From: Adrian Teo (ateo@whitworth.edu)
Date: Sun Dec 22 2002 - 00:37:50 EST
Hello Jim,
You wrote:
I hope you'll forebear my intrusion into this discussion again, but
your recent comment caught my attention:
AT: OF course. This is a public forum. I welcome all contributions.
Jim: Boy, does that sound right, that following the majority
is a sound way
to find the leading of the Holy Spirit? I'm thinking a case might be
made that the movement of the Holy Spirit is exactly what
draws us apart
from majority thought, striving against the tendency toward
revelation-resisting stasis of tradition on the one hand, and acting to
counter the ebb and flow of faddish and poorly-grounded popular trends
on the other.
AT: I believe it was St Augustine who wrote that right
doctrine is what is believed always and everywhere. This is logically
the case if the universal church has been promised to be protected
from error. If the majority of Christians through history and around
the world are wrong, then the promise of Christ is unfulfilled. Note
that this is quite distinct from following the opinion of the
majority in a culture. It only applies to the subset of believers.
If it was the case that the minority belief is the correct
one, then how is one ever to know which minority group to follow? Rev
Moon? Rev Luther? Sister White? Rev Young? [Disclaimer: This list of
names is not intended to imply that these leaders are all equally
legitimate, but simply to put my point across. I have much greater
respect for Luther than Moon.] Sure, some say I can compare their
teachings with Scripture, but can I even trust my own interpretation
of Scripture, untrained as I am, and fallen as I am? And if there is
no sure way of discerning truth, then no one can be held accountable
for teaching something they sincerely believe to be true (dare I say,
even teaching YEC as truth).
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