The Authority of Scripture in today’s world

THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE IN TODAY’S WORLD

CHAPTER THREE

from “COMMUNICATING THE WORD OF GOD. Practical Methods of Presenting the Biblical Message” by J N M Wijngaards, Theological Publications in India, Bangalore 560 055, 1974. First published in Great Britain in 1978 by MAYHEW-McCRIMMON LTD Great Wakering, Essex, England.

The whole book can be found online here: http://www.johnwijngaards.com/contents-communicating-word/ .

Power’ has been defined as the ability to make one’s own values and aims accepted by others; the ability to influence others; the ability to limit another person’s alternatives of behaviour. ‘Authority’ is commonly understood as the legitimate use of such power.

Considered in itself the authority of Scripture will not change or diminish in the course of time, as it proceeds from the power of the Almighty itself. However, as authority necessarily terminates in society, and thus in human persons belonging to a specific age and culture, the authority of the Scriptures will also depend on the changes affecting society in a particular age and culture. The question: ‘What is the authority of Scripture today?’ is therefore a very relevant one. We might paraphrase it as meaning: ‘How can Scripture influence the people of our own age?’ It is this aspect that I would like to discuss, restricting myself to a few salient points and observations.

I believe that the crisis of authority in modern society is an important factor that should not be overlooked. Added to this, we find that modern secularism seems to reject the very idea of a Revelation as such. In spite of these negative factors, or perhaps as a reaction to them, the Gospel seems to be stirring in many Christians a new ‘Holy Disquiet’. This holds the promise of great possibilities.

THE CRISIS OF AUTHORITY

Research on attitudes among youth has amply demonstrated that present day society is undergoing a crisis of authority. The reasons for this crisis have to be sought in the sociological changes taking place.

First of all, in our times, more than ever before, people are flooded by a multiplicity of contradictory statements and opinions.

Through the modern means of communication, people soon learn to see that the same event can be reported in different ways, can be variously interpreted and may lead to opposing views. Every opinion is to some extent relative. This basic possibility of contradiction is the first reason for the shaking of confidence in authority.

The second reason lies in the conflict between the avowed aims of society and the realities of life. Education, for instance, promises a preparation for life, but in actual fact most subjects taught in secondary education have no direct bearing on the real problems of life, on economics, politics and human relationships. A similar conflict is experienced between the licence promoted by modern society in films and novels on the one hand, and the public defence of morality on the other. To modern youth it often seems that society no longer knows any more what it wants, and that authority virtually stands for the maintenance of that society.

The third reason for a crisis in authority is a renewed appreciation of the individuality and liberty of every person. Freedom in every respect, with regard to the choice of one’s life-partner, with regard to one’s profession, or the exercise of one’s religious convictions, are values accepted everywhere. On the other hand, conventions, tradi tions and the ‘establishment’ are being discredited. Authority, which is often experienced as a curtailing of freedom, finds it more difficult to justify itself.

Undoubtedly this attitude towards authority has also had an influence on the authority of the Bible. Paul Tillich draws attention to this in a sermon on Jesus’ authority.* Having introduced Jesus’ discussions with the chief priests on his authority (Lk 20,1-28), he observes:

Jesus, as well as his foes, acknowledges authority. They struggle about valid authority, not about authority as such. And this is what we find everywhere in the Bible and the life of the Church.

Paul fights with the original disciples, including Peter, about the foundations of apostolic authority. The bishops fight with the enthusiasts about the leadership in the Church.

The popes fight with the princes about the ultimate source of political authority.

The reformers fight with the hierarchs about the interpretation of the Bible.

The theologians fight with the scientists about the criteria of ultimate truth.

None of the struggling groups denies authority, but each of them

denies the authority of the other group.

But if the authority is split in itself, which authority decides? Is not split authority the end of authority? Was not the split produced by the Reformation the end of the authority of the Church? Is not the split about interpretation of the Bible the end of the Biblical authority? Is not the split between theologians and scientists the end of intellectual authority? Is not the split between father and mother the end of parental authority? Was not the split between the gods of polytheism the end of their divine authority? Is not the split in one’s conscience the end of the authority of one’s conscience? If one has to choose between different authorities, not they but oneself is ultimate authority for oneself, and this means: there is no authority for him.

Footnote: *The New Book, P. Tillich.

Fig. 5. Typical modern mix-up. From “Punch ’, 28 Sept. 1977.

SECULARISM AND THE IDEA OF REVELATION

According to the traditional Christian concepts, revelation means ‘God speaking to men’. To describe this concept in crude terms: Almighty God, who lives in the heavens above the heavens, has spoken to man through his mediators, the prophets. In the course of time, God sent his only-begotten Son, who was born into the world as a child of Mary, and who thus, as the God-man, became the tangible self-manifestation of God: ‘The Word became flesh’. The revelation given by God through his prophets and especially through his own Son, was expressed in writing in the Holy Scriptures. These Scriptures, however much written under the instrumentality of man, should be considered therefore the very word of God himself.

This traditional view of revelation and inspiration has been undermined by our modern scientific world outlook. To the men of old, the world in which we live was a strange mixture of the secular and the Divine. God’s presence and direct intervention were seen in natural events, in supposed miracles and in the acquisition of new knowledge. To men of our age God speaking through human mediators, the incarnation and the inspiration of the holy writings seem to be part of that ancient mythopoeic thinking. This is all the more so because of our present-day knowledge of comparative religion. In practically all major religions we find the conviction that God has spoken through holy men, that God has manifested himself in various forms, and that God’s word has found expression in sacred writings.

Many attempts on the part of Christian belief and Christian theology have been made to answer this objection. However, in my opinion a comprehensive and convincing answer has not yet been found or at least has not yet been sufficiently accepted everywhere. As a result, there is real confusion among many Christians and theologians. In spite of their continuing belief and readiness to respond to God’s self-revelation, they are unable to outline the theoretical justification for revelation and inspiration in our secularised world. College students will tell us: “The Bible is out of date. Like all the other sacred books of the world, the Bible presents a view of the world that no longer fits our society. Religion with its stress on miracles, divine interventions, revelation and divinely dictated writings simply belongs to the past”.

This secularist objection to the Bible is perhaps the greatest factor undermining the authority of Scripture today. I am convinced that the Bible will lose its hold on believers if we do not formulate a convincing answer to this objection. And it is a fact that in spite of all our goodwill and the intense efforts of so many scholars, we are still basically groping in the dark and looking for a renewed insight that will integrate our acceptance of a personal and self-revealing God, into our modern view of the world. Until this has been achieved, the authority of Scripture will necessarily be on the wane.

However, there is a consoling observation that we can make. Often in the history of Christianity, living Christian faith has preceded theological understanding. A new sense of mystery raises its head. This renewed response to the biblical message, then often points to better things to come in the theology of the future.

THE GOSPEL AND HOLY DISQUIET

The present crisis in Christianity, caused as it has been by the changing sociological and ideological structures of mankind, has at the same time given rise to a renewed understanding of the Gospel as the norm of perpetual self-criticism and the cause of lasting holy unrest. The characteristic Christian of today turns away from man-made beliefs, customs and practices, and tries to put himself once more under the immediate influence of Jesus’ authoritative words.

A fore-runner of this new understanding of Scripture was Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He was one of the first to develop what we might call the theology of‘disquiet’. *(1)

“Just as a fisherman, after he has set out his nets, brings moved ment into the water to drive the fish towards the nets and thus to catch more; just as the hunter employs a group of drivers to encircle a part of the forest and to make them drive the wild animals to the place where he is ready to shoot them, so God himself tries to catch those who want to receive his love by means of disquiet among men. Christianity is disquiet of the strongest intensity and the greatest extent; one cannot imagine a disquiet greater than this; it strives to bring man’s existence to disquiet until man’s deepest kernel has been affected, until everything is blown up and everything has faded. Wherever someone becomes Christian, there disquiet will be present and wherever someone was Christian in the past there disquiet can be shown” (11d,2:8.29).

“Spirit is disquiet; Christianity is the deepest kind of disquiet brought about in existing structures, as we find written in the New Testament. However, many Christians have made Christianity into a reason for complacency, ‘ so that we may enjoy life fullyd’d d”(11,2a 317).

In his book on The End of Conventional Christianity, Dr. W.H. van de Pol *(2)describes how the pillars of conventional Christian belief and practice have been shaken by theology over the past 50 years. He shows that, apart from outside reasons leading to the re appraisal of true Christian values, there has been in the movement itself a genuine core of renewed understanding of Scripture. Also in its most radical form, in the ‘God-is-Dead Theology’, there remains in reformed Christianity a final and irrevocable appeal to the authority of Jesus’ challenging words.

Among many Christians there is a strong conviction that the decline of conventional Christianity is just as unavoidable as the death of God in our secular society. This conviction itself rests on the belief that conventional Christianity with its official bourgeois morals has become in fact a radical negation of the message of Jesus of Nazareth. Pierre Barton who wrote a book The Comfortable Pew at the invitation of the Anglican Synod of Canada, and who has already sold more than 10,000 copies of it, was led by this conviction about conventional Christianity to break with any Christian church. But he does not want to break with the Jesus of Nazareth. Conventional Christianity and the preaching of Jesus are being contrasted with one another ever more. This is expressed equally forcefully in the exceptionally rich and captivating book of Werner and Lotte Pelz God is No More.’’

What is true of theology, also proves to be true of the life of many ordinary Christians. In an analysis of the renewal of Christian faith among intellectuals of Europe, Simon Jelsma *(3)contrasts the complacency and self-assurance of many conventional Christians with the new attitudes of reformed Christians. In his exposition he claims to be especially influenced by his experience with Roman Catholic college students. When describing these young intellectuals, whom he calls the ‘rebel Christians’, he writes as follows:

The rebels discover a world full of questions, responsibilities, challenges, risks and expectations. They want to live and work in this dynamic world. They rise and make ready to leave the old, dilapidated building of the past. Tents and camping equipment are taken for the journey. Before them they see the endless desert. At the other side of the horizon they know there will be the promised land. God is a story. Every day they have to rise again and continue the journey. While walking on the track they sing and pray. At night they make camp as possibilities allow them. They dream of new perspectives, of liberation, of happiness, of the end of a reign of terror. From day to day they have to seek oases, new wells, food for one day. The weather and the colour of the sky change and keep changing. Life means for them living in open space and being always on the move. The security of enclosure no longer exists.

By becoming again ‘the desert church’ some Christians of today make themselves once more totally dependent on the Word of God. The very crisis which, at first sight, seemed to undermine the authority of the Bible today, would also seem to have become a providential setting in which the true function of God’s Word may be re-established for many.

I am far from suggesting that all is well in the State of Denmark. Our times are confusing and the confusion is one reason why people refer to the Bible less than they should. The points I want to make are:

1. There is a good reason for the confusion, viz. the search of theology for an adequate contemporary expression of faith. This search is important, it should continue and we should accept the unpleasant consequences of it.
2. The more radical Christian groups do not reject the Bible. In fact, all of us can learn from their determination to be true to the Gospel.

Footnote(1): *Kierkegaard, Een Keuze uit zijn Dagboeken, H. A. Munster. (author’s translation).

Footnote(2): *Het Einde van het Conventionele Christendom, W. H. van de Pol, (author’s translation)

Footnote(3): *Kerk in Opstand, S. Jelsma, (author’s translation).

SCRIPTURE IN THE PASTORAL MINISTRY

The whole situation reminds me somehow of the “temptations of St. James” – a popular theme in medieval stories and art. Twentieth- century snobs that we are, we smile at the naivety of ideas expressed in it. We feel ourselves much superior to the “unresolved conflict” they manifest. But are we really so superior? The exciting story of how Hermogenes the Magician (human wisdom!) sends a host of sinister allies to tempt St. James the Greater (faith), so masterfully depicted by Hieronymus Bosch (see Fig. 6), could well symbolize what is happening to many people today. The shapes and the forms are different today – Bosch understood that well! – but the reality of our faith being assaulted, and ourselves being “tempted” in many ways, can hardly be denied. Perhaps, the answer lies not so much in trying to meet Hermogenes on his own ground, as in putting oneself under the protection of the “angel of God”, as Bosch suggests in his painting!

Today, more than ever, the minister of the Word will have to spend all his energies on conveying the central message of the Bible itself. Fidelity to God’s word requires the ability to distinguish the ever-present and ever-relevant demand of God from what is passing and time-bound. The message of Scripture should be disentangled from religious concepts that are contrary to our modern scientific outlook or which have a theology of God and man that is unacceptable to contemporary society. This ‘demythologization’ will have to be done. We have to do it without doing an injustice to the revelation of God itself: this may prove a difficult task. While openly admitting the difficulty, let us not stop proclaiming the Word on account of that.

A NEW KIND OF AUTHORITY

Scripture has authority today, not only because it is the Word God spoke, but especially in the sense that it exercises an influence on people in their everyday lives. Theology’s inability to give a comprehensive and adequate reply to the intellectual queries of our age, need not stand in the way of Scripture addressing people in a meaningful way. In fact, it seems quite certain that this is the kind of authority the Bible is supposed to have. An unusual kind of authority, no doubt, but of the same kind as the authority exercised by Jesus. Two oracles of Isaiah may help us to reflect on this authority. They describe the “Servant of Yahweh”:

Fig. 6. Hermogenes directing the assaults on St. James. By Hieronymus Bosch.(1450-1516).

“This person is my servant. I uphold him.

He is the one I have elected.

I am pleased with him.

I have put my Spirit upon him.

It is his task to establish a just way of life for all mankind.

He does not cry out, nor shout aloud.

He does not make his voice heard in the street.

A damaged reed he does not break, nor quench a wavering flame.

But he establishes a just way of life by truth.

With unshakeable and unflinching determination he will eventually constitute a just way of life on the earth.

Eventually even the farthest lands will live by his guidance.” Is 42,1-4

“The Lord Yahweh has given me a disciple’s tongue.

He provides me with speech

so that I may know how to reply to the wearied.

Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple.

The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear.” Is 50,4-5

Is 42, 1-4 is an oracle. Yahweh is speaking. He is introducing a person to us and asserting that this person fulfils an important mission. Commentators used to be divided in opposing camps on the question whether Yahweh’s oracle refers to an individual person or to Israel as a nation. Now the opinions of commentators seem to converge towards an intermediate position. Yahweh introduces an ideal person who was originally understood more in terms of a future outstanding individual leader of supreme holiness (the messianic interpretation). For practical purposes we may call this new ideal person introduced by Yahweh “the new Israelite”.

A study of Deutero-Isaiah (Is 44-45) reveals to what kind of society this “new Israelite” belonged. Small groups of faithful Jews had returned to Palestine from their lands of exile. Generally speaking they were poor, badly organized, disheartened and constantly harrassed by enemies. They had very little political security to depend on. Their temple lay in ruins and even after it had been restored lacked the lustre of Solomon’s times. Material progress was hampered by frequent civil wars and heavy taxation on all income. From a religious point of view there was a good deal of uncertainty about the extent to which God’s promises were still holding good. It is against this background that we understand “the new Israelite”. He is a man of humble status, fighting the odds of adverse circumstances, but determined to be faithful to Yahweh.

There is little room for boasting or triumphalism in such a picture. There is little left of the glamour of a Moses, the victorious conquest of a Joshua or the majestic splendour of Solomon’s court. But here Yahweh’s oracle makes its first decisive pronouncement. Yahweh adopts this “new Israelite”. He is chosen by Yahweh to be his special instrument of salvation. The title “Yahweh’s servant” had always been reserved to great leaders as Moses (Dt 34,5; Jos 1,1-2; 1 Kgs 8,53.56; 2 Kgs 21,8); Joshua (Jos 24,29; Jdg 2,8), David (Ps 89, 3-20; 2 Sam 7,5; 1 Kgs 11,34) or the prophets in general (2 Kgs 17,13). Here Yahweh calls the new Israelite “my servant”. By this the new Israelite is raised to the status of being a new Moses, a new Joshua and a new David. Also, the Jews were well aware that God made a free use of his power to elect the instruments of Salvation. In this way he had “elected” Jacob rather than Esau (Dt 4,37; Mal 1,2), “elected” the Levites from all tribes (Dt 18,5; 21,5), “elected” Jerusalem rather than any other city for his temple (1 Kgs 8,44. 48; etc.) and “elected” the king who was pleasing to him (Dt 17,15). The new Israelite receives a similar election. Yahweh had fastened his love on him. He gives him his Spirit as he had done to his chosen leaders of the past.

Is 50,4-5 adds another dimension to the picture. Yahweh’s servant is also a disciple. He is a man under instruction, a man who lives from listening to God’s Word. In the past God’s Word had been spoken directly only to some privileged few, to mediators of the covenant and prophets. Now in this new era God addresses his new servant without such intermediaries. He speaks directly to him. He “has opened his ears”. The new servant of Yahweh wakes up every day to listen to the Word God will speak to him within the situation of that day.

THE UNEXPECTED TASK

Early Israelite theology was heavily self-centered. The emphasis fell on Yahweh’s election of the nation to the exclusion of other peoples (Ex 19, 5-6; Dt 7,6). Although Yahweh was considered in some way the God of all the nations, he was thought of as having singled out Israel for a specially close relationship (Dt. 32,8-9). Deutero-Isaiah revolutionizes this concept by asserting that God’s salvific Will embraces all the nations of the world. “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Is 52,10). “That my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Is 49,6). “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (Is 45,22). “That men may know, from the rising of the sun unto the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other” (Is 45,6). The stress is on the universal extent of the new Israelite’s mission. He has to work “for all mankind” (Is 42,1). His mission is not limited to Palestine, but extends to the whole world, even to the farthest lands (Is 42,4).

What message of salvation is it the new Israelite has to carry to the world? Other oracles of Deutero-Isaiah leave no doubt about the religious content of the message. The mission should lead all nations to acknowledge Yahweh as the only God. “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Is 45,23). The mission will only be completed when the nations of the earth will have come to Israel with the humble admission: “God is with you only and there is no other, no God besides him” (Is 45,14). This no doubt is the ultimate aim, the fulness of salvation, which will result from ever more non-Jewish nations giving up their superstitious and idolatrous practices and submitting whole-heartedly to Yahweh’s convenant.

In the particular oracles we are discussing now, stress is not laid directly on this religious function. Rather it is stated most forcibly that the new Israelite has to bring to mankind “a just way of life”, much in the same way as kings and political rulers are supposed to establish a realm of justice (see Jos 24,25; Ps 72,1 -4; 101,1 -8). Deutero-Isaiah himself interprets this future realm of justice to imply that the eyes that are blind will be opened, that prisoners will be brought out of jail: “from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Is 42,7). All through his prophecies we find the stress on this social dimension of the new servant’s mission. God is deeply concerned about the sub-human conditions of the people. “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them” (Is 41,17). “This is a people robbed and plundered. They are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons” (Is 42,22). With eyes of pity God looks down on the “have-nots” who suffer in jail, or hunger and thirst, or are smitten by the scorching wind and the sun (Is 49,7-10). It is the task of his servant to establish a human way of life for all mankind.

At this point the traditional Israelite would expect a command from God to initiate a new world wide holy war. He would expect a “military conquest of the earth”, much on the lines of the victorious occupation of Palestine in the past. The message of Deutero-Isaiah explicitly rejects such aconcept.The new Israelite will have to achieve his mission, not by violence or domination, but by persistent service and persuasion. He is tender-hearted and meek. He does not crush, even if he could easily do so, but tries to win the hearts of men by truth (Is 42, 2-3). Although suffering is not mentioned directly in Is 42,1-4, it is clearly implied. The real victory of Yahweh’s new servant will not lie in political power or military triumphs, but in delivering mankind through the vicarious sufferings and humiliations undertaken in his mission (Is 52,13-53,12). This is an entirely new and profound understanding of the way in which God will work salvation. To some extent Old Testament theology here reaches its climax. It prepares the way for the ever-surprising reality of Christ’s victorious passion. It was an insight so precious that it could form the foundation for expressing Christ’s own mission.

THE NEW AUTHORITY OF GOD’S WORD

Is 42,1-4 became a basic text for the New Testament understanding of redemption. In the oldest traditions Jesus’ baptism and this oracle are inextricably interwoven. It is at his baptism that the Father presents Jesus as his new servant “in whom my soul delights” (Mt 3,16-17; Mk 1,10-11; Lk 3,21 -22). It was the coming of the Spirit upon Jesus at his baptism that marked the beginning of his mission (see also Jn 1,32-33). Also in other Gospel texts, the evangelists frequently characterize Jesus’ mission with a reference to our text. Because Jesus was the new servant of Yahweh, he established his just way of life by truth (Is 42,3; Jn 8,44-46). Matthew quotes Isaiah 42,1-4 in full (Mt 12,18-21) to explain why Jesus proclaimed his message in a humble and peaceful manner (Mt 12,15-17).

It is not difficult to see how the image of this new servant of Yahweh suited Jesus to perfection (Acts 3,13). Jesus had come to bring salvation for all mankind. His salvation embraced the whole man: it brought the good news of repentance and acceptance, but also liberation to prisoners, sight to the blind and help to the oppressed (Lk 4,18-19). Jesus’ way of redemption also was one of persuasion in truth, of meekness and gentleness, of vicarious suffering. Jesus was, in fact, the perfect realization of what God had in mind when he inspired the Deutero-Isaian passages.

Jesus’ meekness and humbleness do not result in weakness. Jesus exercises authority by the results he obtains. “He will lead the truth to victory: in his name the nations will put their hope” (Mt 12,20-21; cf. Is 42,4). “See, my servant will prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights” (Is 52,13: cf. Jn 17,1-4). “I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation will reach till the ends of the earth” (Is 49,6; cf. Lk 2,32). There is mystery and paradox here: Jesus, who is the Word that is God and that became flesh, can be challenged: “they did not accept him” (Jn 1,11). Yet he will be victorious because he is the light that darkness cannot overpower (Jn 1,5).

Through these reflections we may have found a key to solve the present-day crisis of Scriptural authority. Rather than one-sidedly concentrating on theoretical problems and theological studies, we should measure the impact of our mission, the mission of the Church, on people’s lives today. As Yahweh’s servants we cannot doubt the universality of our mission. We are called to bring about the salvation of all mankind. But this salvation should include the whole man, and should perhaps especially in the situation of today, begin with a determined effort to bring about “a just way of life” for everyone. It should achieve its end not by triumphalism or domination, but by suffering and truth. The assurance of ultimate victory will then also have a special meaning for us today. However insignificant and small we may be as a Church of believers, we will “eventually establish a just way of life on the earth”.

All this will, in the last analysis, be the work of God’s Word working through us. It is by ‘listening like disciples’ that we will be able to achieve the purpose of our mission. Isn’t this what contemporary ‘holy disquiet’ is all about? Is the power of the Word not tangibly present through the new basic communities that are being formed everywhere? Does God not prove the authority of his Word by achieving a “new heaven and a new earth”?

“Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent out to do.”

Is 55,10-11