Adventures in Bible deism, Pt. 2
Continued from Adventures in Bible deism, Pt. 1
The Bible is the account of a God who speaks directly and relationally, not obliquely. When we see examples of him speaking using Old Testament scripture in the New Testament, it is often to confirm what he has said in other ways.
As Hebrews 1:1 says, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways…” There are many examples in Acts, the last of which is in 28:25-29, where Paul cites Isaiah to show that God has sent salvation to the Gentiles.
One of my favorite experiences in the world is to see Bible deists hear the voice of God. This happens periodically on AIM trips and in our training. A Bible Church pastor and his coworker were at one of our trainings and sat in the back of the room with folded arms. His seminary had taught him to be a good Bible deist.
He had tried to engage our trainers in theological debates in advance of the training. But our trainer, said, “All we ask is that you come and watch God work.” He and his coworker came, but they were obviously at odds with what was being taught.
Then our trainer said, “OK, it’s time to go off by yourself and ask God to speak to you.”
They disappeared, full of unbelief. When the time was over, everyone else returned except for the pastor and his coworker. Eventually, they returned ashen-faced. Our trainer asked the group, “Did anyone hear from God?”
Sheepishly, the two men raised their hands along with others in the room. “What did God say?” The trainer asked.
“He showed us visions and gave us words. Afterwards, we got together and saw that he’d said the same thing to both of us. This was obviously God. He does speak. So now we need to repent to the group.”
Is it any wonder 40,000 people a week are leaving the American Church when our pulpits are filled with Bible deists? People just want to know the reality of a living God without weighing him down with all the theological reasons why he can’t speak.
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Here’s what I’ve been struggling with lately: should the Bible be our primary source for getting divine inspiration? I realize that it shouldn’t be the only, but is it the best place to go for a sure word? Is it the first place we should go? How can we be “people of the book” and still be powerfully Spirit-led? When I feel led in prayer, I find myself questioning myself more than I’d like. I feel like I need to have biblical justification, but as one of my friends recently told me, maybe that’s not a bad thing. Thoughts?
What do you do when you have a map to the place you are headed and then meet someone that claims to know exactly where you are going? Do you ask for his directions and then confirm with the map, leave the map alone or just ignore the guy outright? Let’s not even consider our instincts and perceptions here we’ve all be misled by then even while looking right into the Bible.
The Bible (the map) is a MORE SURE WORD (2Pet 1:19). Majoring on the “Surer Source” is safest.
Seth said something remarkable in Pt 1 of this topic, “that an entire chapter of Matthew (23) describes Jesus’ stern rebuke of those who sought to define men’s relationship with God in terms of their interpretation of Scripture. There are many well-meaning Bible teachers who do the same thing today, but can’t see it.”
Whether the Bible is consulted first, second or last is not really key as long as we do the will of God in the end and get to the desired destination.
Thank you, Seth, for addressing “Bible deism” and the story of the two who repented. What a powerful work of God! I’ve heard my husband give the illustration: What if he went to bed each night with a book that told all about me or full of letters from me? Uh…it falls way short of the desired relationship. On the other hand, I’m praying for the generation reacting to Bible deism that there’s not that “swinging of the pendulum” to the place of devaluing the God-breathed Word. I’ve smuggled Bibles into restricted lands and seen more than I can speak about; and reading stories of jungle lands where the Bible’s been translated into their heart language and seeing the results make for the most exciting reading!; Memorizing and meditating on the Word brought healing from cancer. Even with all that I still need to reread the Word’s claims about itself. We have an enemy that knows the necessity of God’s written Word and works to always undercut it. I love the variety of ways God speaks. But where could we end up some years from now if the Bible is not treasured for what it is? And for what it’s done through thousands of years all over the world? Knowing the Word and getting to know His Word better all the time gives me freedom to hear from Him in other ways, not fearful that I’m getting off.
Thanks for this it is a timely word for my life at this moment. I recenlty had someone confront on an issue and “prove” that I was wrong based on scripture… I was really taken a back… but this word has helped me to see the tendency to swing back and forth and the importance of relationship… it doesn’t mean that I am going to completely ditch what they said but I am going to take it all in context to my Father in heaven and He can answer my questions and bring peace where I may doubt!