Comments on: Authority and the pretence of autonomy

By: Albert

Albert — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:24:22 +0000

I had read of Milgram’s experiment at university, but, surprise surprise, heard nothing about those two test subjects. This is really fascinating stuff.

I think learning more about the nature of authority and how it functions is especially important to better understanding what we, as creatures who love God by obedience, ought to do in the context of our authoritative communities. The book sounds very promising!

By: EM

EM — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:03:18 +0000

Again, very interesting – I have become convinced that the Imago Dei is a concept of fundamental importance. I don’t know if it is so much ignored by evangelical Christians as taken for granted and not taught / studied.

The approach you appear to be taking resonates initially and I am fascinated to explore where you will go with it. I hope your book makes an important contribution to contemporary discussion of this subject.

By: David T. Koyzis

David T. Koyzis — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:13:05 +0000

Incidentally, authority is not the same as power. Everyone gives lip service to this, but very many manage to get it wrong all the same. I will be taking this up in future as well.

By: David T. Koyzis

David T. Koyzis — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:11:18 +0000

Thanks, EM. You are exactly right about getting the balance right. I would argue that everyone has authority related to the respective offices they bear, the most basic of which is the office of divine image-bearer. In the classroom, not only the professor has authority, but the students do too. Professorial authority is not the same as the authority of students, but the latter is genuine authority which the instructor is obligated to respect. I hope to expand on this in future posts.

I hope further to spark some discussion that will enable me to refine these ideas further as I continue to write.

By: EM

EM — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:19:32 +0000

That is a great title for a book and your topic is one in which I am intensely interested.

I particularly hope you discuss the extent of responsibility the one under authority has to judge the justice of the action ordered by the one in authority. Weight that too heavily and society grinds to a halt. Fail to weight it at all and we get Auschwitz on a large scale or child abuse on a small scale. How much do we engage thoughtful moral reasoning before we obey imperfect human authorities?

So far, the best accessible thoughts I’ve seen on that topic from a Christina perspective have been in Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s “Not the Way it’s Supposed to Be.”

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:10:00 +0000

Milgram’s experiments and this analysis provide insight into how the Israelites could have been driven by their priests, claiming the authority of God, to commit atrocious genocides.

By: William L. Harnist

William L. Harnist — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:30:32 +0000

I would suggest that individuals follow the instructions from “authorities” because of fear; the “authority” has the power over the individual. The “authority” has the power to determine the future of someone else, i.e., job, ministry in church, etc.