Permit me to say first that I already know what my
problem is: I over-think. While this may
not seem like much to you, it is to me. I just want to make certain I have it
right, that’s all.
Been thinking about “authority” lately and am
spending much more time on the subject than I would have liked. Asking too many
questions, chasing too many rabbits. For example: “why authority?” Answer:
because at this time, the subject interests me. And so on.
What is “authority?” Well, the 12th
century French noun “auctorite” was synonymous with “The Scriptures” though in
a broader sense the term became used to describe that which settled an
argument. The French word comes from the Latin “auctoritas” referring to the
“master, leader” or as we say, “author.”
I begin here because frankly, present definitions seem woefully short. I
find this is true when language and meaning paradigms shift. I also feel this
is dishonest, to shift meaning.
The consensus seems to be that authority is
that which has the right and/or power, or simply “whoever is in charge”. Perhaps this is part of the problem concerning
reactions to authority: individuals would rather be in charge, so they rebel
against objective authority. Specifically
individuals cast off objective authority because there is an inherent or
understood relationship that involves the word “obedience.” In other words, the
one who has authority hold the right and/or power to expect/demand obedience.
And who wants to obey? This is exposes a very telling feature concerning
authority: there is an objective and a subjective authority; that is, an
internal and external authority. Anarchy is when the internal clashes against
the external.
Consider what this looks like for the theologian who
calls himself an atheist: one has a subjective, internal concept of God that is
not compatible with the objective reality. The one would rather not submit to the other—which
makes as much as sense as the shadow being called the form which is casting it.
God is Creator and has such holds the right and/or
power as Creator; therefore, all Creation stands in relationship to His
authority. This relationship may be shaped by a response or a reaction. One may
not feel obligated to acknowledge God, thus reacting and consequently rejecting
God’s right and power as Creator but this does not change the fact that He is
Creator.
“Authority” is the bottom line where every issue is
settled absolutely. God is the bottom
line, so that settles every issue. We must respond to this reality, or thrive
in anarchy receiving the wages for our autonomy.
Education apart from authority is literally a flock
without a shepherd (the Russian proverbs says, “Without a shepherd sheep are
not a flock”). There is no “leading out”
but meandering about, exposed and vulnerable to uncontested ideas that will not
stand.
What is “art” without authority? How could there be skill
resulting from practice or learning? No poet or writer could say he was an “author.”
God, who Created, made us in His image—to be creative; that is, manipulate
within the environment He has provided, a skilled expression of that which lies
within.
Law and Order without authority is, as mentioned already,
anarchy. Cast off authority and lose your right to report a crime against
yourself. One must let the criminal go without penalty.
Christian truth is grounded on authority. Ralph
Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) contested by saying that faith is not grounded on
authority, but he could only say this confidence (literally “with faith”) based
on his personal authority, thus contradicting himself. Similarly, the anarchist
Mihail Bakunin (1814-1876) split himself when he wrote “all temporal and human
power proceeds directly from spiritual or divine authority” followed by “God,
or rather the fiction of God is thus the sanction and the intellectual and
moral cause of all the slavery on earth, and the liberty of men will not be
complete unless it will have completely annihilated the inauspicious fiction of
a heavenly master.” (Oeuvers, Vol. 1). One cannot authoritatively cast off
authority.
Followers of Christ are grounded on the rock-bed of
personable authority. Note: not “personal” but “personable” authority. This
means the objective holder of authority freely receives the right response of
worship as opposed to the misguided riot of rebellion.
