1 66 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



finality of her teachings: for that belief is one of the most pregnant 

 of historical facts. Out of it has come, for one thing, the whole con- 

 flict with which we are here concerned. 



II 



An explanation of the church's insistence upon the inerrancy of 

 her teachings is suggested by the passion which Christian apologists 

 always bring to their defense. Men's opinions can often be explained 

 from their interests. What manufacturer of a protected article ever 

 believed in free trade ? Beliefs often have motives as well as logical 

 grounds. May it not be that there is some religious interest to which 

 the idea of inerrancy appeals ? 



The oft-made suggestion that the church's insistence upon the 

 inerrancy of her teachings is due to her desire to dominate men's 

 souls — is simply a piece of priestcraft in other words— will not suffice. 

 Priestcraft, good or bad, has often been, and still is, a determinant in 

 the church's pohcy. But no sane historian and no sane observer of 

 life is any longer content to account for any deep-seated feature of the 

 church's life by the simple explanation which satisfied Voltaire. Reli- 

 gion simply cannot be an invention of the priests. Moreover, the 

 church's opposition to science has not been confined to her priests. 

 The devout layman has often shown himself at least equally hostile. 

 The foes of modem bibUcal science, for example, are at present more 

 numerous among the laity than among the clergy. There must be 

 some craving in the hearts of the religious man as such which the 

 doctrine of inerrancy satisfies, some interest of the religious life as 

 such which the denial of that doctrine imperils. 



That interest is not difficult to discern. There is an obvious human 

 craving which belief in the inerrancy of the church's teaching satisfies. 

 All men crave for certainty, for a rock of absolute truth upon which 

 they can rest their lives in serene confidence that no advance in the tide 

 of knowledge can ever overtop it or sweep it away. That craving cor- 

 responds to a real need. Men need convictions. Where there is no con- 

 viction there can be no restfulness of heart, no vigor of life, no courage, 

 and no character. Now it is the function of a church to breed in 



