New City Catechism #2

Question: What is God?

Answer: God is the creator of everyone and everything.

Is it possible to separate source from authority? 

I know what you are thinking: “What kind of question is that?!” Nobody thinks this way! Except maybe philosophers. And everyone knows how useful philosophy is. The story is told of a daughter who goes home over Christmas break from college and she tells her father, “I just switched my degree from nursing to philosophy.” The father looks at his daughter with eyebrows raised and replies to her in a tone dripping with sarcasm, “Oh, that’s great! They just opened a philosophy factory right down the street!” 

Such is the caricature of philosophical questions. Yet, these weighty questions have a real-world bite to them. I would imagine that you are very devoted to the idea that source and authority are inseparable. Think of these few examples:

#1 – You plant a garden in your backyard this spring. As such, you are the source of its existence. Who has the right to eat from that garden? You do! Since you are the source, you would think it entirely inappropriate if I were to come over to your garden and take all of the cucumbers you have grown. You are the garden’s source. Therefore, you are the one to control what happens to it. 

#2 – You make a sculpture. If you make it, who gets the proceeds from its sale? You do!

#3 – Or think of your kids. You are their source. They come from you. As a result, you would be extremely upset with someone who tries to make decisions for your kids. And you would even be upset if your kids tried to make all their own decisions. You are their source. Therefore, you are their authority. 

It is inseparable. Source and authority go hand in hand in our world, and we are eager to enforce that ownership. That is why intellectual property lawsuit damages in 2025 topped $5 billion! We are convinced that authority is derived from creating something.

And we are right. This is exactly Paul’s point on Mars Hill in Acts 17:25 when he says about God, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man…”

God made the world and, therefore, that makes him the “Lord” or “master” over the world. He is our authority in everyday life because he is our creator. 

Many people don’t like this. Why? Because we hate the idea that anyone else is an authority over us besides ourselves. Yet, you and I did not come into being on our own. You are here because it was the Father’s good pleasure to have your presence grace this earthly sod. Since that is the case, you and I are accountable to him as our master. When we try to live in this word as if our opinions, convictions, and ideas matter the very most…that is the same thing as theft! 

Most of us would recoil in horror at the idea of being a thief, but that is why we need theology. God reminds us that he is our source and creator, which means that our time is his. Our talents are his. Our money is his. Everything is his! And that’s good. Life is lived best whenever it is lived as if God is God and we are not. That isn’t just philosophy. That is real life.