The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

 By Jeffrey Stivason - Posted at Place for Truth:

As Stephen Nichols writes in his biography, R. C. Sproul: A Life, “The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy made and makes some wince.”[1] Perhaps the main reason for that wince is the nature of the Statement. It is a line in the sand. It is a boundary marker. In our day, when something as sturdy biology becomes elastic, many fail to appreciate such lines. However, the council creating that statement, The International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, was led by two friends: R. C. Sproul (President) and James Montgomery Boice (Chairman). Lines did not make these men wince. And under their leadership a document was created that has guided generations since.[2]

The story of the Council’s beginning and first formal meeting at the Hyatt Regency at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on October 26-28, 1978, is a human-interest story in itself. The Bible was under attack and in 1976 Harold Lindsell published a bombshell of a book titled, The Battle for the Bible. To say that it caused a stir is an understatement. However, despite the Council’s beginnings, the statement they produced is chiefly what matters most because the attack on God’s word never takes a respite.

But why is the ICBI still necessary? The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals web page answers that question.

Continue here.