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Essay Sources of wisdom and authority
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AQA alevel religious studies Sources of wisdom and authority marked exemplar essay 10 marks
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Examine different Christian beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible [10]All Christians believe that the Bible is literature which represents the covenant between God
and humanity. The word ‘Bible’ originates from the Greek word ‘ta biblia’, meaning ‘the books’.
The nature of the word ‘books’ is important because it shows that scripture was not only written
by different authors, but over different time periods and covering a range of different genres.
This includes law, such as the 10 commandments, to prophecy and wisdom. Specifically, the Old
Testament refers to a covenant between God and Jewish people, dating back to the 1st
millenium BCE. This is reflected in essential details such as the conquest of the sacred land:
people followed God’s rules, and He protected them. Moreover, the New Testament (another
agreement) shows continuity despite Jesus’ ‘new’ message. For example, where confirmation
was achieved through animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, the blood of Jesus Christ (wine)
was used in the New Testament.
Despite the nature of the Bible being a shared belief, many traditions are conflicted over
scripture and its authority. Catholics believe that the Bible and the Church both have absolute
authority, meaning the Church can therefore interpret scripture. The Bible has equal authority
because it had human authors, who were both inspired by God and allowed to use their own
faculties. This allows the Bible to still be the Word of God, but (because Catholics believe that
the Holy Spirit is still active today) also allows for new truths to be discovered in accordance
with modern beliefs. However, interpreting a passage must be done so within the analogy of
faith (context of the whole Bible). The only people who hold such authority are therefore the
Church; the Magisterium carries authority passed on from Peter and his descendants. This
message from Jesus can therefore be re-interpreted because the Holy Spirit is still present; the
Bible is dependent on the Church to correctly teach God’s message.
Evangelical Protestants believe that the Bible has absolute authority; authority over the Church,
over law, over science. As a result, it must be obeyed literally. They believe this because the
Bible is inspired by God (Timothy 2), ‘inspired’ meaning ‘God-breathed’ and so literally His word.
Humans were merely ‘dictating machines’ (“men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”)
through verbal plenary inspiration. As a result, the Bible must be perfect because God is, and
scripture is therefore inerrant. This is true even if passages are unscientific - if humans were to
try and re-interpret the Bible, they themselves would become teachers of the Holy Spirit, and so
the Church cannot determine scripture. This means that the Bible is the absolute source of
authority for Evangelical Protestants, and nothing can override God’s exact word.
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