The Bible (AQA A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes
The Bible
Introduction to biblical authority
Biblical authority is a central issue for Christians. The extent of the Bible's authority determines the degree to which it has the right to demand obedience or belief.
Key issues affecting biblical authority
Christians must consider several important factors when determining the Bible's authority:
- Different literary types: The Bible contains many different types of writing (history, poetry, proverbs, laws, letters, prophecy). Should they all have the same authority?
- Textual variations: The New Testament manuscripts were written in Greek, long after Jesus' death. They contain variant readings in many passages and are translations from the original Aramaic that Jesus spoke.
- Canonical decisions: Church authorities around 170 CE decided which texts to include in the New Testament, leaving out other gospels that were circulating. Were these decisions correct?
- Contradictions: The Bible contains apparent contradictions, such as two different creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2.
- Authority of key figures: The teaching in the Bible depends partly on the authority of individuals like Jesus and Paul.
These five issues create significant challenges for determining how Christians should understand and apply biblical authority in their lives. Different Christian traditions have developed distinct responses to address these concerns.
Three main Christian responses
These issues have led to different views within Christianity:
- God gave the writers the exact words to write. The original teaching was perfect, but human interference has damaged the record we have today.
- God inspired the writers, but only the Catholic Church can correctly interpret the teaching, because the record contains errors and the writers' intentions are not always clear.
- The Bible is a human interpretation of how God expressed himself through Jesus. It is fallible (contains errors), but personal experience of God's presence through reading Scripture makes the Bible authoritative for believers.
Key term definitions
Inspiration: The doctrine that God influenced the authors and editors of the Bible in some way, so that what they recorded was 'the word of God'.
Disciples: A pupil or apprentice of a teacher. Jesus' 12 Apostles were disciples of Jesus, but not all disciples were Apostles.
Revelation: God's disclosure of himself to humanity. It refers to the content of what is disclosed, for example Scripture.
Canon: A collection of books which a religious group regards as inspired by God, forming a body of authoritative scripture.
Apostles: From a Greek word meaning someone who is sent out. Applied particularly to Jesus' original 12 Apostles, and also to wider figures such as St Paul.
Evangelism: The Greek 'euangelion' means 'good message' or 'good news'. The word 'Gospel' was its Old English equivalent. To evangelise is to spread the good news about Jesus the Messiah.
Atonement: Part of St Paul's theology. After the original sin of Adam, God and the world were 'reconciled' by the sacrificial death of Jesus (Romans 5:1-11).
Holy Spirit: The third person of the Christian Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), each being an aspect of God.
Three theories about biblical inspiration and authority
1. Conservatism
Conservative Christians believe in the strong authority and inspiration of the Bible. Two main approaches exist within conservatism.
Evangelical Protestantism
Evangelical Protestantism is a worldwide movement within Protestantism with distinctive beliefs about salvation and the Bible.
Core beliefs:
- Christians are saved by grace (God's free gift) through faith in Jesus' atonement
- Committed to spreading the word about Jesus
- Converts experience being 'born again' and saved from sin
Views on biblical inspiration:
Evangelicals base their views on key biblical texts, particularly 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21:
All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for correction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
These two biblical passages form the foundation of Evangelical beliefs about inspiration. They are frequently cited to support the view that Scripture comes directly from God and carries his authority.
Key features of the Evangelical view:
- God as author: Some interpret these texts to mean God literally dictated the books of the Bible, so the authors were like 'dictating machines'.
- Inerrancy: The text is without error because it comes from God. That which comes from God must be perfect.
- Literal truth: For many Evangelicals, the Bible is literally true. If Genesis says God created the world in six days, this means six 24-hour periods. If religion conflicts with modern science, religion is authoritative.
- Verbal plenary inspiration: 'Plenary' means 'full' or 'complete'. God inspired all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, including poetry and historical narratives.
- Human personality preserved: God inspired the authors to produce the exact words he wanted, but allowed them to express their own personalities. For example, Matthew addressed a Jewish audience, whilst Luke wrote for Gentiles (non-Jews).
Common Misconception to Avoid:
While Evangelicals believe in inerrancy, this doesn't mean they ignore the human authors completely. The doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration maintains that God worked through the personalities, cultures, and writing styles of the human authors while ensuring the final product was exactly what he intended.
Catholicism
Catholic teaching on biblical inspiration forms an organic whole, emphasising the relationship between Scripture, Tradition, and Church authority.
Key terms:
Apostolic Tradition: The tradition stemming from Jesus' Apostles. Jesus commanded them to preach the Gospel to all people. This was done orally from teachings received from Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and also in writing by the Apostles and those associated with them.
Apostolic Succession: The idea that Church authority derives from Jesus' Apostles through the succession of bishops who came directly after them. For Roman Catholics, this includes the idea that Peter's authority as leader of the 12 Apostles transfers directly to the Pope, giving the Pope infallible authority.
Magisterium: The bishops in communion with the Pope, who have authority to interpret Scripture and Tradition.
The Catholic approach:
- Living tradition: Catholic Tradition is seen as dynamic, not static. The Holy Spirit remains active within the Church, so new truths can be discovered in Scripture. Centuries of reflection and prayer have led Christians to discover new meanings in biblical passages.
- Equal authority: Scripture and Tradition spring from the same divine source and share the same divine authority. Scripture is the 'speech of God' written under 'the breath of the Holy Spirit'. The Church does not derive its certainty about revealed truths from Scripture alone.
- Church interpretation: The Magisterium (bishops in communion with the Pope) is the authoritative body for interpreting both Scripture and Tradition.
- Sensus fidei: An 'instinct of faith' allows the faithful to recognise authentic Christian doctrine and reject what is false. The whole body of Catholic faith is inerrant in matters of belief.
The Catholic view differs from the Evangelical Protestant view in that it places Scripture and Tradition on equal footing, both requiring interpretation by the Magisterium. This creates a three-legged stool of authority: Scripture, Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church.
Nature of inspiration in Catholic teaching:
- Sacred Scripture is the word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, with God as its author.
- God chose human authors and inspired them, but allowed them full use of their own faculties to write what he wanted and no more.
- Both Old and New Testaments are without error and contain saving truth.
- Truth comes through all literary forms in the Bible (historical, moral, poetic) because these forms together cover the whole range of human thinking and expression.
- Whilst original books were without error, mistakes may have arisen over time through imperfect copying. Therefore, Scriptures may need interpretation to understand their original meaning and to apply them to modern issues.
Three Principles for Interpreting Scripture:
Catholics follow three essential principles when interpreting Scripture:
- Scripture as a whole must be seen as a unity
- It must be read within the living Tradition of the Church
- The interpreter must be attentive to the 'analogy of faith' (the unchanging faith of the Church, ensuring no passage is interpreted in a way that contradicts the unity of Scripture)
These principles ensure that interpretation remains consistent with the broader Catholic understanding of faith.
2. Neo-orthodoxy
Neo-orthodoxy means 'new orthodoxy'. It refers to the work of theologians such as Karl Barth, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Paul Tillich, though many reject this label.
Key features:
- Rejection of biblical inerrancy: Modern biblical scholarship suggests parts of the Bible are not historically or scientifically true. For example, the Genesis creation account is a re-write of an older Babylonian myth. The Bible contains apparent contradictions about divorce in Mark 10:11 and Matthew 19:9.
- Bible contains the Word of God: Karl Barth held that the Bible is not the Word of God; instead it contains the Word of God.
- God reveals himself in Jesus: God does not reveal himself in the words of the Bible. Rather, God reveals himself in Jesus, who is the Word who becomes flesh for humanity's salvation.
- Personal experience: Reading the Bible makes us aware we are sinners needing forgiveness. We feel the presence of God the forgiver in Jesus.
- Scripture as vehicle: For Barth, scripture is a vehicle through which God may be experienced. When the presence of God is experienced, the text becomes personally meaningful, and this experience is authoritative for the believer.
Understanding Barth's Position: The Bible as Container
Think of Barth's view this way: The Bible is like a treasure chest that contains precious jewels (the Word of God), rather than being the jewels themselves.
- The chest (Bible) is valuable because of what it contains
- The jewels (Word of God) are revealed when God chooses to unveil them
- The experience of finding the jewels (personal encounter with Jesus) makes the Bible authoritative for the individual believer
This contrasts with the Evangelical view, which would see the entire chest as being the precious jewels themselves.
3. Liberalism
'Liberalism' refers to Christians who reject the idea that the Bible is literally the inspired Word of God.
The Social Gospel Movement
This movement was founded by Protestant intellectuals at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
Key features:
- Uses Christian ethical principles to address social issues ranging from poverty and crime to racism and war
- For many, social action was more important than doctrinal debates
- The Bible is authoritative for recommending how we should live
- In the aftermath of two world wars and large-scale social unrest, it seemed more important to put the gospel into practice rather than debate inspiration and authority
The Social Gospel Movement represents a shift in focus from theoretical debates about biblical authority to practical application of biblical ethics. Proponents argued that Christianity's value lies in its power to transform society and address injustice, not in debates about the nature of inspiration.
Process Theology
Process Theology fully accepts the discrepancies between some biblical claims and what science tells us is true.
Key ideas held by different Process theologians:
- God is not the Creator. God exists panentheistically with the physical universe, meaning God is 'in' the universe and the universe is 'in' God.
- God is not all-powerful. He can only 'persuade' matter into more complex arrangements and cannot remove the problem of evil.
- God does not intervene in the world. There are no miracles, Jesus is not God incarnate, and God does not answer prayer.
- The Bible is an entirely human document. It is inspired only in the sense that it contains passages people might find uplifting.
Process Theology represents the most radical departure from traditional Christian views of biblical authority. By denying God's omnipotence, creative power, and interventionist nature, Process theologians fundamentally reinterpret the relationship between God, the world, and Scripture. The Bible becomes valuable for its ethical and inspirational content rather than as a divinely inspired revelation.
The Bible as inspired by God but written by human beings
This belief takes different forms in Catholic and Neo-orthodox views, though both traditions emphasise the dual nature of Scripture as both divine and human.
The Catholic view
In Catholic teaching, God's Holy Spirit is the main author of Scripture, but human authors also used their own faculties and powers.
Evidence of human authorship:
- Each of the four Gospels is associated with a named human author (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
- Each book in the Bible has a characteristic style and language
- Authors show their personal concerns and emotions (for example, Jeremiah's isolation and despair in Jeremiah 15:10)
- Different literary types (humour, erotic poetry, proverbs) reflect human creativity
- Inspiration covers the whole human response to God, since God is the 'author' of humanity
The Catholic Church recognises that understanding the human dimension of Scripture is essential for proper interpretation. By studying the historical context, literary style, and personal circumstances of the biblical authors, readers can better understand what God intended to communicate through these human instruments.
A Catholic teaching document states:
Our God comes willingly to be immersed in our humanity. The Son comes to live human life to the full, and the words of God share fully in the dynamics of human language. It follows that in order to understand the word of God in Scripture we should seek to know the intention of the human author.
The human contribution to Scripture is important and must be studied.
Karl Barth's Neo-orthodox view
Barth did not see the words of the Bible as being inspired in themselves. However, he believed Scripture becomes inspired when it provides readers with a personal encounter with Jesus.
Key points:
- Revelation always comes in a fallible human vehicle
- The Bible is veiled by fallible human words and can only be unveiled by a revelatory act of God
- Barth had no time for doctrines that tried to deny or qualify the human side of the biblical text
- The text is both fully divine and fully human
- The Bible contains scientific, historical, and religious errors
- The fallibility of the Bible is essential to its theological function: it prevents humans from setting it up as a false absolute and leaves revelation under God's control
Understanding Barth's Concept of Fallibility:
By 'fallible', Barth means 'capable of being wrong or mistaken'. God's revelation is hidden behind human language that can be confusing. Nevertheless, it is impossible to remove the human side of Scripture because Scripture is fully human as well as fully divine.
The human side stops us from treating the Bible as a 'false absolute' – something that can never be challenged or questioned. This leaves room for personal encounter with God that humans can find in the Bible.
Key Points to Remember:
- Biblical authority determines the extent to which the Bible has the right to demand obedience or belief.
- Three main approaches exist: Conservatism (Evangelical and Catholic), Neo-orthodoxy, and Liberalism, each with different views on inspiration and authority.
- Evangelicals believe in verbal plenary inspiration and biblical inerrancy, treating the text as literally true.
- Catholics give equal authority to Scripture and Tradition, emphasising the role of the Magisterium in interpretation and seeing Tradition as living and dynamic.
- Neo-orthodox thinkers like Karl Barth see the Bible as containing (not being) the Word of God, becoming inspired through personal encounter with Jesus.
- All major views (except some liberal ones) accept that the Bible is inspired by God but written by human beings, though they understand this dual authorship differently.
Exam tips
Exam Preparation Guidance:
- Be able to explain the differences between conservative, neo-orthodox, and liberal views of biblical authority.
- Understand the distinctive features of Evangelical Protestant and Catholic approaches to biblical inspiration.
- Know key biblical texts used to support inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21).
- Be prepared to discuss the tension between divine inspiration and human authorship.
- Consider how different views on biblical authority affect how Christians use the Bible in practice.