“Authority” in the Church is the system we use to make decisions when confused about God’s work in the world and how we fit into that work. Differing Christian traditions use different systems and they vary.
In the Roman church with its “magisterium,” the Pope and bishops are empowered within the bounds of Scripture and tradition to declare new teaching. In some Protestant traditions, the individual Scripture reader guided by the Holy Spirit is given a form of authority. In more charismatic Protestantism the individual guided by the Holy Spirit alone is given a direct authority.
Anglicanism is distinct from these examples though each of
these expressions can be found within modern Anglicanism. Classical Anglicanism articulated by Richard
Hooker in the sixteenth century upholds an inherited structure whose authority
balanced the voices of Scripture, Traditional interpretation, and contemporary
reason. If
we think of this union as a musical chord: Scripture is the melody, while
tradition is the dominant, and reason is the subdominant harmonies. They work together making music; at the same
time there is hierarchy in the authority.
Holy Scripture is accepted to be the received
self-revelation of God testified through God’s relationship with his
people. It is authoritative in conveying
God’s intentions for creation and it describes the fallen nature and subsequent
restorative plan of creation. This self-testimony
from God is given with the purpose of teaching God’s people how to relate to
God. Classical Anglicanism therefore would not teach anything contrary to
Scripture. However, this does not mean that
Anglicans reject things that exist outside the influence of the biblical
record. For example, the Amish do not drive automobiles. Anglicans are not likely to reject driving an
automobile simply because Jesus walked everywhere.
Tradition in its place of authority is intentionally
secondary to Scripture. Tradition is
something that emerges from the experiences of God’s people and is then
captured in the practices and understanding of the church. Tradition is time dependent. It walks for
decades and centuries within and alongside Scripture but might not be
specifically articulated in Scripture.
For example, the dogma of the Holy Trinity is alluded to in Scripture. It is present in words like Father, Son, Holy
Spirit, One God. It is the center of our understanding of the nature
of God, but it was not articulated and received universally until the
Councils of Nicea and Constantinople.
Reason is critical to articulate in this chord of
authority because reason or logic is very much a part of God’s stamped image in
us. To be reasonable beings is to make
use of that seed of self-awareness that God implants in every human. It is from God that proceeds our creativity,
consciousness, and cognition…our ability to rationalize. Reason allow us to look at nature and see God's handiwork and contemplate our role in that handiwork. With reason comes caution. Reason can
often be corrupted by opinion, bias, emotion, the fallenness of humanity. Therefore, it finds its proper place relative
to Scripture and Tradition.
It is through these attributes of authority that Anglicans
seek to work alongside God in his creation.
It means subordinating ourselves to a shared system that helps move us
all walking in the footsteps of God.
