No Slippery Slopes with Joel Hunter

In this video Conversation, Joel Hunter addresses the “slippery slope” argument supported by many evangelicals and suggests that not only is this perspective flawed, but it also may prevent believers from appreciating the fullness of God’s creation.

Video Transcription

I don’t believe in slippery sloped arguments. If we allow this interpretation of science, then that automatically means that we don’t believe what scripture says. That automatically means that our children will become lax in their morality, or they won’t believe about God or so and so forth. Here’s my understanding. What’s really being protected here is a singular way to interpret scripture.

It’s not about the scripture in errant, it is my way of interpreting scripture in errant. That’s quite a different thing. We can believe in the inerrancy of scripture but also be humble enough to understand that sometimes God adds to the way we interpret scripture. Sometimes we are trying to interpret a piece of scripture from an analytic or historic perspective when it was really written more in the form of poetry.

There are many different kinds of literature in scripture. Unless you understand what kind of literature it is, you won’t understand how to interpret it accurately. Most of what many Evangelical parents are afraid of, most of what they are guarding, on the other hand, is the only type of literalistic interpretation that they have been taught is right.

When really if they are raising children that are understanding the fullness of the sovereignty of God, understanding that the earth is the lords and the fullness thereof. Raising children to know that everywhere they turn that they will be able to discover more of God. Therefore, if they see more of God in nature they will be able to see more of God in scripture. That’s really quite a different stance.