THE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE IN ITS CLASSIC FORMULATION 

Formation of the Scripture Principle in Postexilic Judaism

Scripture-oriented Christians tend to think that the "scripture principle" has existed in the Church since day one.  In other words, they believe that the Church has always held to the notion that "the Scriptures are the primary or sole authority for faith and practice." They believe that the Bible has always been the "final court of appeal" for Christian doctrine, theology, and practice. The notion of Scriptures being "the only rule of faith and practice" was a subsequent development in Christian history.

What is called the "Scripture principle" originated as a solution to a major crisis in Israel's history, the dispersion of the Jewish people following the Babylonian Exile.  This event significantly modified Israel's social institutions, separated a portion of the Jewish from those institutions, and brought about an acute threat of cultural and religious assimilation.  The Diaspora Jews, now lacking the land, temple, and priesthood, created two new institutions for preserving their socioreligious identity: the synagogue and the written Torah (Edward Farley and Peter C. Hodgson in "Scripture and Tradition, p. 63). 

Under these circumstances "scripture " came to mean a written deposit of the complete and definitive revelation of Yahweh to the people, functioning as the primary source of cultic and moral regulation for the community.  Three basic convictions came to be held about the Torah:

1.  It is the exhaustive location of a now past divine communication, relevant to all present and future times and places, containing at least implicitly an answer for every need and crisis (Ibid.).

2.  It is totally and equally valid in all its parts and details (Ibid.).

3.  It contains symbolic references to the nation, land, holy city, and temple, permitting the endurance of a people whose self-understanding remained that of a dispersed nation, a quasi-political and religious entity, having as its regulative law what was originally given for its life as a nation in possession of its own land (Ibid., p. 64).

Thus a written vehicle became the locus of revelatory divine presence.  Theologically speaking, this represents a tremendous advance over the localization of divine presence in natural objects, historical places, or heroic figures.  It represents a liberation and humanization of religion, which enabled Israel to survive as a distinct people.  Language, the most spiritual form of human creative imagination, is probably also the most appropriate medium for experiencing and and expressing God's transformative presence.  At the same time, however, it is a fragile medium peculiarly susceptible to distortion- to being reduced, for example, to a fixed code or set of doctrines, taking on some of the characteristics, of physical objects or fetishes (sacred things worthy of veneration, containing magical power).  The constant temptation of Judaism and Christianity has been to objectify their scriptures in this fashion, although the prophetic, critical power of both religions has also resisted this temptation and to some degree overcome it (Ibid.).  

We encounter this tendency to engage in what 20th century pastor and theologian Karl Barth referred to as "bibliolatry (worship of the Bible as opposed to worship of the one who speaks through it)."  In essence, we find that the notion of the Scriptures as the "Supreme Court" of Christian theology came later on in the historical development of Christianity.  We must never forget the role of the pre-biblical traditions in both Judaism and Christianity in the construction and development of Judeo-Christian theology.  

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona 

Past Professor of Theology 

Tainan Theological College/Seminary