The Bible: The Only Source of Authority for Christians?

John Gill, an English Baptist minister, preached at a baptismal service on November 2, 1750. His text - Jeremiah 6:16; his sermon - "The Scriptures: The Only Guide in Matters of Faith." Gill warned his audience against “unwritten traditions” that would hijack the authority of the Bible. He said, “Only the word of God is the rule of our faith and practice.” By that he meant, “Only the Bible is the rule of our faith and practice.” Consider with me the phrase “the word of God” as it appears in the Bible. Every time the Bible uses that phrase does it mean the written word of God, the Old and New Testament scriptures that we evangelical Protestants recognize as being the Canon of Scripture? In other words, can we legitimately and consistently interpret that phrase to mean the Bible we read from today? Obviously we cannot from the standpoint of the Old Testament. But what about the New Testament?

Here is a list of of NT verses where I put the words "the Bible" in the place of the phrase "the word of God."

Acts 4:31 the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and “they spoke the Bible with boldness.”

Acts 6:7 “the Bible spread.”

Acts 8:14 Samaria “received the Bible.”

Acts 12:24 “the Bible increased and multiplied.”

Acts 13:5 “When they (Paul and Barnabas) arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the Bible in the synagogues of the Jews.”

Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the Bible be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Bible which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Bible, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Bible.”

2 Peter 3:5 “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the Bible.”

Some fundamentalists may agree with my translations, but the translations are not only humorous but impossible. One of the major reasons why is that no church earlier than the fourth century provided us with a list of our accepted New Testament Canon.

Consider Adam, Eve, Cain, Able, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Did they live solely by God's written word? Did they live by God's written word at all? And what about the nation of Israel? Was the people of God subject only to God's written word? Could they ignore what was spoken to them through the prophets of God? That is to say, could they ignore the oral word of God?

Jeremiah 7:22-28 “For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward."

Zechariah 7:7-12 “Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited? And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts.”

And what about Jesus? Did he write down his words and give them to the Apostles? If not, were they and others accountable to what he spoke?

In John 12:48 Jesus said, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

And what about the oral word of the Apostles? Were others accountable to what they said?

In Luke 10:16 Jesus said to his Apostles, "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Therefore, does the Bible teach that God's written word is the only source of authority for God's people? No!