Augustine on the Divine Origin of the Bible

In The City of God, Augustine argues Christians are justified in believing the Bible is God’s word because of the agreement of the human authors of Scripture. He contrasts this consensus with the disagreements between the philosophers. Whereas there is concord among those God chose to speak on his behalf, there is discord among those who employed reason alone to determine the truth about reality. Augustine also says there are just enough biblical authors to make it reasonable to think their agreement is due to God’s speaking through them without there being so many as to make their contribution superfluous.

Magisterial vs. Ministerial Uses of Reason

Martin Luther said human reason should be “ministerial” rather than “magisterial” in its theological uses. A magisterial use of reason in theology would involve employing it like a magistrate standing in judgment over the Christian gospel to determine whether or not it is true apart from dependence on the Bible and the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, human reason is ministerial when it is guided by and in service of God’s wisdom (made available to us in his Word and through his Spirit). So for Luther, as for Aquinas, theology is the queen and philosophy is the queen’s handmaiden.

How Did God Create?

All Christians agree God created the universe and everything in it. So all Christians are “Creationists” in a broad sense. But Christians disagree about how God created. At one extreme, Young Earth Creationists believe God created the universe, life, and every species directly and supernaturally. At the other extreme, Theistic Evolutionists (or better, “Evolutionary Creationists”) believe God created all these things indirectly and naturally. Old Earth Creationists think God created the universe by means of a natural process (the “Big Bang”) but humans by means of a supernatural process (special creation). The Bible won’t settle this debate; only science can.