Evangelical doctrines of Scripture in transatlantic perspective

Abstract

This article examines confessional statements concerning the doctrine of Scripture issued by evangelical bodies in Britain and the USA. It demonstrates that the central American confession of the inerrancy of Scripture is almost wholly absent from British confessions. Rejecting the idea that this merely represents a weaker doctrine of Scripture amongst British Evangelicals, it suggests that there are broadly different models of Scriptural authority at work either side of the Atlantic, and traces these differences to the differing influence of the Romantic movement in the early Nineteenth century. Finally, it essays a doctrine of Scripture, that takes seriously the concerns of both British and American evangelicals.