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Course 18 · Lesson 6.5

Scripture and authority compared

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 18 outline

Module 1: Studying Religions Fairly

  1. Describing a religion in its own terms
  2. Insider and outsider views, and the limits of comparison
  3. Pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism: the basic terms
  4. The comparison grid: God, revelation, authority, humanity and salvation

Module 2: Judaism and Islam

  1. Judaism: Torah, covenant and the shape of Jewish life
  2. How Judaism understands Jesus, Messiah and the Christian claim
  3. Islam: the oneness of God, the Prophet and the Quran
  4. How Islam understands Jesus, the Trinity and the Christian claim

Module 3: Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism

  1. Hinduism: its diversity and central ideas
  2. Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths and the path
  3. Sikhism: the Gurus, the one God and the Guru Granth Sahib
  4. Karma, rebirth and liberation compared with Christian hope

Module 4: Deism, Atheism and Agnosticism

  1. Deism: history and beliefs
  2. Atheism: varieties and arguments
  3. Agnosticism and the question of burden of proof
  4. Meaning, morality and hope in nonreligious positions

Module 5: New Religious Movements

  1. What a new religious movement is, and why the term is debated
  2. Movements with Christian roots and their relation to historic Christianity
  3. Other modern movements and spiritualities

Module 6: Comparing the Great Questions

  1. Revelation compared: word, law, awakening and incarnation
  2. Divine nature compared: one God, the Trinity, the Absolute and no creator
  3. Human nature and the human problem compared
  4. Salvation compared: forgiveness, submission, liberation and awakening
  5. Scripture and authority compared

Module 7: Christian Approaches to Other Religions

  1. Exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism examined
  2. Catholic and Orthodox approaches to other religions
  3. Protestant approaches to other religions
  4. Witness, dialogue and respect

All courses

Program / Course 18: World Religions / Lesson 6.5

What you will learn

  • Compare the scriptures of the traditions and the way each is used, read and interpreted.
  • Describe where each tradition places final authority: text, tradition, teaching office, community, teacher or reason.
  • State the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant views of Scripture and Tradition.
  • Explain why disputes within a tradition often turn on interpretation and not on the text alone.

The big idea

Most religions have sacred texts, but they differ in what those texts are, how they are read and who has the right to interpret them. Jews study Torah with the rabbinic tradition. Muslims receive the Qur’an as God’s speech, along with the example of the Prophet. Christians hold the Bible as God’s inspired word, and differ on whether it stands alone or with Tradition. Hindus have many texts and teachers, Sikhs treat their scripture as the living Guru, and Buddhists have large canons that differ by school.

Key terms

Canon
The list of books a tradition accepts as scripture, or the body of authoritative texts.
Sola scriptura
The Protestant principle that Scripture alone is the final authority for faith and life, other authorities being subordinate.
Magisterium
The Catholic teaching office of the pope and bishops, which interprets Scripture and Tradition authoritatively.
Tradition
The teaching and practice handed down in a community. In Catholic and Orthodox usage, a source of revelation alongside Scripture.
Hermeneutics
The science and art of interpreting texts.
Ijma and fiqh
In Islam, ijma is the consensus of scholars and fiqh is the science of jurisprudence by which law is derived from the sources.
Sutra
A Buddhist or Hindu text in aphoristic or discourse form. Buddhist sutras are held to record the Buddha’s teaching.

Background

Having a sacred book does not settle questions of authority, since a book needs interpreters. Every tradition therefore has some means of deciding what a text means. Understanding that means is as important as knowing the text.

This final comparison lesson of the module puts scripture and authority side by side, drawing on the earlier lessons. It shows how internal debates in each tradition, such as those among Sunni and Shia, Orthodox and Reform Jews, or Catholics and Protestants, are often disputes about interpretation and authority.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Judaism

The Tanakh is the written scripture, with the Torah at its heart. The Oral Torah in the Mishnah and Talmud, together with later commentaries and legal rulings, guides how it is lived. Authority rests in the text as interpreted by the rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Jews hold that halakhah is binding as received, and Conservative and Reform Jews treat it with varying degrees of development. The Talmud preserves disagreement, and the tradition values argument.

There is no pope. Rabbis and communities decide questions by precedent and reasoning. This arrangement explains why Jewish movements differ so widely while sharing the same texts.

Step 2: Islam

The Qur’an is the word of God in Arabic. Alongside it stands the Sunna, the example of the Prophet preserved in hadith collections. From these, scholars derive law by schools of jurisprudence, using consensus and reasoning. Sunni Muslims have no central teaching office, and authority is held by scholars and the learned tradition. Shia Muslims hold that the imams have a special authority to interpret.

Muslims hold that the Arabic text is the Qur’an itself. Interpretation involves the context of revelation, the language and the commentary tradition. Modern Muslims debate how to apply the text to new questions, and some groups claim to read the Qur’an alone without the schools, while others emphasize the tradition.

Step 3: Christianity

Christians hold the Bible as inspired by God. The Old and New Testaments differ in the lists of books across Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Bibles: Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional Old Testament books that most Protestants do not. All accept the same twenty-seven New Testament books.

On authority the churches differ. Catholics hold that Scripture and sacred Tradition form one deposit of faith, interpreted authoritatively by the Magisterium. Orthodox Christians hold that Scripture lives within the Tradition of the Church, expressed in the councils, the Fathers and the liturgy, without a single teaching office like the papacy. Protestants hold that Scripture is the final norm, and that Tradition and councils are valuable but subject to it. Protestants themselves vary widely in how they read, and critics note the many denominations that result. Defenders reply that the core of the faith in the creeds is widely shared.

Step 4: Hinduism and Sikhism

Hinduism has no single canon. The Vedas and Upanishads hold the highest standing for most, along with the epics, the Puranas and the legal and philosophical treatises, and regional and devotional literature. Authority is spread among texts, schools and gurus, and a person usually follows a teacher in a particular lineage. There is no central body.

Sikhism has one scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, which the tenth Guru declared would be the Guru after him. It is consulted in every ceremony and read in the gurdwara. Sikh authority also includes the community, through bodies such as the Akal Takht, which issues decisions on matters of the faith. Sikhs differ among themselves on how these bodies should function.

Step 5: Buddhism and reading across traditions

Buddhism has large canons that differ by school: the Pali Canon in Theravada, and many sutras in the Chinese, Tibetan and other collections in Mahayana and Vajrayana. Buddhists hold that the Buddha’s teaching is to be tested by experience, as in a discourse in which he urges people not to accept teachings merely on tradition but to see for themselves what leads to harm and what to benefit. Teachers, lineages and monastic communities carry authority, and each school has favored texts.

Comparing the traditions shows that the questions of who interprets and by what standard are always present. A student can note these questions about his own tradition as well. The Christian doctrine that the Spirit guides the Church (John 16:13), and the Protestant concern that no human authority override Scripture, are two different answers to the same problem.

  1. Who decides what a text means, in each tradition?
  2. Why might a book alone fail to settle a dispute?
  3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of a central teaching office?
  4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Scripture alone as the final authority?
  5. How does the Buddhist invitation to test teachings compare with the Christian view of faith?
  6. How should a Christian read the scriptures of another religion?

Examples

One text, different readers

A Catholic, an Orthodox and a Baptist read Matthew 16:18, about the rock on which Christ builds his church. The Catholic points to Peter and his successors. The Orthodox point to Peter’s confession and the college of bishops. The Baptist points to Peter’s confession and not to any office. The same text is read through different authorities.

A page of Talmud

A page that begins with a short line of the Mishnah is surrounded by layers of discussion, with minority opinions preserved. A student learns that Jewish authority works by argument and precedent over centuries, and not by one decree.

The scripture as Guru

In a gurdwara, the Guru Granth Sahib is opened each morning, carried with care, covered at night and consulted for a hymn of guidance. A visiting Christian is asked to cover her head and remove her shoes. The way the book is treated shows what Sikhs mean by calling it a Guru.

Different perspectives

Catholic

Dei Verbum teaches that Scripture and Tradition flow from the same divine source and that the task of interpretation belongs to the Magisterium, which is not above the word of God but serves it. Catholics read Scripture within the Church and welcome historical study.

Orthodox

Orthodox Christians say that Scripture is the Church’s book, composed and received in the Church, and rightly read only within the Tradition. They stress the Fathers and the councils, and decline to place a single human office above the Church as a whole.

Protestant

Protestants hold that Scripture is clear on essentials, sufficient for salvation and the final authority, with the help of the Spirit and the faith of the church over time. The Reformers appealed to Scripture against abuses, and Protestants differ among themselves on interpretation.

Jewish, Muslim and other adherents

Jews and Muslims both hold that their scriptures cannot be rightly read apart from the tradition of interpretation, and both have schools that differ. Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists stress the guidance of teachers and lineages. Many adherents would say that the Protestant principle of scripture alone has no counterpart in their tradition.

Scholarly

Historians of religion study how canons were formed, often over centuries, and how communities defined their authoritative texts. Scholars differ on how much influence early councils and communities had. Believers often accept a human process while holding that God guided it.

Why it matters

Disputes over authority lie behind many of the differences in this course, including those among Christians. A student who understands how each tradition decides what its texts mean is better prepared to read their scriptures fairly, to discuss disagreements honestly and to examine the grounds of his own tradition’s claims.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Every religion has a holy book that is its final authority.

Correction: Traditions differ. Judaism uses written and oral Torah, Catholicism uses Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium, Hinduism has many texts and teachers, and Buddhism has many canons.

Misunderstanding: Catholics do not read the Bible.

Correction: Catholics read and revere Scripture, which is read at every Mass. They hold that it is interpreted within the Church’s Tradition.

Misunderstanding: Protestants have no tradition.

Correction: Protestants hold the creeds and the confessions of their churches, and read within a tradition, even where they say Scripture alone is the final norm.

Misunderstanding: The Qur’an is read the same way by all Muslims.

Correction: Muslims differ across schools, Sunni and Shia, traditional and modern. They share the Arabic text and differ in interpretation and in the weight given to hadith and scholars.

Knowledge check

What is sola scriptura and how does it differ from the Catholic and Orthodox view?

Sola scriptura is the Protestant principle that Scripture alone is the final authority, with tradition and councils subordinate to it. Catholics hold that Scripture and sacred Tradition together form one deposit of faith, interpreted by the Magisterium. Orthodox Christians say Scripture is read within the Church’s Tradition, without a single teaching office.

Where does authority lie in Judaism?

It lies in the Torah as interpreted through the Oral Torah, the Talmud and the long rabbinic tradition, with rabbis and communities deciding by precedent and argument. There is no central teaching office. This explains the range of Jewish movements, which share texts and differ on how binding the law is.

Why do Sikhs call the Guru Granth Sahib the living Guru?

The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, declared that after him the Guru would be the scripture. Sikhs therefore treat it as the permanent voice of the Gurus and of God, consulted in every ceremony and honored with ritual care. They honor it as the Word and do not worship the book as an object.

How do Buddhists treat the question of authority?

Buddhists have large canons, teachers, lineages and monastic communities. A well-known discourse urges people to test teachings by seeing what leads to harm and what to benefit, instead of accepting them from tradition. Schools differ about which texts hold highest authority.

Think it through

  1. Why do you think Christians differ on how Scripture and Tradition relate, and where do you stand?
  2. What might you learn from how another tradition treats its scripture with reverence?
  3. How should a Christian respond when a friend of another faith says the Bible has been changed or misread?
  4. What would be lost if a tradition had no way of settling disputes over meaning?

Independent assignment

Authority across traditions

In your notebook, complete the authority row of your comparison grid for all six traditions. Then choose one disputed text, such as Matthew 16:18 or Qur’an 4:34, and write about 300 words describing how two traditions or two schools within one tradition read it and why their principles of authority lead them to different results. State each view in terms its adherents would accept.

Further study