Tuesday I finished reading an interesting paper by Nikolas Thomas Wright entitled “How can the Bible be authoritative?” It was written originally for a lecture series and presented as a paper for Vox Evangelica in 1991. Here’s a link to the whole thing. (It’s about 13,000 words, but it’s worth it.) And thanks for the FaceBook heads-up, Jas…
I pulled a few of my favorite quotes out of it for your enjoyment…
“It is not enough to translate scripture into timeless truths.”
“This is how the gospels are to become authoritative. They are to become authoritative because, as they tell the story of who Jesus was for Israel in judging and redeeming Israel, so we continue that story—this is the great message of Luke, is it not—in being for the world what Jesus was for Israel. That is how the translation works. And that is why we need narrative, not timeless truth. I’m not a timeless person; I’ve got a story. The world’s not a timeless world; it’s got a story. And I’ve got a responsibility, armed with scripture, to tell the world God’s story, through song and in speech, in drama and in art.”
“We must allow scripture to teach us how to think straight, because by ourselves we don’t; we think bent, we think crooked. “
“The Bible is not an end in itself. It is there so that, by its proper use, the creator may be glorified and the creation may be healed. It is our task to be the people through whom this extraordinary vision comes to pass.”
I remember preaching a sermon maybe 10 years ago that got more funny looks from listeners than any other sermon I ever preached. The sermon subject was idols – What’s your idol? was the general theme. We talked about various idols in our lives, and then I remember talking about how we in the evangelical ranks in general, and the Restoration Movement in particular, can so easily tend to fall into some sort of “Scripture-olatry”. We can begin to worship the Scripture as though it is somehow holy in and of itself. It’s easy for us who attempt to hold to a high view of Scripture to put too much stock in the actual words themselves. It was at this point that I began to get the funny looks from the congregation.
[Aaaauuugggghhh, how do I say this right? The second half of that last paragraph can be so easily misconstrued. Ummmmm....]
The Bible is God’s word. It is inspired by Him. It is breathed by His Spirit. It is without error in the originals.
But it is God Himself who holds all authority. It is God Himself to whom belongs the power and the glory. God does not serve the Scripture; the Scripture is subservient to God. We live under the Scripture, yes; but only insofar as it illuminates the narrative of God’s ongoing story. The Scripture does not rule our lives; God rules our lives.
It’s been 10 years, and I still can’t explain it very well without making people think I’m a heretic. That’s a great commentary on my ability to explicate. Anyway, I like what NT Wright has to say about it. Take the time to read that link above if you get the chance.
And as always, I’d love to hear what you have to say.
6:23am
This essay has been a go-to for me for many years now. I don’t know where we’d be without the Right Honorable Dr. Wright!
I had a priest put it to me this way: “Some people say Christians have the Bible, Jews the Torah and Muslims the Qu’ran. While I can’t speak these other religions, I can say that Christians don’t have the Bible [here I raised an eyebrow] … Christians have Christ.”
How very true. Jesus is the Word of God, without his being and continued presence I don’t think the scriptures would do us any good at all. The reason why the Bible becomes an idol is that it is much more difficult to live with the risen Christ as your constant rule, guide, mentor and example than it is an ancient text which we have seen time and time again being used and made to say things which prop up people’s preferred lifestyles rather than change them into conformity with God.
I have no doubt that for many the role of the Bible in their lives is little more than a spellbook—going to it when they want something from God or are looking to exercise power over another.
11:11pm
Nater,
Interesting. Have you noticed that your initials are almost the same as N.T. Wright’s. Are you secretly a theologian? Curious I am.
Well, I’m with you on this as well. I would go further but would be branded a heretic by most everyone. I believe that God has inspired the scriptures, has led them to be written down and helped see that the Bible as we have it today was compiled even in the early church councils. George MacDonald stated that “the Bible never claimed to be the Word of God, but that it contained the words of God.” I would go along with this. I mean I still believe the scripture is without error, the history and stories are true and accurate, the people and places are real etc….that God inspired the scriptures or breathed them. The thing that I’ve wondered is how you could call something God’s Word when it is just a prophet asking God a question? God responds to the question…I would say with His Word. I mean, when you read the prophets, you begin to realize that it is a dialogue between God and the prophet or the prophet and the people or God and the people. And you realize that God is not always speaking. Would Isaiah refer to his book as ‘the Word of God’. I don’t think so. He would though say that the Word of God was in his book, God’s Word’s were present because Isaiah heard them or recieved them and they were written down. I don’t think he would have the audacity to say that his own words were the Word of God. I do think he would have no problem with the idea that the Spirit led him or someone after him to write down what was said between him and God as an accurate record of what happened. I hope you see what I am saying.
I never say this to anyone because I honestly believe they would think I don’t believe the Bible is Spirit-led, historically accurate, without error and true. But I believe all those things about the Bible. I just believe, that the Bible is not the End. It was written down and inspired by God to be written down so that men throughout the ages would have an accurate record of what God did to bring about salvation to mankind, as John said “so that men might believe.”
Nater, I remember one day when you were living in Nelsonville, we were walking into your house and talking about the 10 commandments for some reason and how nobody knows em anymore and you asked me if I knew them.
) you I think razzed me about not knowing them and I said something to the effect of not having to live by them anyways, and you gave me an odd look I remember.
I started rattling them off and missed one and you told me what it was. I think it was honor your father and mother.(sorry mom and dad
Well, you know, the 10 commandments are fantastic. Following Jesus is a lot harder than keeping those commandments. I think that is what I was trying to say. Not lusting or despising someone is harder to do than committing actual adultery or murder. I wouldn’t say that the 10 commandments don’t matter, but I would say what I said in a sermon almost 10 years ago that probably almost got me canned in an internship – “There is an uproar from Christians about not being able to post the 10 commandments on school property around the country. What a great opportunity we have as Christians to let people know that none of us(Christians) can keep em either, but God still loves us anyways.” God loves us despite our disobedience and failure.
Well, that was just a side note. Actually, I think most people use the term “Word of God” to denote that it is inspired and Spirit-led, accurate and w/o error and true, in order to give it that ‘authoritarian’ tone because they are afraid of God. Who needs God in a box when you can keep Him in a book?
thanks for the thoughts nater and bd
12:52pm
Nate, my dad called it Bibliolatry. He would quote that old hymn that says “Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord.” The book is nothing without Jesus. Because of Him, it is the most precious of books.
1:51pm
“Bibliolatry” – I like that. “My spirit pants for Thee, oh Living Word” was the phrase that follows, wasn’t it?. I like that a LOT.