Sources of wisdom and authority

• Evangelical protestant view on the Bible


  • Bible is the infallible word of God, it contains no mistakes of any kind
  • Authors were directly inspired by God
  • Apparent contradictions are due to human intellect error
• Types of believers for the creation story

  • Young earth (literally Genesis story)
  • Old earth (Genesis combined with science e.g. universe made around 13.8 billion years ago)
• Catholic view of the Bible

  • Bible was inspired by God but written by humans
  • The key messages in the Bible such as those about salvation are fully true
  • Genesis was never made as a scientific account of the beginnings of the universe
  • Guidance in interpreting the Bible comes from tradition and the Magisterium
• Neo-Orthodox approaches to Bible


  • Karl Barth – Not the world of God but contains the word of God
  • Way through which humans interact with God
• Liberal approach to Bible

  • Some believe it was written to guide you by God
  • Other believe the Bible is an entirely human document
  • Product of culture of its time
  • It is used to be interpreted e.g. In Matthew when saying 'you live by the sword, you die by the sword' to become a pacifist
• History of the Church

  1. Jesus gave authority to the Apostles

  2. Apostles passed their intellect onto the new leaders (bishops) – Apostolic Succession
• Two different views of authority on Bible and Church

  • Protestant – Sola Scriptura & interpret a situation through prayer
  • Catholic – Bible and tradition are equal, Magisterium (teaching authority of the Church) is the guardian and interpreter of both the Bible and tradition
• Authority of the Church in Protestant Churches

  • Martin Luther – Sola Scriptura, CH should not say some parts are true and some are false, without the Bible there would be no Church
  • Baptist Church – combine Sola Scriptura with individual reason, NT takes priority over OT, reject church as an institution
• Catholic church and authority of the Church

  • Bible was written and passed on by Apostles
  • Tradition was passed on orally (Apostolic Tradition)
  • It is always in agreement with what was in the Bible
  • Bible and Tradition are overseen by the Magisterium
  • 'We find the true faith in Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church' Youcat 12
• Jesus' authority as God's authority


  • Seen in the Nicene Creed
  • Jesus claimed to have divine authority
  • Authority seen in his teachings, miracles attributed to him, titles of Jesus
  • Can be seen in Jesus' healing
  • 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me' Matthew 28:18
• Jesus as son of God


  • Kings were thought to have been appointed by God
  • They were meant to reflect Gods justice and mercy
  • Jesus was linked the 'messiah'
• Jesus as son of Man

  • Representative of humanity or a supernatural figure
  • Its ambiguity made it less likely to question his power
  • 'I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'- Mark
• Jesus' authority as only human

  • Adoptionism – the belief that Jesus was not divine by nature, God adopted him as his son at the baptism
  • Unitarianism – denomination found in 1800's adopts a deist view (God made the world then left it alone) and Jesus was a spiritual figure and his teachings contain useful insights
  • Liberal CH view – Jesus' words had been passed down, Jesus was a man but influential (backed by science, miracles can't happen)
• Those who see Jesus' authority as God's authority

  Will obey his teachings
• Those who see his authority as human


  Will just be inspired by it
• CH understanding of Jesus' teachings on love for enemies (Matthew 5)

  • Jesus intended is disciples to be pacifist
  • Jesus overturned tables in the temple
  • Jesus' teachings made sense for those under Roman rule
  • Jesus was stating an ideal, not fully possible
  • Jesus used exaggerations to show his ideas
• Many non- Christians are inspired by God such as Ghandi
• Seek to emulate Jesus' life