One of the core pillars of the Christian faith is the Holy Bible as being the infallible and inerrant word of God, thus seen as the authority by which we define Christian doctrines and the manner by which we shape our theology. In fact, protestants would even say that scripture is the only and final authority in the matter of doctrines, which is the rallying cry of the reformers – Sola Scriptura.
Having said that, let’s focus first on the notion of “Authority of Scripture”. When I was in college, I remember that one of the very first thing that the lecturers do, is to go through a booklet that lays some ground rules regarding how we ought to carry ourselves as students, likewise as a citizen I was also bound to the law or constitution of the land. These two sets of documents were written by two distinct group of people for unique roles and for specific purposes. How much authority do these documents really have? What if I broke a rule in one document and not in the other? Which one has more authority over me? And most importantly, what makes a document to have this authoritative nature? It should be obvious by now that the very nature of authority of a document stem from the very author of it.
So, the question arises, who wrote these books that are compiled as the Holy Bible? And how does that make it authoritative? Though the books of the Bible were written by multiple human authors across hundreds of years, the words in them seem to point to one divine author, as if the human authors were mere agents inspired by a divine being to put His words down for us to draw closer to Him. This is precisely what St. Paul says in his epistle to Timothy that “all scripture is inspired by God” and that it has a function to be “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”[1]. Though this may be one of the most quoted passages in scripture, we at time fail to understand the implications of these very words. This passage leads us to understand that the very God of creation, the God that created us and breathed life into us, inspired the very words written in the Bible, which makes the Bible as the most authoritative document, period. But, do we live by it as we ought to? (Something to reflect on).
Now that it is clear that the authority of scripture comes from the author – God – what qualities or attributes then these documents must have? Scripture teaches us that God does not lie[2], and since the scripture is God’s word, then all of scripture must be true, infallible and inerrant in nature. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, gives us an even clearer picture of the nature of God’s word, as not just being true, but as the truth[3], and that has far greater implication on the way we, as believers, ought to treat the Holy Scriptures.
Nonetheless, some may raise the argument that “the Bible is God’s word because the Bible said so” is a circular argument and thus not a good reason to believe what the Bible claims to be. Though on the surface this seem to be a good argument, one has to ask, if God is the ultimate truth, what other means can we actually use to define the authority of scripture? Any other means used to define the authority of God will only supersede the authority of God. For instance, if scientific or archaeological findings are the yardstick for determining the authority of scripture, then science and archaeology would have to be more authoritative than scripture itself. St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians speaks of how the Spirit of God is the one who leads us to know the things that are freely given to us by God[4]. Just as no one can truly know you but your spirit, similarly it is the Spirit of God that proceeds from the Father, who knows the Father perfectly, who will make known to us all truth. Therefore, the very believe in scripture is not from mere logical reasoning or scientific analysis, rather through conviction by the power of the Holy Spirit working through us, the same Holy Spirit that our Lord Jesus Christ promised to send, as a Helper to teach us all things[5].
Does this mean that science, archaeology or even logical reasoning has no place as a guiding principle to our believe on the authority of scripture? Well, I would say that these methods though do not establish the authority of scripture, it could be means by which the Holy Spirit may utilize to help believers today to strengthen their faith or conviction in God’s word.
God is the author of scripture hence it is authoritative in nature, but is scripture the only and final authority in regard to doctrine or theology? What about the Apostolic tradition? How about the ecumenical councils of the church? Is the idea of Sola Scriptura true? These are some questions that I am currently wrestling with. For example, we do find instances in scripture that there is a place for tradition in the life of believers as one body of Christ, as St. Paul exhorts the church in Thessalonica to hold on to the traditions that were either written or orally transmitted[6]. To this early church, it was not just the written word, rather both written and oral traditions were part of the teachings passed on through the Apostles.
Another issue with Sola Scriptura, is that if scripture alone is the only authority for doctrine, then what about the interpretation of the scripture? The fruit of Sola Scriptura can be seen in modern-day Protestantism, where anyone with a Bible seem to have his own interpretation, whereas the early church did not operate in this manner. Core Christian doctrines like the trinity were formally documented through ecumenical councils as an initiative to protect the church from Arian heresy, thus it is not just scripture, neither it is by one church father, rather it was the Holy Spirit working through the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. By this, it is not to say that necessarily man having authority equal to God-breathed scripture, but the One Church led by the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who is God, that make known to us the very words He inspired to be written.
There is still much to learn regarding this, and would need more time covering this topic in depth, so to have a more balanced view, while not being skewed by my protestant biases. As conclusion, it is essential to believe that Scripture is the infallible and inerrant word of God, having full authority on what we should believe in regard to God, thus demanding complete obedience from us as fellow believers. But on a more crucial note, let us not forget that this very scripture, while being all true, points us to the very truth, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.
May the Grace of our Triune God be with you. Amen.
Keep Exploring Theology!
[1] 2Ti 3:16
[2] Tit 1:2
[3] Jhn 17:17
[4] 2Co 2:10-16
[5] Jhn 14:26
[6] 2Th 2:15