When considering Christian artifacts, we find that many of these artifacts have come to exist as a way of defining authority and especially the final authority. The Catholic Church teaches that the Church is the ultimate authority, whereas most Protestant Churches teach that such authority belongs to the Bible as the Word of God. The Catholic Church presents a very compelling argument. They point out that the Bible has only been in a language the common man understands and readily available in print for only a few centuries. What was the authority during the other eighteen centuries? The Protestants have come to use God’s Word (Bible) as the final authority in order to support their rationale for breaking away from the authority of the Catholic Church. But because the interpretation and the understanding of the Bible is NOT universally agreed upon, Protestant churches have fragmented into the dozens of denominations that we see today.
Try setting aside the arguments as to who is right concerning ultimate authority and consider the consequences of our attributing authority to “something.” By claiming the Church has final authority, the Catholics have elevated the Church to a position of deity, and by association, Church leadership is similarly elevated. This does tend to keep the Church unified, which on the surface would seem to be a good thing. But this is only good if the practices and doctrines of the Church are also correct. Additionally, by esteeming Mary and other “saints” as beings of authority, they become elevated to positions of deity as well.
The Protestants, on the other hand, have elevated the Bible to that same position of holiness to which the Catholics have elevated the Church. Now the Bible is divine. This becomes ever so apparent when you see inscribed on the cover of most Bibles the word “Holy” next to “Bible.” Many Bibles sit as shrines in homes everywhere. And though many people would never admit to it, they value their Bibles just as others value their idols. It becomes a sort of good luck charm that has the power to bring goodness upon the one who pours his affection over it.
