Sources of wisdom and authority Flashcards
How is the Bible organised?
-Split into Old Testament and new testament
-The Christian Holy scripture
-old contains the 10 commandments, the original Hebrew Bible and the creation accounts.
New contents St Paul’s 13 letters, the 4 gospels and written after the life and death of Jesus.
What are protestant views on nature and authority of Bible?
-Bible has ultimate authority.
-Doctrine of Sola scripture and Sola Fide(faith and scripture alone)
-Bible is infallible word of God and we should not try to change it but be changed by it.
What is the history of protestantism?
Emerged from great schism from the Catholic Church and the Protestant reformation. Martin Luther was expelled from Cath church after challenging doctrines such as indulgences.
Martin Luther believes in salvation through faith rather than through corrupt institutions of the church.
What are protestant views on the church?
-Without the Bible, there is no church- the church is the creation of the word and not the other way round.
-The Bible is the sole judge of truth so the authority of the church, tradition and councils and scholars is subservient and cannot contradict scripture.
-Luther- “We must learn to adhere solely to the word of God”
-Church teaching must be in line w the Bible, if its not then its false.
What did St Paul say that coincides with Protestant beliefs about following the Bible?
‘Do not go against what is written’
What does ‘The priesthood of all believers mean?’
A key Lutheran belief and we also see it in Quakerism. All Christians have equal access to God through prayer, there is no hierarchy.
What is Karl Barth’s Neo-Orthodox view on the Bible?
Karl Barth is a swiss protestant theologian. Believes Bible isn’t the word go God but a human work that becomes inspired when it provides those who read it with a personal encounter w Jesus. The books are not infallible bc they’re written by human witnesses.
Barth held that other religions are humanities attempt to reach God, whereas Christianity is God’s attempt to reach humanity
God reveals himself in Jesus, who is the word who becomes flesh for salvation of humanity.
“The Bible is a human instrument and document”
Neo-oethodoxy means ‘new orthodoxy’
The bible is a vehicle through which God may be experienced. Reading it we become aware that we are sinners.
What is the Sea Of Faith network?
The idea that faith is purely human creation and it has no innate meaning, it’s meaning is what you give to it, you have to take responsibility over your faith.
What did 2 Timothee say about scripture?
“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching”
What did A Skevington Wood say about the word and the Bible?
‘Let us not change the word of God.. we ourselves should be changed by the word’
Examine Catholic beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible
-Scripture is the word of God
-St Paul “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable FOR TEACHING”
-Bible is an important source of wisdom and authority
What do Evangelical protestants and creationists believe about the Bible?
-Bible is infallible word of God and contains no innacuries or mistakes
-It is the literal word of God and everything should be held as sacrosanct face.
-Science and evolution thus must be wrong
-prot evangelicals- christians are saved thru faith in Jesus’ atonement.
What do liberal christians believe about the Bible?
Bible is sacred scripture and the word of God which is written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
-Bible contains metaphorical stories to convey moral truths.
-Bible teaches a theological message rather than being a historical account.
-Bible is compatible with science. Science teaches the how, religion teaches the why- supported by Pope Francis who stated the BIG BANG, ‘required the intervention of a divine creator’.
Examine Catholic beliefs on the church
-Church is required for salvation, Pope Pius declared that there’s no salvation outside of the church.
-Bible AND church have equal authority, inextricably linked thru Holy Spirit.
-Church acts as Jesus’ representative in the modern world.
-Church is the guardian and interpretation example of Pope’s encyclicals.
-Catholic’s believe church plays important role in helping those in need (charity, cafod, sheep and goats).
- apostolic succession
-importance of magisterium
-The church receives authority from god to interpret Bible and tradition.
-The church alone can identity what is history and what is a teaching story.
What does it mean to say the pope has papal authority?
Doctrine that the pope cannot be wrong when he teaches in matters of faith/morals.
However any of his doctrines must be consistent with sacred scripture and apostolic tradition.
What is apostolic sucessesion?
Peter as first bishop of Rome. Matthew- “the rock upon which I build my church”, this authority has been passed down.
Apostolic tradition- Jesus commanded his apostles to preach the Gospel to all men.
What is the Magisterium?
The teaching authority of the church made up of bishops. It is the guardian and interpreter of both Bible and tradition.
What are some weaknesses of the Protestant views on wisdom and authority?
-If it is only sola scripture we can rely on, how can we find guidance on modern issues e.g abortion using ancient scripture.
-Bible never acc refs sola scripture
-Bible belongs to a patriarchal, historical past that is no longer relevant in today’s society.- writers of Bible were responding to culturally-relative circumstances.
-Jesus interpreted scripture for his followers, he did not tell them to just go away and understand it’s complex msg themselves.
-Scripture has many contradictions, could have been mistranslated.
Positives of Prostent view on wisdom and authority?
-Scripture alone prevents ppl taking advantage and being profitable off the church.
-God alone is sovereign, no one else can supercede his authority- he sets a clear moral standard to be followed, we shouldn’t try and interpret that with our fallible human minds.
-Scripture should critique society not be changed by it.
Examine Jesus’ authority as God’s authority
-It is stated in the Nicene creed
-Is the official view of almost all churches.
Matthew- “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me”
cornintheans- “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself”
-Story of Jesus healing the Cnetorians servant, centurion recognised Jesus’ ultimate authority and one word from him was enough for instant obedience.
-John 10:30 “the father and I are one”
-Jesus and God the father are in the closest possible relationship of unity
‘The word became flesh’ , he is God incarnated, they share the same substance.
Discuss Jesus as the ‘son of god’ and ‘son of man’
-What did Mark’s gospel say on it?
Gave that title by God, he was chosen by God to rule on his behalf, was given the title ‘Messiah’.
Jesus preferred the title of ‘son of man’ to put him as a humble servant. Didn’t want to be thought of as a power figure or revolutionary.
Used that term to describe role of ‘suffering servant’ spoken of in OT.
-Mark- ‘Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sin’
-Son of god- Jesus is said to be ‘my beloved son’ in the visions at his. baptism and transfiguration.
Discuss Jesus’ authority as fully human
-some liberal christians believe Jesus is just a human but his deeply spiritual nature gave his teaching authority. They think the influence of greek philosophy and mystery religions led to the fully human Jesus being transformed into a mystery figure.
-Adoptionism- belief that God ‘adopted’ Jesus at the baptism and he is not divine by nature.
-In Luke 4 it states “He was hungry”
-Very little is known about the original Jesus, people have made their own biases and assumptions bc of western media.
