authority
source of justification for particular beliefs, values and actions. It may be derived from scripture, from Christian tradition and community, or from individual conscience - or a combination of two or more of these. Social scientists commonly distinguish between different modes of authority: traditional - validated by inherited power and position; legal-rational even if also traditional, validated by reasoned argument; charismatic promoted by power of personality, as in prophetic appeal, challenging traditional establishment, and subsequently transposed into legal-rational. Authority in Christianity generally anti- authoritarian, because all authority is relative before God, and from the authority of God comes the promise of human freedom.
See also:
conscience, freedom