Jesus and the Bible
It seems strange why anyone would want to pit Jesus against the Bible, but in recent weeks the question which of these two is primary, Jesus or the Bible, has once again taken center stage in many circles. I am hesitant to weigh in on this issue since I have not published any major monographs on the subject, but the debate is important enough for me to venture a few thoughts to address the current debate.
Just as many argued when this issue was debated in the Southern Baptist Convention in recent years (where some argued that Jesus is properly at the center somehow apart from Scripture), so some argue now that Jesus (not the Bible) is properly at the center of Christian theology. If so, the Bible cannot be equally at the center and in comparison with Jesus is a more peripheral doctrine (though still very important).
One argument advanced in this regard is that if the Bible were central, how could people have come to faith in Jesus Christ before the New Testament was written? On one level, I would argue this is a moot point for us today since today the New Testament has been written (and has been for 1900 years), and it is our primary source (in more ways than one) for information about Jesus. Also, while the New Testament may not have been written, the Old Testament was, and the early Christians presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scriptures from the beginning.
How Do We Know Jesus?
In fact, in my view it is this observation that is at the very heart of the problem those have who argue for the supremacy of Christ over Scripture, doctrinally speaking: How do we know Jesus in the first place? Arguably, the only way we know Jesus truly is through Scripture. Conversely, if we think Scripture is deficient in some way, then our Jesus will look different from the way in which he is presented in the Gospels. If Scripture is our only reliable and authoritative source for who Jesus is, then how can we say that Jesus is more important than the Bible or pit the two against each other?
This is very obvious, I think, when we look at books about Jesus written by scholars who do not hold to a high view of Scripture. With this major constraint in their apprehension of Jesus gone, their “Jesus” is predictably different from the way in which he is presented in Scripture, and a gap between Jesus and Scripture opens up that drives a false wedge between the two and should never be there in the first place.
This, by the way, is not tantamount to requiring belief in inerrancy as a requirement for salvation. It does mean that we acknowledge Scripture as primary in the sense that it alone is our fully trustworthy and authoritative source of information about Jesus. I am also not sure how helpful it is to pit inductive against deductive approaches to inerrancy. Surely there is room for both approaches, and what we have here is a false dichotomy, especially if the nature of Scripture is properly understood within the purview of the doctrines of God and revelation.
Jesus or the Bible?
Jesus or the Bible? What a choice! Is it possible that the slogan, “Just give me Jesus,” can for some become an illegitimate escape route to evade a firmer accountability to the totality of biblical teaching? Some say they like Jesus, but they don’t like the church. We rightly say this is illegitimate, for the church is central in Jesus’ plan (Matt. 16:16). Are some now going to say that they like Jesus, but they don’t like the Bible? (Or is it wise to open the door so others may say this?)
Personally, I doubt that Jesus himself would have subscribed to a view that placed him above Scripture. Rather, in the words of Adolf Schlatter, he would have placed himself as “beneath Scripture,” as the one attested by Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, and as the one to whom the Scriptures testify (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39, 46). The apostles, too, saw it this way. Paul could speak of “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching . . .” (2 Tim. 3:15–16).
If it was good enough for Jesus, the apostles, and the early church to find the coming of the Messiah predicted in the Scriptures, and to identify Jesus as the fulfillment of these predictions, should it not be good enough for us?
