdom have applauded the doctrine of inerrancy and pretended to
see it as clearly as the next one. But everyone in the kingdom has seen
something in the Bible that troubled them at one time or another. Not wanting
to be labeled as unfit or stupid, they played along.
Now more than ever, people are whispering
around the crowd and acknowledging the fact that the emperor has no clothes.
Yet even as word spreads among the people you can be assured that this proud
emperor will hold his head higher than ever and proclaim, “The procession has
started and it must go on now!”
CLOTHED
IN INERRANCY I WHAT IS
INERRANCY?
FACING
THE TRUTH I BIBLICAL
CONTRADICTIONS I BIBLE
BASED MORALITY
EXCUSES USED TO EXPLAIN
ERRORS I CAN
GOD EXIST? I ATHEIST
IN A FOXHOLE
ATHEISM I THE EMPEROR
HAS NO CLOTHES I DOES THEIR BELIEF AFFECT ME?