Continous Discipleship - Authority of the Bible

Prayer: God, we pray for guidance to know what you would have us know as we read scripture. May your Word draw us closer to you and to each other. Amen.

II Timothy 3:16-17 states that “all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” These verses refer to the Old Testament, but when the New Testament canon was developed, Paul’s statement to Timothy was taken to refer to all of the Bible.

While Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17), “…think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He also said, “you have heard that it was said to men of old, ‘You shall not kill’…But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment …” (Matthew 5:21) The formula, “You have heard that it was said …But I say to you …” suggests that Jesus believed that a new authority was on the scene in his own person and that his authority took precedence over the old authority of scripture.

During the Reformation, interpreters such as Calvin held that the Bible was to be interpreted as a document in which God has related the divine way and thoughts to our limited human ways of thinking and speaking.  Readers had to take into account the historical cultural period in which the writing occurred in order to arrive at the true meaning of the author. However, it was the gospel message – not the cultural context – that became the standard of belief for hearers of God’s Word. Calvin went on to say that the authority of scripture resided in its function of bringing people into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

According to the Westminster Confession, “the authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof, and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.” Also, “The Old Testament in Hebrew…and the New Testament in Greek…being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them.”

To say that the Bible is “immediately inspired by God” gives scripture great authority. But watch what is not said here: this does not say that all scripture is blessed with inerrant verbal inspiration. The idea of the infallibility of scripture coincides with 19th century ideas of the infallibility of the Pope. In the wake of late 19th and 20th century biblical criticism, the church reacted defensively. One defense, that the Bible in its original form was without error does not extend that claim to the translations that we have today. In fact, some parts of the Bible contradict other parts. For example, did God call for a single pair of every kind of creature (Genesis 6:19) to be taken into the ark, or was Noah to take 7 pairs (Genesis 7:2) of all clean animals and birds?

The Bible is a source of renewal, freedom, and joy. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Scripture serves the purpose of relating us to God and transforming our life.                    
 
Prayer: God, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Amen.     (Psalm 119:105)