The Authority of the Bible

Authority today is a topic that most people would rather not discuss, unless it is the authority that they themselves possess. There are many authorities in the lives of most modern people: the government under which they live, the local police, parents, teachers, institutions, the church, etc. Some seem to try to live without any authority at all, but for themselves and their own whims and desires. The authority of God over the lives of human beings that he has created is a topic that even fewer people are willing to discuss. All one has to do is bring up the subject of the gospel with people on the street, or in the workplace to see the rejection of God’s authority in their lives. The truth is that if God is the source of all truth and the creator of all things, including humans (which he most certainly is), then he has the sole right and authority to demand from his creatures whatever he pleases.[1] This is not easily accepted among humans who are tainted by original sin and who are at odds with their creator.

The question remains, however, how does God exercise his authority over humans, and by what means does he do this? God has revealed himself to mankind in many ways. The progressive revelation of God to man has come in the form of direct verbal communication (e.g. Moses and the burning bush, the call of Abraham, etc.), inspired songs or psalms, prophecies, as well as inspired narratives and apostolic letters to churches. This collection of inspired writings, called the Bible, coupled with the authority of God’s Holy Spirit, is the supreme authority over all of life, and its message the primary means God uses to communicate that authority. Millard Erickson states, “By the authority of the Bible we mean that the Bible, as the expression of God’s will to us, possesses the right supremely to define what we are to believe and how we are to conduct ourselves.[2] This authority applies both to believers and non-believers.

In dealing with the Bible’s authority, it is necessary to examine reasons why the Bible is authoritative, as well as the nature of its authority as it is realized in the lives of people. The primary reason for this is that the Bible comes from God himself and its central theme is the person and authority of Jesus Christ. Also, the authority of the Scriptures is not in competition with the authority and role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, and vice-versa. Finally, the Bible is not subject to the authority of any church, man-made institution, or individual, but both humans and their institutions must be in submission to the Bible as the word of God. What follows will be an examination of each of these in detail.

First of all, the Bible is authoritative because of its divine origin.

The Bible testifies concerning itself that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” (II Tim. 3:16, ESV). Peter states, “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:20-21, ESV). David declares, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2, ESV). The Bible was written by men, but inspired by God himself. Even more than that, the Scriptures are actually God-breathed. The men who wrote the letters and prophecies and stories and songs and genealogies of the Bible were instruments used by God to pen his revelation to mankind. The God who created the universe spoke to humans through the mouths and pens of his prophets and apostles (Heb. 1:1-2). If God is the sovereign creator and king of the universe, then it follows that what he speaks is in fact authoritative. It does not take one long in reading the Scriptures to note that it assumes authority over all its hearers.

Some may argue, however, that it is insufficient to cite what the Bible says about itself in establishing its authority. Someone might say that using the Bible itself to prove something about the Bible reveals a great degree of circularity in reasoning. As Millard Erickson points out, “Any theology (or any other system of thought for that matter) faces a dilemma when dealing with its basic authority.”[3] In other words, on what authority does one base the authority of the Bible if not on its own testimony? A strong case can be made within the realm of orthodox Christianity that it is sufficient to base the Bible’s authority on what it says about itself because of the testimony of the Holy Spirit. However, as John Calvin argues for the skeptic at heart, there are sufficient proofs outside the pages of the Bible that confirm its divine origin, truthfulness, and authority.[4] These include historical evidence, fulfilled prophecies, archeology, etc. No matter how one arrives at it, the conclusion is that the Bible is of a distinctly supernatural origin and on that ground possesses great authority.

It simply shows the depravity of the human heart that people are quicker to accept the authority of the local newspaper than the authority of the supernatural word of God. Both believers and non-believers alike need to recognize the Bible’s authority over them and submit to it wholeheartedly.

Second, the Bible is authoritative because it is directly linked to Christ, who is the Word.

The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000 states, “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.” Jesus said concerning the scriptures, “it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39, ESV). The apostle John teaches that Christ is the incarnate Word of God, who himself is God from all eternity (John 1:1-2, 14). Hebrews 1:1-2 says “God…has spoken to us by his Son…” In the passage known as the great commission Jesus declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matt. 28:18, ESV).

The Scriptures clearly testify about Christ and are inseparable from him. Christ is the focus of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and he himself gives it his stamp of approval and establishes its authority. For Martin Luther, it was this “Christological concentration” that convinced him of the Bible’s pervasive authority.[5] The scriptures are about Christ, Christ is the eternal Word, and God the Father has given Christ all authority; therefore, the Bible has every right to claim absolute authority.

Just the simple fact that the Bible claims to be the very words of Christ to his people should be motivation enough for everyone to place more value in it than in other forms of authority, such as psychologists, preachers, institutions, the media, etc. When one reads and meditates upon the scriptures, one does not merely encounter facts about God, but, through the ministry of the Spirit, actually encounters God himself. When believers read the Bible, they are essentially entering into fellowship with Christ, who is already working in their lives. Believers must appreciate this Christocentrism of the word of God, and devote their entire lives to mastering its contents.

Third, the authority of the Bible does not exclude the role of the Holy Spirit in interpretation, and the two should not be separated.

To say that the Bible is the sole authority for the Christian is not to say that this authority is separate from the authority of the Holy Spirit. And to say that the Holy Spirit is the Christian’s authority is not to say that this authority is separate from the authority of the Holy Scriptures. These are not two separate authorities working against one another according to each believer’s personal preference as to which one to give more emphasis. No, they are indeed one. The Holy Spirit guides the believer into the truth of God’s word (John 16:13), and the Bible’s authority in the life of the believer is dependent upon the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s heart. I Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) states, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” John Calvin understood that “the Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were hear,” and that this can only come through the Holy Spirit.[6] According to Millard Erickson, “the Holy Spirit’s ministry involves elucidating the truth, bringing belief and persuasion and conviction, but not new revelation.”[7] Therefore, no believer can say that something has been revealed which is contrary to the scriptures. The Bible is authoritative in a person’s life only when the Spirit of God convinces that person of its truth, and a person is able to follow the guiding of the Spirit only to the degree that they understand the Bible. Thus authority does not lie with the Spirit alone apart from the scriptures.

For Erickson and Calvin alike, authority is not in the Bible alone, but in the Bible applied by the Spirit. For those who maintain that the Bible is in and of itself (apart from the Spirit) the sole authority, “a virtually sacramental view of the Bible can result.”[8] However, as Mark Noll puts it:

“To impugn the trustworthiness of the external Word (Scripture) is to impugn the very gospel itself, for it is through the external Word that the internal Word [the inner working of Christ by the Spirit] does its work. As in striking the flesh of the Lord Jesus, the son of God was wounded, so striking the external Word of Scripture wounds the gospel.”[9]

So, both the Bible and the Spirit are needed for a sufficient authority to be established in the life of the believer. What believers must do is to study and seek to understand the scriptures with all their might, trusting and seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance by prayer and meditation.

Fourth, the Bible is not subject to the authority of tradition or church, but tradition and the church must be subject to the authority of the Bible.

For some, the authority of the church or church tradition is equal to, and in some cases greater than, the authority of the Bible. It has been said that the Protestant Reformation was the triumph of the authority of the Bible over the authority of the church. Martin Luther is reported to have said, “My conscience is captive to the word of God.”[10] By this, Luther meant to say to his accusers, that for him the Bible was his supreme authority, and not the church. For the reformers, the Bible won the day over every ordinance of man. As David Lotz rightly states, “the churches entire life and substance reside in the Word of God.”[11] The reformers understood this, and the course of ecclesiastical history was changed forever.

John Calvin said:

“A most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the church. As if the eternal and inviolable truth of God depended upon the decision of men!”[12]

The Particular Baptists in London in the seventeenth century revealed a similar view when they stated:

“The authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.”[13]

Martin Luther said:

“[It] is an accursed lie that the pope is the arbiter of Scripture or that the church has authority over the Scripture,” and “The pope, Luther, Augustine, Paul, an angel from heaven — these should not be masters, judges or arbiters, but only witnesses, disciples, and confessors of Scripture. Nor should any doctrine be taught or heard in the church except the pure Word of God. Otherwise, let the teachers and the hearers be accursed along with their doctrine.”[14]

It is clear that the traditions of the church ought to be subject to the word of God. What Christians must do today is to be like the Jews in Acts 17:11, and search the scriptures in order to prove or refute any claim made by man or church. That is not to say that Christians should be opposed to authorities in the church, but that the supreme rule and guide for submitting to these authorities is the Bible. Let it be as the apostle Paul says, “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8, ESV).

In conclusion, most people today do not lead lives that are characterized by willful submission to God’s authority over them. God’s primary means of exercising his authority is the Bible. To say that the Bible has authority is to say that it holds the right to command actions and beliefs. The Bible maintains the authority of God himself because of its distinctly divine origin and its Christocentric nature. The Bible works in unison with the Holy Spirit in relating its authority to the lives of believers, and should never be subject to the any human authority. What is needed today is for people to recognize the authority of the Bible and live their lives accordingly.

---

[1] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 266.

[2] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 267.

[3] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 226.

[4] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 1, chapter 2.

[5] David W. Lotz, Sola Scriptura: Luther on Biblical Authority, in Interpretation, (vol. 35, 1981) p. 270.

[6] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 1, p. 74.

[7] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 276.

[8] Ibid., p. 277.

[9] Mark A. Noll, The Word of God and the Bible: A View from the Reformation, in Christian Scholar’s Review, (vol. 8, no. 1, 1978) p. 31.

[10] Roland Bainton, Here I Stand (New York: Mentor, 1950) p. 144.

[11] David W. Lotz, Sola Scriptura: Luther on Biblical Authority, in Interpretation (vol. 35, 1981) p. 261.

[12] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 1, p. 75.

[13] The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, chapter 1, no. 4.

[14] Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, in Luther's Works, vol. 26, translated by Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1963), pp. 57-8.