The Authority of Scripture

The question of authority is a very thorny problem, especially for Protestants who don't want to give too much authority to a centralized Church. Having allowed for the possibility of individual judgment and interpretation, Protestants are much more dependent than are Catholics on a strong centralized authority of Scripture. But how can the authority of Scripture be understood and established without basing it on the authority of the Church?

Here's the classic Reformed answer. The evidence of Scripture's authority is found within Scripture (i.e., it is self-authenticating), and we come to see and understand that evidence by the testimony of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

The Belgic Confession says in Article 5:

So the Church's confession of the infallibility of Scripture is a response to the power and authority which we see there. We do not create that power and authority by our confession. Scripture is not like the Constitution, which has authority because we have agreed to give it authority. The authority of Scripture comes from within , and we know that authority through the work of the Holy Spirit. As Calvin says, "For as God alone is a suitable witness for his own word, so also the word will never gain credit in the hearts of men until it is sealed by the internal testimony of the Spirit. It is necessary that the same Spirit who sp9oke by the mouth of the prophets should penetrate our hearts in order to convince us that they delivered faithfully the message which was divinely given [Institutes, I.vii.4]." Thus, even our acceptance of the authority of Scripture comes at God's initiative.