BIBLE TOPICS

Here is one of the basic questions raised at the beginning of this page. How authoritative is the Church? How does one explain a contradiction between the teaching of the church and that of the Scriptures? The traditional Protestant view has always been that the final court of appeal must be the scriptures, yet in general the Protestant churches, no less than their Catholic mother, have recognised the claim of the church, not only to be the custodian of divine revelation, but to be the medium through which that revelation has continued and been elaborated down the centuries. Essential to this attitude is the claim to apostolic succession: the concept of a continuous line of authority, given first by Christ to his apostles, and handed on by them to their successors.

These ideas emerged early in the Church's history, with the flimsiest of foundations. The apostle's authority was unique - they had lived daily in Christ's company for three years, had listened to his words, witnessed his miracles and his way of life. However there is not the slightest evidence that this unique authority was, or was ever intended to be, handed on to successors. The elders of the individual churches could never experience this unique relationship with Christ, and the distinction between clergy and laity, a radical departure from the practice of primitive Christianity, had not yet emerged.

The Church's claim to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in conducting its affairs and defining its doctrines does not stand up under close examination. It finds no support in the New Testament, and confidence in it is not strengthened by even the most uncritical examination of Church history; a church that has changed its mind, or resorted to un-Christian methods of maintaining its authority and communicating its doctrines, cannot seriously claim divine guidance. Certainly Christ promised the disciples that the Spirit would guide them into all truth (John 16 v 13), a promise that was fulfilled after the resurrection, when the eleven who had previously failed to understand Jesus' work went out into the Roman world fully equipped to preach the gospel. Certainly, he promised strength and guidance ('lo, I am with you alway') to all who would genuinely attempt to serve him; but never did he give them that unique authority which he conferred on the apostles. All the New Testament prophecies point to a rapid departure from the true faith after the apostles' death. The dramatic changes affecting the church in the first few centuries after Christ illustrate the conflict between human thinking and divine law, and show just how far man was prepared to go in compromising divine standards.

The First Lie