How do you know this 'authority' knows what they are talking about and not deceiving you? Making you believe what they want you to believe? Putting trust in 'man' is for the gullible.
to mix a fresh batch of poison for Sunday services
That may just be what your 'authority' is giving you disguised as Truth.
1 John 2:27 "As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in Him."
Amen ping
Exactly. How do we prove anything to be the word of God when it is all recorded on materials made by man? It is physically the same as any text that could easily have been changed by any man. It doesn't help that most of the texts were written many lifetimes after the fact.
If even one text or relic had supernatural properties that could not be explained or reproduced, I would be more likely to believe it. In fact, other cultures have more unexplainable relics to show. For example, the perfectly symmetrical Egyptian statues that can only be replicated through robotics. Or buildings perfectly aligned to stars within 1/100th of a degree, something barely.
Right now I see Biblical texts as edited and compiled by many men for their own purposes. Even if some men in history received the direct word of God, it was still written down and kept by men. You must THINK and not put complete trust in anything made by man, just as you said.