Sources of Wisdom and Authority

Question 1

Authority of the Bible- Evangelical Protestants

Answer 1

• Fundamentalists: God dictated the words of the Bible therefore it is literally true. Thus, the Bible has ultimate authority because it is God himself (verbal plenary inspiration). Henry Morris argued that God is omniscient therefore is to be ‘trusted to say exactly , and only, what he means’
• JI Packer: Scripture combines the personality of its authors with their human limitations, with divine inspiration and authority. The two are inextricably linked- this allows for human error but the text maintains its inspired impact. He uses the example of the prologue to Johns gospel where Jesus is the Word and the Word is mysteriously fully human and fully divine
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17- ‘All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof and for correction in righteousness’.

Question 2

Authority of the Bible- Neo Orthodox

Answer 2

• Theologians such as Karl Barth and Paul Tillich reject the concept of the Bible being inerrant, pointing to historical errors and contradictions. They believe it was inspired in a different way to what Conservatives think
• Karl Barth- saw the Bible not as the word of God but containing the Word of God: the person of Jesus is revealed to the person as they read the Bible, texts can lead to an encounter with Jesus and become personally meaningful to an individual, allowing the teaching to take great personal authority
• The Bible is necessarily fallible in order to prevent humans from worshipping it over God. It must be ambiguous and occassionally wrong in order to avoid it becoming a ‘false absolute’

Question 3

Authority of the Bible-Catholicism

Answer 3

• The Bible is seen as inspired but its authority is seen within the context of Apostolic Tradition and Apostolic Succession
• Apostolic Tradition- Teaching that came from Jesus –> Apostles, first in the oral tradition and passed on either to the NT or oral tradition to be written in the catechism
• Apostolic Succession- Refers to the appointing of Apostles by Jesus and then that authority being passed on to their successors- Successive bishops of Rome
• Holy Spirit inspired Biblical writings in the same way that the Holy Spirit inspires tradition- this illuminates biblical teaching to reveal new truths
• Because the Bible and Tradition are recorded in the Catechism they are equally indpired by the Holy Spirit so are equally authoritative

Question 4

Authority of the Bible- Liberal Christians

Answer 4

• Reject the notion that the Bible is the word of God with particular authority
• Social Gospel Movement: formed by Protestant intellectuals which emphasised the importance of social justice rather than doctrinal questions of biblical authority and inspiration. General rule of ‘loving ones neighbour’ was the truth that could be taken from the Bible
• Process Theology: recognised the discrepancies between biblical writings and newer science. As this brought into question traditional teaching, the Bible had to be interpreted as an entirely human set of writings influenced by culture and knowledge of their day. Had to differentiate between the ‘Jesus of history and Christ of faith’. The Bible may be seen as inspiring on the lines of Christians finding passages uplifting rather than inspired

Question 5

Authority of Jesus- Jesus as the Son of God

Answer 5

• The authority of Jesus hangs on whether he is seen as the incarnation of God, having divine authority or whether he was entirely human
• Hypostatic union:term used to state that Jesus is fully human and full divine (the doctrine of the incarnation gives validity to both)
• Evidence of Jesus as the son of God can be seen in passages where Jesus heals diseases, raises the dead and forgives sins. In John 8 he says ‘Before Abraham I am’
• Whilst the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, numbers of passages reflect the doctrine in which Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God e.g. the Great Commission
• All Gospel writers refer to Jesus as God’s son which can be seen at his baptism ‘This is my beloved son whom I am well pleased’
• Jesus also says ‘the Father and I are one’ in John 10:30 with some interpreting this as Jesus as Messiah whilst others saying they are aligned in values and mission

Question 6

The Authority of Jesus- Sermon on the Mount

Answer 6

• The Sermon on the Mount is the biggest body of teaching by Jesus. He is presented as the second Moses, reinterpreting Mosaic laws to emphasise the spirit rather than the letter of the law
• A conservative interpretation of this passage would be more literal, taking the rules at face value
• For Liberals, these words can be interpreted and potentially rejected if not agreed with, if Jesus is simply an inspiring human, the words do not hold in themselves authority or truth for all time

Question 7

Authority of Jesus- examples of when Jesus’ authority is seen in human terms only

Answer 7

1. Adoptionism: Jesus is entirely human and became the Son of God at his baptism, he had authority conferred on him, he was not born with authority
2. Arianism: Jesus is not initially God but created by him and therefore subordinate
3. Cathars: matter is corrupt and God wouldn’t have contaminated himself by becoming human
4. Unitarianism: God created the world but is no longer in it, Jesus was a great man and a prophet but had no divine authority. Emphasis is placed on using Jesus as a guide on how to live rather than using his teaching in any way
5. Liberals point to the fact that early versions of Marks gospels omit the phrase ‘Son of God , suggesting that the idea of Jesus as God incarnate is one that has evolved some years after Jesus’ lifetime
6. Liberals tend to emphasise God’s humanity seeing the claim to divinity making Jesus’ teaching and personhood less convincing, finding it easier to relate to and take guidance from a human over a deity

Question 8

Authority of the Church- Protestants

Answer 8

• Place far less emphasis on the Church but instead preach salvation sola scriptura
• This came around the time of the Reformation when Martin Luther insisted that the Catholic Church was wrong to impose its own interpretation of the word of God, emphasising salvation through faith
• Ephesians: ‘Salvation is through faith in Jesus not through priests or sacraments’
• 1 Peter 2:9 ‘You are a royal priesthood’- Arguing for the priesthood of all believers, direct access to God is available for all Christians
• The nature of Protestantsim is that different denominations will hold their interpretation of doctrine to be true but it is generally considered that Church teaching does not have authority on par with Scripture

Question 9

Authority of the Church- Catholics

Answer 9

• Teaches that the Church and Bible have equal authority because both are inspired by the Holy Spirit and through Apostolic Tradition and Succession
  * 2 Timothy 2:2- ‘And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others’
• The Apostolic Tradition was ensured in Apostolic Succession, making the Catholic Church the ‘One true Church’