Aspects of the Authority Crisis

I. The Nature of Scripture

The Bible is God's self-revelation. Its objective is that the reader comes to KNOW GOD. This objective does not refer to a cognitive process, for that is precisely how the Bible DOES NOT treat the knowledge of God. Rather, knowing God comes from shared experiences with Him (including reflective reading and personal meditation on Scripture), and results in becoming more like him. It is essential to have a worldview with God firmly enthroned in the center--not a God known only through a memorized list of attributes, but one personally experienced through shared stories and a personal relationship.3

The problem is that people can distort the Bible by trying to make it something that it is not. It has long been recognized that since the Bible is not a systematic theology textbook, or a science textbook, or an apologetics manual, that to extract its truths through those filters represents a degree of danger. Anytime someone places such a filter or "grid" on the text, he/she risks devaluing its message and imposing on its authority, for it is forced to answer questions instead of being allowed to speak freely as God's Word. Haddon Robinson has attempted to bring this problem to the attention of preachers by posing a question by which they can evaluate their approach.

Do you, as a preacher, endeavor to bend your thoughts to the Scriptures, or do you use the Scriptures to support your thought? This is not the same question as, "Is what you are preaching orthodox or evangelical?" Nor is it the same as, "Do you hold a high view of the Bible or believe it to be the infallible Word of God?"4

The same evaluative question could and should be applied to the writing of currlcu1um. Scripture must be allowed to speak its own message. Though the teaching of Scripture should always be presented in age-appropriate ways, a developmental or behavioral grid must not be allowed to interfere with the teaching of the text.

When the Bible is allowed to speak freely from its own vantage point and serving its own agenda, without demands being made of it, it is easier for the reader to be open to what it is trying to teach us. The stories of the Bible, as part or God's self-revelation, are stories about God. A person should come to know God by seeing the things that He has done. The historical narratives, for instance, help the reader to move beyond simply using a list of attributes to try to define God in some abstract sense. Rather, the reader may come to know God by seeing His sovereignty, His grace, His justice, His faithfulness, His compassion, expressed through His interaction with His people and His creation. In this way the authoritative Word of God points unerringly to a knowledge of our sovereign Lord.