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I love God’s Story, Scripture, the Bible. I do believe that this text holds divinely inspired words. I’ve devoted the majority of my adult years to the study and interpretation of this text (and will continue to do so).
But God’s Story is not my final authority; rather God’s self is. Allow me to detail why the Bible should not be the final authority for any one, any church, any community that seeks to follow Jesus Christ.
The Unhelpful Age of Reason
Not until we entered the age of Enlightenment in human history, did the church begin to adopt a dogma that dictates Holy Scripture is solidified, unchanging, and the ultimate authority for all truth. Before this age of reason in the last 300 years or so, we Christians approached Scripture through a lens similar to our Jewish spiritual ancestors. Scripture was a living document, with meaning that could evolve over time, with truths that were shaped by a believing community in dialogue with the text.
Shortly after the Councils of Nicaea (mid-300s AD) the biblical cannons of Old and New Testaments were solidified for most of the Western and Eastern church. And it is true that at this time the universal church determined to place itself under the authority of the biblical cannon.
But just because a community of people places itself under the authority of a document (or in this case a collection of diverse documents) doesn’t mean that the document is the final authority.
A Chain of Command
Let me give you a corporate example. In a typical organization there is a chain of command. As an employee of an organization, let’s say you must agree to an “employee manual” of some kind. You have now placed yourself under the authority of this document. But, depending on how your organization is structured, there is a greater authority which may be the CEO, the governing board, or the shareholders. The “employee manual” is merely a document that serves a role of authority in subjection to the greater authority.
So, too, with Holy Scripture.
Though the church is under the authority of Scripture, the biblical text is under the authority of the Triune God … more specifically the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Tweet this
Therefore, my final authority is Jesus Christ himself, and by extension the Triune God.
What Does This Mean For Our Approach to Scripture?
Firstly, we must accept that even the people contained within the pages of the scriptural story reinterpreted the Scripture all the time.
The prophets are a good example. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others consistently reimagined the meanings and narratives contained within the Pentateuch (first five books of our Old Testament). Depending on each individual’s particular context, they shaped the meaning and nuance of the creation story, the exodus, the inhabiting of the promised land, etc. This is interpretive work.
Jesus changed scripture numerous times. Yes, changed it. He often quoted Hebrew Scripture then dismissed it and laid down a new interpretation (“You’ve heard this, but now I say to you …”). He was adept at quoting Scripture while interjecting new words or turns of phrases. This is interpretive work.
Paul quotes very often from the Psalter and the Prophets, many times changing the particular wording of what he’s quoting. This is interpretive work. In this case, we have Paul reinterpreting prophets who reinterpreted Scripture. So the interpretation of the text has reached the third level already!
The interpretive work of the prophets, Jesus, and the early apostles was not something that was supposed to stop in the first-century church. It is an ongoing hermeneutic (a method or theory of textual analysis and interpretation) that is very much alive in theologians today. But it is meant to be done in the context of the believing community.
Secondly, we would stop using isolated scriptures as a form of proof-texting. The Bible is so full of competing ideologies, interpretations, nuances, and accounts that it yields only one essential truth for the Jesus-follower: Jesus is the Christ, the Living God, the Second Person of the Triune God, who humbled himself, died, rose again to defeat death, and is alive today with his Spirit residing in the believing community.
That’s it! The only essential for Christian faith!
Thirdly, we would dialogue with others and our Living Lord in a more honest way. Instead of ending conversations and debates with “the Bible says” trite statements, we’d stay on our knees until they blister, guided by the presence of the Living Word in how, as a community, to interpret Scripture into our context.
The Word Has Become Flesh and Blood
If Scripture is indeed a living document, enfleshed in the person of Jesus Christ, as it lives and moves and has its being, interpretation will indeed change. And this means that Sola Scriptura – the Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice – when used in isolation from the risen Christ is ultimately a flawed paradigm. Only Jesus Christ has supreme authority.
My final authority is the Word that became flesh and blood and moved into our world: Jesus of Nazareth who is now the resurrected Christ.