The Authority of

ScriptureWayne Grudem’s

Systematic Theology: Chapter 4, and other

sources

I do not think half as much of this beech tree as yonder squirrel does.

I see him leap from bough to bough, and I feel sure that he dearly values the old beech tree, because he has his home somewhere inside it in a hollow place, these branches are his shelter, and those beech-nuts are his food. He lives upon the tree. It is his world, his playground, his granary, his home; indeed, it is everything to him, and it is not so to me, for I find my rest and food elsewhere. With God's word it is well for us to be like squirrels, living in it and living on it. Let us exercise our minds by leaping from bough to bough of it, find our rest and food in it, and make it our all in all.

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), How to Read the Bible, 1879

ScripturesAuthorityClarityNecessitySufficiency

AuthorityThe authority of scripture means that . . .All the words in scripture are . . .God's words . . .In such a way that . . .To disbelieve or disobey any word of . . . Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey . . .God.

AuthorityIt is one thing to affirm that the Bible claims to be the words of God. It is another thing to be convinced that those claims are true. Our ultimate conviction that the words of the Bible are God's words comes only . . .

Authority. . . when the Holy Spirit speaks in and through the words of the Bible to our hearts and gives us an inner assurance that these are the words of our Creator speaking to us. Just after Paul has explained that his apostolic speech consists of words taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:13), he says,

Authority“The natural man does not receive 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” (1 Cor. 2:14). Apart from the work of the Spirit of God, a person will not receive spiritual truths and in particular will not receive or accept the truth that the words of Scripture are in fact the words of God. However, the Bible is objectively true, even for those who have not experienced it as such.

AuthorityThe Truthfulness of Scripture

God Cannot Lie or Speak Falsely.Therefore All the Words in Scripture Are Completely True and Without Error in Any Part.God's Words Are the Ultimate Standard of Truth. Might Some New Fact Ever Contradict the Bible?

AuthorityChristian Application of the Word of

God Timothy 3:16

& Teaching Correct Belief&  Rebuking Incorrect Belief&  Correcting Unrighteous Behavior&  Training Righteous Behavior

A. All the Words in Scripture Are God’s Words

1. This Is What the Bible Claims for Itself. “Thus says the Lord...” or similar (Deut 18:18-20; Jer 1:9)2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21; 3:15-16; 1 Tim 5:18 with Lk 10:7

2. We Are Convinced of the Bible’s Claims to Be God’s Words as We Read the Bible. (1 Cor 2:13-14; Jn 10:27)

3. Other Evidence Is Useful but Not Finally Convincing.

A. All the Words in Scripture Are God’s Words

4. The Words of Scripture Are Self-Attesting.5. Objection: This Is a Circular Argument.

Yet, all arguments for an absolute authority must ultimately appeal to that authority for proof; otherwise the authority would not be an absolute or highest authority.“Spiral argument” is more correct: increases in knowledge of Scripture, God, and the creation supplement one another harmoniously and tend to confirm the accuracy of the other

6. “All the Words in Scripture Are God’s Words” Does Not Imply Dictation From God as the Sole Means of Communication.

Dictation: Rev 2:1, 8, 12; Isa. 38:4-6In various ways: Lk 1:1-3; Eze. 47:5-7, Daniel 7:1, Ecc. 1:13-17Holy Spirit brings things to the apostles’ remembrance: John 14:26

B. Therefore to Disbelieve or Disobey Any Word of Scripture Is to Disbelieve or Disobey God

Lk 24:25: And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (ESV)

Jn 15:20: Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (ESV)

B. Therefore to Disbelieve or Disobey Any Word of Scripture Is to Disbelieve or Disobey God

2 Pet 3:1-2: This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, (ESV)

2 Thess 3:14: If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. (ESV)

Isaiah 66:2: This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit,and trembles at my word. (NIV)

C. The Truthfulness of Scripture

1. God Cannot Lie or Speak Falsely. (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18, 2 Samuel 7:28)

2. Therefore, All the Words in Scripture Are Completely True and Without Error in Any Part. (Ps 12:6; Prov 30:5; Matt 24:35; Num 23:19)

C. The Truthfulness of Scripture3. God’s Words Are not just True, but also they are Truth, and the Ultimate Standard of Truth. (Jn 17:17, 2 Samuel 7:28, John 8:31-32)

4. Might Some New Fact Ever Contradict the Bible?

It might contradict our understanding of Scripture, but it will never contradict Scripture (2 Corinthians 13:8)

D. Written Scripture Is Our Final Authority

2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Luke 24:44We must continually remember that we have in the Bible God’s very words, and we must not try to “improve” on them in some way, for this cannot be done. Rather, we should seek to understand them and then trust them and obey them with our whole heart.

• The Authority of Scripture in the Early Church– Embraced Scripture’s authority

since God was its originator– Convictions were inherited from

its Jewish roots– Basis for determining heresy• Scriptural Authority• Church’s Authority Through

Appeal to its Own Tradition– There was harmony between

Bible and Church Tradition

Church History: The Authority of Scripture

The Authority of Scripture in the Middle Ages

During the first part of the Middle Ages, the church remained consistent with the early church, maintaining a harmony between authoritative Scripture and the secondary contributions of church traditionA shift took place in the latter part of the Middle Ages

Papal Authority– Henry of Ghent, Gerald of Bologna—Oral

Tradition– Thomas Netter Waldensis—Apostolic

SuccessionPost-Apostolic Revelation (John 16:12!)General Church CouncilsTraditional Understanding

– Jan Hus– John Wycliffe

Church History: The Authority of Scripture

Early ReformersJohn Wycliffe (1330-84)

Morningstar of the ReformationOxford educator; taught superiority of

Bible; lectured through BibleWycliffe desired to place Bible in hands of people in their own language, so he & followers translated Bible from Latin Vulgate into English (1381-84)On the Church: Bible is sole criterion of doctrine to which no ecclesiastical authority may add; papal authority was not confirmed by Scripture

Early ReformersJan Hus (1372-1415)

Priest in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic); popular preacher in Prague; Dean of School of Philosophy at University of Prague1382, Anne of Bohemia married Richard II of England & invited Bohemians to study in England; they were influenced by Wycliffe & took his teachings back to Bohemia where they impacted Hus

Jan Hus’s TeachingsTrue church is composed of those chosen or predestined by GodChrist, not Peter, is Rock on which church is builtThere should be no civil punishment for religious heresyBible is final authority for matters of doctrineIf pope or bishop does not obey Bible, he is not to be obeyedChrist, not church, is only mediator between God & humanityOnly God can grant forgiveness, so for church to sell forgiveness through indulgences is to usurp God’s authority

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

German ReformerProtested against the sale of indulgencies in his 95 ThesesAdvocated the principle of sola scripturaSalvation is by grace alone through faith aloneCriticized the doctrine of transubstantiation

Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church, which held spiritual authority over all the nations of Europe. For the intensely spiritual Luther, the Church's promise of salvation was irresistible. (According to legend, he was caught in a thunder-storm, terrified by the possibility of imminent death, and vowed to become a monk.)But after entering the monastery, Luther became increasingly doubtful that the Church could actually offer him salvation at all. His views were upheld by a trip to Rome, where he found that the capital of Catholicism was laden with corruption.

"God has given us the Papacy. Let us enjoy it!" – Pope Leo X

Wracked by despair, Luther finally finds release in the pages of the Bible, when he discovers that it is not the Church, but his own individual faith that will guarantee his salvation:

Rom 3:28: "We maintain therefore thata man is justified by faith apart from theworks of the law."Rom 5:1-2: "Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand….”Gal 2:15-16: “We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners, yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we had to become believers in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” Gal 3:11-12: “Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident for ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not of faith but ‘The man who does them will live by them.’”

The Problem of AuthorityLuther’s discovery uncovered the problem of authority.

• Is the Bible the sole basis for religious authority (as Luther claimed)?

• Are the Bible and Church tradition the basis for authority (as the Roman Catholic Church claimed)?

Here’s how one Protestant denomination today characterizes

Luther’s contribution to Reformation theology:

• The Authority of Scripture in the Reformation and Post-Reformation– The Protestant Church• Martin Luther

– sola Scriptura—Scripture alone; it is the final judge and authority for faith and Christian doctrine, standing above everything and everyone else

– embraced a harmonious relationship between authoritative Scripture and the historic creeds of the church

– the preached word is to be regarded as the Word of God

• John Calvin– authority of Scripture is grounded in

the authority of its divine Author

Church History: The Authority of Scripture

• The Authority of Scripture in the Reformation and Post-Reformation– The Roman Catholic Church• John Eck, John Cochlaus, and Albert Pigge

reacted in defense of the Church• The Catholic Church departed from its own traditional

perspective and affirmed a new idea of its own supremacy over Scripture, insisting additionally on church tradition as another inspired revelation from the Holy Spirit, which was of equal value to the Word of God

• The Council of Trent (1545-1563) results in the following decrees

1. The only official version of the Bible was the Latin Vulgate

2. No private interpretations of Scripture could depart from the Church’s teachings

3. Rejection of the Protestant view of “Scripture alone”

4. Along with the Scriptures, tradition as preserved by the Church was a source of authority.

Church History: The Authority of Scripture

• The Authority of Scripture in the Modern Period– The Roman Catholic Church

• Infallibility of the Pope• Immaculate Conception of Mary and Bodily Assumption

of Mary– The Protestant Church

• Charles Hodge• John Warwick Montgomery

– Erosion of Traditional Confidence in Scripture’s Authority• Biblical Criticism

– Friedrich Schleiermacher, Emil Brunner, Karl Barth, Stanley Grenz

• Traditional Defense– J.I. Packer, D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Abraham Kuyper,

Millard Erickson– Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Church History: The Authority of

Scripture

Special Termsabsolute authorityauthority of Scripturecircular argumentdictationGod-breathedinspirationplenary inspirationScriptureself-attesting

Christians Have Paid Much for Believing that the Bible Alone is the

Authoritative Word of GodIn your personal decision-making, where is your first place to go?Once you have made a decision, where is the last place you go to check it out? Do the people you lead and influence bring their Bibles to gatherings of Christians?Do you read all the way through the Bible regularly?What would bother you more: to lose your personal Bible, or to lose your smartphone?