Religious authority. I will be focusing on the way the Bible is used in the religion Christianity.

by annafreem (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Explain the way religious authority is used in on or more religions (45 marks)

One type of religious authority is sacred writings or texts. General understanding of interpreting scripture are either literal or symbolically. The authority and status of scriptures in the traditions are chosen in the light of the relevant religious beliefs. I will be focusing on the way the Bible is used in the religion Christianity. The Bible is said to have 40 authors most we know but some remain anonymous. The Bible was originally but together by the council of Nicea in 635 AD. The Bible contains 66 books, 39 of these books or in the old testament and 27 books in the new testament. Moses is credited for the first five books of the old testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy which are called the Pentateuch. These books cover creation to his own death at the end of Deuteronomy. The Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy spirit by over 40 different authors from different walks of life, shepherds, kings, philosophers, fisher men. Despite these differences in occupation the Bible is extremely cohesive and unified. Although it is unlikely that any of the authors of these documents set out to write scripture, Christians have received these documents as the word of God. In traditional Christianity it was thought that the old testament anticipated and set the scene for Christ and the new testament recorded and explained the incarnation of Christ. Some Christians chose to take the Bible literally, they believe that the Bible is the direct and inspired word of God, absolutely and literally true in all respects. Fundamentalists see within the new testament, itself claims for the direct inspiration from God of the Bible and hold the literal truth of the creation of the world in seven days, the giving of the law to Moses, the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ and the literal future second coming of Christ to earth to judge. These views are held by some evangelical protestant churches. Some Christians take it symbolically. The Bible is a representative and symbolic account of that beauty, truth and goodness which we call God and which was seen most clearly in Jesus. This view is held by man Anglicans and Methodists who see the miraculous events of the Bible as largely symbolic, poetic stories pointing to moral and spiritual truths.

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In Christianity the Bible is used as the main basis for doctrine. The church always goes back to the Bible as the source for its teaching, although, of course, passages in the Bible can sometimes appear to contradict each other or be open to several interpretations and then conflicts of belief can arise. The bible is also used as the basis of worship and liturgy. The eucharist or holy communion service is the obvious example of a service firmly based upon the Biblical record. The Psalms are also frequently used in worship, and individual verses in the Bible have been the inspiration for hymns and songs. The bible is also used for understanding God’s vision for humanity and the world. The clergy and other religious leaders will help believers understand God’s message through sermons, theological books and counselling etc. The bible is also used for guidance on Christian living. Individual Christians use the Bible as a source of advice and guidance in their day to day lives, whether this is to direct their own lifestyles or to guide the life of their whole community.

As well as hearing the Bible read in Church, Christians may meet together for Bible study in church house groups, or possibly even at work. Individual Christians use the Bible for daily reading, comfort, reflection and worship – some will use daily Bible reading notes to support this. The Christian community considers the Bible to be of such importance that the organisation known as the “Gideons” aim to provide a Bible for every hotel room. Parishes with church schools will often buy a copy for each child as they leave the school.

Another type of religious authority is religious leaders. I will again be focusing on Christianity and their religious leaders. Christianity is a system of teaching or doctrine with Christ as the teacher “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” John 3:2. Christianity is a system of government with Christ as the king “and I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed a one upon me” Luke 22:29. The role of Christian priesthood is not specified in the New Testament it has developed slightly form the Old Testament and its Jewish examples and also partly to the pagan priesthoods of the Roman Empire. There are 3 orders of priesthood in Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican Christianity which are Bishops, priests and deacons. Bishops are drawn from the Apostles and help unite the community of the local church. They perform the entire range of religious services. The priest is subordinate to the Bishop and his powers are derived from them. A priest can perform all sacramental functions except ordination. The lowest rank is a deacon, who is usually a priest in training. All bishops together have joint authority to lead the church. The pope is seen as the first among equals. The protestant denomination has tended to ignore any sacramental and sacrificial authority as religious leaders and regard all Christians equally as priests before God. An example of a religious leader is the Pope. Pope Benedict XVI is the 265th Pope since the time of Jesus. He was ordained as a priest in 1951 and was elected Pope in April 2005. As Pope, his task as ‘chief of all shepherds on earth’ is to defend his faith, teach people about the faith and help guide them to heaven, so they can spend eternity with God. The Pope is the Bishop of Rom and is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is regarded as the successor of St Peter, the Apostle. He is seen as God’s representative on earth. The Pope is seen as infallible therefore his beliefs are unquestioned circumstances.

The Pope is used to help Catholics through their lives so they end up in Heaven eternally with God. An example of what the Pope does; there is no teaching about the artificial contraception in the Bible so the Pope’s role is to help teach the Catholic community the general teachings of the Bible and the nature of the human and sexual act, and then help them apply them to this modern day dilemma. Each pope releases their own version of Catholic beliefs in the Catechisms. From here religious believers can choose to follow them as a moral code.

Another type of religious authority is traditions. Tradition is currently defined as “the handing down of statements and beliefs from generations to generations”. In theology it especially refers to teachings handed down from post generations but not written in the Bible. Most Christian traditions originate from Jesus’ life events e.g. His birth, Christmas and his death and resurrection, Easter. Therefore, tradition is dependent on what the Bible tells us. Some people do not want traditions to change. They prefer to do things the same; the old methods have been ‘tried and tested’. Some churches defend their practices on the ground that ‘we have always done it that way’. “I praise you that you keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you” Corinthians 1:1. Traditions are teachings that have been delivered. Paul praised them for keeping traditions but they should only follow teachings so far as it comes from Christ. In early Christianity tradition came to be highly valued. A way to view tradition is separate and distinct form of authority e.g. in the way that sacred texts of a religion are silent, tradition serves as an authoritative guide. A tradition may not be written down, but could be oral or simply the overall view of an thought or attitude that has prevailed throughout history. During the reformation of the 16th century, the catholic church affirmed the importance of tradition as an authority alongside that of the Bible; when it was made clear that the Gospel of Christ was contained ‘in written books and in written tradition’. In modern Christianity, Karl Barth illustrates an attempt to world out the role of tradition if religion. He viewed the word of God as speaking to people in every age through scripture and saw tradition as the record of the ways in which the message of scripture had been received as different times by different people.

Many churches have traditional practices, such as particular patterns of worship or rites that have developed over time. Deviations from such patterns are sometimes considered acceptable of heretical. Similarly, traditions can be stories or history that are or were widely accepted without being part of Christian doctrine, e.g., the crucifixion of Saint Peter, which is widely believed to have happened but is not recorded in scripture. Examples of Christian traditions, can include marriage, baptism and Christmas.

A way in which tradition is exercised in the Christian religion is through marriage. Marriage is the official unity of one man and one women under the eye of God. Marriage in a church has been carried out for many years and continues to be a major part of Christianty.

Another way in which tradition is exercised is through confirmation/baptism. Baptism is the final step in the salvation process. Once you have accepted Jesus as your saviour and have repented of your sins you should be baptised. Baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. When you go into the water this is the death and burial of your old sinful life, when you come out of the water is the resurrection to your new life, living for Christ instead of yourself, “Anyone who believes and is baptised will be saved.” Mark 16:16.