Authority

Well since we now have some more people on here I think we can get a pretty good spectrum of responses. So here is the question: Is the Bible the end all authority for Christians? In other words should/could Christians use other sources for authority other then the Bible? Such as the writings of the Early Church Fathers, Church tradition, Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books, or maybe there own common sense. I know of a few situations in which the Canonical Bible is silent and the Church has had to rely on outside sources. Such as Infant Baptism, the sacrament of confirmation, and the existence of monks. So I am asking what are you thoughts on the matter is the Bible the end all of authority or should we look to some other sources for authority also. And please defend your answer or tell why you think what you do.

Since it is not really working well that people are coming back to the blog to post what they think later on I will go ahead and post what I think. I think that the Bible is not the end all authority for Christians. I do not think that there is an end all authority for Christians. One example that might help is that I would assume that some early Jews thought that the Torah was the end all authority for them but then all these prophets kept coming up and giving them messages from God. Granted they went along with the message that the Torah had given. But they also gave new instructions to the people and helped to clarify the Torah. We have people now a days telling us new things and how we should live. I would be slow to put them in the same category or profession as the former prophets but I would say that there job is along the same line as the prophets. In that they help to build on what Scriptures say. For instance there are people writing books and giving speeches on how to live as a Christian in a modern world. (I know it is not the best example but it is the only one I could come up with off the top of my head.)

Also a lot of the New Testament are letters to churches that are screwing up. I am pretty sure that Paul, if he had known that this letters would later be collected and called Scripture, would have given us a lot more detail on his theology and the role of women in the Church. And all that other stuff that people want Paul to write about rather then calling some guy out for sleeping with his stepmother. Alas we don't have that, so did the authors of the New Testament letters really mean for there letters to be read by us and base our churches on them? I seriously doubt most of them did otherwise why would we have 2 and 3 John? Now the Gospels on the other hand I believe that they were meant to be read by many people since they were written a little later and the authors wanted to preserve the stories and oral traditions about the life of Jesus. Sorry I kinda got off on a tangent there but I think it is a good tangent and you can also talk about what you think about the stuff above in your responses.

So yes I believe that Christians can and should use sources other then the Bible for authority. I think that even now we can go to our priests, pastors, and ministers for authority. I mean that is why their there is it not? They are meant to lead us in the faith. So we look to them as an authority figure in the church and if they are good then there advice will come from the Bible, the Early Church, and there own experience or common sense. I mean we do not need the Paul telling us that we should not sleep with our stepmother or stepfather (I want to be gender inclusive here). As he says even the Pagans know that is wrong!

Alright, I think I am done here and now it is time for homework. I await your responses.