Word and Spirit
Word and Spirit refers to the union that Biblical Christianity sees as essential, intimate, and vital between the Word and Spirit. Mormonism puts more distance between these two.
- "The Word inspires, informs and incarnates prayer. They go together, because Word and Spirit go together. Word without Spirit is intellectualism. Spirit without Word is emotionalism at best, and probably syncretism. But the Word and the Spirit are kept together when we depend on the Spirit for help in all our dealing with the Word, and express that dependence in prayer." -John Piper [1]
Mormons claim to believe in this union more than traditional Christianity:
- "... the capacity of every member to have spiritual guidance since some religions say it is dangerous to rely on the spirit and to rely on the bible instead. Mormons believe you can only understand the Bible with the help of the Spirit." -Attributed to Richard Bushman [2]
In response, Christians say that one's internal emotional epiphanies or impressions--especially those self-induced--are not automatically to be equated with the reliable Spirit--certainly not when they contradict scripture. Prayer is an expression of depedency on the Holy Spirit to do this illumination, but the illumination is of objective revelation itself. The Spirit works primarily by illuminating God's objective revelation, especially the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:7 is a good example of this:
- "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
Thinking over something objective is not to be seen as opposed to letting God give us understanding. We honor God and the Holy Spirit by giving attention and thought and reflection object revelation (cf. Acts 17:11), for through that the Holy Spirit confirms and illumines. In order to know the truth of the Bible, we pray for understanding and then read it and search through it, knowing that the Holy Spirit works through that to shine light. We do not simply shut the Bible and pray for a special, internal, emotional revelation that happens apart from the objective revelation of the Word.
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[edit] Personal direct guidance over the revealed guidance of the Word
When confronted or faced with the Bible, many Mormons respond with an appeal to "personal revelation". This is done in such a way as though the revelation of the Spirit could be contrasted with the revelation of the Word, and with the assumption that the direct emotional impressions (which are assumed to be of the Spirit) are more reliable than the Word.
The scriptures, however, were inspired by the Spirit. They are "God-breathed". To reject the revelation of the Word is to reject the revelation of the Spirit. To embrace the revelation of the Word is to embrace Spirit-breathed, Spirit-inspired revelation. Word and Spirit. They go together!
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Non-Mormon
- Illumination of the Holy Spirit (Theopedia.com)
