Friday, December 30, 2022

Biblical Authority and Accuracy

There has been much discussion over a long period of time about the authority the Bible has in the life of an individual and the church in matters of lifestyle, belief, practice and more. The only way to propagate a morality, lifestyle, or gospel that is different than the true Christianity, one must first reject the Bible's authority. The Bible is the theological foundation for our faith (Romans 10:17), an anchor for our morality, a compass for our purpose, and a barometer for the Holy Spirit's work among us. 

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Let me recommend a book that is a bit hard to find, but definitely worth a read: "Biblical Authority and Christian Faith" by Richard S. Taylor (Nazarene Publishing House). Here are some passages that are worthwhile and pertinent to our understanding of the authority of the Bible:

"In actual fact we do not come to the Bible through Jesus, but we come to Jesus through the Bible. It is from the Bible-and only from the Bible- that we learn what Jesus thought and said about this or that. We have to establish the authority of the Bible first in order to be sure that we know the teaching of Jesus." (p. 14)

"The Church cannot be our authority for ascribing authority to the Bible. It can witness to its authority, and the witness is valuable; but it cannot and has never attempted to invest authority in the Bible. ... the Bible is not the product of the Church; rather, the Church is the product of the Word of God, first preached, then written." (p 14)

"To ascribe the authority of the Bible to the authority of the Church would be like a mother depending on her child to inform her of his birth date." (p 15)

"If the New Testament is inaccurate in its portrayal of the historical Jesus, then we can only speculate about Jesus. In this case we are sure of virtually nothing, and are floundering helplessly in a murky sea of subjectivism." (p 17)

"If the Bible is a reliable account of Christ and of the Apostolic Church, then it is not only our primary source of knowledge about Jesus but our primary source of Christian doctrine." (p 19)

"If it is faulty and unreliable in its picture of Jesus Christ, its claim to any kind of religious authority collapses." (p 41)

"Church history bears witness to the reliability of the Spirit's witness. In every age men and women who have approached the Bible with a humble, open, and honest mind, and whose spiritual perception was not paralyzed by continued sin or ulterior motive, have experienced the inward persuasion that the words of the Bible were in some mysterious way the words of God." (p 21)

"While the Bible may not properly be said to have been dictated by God, it nevertheless in its wholeness is a transcription of God's mind." (p 32)

"If the authority of the Scripture is merely human, and in no real sense divine, our interest in the Bible necessarily becomes academic, and our opinion about it is relatively inconsequential." (p 32)

"When we are arguing with Scripture, we are arguing with God. When we disregard or disobey or despise the Scripture, we are disregarding or disobeying or despising God." (p33)

"By infallibility is meant unfailing and unerring in disclosing God's self-revelation to man. Some would distinguish infallibility from inerrancy, but this is semantically difficult." (p 33)

Article of Faith IV of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, "in substance... follows the Methodist Articles of Religion of 1784: 'The Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.' It would be very wrong to misconstrue this apparently narrow articulation of biblical authority as constituting an implication of error in the Bible of any kind. The statement must be understood in the light of the historical background. The fundamental need was to frame a statement which would guard against the Roman Catholic insistence on tradition as an adjunct and virtually coequal authority in determining dogma. The objective was not to limit inerrancy but to exclude tradition." (p 35)

H. Orton Wiley is credited with framing the phrase "inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation" in Article IV of the Church of the Nazarene's Manual. 
 "According to Paul Culbertson, Wiley explained to him that he deliberately articulated a moderate statement because he wanted 'to leave elbow room in there.'" (p34)

"Obviously the total statement limits the size of the 'elbow.' The claim of plenary inspiration would rule out serious error of any kind. The elbow then would have to be confined to the debatable question whether (1) there is such a thing as inconsequential error, and (2) whether indeed such inconsequential errors were in the original autographs." (p 36)

"Even if some room for debate about inconsequential error were legitimate, this latitude does not extend to what by an reasonable criteria would be major error. For instance, whether or not Adam and Eve were real persons (as Genesis obviously intends us to believe), whether the Fall actually occurred in a space-time setting, whether Genesis 1-11 is basically historical or mythological, whether the story of the miraculous deliverance from Egypt is to be received as embroidered legend or sober truth, whether Jesus was born of a virgin as Matthew and Luke claim, whether the Gospels accurately report the sayings of Jesus-- to mention a few items-- cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called 'inconsequential.'
If the Bible on these matters is wrong, such error would undermine the very foundations of biblical authority. The Bible's obvious assumption of the factualness of these accounts is so clearly in the very warp and woof of the literature, whether history, poetry, or prophecy, that to weed these elements out- to 'demythologize' thoroughly - would leave little Bible left. The remainder would be a feeble reed of support for historic Christianity."

What did John Wesley say about the Bible? Among other things...

"I want to know one thing- the way to heaven... God himself has condescended to teach the way: For this very purpose he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book. At any price, give me the book of God! I have it! Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri (a man of one book). Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone: Only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven."
Works of John Wesley (Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House, n.d. 5:3.)

"Concerning the Scriptures in general, it may be observed, the word of the living God, which directed the first patriarchs also, was, in the time of Moses, committed to writing. To this were added, in several succeeding generations, the inspired writings of the other prophets. Afterward, what the Son of God preached, and the Holy Ghost spake by the apostles, the apostles and evangelists wrote. - This is what we now style the Holy Scripture: this is that word of God which remaineth for ever: of which, though heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle shall not pass away. The Scripture therefore of the Old and New Testament, is a most solid and precious system of Divine truth. Every part thereof is worthy of God; and all together are one entire body, wherein is no defect, no excess. It is the fountain of heavenly wisdom, which they who are able to taste, prefer to all writings of men, however wise, or learned, or holy."
John Wesley from the "Preface" to Explanatory Notes on the New Testament.

"In matters of religion I regard no writings but the inspired. Tauler, Behmen, and a whole army of Mystic authors, are with me nothing to St. Paul. In every point I appeal "to the law and the testimony," and value no authority but this.
At a time when I was in great danger of not valuing this authority enough, you made that important observation: "I see where your mistake lies. You would have a philosophical religion; but there can be no such thing. Religion is the most plain, simple thing in the world. It is only, 'We love him, because he first loved us.' So far as you add philosophy to religion, just so far you spoil it." This remark I have never forgotten since; and I trust in God I never shall."
John Wesley-From An Extract of a Letter to the Reverend Mr. Law Occasioned by Some of his Late Writings .

"My ground is the Bible. Yea, I am a Bible-bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small."
John Wesley-From the Journal: "June 5, 1766"

"All scripture is inspired of God -The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote it, but continually inspires, supernaturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer. Hence it is so profitable for doctrine, for instruction of the ignorant, for the reproof or conviction of them that are in error or sin, for the correction or amendment of whatever is amiss, and for instructing or training up the children of God in all righteousness ."
John Wesley-from Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament: "2 Timothy 3:16."

"I am distressed. I know not what to do. I see what I might have done once. I might have said peremptorily and expressly, 'Here I am: I and my Bible. I will not, I dare not, vary from this book, either in great things or small. I have no power to dispense with one jot or tittle what is contained therein. I am determined to be a Bible Christian, not almost, but altogether. Who will meet me on this ground? Join me on this, or not at all.'"
John Wesley- Sermon #116 "Causes Of the Inefficacy Of Christianity"

"I read Mr. Jenyns's admired tract, on the 'Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion.' He is undoubtedly a fine writer; but whether he is a Christian, Deist, or Atheist, I cannot tell. If he is a Christian, he betrays his own cause by averring, that 'all Scripture is not given by inspiration of God; but the writers of it were sometimes left to themselves, and consequently made some mistakes.' Nay, if there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book, it did not come from the God of truth."
John Wesley from his Journal: Wednesday July 24, 1776.

Many today who claim to be "Wesleyan" in their low view of Scripture are disingenuous at worst and in err at best. 

Here are some other miscellaneous quotes about Scripture:

"By inspiration we mean the actuating energy of the Holy Spirit by which holy men were qualified to receive religious truth and to communicate it to others without error."
H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology (Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House, 1941), 2:168.

"Those filled with the Holy Spirit... know the Bible is true, not primarily through the efforts of the apologists, but because they are acquainted with the Author. The Spirit which inspired the word dwells within them and witnesses to its truth."  p 42 "Introduction to Christian Theology" Kansas City, MO. Beacon Hill Press, H. Orton Wiley and Paul T Culbertson. 1946

The Bible is a great gift to us from God. May we be a people who saturate in it regularly and take seriously our walk with Christ as we live according to His Word!


Check out these other articles:

Why I Love the Church of the Nazarene

My Ordination Means Something

"Progressive Christianity" is the Real Problem

How to Lead Your Church into Apostacy



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