any insight on who or what is the authority for a Christian to follow. THere are a few options;
The Pope
The Bible
The Holy Spirit
Scripture
which ?
Great answers above…Here is my take.
In asking who has THE authority you seem to be creating a division that does not exist. Authority is not a matter of “either or” in many cases. Rather, authority exists in different ways by different people/things at different levels. recognizing this, one can basically start at any point on your list and get to the others, seeing how they fit together to make a cohesive whole.
So - What are the things that we recognize as important and authoritative and how do they interact.
Let’s begin with Bible. As someone else already mentioned…the Bible and Scripture is, for all practical purposes the same thing.
Everyone agrees that the writings of the Bible are the inspired words of God and are inerrant in their original autograph. Because of this inspiration and inerrancy, it carries weight (authority) among us. However - as has been demonstrated repeatedly - the inerrancy of Scripture does not = infallibility of understanding. There needs to be something besides Scripture to aid in proper understanding and application.
In the Christian world, the source of guidance alluded to above is the Holy Spirit, sent by God to lead us into all Truth. It is actually He who has determined what was to be written and what was to be compiled into the Bible for our benefit. So - the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures become inseparable in this sense.
However…The Holy Spirit is not the only Spirit active in the world. So one must discern whether it is truly the Holy Spirit that is leading them or some other spirit (or combination thereof). Christ our King, in His great mercy and wisdom, gave us a mechanism for this discernment and protection. It is called the Church and you embody that in your list above by mentioning the office of the Pope.
Recognizing the inerrancy of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also recognizing that individuals can still err, we find that Christ instituted a community. The institution of this community was important enough that the Holy Spirit caused it to be recorded in Holy Scripture. (See how these things tie together?) The Greek word for this is Ekklesia which is translated “Church”. Scripture records Jesus using this term only twice. Both times in Matthew, and both times associated with the authority to bind and loose “whatever”.
In Mt 18:15-18 are a set of instructions on how to handle disputes within the ekklesia culminating with the statement - from our King Himself - to “tell it to the Church” and then to “listen to the Church” for it is the Church which as the authority to bind and loose whatever.
Later - in Acts 15 we can actually see this set of instructions played out. The local issue in Antioch ultimately resulted in a council to resolve the matter.
So - in this we see how the Church is designated by the holy Spirit and functions for the purpose of acting as “the pillar and bulwark of Truth”, protecting and guiding.
Finally - the office of the Pontiff is a very important - “the buck stops here” - authority within the Church, but it must be remembered that the Pope does not stand above or apart from the Church and teachings proposed or promulgated by the Holy Father do not come about in a vacuum but are the result of much prayer, study deliberation and (name removed by moderator)ut from other members of the magisterium.
So - in summary, the Holy Spirit exercises Authority through the Church of which the Holy Father is head and within which Scripture holds a central place.
Hope this helps.
Peace
James
