I recently received an email from someone whose ex-spouse was doing some very strange things, claiming that God had instructed this person to do them. Since we just last night discussed the difference between Divine Command Theory and Natural Law Theory and also the question of properly hearing from God, I thought this would be a perfect time to ask these two questions. Some people say that God doesn’t communicate with us today outside of the Bible. They are called Cessationists, because they believe that the examples of such things in the Bible ended with the collection of the canon of Scripture. Others believe that God communicates now just as He always has through a variety of means including the Bible and many other things such as dreams, visions, audible voice, and verbal communication in our minds. Well, if these folks are correct, then how common is such communication? And how can a person know the difference between legitimate communication from God and that coming from other sources?Four keys to hearing God's voice (Mark Virkler)
3 comments:
My favorite three topics on Christian radio are the meshing of science and religion, the Problem of Evil, and the voice of God.
You implicitly put limits on God when you say that you would not kill your son because you can’t discern well enough whether a voice is God’s or your own. Abraham had more talent than you do for discerning whether a voice is God’s, you say. That means that even though God is telling a person something for a good reason (God wouldn’t speak it just because He wants it to be ignored by the person), God can’t overcome His own limitations in speaking to people and has to live with the hit-or-miss consequences of only getting through reliably to the hearing-talented people. An infinite deity could find some way of making it absolutely clear that it was He and not an evil spirit that was talking inside someone’s head—even though the head belongs to a finite being.
This reminds of the time I was told by a Christian that there has to be death and destruction from earthquakes because God uses plate tectonics to keep the land fertile for the plant growth that mammals rely on for part of the food chain. The implication is that God wasn’t smart enough to tweak the rules of chemistry/physics/geology differently such that the ground we live on would be both stable and fertile, as I pointed out to that person.
Lee,
The problem isn't that God can't get through to me clearly enough what His Will is but that I on my end am often mistaken in attributing to Him what in reality are my own thoughts. In short, if I am CERTAIN that God is commanding something of me, then I both have to do it and have to trust by faith in Him that He wouldn't allow me to be so grossly misled. The problem is when people who haven't really gotten to know God and haven't really had much experience hearing Him and don't show any evidence that their lives have been guided and transformed by Him suddenly say they hear God telling them to do an absurd thing. But, you ask, why would God allow them to be so deceived? I only just barely understand why God allows Tsunamis, how might I presume to know the answer to such a question?
By the way, your line of reasoning is part of the reason many Christians reject the idea of hearing from God outside of the Bible. God HAS made it clear in Scripture, they will say, and that solves the evil demon deception issue preemptively.
Andrew wrote:
… many Christians reject the idea of hearing from God outside of the Bible. God HAS made it clear in Scripture, they will say…
How do those Christians deal with the fact that millions of other Christians around the world disagree with them on issues such as whether a female can be head pastor of a church? Millions of believers read the Bible one way on this issue, while millions of other believers think the Bible is saying the opposite.
The Bible does not say anything directly about the Baptist Foundation of Arizona:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_Foundation_of_Arizona
Do those types of Christians simply admit that God won’t warn them away from a bad investment with His voice?
Some months back you mentioned that even after you and your wife pray about election choices (propositions, candidates), the two of you don’t necessarily agree on how to vote. When a church pastor reminds the adults in his congregation to pray for guidance from God on how to vote in an upcoming election, are there a lot of believers who think that is a ridiculous thing for the pastor to say?
In 1974 I was not old enough to vote, but I was old enough to sometimes watch the television news and read the newspaper. I realized at that point in time (but not earlier) that Richard Nixon was not a man who was likely to be the best person for the job of president of the United States. I remembered the minister telling the adults to pray for guidance coming up on the 1972 election. I thought: Wow! God has never spoken to me in an audible voice, but He is going to have to do so once I am old enough to vote; else how could He guide my vote?
I knew that both of my parents voted for Nixon in 1972. The impeachment proceeding in 1974 was possibly the first event that shook my confidence that my Christian faith was justified.
Post a Comment