Biblical Authority
By the Rev. Dr. Bryan Owen
Episcopal Church of the Incarnation
West Point, Mississippi
"The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!"
Most of us have seen this slogan on bumper stickers or a t-shirts. It expresses what's sometimes called "Bible-believing" Christianity. This is not merely the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God Christians have always believed that. No, this view goes beyond the Church's historic understanding of biblical authority by saying that every jot and tittle, every book and every verse of the Bible is equally true and equally authoritative. The Bible, so this theology goes, is a divine book. It contains all truth. Therefore, we cannot pick and choose some parts of scripture as more important than others It's either all of the Bible or none of the Bible.
I've been hearing this kind of thinking a lot since General Convention. Even many Episcopalians are saying things like this. And that's really strange, because this whole approach to biblical authority is foreign to the Anglican tradition.
As Anglican Christians, we regard the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God. We believe that God speaks to us in a unique way through the stories and teachings of the Bible Since the English Reformation, we've maintained that "Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation" (see Article XI of the "Articles of Religion," Book of Common Prayer, page 868).
It does not follow, however, that everything in the Bible is necessary to salvation. Anglican Christianity has always differentiated between those things that are essential and those that are non-essential to salvation. And not everything in die Bible is essential to salvation.
The Bible is filled with passages that are non-essential to salvation. For example: "All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you" (Leviticus 11:20). I'm inclined to agree, particularly when it comes to cockroaches, but is this verse essential to salvation? "Know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds" (Proverbs 27:23). That's excellent advice if you're in the cattle business But is it essential to salvation? "No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" (I Timothy 5:23). I have nothing against the moderate use of alcohol but is it essential to salvation? The point is that there are lots of passages in the Bible like these. And so it makes no sense to give the same authoritative weight to every part of the Bible.
The Bible is the record of God's revelation. It's not a revelation of everything, but rather a revelation of God's intentions in creation and for human destiny. The Bible does not contain all truth. Only God is all truth. And so we need to be careful not to commit the sin of bibliolatry - the idolatrous usurpation of God's authority with the Bible's authority.
Does this make everything relative? You get your favorite Bible passages and I get mine? No Again, the Anglican approach is clear: "Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation" Scripture contains much else besides, but the heart and soul of what makes scripture holy revolves around salvation And that means that those parts of the Bible that bear witness to God's saving grace in Jesus Christ are the most important.
In the midst of our current controversies, we need to return to an Anglican understanding of biblical authority. We need to differentiate between those things that are essential and those that are non-essential to salvation. And with those things that are non-essential, we would be wise to honor differences of interpretation and opinion without insisting on our own way.
