Sources of Wisdom and Authority

‘bible’ meaning

collection of books

no. of books in the Bible

66

• OT = 39

• NT = 27

no. of Bible authors

40

Bible was written over the course of…

1,500 years

Old Testament

• main author is thought to be Moses, who scribed the law that God gave to the Jews including the 10 commandments

• the content of the OT was agreed 290 BC

• contains historical accounts, poetry, songs and wise sayings

New Testament

• written between 50AD and 90 AD

• thought to have been written by fewer authors

• contains the 4 gospels that detail Jesus’ life from his disciples

• by 400 AD the Church finalised the NT

Bible translated into….

2,500 languages

Themes in the Bible

• God’s revelation

• Sin and its consequences

• God rewarding faith

• God electing prophets

• sacrifice and atonement

• Jesus Christ/the Son

• exile

• Heaven and Earth

Literary Styles in the Bible

• Epistle/Letter - personal correspondences eg, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians

• Genealogical - lists that family lineage

• Historical Narrative

• Law/Statutory

• Parable

Conservative/Evangelical views on the Bible

• the text is inerrant

• ‘all scripture is inspired by God’ - God breathed the words

• Genesis is a literal account of creation

• all scripture is profitable for teaching

• ‘sacred scripture’ is not a human word, it is the word of God written by humans under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

Catholic views on the Bible

• authority of scripture is equal to the authority of the Church (or the Living Tradition)

• Tradition and Scripture spring from the same divine source - scripture=speech of God, tradition=active word of God

• The Bible was without error but may now contain error due to copying/translation - therefore it is up to the Magisterium to interpret

• bishops given teaching authority through apostolic succession

Neo-Orthodoxy

• rejects the Conservative belief in biblical inerrancy

• argues there are many historical and scientific errors in scripture and some parts are simply not true

• Karl Barth argues the Bible cannot be the ‘word of God’ but rather CONTAINS the word of God - scripture is simply a vehicle through which God can be experienced

Liberal views on the Bible

• broad term for Christians who reject the idea that the Bible is literally true

• T. Wright ‘the Bible is like a play where the playwright has written everything but the final scene, which we hove have the task of completing’

• Social Gospel - the Bible is important but social action and relief (the ethical guide found in scripture) is more important

Process Theology view on the Bible

• the Bible is an entirely human document

• rejects that the Bible contains factual information - as God is not all powerful as scripture suggests

Catholic view of the Church/Tradition

• Apostolic Tradition - stems from Jesus’ Apostles whom he commanded to preach the gospel to all men ‘maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you’

• Apostolic Tradition is carried on through Apostolic Succession - Jesus’ apostles appointed bishops were given teaching authority, forming a continuous line

• the Church and the Church alone has the authority to interpret scripture correctly

Protestant view on the Church

• Sola Scriptura - through scripture alone, Martin Luther - the Protestant view hinges on this

• Luther was concerned that humans should not pass judgement on God’s word - ‘let us not change the Word but let we ourselves be changed by the Word’

• all believers can interpret the Bible - rejects the absolute authority of the Church

teaching supporting Jesus’ authority

‘all authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me’ Matthew 28:18

evidence to support Jesus’ authority

• Trinity, miracles, prophecies, incarnation, Nicene Creed (‘begotten not made’), ‘the Word became flesh’, conquered death in resurrection

Matthew 5:36-38 interpretations (Eye for an eye, Love your enemies)

• Take figuratively, as a parable/moral story

• Jesus was stating an ideal

• Not meant to focus on action but intention/heart

  OR

• taken literally, we should all be pacifists

• Biblical criticism of time/content/culture of OT ideals

Son of God authority

Trinitarian doctrine - Jesus is a person of God, he has the complete authority of God and the same divine powers

As such the moral commands of Jesus are imperative as they come from the same divine source of Gods commands

Son of Man authority

the understanding that Jesus’ authority is only human is non-trinitarian and as such is not a widely held view

eg, adoptionists believe Jesus was adopted by God at his baptism, making him lesser i divinity - ‘my father is greater than i’