by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Here’s a question often asked, and it can be asked about many things. Besides misunderstanding the nature not only of biblical authority but of communication itself, the question is typically geared toward defending a practice that is likely questionable, to begin with. After all, we don’t ask this question if we know we are on solid ground for practice. If positive authority can be supplied, we will supply it. The question is then pointless.<\/p>\n
Part of the mistake of this type of question is the misunderstanding of how communication works. It is essentially arguing that in order for something to be “wrong,” it must be specified as being wrong. How many of us communicate this way? “But you didn’t specifically say not to throw these hot coals at my brother’s face.” Conversely, many argue that in order for something to be authorized, it must be specified. Neither is true, and neither will be consistently applied.<\/p>\n
The Scriptures both provide and deny authority through its various principles without spelling everything out in detail, and the Lord expects us to grow mature enough to figure this out.<\/p>\n
“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“Where does the Bible specifically condemn that?” is aimed at wanting to practice something when the questioner knows that positive authority is absent whether through specifics or principles. This is not a mature question.<\/p>\n
Sadly, when people are committed to practicing something, a question like this will not be enough anyway. If they want to practice something badly enough, they will find a way to practice it (as has been well seen in the same-sex practice debate, though Scripture clearly condemns it). They may take solace in the idea that the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn what they want to do, but neither can they provide biblical warrant for it. That doesn’t matter. They want to do something, so they’ll do it.<\/p>\n
In the end, we still must ask, are we seeking God’s will or our own? Are we seeking to glorify God or ourselves? Are we speaking from God’s authority or our own?<\/p>\n
“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory<\/em>” (John 7:18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If that doesn’t give us enough pause to be careful, what will?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer Here’s a question often asked, and it can be asked about many things. Besides misunderstanding the nature not only of biblical authority but of communication itself, the question is typically geared toward defending a practice that is likely questionable, to begin with. After all, we don’t ask this question if we know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,36],"class_list":["post-45562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-reasoning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-husbands-faith-grow-if-his-wife-does-not-submit-to-his-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":0},"title":"How can a husband’s faith grow if his wife does not submit to his authority?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to express my appreciation for those behind this website. You are doing great work for the Lord. Now my questions: The problem of submissiveness: How can the husband grow in faith when his wife does not submit to his authority? Divorce: Does forgiveness means that we must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-what-authority-are-you-doing-these-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":1},"title":"By What Authority Are You Doing These Things?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers \"Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, \u02dcBy what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?'\" (Matthew 21:23). A study of authority in religious matters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57315,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/improper-sources-of-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":2},"title":"Improper Sources of Authority","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers \"Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, \u02dcBy what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?'\" (Matthew 21:23). In \"The Proper Source of Authority\" we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/foundational-terms\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":3},"title":"Foundational Terms","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"The process of conceptual clarification always begins with ordinary usage of the concept to be clarified, so our conception of the truth ought to sound a lot like what you already believe the truth to be.\" (Dolores G. Morris, Believing Philosophy, p. 50). That quote captures one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/lego-300x196.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":47450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-should-prayers-be-offered-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":4},"title":"How should prayers be offered in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where I need help is with prayers. Is it scriptural to pray saying \"In Jesus' name\" several times in between the prayer before concluding? Does it not count as vain repetitions? Is it scriptural to raise prayer points while everyone prays until the person leading will ask everyone to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-catholic-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":45562,"position":5},"title":"The Catholic Church of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall I was asked this question: \"Why is Catholicism wrong?\" Here is my short reply: \"One reason is it equates church tradition and inspiration. They are not equal in authority.\" In theory, most of us in \"churches of Christ\" would agree - in theory. In practice, are we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}