The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Scripture's authority is from God, not the church

From John Calvin, in his Institutes 1:7:1:

But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the church. As if the eternal and inviolable truth of God depended upon the decision of men! For they mock the Holy Spirit when they ask: Who can convince us that Scripture has come down whole and intact even to our very day? Who can persuade us to receive one book in reverence but to exclude another, unless the church prescribe a sure rule for all these matters? What reverence is due Scripture and what books ought to be reckoned within its canon depend, they say, upon the determination of the church. Thus these sacrilegious men, wishing to impose an unbridled tyranny under the cover of the church, do not care with what absurdities they ensnare themselves and others, provided they can force this idea upon the simple-minded: that the church has authority in all things. Yet, if this is so, what will happen to miserable consciences seeking firm assurance of eternal life if all promises of it consist in and depend solely upon the judgment of men? Will they cease to vacillate and tremble when they receive such an answer? Again, to what mockeries of the impious is our faith subjected, into what suspicion has it fallen among all men, if we believe that it has a precarious authority dependent solely upon the good pleasure of men!

Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Thanks, Kyle

Kyle,

I once started to write down some of the beautiful things that I had found in The Institutes. I soon found out that I would save a lot of time if I just bought another copy as I couldn't leave anything out and was beginning to transcribe every word.

PLEASE don't get me started quoting Calvin but I guess it's to late now. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/broke.gif" alt="" />

Concerning the authority of Scripture and the Spirit:

"God did not bring forth His Word among men for the sake of a momentary display, intending at the coming of His Spirit to abolish it. Rather He send down the same Spirit by whose power He had dispensed the Word, to complete His work by the efficacious confirmation of the Word."

And in another place in the same chapter:

"the Word is the instrument by which the Lord dispenses the illumination of His Spirit to believers."

Institutes 1-9-3

In Him

Denny

Roms. 3:22-24

Kyle and Denny,

I appreciate your quotes from Calvin's Institutes. It’s amazingly beautiful how Calvin articulated these things in his commentary and in the Institutes. His reverence for God’s Word is lacking in many writers in our day. Even Scripture itself speaks to the trustworthiness of God’s Word as delivered by the Prophets and exemplified in God’s Son.

The church does not have the authority to add to God's Word nor establish new traditions as the RC church has done. Rather it has the responsibility to conform to it. This is primarily where the church goes wrong both historically and in our day.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word:

2 Peter 1:16-21 (NKJV)

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."


God has revealed Himself, His will, and His plan for our salvation in His Word. Unfortunately we live in a generation where even many churches have a very low view of Scripture. I believe this is the primary reason the church has such a poor witness to the Gospel in our day.


Wes

Denny,


We are actually reading parts of the Institutes for a religion class at my university, "Christianity and Modern Culture." From the assigned readings I came across this passage about the authority of Scripture. Calvin's writing strikes me, too, as eminently beautiful in so many places, truly a reflection of his reverence for God and His Word.

This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in the days of the glorious Protestant Reformation.


No man can read the history of Christendom as it was five hundred years ago, and not see that darkness covered the whole professing Church of Christ, even a darkness that could be felt. So great was the change which had come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen from the dead he would not have recognised it, and would have thought that heathenism had revived again. The doctrines of the Gospel lay buried under a dense mass of human traditions. Penance's, and pilgrimages, and indulgences, relic-worship, and image-worship, and saint-worship, and worship of the Virgin Mary, formed the sum and substance of most people’s religion. The Church was made an idol. The priests and ministers of the Church usurped the place of Christ. And by what means was all this miserable darkness cleared away? By simply bringing forth once more the Bible.


It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his friends, which established Protestantism in Germany. The great weapon which overthrew the Roman Catholic Church’s power in that country, was Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German tongue. It was not merely the writings of English Reformers which threw down Roman Catholicism in England. The seeds of the work carried forward were first sown by Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible many years before. It was not merely the quarrel of Henry VIII and the Pope of Rome, which loosened the Pope’s hold on English minds. It was the royal permission to have the Bible translated and set up in churches, so that every one who wanted might read it. Yes! it was the reading, and circulation of the Scripture which mainly established the cause of Protestantism in England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without it the people would probably have returned to their former bondage when the first reformers died. But by the reading of the Bible the public mind became gradually leavened with the principles of true religion. Men’s eyes became thoroughly open. Their spiritual understandings became thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of Roman Catholicism became distinctly visible. The excellence of the pure Gospel became a rooted idea in their hearts. It was then in vain for Popes to thunder forth excommunications. It was useless for Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course of Protestantism by fire and sword. It was all too late. The people knew too much. They had seen the light. They had heard the joyful sound. They had tasted the truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had fallen from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed work within them, and that work was not to be overthrown. The people would not return to Egypt. The clock could not be pushed back again. A mental and moral revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God’s Word. Those are the true revolutions which the Bible effects. What are all the revolutions which France and England have gone through, compared to these? No revolutions are so bloodless, none so satisfactory, none so rich in lasting results, as the revolutions accomplished by the Bible!

Bible-Reading by Dr. J. C. Ryle


"You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you have the Bible in your hands; therefore be not contented in possessing but little of this treasure. God hath spoken much to you in the Scripture; labor to understand as much of what he saith as you can. God hath made you all reasonable creatures; therefore let not the noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neglected. Content not yourselves with...divine truth...you accidentally gain in conversation; but let it be very much your business to search for it, and that with the same diligence and labor with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver and gold."

JONATHAN EDWARDS


The Erosion of Authority
Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has separated Scripture from its authoritative function. In practice, the church is guided, far too often, by the culture. Therapeutic technique, marketing strategies, and the beat of the entertainment world often have far more to say about what the church wants, how it functions and what it offers, than does the Word of God. Pastors have neglected their rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music. As biblical authority has been abandoned in practice, as its truths have faded from Christian consciousness, and as its doctrines have lost their saliency, the church has been increasingly emptied of its integrity, moral authority and direction.

Rather than adapting Christian faith to satisfy the felt needs of consumers, we must proclaim the law as the only measure of true righteousness and the gospel as the only announcement of saving truth. Biblical truth is indispensable to the church's understanding, nurture and discipline.

Scripture must take us beyond our perceived needs to our real needs and liberate us from seeing ourselves through the seductive images, cliches, promises and priorities of mass culture. It is only in the light of God's truth that we understand ourselves aright and see God's provision for our need. The Bible, therefore, must be taught and preached in the church. Sermons must be expositions of the Bible and its teachings, not expressions of the preacher's opinions or the ideas of the age. We must settle for nothing less than what God has given.

The work of the Holy Spirit in personal experience cannot be disengaged from Scripture. The Spirit does not speak in ways that are independent of Scripture. Apart from Scripture we would never have known of God's grace in Christ. The biblical Word, rather than spiritual experience, is the test of truth.

From The Cambridge Declaration
of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals


Who should have the power of interpreting Scripture?

The Papists assert that it is the power of the church. If you ask whom they mean by the church, they say, The Pope, who is head of it, and he is infallible. But this assertion is false, because many of the Popes have been ignorant and vicious, Platina affirms, who writes the lives of Popes. Pope Liberius was an Arian, and Pope John xii denied the immortality of the soul; therefore Popes are not fit interpreters of Scripture; who then?

The Scripture is to be its own interpreter, or rather the Spirit speaking in it. Nothing can cut the diamond but the diamond; nothing can interpret Scripture but Scripture. But the question is concerning hard places of Scripture, where the weak Christian is ready to wade beyond his depth; who shall interpret here?

The church of God has appointed some to expound and interpret Scripture; therefore he has given gifts to men. The several pastors of churches, like bright constellations, give light to dark Scriptures.

A Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson.


From darkness to light,
Sola Dei Gloria!

Dave.