“Where Is God’s Authority?”

Welcome back!

Of all of the differences–large and small–that separate various Christian groups from each other, the most crucial difference is the location of God’s authority. If we compare the Roman Catholic Church and the multitude of Protestant traditions, the fundamental difference between them comes down to the location of God’s authority.

For Roman Catholics, God’s highest authority is located in the role of Pope, who has been invested with the “ex cathedra” (“from the chair”) authority to speak for God.  (In a later post, I’ll come back to the Pope’s authority to speak “ex cathedra.”)  

The Protestant Reformation was fundamentally a relocation of God’s authority from roles within the Church to the Bible itself.  In the process, the Bible made its own transition. It was no longer simply sacred scripture.  It became “the word of God.”

At this point, I want to go back to my story about my first day in theological seminary.  I started with this particular story because it gets to the essence of the location of God’s authority within the evangelical tradition.   For the young man of my story, the highest authority on Earth is the Bible.  But it is important to recognize, that he did not refer to the Bible.  He referred to “The Word of God.”  This name is profoundly significant for understanding the evangelical world view and what evangelicals regard as most important. 

My post, “Is The Bible A Book?,” makes the point that the Bible has undergone a fundamental transition from a collection of writings contained within distinct books (originally separate scrolls) to a single book that contains all of these separate books.  It made the transition from “the books” to “the Book.” 

Within evangelicalism, we have another giant transition.  The Bible has become the “Word of God,” with a capital W. The original multiplicity has been reduced down to a single voice, the voice of God.  This designation is the heart of the matter for evangelicals.  They are not reading a book.  They are reading God’s own word.  In the particular vocabulary of evangelicalism, the Bible becomes “the Word.” The multiplicity of books becomes the singularity of one Word.

This distinction is what sets evangelicals apart, not only from Catholic and Orthodox traditions, but also from other Protestant traditions.  This is the place of distinction and this is the place of conflict.  This distinction lies behind any evangelical approach to social and political situations.

It’s easy enough to caricature Bible-thumping preachers who quote “the WordaGod” but I’d rather not take potshots at such obvious targets.  My aim is to go deeper to get to the essence of what people believe and how their beliefs either serve them or lay obstacles in their paths.   

Let’s go back to the young man who was absolutely, utterly convinced that the “Word of God” prohibits women from positions of authority within the church.  From his perspective, the words in the Bible are ultimately authoritative, because they are the very Word of God. Any challenge to the words of the Bible are disobedience to God, because the Bible is the location of authority.  

Meanwhile, there I was, completely unaware of any of this.  My own church tradition had no place for “the Word of God” as the ultimate source of authority. I am the descendant of Puritans, who was born about thirty miles from Plymouth Rock on Cape Cod.  (According to the story I was told, ancestors of my father’s mother arrived at Plymouth in 1621, on the boat after the Mayflower.  My grandmother proudly claimed her heritage as a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)

I grew up in a Congregational Church that was founded in 1747.   No one in that church ever toted a Bible to church on Sunday morning, and I never heard anyone refer to the Bible as “the Word of God,” (with or without the capital W.)

Congregational Churches evolved from the Puritan Separatist Movement. Each church was its own authority, which meant it was a religious movement that wanted no part of religious hierarchies and state churches. Each church was its own authority, governed by meetings of the members of the congregation. 

In addition, Congregational churches went through a whole series of theological conflicts, especially related to the divinity of Jesus. Many Congregational churches became part of the new Unitarian-Universalist movement.  Other Congregational churches kept “Congregational” in their names, but became fundamentally Unitarian in theology. 

(Congregationalists played an important role in much of the early history of the United States, and shaped much of what we regard as essentially American notions of self-government. If you want to know more, this “Congregational Church article is a place to begin.  You can also see these conflicts  in the history of my home church, the First Congregational Church of Harwich, Massachusetts. ) 

Although I never understood any of this when I was a child growing up in the church, my study of church history in seminary revealed to me that I grew up in a Congregational church with a Unitarian view of Jesus.

Here is the statement of faith I recited when I joined the church as a full member at the age of fourteen. 

Article IV. STATEMENT OF FAITH:

We believe in God and Man. We believe the relation between God and man is best defined and exemplified in the life and character of Jesus Christ.

We accept the Bible as sufficient rule of faith and practice, and believe that each member of this church has the right to follow the word of God according to the dictates of his or her conscience.

I have always remembered the first statement.  You will notice that this statement does not proclaim the divinity of Jesus or refer to salvation from sin.  This Jesus is worthy teacher, not a savior, and certainly not the Son of God.   

I don’t remember reciting the second part.  Maybe it was not part of the statement of faith when I was fourteen, especially since the church is now part of the United Churches of Christ.  Or maybe I just don’t remember it. But this statement about the Bible locates authority for obedience within each member. 

I have not looked at the statement of faith since I was fourteen, and was surprised to see that the Bible is referred to as “the word of God” (without capitalizing “word.”)  In any case, there is difference between “the word of God” and “the Word of God.”       

In the distinction between locating authority in a role in the church or locating it in the Bible, The First Congregational Church of Harwich, Massachusetts was neither hierarchical nor particularly motivated by notions of obedience to biblical authority.

And so, whatever else was going on in that hateful encounter between the young man at seminary and me on that beautiful September morning in 1973, it was a clash between two dramatically different perspectives on the location of authority. 

For my evangelical inquistor, his only choice was to obey the Bible, as the singular Word of God, and demand that others do the same.  

For me, with more than 350 years of resolute New England Congregationalist independence bred deeply into my genes, obedience was not located in the Bible, but in my sense of call. 

There can be no resolution to such conflicts as long as the conflict is framed in these terms.

Once again, I leave this story with the promise to return to it.  I have barely begun to mine the depths of this story, and what it means for religion, politics, and the Bible for those of us who are seekers. 

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson