respect to the Holy Spirit) will therefore proceed along two lines: the Christian principle of authority (defining the nature of divine authority) and the associated pattern of authority (the execution of the principle). First, what is this principle of authority in Christianity? Ramm states,
In Christianity the authority-principle is the Triune God in self-revelation. This is the central piece of the mosaic of authority, and the first and most impressive link in the chain of authority. This is the Object of religion declaring Himself to men, and in this declaration there is not only the imperial authority of God (“hallowed be thy name”) but the truth from God about God.20
This “authority-principle” tells us that “divine authority” not only possesses a quality of supremacy over the world but also that it must be revealed in the world. The principle thus alludes to a triune God whose authority is both transcendent (it “comes to the fore when God is presented to us as exalted above creation”) and immanent (God’s authority is “as far removed as possible from any notion of God as ‘wholly other’ or as ‘infinitely distant’”).21 Divine transcendence can be witnessed in God’s intellectual attributes (omniscience, faithfulness, wisdom), ethical attributes (holiness, righteousness), and existential attributes (freedom, authenticity).22 Divine transcendence, however, translates into divine authority when such divine attributes are immanently brought to bear on the world and revealed to the world in all components of human existence.23 As a result, God is the highest authority in the world; he above all is to be honored and obeyed. Frame points out the “absoluteness” of God’s authority:
Authority is God’s right to be obeyed . . . To say that God’s authority is absolute means that His commands many not be questioned (Job 40:11ff.; Rom 4:18–20, 9:30; Heb. 11:4, 7, 8, 17, passim), that divine authority transcends all other loyalties (Exod 20:3; Deut 6:4f; Matt 8:19–22, 10:34–38; Phil 3:8), and that this authority extends to all areas of human life (Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy; Rom 14:23; 1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 10:5; Col 3:17, 23).24
Nevertheless, while God’s authority is “absolute,” it also remains “personal.” Frame continues:
But this metaphysical absoluteness does not (as in non-Christian thought) force God into the role of an abstract principle. The non-Christian, of course, can accept an absolute only if that absolute is impersonal and therefore makes no demands and has no power to bless or curse. There are personal gods in paganism, but none of them is absolute; there are absolutes in paganism, but none is personal. Only in Christianity (and in other religions influences by the Bible) is there such a concept as a “personal absolute.”25
The Christian principle of authority (“the triune God in self-revelation”) thus identifies both the “who” and the “how” of divine authority. Regarding the “who,” this principle has a specific locus in Divine Persons. Ramm states that “in a very real sense all authority is at root personal. . . . Authority is the right and power of a person or persons to compel action, thought, or custom.”26 He is “God in three Persons”—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.27 As a result, any discussion of the Spirit’s “authority” must be built upon this notion of his divine Personhood. This implies that the Spirit has authority because (1) he is a Person (rather than a “force field” or “primal energy”; see Mark 3:29; Acts 5:3; Eph 4:30), and (2) he has a special kind of authority—namely, divine (see Acts 5:3–5; 1 Cor 2:10–12).
This principle also identifies “how” divine authority is expressed (but without explaining it). Ramm parts with many other theologians on this very point: “Most books on religious authority state that God is the final authority in religion. Here is where the discussion begins, and it begins with this question: How does God express His authority?”28 The obvious an-
swer is “by divine self-revelation.”29 The idea is that God does not need an intermediary to communicate his divine authority to others. Instead, it is revealed through the interrelated contributions of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In general, the Father is the author of divine revelation (establishing its final authority), the Son is the focus of divine revelation (establishing its content), and the Spirit is the revealer and executor of divine revelation (revealing God’s authority in the world).30
The Pattern of Authority
As mentioned earlier, the principle of authority in Christianity is associated with a pattern of authority, which is “designed for its practical and concrete expression and execution.” In other words, while “divine authority” is located in divine Persons and is revealed by God himself, the Christian “pattern of authority” expands this self-revelation into a full description of the means by which divine authority is revealed and executed. Ramm contends that divine revelation requires a specific pattern of delegation through which such execution occurs.31 We might say that divine authority is revealed through a specific pattern involving a delegated executive authority. In the Old Testament this pattern first includes the Holy Spirit and the prophets. The Spirit spoke the revealed word through the prophets to a particular generation of people. This was “the actual authority for the Old Testament believer.”32 This pattern later came to include a written word of revelation available for subsequent generations. As a result, divine author-
ity is delegated through a basic pattern involving Word and Spirit.33 This basic pattern tells us that what gets communicated is not just the content of authority through the Word of God but also, in a very real sense, the actual saying of authority through the Spirit of God. Divine authority, in other words, consists of the intimate association of content (from the mind of God) and rightful force (of a divine Person).
The NT, however, presents a radical focusing of this essential pattern. The center of divine revelation becomes the person and work of Jesus Christ. “Christ is the supreme object of the witness of the Spirit, and Christ is the supreme content of the Scriptures.”34 Ramm thus presents God’s indivisible “pattern” of authority in terms of these three interrelated elements of God’s self-revelation:
(1) Christ, who is the personal Word of God, the living, supreme revelation of God, and supreme depository of the knowledge of God (Col 2:3)
(2) The Holy Spirit, who conveys revelation, who delegates its authority, and who witnesses to its divinity
(3) The Sacred Scriptures, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore the document of revelation, which witness to Jesus Christ, and which are the Spirit’s instrument in effecting illumination.35
The Spirit’s Place within the Pattern of Divine Authority
This pattern of authority involves both objective and subjective factors. God’s objective revelation results in the written and authoritative Scriptures. Scripture possesses “delegated imperial authority and veracious authority in all matters in which it intends to teach.”
