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The Authority of the Bible

One of the principal tenets of the Reformation was ‘sola Scriptura’ — Scripture alone. Scripture was regarded as the revelation of God’s word to men, and was considered inerrant (perfect and without any mistakes), necessary (essential for true knowledge of God), and sufficient (complete and self-interpreting).

This position is obviously untenable for non-Christians, but it has also become unfashionable among many of today’s professing Christians. In fact, some actively oppose the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture, either by claiming that the Bible is merely a form of myth which provides moral lessons, or by using outside sources to interpret the Bible.

Two modern errors are particularly pervasive: interpreting the Bible in the context of modern culture; and allowing scientific thought to control our understanding of the Bible. The Bible includes many moral lessons, all of which are useful for guiding the way we live. However, I believe that these moral lessons do not constitute the primary message of the Bible. The Bible’s theme is salvation: as a result of our sin, each and every one of us is under God’s curse, and we each require God’s forgiveness to escape punishment for our sins. The Bible teaches that God's forgiveness can only be found by trusting in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If we treat the Bible as a set of moral lessons, we can quite easily interpret it as a type of myth. Myths are not necessarily truth in themselves; myths contain a message of truth. To those who interpret the Bible as myth, the question of whether a particular portion of the Bible is factually accurate becomes irrelevant, because a myth is valuable only for the message it teaches — it does not have to be true. Myths are also open to reinterpretation in the light of changes in cultural or scientific belief.

This view of the Bible as a form of myth stands in stark contrast with both the Bible’s own claims, and the orthodox belief of Christians. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God” (see also 2 Timothy 3:16). Throughout the Bible, the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture is clearly presented — there is no suggestion in the New Testament, for example, that the Old Testament was a set of carefully fabricated fables.

Jesus and the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament books as authoritative sources, and this is particularly clear towards the end of 2 Peter 3, where in verses 5 to 7 Peter comments on those who doubt Christ’s promise to return: “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.” Peter bases his trust in Christ’s promise on the factual accuracy of the history given in Genesis.

If we believe that the Bible is inspired by God, then it is not open to reinterpretation from any outside source. God is the ultimate authority, and when he speaks all other authorities must submit to his word.

There are a number of areas in which the Bible’s instructions about how we should live have become unpopular. This it not a new phenomenon — if people naturally behaved in the way the Bible instructs, the Bible’s instructions would not be necessary. For example, some people are offended by evangelism, and consider it poor manners for Christians (or those from other evangelistic religions) to attempt to convince people to change their beliefs. This belief is so common in some circles, for example, that missionaries are regarded as the soldiers of cultural imperialism.

Numerous other examples of modern cultural reinterpretation could be found (some of them extremely controversial): the ordination of women, the acceptance and even promotion of sexual promiscuity and homosexuality among Christians, and the style of worship used in churches.

A problem arises when we try to reinterpret the Bible in the light of modern culture. Modern cultural norms suggest that it is wrong for Christians to evangelize, while the Bible contains clear instructions telling all Christians that it is their responsibility to evangelize. Are we to say, because we consider modern culture to be superior to the culture in which the New Testament writers lived, that we should adjust our understanding of the Bible? To do so ignores the fact that God inspired the Bible. The Bible is God’s word, not merely the collected writings of some enlightened religious scholars. God gave us these instructions knowing that we would be reading them today, and chose to give instructions that he still expects to be obeyed today.

Current scientific thought often conflicts with or even contradicts the Bible. For example, the gospels state that Jesus was conceived by Mary while she was still a virgin. The virgin birth is not possible naturally — it is an example of a miracle. In his providence, God generally “sustain[s] all things through his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3) in what we perceive as the normal course of events. Miracles occur when God alters the normal way in which he acts. However, miracles do not fit in with conventional science, which has defined the “Laws of Nature”, and claims that these laws describe all possible events.

This leads to a fundamental disagreement between science, which claims to explain the physical world, and the Bible, which describes a number of events that cannot be explained by science. Other miraculous events described in the Bible include the resurrections of several people (including Jesus himself), many accounts of sick people being instantly healed, and the description of the creation of the world given at the very beginning of the Bible.

There are two ways of interpreting these miracles: by assuming that the Bible is accurate (and that miracles are outside the realm of science), or by reinterpreting the Bible in the light of science. Reinterpreting the Bible forces us to treat the miracles as mythical fables, while accepting the inerrancy of the Bible requires us to reject some of the claims of modern science.

One reason why this is so important is the Bible’s claim that Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is central to the gospel — without the resurrection, salvation would not be possible. You may think it acceptable to believe that some of the miracles actually happened (e.g. Jesus’ resurrection), and that others did not happen or occurred somewhat differently from the way they are described in the Bible (e.g. the creation of the world). This poses a difficulty, however, because if the Bible’s record of some of the miracles is inaccurate, other parts of the Bible might also be. If you do not believe the account of the creation of the world and the fall of man into sin (given in Genesis chapters one to three), then there is no particular reason why you should believe an account given in the same Bible of Jesus’ resurrection. Do not fall into the trap of attempting to select which parts of the Bible to believe in.

The other trap to avoid is that of treating the Bible as a type of Christian Aesop’s Fables, where people can learn lessons about how to live from the interesting stories found inside. The Bible can indeed teach us valuable moral lessons, but it has a far more important message: the gospel account of Christ’s sacrifice for sin. The gospel calls us each to personally believe that Jesus did come into the world, live, die, and rise again, in exactly the way the Bible describes.

How we regard the Bible has a profound impact on our eternal souls. The old call to rely on Scripture alone is in danger of being lost, with the result that the message of the gospel is sometimes obscured or even completely ignored. We need to regain a correct attitude towards the Bible, reflecting the attitude we should hold towards the Bible's author. We need to trust what is written in the Bible, because it is what God has written to us.

Lyndon Drake

Do you agree with Lyndon? Write and tell us at submissions@christis.org.uk

Last modified: 25th November 2005