This is a continuation of my series on the dangers of Pentecostal/Charismatic theology upon the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I come out of the former and now am Lutheran and see the dangers I was taught and, in turn taught others. Thankfully, we have a God who forgives us ALL our transgressions, of which teaching false doctrine is covered.
When attempting to proclaim the Gospel this subjective position creates several issues which cannot be taken lightly. If the Bible is interpreted based on what someone feels it means, then who is to say the “burning in the bosom” of the Mormon faith is truth when they read The Book of Mormon? How does the Pentecostal missionary disprove the excitements of Hinduism in their worship of Shiva or the mysticism of the Islamic Sufi sect who dance themselves into a spiritual frenzy relying upon feelings and experience to verify truth? The simple answer is that they cannot because they have placed their subjective views over the objective truths of the Scripture. Also, how does one deal with the mentally ill who believe that God is giving them a personal, private and revelatory message? If feelings dictate truth then the strength of the Gospel proclamation is lost.
Webster’s
dictionary defines subjectivism as “a doctrine where individual feeling or apprehension is the
ultimate criterion of the good and the right[1]”
Another way to understand this is to say that there is no truth outside of
one’s own experience. For the modern
Pentecostal this extends to hearing from God outside of the written word
through visions, dreams, tongues and interpretation, prophecy and words of
knowledge. According to modern
Pentecostals God gives them these experiences to verify that the Bible is
true. If you feel God has spoken to you
no one is permitted to challenge that because that is your experience. This is the basis of every other religion and
false Christ, of cults and heretical groups alike. Their experience dictates their belief system. Modern Pentecostalism is no different in that
its very foundation was laid in the shifting and ever-changing soil of subjective experiences.
For the
modern Pentecostal, God still speaks through contemporary Apostles and Prophets who receive personal revelations.
The teaching is that until God restored these spectacular gifts and
offices Christ could not return to His own.
Other teachings which oppose the Scriptures
arose through subjective experience rather than the objective truths of the
Bible. They were revealed through both
the forerunners of this movement and contemporary prophets and apostles, including laymen and women via dreams or visions.
In this thesis it will be shown that this subjective perspective places Christianity on the same level as all other false religions as
they too are based upon subjective experiences and it will result in
a debilitated Gospel proclamation.
This
subjective word causes much damage to individuals, churches and the Kingdom
Mission of the Church. As Pentecostals
go out to proclaim the truth of the Gospel their actions belie their reliance
upon the Word alone for they seek to hear the voice of God apart from
Scripture. When followers of other religions see and hear this they can then rightfully question the Christian saying, “But we hear from God too. What makes your revelations true and ours not?” Apart from an objective gospel found within the written Word of God, as evidenced by God having spoken through prophets and now who spoke through
His Son (Heb.
1:1), for the Pentecostal, no sure footing can be truly found since they are reliant upon hearing God personally in addition to His
written Word.
The
questions to be asked are whether or not their new revelations and private
conversations with God are, in fact, from God, and if they are, can they be
verified? Applying the
tests for the Written Word to the subjective word Pentecostals lean on, we ask, “Does God still speak?” Yes, through His eternal Word. Does God give new revelations? This author, who came out of Pentecostalism,
says No! Since God has now spoken to us
in His Son (Hebrews 1:1), it is that message of the biblical and objective Gospel, provided to us
through the eyewitness testimony of the Evangelists, it is this which we are to proclaim. Since
Christ is the firstborn from the dead we are to proclaim the light of His
resurrection to those who still walk in darkness (Luke 1:79) and are dead in sin.
The
repercussions of such subjectivism in Pentecostalism must be explored and the
negative impact on the veracity of the Written Word be exposed. Here is the problem. If anyone
chooses to say that God still gives new revelations, the objective truth is
compromised and can no longer be used as proof.
The same, God still speaks, is true for every other religion, each of
which has its own revelations. If the
messages oppose each other, there is no way to verify who is telling the
truth. Each side can claim truth but
neither side can prove it. It is my position that Modern Pentecostals cannot validate their personal messages from God and therefore, should proclaim only the Bible which has been
proven to be His objective Word.
Still
another question is: How many sources of God’s Word are there? If the Pentecostal is correct in saying God speaks personally to people,
it could be argued that perhaps God speaks to people of other religions as
well. If there is more than one source of God speaking, who is to
determine whether the voice you are hearing is, in fact, God’s voice? The choice is either a
multiplicity of sources based on subjective experience or the
one objective voice of God in the Bible.
For
Modern Pentecostals, since their forerunner, Edward Irving began looking for
the Voice of God apart from Scripture, the Bible cannot be considered the
all-sufficient norm for Christians through all times and in every place. While they will argue that they believe the
Bible to be Infallible, Inerrant and Inspired by God in practice, they hold the Bible is insufficient for life, doctrine and
godliness simply
because they are looking for direct revelations outside of Scripture. Modern Pentecostals seek to hear God separately from the written Word.
This thesis will be show
that this is quite the slippery slope damaging the Gospel presentation amongst
unbelievers. As stated in Popular
Symbolics,
…the fundamental principle of the
Irvingites (and Modern Pentecostals) seriously endangers the central doctrines
of the Christian religion. The Bible
cannot be considered the all-sufficient norm nor per se the power of God unto
salvation” because you must hear from God outside the Bible.[2]
Pentecostals will argue that the Bible is sufficient and yet
because they look for further visions, dreams and prophecies, their words are
actually inconsistent with their practical application in life. It is the view
of this writer that the practice of modern Pentecostals in seeking to hear the
Voice of God outside of Scripture and how it debilitates the proper Gospel
proclamation to unbelievers and cause confusion for the believer.
When one bases truth upon ones experience rather than the
objective truth of the Word of God, the presentation becomes ego-centric rather
than Christ-centered. This type of
proclamation takes away the glory, authority and verifiability from God and relies
too heavily on human experiences as a way of proof. As Dr. Montgomery said in his lecture,
Christianity in a Corner (1517.org at the 34:50 mark) “The preaching of
Scripture needs to focus on the heart of the Scriptures.[3]” Yes, in your personal experience, God has
saved you from great peril and sin but that is not to be the focal point of the
proclamation. Rather, the point of a
gospel presentation is, well, the Gospel for it “is the power of God unto salvation.”
(Rom. 1:16) and not your testimony. Forgiveness
and freedom from sin, death and the devil are found in the Gospel.
As a former Pentecostal, understanding that the Christian Church
has been gifted with an objective Gospel, one not based on feelings or emotions
as evidence of the truth of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I
want to challenge my Pentecostal friends to proclaim the objective truth of God
whether or not they feel it that day. No
longer should they be testifying “I know He lives because He lives within my
heart…[4]” but rather, I know He
lives because “Christ died for
our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures .” (1 Cor. 15: 3b-4, italics
mine) This is where the power of God
lies; through the weakness and “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21), not in
the flamboyance of your testimony.
In contrast to the subjective lines in the aforementioned hymn,
for centuries the church has sung:
In His temple now behold Him
See the long-expected Lord;
Ancient
prophets had foretold Him,
God
has now fulfilled His word.
Now
to praise Him, His redeemed
Shall break forth with one accord. (Lutheran Service Book 513:1, italics mine)
Notice the third and fourth lines of this hymn which
speaks directly to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and how, when
Jesus was presented in the Temple, it was a fulfillment of prophecy. The early church, and those of the
Reformation era, focused upon the Apostolic Kerygma both in proclamation and
defense.
The authority of the message of Christianity does not lie in
experience or in feelings, the “hope-so’s” or “think-so’s” but in the facts,
the objective truths, that Jesus lived, died and rose again to bring life to
all who would believe. Only with a
recovery of this truth, the objective message, can we hope to bring
Pentecostals back into a healthy Gospel proclamation.
Enabling the Pentecostal to realize that while personal testimony
has its place it should not be the pinnacle or focal point of the message. Rather, a proclamation of the Gospel, in
which we tell others that Jesus died, was buried and rose again according to
the Scriptures, will bring true power back to evangelism. Assisting them to see the weaknesses of a
subjective faith will be the only way to move them away from a debilitated
Gospel to His strong Word. A subjective
Gospel will continue to devastate the growth and health of the Church and wreck
the witness we have of Christ. A subjective
Gospel will limit the effect of the message and is limited to one’s own experience.
[1]. “Subjectivism,” Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, accessed
October 7, 2019, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjectivism.
[2]. Engender, Popular Symbolics:
The Doctrines of the Churches of Christendom and of Other Religious Bodies
Examined in the Light of Scripture (St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1934),
325.
[3]. John Warwick Montgomery, Christianity
in a Corner (1517 The Legacy Project, 1517legacy.org,.), audio, 34:50.
[4]. A. H. Ackley, “I Serve a Risen Savior,” Hymnary.org, accessed
October 24, 2019, https://hymnary.org/text/i_serve_a_risen_savior.
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