Theological Term of the Week

 

authority of scripture

This is the principle that the individual believer and the church are subject to the rule of scripture because the words of Scripture come from God, so obedience to Scripture is obedience to God himself.

• From scripture:

  …from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17 ESV)

• From The London Baptist Confession 1689,  chapter 1, section 4:

The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.

•  From Herman Ridderbos in The Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture:

  The authority of the Scriptures is the great presupposition of the whole of the biblical preaching and doctrine. This appears most clearly in the way the New Testament speaks about the Old Testament. That which appears in the Old Testament is cited in the New Testament with formulas like “God says,” “the Holy Spirit says,” and so on (cf., for instance, Acts 3:24, 25; 2 Cor. 6:16; Acts 1:16). What “the Scripture says” and what “God says” is the same thing….And this naturally implies authority. “It is written” (Greek, gegraptai) in the New Testament puts an end to all contradiction.

Learn more

1. Paul Cook: The Authority of Scripture
2. B. B. Warfield: “It Says:” “Scripture Says:” “God Says”
3. J. I. Packer: Hermeneutics and Biblical Authority
4. William Webster: The Authority of Scripture
5. Wayne Grudem: The Authority of Scripture, Part 1, Part 2 (mp3) 
6. Phil Johnson: The Authority of Scripture (mp3 download)
7. Mark Dever: The Authority of Scripture (mp3 download)

Related terms:

• canon of scripture
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture 
• sola scriptura
• sufficiency of scripture

Filed under Scripture.

Have you come across a theological term that you don’t understand and you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Comments

[Terry Stauffer]

Thanks, Rebecca!

I'm supposed to be preaching on the topic of biblical authority in Saskatoon at the end of the month, so your help is timely!