Study 12 The Authority of the Bible
Authority is experienced and recognised in many ways. We have experienced it in our family with the authority of our parents. We recognise the authority of the police on the roads giving us a traffic violation ticket; the check‑out employee requiring us to pay so many dollars and cents for goods purchased at the supermarket; the choir leader correcting a wrong note or praising melodious harmony; the sports umpire deciding when we have broken a rule; the Maths teacher telling us how correct or incorrect our calculations are.
Sometimes we can question authority or even refuse to accept it. With our parents, in the family, we may have been able to get away with it fairly often. We may not have the same success with the police. We will probably get nowhere if we question the supermarket employee. We would probably be too embarrassed to question the judgement of the choir leader. We may be banned from playing if we refuse to abide by a decision of an umpire. Maths teachers are always right!!
Authority presumes a superior and a subordinate in a relationship.
The superior claims, or is given, authority for a number of different reasons. It may be because of broader knowledge, experience, greater physical strength, age, or just because the authority figure is wearing a uniform.
It also may be because of a higher or special status in an organisation or the community. Authority claims a status and a recognition that influence does not necessarily have.
1. Different reactions to authority
a. Some may feel the need to have authority exercised over them.
Because of insecurity, weakness or lack of knowledge and/or experience some people need to be led. They want someone or something to give direction. Some need an order to follow. Some need the leadership of another who is perceived to have more confidence, knowledge, experience, etc. Some seek to be under authority. Some need a set of answers and they find it in the Bible.
b. Some may accept authority over themselves quite willingly and voluntarily.
It makes sense; it seems just and good; it appears to be reasonable and consistent with past experiences. The person exercising the authority, it is believed, is appropriate and competent to have it. While not seeking it, some yield to it willingly. Some, after deliberation, accept guidance, instruction and direction from the Bible.
c. Some may bow to authority unwillingly and reluctantly.
It may seem unfair, inappropriate or an unjustified exercise of power but, because some feel they have little choice or because they lack the power to resist, they submit. They may feel the issue is not important enough to make a stand against the authority imposed. While not rebelling, some yield unwillingly. Some, because they think they are Biblically ignorant or because they feel they have not been given permission to think otherwise, believe they should not question something as sacred as the Bible.
d. Some may ignore authority.
If people are not very involved in the situation they might just walk away, literally and/or figuratively. While they recognise that the authority concerns others they take no notice of it themselves. Some ignore the Bible as being irrelevant, out of date but maybe okay for others who are ‘religious’.
e. Some might rebel against authority.
Whether or not people have the strength or position or knowledge to undermine authority, they may still decide that an issue is important enough to resist the authority and take the consequences. They may think the law is a bad law. This certainly was the case with Martin Luther King, to name one person who comes to mind. Whislte-blowers also come to mind.
They may think the exercise of authority is inappropriate or it is being exercised by the wrong person. They may think the person has exceeded his/her authority; they may believe that important freedoms are being compromised. Some may not wish to submit to any authority because they understand it as an attack on their individual rights and privileges. Some just rebel against authority. Some people regard the Bible as a ‘Thou shalt not’ book. They may see it as a dictatorial book, as inhibiting or exclusive and so they rebel against it.
We may behave in most, if not of all the ways listed above in different situations at different times for different reasons.
2. Effective Authority
For authority to be effectual it needs to accomplish what is intended; it needs to be heeded. This will occur only if the person over whom the authority is exercised, yields to it. If this does not happen, some coercion or force is needed to impose it. For authority to be effective, it depends on a number of issues.
a. The authority needs to be recognised by a community. It is exercised within a relationship.
The police are recognised as having authority within the community. If there was no community recognition that authority would be non‑existent. If no one took any notice of the members of the police force they would have no authority. Umpires are respected as having authority by sporting teams. If players took no notice of the umpire, he/she could blow a whistle long and loud and the game may not stop even though it could deteriorate into utter chaos.
The Bible has authority in the community of the Church because the Church has decided so. From early Christian days to the present, the Church, both its leadership and membership, has given to the Bible an authority regarding faith, internal functioning, and direction. It has, however, been stated that the authority comes from the Person of the Bible, not its words.
The Basis of Union of the Uniting Church in Australia states, when speaking of the Bible, -
The Uniting Church acknowledges that the Church has received the books of the Old and the New Testaments as unique and apostolic testimony, in which she bears the Word of God and by which her faith and obedience are nourished and regulated.
Individuals have freedom to accept or reject the Bible’s authority. Phyllis Bird, in her article, ‘The authority of the Bible’, in the New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 1. page 36 states -
Authority is not a possession, nor can it be freely created. It is a quality of a relationship that develops over time and involves an element of trust and trustworthiness.
b. The authority needs to be appropriately and competently exercised.
A corrupt police force will be investigated regarding its activities. If undue force is used in an arrest, questions will be raised. If a member of the police force demonstrates a lack of knowledge of the law, he/she could be regarded as incompetent. Moreover, if someone stopped us driving and gave us a traffic violation ticket, but that person was not a member of the police force, I think many of us would tell that person where to go and to take their ticket with them!
Umpires need to be consistent. If an umpire is inconsistent we may think he/she is biased. If an umpire wears very thick lenses in spectacles, or wears hearing aids, he/she will probably not be regarded as an appropriate person to be a cricket umpire. Moreover, if a spectator ran onto a sporting field and tried to take over from an umpire with his/her interpretation of the rules, probably both teams would quickly escort that person off the field and then get on with their game.
The way in which the Bible addresses issues of importance with depth, wisdom, and integrity, determines to some extent the amount of authority its readers are willing to accept from it. If the Person of the Bible is seen to be One of depth, wisdom and integrity, One who is consistent a nd relevant, that Person may be given a position of authority by the reader.
So too, if the Bible is seen to be inconsistent or lacking in relevance, its authority will be questioned. Because the Bible was written 2000 years ago, questions have been raised as to whether it is appropriate and competent to adjudicate, or even comment, on certain contemporary matters.
c. When power is necessary to be used in the exercise of authority, that authority is compromised.
For authority to be effective the two‑way relationship between the superior and the subordinate needs to be mutually acceptable and accepted. Authority must stand alone. When power or force is necessary for the authority to accomplish the desired result, it is power and not authority that has produced the result.
Accepting a traffic offence ticket, albeit reluctantly, is evidence that the superior ‑ the police, and the subordinate ‑ the law breaker, both give sanction to the authority. If the ticket is not accepted by the law breaker, then it is power and not authority that causes the fine to be paid. The power of the law comes into play because its authority is not accepted.
Accepting the umpire’s decision is evidence that the superior ‑ the umpire, and the subordinate - the player, who has broken one of the rules, both give sanction to the authority. If a player refuses to accept the umpire’s decision, that player may have to be forcefully ejected from the field of play, before the game can continue. Authority is refuted and it is power that secures compliance.
If there is no voluntary acceptance of the Bible's authority, it can have no authority.
There can be an effort to force the authority of the Bible onto someone. In the church’s history there have been many times when fear of the consequences of unbelief has been the means whereby force has been exerted. Tragically, this is still the way some evangelists operate today. ‘If you don’t accept it all, you might as well throw it all away’, ‘If you don’t believe the Bible, you cannot trust the One who wrote it’. Such have been some of the ways employed to gain acceptance of Biblical authority.
If force or coercion is used then we are denying the way of Jesus. When we examine the Gospels, we find no point when Jesus attempts to exercise any external, overriding power or force. He always appealed for a response. ‘He that has ears to hear, let him hear.’ He challenged people to accept his authority.
The authority of the Bible for each person is that authority which each consciously or unconsciously gives to it. Making available as much information about the Bible as we can, is surely a responsibility of church teachers and leaders so that people can make their own considered responsible decisions. There also needs to be an environment of permission and freedom in which people can make such decisions.
Questions and quotations for discussion
Where does the authority of the Bible come from? Does the Bible have any authority?
When we equate the authority of the Bible with the authority of God do we fall into the sin of idolatry - Bibliolatry?
The Bible’s authority for the Church depends on the Bible’s ability to speak a relevant word to the present generation. Does it?
The claim of inerrancy is nowhere made in the Bible itself nor sanctioned by the creeds of the Church. People wish to give an authority to the Bible that itself does not claim. Many feminists today find much within the two Testaments morally offensive and incompatible with the message of the gospel as they have come to understand it. Thus it has less authority. The Bible, they insist, presents a deficient and distorted witness to God's nature by virtue of its androcentrism (regarding the male as the norm).
The authority of the Bible does not depend on infallible words or model behaviour but in the ability of its words to confront readers with the story of the presence of a God who redeems sinners by assuming their weakness, and empowers the weak and the silent with visions and speech.
The Bible’s authority rests in its ability to confront readers or hearers with the gospel so that it is heard not merely as an historic word, but as a present word of assurance and demand.
The Word of God cannot be contained in any document; nor can it be understood apart from the ‘Word made flesh’ ‑ the person of Jesus. The supreme authority for Christian truth is not in the words written down and preserved between the covers of a book, but in Christ who is the living Word. Is this helpful to you?
Print Booklet (Download and print double-side, flip on short edge) The text of the bookblets has been edited somewhat and because there are many pictures in the booklets, all reference to them has been omitted.
Acknowledgements
In the preparaton of all these Bible studies, I wish to thank my dear friends Ivan Hawke and Greg Newton. Ivan, for all his encouragement, his many insights, and endless work on the computer and taking photographs etc., etc., and Greg, for his numerous insights and his proof-reading abilities. Thank you to my brother Alan for his critical theological comments and corrections, and my wife Wendy for her endless patience and expert proof-reading. I am also indebted to the many people who have responded so promptly to my requests regarding copyright. If I have infringed any copyright regualtions, I would like to be infomred of such, and I will correct the situation promptly.