Some Thoughts on Authority

In our Tuesday morning Bible Study on the Sunday Readings, the question arose as to how Anglicans decide where authority resides. Some churches see authority in ancient tradition as equal with Holy Scripture. Yet other Christians say all authority comes from Holy Scripture. In the past, we might have heard about a three-legged stool of Holy Scripture, tradition and reason. In recent years, there are those who add a fourth leg to the stool by adding personal experience.

The whole three-legged stool concept comes from the writings of a famous Anglican theologian by the name of Richard Hooker. He is also the person who is credited with the idea of the via media or middle way. What did Richard Hooker actually say? His great theological work, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, never uses the phrase three-legged stool. Rather he cites Holy Scripture as the primary source of authority and then he mentions two supplementary sources to assist our understanding.

“What Scripture doth plainly deliver, to that the first place credit and obedience is due; the next whereunto is whatsoever any man can necessarily conclude by force of reason; after these the voice of the Church succeedeeth.” – The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book V, chapter 8, section 2.

It is clear that a three-legged stool is a poor metaphor for what Richard Hooker describes above. Hooker’s understanding of authority makes sense since it is a middle ground between the extremes of unreformed Catholicism while avoiding viewing the Bible as an idol. His views also seem to be in line with the earliest writings of what has become known as the Fathers of the Church.

The Holy Scriptures of the Bible are our most authoritative source for understanding God, God’s grace, Jesus Christ the Son of God and the author of our salvation. But we have two additional helps to assist us as we attempt to understand God’s call to us; these are reason informed by Scripture and the voice of the Church throughout the ages or what is most often called tradition.