Questions for Discussion
1. What is the difference between power and authority and why is this important?
2. What is the connection between divine authority from God and the prophetic and apostolic authority of the Bible?
3. What does Kafka's parable illustrate with regard to biblical interpretation?
4. How might B.B. Warfield's view of text and meaning "take on fresh currency" in the light of the problem illustrated by Kafka's parable?
5. Modern biblical interpreters say that the meaning of the text is found in the text, above the text, behind the text, beyond the text, or in the interpreter. Define the differences between the various loci of meaning. Where do you think meaning is found? Why? How does your answer affect your study of the Bible?
6. Distinguish between the infallibility of the Bible as that term is used by some modern thinkers and the inerrancy of the Bible as evangelicals understand that term. Why have evangelicals insisted on the inerrancy as well as the infallibility of the Bible?
7. How is the evangelical view of text and meaning (i.e., biblical authority) important to the modern church?
