SPIRITUAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
1) From where does the church obtain its authority on spiritual and moral matters?
2) How does God reveal Himself and His will to mankind?
3) What does the word 'canon' mean?
4) Which sacred writings are in the canon of Scripture?
5) Has God told us directly which books are in the canon?
6) Are there other sacred writings in existence?
7) Were all of these genuine religious writings?
8) Who decided what books to include in the canon?
9) How was the Old Testament canon formed?
10) Was this selection accepted by all Jews?
11) How did New Testament believers form an Old Testament canon?
12) How was the New Testament canon formed?
13) Why was the New Testament canon formed?
14) What principles were used in forming the canon?
15) Did the church have any other defences against error?
16) What is a creed?
17) What is apostolic succession?
18) What is the common theme of these defences?
19) Who and what were the Apostles?
20) What did the Apostles do?
21) What is the tradition of the Apostles?
22) Who formed the Jewish church tradition?
23) What did the Jewish church tradition teach?
24) What is the foundation of the Jewish tradition?
25) What happened to the Jewish tradition?
26) Whop formed the Gentile church tradition?
27) What did the Gentile church tradition teach?
28) What is the foundation of the Gentile tradition?
29) What happened to the Gentile tradition?
30) Were these traditions of the church unified?
31) What is distinctive about the Apostolic visions and revelations?
32) Were the Apostles and their teaching without error?
33) What was the early church's view of the canon?
34) What is the position of the canon today?
35) What does inspiration mean?
36) Is inspiration limited to the Scripture writers?
37) How can we check if someone really has been Inspired?
38) If a person is inspired is what they say without error?
39) What evidence is there that Scripture is inspired?
40) What can we conclude about this evidence?
41) What can we conclude about inerrancy?
42) What can we conclude about the Bible?
43) Which books are written by the apostles?
44) Has the church altered the canon?
45) What about those people who have never had a Bible?
46) What evidence is there in creation for God's existence?
47) Who or what is the Holy Spirit?
48) How was He given in a fuller way?
49) Where is the Holy Spirit?
50) What does the Holy Spirit do?
51) How does the present work of the Spirit relate to His work in the apostles?
52) What does the Spirit do in Christians?
53) What does He do to both Christians and unbelievers?
54) How do we recognise His work?
55) What are the evidences of His work?
56) How does the church know what is right and wrong?
57) Is there an order to these authorities?
58) Is the church united in all that it does?
59) What lies behind the need for spiritual authority?
60) What about texts from other religions and faiths?
61) What can we conclude about spiritual and moral authority?
INTRODUCTION
I could have called this 'Questions I wish I'd asked.' or Questions I wish I'd had straight answers to.’ I have been a Christian for almost thirty years, and largely been involved in that group of Christianity known as Fundamentalists, those who consider the Bible to be the Word of God, and therefore absolutely without error of any kind. Everything is examined by this group in the light of what the Bible says. The Bible is THE authority for faith and behaviour. It is regarded as a spiritual authority, because it is the Word of God on unseen, non-material matters. It is the authority on God, Angels, the Devil, unclean spirits and so on. It is regarded as a moral authority because it is the Word of God on what is right and what is wrong, and about the judgement of God because of evil and wrongdoing. But are fundamentalists right in their insistence on a collection of writings that are God inspired and without error? Following a study on spiritual gifts that I did in the 1970's nagging questions star- ted to arise about this position. I would do a little bit of research, find some sort of answer to my question, and carry on for a while, but eventually, the answer turned out not to be an answer after all, and the nagging questions returned. There also arose an increasing dissatisfaction with fundamentalist ideas on other issues, such as politics and so on, which came to a head after reading Christian critics of fundamentalism, as well as criticisms by non believers. Fundamentalism seemed to me to be narrow stagnant, right wing, intolerant and indefensible. Once I rejec- ted fundamentalism, the great danger was to throw the baby out with the bath water as it were, and to reject the whole of the Bible as a myth, as a fake. I lost the [false] sense of authority, everything was open to question, and I know that for a good twelve months I felt adrift in a sea of conflicting religious and moral ideas. I no longer seemed to have a base from which to work in terms of spiritual and moral matters. Hence I have written this study on spiritual and moral authority. It is an attempt to deal with some of these questions, hence it's question and answer format. It is not a deep study, but it has served as a way for me to get my various strands of thought together in a more logical way, and think through a reasonable basis and authority for my faith and conduct. As such, it may be of help to others also.
SPIRITUAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
1) From where does the Church obtain its authority on spiritual and moral matters?
The Church claims its authority from God in three Persons.
i) God the Father is the absolute and final authority.
ii) God the Father mediates or communicates through the middle per- son of Jesus Christ, God the Son.
iii) Jesus Christ, at His ascension, made way for and gave the Holy Spirit to dwell inside believers, who together make up the true Church, the Spirit being an influence towards holiness or purity and truth.
2) How does God reveal Himself, His will and thus His authority to mankind?
The Church declares that there are a number of ways in which God reveals Himself and His will to man:
i) According to the Church, God is revealed through the things He has made, like a painter is revealed by his paintings. Creation is declared by the Apostle Paul to be a universal witness to all mankind of the existence. Divine nature, might and invisible qualities of God, such that all are without excuse. This continues despite the church also declaring that man's disobedience to God affected and spoiled the whole of creation. This knowledge that each person has may be suppressed by wickedness and exchanged, in the name of wisdom, for other ideas. Similarly, God's provision of the seasons, of rain and sunshine to grow crops in their season, is another witness to God and His character. Even calamities such as famine, plague and earthquake may declare God's moral character and His hatred for sin. This revelation is a universal but impersonal revelation of God. It is limited in scope in that it is not God speaking personally; neither does it reveal the way of salvation. It is categorised by theologians as Natural Theology, but Reformation theologians generally rejected the competence of fallen human reason to engage in Natural Theology. Whether this is entirely correct is open to dispute. In their zeal to emphasise the dominion of sin in every part and faculty of a person and the resulting inability of a person to earn salvation, the Reformers may have gone too far as will be suggested later. What is evident is that a person cannot live up to even this limited revelation.
Over and above this universal but limited revelation is a more personal and special revelation. Broadly speaking it has three modes or forms:
a) PHYSICAL PHENOMENON of various kinds, such as the burning bush, or pillar of fire. Also under this heading we find miraculous signs, visible symbols and theophanies, or physical appearances of God to a person, as with Moses.
b) INWARD SUGGESTION such as through dreams, visions, and voices, as when the prophets say: 'The word of the Lord came unto me.’
c) CONCURSIVE OPERATIONS. This is where the Holy Spirit works in, through and with human activities rather than superseding them. B.B. Warfield argues that there may be no consciousness of God working with us in this way.
In more detail. God is revealed in the following ways:
ii) He is revealed chiefly through Jesus Christ, who declared himself to be both God and Man in mysterious union. Jesus' claim is backed up by His ability to perform wonders and miracles as testimony and witness to His Divine qualities, especially by His death and resurrection. He is such a full expression of the Father, so like the Father in character, that Jesus said, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ This is the fullest and most personal and most physical expression of God to man. But of course, Jesus is no longer physically present with us, and we only have the written records of His life and teaching.
iii) God is revealed by the miracles and wonders performed by some of His people, such as Moses at the Red Sea, or Elijah, or the Apostles. Miracles are above nature, implying a SUPER natural cause. Their un- usualness causes them to draw attention to themselves, and they often act as signposts of new eras or developments in the Church. They serve to qualify the authority and truthfulness of a person's teaching, because only God can act in this supernatural way, thus spiritual enemies of God seek to make false miracles to draw people into mistakes, or to make genuine miracles seem less unusual.
iv) God is revealed through spiritual messengers called Angels. The Church considers that there is a whole hierarchy of spiritual beings who God may use at special times to communicate with people, such as the angel visiting the Shepherds at Christ's birth. Such interventions appear to be rare. Some of these beings have rebelled against God, but they are still under God's control as their effective King and Lord.
v) Sometimes, God may reveal Himself by appearing directly to a per- son, as in the case of Moses on Sinai. This appears to be very rare indeed.
vi) God may communicate His will, purposes and commands to a per- son in an extraordinary way by the Holy Spirit, revealing hidden information or giving God breathed utterances in known or unknown tongues. This sort of communication is usually given to believers, but may be giv- en to unbelievers as well. There are many diverse views on such influ- ences. Some believe that they ceased shortly after the death of the Apostles, some that they continue in limited form for special reasons or at times of revival, and others believe that they continue in full form in the present day. The teaching of the Apostles and Jesus Christ usually tests such influences.
vii) God is revealed through the Church, because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them and leading them to honour God and live Holy lives. Not that the Church is perfect, because sin still remains. Because sin is still present in each person, no single person has the completely correct view of truth about God. But as believers come together, bringing their various gifts and skills, a more balanced view comes about. However, a tradition among protestant churches is to have influential leaders, and thus it has many groups following particular interpretations of the Bible.
The groupings and gatherings of Church councils: Elders, that is spiritual leaders of the church who have evidenced suitable qualities to hold such a position, gathering together to make decisions on certain Issues, are seen as very important aspects of the Church discovering the will and purposes of God.
viii) According to the Apostle Paul, the requirements of God's law is written on people's hearts, in that:-
a) People have a moral nature, humankind being made in the image of God. They know right and wrong.
b) People have a conscience that bears witness to this even though it is affected by sin.
c) People's thoughts accuse or excuse them. Those who do not have the Law and commands of God in written form will be judged at the end of time by these factors according to the Apostle.
ix) Some churches place authority on the tradition of the Apostles, and all place authority in the writings of the Apostles. These are men chosen by Jesus Himself to preach and teach the good news. More will be said on Apostles later.
x) God is revealed through the special, sacred writings of various authors, such writings being known as the Bible or Scripture. These are considered to be very special. The Scriptures are usually considered as the main authority for many churches in these days of the absence of the physical presence of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Certainly, this is the case in Protestant Churches, and especially in the case of fundamentalists, who consider that the Bible has no mistakes or contradictions except for minor instances due to translation or copying errors. This is because the Bible is considered to be the inspired Word of God. Very often, even in churches where spiritual gifts are practiced, it is Scripture that is appealed to in terms of deciding on which gifts may be acceptable, and/or how they should be practiced. It is important to remember that the Scriptures or Bible is not one book, but a collection of many books and letters written by different people over a long time. The position that R. M. Horn, a respected fundamentalist, takes and which other Christians may well take is that God is active in all of history. He is a sovereign God, in control of all things. However, God discloses himself in only some history. Furthermore, though God has acted, these actions are open to wide interpretations by different people who bring different world views to such events. However, Horn argues. God HAS spoken and given us His servants to interpret these events for us in the correct way. Thus:-
The Exodus is interpreted for us by Moses, but the Egyptians, who had no revelation, interpreted the events in a different way.
The Apostles interpret the Crucifixion for us and to some extent the Old Testament writers, but it has different interpretations by others who have had no revelation.
Peter interprets Pentecost for us, but the bystanders who had no revelation interpreted the events as the result of too much wine.
Therefore, R. M. Horn argues, a God given interpretation must accompany facts and events. Horn is certainly right to argue that facts do not speak for themselves. All facts are perceived through the 'spectacles' of our world view, which we use to interpret facts and events, which im- bues them with values and which causes us to be selective in our attention. Revelation, argues Horn is events plus God given Interpretation. Horn further argues that this is why Scripture is in the form that it is. It sometimes appears to put great emphasis on apparently trivial historical facts, whilst ignoring what we would consider to be apparently import- ant historical events. Scripture selects and interprets events in history to bring out meaning without contradicting history. Therefore Scripture is not just a collection of catechisms or doctrinal propositions or a list of commands. God speaks in a personal way through Scripture, often using analogy to illustrate the nature and character of God. The claim that the Scriptures have no mistakes in them and are the inspired Word of God, and that they alone are to be the authoritative guide and rule for Christi- an faith and conduct is the particular Interest of this article. I have already tried to show, using ideas drawn from the Scriptures themselves that there are a number of ways in which God may reveal His will, pur- poses and commands to people, quite apart from Scripture itself. This immediately puts doubt on the idea that Scripture ALONE is the authoritative rule. But I am now going to examine these ideas about Scripture a little further by asking some more questions.
3) What does the word canon mean?
The word 'canon' means 'measuring rod' or 'rule'. When applied to sac- red writings, it refers to those writings which can be used as an authoritative measure in determining matters of religious conduct, issues of faith, and matters to do with God, His nature, will, commands and so on.
4) Which sacred writings are in the canon of Scripture?
There are 39 books in the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. There are 27 books in the New Testament consisting of the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, letters by the Apostle Paul, and some other books including Revelation.
5) Has God told us directly which books are to be included in the can- on of Scripture?
No. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles gave us a list of books that would make up the canon of Scripture. They sometimes quoted from books in- cluded in the canon, but also from other sacred writings also, such as the book of Enoch quoted in Jude.
6) Does this mean that there were other sacred, religious writings in existence?
Yes. There are works such as the books of the Wars of the Lord, the Letter of Barnabas, I Clement, the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Shepherd of Hermas, Ecclesiasticus, the Wisdom of Solomon and Esdras. Some of these books have been lost and their existence is known of because they are quoted from in parts of Scripture. Others are still in existence. Some of them are contained in the Apocrypha, a collection of writings from between the Old Testament and New Testament writings.
7) Were all these books and letters genuine religious writings, written by people close to God or moved by the Holy Spirit?
Many were written by sincere believers and leaders of believers, but also, there were many false books and letters, especially as the New Testament age began. To make things even more complicated, both be- lievers and unbelievers considered it quite normal to write a letter or book but sign it in the name of an Apostle or leader. This was not necessarily thought of as deceitful, but rather, the work, if written by a believer, was considered to be a reflection of that leader's or Apostle's teaching. So, there were many religious writings, claiming authoritative writers, some were genuine, some were written by faithful believers, some were forgeries.
8) Who decided which books to Include in the canon of Scripture and which to leave out?
Essentially, the community of believers, especially through the guidance of its leaders, made these decisions over a long period of time.
9) How was the Hebrew or Old Testament canon formed?
No record exists of how this came about. We can only make a reconstruction that seems reasonable. The following factors seem to be involved:-
i) Sacred writings were certainly treated with respect and care. For ex- ample, the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments were care- fully placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
ii) Israel almost certainly followed other countries in its dealings with sacred literature. For example, a body of official, standardised religious literature existed in Mesopotamia 2000 years B.C. temples.
iii) It appears that sacred documents were carefully stored in temples.
v) The Old Testament can be divided into three groups:
THE TORAH - the books of the Law- that make up the first five books of the Old Testament were treated in this way, and their canonisation probably took place in the period of the exile in Babylon, when the na- tional identity of Israel was under threat, between 600 and 538 B.C..
THE NEVIIM - the prophets- were probably assembled and ordered during the Persian period. Israel's exile in Babylon and later restoration greatly increased the reputation of the prophets. Their canonisation probably took place somewhere between 500 and 300 B.C.
THE KETUVIM - the rest of the books- were debated over for some time. It seems as though the debate was finally settled at a synod, or meeting of religious leaders at Jabneh in 100 A.D. Again, the destruction of the Jewish state and a collapse of the Jewish central authority following it's overthrow by Rome, made it important to identify a canon or measure of faith, an authoritative collection of sacred writings which would not be added to.
10) Was this particular selection of books accepted by all Jews?
No. The Samaritans only accepted the first five books, the books of Moses. The Alexandrian Jews rearranged the Prophets and the rest of the books into categories of history, poetry, wisdom and prophecy. Esther and Daniel contained extra material. Other books were also mixed in, such as I Esdras, Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Solomon.
11) How did New Testament believers react to Jewish sacred writings and form an Old Testament canon of their own?
Christianity arose out of Judaism, and the Church received its Old Testament canon from Greek speaking Jews. Most converts were Hellen- istic, and the Greek Bible of Alexandria became the official Bible of the Christian community. Some writings, written late in the Old Testament period and now known as the Apocrypha, (containing Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom of Solomon and Maccabees, amongst others), were part of the canon, but people were not united as to their Inclusion. Some early Christian leaders, such as Origen, only had 22 books in their canon, and Josephus, a Jewish historian also only had 22 books. Eventually, the Apocryphal books were rejected by Protestants, but Included by Roman Catholics.
12) How was the New Testament canon formed?
The 27 New Testament books are what are left of many 1st and 2nd century religious writings considered sacred by Christian groups. There was a continuous Interplay between historical and theological writings such that the church finally selected these 27 books in the 4th century. As we have seen, many books were written by different authors, and by the mid 2nd century there began to be an awareness of history by the Christian community… the Apostles had died, Christ had died and ascended, but not yet returned, and a clearer difference was becoming plain between the time of Christ and the Apostles, and the later situation that believers now found themselves in. The actual process of canonisation was long and fluid, such that some churches held certain books to be canonical, which other churches did not. In the main, the church stressed the gospels, the letters of the Apostles and their lives and the tradition of the Apostles. By the late 2nd century, canons similar to the present one were in evidence, though different churches used different canons. Some churches were quite unconcerned about canons, and Clement of Alexandria made use of the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Letter of Barnabas and others. These varieties continued through the third century A.D.. The disputes seemed to be settled at a council of leaders in Carthage in 397 and 27 books were accepted as canonical. Even so, in later documents, there is sometimes no distinction between these and other material such as the Shepherd of Hermas and I & II Clement. By the 1500's with the church in reformation and Counter Reformation, the disputes continued. The council of Trent set the canon as the Vulgate… Jerome's Latin ver- sion, whilst on the side of the reformers, Luther rejected Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation, though he bowed to tradition, placing these at the end of his New Testament. Calvin doubted that Peter was the author of II Peter, and rejected Revelation. These reformers continued the tradition of examining documents for their qualities of authorship, to see if they were suitable for Inclusion in a set of documents used as a measuring rod and authoritative guide for faith.
13) Why was the New Testament canon formed?
The Christian communities had relied for some time on an oral tradition: accounts handed down from one to another by word of mouth, but after the Apostles had died, this began to deteriorate. By the end of the 1st Century there was also a conscious production of gospels, such as 'The sayings of Christ' which began to contradict the tradition of the Apostles being handed down by word of mouth, and these were seen as heresy: that is, contrary to normal standards. There were also claims of revelations: of people being spoken to directly by the Holy Spirit, and re- ceiving hidden information, teachings and so on. Some of these were also suspected of being in error, and the church needed a once-and-for- all revelation. Also, a number of groups began to appear which were not considered as following normal Apostolic practice, such as the Gnostics, and charismatic Montanists who had ecstatic trances, visions and new revelations, and Marcion, who set up his own canon, or set of authoritat- ive books which rejected anything Jewish. Because of these kinds of problems, the church decided it needed an authoritative set of books that would not be added to, and which could be referred to in order to estab- lish standard practice and truth in an authoritative way.
14) What principles were used in forming the canon?
The principles that would be used began to emerge in the 2nd century. These were:-
i) Apostolicity.
ii) True doctrine.
iii) Widespread geographical use by churches.
Thus, the Shepherd of Hermas and I Clement were rejected, because though they contained true doctrine, they were not written by Apostles and/or were not widely used. In the 3rd century, Origen identified three classes of sacred writings:-
i) Those undisputed by the church of God throughout the known world.
ii) Those writings disputed by some in the churches:
II Peter.
II & III John.
Hebrews.
James.
Jude.
iii) Spurious writings - those not considered to be genuine or what they claimed to be, such as the Gospel of the Egyptians.
Eusebius in the 4th century identified matters in the following way:
i) Some books were universally accepted:
The 4 Gospels
Acts
14 letters of Paul, including Hebrews that was thought to be written by him.
I John.
I Peter.
ii) Disputed writings were of two kinds:
a) Those known and accepted by many –
James.
Jude.
II Peter.
II & III John.
b) Those called spurious but which were not impious or
Acts of Paul.
Shepherd of Hermas
Apocalypse of Peter.
Letter of Barnabas.
Didache.
Hebrews, possibly.
iii) Heretically spurious:
Gospel of Peter. Acts of John.
However, Eusebius felt free to make authoritative use of disputed writings. Certainly at this time, the canon and authoritative revelation are not yet considered as the same thing.
Athanasius, the 4th century Bishop of Alexandria helped settle the matter, and differences between eastern and western churches were sorted out at a council of leaders in 397 A.D.. 27 books of the New Testament were accepted. Nevertheless, in later documents there was still no distinction between these and other works such as the Letter of Barnabas.
At the protestant reformation, a protest against problems and corruptions in the Roman Catholic church, such that the church was reformed, or re organised, the Reformers again questioned the canon. Luther's principles were:
i) Apostolicity.
ii) That which leads to Christ.
Since he could not find this latter quality in Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation, he rejected them, though he bowed to tradition and included them at the end of his Bible. Calvin too rejected some books. All this suggests that with more and better evidence, the reformers would have continued the refining of which books and letters should be in the canon and which excluded.
This leaves a problem for fundamentalis