Contemplating Authority

Churches of Christ, though not original with us, see Scripture as the lone authority for Christian faith and practice with a special emphasis on the New Testament. Yet, is this not problematic for us? We claim to restore the Christian faith back to the first century using a canon they didn't have or use! Oh, I know there was some circulation of NT letters and the gospels were used early, but they didn't sit around and seek out a supposed embedded pattern in Acts and the NT epistles to determine how they should 'do' church.

Truthfully, authority for the early church was found in the apostles and, of course, the Old Testament. Yet, they didn't look for how to organize the church or what exactly to do in the assemblies in the OT. Could it be that such things were not so important? New practice was established in the light of the resurrection and direction of the apostles. So, communion was central to the early practice of the church. So was baptism. But is everything recorded in the NT intended to give a pattern of church practice for all of history? I highly doubt this.

This is a crucial question for us today. We all agree that ultimate authority is God's word. But the problem is that it must be interpreted and applied! Who's the authority for that? Can I go into my bedroom and act as if I was reading it for the first time apart from any influence historical or otherwise? Alexander Campbell seemed to think so. I don't agree with him.

I cannot interpret scripture apart from my own heritage and tradition, my own biases and assumptions about even the purpose of scripture. I bring into the text questions that are foreign to the original intent of the author. So, I must acknowledge that there is no such thing as starting from scratch. I also must acknowledge that the community plays a key role in interpreting scripture. I don't get to do this all on my own.

The Bible may be the ultimate authority, but we are fooling ourselves if we think it is the only authority in our lives. We cannot interpret it apart from our experiences, tradition, and reason (cf. Wesley's quadrilateral). I wish the issue of authority were as simple as we think it is. I know I don't buy the Catholic view of authority (i.e. the Church interprets scripture in an absolute sense). I'm still wrestling with all of this. I will write more when I figure something out!