The First British Lutheran Blog Ever

Since the original, and very brief post which I put on this blog several weeks ago, a few people have dealt with it on their blogs. This post is a response to this post on Cassi's blog, and further explanation of personal religious phenomena.

Regarding the comment made along the lines of "what about prayer?", I'll answer this briefly. Firstly, where in Scripture does God promise to reply to us through prayer? Secondly, who is praying to whom? I'd ask that all who wish to contribute to this discussion have read Bill MacKinnon's essay, "No Voices in My Head", otherwise as happened when I brought up this issue before, there is going to be a lot of redundant arguments simply because people hadn't read what I was pointing them to.

So, why do I so strongly oppose speak of "God told me" or "God laid it on my heart" outside what He has already revealed in Scripture? I do so because God opposes such claims that He has spoken when He has not. (I will examine how valid is the argument, "Like all other religious occurrences, when you see it in action, or truly have the feeling, its hard to deny it" later). To claim to bear a message from God is to claim the office of a prophet. Have a read of the following:

Jeremiah 14:13-15:

And I said, "Ah, YHWH Elohim. Behold the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.'" And YHWH said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them, nor spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, worthlessness, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore, thus says YHWH concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I did not send, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land'-'By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed!"

Jeremiah 24:16-40:

Thus says YHWH Sabaoth: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with empty hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of YHWH. They say continually to those who despise the word of YHWH, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'"
For who among them has stood in the council of YHWH
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
Behold, the storm of YHWH!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of YHWH will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
"I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.
"Am I a God at hand, declares YHWH, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares YHWH. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares YHWH. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares YHWH. Is not my word like fire, declares YHWH, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares YHWH, who steal my words from one another.
Behold, I am against the prophets, declares YHWH, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares YHWH.'
Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares YHWH, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares YHWH.
"When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the burden of YHWH?' you shall say to them, 'You are the burden and I will cast you off, declares YHWH.' And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, 'The burden of YHWH,' I will punish that man and his household. Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, 'What has YHWH answered?' or 'What has YHWH spoken?' But 'the burden of YHWH' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, YHWH Sabaoth, our God. Thus you shall say to the prophet, 'What has YHWH answered you?' or 'What has YHWH spoken?' And if you say, 'The burden of YHWH,' thus says YHWH, 'Because you have said these words, "The burden of YHWH," when I sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of YHWH,'" therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"

So, if something is "placed on your heart", just remember, along with the above,
Jeremiah 17:9:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt. Who can understand it?"

So it's pretty clear from the warnings that God doesn't want us to just follow "what's on our heart", "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Matthew 15:19).

Now, I don't think the problem which Jeremiah was addressing was a question of sincerity. I'd bet that those people who spoke "This is what God told me!" were pretty sincere in what they felt God was saying. It might have even seemed according to God's will. Why would God allow his people to suffer sword and famine and exile? Why would he let the place He was worshipped be destroyed? Of course there would be peace! And God apparently layed it on their heart to tell people this.

A good example of a very sincere false prophet in the Church age is Muhammad. He had worked hard all his life to make it to where he was, being orphaned as a child and raised by his uncle. As Arabian life became increasingly capitalist, with the poor and needy having no one to care for them, he became troubled and would retreat to a cave where he would pray. It was during one of these retreats, at the age of forty, that he had an experience which would change his life (see Suras 53:1-18 and 96:1-5). He saw an angelic being who told him to recite, and when he questioned the being, he felt like he was being crushed. Terrified, he returned home to his wife and told her what had happened. There was a silence for three years where Muhammad went back to his trading job, but after those three years, he received a message to "rise and warn" the people of Makka about the coming Judgment. Now, this would have seemed ridiculous to everyone in Makka. It was a polytheistic culture. People knew something of monotheistic religions but Christians and Jews largely avoided Makka because it revolved around pagan religion, mostly devotions to Arabizations of Graeco-Roman gods. As a result of his attack of pagan religion, in what was the pagan religious capital of the middle-east, Muhammad faced intense persecution, especially following the death of his uncle, Abu Talib, who had been protecting him, yet he continued to proclaim his message, believing that no matter how bad things got for him, God would allow him to carry out his mission. Muhammad, however, was not always so sure of his mission, but the Hadith records that when he had doubts, Muhammad saw an angel which reminded him "You are the messenger of God".

Perhaps the clearest indication of the strength of Muhammad's conviction can be seen as he arranged the migration of himself and his followers, from their kinsfolk in Makka, where they had the security of their tribes, to Yathrib (later called Madina), where they had no guarantees of surviving at all. From then on, Muhammad gained more and more followers and led the early Muslim community through battles and struggles and losses, until they had conquered most of the Arabian peninsula.

Of all the criticisms one can make against Muhammad, one cannot say that he was not sincere. No man, with his background, would have said and done the things, and taken the risks that he did, if he was not sincere. But sincerity isn't anything to do with the truth or falsehood of a particular message. Perhaps Muhammad faced demonic manipulation, maybe he faced psychological issues, perhaps a bit of both. But religious experiences happen in all religions and they are no ground for truth. I remember the experience of falling backwards and "speaking in tongues" and the incredible peace and sense of purpose and want to tell people about what had happened which I felt when it happened to me. But now I reject that experience as not in accordance with Scripture.

Following Pentecost, we get a sense of the Holy Spirit guiding and keeping the Church in the truth, not through individual prophets, as He did in the Old Covenant times, but through the consensus of the Church -a method which would remain after the death of the apostles. The biblical model for this method is seen in the Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15. Verse 25 reads, "...it seemed good to us, having become unanimous...". At stake at the council was salvation and damnation, stemming from whether or not it was correct that "unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved" (1). It is understandable and inevitable that dissention and angry discussion happen (2,7) as the Holy Spirit leads the simultaneously sinful and holy Church into the truth.

Peter, in his speech points out that the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles through the proclamation of the gospel. Paul and Barnabus confirm the miraculous events from the mission field. The fact that these spiritual events happen as a result of the proclamation of the gospel is the first argument. The Council then test the reported effect of the proclamation by the Scriptures (13-21). What is decisive to the council is not merely the miracles and conversions which were happening, but the fulfillment of prophecy in Christ. The agreement reached was not merely a human one, but that of the Holy Spirit, by whose Word the outcome was realized (28).

So in the case of the New Testament, the promises of guidance are not to individual Christians, but to the Church. This is not to say that God can't or won't guide individuals, but Scripture doesn't allow us to say with certainty that we have received a message from God, because the promise of guiding into the truth is to the Church, not to individual Christians. I am taking steps towards seminary, not because I feel like God is telling me to per se, but because I have the desire and opportunity and, I believe in an unboastful way, that I am a suitable candidate for training for the office of the holy ministry. My motivation for desiring to be a pastor is not because I have a really strong feeling that this is a supernaturally-revealed "God's will for my life" but because I would like nothing better for my life than to proclaim the gospel all my days as a pastor. Yes, I've had strong feelings about it... and as the possibility of going to seminary draws closer, I've also had strong feelings in the opposite direction, but ultimately this is not about feelings, but about making the wisest decisions with the information I have. It still may not work out, but I'm doing all I can and I trust God to make it happen if it's what He wants for me.

Of all that has been revealed, the Word of God came neither through me, nor was any of it only for me (1 Corinthians 14:36). I'm not counting on God to tell me, other than by being in control of the doors that open and close in my life, what I should do careerwise, who I should marry, etc. I still have a normal life to live, for now. I don't expect a walk-through guide piped into my brain. How do I know, at whatever stage of my life I'm at, wherever I find myself, that I am doing according to the will of God? Because He has brought me and kept me in faith in the One He has sent, and through Him I have forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation.

Oooooooh

...this cannot even be called exegesis.

I really miss the days when lcms.org was full of nothing but good and useful resources.

Recent comments on this post on Here We Stand have led me to think in this way:

If someone cannot agree with all the contents (in the way that the authors intended them to be understood) of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, accepted in the 4th century as true, accurate, and binding by all of the Christian Church, no matter how much they may make pious talk and claim to "love the Lord", I don't think I have any reason to recognize them as Christian.

Thoughts?

I got back home yesterday morning just before 1 AM after 24 hours of travelling. I'm still adjusting to the time zone again.

It had been over 4 years since I had last been to Sri Lanka, where most of my mother's side of my family live. There've been some changes here and there in terms of "stuff" but people have changed the most. I have I think... 35 cousins over there, and though I didn't get to see all of them, it was nice to see how the kids have grown. My only memory of my youngest cousin, Dilisha, was of holding her in my arms as she slept when she was a few months old. She's now a delightfully expressive and bright 5 year old. Her sister, Manjula used to be very aggressive and often misbehaved. Now she's extremely polite, happy and very friendly, running up to people and hugging them as tight as her little arms can manage. I'll miss them all. I have no idea when the next time I'll get a chance to go there will be. In common with most countries in Asia, there's not really a term meaning cousin, so I was referred to with the term ayya, meaning older brother. It's strange how the little spoken sinhalese I know came back to me while I was there. I'll probably forget it again soon enough.

A combination of terrorism and bad government means that the country has a very inefficient economy and suffers from a great deal of poverty. The price that a family of four tourists would be charged for a meal, which is still almost half the cost of what they would be charged at most restaurants in the UK, is about a month's wages for most Sri Lankans. There's also no state welfare system in place. It was quite saddening to see 10 to 20 beggars, many with disabilities and injuries, in every mile walked through Kandy, the second most major city. The state of the economy has also affected the education, policing, and transport systems. Teachers are paid poorly so intentionally hold back from doing their jobs fully in order to get additional income from private tuition. Despite most children being trilingual and excelling especially in the sciences, nearly all cannot afford to go to university. The police force often becomes something of a corrupt local militia, protecting who they want, and taking bribes when it suits them. Sri Lanka has a vast train network, and yet the same trains are being used from when the country was under British rule, so they pour out black smoke, are falling apart, and the carriages are filthy. But it's cheap so it's also overcrowded. The same goes for the bus system. Sri Lanka is where Japanese buses go to be worked to death, then resurrected before being worked to death again. The roads are generally in bad repair, contractors often botching the work in order to take the full fee but save money for themselves, bribing government supervisors. You're doing well if you average 30 mph.

One thing that really struck me is how people don't waste their times with things such as expensive fashions, "gay rights" movements and "feminism" when they have to struggle even to have food, clothing, and shelter. Only once the necessities have been taken care of and luxury is taken for granted do societies start to redefine struggle in terms of acceptance. People generally don't have time to rally around a twice married, twice divorced priest who wants a sex change operation before continuing in his previous office (see C of E), or fighting to redefine femininity based on what males can do, if they have to work every waking hour in order to survive. So despite being heavily pagan, Sri Lanka is a generally conservative society. I remember my mother talking with some Sri Lankan hotel staff who found it very amusing how european tourists on their honeymoon spend it lounging around by the pool, whereas the custom in cultures which have a sense of chastity is that no one sees the newlyweds for a good while after the wedding.

As for the tourism industry... I don't think I can ever stay in a hotel over there for more than a couple of days ever again. I was in one for a week, and... to see so many people living like kings, lounging around in the sun, ignorant of the world outside the hotel, when I know how most of the population are living... It's just too fake for me to deal with. May God prevent me from taking for granted all the luxuries I have at home, such as a soft bed, warm running water, clean drinking water, etc. It's all too easy to take those things for granted. It was good for me to be without those things for a while. But my family has helped my aunts and uncles as best we can and so they live in a degree of security, so I was still far from seeing how things were for them when they were my age.

Pray for the Church in Sri Lanka. It faces the problems of being situated in the syncretism capital of the world, some corrupt pastors, selling off western aid (which isn't really tracked by its donators) instead of distributing it properly, and when churches do attempt to reach out and help people, it's labelled as bribary. There are still a few faithful saints there, though.

I think I'm feeling too tired to write much more right now so I'll end this here.