Leon Morris: The Authority of the Bible Today

All Christians agree that their ultimate authority is God. But to the question, “How is this ultimate authority mediated to men?” various answers are given. Broadly speaking, these reduce to three according as most weight is given to the authority seen within the believer (the consecrated reason, or the believer’s experience of God), within the Church, or within the Bible. In practice we all give some allegiance to all three. Thus evangelicals who put their emphasis on the Bible come behind no man in their insistence on the full exercise of reason, on the necessity for a personal experience of Christ and His Spirit, and on the fact that the Bible must be read in the fellowship of the Church. Nevertheless, the distinction is a valid one. In the last resort what counts with the evangelical is the authority of the Bible, just as what counts with the liberal is the exercise of reason, and with the “catholic” the authority of the Church. Keep reading

Leon Lamb Morris (15 March 1914 — 24 July 2006) was an Australian New Testament scholar.

Born in Lithgow, New South Wales, Morris was ordained to the Anglican ministry in 1938. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England on the subject which became his first major book, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. He served as Warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge (1960-64); Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne (1964-1979), Australia (where they have named a library in his honour); and Visiting Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

He published several theological works and commentaries on the Bible, notable among which are The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance, New Testament Theology, and The Gospel According to John (part of the New International Commentary on the New Testament series), The Gospel According to Matthew (IVP / Eerdmans, 1992), The Epistle to the Romans (IVP / Eerdmans, 1988), and The Book of Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary (Rev. ed., IVP / Eerdmans, 1987). Source: Wikipedia

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