First-Century Truth for a Twenty-First Century World: The Crucial Issues of Biblical Authority

By David Gibson

Can society function without a common standard of weights and measures, currency, and time-keeping? Is competition in athletics possible without rules? But what about religion? Is it left up to each person what to believe and practice, or is there a universal standard? There is. God sent Jesus, not only to die as our Savior, but also to reveal an authoritative message for our salvation. Jesus then transferred this message to the apostles. Guided by the Holy Spirit, they in turn preached this message, which is now preserved in the New Testament. This is our standard today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781469121437

David Gibson

David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer and a committed lay Catholic. He writes about Catholicism for various newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Boston magazine, Fortune, Commonweal, and America. He was the religion writer for the The Star-Ledger of New Jersey. Gibson has worked in Rome for Vatican Radio and traveled frequently with Pope John Paul II. He has co-written several recent documentaries on Christianity for CNN.

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Copyright © 2011 by David Gibson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken

from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,

© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995

by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission.

Rev. date: 09/24/2015

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 The Need for a Common Standard

Chapter 2 Jesus: The Messenger and His Message

Chapter 3 The Apostles: Spirit-Empowered Special Agents

Chapter 4 A Case Study in Apostolic Authority: The Day the Church Changed Its Mind

Chapter 5 The Place of Miracles

Chapter 6 The Place of Scripture

Chapter 7 The Bible Plus Nothing

Chapter 8 The Bible Plus Something: Catholicism

Chapter 9 The Bible Plus Something: Subjectivism

Chapter 10 The Bible Plus Something: Mormonism

Chapter 11 Is It Authorized?

Chapter 12 The Standard That Makes Restoration Possible

Chapter 13 Submitting to Authority

Notes

These publishers have graciously granted permission to use quotations taken from:

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein.

Copyright © 1984 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Used by permission of Zondervan. WWW.ZONDERVAN.COM

By What Authority? by William Barclay

Published and copyright 1975 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd., London

Used by permission of the publishers

How We Got the Bible, third edition revised and expanded by Neil R. Lightfoot.

© 1963, 1988, 2003 by Neil R. Lightfoot.

Used by permission of Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey.

Copyright © 1999 by Charles Colson.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin W. Lutzer.

Copyright © 2004, 2006 by Erwin Lutzer.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Answers to Questions Catholics Are Asking by Tony Coffey

Copyright © 2006 by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR

Used by Permission

Once a Catholic by Tony Coffey

Copyright © 1993 by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR

Used by Permission

The Mormon Mirage, third edition, by Latayne C. Scott.

Copyright © 2009 by Latayne Inc..

Used by permission of Zondervan. WWW.ZONDERVAN.COM

To Sara

for her patience, love, and companionship

these forty-six years

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A BOOK IS BETTER after several pairs of objective eyes have given it a thorough going-over. I am grateful to the following who took the time to review the manuscript and offer their helpful suggestions: Frazier Conley, Susan Darnell, Sara Gibson, Owen Olbricht, and Levi Sisemore. Thanks also to Levi for pointing me to some helpful resources on Mormonism, a subject he has studied extensively. I also appreciate Sue Porter and Ray and Doris Beeson for their encouraging comments after reading the manuscript.

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Fred Tarpley for his professional help with grammar, punctuation, and endnotes.

Thanks to those who helped with the graphics: Susan Darnell, Monte Gibson, and Timothy Huggins. Thanks to Randy Daw for his beautiful graphic The Chain of Authority in Chapter 7. Since this chart illustrates so well the main point of this book, I decided to use it instead of the one I had designed for the same purpose.

I am grateful to World Video Bible School for producing the excellent DVD Searching for Truth, which includes the segment About Authority. What this lesson says about the Law of Moses made me realize that this book needed a section on the Old Testament.

My sincere gratitude to June Bennett for her help and encouragement.

And thanks to the authors and publishers who have graciously granted permission to use their material.

PREFACE

I N 1969-1970 MY wife Sara and I, newlyweds, were privileged to work with Owen Olbricht on the Continuing Team of Campaigns Northeast in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Our work involved studying the Bible with people in their homes, with the view of bringing them to conversion to Christ. In these studies we used a number of lessons on various topics, authored by Olbricht and published by the Gospel Light Publishing Company in Delight, Arkansas. One of these is entitled Authority. Because it is so basic, we would often begin with this lesson. It teaches the chain of authority—all the way from God down to the inspired writers, thus providing God’s will for us.

As far as I recall, before I became acquainted with Olbricht’s lesson, no one had ever taught me the chain of authority in just this way, even though I had been in Bible classes all my life and had attended Christian schools from first grade through college. The basis of authority was a major gap in my education.

I suspect I am not alone in this. The authority principle is not hard to understand, but few are aware of it because it is so rarely taught. We need to know on what basis our faith is founded. I am grateful to Olbricht for producing this lesson that has helped me greatly in my understanding. It also has provided me with practical insights for teaching others through the years. This book is an expansion of the authority lesson we used while working with Olbricht.

Where It All Begins

In Olbricht’s lesson the very first scripture cited is: "one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:6—italics added). This is the obvious and logical place to begin. Until this ultimate source of authority is established and accepted, further discussion is futile, as indicated in the following interchange:

During a discussion on the nature of moral responsibility, one student asked, "Who are we responsible to? After all, the notion of responsibility makes no sense unless we are responsible to someone."

We’re responsible to other people, another student volunteered. For example, if you run over a child, you’re responsible to the child’s parents.

But who says? persisted the first student. Who will hold me accountable to those parents?

It’s society we’re responsible to, ventured a third student. Society sets up the laws that we follow, and it holds us accountable.

But who gives society that right? asked the first student.

The answer lurking in many of the students’ minds was that our ultimate responsibility is to God. Any other authority can be challenged. Only if there is an absolute Being, a Being of perfect goodness and justice, is there an ultimate tribunal before which we are all accountable. But in a secular university classroom, no one dared say that. So the students debated back and forth, hoping to find some basis for moral accountability that would not require them to acknowledge divine authority.¹

Starting then with the premise that God determines all standards, this book will examine the chain of authority that begins with God and ends with the Scriptures.

Negotiating the Authority Maze

What is our authority in religion? Is it the Bible? If so, is it the Bible alone, or is it the Bible plus something? Many people look not only to the Bible but also to church tradition, or to a book besides the Bible which they believe is inspired of God, or they follow some influential leader, living or dead, who claimed to speak for God. And then there are those who believe that God speaks to them personally and directly. What shall we make of all these claims?

With so many different sources of authority being accepted today, is it any wonder that there is so much confusion? Unless we agree on what our authority should be, how can we have a basis for our faith and for unity? How can there be common ground until the authority question is settled?

So let’s begin.

CHAPTER 1

The Need for a Common Standard

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

M EN, THEY SAY, will not stop to ask directions. Somehow, I never knew this until I was in my thirties. Either my dad had never heard of this rule or he chose to ignore it, because I recall him stopping many times to ask the way. So I thought nothing of doing the same. It does save a lot of gas and time. But now with GPS, stopping for directions may seldom be necessary.

Shortly before her seventh birthday Kinnadiee was riding in the car with her grandparents. They had recently installed GPS, and she asked, Is it telling the truth? Fair question! Why pay good money for a device that fails to get you where you need to go? GPS is designed to be objective, not mere guess-work. It provides the traveler—any traveler—with data from above. Occasional glitches aside, it is one of the best things to come along since roadmaps.

According to a government website:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U. S. space-based radionavigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civil users on a continuous worldwide basis—freely available to all. For anyone with a GPS receiver, the system will provide location and time.

GPS provides accurate location and time information for an unlimited number of people in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world.²

GPS is an excellent example of a universal, objective standard that countless people have found extremely useful.

The Rules of the Game

In Texas the rules of high school basketball as well as other sports are determined by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). Once a year a new rulebook is issued, including the latest rule changes. A coach told me that he also receives updates from UIL via email. He takes the time to familiarize himself with the new rulings. Not all coaches do.

More than once when his team was playing, the coach of the opposing team tried to go by the old rulebook because he hadn’t bothered to study the changes. In such cases the official must decide in favor of the newest rulings instead of the old ones.

Bill Powers, when he was Sports Information Director for Texas A&M University-Commerce, told me that in the 1960s the NAIA and the NCAA had different sets of rules for football. Even now, the UIL in Texas plays by NCAA rules, whereas most U. S. teams go by NFHS rules. Differences may involve such things as overtime, the width of hash marks, and the width of the goalposts.

Without rules how could we ever have a fair playing field, avoid confusion, and provide the structured environment so necessary for athletic competition? Without a common rulebook, how can two teams play ball? If rules are absolutely essential in sports, what about other areas of everyday life? If we start looking for other examples where such standards are needed, we won’t have to look far!

Weights & Measures, Time & Money

What if every grocery store set their scales as they pleased? Most people agree: There must be a standard. The alternative is chaos. It is evident from a study of the Old Testament that God is vitally concerned about the importance of standard weights and measures (Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13-16; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23; Ezekiel 45:10-11; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10-11).³

Before I cleaned out the clutter in the desk in our den, we had several twelve-inch rulers. I eliminated the wooden one from an insurance company, plus a metal one promoting a breakfast cereal company, but kept the one made of plastic with a familiar soft drink logo prominently displayed. Though not from the same place or made of the same materials, they were, of course, all the same length. What if they weren’t?

In 1994 when we celebrated 25 years of marriage we were given an anniversary clock very similar to one my parents received on their twenty-fifth in 1952. Their clock sat for more than forty years on the mantelpiece in their living room; ours sits on the bookshelf in the den. Their clock had to be wound occasionally; ours runs on batteries. But the two clocks had one major factor in common. After installing the batteries in our new clock, I set it by Central Standard Time. That was the same standard my dad used when setting their clock.

When our family toured the Bureau and Printing and Engraving in Washington, D. C., we saw the presses that produce our paper currency. A couple of signs on our tour let us know that even the government has a sense of humor. We were on a catwalk looking down on huge stacks of freshly-printed currency. A sign said, So near and yet so far! Another read, The buck starts here. And it had better not start anywhere else than an official government press! Imagine the confusion if everybody had the right to print money!

Does God Have a Standard?

If a standard of authority is needed in athletics, commerce, time-keeping, and many other areas of life, what about in religion?

There is at least one major difference. Government inspectors can and should enforce the law on weights and measures. When sports officials referee, their job is to keep both teams in line with the rules. But religion is a matter of choice, not compulsion. While we have the freedom in this country to pick whatever standard of religious authority we prefer, wouldn’t it be to our advantage to make sure we select the standard of God’s choice?

That word select implies freedom to choose. Since God has given each of us a free will, we can choose to submit to His authority over us, or we can rebel. If we rebel, we then decide by what standard we will live our lives.

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (Matthew 6:24; see Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:10—emphasis added).

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… (2 Timothy 3:1-2, 4; see 1 Timothy 5:6; Titus 3:3; James 5:5).

Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God (John 12:42-43).

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).

To distract us from making God the supreme love of our lives, Satan provides many alternatives. So many different things can crowd God out. Perhaps the tempter’s most subtle ploy is providing the devoutly religious with a standard of belief that is different from what God has authorized.

Freedom of religion is a great blessing. We are neither hindered by an atheistic government nor taxed to support a state church. Our nation’s laws allow a wide variety of beliefs and practices. But is Christ pleased with everything that goes by His name?

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven…. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matthew 7:21-23).

Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted (Matthew 15:13).

The criterion on Judgment Day will be whether or not we did the Father’s will. Jesus says many will claim Him as Lord. He will reject them because they practiced their own religion. Matthew 15:13 makes it clear that if God didn’t plant it, He won’t accept it. In the context Jesus means that God rejected the Pharisees because they rejected His word in favor of their own traditions. Because Jesus says, "Every plant…" the warning has broad application to all substitutes for the divine standard.

We will always have religious division. As long as people can exercise their freedom of choice, they will. The day will never come when all who profess Christ are united as they were in the beginning of the church (Acts 2:42, 44, 46). It’s sad, but that’s just the way it is. Yet as individuals we can use our God-given freedom to search for the truth God wants us to practice. We can unite with others who also take their stand on the basis of authority God approves. How can we discover that authority? That’s what this book is all about.

How many people, do you suppose, have given serious thought to the authority question? How many have made a thorough study of what they’ve been taught to believe? Do we want our children to believe what we believe just because we believe it? Although it is our parental responsibility to teach them God’s way, shouldn’t we encourage them to do their own study and discover the truth for themselves? Then it will be their own faith.

Can any of us afford to assume we already have the truth if we haven’t investigated for ourselves? Pilate asked, What is truth? (John 8:38). The night before, in His prayer to His Father, Jesus said, Your word is truth (John 17:17). God expects us to be truth-seekers, and the truth can be known (John 8:31-32).

Human Standard vs. Divine Standard

Note the theme running through the following passages:

For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God (Jeremiah 23:36—emphasis added).

For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matthew 10:20).

Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16:17).

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men (Mark 7:8; see Titus 1:14).

The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? (Luke 20:4 KJV).

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).

For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God… (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Every doctrine and each religious practice advocated today can be classified under one of two headings: divine or human. Either God authorized it, or He did not. It’s either true or false. And it really matters which is which! Truth-seekers who do their homework are not fooled.

A Dream Audience

An excellent example of truth-seekers who did their homework is found in Acts 17. Paul went into the synagogue at Thessalonica and preached. Citing Old Testament prophecies of