tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4054964636037352557.post6146132085047136588..comments2024-03-19T05:03:34.250-07:00Comments on Presby-Musings: Issues With Authority: Scripture & The ChurchLeon Bloderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599363190566898855noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4054964636037352557.post-25582060477978649532009-04-25T04:40:00.000-07:002009-04-25T04:40:00.000-07:00Alethea, I probably should have been more clear ab...Alethea, I probably should have been more clear about my definition of community. There is an assumption on the part of most of us who are writing about this now that when we say "community" we do mean some aspect of the Church universal. I do believe that we find authority in the tradition, but the authority wielded by the Church must always be critiqued through the lens of a Jesus-centered interpretation of Scripture, and through the power of the Spirit of Christ loosed in the world. Any authority that the Church has is subject to the Lordship of Christ, and guided by the written word of God, read and interpreted within the community of Christ--in all of it's infinite variety. And essentially the only authority that the Church has is the authority to proclaim the imminent kin-dom of God. I would venture a guess that all of the voices of all of the different Christ-following communities would sound like so much Babel-speak if not for the common thread of Jesus throughout.Leon Bloderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14599363190566898855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4054964636037352557.post-65038259097389330152009-04-21T07:04:00.000-07:002009-04-21T07:04:00.000-07:00I agree that the discussion of the authority of sc...I agree that the discussion of the authority of scripture needs to come from a source other than rhetorical acrobatics that put the other down and lift the self up... these things contradict the very scripture that is being discussed. My question though is this; within your discussion you appeal often to an idea of community and reading the bible 'together' - What authority then, does the Church have. Is not the Church, after all, the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (that very same Spirit of Christ)? Is it not the Church that formed the Bible, through the passing down of stories (early church) to Athanasius' lists who later influenced the compilation of the Vulgate. Or even the councils that further solidified what exactly we would later call scripture. ie: The Council of Laodicea, The Council of Carthage, and The Council of Hippo. This seems to say that the Church has at least equal authority to scripture. So too if scripture is authoritative, there must be some check for those who would seek to read it and interpret it however they desire ... this would imply a need for some other authority to appeal to...(the Church?). Right…, this is not just an arbitrary question of the authority of the Church v.s. the authority of Scripture. It comes out of the acknowledgement that in fact scripture is something we need to pay attention to and that the Spirit of Christ is that which holds all authority. But from this assumption, or reality if you will, there must be some outworking. ie: if the Spirit of Christ is Logos as scripture but also that which dwells in the Church what is the relation? And if we are to give authority to the Spirit of Christ then HOW does one interpret scripture via the authority of the Spirit of Christ? in community? In what sort of community? girl scouts? or where the Spirit resides and moves. (in terms of the building, perhaps, but more specifically the life of the Church and those who are part of it). All this to say - it seems that those who would seek to argue about the authority of scripture, perhaps maliciously, just need to participate in the life of the Church (present and past) more - both in spiritually and theologically (ideologically) forming ways. Which would seem to give the Church at least equal authority to scripture as that which is needed in order to correctly interpret scripture and do so Well. <br />Well, I was just wondering what your thoughts were. and I admit to this being a very choppy and ill composed message as I don't have time to fix it (and really should have been working on homework instead of writing this to begin with... :) ). But I appreciate the discussion. <br />also- HI!<br />-Aletheaaletheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07890673588169315101noreply@blogger.com