Why I Don't Hate the Word 'Inerrancy'

I hate a number of things. Some of them are rather silly: soap operas, egg mayonnaise, cats. Some of them are deadly serious: sex slavery, adultery, cancer, human trafficking, abortion, racism. In a handful of cases, I even hate words: "moist," "ogle," and "pamphlet" are among the most odious. But I don't hate the word "inerrancy." In fact, it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Perhaps that's because I'm English. My limited experience in transatlantic dialogue suggests that the word "inerrancy" is divisive in America, up there with "Texas" and "Pelosi" in the list of words most likely to prompt expressions of luminescent ecstasy in some and enraged inarticulate spluttering in others. It seems to be a tribal marker, a password that clearly divides the teams into goodies and baddies, the mere mention of which can cause both sides to run scurrying to the barricades, whether they're faithful conservatives contending with woolly liberals, or reflective centrists contending with mindless fundies. In the UK, however, it's not such a contentious concept. Read more