Different Christian beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible Flashcards
Conservative ideas about the nature and authority of the Bible
Conservative ideas about the authority and inspiration of the Bible range from those of Evangelical Protestants who tend to regard scripture as the literal word of God, inerrant even in passages that are unscientific. To those who are Catholic for whom Sacred Scripture is the word of God written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, using human authors who were both inspired and allowed to use their human faculties. Therefore, Catholicism says that the inspiration of scripture guarantees the truth of all the different forms of literature in the Bible, and guarantees that Scripture is a unity. Scripture must be interpreted and maintained as a unity, through the analogy of faith.
Karl Barth’s Neo-orthodox view
Karl Bath’s Neo-Orthodox view does not see the Bible as the word of God but as a human work that becomes inspired when it provides those who read it with a personal encounter with Jesus.
Liberal views
Liberal views take many different forms, ranging from partial inspiration to seeing the Bible as a fully human document. For the Social Gospel Movement, social action is more important than worrying about insoluble matters of doctrine. For process theologians, God is not the creator, is not omnipotent and does not intervene in the world.
Catholic traditions on the relative authority of the Bible and the Church
The Catholic view is that the Bible and the Church have equal authority, being inextricably linked through the work of the Holy Spirit. The on-going Tradition of the Church, continued through Apostolic Succession, means that the Church and more so the Magisterium of the Pope and Bishops - alone has the authority to interpret Scripture correctly. Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church are therefore joined together: neither can stand alone. Under the action of the Holy Spirit, both contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.
Protestant traditions on the relative authority of the Bible and the Church
For Protestants, authority is focused on Scripture - Luther’s doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Humans cannot pass judgement on God’s Word. The Bible is the sole judge of truth, so the authority of the Church, tradition, council and Church scholars is subservient in every case to Scripture and cannot contradict it. All believers form a priesthood of believers, consecrated as priests through baptism, by virtue of which all are equal before God and can achieve salvation without the need for intervention by the Church or a priest.
The Authority of Jesus
Most Christians will accept the statements about Jesus given in the Nicene Creed, where Jesus is the Son of God, so has God’s authority. The Gospels use a number of titles for Jesus, including Son of God and Son of Man, to indicate his divinity. Nevertheless, some Christians see Jesus’ authority as only human. Historically, certain Christian groups viewed Jesus as divine, including those who believed in Adoptionism, Arianism, Catharism and Unitarianism. Moreover, liberal Christians use textual analysis and science to argue that Jesus was human and not divine. For example, where the Gospels tell of Jesus’ resurrection from death, they really mean that ‘Accepting Jesus brings new life’, so all suggestions that Jesus was divine are just the result of the early Christian community reflecting on who Jesus was and coming to an unlikely conclusion.
The Authority of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount
Looking at Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount on retaliation and love for enemies, for those who accept Jesus’ authority as God’s authority, Christians literally should not retaliate and must love their enemies. For those who see Jesus’ authority as only human, Jesus’ words have to be interpreted in terms of the brutal Roman occupation of Palestine, or in terms of hyperbole, or in terms of how individuals should confront issues of violence and hatred; not only that, some would simply reject pacifism and love of enemies, arguing that this is a rare example of Jesus getting it wrong.
Whatever view of Jesus’ authority people hold, Jesus can be seen as a role model for Christian behaviour. Where Jesus’ authority is held to be merely human, his example becomes more relevant, although his authority decreases. Where Jesus’ authority is seen as divine, perhaps the less relevant his example becomes, since it becomes more difficult to copy, although many hold that the important thing for Christians to do is make the attempt to be like Jesus.
