“Assuming the authority of Scripture is in many ways a greater act of submission to God than seeking to demonstrate the Bible’s uniqueness and accuracy. To some degree, trying to convince others that the Bible is reliable represents an effort to get people to trust us, to believe that we have sufficient arguments in our arsenal to prove that they should take the Bible seriously. … Much modern theology argues that we should trust the Bible because we can demonstrate that it is reliable. In contrast, the [early church] Fathers assumed that the Bible is trustworthy because it came from God, and they assumed this so implicitly and wholeheartedly that they rarely even mentioned the Bible’s uniqueness directly. They simply acted on the uniqueness of Scripture by memorizing it, studying it, citing it, using it” (Donald Fairbairn, Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers, 2).

What’s Fairbairn suggesting here? That we should not have arguments for biblical authority? No. But if our commitment to the authority of Scripture extends only to a rational justification of its authority, we are not actually committed to it. The authority of Scripture is demonstrated in the actual authority it exercises in and over our lives.

Why do you “believe in the Bible”?
How does its authority show up in your life?