Scripture as Authority
The understanding that the Bible (Old and New Testaments) possesses divine authority for Christian belief and practice. Three approaches to Scripture's authority: literal interpretation (every word is divinely inspired, historically accurate); conservative interpretation (divine inspiration with human authorship; historical accuracy in essentials); liberal interpretation (Scripture reflects human culture and time; divinely inspired but historically conditioned).
Real World
The ongoing dispute between Ken Ham's Answers in Genesis (literal six-day creation) and organisations like BioLogos (Scripture as divinely inspired but not scientifically literal) illustrates how differently Christians apply scriptural authority to the same text.
Exam Focus
Structure answers around all three interpretive approaches (literal, conservative, liberal) with a named theologian for each to maximise AO1 breadth.
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