It seems to me that there is one thought lingering behind this thread which has not yet been brought out into the open. It is this -- we cannot trust human authority because human authority errs. But the problem I find with this skepticism is the fact that the person doesn't seem to distrust their own fallible humanity, but seems quite confident in the espousal of private judgment. Surely any distrust of human fallibility must apply as equally to oneself.
The antidote to this distrust is rather simple, and it is twofold. First, ask yourself, is my private judgment in no sense dependent upon human helps? The answer is obviously, No; and the more you think about it the more you see that your private judgment is merely the sum total of your experiences in this world. And here the Bible teaches us, not to minimise human help in the hope of avoiding the pitfalls of fallibility, but to increase counsellors because in the multitude of them there is wisdom. Secondly, there is a judgment of charity in which we think the best of those who are over us until they prove otherwise. We cannot jump from the idea that men might err to the assumption that they do err. We ourselves might err, and yet it is a working principle with us that we must act on the basis of what we think is right. Likewise, in relation to human authority, we must give the benefit of the doubt to those who have the care of our souls and trust they are acting on the basis of what is right until it can be clearly shown that they are in error. Only once error has been clearly demonstrated is there cause to distrust what they say, and even then there are varying degrees of error which must be taken into account when deciding how to act in response.
The antidote to this distrust is rather simple, and it is twofold. First, ask yourself, is my private judgment in no sense dependent upon human helps? The answer is obviously, No; and the more you think about it the more you see that your private judgment is merely the sum total of your experiences in this world. And here the Bible teaches us, not to minimise human help in the hope of avoiding the pitfalls of fallibility, but to increase counsellors because in the multitude of them there is wisdom. Secondly, there is a judgment of charity in which we think the best of those who are over us until they prove otherwise. We cannot jump from the idea that men might err to the assumption that they do err. We ourselves might err, and yet it is a working principle with us that we must act on the basis of what we think is right. Likewise, in relation to human authority, we must give the benefit of the doubt to those who have the care of our souls and trust they are acting on the basis of what is right until it can be clearly shown that they are in error. Only once error has been clearly demonstrated is there cause to distrust what they say, and even then there are varying degrees of error which must be taken into account when deciding how to act in response.