Standing on the Rock by James Montgomery Boice

Standing on the Rock
by James Montgomery Boice
Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 1984

James Montgomery Boice is one of my favourite writers. His biblical expository sermons are always great reading and his book Foundations of the Christian Faith is one of the best treatments of Christian doctrine for the general reader.

Standing on the Rock is Dr Boice's treatment of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Obviously this is a key doctrine for all evangelicals, because if the basis for our faith - the revelation of God through the Scriptures - is not sound, then there are problems for all the other doctrines we believe and confess on the basis of Scripture. Biblical inerrancy is certainly a doctrine Dr Boice was well qualified to write about: he was president of the International Council for Biblical Inerrancy and was one of those involved in the production of the The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) and The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) - both of which are included as appendices in this book.

Far from being a technical or difficult read, Standing on the Rock, is written at a popular but serious level and would be ideal for anyone being introduced to what evangelicals believe about Scripture and looking for something just meaty enough to get their teeth into without biting off too much technically. It is full of useful illustrations and a few anecdotes that could also make it profitable for preachers preparing sermons on the subject of the authority of Scripture.

In turn Dr Boice treats the key subjects of inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy and hermeneutic principles for correct interpretation. The book also contains a chapter on alleged problems with biblical inerrancy, and a fine exposition of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 including the practical aspects of giving training in righteousness and correcting faults in our behaviour.

Here is a flavour of Boice's book as he here describes a key principle in Reformed hermeneutics, the analogy of faith:

"In simplest form, this means that if a passage of Scripture can be interpreted in two ways, one of which is in harmony with other passages of Scripture and one of which is not, we should choose the interpretation which is in harmony with other texts. This is not dishonest, as some would claim. It is only reasonable, the kind of thing we would readily do even with another human author, not to mention God." (p.75)

Far from being a dry and purely intellectual treatment, Dr Boice also takes the opportunity to challenge his readers as he expounds the principles of hermeneutics. For example, one of the principles he states is obeying God's Word.

"The Bible has been given by God to provoke a personal response in us. So, if we do not respond to it, we inevitably misuse the Bible (even in studying it) and misinterpret it...In its simplest form, this means that we must obey the Bible if we are to understand it in the fullest sense." (pp.82-83)

There are certainly other introductory level books that are just as good as this one (The Word of Truth by Robert Sheehan being an obvious choice) yet Standing on the Rock is well worth reading as an additional choice for the serious reader because it is rather more focused on the key doctrine of inerracy than more general works. Readers can then proceed with confidence to classic, more advanced treatements of the doctrine of Scripture by the likes of Pache, Gaussen, Warfield, and the relevant chapters in the standard systematic theologies.