Gnostic Talk

February 9, 2005 · Filed Under theology

Great posting over at Watersblogged today.

It’s a subject that is really a bit of a pet peeve of mine, I guess, in that whenever I hear folks say “God told me/us to do …” or “When I do *****, I can really hear God talking to me…” or “I prayed about it, and God told me what to do…”

Here are two quotes from Watersblogged, where Bob encapsulates quite nicely my feelings on this subject:

It’s amazing, the misguided tendency so many American Christians have to identify subjective emotional impressions with the voice of God. They never seem to wonder whether it might not more likely be the voice of their own heart, seeking an excuse to do what it wants to do. Even the conscience- though it’s always a sin to violate it- can be badly formed, and thus dead wrong. Even the conscience is not, itself, the voice of God.

and

This is not to say that God cannot, obviously, do whatever He wants. It is to simply observe that He has promised to speak to us in only one place: His Word.

And, in fact, that Word is quite clear that we men are not to add or subtract from it. (Deut 4:2, Rev 22:18-19)

But we can’t help ourselves. We want to feel special. We want to be connected. Our sinful nature dictates it. Our emotions thrive on it. Our logic embraces & justifies it.

But it’s not what God has told us He will do. To state that our experiences dictate otherwise is a sinful & obstinate declaration.

May God give us the faith to keep us from this, and all other, sin. And may God direct all of us towards proper contemplation of our sinful natures during this Lenten season. Amen!

-ghp

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Tags: christianity, faith, feelings, gnostic, heterodoxy