John Longhurst asks us to “ponder the idea that Jesus is speaking today through people who are open to hearing Jesus speak through the Holy Spirit in rich, transparent relationships with other people who are following Jesus” (“The End of ‘Sola Scriptura’?,” Oct. 23). He asks, “What do you think?”
I think there is only one Jesus, and to teach “another Jesus” is counter to Paul’s teaching that anyone who preaches a different gospel is to be accursed (Gal. 1:9). It seems having the correct view of Jesus was of ultimate importance to the apostle.
I think the Anabaptists at Münster demonstrated why listening to our imaginations in light of cultural needs and shifts can cause us to drift far away from the Jesus of Scripture. Saying the Holy Spirit is leading us when we violate the sexual mores of Scripture leads us to a bed not of roses but of thorns.
I think the Millerites (Seventh-day Adventists), Mormons, Christian Scientists, Unification Church and countless cults over the course of history have clearly demonstrated why humans tend to err so egregiously with this same basic thought pattern. They claimed God was leading them to a new way of seeing Scripture.
If this teaching is true, then why did the Holy Spirit inspire the written Word of God in the first place? Why didn’t Jesus just say, “Listen to Spirit”? Vague mysticism didn’t help Christians during the Crusades (Bernard of Clairvaux, a renowned mystic, was a major proponent of the Second Crusade) other than to see the slaughter of thousands committed in the name of God.
What do I think? I guess you can tell. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful . . . so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Thy Word is truth.
Tim Davis
Aurora, Colo.
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