I agree fully with this statement.
MY problem is that if some parts of the Scripture can be shown to be 'inaccurate', then why, in GOD's name, should any of the REST of it be believed?
We then fall back on the 'authority' of some folks to TELL us what the Scriptures 'really' mean.
"MY problem is that if some parts of the Scripture can be shown to be 'inaccurate', then why, in GOD's name, should any of the REST of it be believed?"
Who said it was inaccurate, though? Certainly not me. My point is that a lot of the Biblical language can be understood in more than one way, and yet still comport with the literal language in each interpretation.
Of course, there is only one "truth," but what you consider to be the one and only authoritative interpretation may in fact be wrong. It's undeniably happened before. One example I gave was the priests' interpretation of the Messianic prophecies. They turned out to be completely wrong. When the "authoritative" interpretation has dealt with scientific issues, the record is particularly deplorable. Thus, because it conflicted with the traditional interpretation of scriptures, the Church continued to deny the theory of a sun-centered solar system until centuries after it became evident that the theory was true. Today, no one thinks that the sun-centered solar system is inconsistent with the Bible, despite the fact that medieval Church leaders were willing to kill, so certain were they that those who believed it were blasphemers.
So don't characterize my argument as an argument that the Bible is "inaccurate." That's not what I'm saying.
Of course, I do agree that the fundamental requirements of salvation cannot be subject to various meanings. If that were the case, then we'd be totally lost. But we're not talking about that. We are talking about details in the story that are not crucial to salvation. If you want, you can start with the notion that "I don't know how this can possibly be true, but I have faith that it is--that it must somehow be true." What I don't accept, though, is the notion that there is only one possible interpretation of Genesis, and anyone who does not acknowledge it cannot be a Christian.