Subject: For Joe. |
Bible Note: Dear Joe! I do agree that the Bible is God's *root* means of revealing Himself to mankind. I am not sure if it would be correct to say that it is the *only* means to know His will. Friend, I am not being argumentative, but just trying to clarify something I observe. The Holy Spirit can and does reveal the things of God to man directly. These will always be in accord with the Scripture, but sometimes not directly *through* the reading of the Bible. I believe that this is evident in the history of the church, in which few people had access to their own personal copy of the complete canon, not to mention that they could not read it if they did. Not every person was completely at the mercy of the 'organized church,' without any way to know God's will. Especially in the very early church, nobody had access to the complete canon, so God must have had another means of revealing Himself. This would be the church, and more specifically the examples of other Christians. Again, these (admittedly imperfect) vessels provided a means by which God would reveal His nature and His will. Also, again, this example would be in accord with the Bible. The imperfect example would be *perfected* by the Holy Spirit. I cite the example of ourselves. We are portraying (though imperfectly) God to others. God will, by His Spirit, use us to spread His Word. Ideally, we will be in accord with His Word to effect this. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit will *cover* for our inadequacies. Please understand that I do not recommend personal experience or feelings to govern our understanding of God. Nor do I think that we should base our faith on a human *mentor.* None of these should ever supercede the written Bible! In the same way, *radically alternate* interpretation of Scripture is a great danger. This is why I believe that we need 1) the Bible, 2) the church, 3) the Holy Spirit, in order to adequately discern God's will and way. Comments, dear colleague? In Jesus' name, charis |