The Nature of the Authority of the Bible Baptists emphasize that the Bible is the sole written authority for Christian faith and practice and deny that other writings such as creeds, confessions of faith, traditions, the teachings of theologians, and the statements by founders of denominations have such authority. Although Baptists may gain insight from and express appreciation for some of these documents, they refuse to accept them as authoritative. Some have accused Baptists of worshipping the Bible because of their extraordinarily high regard for the Bible as authoritative. Of course, we do not worship the Bible; we worship the God of the Bible as ultimate authority. The Bible is authoritative for us because it is from God and about God. This is one reason why Baptists often refer to the Bible as our sole writtenauthority. God is our ultimate authority. The Holy Spirit inspired persons to write the Bible so that, as The Baptist Faith & Message states, it is a “perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.” As such, the Bible becomes for us a revelation of God. Jesus Christ is the most complete revelation of God. The Bible reveals Jesus Christ as the Lord of all. The Lordship of Christ and the authority of the Bible go hand in hand; they are not contradictory but rather they are complementary. Baptists believe that the Holy Spirit empowered persons not only to record truth about God but also to enlighten or illumine persons to interpret and apply the Bible. The Bible is basically a religious authority. Herschel Hobbs, well-known Baptist pastor-theologian, in the book The Baptist Faith and Messageon pages 24-25 states, “The Bible is primarily a book of religion.” He explains, “To say that the Bible is an authoritative book does not mean that it is authoritative in every field of human thought. It is not an authority in science. It does not claim to be.” Hobbs also writes, “The Bible lays no claim to being a textbook of history, literature, philosophy, psychology, or science. Yet it contains true elements of all these and more.” The Authority of the Bible Relates to Other Basic Baptist Beliefs Because Baptists regard the Bible as the sole written authority for faith and practice, the Bible is foundational for Baptist doctrine and church polity. Baptist statements of belief through the centuries have always cited Scriptures for each belief set forth. On the authority of the Bible, Baptists base beliefs in matters such as salvation by grace through faith alone, the priesthood From the Articles of Faith adopted in Texas in 1840 by Union Baptist Association: “We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are revealed from God, and that they contain the only true system of faith and practice.”
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