But wouldn't the abandonment of the historically held belief in an inerrant bible disqualify a person from being a "conservative evangelical?"
I suppose that would depend on how you define "all true."
For instance, I have noticed in the past couple years that my study habits have deteriorated and I am starting to lose the ability to focus on a subject to exegete every nuance of meaning. So, in my old age I have gone back to school! I am presently enrolled in three classes at Dallas Theological Seminary. Genesis. John. And a refresher in Bible Hermeneutics.
I was delighted to discover the Professor teaching Genesis, Dr. James Allman, Professor of Old Testament Studies and Hebrew at DTS, believes the same as I do about Genesis.
And that is that verse 1 of chapter 1 is a title giving a summary of the entire event, and verse 2 is the first verse of the actual narrative expressing the condition of the earth at the time the narrative begins, with verse 3 beginning to tell the story.
It is imperative for any man, to be a teacher of the bible, to know the languages the bible was inspired in. In this case, Hebrew. Without a knowledge of the Hebrew language the teacher (so-called) would not know that verse two starts with a disjunctive clause which means that verse 2 is not an outgrowth of verse 1, either chronologically or logically. This is a standard methodology of Hebrew when recounting a narrative. First a summary (verse 1) followed by a statement of conditions at the beginning of the narrative (verse 2) then the narrative itself (verses 3 and following).
Don't forget the waw consecutive usage in Genesis chapter 1.
AOBTW what in your opinion is the significance of its obvious use?
My opinion is that verses 3ff are inseparable so that no day-age with gaps theory is possible.
HankD