How to cite this article: Joshua N. Tilton, “Bible Versus Scriptures: Part 4—Wherein Lies the Authority?” Jerusalem Perspective (2026) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/38062].
| Rather listen instead? |
| JP members can play or download an audio version of this essay.[*]
Paid Content
Premium Members and Friends of JP must be signed in to view this content. If you are not a Premium Member or Friend, please consider registering. Prices start at $5/month if paid annually, with other options for monthly and quarterly and more: Sign Up For Premium |
In the previous article in this series we asked, “What does it mean when we say something is ‘inspired’?” Here we will ask a similar question: What does it mean when we say something or someone has authority?
There are at least two senses in which someone or something can be said to have authority. Authority can be conferred or it can be earned. When authority is conferred, it comes from the top down: someone with power confers or delegates a certain task or responsibility upon someone or something that does not inherently possess the right to carry it out. An example of conferred authority is when Jesus gave his apostles the authority to heal and drive out demons in his name. The power derived from Jesus (and his heavenly father), but Jesus gave the apostles authority to carry out these specific tasks as his chosen representatives. Earned authority, by contrast, comes from the bottom up. A person becomes proficient in a skill or learned in a particular science, and the people around that person begin to respect his or her authority regarding that particular subject matter or craft. An example of earned authority might be Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, who earned the reputation as a particularly skillful interpreter of dreams. Because of his proven skill, even people with power over him respected Joseph’s authority to discover the meaning of dreams.
Premium Members and Friends of JP must be signed in to view this content.
If you are not a Premium Member or Friend, please consider registering. Prices start at $5/month if paid annually, with other options for monthly and quarterly and more: Sign Up For Premium
For Jewish readers, the Torah has greater authority than the other Scriptures. For Christian readers, the teachings of Jesus are the authoritative interpretation of the Torah. But even if we accord greater authority to some parts of the Scriptures than others, there is another quality the Scriptures possess that place them on a more equal footing. That quality is holiness, which will be the topic of the next article in the Bible Versus Scriptures series.
|
This article was brought to you in part by Avtinas Incense™, blending incense for the Divine Service since the late Second Temple period with the Avtinas family secret recipe of aromatic spices. With Avtinas Incense™ your offering will make an aromoa pleasing to the L-rd.
To learn more about Avtinas Incense™, and JP’s other first-century sponsors, visit the following link: https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/first-century-sponsors/. These sponsors are, of course, fictional and intended to be in good fun while also being informative about aspects of daily life in the time of Jesus. Purchase of items with our sponsors’ fanciful logos from Jerusalem Perspective’s Dashery store does, however, support the work of JP while also bringing a smile to the buyer’s face. If you would like to do even more to support JP, consider becoming a “Friend of Jerusalem Perspective,” a higher tier of membership that comes with special perks like free downloads of select eBooks and audio from the JP Bookstore. To learn more about becoming a “Friend of Jerusalem Perspective,” visit this link: https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/friends-of-jerusalem-perspective/. |
| [*] Music in the Audio JP files is excerpted from the Hebrew song Moshe written by Immanuel Zamir in a recording sung by Yaffa Yarkoni obtained from Wikimedia Commons. |
