The True Source of Authority

How is it that many modern denominations, which claim to have restored first-century Christianity, can insist that the Bible is their only source of authority, when the Bible as we know it today did not even exist until hundreds of years later? For decades the Church thrived and multiplied without the New Testament writings. Yes, toward the end of the first century there were some written records of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as well as some letters written by a few of the apostles circulating around, but there were also some spurious writings in circulation. It took the Early Church nearly 400 years to decide which of these writings were genuine and which were not, finally agreeing on the Canon of Scripture in A.D. 397.

How then could Christianity have survived all those years without the Bible? And even after the Canon of Scripture was established at the end of the fourth century, bound books were just then being invented, and had to be copied by hand because the printing press wasn't invented until over 1,000 years later! In some churches today you can see paintings of the Apostles holding a bound black book - the Bible - but this is clearly an "anachronism," projecting into the past an artifact or idea from a later time in history.

Thus the notion of the Bible being the only authority is also an anachronism: it would be unthinkable before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century A.D. because hand-copied Bibles were extremely rare, time-consuming and expensive to produce. Imagine copying by hand, letter by letter, word by word, 1,500 pages of ancient text! Then what was the source of authority for Christians during those 1,500 years, and even up to today?

The Bible has the answer, but the answer isn't the Bible itself: the Apostle John wrote - "Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). Also - "There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn't have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

In his letters, John wrote - "Having many things to write to you, I don't want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you, and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full" (2 John 12) and "I had many things to write to you, but I am unwilling to write to you with ink and pen; but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face" (3 John 13-14). Here we see evidence that the Early Church relied on the oral teaching of the Apostles as well as on their writings. Toward the end of the first century when St. John wrote his Gospel and letters, persecution of Christians had flared up and it was dangerous to write things down. It was safer to pass on teachings orally.

In Acts 20 we read how the Apostle Paul gathered together the elders of the Church in Ephesus, saying - "I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (v. 27) and "for a period of three years I didn't cease to admonish everyone" (v. 31). What was the content of "the whole counsel of God" that St. Paul "didn't cease to admonish everyone" over "a period of three years"? It would surely be an enormous amount of preaching and teaching, but it's not recorded in the Bible, just like the "many other signs... that are not written in this book" that the Apostle John mentioned.

John did write, however, that he would pass on these teachings orally. And St. Paul did the same. Oral tradition was part and parcel of everyday teaching in the first several centuries of the Christian era, because relatively few people knew how to read and write, it was very time-consuming to write a long text by hand, and also parchment or papyrus was very expensive. Therefore people in those times developed tremendous memories to hear, remember and pass on oral tradition.

The Word of God in the first century was mainly spoken and heard, not written and read. In 2 Thes. 2:15 St. Paul wrote - "So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter." The word "tradition" is "paradosis" in Greek - "that which is passed on." And how was this tradition passed on? Both by word (orally) and by letter, as St. Paul states here.

St. Paul wrote - "For I delivered [passed on] to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Here is another example of "traditioning" orally the Gospel of Christ. In 1 Thes. 2:13, St. Paul also wrote - "For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe." What was the word, the message of God, that Paul preached to the Thessalonian believers? It wasn't that epistle (it came later), but rather his spoken words!

What was the repository of this oral tradition? The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Tim. 3:15 - "that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The Church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" according to St. Paul. That's where you find the truth, and the correct interpretation of Scripture. That's where the oral teachings and the writings of the Apostles, which later became the Bible, were preserved for hundreds of years before the printed Bible became widely available in the 15th century.

Let us now return to our original question: What is the True Source of Authority? Is it the Bible? Christ Himself said - "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about Me" (John 5:39). If we search the Bible to prove our pet doctrines of the pre-tribulation rapture, or predestination, or free will, or free market economy, etc., etc. - we miss the point of Scripture entirely: it's all about Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ Himself is the True Source of Authority: He said - "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe [obey] all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:18-20).

He didn't tell his disciples to go and split hairs about predestination or free will, but to preach the Good News and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and commanding all nations to OBEY the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let's quit fighting over real estate. Let's not just talk about the Gospel: Let's DO it!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 23 May 2015.)