Between Two Extremes

We need a deep and necessary reflection — and a balance that few seem willing to hold today. 

Between Two Extremes: Holding to Truth with Humility

In every generation, the people of God face two opposite dangers — extremes that appear to honor truth but in the end distort it. One is the claim of Verbal Plenary Preservation, which insists that a single text or translation is the perfectly preserved Word of God, untouchable and error-free. The other is liberalism, which denies that the Bible is the Word of God at all, treating it as a mere human book, a collection of ancient writings with no divine authority.

Both errors spring from pride — one from the pride of certainty, the other from the pride of skepticism. The first refuses to admit the limits of human transmission and understanding. The second refuses to accept the reality of divine revelation.

Yet Scripture calls us to a better way — the way of humble confidence. We can affirm that the Bible is truly the Word of God, inspired and trustworthy, while also acknowledging that we “know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). God’s Word is perfect in its message, but our copies, translations, and interpretations are the work of imperfect hands and minds. That should not lead us to despair or disbelief, but to dependence — dependence on the Holy Spirit who leads the Church into all truth.

Faith does not demand blind dogmatism, nor does humility require unbelief. We can love the Word without idolizing a version, and we can study critically without doubting God’s voice within it.

Let us, therefore, reject both extremes. Let us not worship the text itself as though salvation were found in ink and paper. Nor let us dismiss the text as though God never spoke. Instead, let us read, study, and live the Scriptures with reverence and reason — confident that though we know in part, we are known fully by the One whose Word endures forever.