Introduction
With the exception of the Lord Jesus Himself, the Bible has been the single most important influence in my life. When Paul wrote of Timothy, "From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:15-17), his description is one with which I can identify. For like Timothy, my life has been immersed in the environment of biblical truth since my infancy.
I was taught to recite simple Scripture verses from the day I began to talk, and the first song I learned to sing was biblical ... "Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so." My folks made sure that I never missed Vacation Bible School. With a little imagination, I can hear vividly the voice of the Bible drill leader, "Attention, draw swords; 2 Timothy 2:15; charge," as I competed with other church friends in Bible sword drills.
There is a human chain of godly Sunday School teachers stretching from cradle roll to adult days who overcame the distractions of childish inattention and horseplay to plant in my heart seeds of interest in the Bible. One Sunday School teacher in particular, George Fuller who has gone home to the Lord, used to take some of us boys out visiting. After we finished, he would take us to Polar Bear for ice cream. You mention “visitation” and my mouth waters. I have a rich Christian heritage. But, the bedrock of all of my experience is rooted in my love for God’s Word.
So today, my mind is called back regularly to the lessons from the Old and New Testaments which they taught with varying skills. I can still quote portions of the King James Version of the Bible through those scripture memory times when I was a child.
Later in life, when I graduated from High School, I was presented with a new Bible. Often, my parents would provide me with a new Bible for various occasions. One of the best was when I had surgery, my mother said, I am not going to waste money for flowers, what would you like instead? I told her I would like an Open Bible, and I have worn the cover off of it from use. It is still my most trusted instrument, the most trusted tool of my trade.
Because of the cooperative effort of Southern Baptists, I have been the beneficiary of wonderful educational opportunities at Dallas Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the largest theological study center in the world. I have devoted my life to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. It is clear to me that preaching the ideas and thoughts of man would never be noble enough a cause to commit an entire lifetime of service.
But teaching the truths of the Bible is more than challenge enough to justify such a commitment.
One of the primary reasons that I am a Southern Baptist is because this denomination has so positively declared its faith in the Bible as the Word of God and the sole authority for faith and practice. Another reason why I am a loyal Southern Baptist is our conviction that no man-made creed can ever replace the Scriptures as the basis of doctrinal integrity and that each believer is free under the influence of the Holy Spirit to interpret Scriptures for himself/herself.
I have traced my pilgrimage with the Word of God so that you will understand my total sympathy with and love for the Scriptures. My own conviction is an unapologetic and unconditional commitment to biblical authority. Some people make church tradition an equal authority to the Bible, and others make philosophical fads the rule of life. Some people accept only those parts of the Bible that are reasonable or supernatural, others consider their own personal, subjective ideas to be the ultimate authority, and some yield to the majority opinions as the norm.
Over against all these, I believe the Bible to be totally authoritative in all that it affirms. It is the sole authority for faith and practice, "the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried." The question remains: How can I best express my belief in the authority of the Bible?
For one thing emotional attachment to certain words complicates the problem.
For example, during controversies about the Bible, certain words become flags to identify which side of the controversy the person is on. Although the word may be a perfectly good one to describe belief, one hesitates to use it because of its connotation as a password for a particular group.
Another weakness of words is the lack of common definitions. No matter how strong a word may be to describe the Bible, it will always need definition. Words like infallible, authoritative, inerrant, inspired, literal, figurative, dependable, and sufficient have all been used. These words can be confusing because two people using the same word may understand that word in totally different ways. When someone says, "I believe the Bible is authoritative," the listener must always ask, "What do you mean by that word?" Debates about the Bible are confusing because of the difference in definition.
Two persons may believe the Bible is infallible, but each uses a different term to convey belief. Their debate continues under the assumption that because they use different terms, they disagree with each other. In reality, they have similar beliefs, about the Bible even though they use different words to express their belief.
On the other hand, two people may think they agree about the infallibility of the Bible because they use the same terms, but, in reality, each intends something entirely different.
When we accept the imprecise nature of our language and the necessity for personal definitions, we will be more careful in our judgments. We also will be more reluctant to categorize others simply because the words they use. I hope that we can clarify some of the controversy that is going on in our convention right now, but more than that, I hope that we can gain a new appreciation for the Bible and its authority over our lives, our actions, and our devotion to Jesus Christ.
I believe that the study of biblical authority is important for us because the Bible is so central in the Baptist faith. For Baptists, the Bible is central as the only legitimate creed.
The Baptist Faith and Message expresses this centrality clearly "....the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Confessions are only guides and interpretations, having no authority over the conscience....they are statements of religious convictions, drawn from the Scriptures, and are not to be used to hamper freedom of thought or investigation in other realms of life."
The Bible is central in Southern Baptist preaching. It is the central textbook in Southern Baptist Sunday Schools across the nation. It is central in the curriculum of each of the six Southern Baptist theological seminaries. The Bible is a factor so central in our denomination’s history that Southern Baptists cannot be understood adequately apart from the Book. It is no surprise then that Southern Baptists have traditionally located the pulpits in their churches in the center of the platform, symbolizing the priority given to the proclamation of God’s Word. In fact, in some recent church buildings, architects have creatively designed the pulpit to represent the open Bible as the source of the sermon.
Since the Bible is so basic in Southern Baptist theology and since the casual observer may uncritically assume biblical authority as a universally accepted "given" among Southern Baptists, there is the dangerous possibility of discounting the need for continuous study. A number of Southern Baptist leaders have expressed concern that Southern Baptists seem to understand less and less the biblical ideals and values that make up our distinctive Baptist heritage. This encroaching ignorance makes it necessary from time to time to call Southern Baptists back to their historical principles and to the Bible from which those principles are drawn. This is the purpose of our current study.
Another reason a study of biblical authority is timely is because many segments of contemporary, secular society in our country are not showing the same openness to receive the biblical message that they were even ten years ago.
In Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5, Paul called on believers to "redeem the time." One probable interpretation of that commandment is that we are to "buy up" for Christ and His kingdom the particular time or age in which we live.
This is another way of expressing the Christian’s responsibility to care for and witness to the people of our own generation and thereby capture the that generation for the Lord. That interpretation implies that God has given to each generation of Christians the sole responsibility for that particular block of history in which that generation of believers lives. If we do have such a responsibility ... an exciting, challenging and demanding period of history is assigned to us in this last few years of the twentieth century and the dawn of the next century as well.
Today the future rushes toward us so rapidly that, as Alvin Toffler has indicated, many people cannot cope with the changes and as a result develop future shock, a disease that cripples their efforts, incapacitating them to live and work in such unpredictable uncertainty.
One of the things experienced by POW’s in the Viet Nam era was the vast amount of change in the U. S. upon their return after such a seemingly short period.
Science and technology are developing so rapidly that each year we are confronted with a flood of newly invented devices and gadgets which often create moral and spiritual problems never before faced by people.
New surgical techniques, organ transplants, and revolutionary medicines promise to extend physical life. Supersonic jet travel, satellite communication, fiber optics, and computer technology are improving so rapidly that no one seems able to keep up.
Changes are revolutionizing the structure of family life, political organizations, and basic values. Consequently, many of the certainties we assumed would never change have already undergone radical transformation.
In this confusing time, secular minds who otherwise would discard biblical truth as worthless are turning in desperation to the Bible with its changeless truths.
They are searching for a source of enduring stability to which to anchor life in the midst of change.
Ours is also a time period, characterized by continuing, unpredictable crises ... political, economic, international, energy ... (been to the gas pumps lately?. I never thought I would consider gas cheap at $2.50 a gallon.) One after another they come like waves against the shore. History has routinely been punctuated by such crises.
Private pilots have a favorite definition of flying: "Hours and hours of routine boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror." This has been the history of mankind; but in these last years of the twentieth century, the crises have become more frequent, regular, and recurring. And these are the years God has assigned to us to redeem for Him.
Many person’s responses to this onslaught of emergencies have been irrational and pessimistic. For example, the Freedmen in Montana, who have developed a fortress mentality, storing guns and freeze-dried foods, in remote retreats, with plans to ward off hungry neighbors and unnamed enemies until the crisis is past.
Out of this climate of groping for solutions to the onslaught of crises, many in our generation, some for the first time, are asking, is there a word from the Lord? More and more a new hunger for the Bible and its authoritative answers is visible in secular society. I believe that this is due to people recognizing that they can no longer control their environment.
Another reason why it is important for us to study the subject of biblical authority is because of controversies that have dominated the attention of the Southern Baptist Convention for almost 30 years. Although, this is certainly not the first time debate about the Bible has rocked our denomination, many have seen the current disagreements as threats to unity, a wasteful and unnecessary detour from the main Convention purposes of evangelism and missions. Many also consider the current debate far more serious than debates in any previous period. The present conflicts are serious, and they do have potential for weakening our obedience to the Great Commission. However, the controversy also offers a positive opportunity to stimulate a wider interest in the study of the Bible.
If the "battle for the Bible" motivates unconcerned, disinterested believers to reexamine their own attitude toward biblical authority, the controversy has a positive, redeeming quality. Debates about the Bible may divert attention of Southern Baptists from winning the world and thereby become an effective tool of Satan. On the other hand, those same debates may send more people to unused Bibles and stir up within their hearts a renewed desire to study biblical revelation.
If so, the controversies are not all bad. In fact, they may become providential opportunities for good.
Finally, now is a good time to study the subject of biblical authority because of the challenges before us to win our community to Christ. This effort tends to lead us away from just talking about the Bible to the more vital task of putting it into practice in daily life. This study will be worthwhile if it succeeds in leading us to explore more carefully the truth of biblical authority and to take more seriously its practical implications with the result that we are challenged to a deeper commitment to evangelism and missions.
