By Brian R. Kenyon
Silence of the Scriptures is a concept that must be understood in order for people to please God. Pleasing God is impossible without conforming to His will (Col. 1:10; 1 Thes. 4:1; Heb. 11:6). Conforming to God’s will is impossible without knowing and practicing what He authorizes (Col. 3:17; Heb. 13:21; 1 John 2:3-6). Knowing and practicing what God authorizes involves, among other things, a proper understanding of the silence of the Scriptures.
Major Misunderstandings
Of How the Bible Authorizes
Relative to this study, there are two major misunderstands concerning how the Bible authorizes. First, some think that whatever the Bible does not explicitly forbid must be authorized. That is, if the Bible does not explicitly say, “Thou shalt not…,” then whatever action under consideration must be acceptable to God. This view, however, is false. If the Bible had to explicitly specify everything that God did not authorize, it would be so large a volume that no one could physically handle it. Imagine the Book of Leviticus, for example, listing all the animals that were not allowed for the Israelites to use for sacrifice! It does not have to include every kind of animal with which the Israelites would come in contact besides the animals specified in Leviticus! Not only that, if the Bible had to explicitly specify everything that God did not authorize, then much of the Bible would make no sense to certain generations. Imagine a Christian living in AD 150, for example, trying to make sense of “Thou shalt not clone human embryotic stem cells”! Those who seek authority from what the Bible does not explicitly forbid, are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking, “Where does the Bible say I cannot?,” they should be asking, “Where does the Bible teach I can.”
Second, on the opposite extreme, some think that whatever the Bible does not explicitly mention or exemplify must be unauthorized. That is, if the Bible does not explicitly say, “Thou shalt…,” then whatever action under consideration must be unacceptable to God. This view, however, is also false. If the Bible authorized only by explicit statements and/or examples, then none of it would apply to people living today because none of it was explicitly addressed to people living today. Nowhere can the reader find his or her name mentioned as an addressee of any New Testament epistle. There are those, for example, who will say that since the Bible does not explicitly say that the local church can support a preaching school from its treasury, there is no authority for it. How-ever, what these same people fail to realize is that the Bible nowhere explicitly says that the church can have a checking account, pay a utility bill, or have a Facebook page, yet the very local churches of which they are members have a checking account, pay a utility bill, and have a Facebook presence.
Lest one think this view is only held by the anti-cooperation camp, consider a statement made by Phillip Morrison at a “contemporary” discussion:
It’s disingenuous [hypocritical] to stand in a church building not authorized by Scripture, behind a podium not authorized by Scripture, to use a microphone not authorized by Scripture, to use a hymn book not authorized by Scripture, to use a tuning fork not authorized by Scripture, and argue that you can’t use a piano because it’s not authorized by Scripture. (Hosted by Freed-Hardeman University, 11 Feb. 2005)
Aside from the fact he is admitting he does not need Bible authority (because he does those things, which according to him, are without Bible authority), he reflects a serious misunderstanding. It is true that the Bible does not explicitly say “Thou shalt use a church building, podium, microphone, etc.,” but that does not mean the Bible does not authorize them. Understanding the relationship between explicit statements, implicit principles, silence of the scriptures, and Bible authority is a serious matter.
Silence of the scriptures is more than merely the lack of an explicit statement. Explicit statements are the word for word statements found in the Bible. Implicit statements are true statements based on the truth of explicit statements. For example, the Bible explicitly declares, “Abram went up from Egypt … and Lot with him” (Gen. 13:1). From this explicit statement one can know Lot came up from Egypt. However, nowhere does the Bible explicitly say, “Lot went into Egypt.” A person surely can know Lot had to go into Egypt before he could come out of Egypt. Thus, the implicit statement, “Lot went into Egypt,” is just as true as the explicit statement, “Abram went up from Egypt … and Lot with him” (Gen. 13:1). The Bible is not silent about Lot going into Egypt, even though there is no explicit statement, “Lot went into Egypt.” Both the explicit and the implicit statements about Lot are equally true, even though only one is explicit!
Conclusion
True silence of Scripture means the Bible does not teach at all a particular matter, either explicitly or implicitly. This kind of silence, obviously, does not authorize. In the next Harvester, consideration will be given to “silence” from the Book of Hebrews.
