Denominational Spirituality
The denominational form of spirituality seems to be closer to the truth than mystical spirituality. There is a focus on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible seems to have more impact in the development of spirituality. But these positives do not justify the error that is practiced in this form of spirituality. The denominational model is influenced by Calvinistic teachings. Much of the purpose of denominational spirituality is rooted in ascertaining the voice or leading from the Holy Spirit. There are some comments that seem contrary to the revealed will of God such as “seek the Spirit,” “following the nudges of the Spirit,” and “allow the Spirit to guide you.” These are not completely evil endeavors as long as they are understood to be referring to the word of God and not relying on direct communication by the Holy Spirit.
This doctrine of direction communication from the Holy Spirit is derived from a misunderstanding of the audience of John 14-16. In this section, John uses a term for the Holy Spirit that is specific to the writings of John. He uses the word “parakletos” in John 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:5-15. In this context Jesus is addressing his disciples to provide comfort as he is about to die on the cross. Some will quickly bypass the promises of the Holy Spirit helping the disciples: “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26) and “He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13). But one must think more clearly in interpreting these texts because the methodology of specifying the audience does not completely solve the problem because if the audience is the major interpretive grid one uses, then one must be consistent in stating that John 14:1-5 is not applicable for Christians today even though these passages have been read to comfort Christians at numerous funerals. So instead of appealing to the audience only, another question must be given to the text. Can Christians today engage in this work? The answer is no because the promise of direct guidance from the Spirit is for those who had direct contact with Jesus Christ. The Spirit will cause the disciples to remember the work of Christ while on earth. No Christians today can claim to have had this privilege. Also, the disciples are given this special helper because there was not the inspired word of God during the early years of the church. The Holy Spirit would continue to instruct the disciples into truth as the mission of God spreads throughout the word (Acts 10-11). The word of God was completed so that the Bible would become the standard for church practice (1 Cor. 13:8-13, 1 Tim. 3:15).
The denominational style of spirituality is faulty because of this misunderstanding of the role of the Holy Spirit. There is this subjective seeking of the will of the Holy Spirit. Instead of denominational spirituality being rooted in the word of God only, it is influenced by questionable feelings from the mind of man. Spirituality is not an “up in the sky mindset” or “a still voice in a moment of silences” but an overwhelming reliance on the word of God.
Related posts:
- Biblical Spirituality
- SPIRITUALITY: WHAT IS IT?
- Mystical Spirituality
- Review of “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality”
- The Doctrine of “Laying on of hands”
About The Author
Ben, thank you for the suggested readings. I will read this stuff. Also, thank you to everyone for interacting with me. As I work on this, I want to grow “spiritually.” Thank you for your help.
It is pretty clear that the Holy spirit would instruct, reveal, and guide Jesus’ apostles in ways that are unique. However, it is pretty difficult to prove that the Holy Spirit is only speaking through scripture now. While the Holy Spirit does not speak directly to me, I do believe that the Holy Spirit speak to me in ways besides scripture.
For starters, I do not believe 1 Cor. 13.10 refers to the canonization of scripture. And even though you cited 1 Tim 3.15 I think you were referring to 2 Tim 3.15-16 which has in mind the Old Testament, not a New Testament of scripture. The point being that Paul certainly believed that the Old Testament scripture was authoratative and instructive for Christian living, yet he held this belief while also believing that certain Christians had the gift of prophesy and therefore would receive revelation(s)(1 Cor. 14.29-33).
So what about prophesy and revelation? It is clear from 1 Cor 14.29-33 that Paul believed non-apostolic Christians received from the Spirit the gift of prophesy, a revelation given for the building up of the church (Eph 4.11-12). Of course the revelation received could also easily be a revelation from a false spirit, which is why Paul instructed his churches to test/weigh the prophesys (1 Cor 14.29; 1 Thess 5.20-22). There is no where in scripture where it is immplied that the spiritual gift of prophesy would cease to be given until the parousia (that ought to give you a hint as to how I interpret 1 Cor 13.10).
So how does one receive this revelation in order to offer a voice of prophesy to the church? I suppose the Spirit could directly speak to that person (I don’t want to limit God’s ability) but it does not necessarily need to be so. It does require us to be in tune with scripture, in tune with God through prayer, and in tune with God by walking in faithful discipleship. And the best way to explain one possibility for receiving such revelation is through an example. One day after hearing about a friend whose marriage was going south because of his involvement with online pornography, I was in the local bookstore looking at the magazines when I came across the “Men’s Section.” Almost every magazine was full of sexual smutt just daring me to explore. Suddenly I was overwhelmed and convicted to say something at the devotional I was headed to that night as to just how pervasive Satan is when it comes to using the lust of the flesh to destroy Christian men. So that night at the devo, I spoke up for about 2-3 minutes. Now what I said was not something that I read directly from scripture, although I believe it was very biblically based. But as to whether or not is was “biblical” (to use our terminology) was not for me to decide but for the Spirit-filled people of God (the church) to decide as to whether I was speaking truth or speaking falsehood.
What I am suggesting is that the Holy Spirit does reveal to us the will of God in ways that are in addition to scripture. However, because God is a coherent God, the Holy Spirit is never going to be contradictory. Further, it is the role of the Spirit filled church to decide whether or not a person’s revelation is true or false. And to test the Spirit require more than just knowing the words of scritprue. For as the post-apostolic church leaders reminded everyone in their appeal to the ‘rules of faith’, they remind us that even Satan can quote scripture. Being able to test prophesy require not just knowing scripture but knowing the God who is the author of scripture and the story of scripture along with its intended goal. What I am saying is that anyone can proof-text scripture to support whatever. Testing prophesy requires more than just being able to proof-text. Proof-texting was what the Pharisees were good at and that led them to conspire to have the fullest revelation of God himself crucified.
Just some thoughts. If you want some challenging reading read Luke Timothy Johnson, “Scripture and Discernment.” You will not agree with all of his conclusions, as I do not but it is a good conversation about the role of the church in scripture discernment. Also read William J. Abraham, “Cannon and Criterion in Christian Theology.” This is a hefty read and one that I have not finished. However one of my Graduate Professors of Theology, Dr. Mark E. Powell, studied under him for his PhD (Dr. Powell is working on a Book on the same subject as well). Also Frederic Aquino at ACU-GST studied under this man.
Thanks for the conversation,
K. Rex Butts
Ithaca Church of Christ
Ithaca, NY
I know both Powell and Aquino, and I can just about guarantee they do not think the HS’s interaction with humanity is limited to the Bible. I certainly go with them–for what it is worth.
Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the Interpretation theme this quarter. I am definitely going to check that out. Gracias, mi amigo.
I can assure you that Powell does not believe the Holy Spirit only communicates to humans through scripture — and I happen to agree with him.