From Inspiration to Understanding. Edward W. H. Vick
Does the demand for obedience rest upon the demand for belief ?
10 RECAPITULATORY STATEMENT
1 Christians find themselves recognizing the authority of the Christian community with which they are connected.
2 The Christian community appeals to the Bible, as authority. At the same time it presents its teachings for acceptance as authoritative for the member.
3 By pronouncing that the Bible has authority, whether for doctrine, organisation, practice, the community is making a judgment about the Bible.
4 The community demands that such judgments, usually indeed a whole series of judgments, often in great detail, about the Bible be endorsed by the members of the community.
5 The believer’s acknowledgment means that he lets himself come under the influence of both the Bible and the ‘authority’ which interprets the Bible to him.
6 It is then his responsibility to assure himself that he is doing so for the right reasons. If he gives the right reasons he may be reasonably sure that he has not misconstrued the Bible, that his attitude to it is reasonable.
7 The authority of the Bible is not identical with its immediate applicability. The meaning of the biblical passages is arrived at through interpretation.
26 C. Evans, op. cit., p. 24
27 Reported in Eusebius, HE, VI, 25, 11-14 Cf. Stephenson, A New Eusebius, p. 223.
28 Adam Fox, Meet the Greek Testament, pp. 16-17. ‘I am not sure if John in all the five cases where his name indicates an author is the same John, nor whether he is John the son of Zebedee one of the Twelve, nor another John, the aged divine of Ephesus, or a young disciple of the Lord outside the circle of the Twelve. I am not sure if Matthew whose name is connected with the first Gospel is the same as Levi, called from the receipt of custom to be one of the twelve (Mark 2:14). I do not know who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews or the Second Epistle of Peter. I do, however, know a great deal about Paul and Luke and I feel fairly certain that between them they wrote about half the New Testament.’
29 Evans, op. cit., pp. 25-27.
30 Ibid., p. 25.
31 Cf. Article, Authority in Paul Edwards (editor), The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Vol. 1, p. 216. ‘A person may fall in with another’s suggestions, however, not precisely because he feels that he has a duty to obey, but because the other person is an authority, meaning that he is believed to possess expert knowledge and therefore the right to be listened to because he knows what he is talking about. This is the borderline case between authority and influence. The authority of the expert . . . involves the notion of someone qualified to speak. It presupposes standards by which expertise is assessed and recognized, for example, degrees or professional reputation. Evidence of this kind serve (sic) as reasons why laymen should take the expert’s word without understanding his reasons, even without asking for them.’
32 Quoted in P. Edwards, op. cit., p. 215.
33 Cf. the excerpt in Sociological Perspectives, Edited by Kenneth Thompson and Jeremy Tunstall, pp. 67-79.
34 Cf. W.P. Montague, The Ways of Knowing, pp. 39-53.
35 Ibid. p.49.
36 J.K.S. Reid, The Authority of the Bible, p. 235.
37 C.H. Dodd, The Authority of the Bible, pp. 25-26.
38 Ibid., p. 265 (italics in original).
39 Ibid., p. 268.
40 lbid., p. 270.
41 Ibid., p. 271.
42 Ibid., p.273.
43 John Baillie, The Idea of Revelation in Recent Thought, p. 117.
44 See below, chapter VI.
45 J. Nowal Geldenhuys, ‘Authority and the Bible’ in Carl F.H. Henry (editor), Revelation and the Bible., p. 384.
46 I Corinthians 14:34-35.
47 I Cointhians 7:1, 38.
48 John 9:6.
49 I Corinthians 6:1-9.
50 I Cointhians 7:10, 11.
51 J.K.S. Reid, op. cit., pp. 235-236.
52 Geldenhuys, Ibid.
53 Patrick Boyle, ‘Evidence for the Book’, Focus, p. 10.
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER IV - AUTHORITY: A SERIES OF MISTAKES
There are wrong reasons for taking the Bible to be authoritative.
We now examine ten such reasons.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.