Subject: A church that does not practice tongues |
Bible Note: Dear elect - The modern practice of speaking in tongues, known technically as glossolalia, possibly may in some instances be a contrivance for drawing attention toward the practitioners of the phenomenon. I have no proof that it is or is not, and would like to see you and everyone else who uses this Forum supply documentation to stand behind broad, sweeping statements of this sort. ..... Now I make no secret of being a Southern Baptist (see my user profile), and stand behind "The Baptist Faith and Message" statement of belief and practice. Consequently, I am distinctly not of the feather of Christians who profess to believe in and practice what is commonly called "speaking in tongues," the main characteristic of which, unless I'm badly mistaken, is the utterance of sounds that are incomprehensible -- an ecstatic babbling, if you will. But it is not my burden or my prerogative to condemn others whose beliefs and practices differ from mine solely on the basis that they do differ. What you or I happen to believe has no authority at all except to the degree that our beliefs are in line with Scripture. I cannot rightfully declare a practice wrong simply because I believe it to be so. My words carry no weight at all unless I am able to back them up with Scripture. Nor do yours. ...... Now, what I want to scold you a little about is this: In so many of your posts you do not hesitate in the least to make your beliefs known, even dogmatically so, but what we on Study Bible Forum are interested in -- what, in fact, this Forum is all about -- is not so much your beliefs but God's message: what does His word teach about the topics under discussion? I noticed your advice to the person who wanted to know how to find a solid church. I frankly thought it was one-sided and tinged with your (I guardedly and perhaps unwisely use the word) obession about election. ..... Surely you know that the kindred issues of free-will and election and of Calvinism and Arminianism are hot topics that have been debated for centuries and are without closure still. They are topics that are, in a word, controversial. They engender debate, interminable argumentation and ill-will that often sinks to vicious name-calling. Accordingly, the people who manage this Forum have imposed a proscription on divisive topics such as this one. You would therefore be well advised to lay off this subject, no matter how dearly you may love to talk about it. I'm no statistician, but I'd venture that there are literally hundreds of other topics within the pages of the Bible that are well worth one's time and effort without picking from among them the election/free-will matter about which even gifted theologians who are well above my pay grade are pondering still. ..... With all that behind me, and in view of the fact that this is the first correspondence I've had with you, welcome to Study Bible Forum. I pray that you will be a blessing to us and we to you. --Hank |