Sources of wisdom and authority Flashcards
Explain Karl Barth’s Neo-Orthodox view on the nature of the Bible
Neo-Orthodox View
Karl Barth, theologian, believed that the words of the Bible are not inspired, but it becomes inspired when it provides readers with a personal encounter with Jesus. There are too many historical/scientific errors for the Bible to be inerrant.
He believes the Scripture is fully human as well as being fully divine. It is not the Word of God, it contains the Word of God.
He asserts that there is an absolute truth, a revelation, in the Bible – that you find it through personal encounter with God when you read the Bible i.e. when you feel he speaks to you.
But also you can’t ignore human fallability – therefore this true revelation of God is hidden behind human language and it is up to us to decode and argue the language to find the absolute truth.
What is the conservative view?
Catholic View
God’s holy spirit is the main author of Scripture, but human authors also used their own faculties e.g. the recall of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Individual books are also effected by the language of human authors e.g. Jeremiah who felt isolated “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land!” (Jeremiah 15:10)
‘Inspiration’ covers the whole human response to God, since God is the
‘author’ of humanity
Centuries of reflection and prayer have led to traditions which do not stem from the Bible , but which share authority.
The Magisterium (Pope and Bishops) can interpret both due to the Apostolic Succession (the idea that Jesus chose Bishops to succeed the Apostles)
Liberalism
The Social Gospel Movement
The Bible is authoritative for recommending how live, but the recommendations are not binding on all.
The SGM seeks to focus more on putting the Gospel in practice to address social issues such as poverty and crime, rather than debating questions about the legitimacy and authority of Biblical stories
Process Theology
The Bible is entirely a human document. It is inspired in the sense that it may contain passages people find uplifting.
It is to be interpreted as guidance which is personal to the reader.
The Orthodox View
Evangelical View
“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for correction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
For many, inspired essentially means dictated by God so the words of the Bible are inerrant and literally true.
God inspired the authors to produce the precise words he wanted, but at the same time the human authors were allowed to express their own personalities. E.g. Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience, but Luke wrote to Gentiles
The Catholic View on the Apostolic Succession
The Catholic Church believes it is the natural and ordained successor to the Apostles due to the Apostolic Succession.
As a result, Catholics believe that the first Pope was St. Peter because Jesus said he was ‘the rock on which the church was built’ (Matthew 16:18)
The Bible and Church have equal authority, as they are linked via the Holy Spirit
Tradition and Scripture remain active in the church as they believe that they have descended from this bishops chosen to succeed Jesus’ Apostles. This is known as ‘the rule of faith’ for Catholicism. The scripture itself is important, but only the church has the authority to interpret it as the Apostles did before them.
The Protestant View on the Apostolic Succession
Hangs on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
Martin Luther claimed that true authority lies in ‘the word of God, through which alone we obtain whatever knowledge we have of God and divine things.’
Protestant criticism of tradition and the Catholic church included the idea that humans should not pass judgement on Scripture and the interpretation implies falsehood in parts of the Word of God. ‘It is not who speaks that matters in the Church, but what is spoken.’
Church teaching must be in line with the Bible and the Church is the creation of Scripture, not the other way around. The same applies to all aspects of Church organisation including councils and scholars.
Luther opposed the notion that salvation can be mediated through the priesthood and sacraments noting that all believers have equal access to God through prayer without the need for an ordained priest.
In addition, he rejected the practice of Indulgences - a pardon for certain types of sin. The Catholic Church sold indulgences in the late medieval period, and their sale motivated Martin Luther to present his “95 Theses”.
Over several centuries, the practice expanded, and Church leaders justified it by arguing that they had inherited an unlimited amount of good works from Jesus, and the credit for these good works could be sold to believers in the form of indulgences. In other words, indulgences functioned like “confession insurance” against eternal damnation
Strengths of the apostolic succession
The supreme authority of the church avoids ‘false leaders’ or
immoral leaders who would willingly misinterpret scripture.
It provides one homogenous view to scripture which can make it
clearer for all Christians to know what to do.
The Apostles were chosen and instructed to spread the word of
God so the church are continuing to do this and potentially increase
in number.
weaknesses of the apostolic succession
There is little basis in scripture for the apostolic succession.
The argument of replacing Judas is more to do with replacing immoral disciples instead of replacing all disciples.
Church traditions have little basis in scripture.
Human interpretation of scripture undermines the authority of scripture as it suggests errors are present.
The authority of Jesus as the son of God
The authority of Jesus as the son of man
Jesus himself is recorded as using the title ‘Son of Man’ in all four gospels implying that he is open to the same kind of human hardships as everyone else.
However it may have been the case that Jesus was using this title to explicitly avoid ideas of divinity in order to protect his ministry from prosecution for heresy. He was claiming to be nothing more than
human, but to his followers his divine nature through teaching could still be understood as a representative of God.
In Mark’s Gospel there are a lot of allusions to the Messianic Secret which scholars argue was an attempt to closely conceal Jesus’ true identity from the Pharisee and it was only revealed on his crucifixion
by a Roman centurion “Truly this man was the Son of God” [Mark 15:39]
Adoptionism – the belief that Jesus was not divine by nature. Instead God ‘adopted’ him as his ‘son’ at the baptism (Mark 1:9-11)
Unitarianism – this denomination was founded in the 18th century. It adopts a deist approach where Jesus was a spiritual leader who’s teachings may contain useful insights, but there is no divine nature behind them. Unitarianism rejects the divine nature of Jesus and only accepts God’s divinity.
Liberal approaches – Jesus’ teachings and stories had been passed down from word of mouth and may have been altered and exaggerated in the Bible. This can be evidenced in the different stories in the Gospels themselves. It was influence of Greek philosophy and mystery religions led to the human idea of Jesus becoming divine which gave Jesus authority.
What is adoptionism
the belief that Jesus was not divine by nature. Instead God ‘adopted’ him as his ‘son’ at the baptism (Mark 1:9-11)
Unitarianism
This denomination was founded in the 18th century. It adopts a deist approach where Jesus was a spiritual leader whos teachings may contain useful insights , but there as no divine nature behind them. Unitarianism rejects the divine nature of Jesus and only accepts God’s divinity.
Liberal approaches
Jesus’ teachings and stories had been passed down from word of mouth and may have been altered and exaggerated in the Bible. This can be evidenced in the different stories in the Gospels themselves. It was influence of Greek philosophy and mystery religions led to the human idea of Jesus becoming divine which gave Jesus authority
What is (Matthew 5: 38–48)
The Sermon on the mount
What does the sermon on the mount teach
turn the other cheek
love your enemies
pray for those who persecute you
