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 Bernard
Ramm defines authority as "That right or power to command
action or compliance, or to determine belief or custom,
expecting obedience from those under authority, and in turn
giving responsible account for the claim to right and
power." (Pattern of Authority, p.10.) He suggests two
sources of authority: Superior Position, and Truth; and he calls
these Imperial and Veracious authority. This may sound a bit
abstract, but if you are seriously interested in a study of
authority it will pay you to begin with this concept.
Ultimate
Authority demands a Position absolutely supreme; and Truth so
pure as to be the eternal source of truth. International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia (p. 334) carries some thought
provoking remarks on this, with this conclusion: " the
authority is God ... He alone is self-existent and supreme, who
is what He is of His own right. If God exists, He is the
ultimate criterion and power of truth and reality. All truth
inheres in Him and issues from Him. The problem of authority
thus becomes one with the proof and definition of God."
What I.S.B.E. postulates "if God exists" Paul
declares: "God that made the world... He is Lord"
(Acts 17:23-f).
This
article does not propose to argue God's existence, but to offer
some thoughts on the demands of ultimate authority. As an
opener, there can be no ultimacy in authority which depends
upon its subjects for validity. GOD is not established by
human reasoning. Divine TRUTH is not relative, applying to man's
acceptance for its credentials. If any standard exists by
which God must be tried, He becomes subordinate to that standard.
That which is ultimate "is its own witness
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and judge. All
that reason can say about it is the dictum of Parmenides:
'it is'." (Cf. 1 Cor. 2:15-f)
A
second great principle about the ultimate God is that only
God can reveal God. Man can not take" Him, or 'find'
Him by exploration. Paul wrote "the things of God knoweth
no man, but the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:11). The Bible is
not the product of man's search for God, but the revelation of
God to man. Many modern scholars say God revealed Himself in acts,
and the Bible is a record of those acts and what men have
deduced from them. This is an effort to escape the weight of
doctrinal information set forth in God's word. It makes stated
truth subject to man's interpretation of those acts makes
man superior to the Word. But though God used "earthen
vessels" for His truth (2 Cor. 4:7), He guided their words
so that what they wrote and said were His words (1 Cor. 2:13; 1
Thes. 2:13). This is the wholly consistent means by which an
ultimate God communicates with His creatures.
And
this establishes a third great principle. The relationship
between God and man is direct.
Many feel that such a principle demands some mystical
communication between God and each individual that the Bible
becomes a "third party" or sacerdotal element, or kind
of "priest." Historic churches, especially the
Catholic, make "the church" this element, so only
through it may men reach God. In the Reformation and Restoration
this was a primary issue, but today we are (continued next page)
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