Article March 5, 1921 Issue

Authority

ALICE M. BOTTUM

A SUPERFICIAL glance at the affairs of the world to-day might cause many people who are not accustomed to looking below the material surface of things to exclaim that indeed the times are out of joint. Wars and all the attendant evils left in the track of war, business depression, political uncertainty, graft and corruption in public life, intrigue within intrigue in high places give rise to the feeling that the old days of ease and certainty are over, that the old anchors no longer grapple and hold, that the former stability and clean-cut distinctions are no more. Men seem to hesitate and waver now about decisions over which there once was no question; they look for assurance to former standards and find a mist. The feeling sometimes comes that they are just standing, marking time, and waiting for the appearance of some authority by which they may be guided.

It has been shown clearly by many recent events that the meaning of the word "authority" is not so clear as is commonly supposed. It is derived from the Latin word auctoritas, of which the root auctor, when translated into English, means "creator." The dictionary defines authority as "that which is or may be appealed to in support of action." This definition is an exact covering of every case in which an individual may wish to invoke authority. Incidentally, it may here be remarked that since a word is the symbol is the of thought, the grasping of the meaning often clears up situations that have seemed hazy.

Matthew, writing of the Sermon on the Mount, uses this word. He says of Jesus that "he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Now this is rather an extraordinary statement. Without analysis the inference seems to be that the teachings of the scribes were not to be regarded as having much value. But Matthew was a Jew and was familiar with the high respect in which the scribes were held by his people. These learned men were not only writers and custodians of the national records, but were teachers and interpreters of the Mosaic and traditional law. In fact, their position in one way was analogous to that of a justice of the supreme court. He does not make the law, but he does interpret it and he gives decisions on certain points out of the vast agglomeration of statute and common law. This was the position of the scribes. They knew the Jewish law and tradition, and their interpretations were valued as the decisions of men learned and just, who out of their large experience and seasoned judgment gave the truth as they saw it.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Authority

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access