Scripture and Authority

In my pretend to be a cop day I unfortunately (or fortunately) didn't get to see anything too exciting. But I did get to wear a bulletproof vest, which was pretty empowering until I realized that it wasn't just for aesthetics.
My cop friend did get pulled over while driving his jeep. He had a nice line to get out of the speeding ticket, "I am a cop- here is my badge and gun." I think I might try that one.

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The phrase “Authority of Scripture” gets thrown around a lot by many church people (including me), but what exactly does it mean for scripture to have authority? Sometimes the phrase gets used as a trump card to support an interpretation of scripture, but I think it has a deeper meaning than that. The authority of scripture is a sense of calling to hear the word of scripture.


From NT Wright’s The Last Word

To affirm 'Authority of Scripture' is precisely not to say, 'We know what scripture means and don’t need to raise any more questions.' It is always a way of saying that the church in each generation must make fresh and rejuvenated efforts to understand scripture more fully and live by it more thoroughly, even if that means cutting across cherished tradition.

So how do we empower scripture to have authority without just giving it a title for aesthetics?