The one danger that I come across while conversing with a wide variety of Christians is the danger of having a low view of Scripture; why do I ascribe having a low view of Scripture as being a danger, and what is a low view of Scripture?
Let me start with providing three views that one can take on Scripture. Depending on what view one holds will affect the whole of his Christian worldview.
First view: Liberalism: This view has other names such as limited inerrancy and modernism, but we will use the word liberal or liberalism to describe this first view.This view states that only some parts of the Bible are inspired or from God...while other parts of the Bible are just the mere words of men. The overall danger of this view is that the reader sits in judgement over the Bible. The reader is the one who decides what is inspired and what is not from God.
Second view: this view is called Neo-Orthodoxy, or the new modernism. This view is very deceiving and is held by many Protestant Christians today. It is taught in our seminaries and preached from our pulpits on a regular basis.
This view is sometimes called Barthianism (after a famous theologian, Karl Barth). This view teaches that the whole Bible is the word of man. This view goes further in that it teaches that when people read the Bible, God somehow uses these words to speak to their hearts, and the message they receives becomes the word of God.
In this view the Bible in not the final authority...it is the person who receives its message. In this view you can have different people reading the same text and receive contradicting messages, and all the messages are true and equally valid.
Third View: There are many names that are given for this view....Reformed view...Orthodox view...Historical view etc. This view teaches that every single word is the truth of God. No part of the Scriptures are not inspired (God breathed). Even if an Atheist would read the Scriptures, it would still be the word of God, even if it was believed or not, accepted or rejected...it would remain the objective word of God.
The one screaming danger of having a low view of Scripture that I have witnessed is that the individual becomes the authority as to all matters of spiritual life, God, and faith. In the end, it is the individual who decides what God has said.
When in my debates with those who hold a low view of Scripture the one characteristic that I see them display is they put a great emphasis on their emotions. You will hear for example: "How could a loving God let people go to hell?...or they will cherry pick texts of Scripture to fit their narrative of who God is...or you will see an unbalanced emphasis on relationship and unity over-against holding to the teachings of the Sacred Scriptures.
My admonition to the body of Christ is to follow the charge laid out by Jude in 1:3, "I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people."
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