The Voice of Authority in Religion
The Voice of Authority in Religion
The Voice of Authority by George W. Marston asks a very important question: “Is the Voice of Authority God or Man?” Everyone has their own believes on truth and conduct. Whatever generated those believes inside each person, is that person’s voice of authority. That generator is either God or man.
People have numerous sources that they consider to have a voice of authority. Some of them are the conscious, public opinion, the church, parents, bosses, witchcraft, or God. All of theses sources derive from either man or God. For example: you cannot have public opinion unless you have human beings, you cannot have witchcraft unless you have someone to practice it, and You cannot have a church if their is no God. Sadly, for many the voice of authority is man.
The main reason that man have made themselves the voice of authority is because of what happened thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they not only disobeyed God, they rebelled against Him. Since then, this rebellion against God has been passed down through today’s generations, and will continue to be passed down to further generation. Rebellion against God is the foundation of the belief that man the voice of authority. Rebellion against God is the same as rejecting God and the Bible.
Why do men reject God? There are two explanations. The first is that men cannot fully understand God. God is unlimited in power, wisdom, holiness and many other unnumerable characteristics. Man is so limited in those traits, that God is way beyond full comprehension.
The second reason that men reject God is because He threatens their freedom to do evil or immoral acts and not feel guilty of what they have done. Also they don’t want to be responsible of their actions. Men do not want to face the fact that they are in need of a Saviour. They don’t want God, and don’t want anything to do with him.
Those who make man the voice of authority, reject the paradoxes ( truths that cannot be explained by human reasoning) found in the Bible. If God says that certain things are true, we must accept them as true. Yet, there are some who reject God’s truths. The main truth...