THE BIBLE: AUTHORITY AND INERRANCY
Here at Cornerstone, we believe that The Bible is 'authoritative revelation from God by which we know God's will and Christ's authority'. We want to take some time here to talk about what we mean when we say the Bible is our authority and how we hold a high view of scripture in our church, ministry, and individual lives. In addition to discussing the authority of Scripture, we will mention what is called the inerrancy of scripture. These topics go hand in hand when critically thinking about the role the Bible plays in our lives and leadership.
We believe that God is the ultimate authority in our universe and individual lives. Sometimes throughout history he has exercised that authority directly. We have seen it throughout the Old and New Testaments where God has personally exercised his authority as the only God. Sections such as Exodus 7-11 in the Old Testament and in the New when Jesus proved his authority over elements of creation in Luke 8:22-25 as well as his authority over death in John 11. Other times God exercised his authority through his human messengers like Moses or Peter in Acts 5. As we established in our last section, we view all our Bible as inspired by God and holding the same authority as his personal direction. We do not worship the Bible. The Bible is not God. But the Bible is God's word and through the Holy Spirit we can understand and apply his teachings to our lives and the life of our Church.
When we say the Bible is authoritative we mean it has the right to command belief and action. Here, we do not believe that religious authority comes from any other source but the Bible. God is the ultimate authority for our lives and has delegated that authority by working through human writers to create a book. That Book, when illuminated by the Holy Spirit , carries the same weight as if he was personally speaking to us.
It is important to mention the role of the Holy Spirit in understanding the Bible and understanding the Bible as authoritative. 1 Corinthians 2 is an important section in connecting the role of the Spirit to understanding. Take a moment and read it. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and explains that while he was there, his message was plain, his words were simple. He relied solely on the power of the Holy Spirit to illuminate God's truth. 1 Corinthians 2:10 tells us that, "his Spirit (God's) searches out everything and show us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own Spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's sprit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us".
As we established earlier, God is infinite and we are finite, so we need God to illuminate and explain his word. According to John 14-16, Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would do four things.
- He would teach the believers and bring to mind all Jesus taught them.
- He would provide a powerful witness to Jesus since he has been with him from the beginning.
- He would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and Judgment.
- And he would guide believers into all truth not by speaking on his own authority but to glorify Jesus.
Most of these relate to the faithful reading of Scripture. We believe that when we prayerfully partner with God's word and God's Spirit, as individuals and a community, the Bible has the authority and power to help us know Jesus better and 'be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
There is one more issue related to the authority of scripture that has been in constant debate for many centuries, the inerrancy of scripture. Inerrancy is the teaching that the Bible is truthful in all it teaches. Inerrancy means that the Bible, when judged by the usage of its time, teaches the truth about God without any affirmation of error. Inerrancy means different things to different people and faithful Christians hold positions all across the spectrum ranging from absolute inerrancy to limited inerrancy.
Inerrancy of scripture is important for us as a church for three main reasons.
- It is Theologically important. This thought connects the ideas we talked about in the nature and character of God as well as the authority of scripture. If God is all knowing and he inspired the writers of scripture, then it is logically consistent that the Bible is fully truthful in all that it claims to be. Our high view of a personal and good God is tied to our high view of scripture and its authority.
- It is Historically important as well. The idea that the Bible is true in all it claims to be is not a new concept. The Church as the universal body of Christ has embraced this idea since the beginning. Holding this position has allowed the Church and theologians to develop and hone theological ideas over time. If we are dealing with the same book that is always true to what it claims to be then we can build on ideas from the early church fathers, to the middle ages, the reformation, and to today.
- It is also Epistemologically important. That is a big word that is related to how we know that we can know something. It sounds circular but what it comes down to is that the Bible is our basis for theological knowledge. Without holding that the Bible is true in all it claims to be we have no basis to claim that what we believe about God, ourselves, and the world around us is true.
Some of this is very complicated Theology that excites some to talk about and for others it feels like getting pulled down in the details. What you need to understand for us here at Cornerstone is that we believe the Bible is true, God is Good, and you can know him, his son, his Spirit, and all other matters of faith honestly and reliably through your Bible.
So, what does this matter for your leadership and relationship with God?
- That because the Bible has authority, it is our source for understanding ourselves, God, and each other. There are lots of other things such as human knowledge and developments in social science, psychology, and other sources that illuminate what we already know but for the Christian and us here at Cornerstone, the Bible is our first and authoritative source for knowledge.
You can trust it. God has proven his word to be trustworthy and we can have confidence to base our faith on his truth, not our finite understanding.