Papal infallibility became an official doctrine of the Catholic Church at the First Vatican Council in 1870. It states that when the pope speaks ex cathedra, he is “is preserved from even the possibility of error.”
Modern Protestants have their own version of infallibility. It is the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture. The evangelical variety— verbal, plenary inspiration—was championed by theologians like B. B. Warfield and Charles Hodge around the same time as papal infallibility was being affirmed by the Catholics.
Only one ex cathedra teaching has been issued since 1870 (the Assumption of Mary) but Evangelicals rely daily on an inerrant Bible; one without error in the original manuscripts. While Christians have always held that scripture was inspired (literally, “God breathed”), inerrancy was put forth when the Bible came under attack by evolutionary science and higher criticism in what became the modernist-fundamentalist debates of the early twentieth century. (This is also the context in which the “young earth” interpretation of Genesis became a litmus test for true believers.)
Behind these doctrines is the desire for an authority that is protected from human error when it comes to divine revelation. But are we promised infallibility, inerrancy or certainty in this world?
Without the firm ground of inerrancy, won’t we wind up on the slippery slope of human interpretation? Truth be told, that’s where we’ve always been, with theologians and preachers telling us what is inerrant truth while differing from their peers on the details.
Absolute certainty in this world is an illusion but here is something we do know:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
May the best of the past be the worst of the future. – Irish toast
Last night I felt like a quarterback watching film from a disastrous season full of crunching hits and near misses. Agai Sophia’s, the coffee shop where I write, hosted a fundraiser featuring a video about my cancer journey. The video was made by Harriet Lee and Dave Rickert, two of my cronies at Sophia’s. They did a fantastic job considering what they had to work with—me!
The video reviews the year from my diagnosis to transplant in about 20 minutes. I will post it on YouTube in several parts. Or you can order a DVD from me to pass along to anyone who may be facing the big C.
Cancer is only part of my story. Here are the brackets on either side:
[ - The month I was diagnosed, the company I worked for went bankrupt. I lost my job and wound up on unemployment and later on Social Security disability. I'm still scrambling for steady work.
- ] Six weeks after my stem cell transplant while driving to my first check-up I was in a serious car accident. I broke my back, fractured my sternum and cracked some ribs. I spent the next seven weeks in a body brace.
We didn’t include the accident in the video; we’re saving that for the sequel.
The best thing about the program last night is that it wasn’t a memorial. I was there to enjoy the show and answer questions.
There’s more to a season than a few tough games, more to a career than a hard season or two, more to life than a career.
Some friends and I have put together a video of my experience with cancer, chemo and my subsequent stem cell transplant. (No coverage of my car crash; I’m saving that for the sequel.)
The video will be shown at Sophia’s bookstore and coffee shop in Old Colorado City (29th and W. Colorado Ave.) on Sunday night, Jan 31st, at 7 p.m. Proceeds will benefit MoreMarrowDonors.org.
I’ve started writing a new book along with the new year. The tentative title is Garden of the Odds. It’s the beginning of the Green Bees series.
Good fiction is 90% fact. I look for interesting historical incidents in the sea of information and lash them together into a plausible net with which to ensnare readers.
As with my Matterhorn books I don’t have a plot worked out in advance, just a premise to start with. I have a direction in mind but not a destination. I create characters and put them in precarious situations to see what they will do.
Here is my starting point,
The Green Bees are an e-club (environmental, not electronic) composed of six very bright high school kids in Colorado Springs. Their grandparents were part of a secret project begun during the Cold War, codename: Green Bees.
The Green Bees were part of the Weather Center at Cheyenne Mountain. They worked on a classified program trying to harness the weather using a network of satellites secretly put in orbit under cover of the Apollo missions. When the program was officially shut down in 1980, a cadre of military and intelligence officials kept it going as a black op. Their goal: to develop and deploy technology that would allow them to use weather as a weapon!
Several scientists protested the hijacking of their research. Some mysteriously vanished; others died in untimely “accidents.” A few scientists disappeared, taking critical pieces of technology and computer code with them. Because the project was top-secret, the families involved did not know what was happening, but in time, some became suspicious and started investigating. These early efforts grew into a network of amateur sleuths pitted against well-funded professionals who would stop at nothing to keep from being exposed—including murder!
What can six teens and a loose-knit network of conspiracy buffs do against a super-secret black op that not even the U. S. government knows about? Read the Green Bees books and find out!
(From an Op Ed piece in the New York Times, 1/7/10.)
Every year, more than 100,000 Americans discover that they have often life-threatening blood and bone-marrow diseases like leukemia. For many, the only hope is a transplant of blood-producing marrow cells.
Finding someone to donate the marrow is challenging, though, because the cells must be a near-perfect genetic match with the patient’s own cells, and those are hard to find. Even siblings have compatible marrow cells only 30 percent of the time. Most patients must search nationally and internationally for potential donors.
Only 7 in 10 Caucasian patients who need a donor find one. For African-Americans, the odds are longer still; only one in four do. Tens of thousands of Americans have died for lack of a donor. . .
Last year I posted almost 30,000 words on this blog; all of them dipped in gold. Actually, blood, sweat and urine is more like it. This has been a triptik of my journey with cancer, with a serious car crash thrown in to add some action. I’m hoping the next stretch of highway will be more boring. My December PET scan was clear and my next one is in March. Survivability goes up if I can make it two years post bone marrow transplant.
With less daily drama, I will be making fewer entries but I will keep the blog active for those traveling after me. The information and insights herein cost me too much to let them fade away. I believe they will help others passing through the Valley of the Shadow.
As for me, I’ll use Facebook in 2010 to reflect on small bits of trivia and OPEN Mike for larger chunks of verbiage. I can’t stop writing because I made a choice a long time ago,
“Mama, when I grow up, I’m gonna be a writer.” “Make up your mind, son, because you can’t do both.” – Kinky Friedman
I returned home from my transplant on July 7 too weak to do anything but try to avoid germs. A few weeks later I celebrated my 57th birthday with family, glad to be around for this one.
On the way to see my oncologist in August I was in an auto accident that broke my back, fractured my sternum and cracked a few ribs. Once again Susan went above and beyond the call to take care of me.
In the fall, we took a family vacation (I am the one in the body brace). Susan and I also went to Washington DC and sued the government in order to change the law affecting bone marrow transplants. It is the beginning of a long process.
Looking back over 2009 I am thankful for another year to enjoy family and friends. My last PET scan was clear and I’m hoping 2010 will be a much quieter year.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers; they have been a great help as I stumble toward heaven.
