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People of the Book?: The Authority of the Bible in Christianity

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"A crisp essay distinguished by wit and remarkable lucidity. This time, however, there is a polemical agenda: Barton rejects fundamentalist doctrines of biblical authority, as well as all proposals that the shaping of the canon has normative hermeneutical status." Richard B. Hays

Authority of the Book:

It was in the most unlikely place, that this book has captured my attention; in the cellar of Marshall Fields department store on State St., Chicago, IL, 15 years ago. There is an Arabic saying; "A book is read through its head Title," which implies that a message of a valid argument is evident in its heading. Barton's essay is a good example in this case. Striken by the contrast of an informed generality with the specificifity of Biblical authority in Christianity, I picked the slim blue paperback from the bookstand, and read through its eight articles, that with a forward and biography describe the book contents:

1. The Bible in the Christian Faith

2. Prophecy and Fulfillment

3. The Question of the Canon

4. The Bible as Evidence

5. The Bible as Theology

6. Salvation by Hermeneutics

7. The Bible in Liturgy

8. The Word of God and Word of Man

Contemporary Issues:

Following on my previous review of "Issues of Life & Death," it was logical to find out why some supporters of life could go all the way to shoot abortion doctors. John Barton initiates his discussion with a statement, "Many who find biblicistic forms of Christianity appealing are also people of strikingly attractive character, with a worm and living faith. That being so, it seems unlikely that the arguments to which they appeal are simply empty. Over the years a suspicion has grown in me that much of the fundamentalists' case is not simply a bad thing, but a good thing gone wrong: they point us towards important truth, but veer away from them themselves at the last moment because a doctrinaire conservatism blinds their eyes."

This is how the able author of "Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study" following on the 'stimulus provided by the writings of James Barr's works on the bible, its canon and authority and his infamous, 'Beyond Fundamentalism' introduces his own argument. He formulates his debate in two questions:

- What is the relation between our knowledge of God and the Bible which thus mysteriously seems to nourish this knowledge in us?

- How should Christians think of the Bible?

Barton's Thematic Approach:

"Pride of place must go to the conservative belief that the earliest Christians, and indeed Jesus himself, must be the arbiters of any Christian doctrine of Scripture," preludes the author of his concern in the first chapter's essay. He then discusses the idea of prophecy and fulfillment, its most specific example. Then, he concentrates on the authority of the Old Testament for contemporary believers. The canon which shaped the books of the Bible and the tradition alongside are then discussed in relation with 'the basic teachings of Christianity' The remaining chapters deal with consequential issues: The Bible as a book of faith, hermeneutical meaning of Scripture, and the bible in worship.

Dr. Barton sums up his arguments about the Bible as the source of authority for Christian faith in two propositions: It is not primarily the Bible that is the Word of God, but Jesus Christ. Christianity means what the Church believes, since 'Scripture is its own interpreter'