Biblical Inspiration and Authority

At District Conference last week, a query was brought to the conference by the Hopewell congregation that asked the question: “Does the Church of the Brethren still affirm the Bible as God’s Holy Word, embracing Scripture as the authoritative guide for our lives?” This query was returned to the congregation, but the issue is likely to return at next year’s District Conference. The discussion at the conference made it clear that there are some in our district, and perhaps in our congregation, who are not clear on what our denomination says on the issues of Biblical inspiration and authority. In addition, I have taken some time this week to look again at my understanding of these two important, interconnected issues. In thinking about this, my position does hold that the scriptures are authoritative in our lives as believers, and that they are inspired by God.

I read through the 1979 Annual Conference statement “Biblical Inspiration and Authority,” which has served our denomination well over the past 32 years. This paper offers several different views on Biblical authority and inspiration that are present within our denomination, including two which speak very closely to my own approach to these issues.

The first of these statements indicates “A third group of Brethren point to Christ as the only perfect Word of God. The Old Testament is judged by the New Testament, the whole Bible by the witness of Jesus Christ, our supreme authority. Jesus' teachings are the basic guide for faith and practice, the canon within the canon. The Bible was created by interaction between God and people and is a mixture of human frailty and the perfect wisdom of God. It points beyond itself to God.”[1] According to this view, the Bible must be interpreted in light of the New Testament, basing our beliefs and practices on Jesus’ teachings, and comes out of the interaction between humanity and God.

The second statement indicates “Another group of Brethren emphasize the Bible's roots in the faith community—written by the faith community, for the faith community. It is salvation history, the record of God's action. The focus of inspiration is the people. ‘The Bible is the touchstone to measure our experience against the record of God's interaction with his people. The authority is in the words and spirit, checked by Christian community today, a continuing channel for God's revelation.’ Themes and principles are emphasized in presenting its message for our day.”[2] The key part of this is the understanding that it is the experience of God by the Biblical writers that provides the authority and inspiration of the Bible. The Bible was not dictated word for word by God to the Biblical writers, instead, it was inspired by their continuing quest to understand their encounters with God.

I would certainly urge each of us to read through the entirety of the 1979 paper, which is linked to in my footnotes below. In addition to this, I would also like to provide a link to some reflections on the Biblical text by Joshua Brockway, who is the Director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship for the denomination. He has written two blog posts on this issue, located here and here. I would love to hear from individuals in our congregation about their views on these two issues.

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[1] http://cobannualconference.org/ac_statements/79BiblicalInspiration%26Authority.htm, accessed 17 November 2011.

[2] Ibid.