The Authority of the Bible

All Family members proclaim their belief in the Bible. Bible memorisation has always been an important part of Family life, although in recent years the emphasis on memorisation of Family writings has been much higher than before. There are a number of standardised, Family-produced Bible classes that are usually given to new members in order to often reinforce specific Family beliefs. However, the one factor that shapes all Family members’ view of the Bible is the teaching that the correct interpretation of the Bible is that which has come from Family leadership. Primarily all Bible teaching in the Family is based on the writings of the founder (Berg/Dad), some of which has been updated since his death. As a general rule, no Family member will seek Bible interpretation from outside the Family. The basic principles by which all Family members see the Bible are written in official Family publications, and, in general, Bible teaching originating from without the Family is rejected, unless it happens to conform to Family teaching. Family members still respectfully hold the founder as a knowledgeable Bible teacher and see nothing wrong with accepting his views on the Bible.

Bible Teachers or the Bible Alone?

To illustrate how this works in Family life, let us imagine that ‘Julie’ is an imaginary new convert who wishes to join the Family. She is taught the basics of salvation through a Family-compiled Scripture list. Likewise, Family members in the home she joins, who all have access to these Scripture lists, teach her about the Holy Spirit, the importance of witnessing, and about discipleship. Julie, as a new convert, has no idea that from the beginning she is actually being taught a version of these doctrines that is not necessarily held by all Christians. When she is taught that the Holy Spirit is female, she may have no idea that other Christians do not agree with the Family’s interpretation. When she is given the Bible verses on forsaking all, she does not realise that those verses do not necessarily imply that she will become a half-hearted Christian if she does not join the Family. Julie begins reading many of the official Family writings and learns that the founder had a special understanding of the Bible, unmatched by other Christian teachers. Julie learns to go to the Family writings for all her questions. There are, after all, thousands upon thousands of them to read, covering almost every topic. She can search a database and find answers to all her questions. However she probably does not know that many of these Family-produced answers are actually in stark contrast to that which is taught by other Christians. She is not told to research for herself, unless her research is confined to Family materials. She is convinced that what she is taught is entirely Scriptural, not realising that there may in fact be contrary interpretations of those same verses. She is taught that the founder of the Family was like an archaeologist, uncovering truth from the pages of the Bible, truth that had been buried by centuries of ‘churchy rubble’. She is not told that it is actually possible for her to conduct her own research and Bible study. Any doctrine that she encounters is immediately compared with official Family teaching. If it agrees with Family doctrine, it is accepted as a confirmation of all Family doctrine. If it does not agree with Family doctrine, it is rejected as the concoction of man. Without realising it, Julie has allowed the Family to become the ultimate authority regarding doctrine.

This web page addresses the question of how much Christians should depend on teachers, and how much they should depend on the Bible. The Family is but one example of a group which depends exclusively upon the teachings of its own leadership. There are numerous other such groups. The opposite extreme of such a practice might be exemplified by a Christian who refuses to listen to any teacher whatsoever. He never listens to a sermon for fear it will corrupt him; he never reads a commentary or even a Bible dictionary. He reads his Bible, and nothing else. “God will show me what it means!” he proclaims, refusing to allow the possibility that God may have already shown someone else.

What is the balance between personal Bible study and Bible teachers? Can we understand the Bible without any outside help? When does outside help become too much? How much should Family members depend on the teachings in the Family writings, and how much should they go to the Bible?

This is not a new issue. In fact, in the 16^th century, this very question became so explosive that the reaction gave birth to the Reformation.

Martin Luther and the Reformation

Family members are reasonably familiar with Martin Luther (1483-1546). They are aware of his conflicts with the Catholic Church, of his doctrine of salvation by grace rather than works, and of his historic stand of faith. They are generally unaware, however, of the exact nature of his conflict with the church, assuming that it was primarily over the question of salvation by grace or works. That issue was highly relevant, of course, but it was by no means the cause of the Catholic Church’s antagonism towards Luther. The real issue was authority. Luther propounded the doctrine that it was the Bible that had the ultimate authority over whether a doctrine was true or false, not Church tradition or Church teaching. Luther was adamantly opposed to the concept that the church − any church − should be allowed the final say on whether a doctrine was true or false. His famous stand of faith centred then on the declaration that the doctrines Luther taught were true because they were what the Bible taught, regardless of the teachings of the Church.

The conflict between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church has particular relevance for the Family. Like the Catholic Church of the 16^th century, the Family proclaims to its members that it alone has the true interpretation of Scripture. Like the Church in Luther’s day, the Family teaches that its members are to judge all teachings by the standard set down by the Family itself. Like the Church of 460 years ago, the Family expels members who reject Family teaching in favour of other Christian doctrine.

This, then, is the heart of not only Luther’s contention with the 16^th century Catholic Church, but also of many of the other Reformers: John Huss (1372-1415), who questioned the infallibility of the Church and was eventually burned at the stake, Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), who was excommunicated and executed for criticising the Pope, John Wycliffe (1328-1384), and others. Many gave their lives for the truth that it is the Bible that is the highest source of doctrinal authority, not Church teaching, Church tradition or Church interpretation of the Bible. Similarly, and this is a point that cannot be made too strongly, it is the Bible that is the sole authority by which all Family teachings must be measured, not Family ‘heritage’, not prophecy, not Family Bible classes, not current publications (the GNs), and not the views of any Family leader, past or present. Martin Luther identified numerous unbiblical teachings held by the Church of his day, and wrote many volumes refuting those teachings. Some of Luther’s teachings are generally accepted today, some are not. However, the guiding principle which motivated him was the question of the ultimate authority of the Bible, instead of the Church.

Please note that the comparison made here between the Family and the 16^th century Catholic Church is specifically limited to the way in which both organisations appointed themselves as the official disseminator of ‘correct’ Bible doctrine. There are, of course, numerous differences. Note also that the point of naming several of the protestant reformers is not necessarily to agree with or promote all that they taught, but to highlight this one source of conflict. These men, and others, objected to the Church’s self-appointed authority as the determiner of truth and error. The radical teaching of these reformers became known as ‘Sola Scriptura,’ the doctrine that it is the Bible by which all teaching must be judged, not the teachings of any man or church.

The following are links to some external sites with more information on Sola Scriptura:

http://www.gotquestions.org/sola-scriptura.html

http://www.grovergunn.net/andrew/2ti0301.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Sola_scriptura

Following Godly men

Martin Luther once said,

The saints often err and give offence by human doctrines and works. It is God’s will, therefore, that we shall not be guided by their examples, but by his Word. … For, if you do not follow the Scriptures alone, the lives of the saints are ten times more dangerous and offensive than those of the ungodly. These commit gross sins, which are easily recognized and avoided, but the saints exhibit a subtle, pleasing appearance in human doctrines, which might deceive the very elect, as Christ says, Matt 24:24 (Luther).

No man or woman can ever take the place of the Bible as the source of authority. No man or woman has been authorised by the Bible to proclaim truth above or even equal with the Bible. No man or woman should ever tell his or her followers not to study the Bible for themselves. No Christian should ever follow the teachings of any man, woman or group on earth. The Bible has been given as the source of all truth, and all Christians are responsible to study it for themselves.

Bible teachers and handbooks

Here it is important to clarify that although the Bible stands as the ultimate authority, this does not mean that Christians should never study any of the writings of men. Rather, it means that all those writings must be measured by the Bible. Specifically, that includes every page posted on this web site, and every single doctrine ever taught by the Family. Everything that is written on Make Straight Paths is subservient to the authority of the Bible, and likewise every Family member is responsible to compare what they are taught with the Bible. Unfortunately, this cannot be done when Family members read little else but Family material. In other words, it is impossible for any Family member to accurately evaluate Family doctrines unless and until they use non-Family material to do so. Family members cannot use their own publications to measure those very same publications. If a Family member wishes to examine a Family doctrine as to whether or not it is in accord with the Bible, he or she must first lay aside all Family writings, whether they be doctrinal expositions, prophecies, Scripture compilations, or collections of selected quotes from non-Family Christians. All must be laid aside. Then, and only then, may the research begin.

The doctrine of ‘Sola Scriptura’ does not mean that Christians should never read anything but the Bible. Luther himself wrote many books! However, it does mean that the Bible is the standard by which all those books must be judged. For more, see The Standard.

There are, in fact, a number of reasons why Christians should consult other books from time to time, and there are a number of different kinds of writings that can be extremely helpful for Bible study:

Bible dictionaries. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek, with some Aramaic portions. Key words should be examined closely to ascertain the range of meanings that were possible in Bible times. Not only is there a tremendous gap between the ancient languages of the Bible and modern English, but also many English words have changed over time, so words that made perfect sense when the King James version was translated have gained or lost various nuances since then.
Bible handbooks. These are invaluable for gaining an overview of the historical setting of each book. They can provide additional crucial information that is unavailable in the plain text of the Bible.
Bible commentaries. These are verse by verse expositions that provide, not so much modern application of the scripture, but help explain what the text would have meant to its original hearers.
A variety of Bible translations. Some Bible versions are translated as literally as possible. These versions suffer when the original text contains idiomatic or figurative expressions, or grammatical constructions that do not make sense in English. Other versions are translated with a focus on the meaning of the original text. These versions fall short when a variety of meanings are possible in the Hebrew or Greek, but the translators are obliged to choose only one meaning in the English text. It is extremely helpful to compare a range of translations and thus identify which words are common to most, and which are peculiar to only one.
Bible sermons and preaching. Christians need checks and balances. If one group holds to a doctrine that is condemned by most other groups, there is a good chance that the minority view has been exaggerated at least, or possibly wrong. Any true doctrine will be able to withstand opposing viewpoints. A doctrine that can only stand if its adherents consider no opposing material probably does not have much substance.

It is a sad fact that not only do Family members rarely, if ever, read any of the above material, but they also rarely read the Bible itself. The amount of time most Family members spend reading the Bible compared with the amount of time they spend reading Family material is negligible.

Conclusion

In actuality, the Family places far less emphasis on the Bible as might be immediately apparent from its statements to the public.
In general, Family members spend almost all of their devotional or study time reading Family material, very little time reading the Bible alone, and no time at all consulting Bible handbooks, dictionaries and study guides.
To members, Family doctrines are not negotiable. There is absolutely no room within the Family for debate, for example, over the issue whether the Family practice of calling on the spirits of the dead might actually be sin.
Family members never compare their own teachings with those held by other Christians.
As long as Family doctrines remain exempt from scrutiny, they cannot be said to be valid. Teachings that have been imposed upon the members of any group by its leadership may be accepted as secular codes of behaviour or membership rules, but they may not be termed true biblical doctrines.
For a Christian, it is the Bible that measures all truth and error. Within the Family, it is official Family material that determines truth and error. The Bible is often used as little more than a support for Family doctrines.

References

Luther: Selected Sermons, 2003, Biblesoft, Seattle, WA.

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