The Sufficiency of Scripture - 2

Authority and Exhaustiveness

How would anybody go about deciding if the Bible is authoritative in any area of life? Does not matter what it is - religious, ethics, science, history, etc. - how would you go about determining if you should let the Bible inform your view on anything? Dr. Weeks lists two different ways of going about what for some people is a very easy question and for others is quite a daunting task. Here they are:

1. Does the Bible claim authority in that area?
2. Does the Bible have the character of an authoritative source in that area?

We have another problem: the Bible itself may not even employ the same modern distinctions which are mind has grown up hearing for so long we do not know how to even question them. The Bible's authority claims tend be general. For example, Paul writes to Timothy that it is given to furnish a man for "every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17). We look at that and say, "Well Paul meant every good religious work."

What if, just for arguments sake we suppose the “good works” of Paul are broader than the narrower area of modern “religion”? In considering this line of thought we come, to the second question mentioned earlier.

Is the Bible is an authoritative source in science. Before discount it as one we need to ask what in our modern times counts as authoritative source in science. The answer would have to be a science textbook. Does the Bible contain all the laws and facts of physics? No, but what is our standard for a good textbook on physics? We would expect absolute accuracy and exhaustive detail. Any book that lacks some fact or detail would not be the final authority in physics. Therefore, we are demanding exhaustiveness to be a standard of authority.

Many who are concerned with the Bible overlapping into areas where it does not quite measure up are, however, eager to maintain that the Bible is their religious authority. The problem is the Bible is not exhaustive in matters of religion either. There are many religious questions which have no precise and detailed answer. Just think of all the controversies which have divided Christians over the centuries. So, on religious and ethical questions the Bible cannot be an authority either if we are looking for exhaustive detail.

If the Bible is not exhaustive even in religion and ethics, then how could it operate as a code for human conduct? This question also raises another question of whether we are right in expecting an authoritative source to say the last word on every subject.