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Sources of Wisdom and Authority - Coggle Diagram
Sources of Wisdom and Authority
The Bible
Responses to the issues of translation:
God gave the writers the words to write
God inspired the writers, but only the Catholic Church can correctly interpret it
The Bible is a human interpretation of the way God expressed himself. It is with mistakes but shows the impact God has on people
Nature and Authority of the Bible
Conservatism/Literalist view:
contains the infallible word of God, there are no mistakes
contradictions in the Bible were due to limitations of human intellect
The Pope/Bishops can discover new truths due to apostolic succession
'God Breathed'
Catholic View:
The Bible was inspired by God but was written by mankind
The Bible as a whole was an inspiration
Neo Orthadox view (Karl Barth):
The Bible was not the word of God, but contained the word of God
It is a way for Christians to experience God
‘the Bible is
veiled by fallible human words’,
Liberalist View:
Those who wrote the Bible were guided by God, others believe it is entirely man made and contained ideas about the purposes of the world from God.
The Church
Authority of the Church:
the Church receives authority from scripture as Christians are told to
‘Make disciples of all nations’
Apostolic Succession:
After his resurrection Jesus gave the apostles authority to leave the church. They then passed on their authority to new leaders (bishops) and the transmission of authority continued down the centuries.
Apostolic Tradition:
The apostolic tradition stems from Jesus’ disciples and their instructions to preach the gospel (written and orally)
‘entrust faithful men who...teach others also’
Therefore the Bishops in the church continue their work (apostolic succession).
A Church is a gathering of people and/or a physical building for worship. The Church refers to the organisation itself – the community of Christians
Authority of Church Tradition
: Each Church has a body of holy tradition, that is part of its authority.
Protestant Church Tradition:
The Bible is the authority, Doctrine of Scripture: Martin Luther stated ‘...the Word of God, through which alone we obtain whatever knowledge we have of God and divine things’.
Luther rejects the priests ability to understand it further - ‘let us not change the Word of God;
we ourselves should be changed through the world’ .
Roman Catholic Church Tradition:
The Bible and Church have equal authority.
It reflects Apostolic Tradition: following Jesus’ command to his Disciples to spread the Gospel; in addition to Apostolic Succession: as Bishops appointed in the Church reflect authority as they derive from Jesus’ Disciples.
-Hierarchy of Roman Catholic Church
: Catholics, Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, Pope.
Jesus
2 Approaches:
Jesus authority as God’s authority (based on the idea he was Gods incarnate)
Jesus authority as human (based on the idea he was not divine)
Jesus as God's authority:
The Gospels said Jesus had divine authority through...
his teachings
his miracles
his titles 'son of God' 'Messiah'
'all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'
Jesus authority as only human:
People who only see him as human include:
people who have a very liberal approach to scripture
Those who reject Jesus as the divine
Jesus' Teachings:
Those who heard Jesus teach were amazed by what and how he taught. Jesus taught in a new direct way. Those who believed in him, were convinced his authority came from God
people were convinced they were orders from God
Parable of Sheet and Goats
Love thy Neighbour
Sermon on the Mount
Jesus' Healings showing his Divine authority:
Jesus healing the centurion's servant established Jesus’ authority over healing. Jesus only needed to say one word for healing to take place.
“Say the word, and my servant will be healed”
“He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law”
Jesus as the Son of God:
The phrase Son of God to referred to Jesus implies Jesus is God’s
representative, not a man with a divine nature. It also reflects on his relationship with his Father.
In the beginning of Mark's gospel, Jesus is said to be “my beloved son” (in the New Testament)
Jesus as the Son of Man:
Jesus is recorded using the title Son of Man to describe himself in all
four Gospels. Implying, he is open to the same hardship as others. So he was both divine and human.
supported by him incarnating as human