Why Are These Books in the Bible?
The Bible is a human document, written by people, for people, using human language. The church does not claim that its Holy Scriptures were dictated by God or angels or written by supernatural beings. At the same time, the Holy Scriptures were inspired by God the Spirit and encompass God's very message of salvation and truth for a hurting world - a world much in need of divine light and grace. How can both of these statements be true at the same time? That is the chief question when considering the nature of Holy Scripture in Christian thought.
The church has long affirmed both the authority and inspiration of the Bible and the full and complete humanity of the authors and editors. The roots of this idea go back to the New Testament attitudes toward the Old Testament. Jesus himself had a very high view of the authority of the Hebrew Bible. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matt. 5:17-18). While Jesus certainly was willing to go beyond what Moses (the Law), David (the Writings), and the prophets taught, he accepted their full authority as Holy Scripture. Moses, David, the prophets, and scribes were human beings who were, nevertheless, inspired by God. 2 Peter expresses this viewpoint: "No prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Pet. 1:21). Hebrews affirms, "Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets" (Heb.1:1). With its own moral and educational emphasis, 2 Timothy proclaims, "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). From the New Testament attitude toward the Old Testament, then, we learn that the authors and editors of the Bible were real human beings, but they were also inspired by God to speak and to write.
The early church transferred this attitude to the books of the New Testament without denying the authority of the Old Testament. For example, the oldest complete sermon from the early church, 2 Clement (ca. 150 A.D.), cites the Gospels as "Scripture" (ch. 6), introduces an Old Testament quotation with "the Lord says," and calls the Bible "the words of God" (ch. 13). So, while the authors and editors of Scripture were real human beings, they were nevertheless inspired to speak and write by the Holy Spirit; therefore, the accepted and canonical books of the Bible, taken as a whole, can be relied upon to teach God's message. The Bible is the word of God, not because God spoke it, but because it teaches God's message delivered through inspired speakers and authors. What is more, it is God's word because the Christian community has collected these sacred writings into a canon. From these books, and from these alone, do we preach God's word in our worship today. Thus, in both theology and practice, the Bible is the highest written religious authority for the Christian church.
St. Matthew and the Angel, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1602), Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. (Scala /Art Resource, NY)
One important point must be emphasized. Jesus Christ is superior to his Book. Hebrews clearly teaches that Christ is greater than the prophets of the Old Testament (Heb. 1:1-4), and one can safely add that Christ is also superior to his own apostles and to the writings of the New Testament. The primary importance of the Bible for Christians is that in it we learn of God and of the Messiah, Jesus. The Bible is important because it is the Book of Christ, and it can be trusted to convey the truth of God for salvation. The Bible is inspired for the purpose of "teaching" and "training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16); it is given to us by the Spirit to bring us to Christ and keep us in the Christian way.
The church has long developed analogies to the word of God in Scripture to help us understand its divine-human character. For example, Jesus Christ and the Bible are both called "the word of God," and Christians have long found parallels between Christ and Scripture. Jesus is the word made flesh, while the Bible is the word made text. This common analogy is found throughout church history in Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox writers; however, the correspondence must not be pressed too hard. Jesus is the living Word and is fully divine. We are right to worship Jesus as God in the flesh. On the other hand, the Bible is not the fullness of deity in textual form. We do not and should not worship the Bible. The correspondence between the Scriptures and Christ would be closer only if we abandoned a "high" interpretation of Christ's person and nature. If, for example, Jesus were just an inspired prophet, then the connections between Scripture and Jesus would be much closer. Both would be human and inspired by the Spirit. On the other hand, as long as we hold to a high Christology in which Jesus is very God, then this analogy will break down at important points.
Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox churches have in their traditions two rich analogies for the divine-human nature of Scripture: the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (Holy Communion or the Eucharist) and the icon. For many traditional churches Holy Communion is much more than a mere ritual or a symbolic memorial. The bread and the wine, in the mystery of grace, are media for the very presence of Christ. This understanding of the sacrament provides a good analogy for the divine-human Scriptures. In the church, by the power of the Spirit the bread and wine are physical means for the spiritual body of Christ to be present to the faithful. In this analogy, the Bible is a kind of sacrament, because its words are the physical media by which the living Word is present by the power of the Spirit. This view also has its limitations, since bread and wine are not inspired human products.
It is part of Orthodox Christian worship to venerate icons, sacred images of a saint, angel, or the living God. Like the sacrament, an icon is a physical and artistic medium for the communication of grace and spiritual presence. Icons help the church and the believer to focus on the saint, angel, or the living God. Through icons, the community in worship participates in the worship of God in heaven with all the angels and saints. At the same time, the icons make present - symbolically and spiritually - the angels and saints in the worship of the local church. This kind of spiritual communion is possible only through faith and the gracious activity of God. Orthodox Christians believe that the artists who create icons are inspired. In this view, then, the idea that the Bible is an "icon" of the word of God becomes a powerful analogy. The Bible, created by the inspiration of God, mediates the spiritual and living word of God, just as the icon conveys a spiritual and personal presence. In the reading of Scripture and biblical preaching in Christian communal worship, God's own word is known in and through the human words of Scripture.
Many evangelicals will be uncomfortable with the analogies of sacrament and icon. Protestants do not venerate icons, and many do not have a strong doctrine of the presence of Christ in his Supper. This is probably why the first comparison, that of the word with Christ, remains popular. Still, whatever analogy or metaphor we may find helpful, the Christian faith has long confessed the special character of the Bible.
The Holy Scriptures, written by fallible human beings in ordinary language, are the word of God. They are cherished, read, obeyed, and preached wherever Christ is Lord. As long as history endures, until at last the living Word returns to claim his own, Christians will read the Bible as authoritative revelation. The divine-human Scriptures will continue to guide Christian life and faith until the coming again of Christ. Only then will the authority of the Bible cease, for then we shall know him fully, and be fully known.
FOR FURTHER READING
ALAN G. PADGETT