A Modern Reformer’s Take on Religious Authority
By way of an introduction, I just want to explain that, thanks to the internet, I believe we’re on the verge of what I called Reformed Theology 2.0 or Reformation 2.0 Christianity.
There are a whole slew of younger, God-loving, non-denominational truth-seekers out there who are using the vast resources of the internet to translate Bible verses for themselves and coming to their own conclusions about what it’s actually teaching.
I am one of them.
And, as a collective, I think we can make huge strides towards finishing what was started in the original Protestant Reformation. It’s an evolving, self-correcting process and we’re all part of it.
Today, I wanted to tackle the topic of “authority”.
Many Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians claim their authority traces back to Jesus himself. Many Protestants claim their authority comes from the Bible itself. And Mormons and Muslims claim their authority comes from a prophet authorized by God himself.
But would God really be the author of such confusion?
What is authority?
The word “authority” comes from the word “author”.
The author IS the final authority. They own what they have authored. The artist owns their art. The creator owns the created. The builder owns what they have built, until they willingly hand the keys (authority over the building) over to whomever has paid them for their services.
All subsequent authority beneath the author’s authority is granted by the author only. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Harry Potter
It’s never explicitly stated in the original seven Harry Potter books that Dumbledore was gay. Therefore, until the author herself admitted it in a public interview, there was no authority behind this idea.
Only once the author gave the idea authority did it become canon.
Politics
Political authority comes from the people.
We the people authored/created government. The authority comes from us, the authors. If we, as a collective, stop authorizing the government with our consent, our votes, our words, our actions, it ceases to have any authority to govern us.
When a government disempowers its people (ie. disarming its citizens and militarizing its police against the people who don’t consent to its authority) it ceases to be the same government that was authored/created by its people. It has created itself anew and is now self-authorizing via the threat of violence.
Now, the original authors (the people) could theoretically still choose to destroy it (the government), to collectively take their power and authority back, but they would have to overcome force with even greater force. This is why the first step in a tyrannical takeover is always to disarm your opponents.
Theologically speaking
In our reality, we as creative beings have the ability to a) create/author things, and b) authorize that which we create for as long as we continue to authorize it. The authorization we give can be revoked by us or transferred elsewhere at any time.
Man was created and authorized by the Creator/Author, aka God. Man fell from favor through sin against nature, losing our authorization to have direct fellowship with God.
Abraham through righteousness gained favor and fellowship with God again, plus a promise of favor for his descendants.
400 years later, God offered a covenant contract to Israel, Abraham’s descendants; if they would serve Him, the Creator, alone, and not man, in exchange they would have a) His presence (shekinah) in their midst, and b) His continued blessings.
The tabernacle was built to house the presence of God among the people. The warrior tribe of Levi were the guardians of that tabernacle, and Aaron and his sons (and their sons and so on) were specifically chosen to be Kohanim or Kohanites (this is where the Medieval term knight comes from).
The Kohanites wore tunics, lived special vows of purity and honor, and in exchange for their fealty were authorized by the Creator to a) officiate at feasts, b) slaughter the sacrifices and sin offerings on behalf of the common people, and c) be the only ones worthy to enter the Holy of Holies were the presence of God dwelt in Israel.
Israel tried for many centuries, but eventually, through their continued failed attempts to keep their end of the bargain/covenant, lost the presence and favor of God. They were conquered and the temple destroyed, though they continued to do their religious rituals in hopes of redemption through an “anointed one” (Messiah).
When Jesus came along and was baptized by John, the Logos (Word) of God “became flesh” when the Spirit of God (the Creator/Author Himself) entered into Jesus (see John 1).
Through Jesus, God spoke to man directly (as He prophesied to us that He would in Deuteronomy 18). As our “sole teacher and rabbi”, He expounded on the meaning and intent of the Law He gave us.
Then, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God anointed Jesus as the High Priest/Kohanite (or Ultimate Knight) of the New Covenant.
Jesus, in that intermediary role, became the final sacrifice for the sin of all mankind, opening the way for all of us to have the presence of God within us directly; to experience personal fellowship with God once more through the baptism of fire/Spirit into our body temples.
And Peter taught the whole church that we, the born-again believers, are ALL the priesthood (or Knighthood) of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2).
This places our personal jurisdiction under our Creator directly. Our Author has all authority, and when He sends his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, He authorizes us.
In other words, those of us who are born-again, Spirit-filled believers are already authorized by God. No longer do we need to rely upon religious middle-managers to be authority figures over us.
Jesus stepped in there and did it all for us already. He took away the need for religious hierarchies and intermediaries. And he told us that “he alone stands at the door to the sheepfold” and “he employs no servant there”. This is why “he” is “the way”.
On the authority of the Bible
Yes, many Christians have erroneously claimed that their authority comes from the Bible, but that’s technically incorrect.
The word of God in the Bible is authorized by the Author. The words themselves have inherent authority from God in a similar way that the Harry Potter books have some authority in the Potter-verse canon.
But a Harry Potter fan isn’t authorized by simply having read the books. The books have authority but they cannot lend that authority out.
Likewise, a Christian who hasn’t had that supernatural, baptism-of-fire experience might rely upon the Bible (or other more-experienced Christians) as their spiritual authority.
But those of us who are born-again believers have direct access to the Author for clarification — just like the reporters who asked J K Rowling about Dumbledore being gay — and we should always put that higher authority first.
However, just as any reporter would be amiss to go into an interview with the author not being familiar with the book(s), likewise, we, as born-again believers, would be amiss to not be familiar with the Author’s Authorized Word when we seek answers from him directly. He might have already spelled things out very clearly for us, and it’s redundant for us to keeping asking stupid questions when the answers are already right there.
In conclusion
1. Revelations (revealed words from God) do have authority from the Author directly, but don’t lend or grant that authority.
2. Ordination does not transfer authority from man to man. The Author Himself only authorized the direct descendants of Aaron to be Kohanites. And when Jesus came along not being a direct descendant of Aaron, God the Author authorized him directly in front of witnesses.
3. God the Author, acting through Jesus in the flesh, authorized twelve emissaries (apostolon) to travel and preach the good news or gospel. Although those apostles replaced Judas (who betrayed his covenant) with Matthias (who had also followed Jesus from the beginning), that didn’t actually mean anything in terms of authority until during the following days when the Holy Spirit of the Author authorized all the disciples through a collective baptism-of-fire experience at the Feast of Pentecost.
4. All spiritual authority comes from the Author of both the realm in which we live and the story of which we are all part. The most sure way we can be secure in that authority is through the supernatural baptism of fire experience, in which the Spirit of God enters our body temple directly, cleansing us as Jesus cleansed the temple, and opening up our direct energetic channel to our Creator for guidance and revelation.
