.

[Rick Otto]

Many who say the bible is their rule of faith have simply found of way to argue their views are consistent with the bible.

Our understanding of God should be based on our experience of God.

My first experience of God was along the opening lines of psalm 19.

 

[sunlover1]

And the plot thickens.
i'm liking what I see so far, brother @stage five .
And you do have a good point.
That's what the Disciples had.. Hmmm...

 

[Rick Otto]

OK. How can you prove that to me? What's the basis for your assertion?

We have experienced the declaration of God's glory according to psalm 19.

[1] The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
[2] Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
[3] There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
[4] Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

 

[stage five]

OK. How can you prove that to me? What's the basis for your assertion?

Tell me that you love your wife. Can you prove it to me?

Our experience of God derives from the shared experience of Christians, who help us deepen this relationship.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

Tell me that you love your wife. Can you prove it to me?

Our experience of God derives from the shared experience of Christians, who help us deepen this relationship.

The love for my wife can be explained with words, and it's rational.

Loving God was not the subject of the OP, or my follow up question to you.

 

[Noxot]

Should our understanding of God (theology) be based on our own reasoning or feelings, or on the texts of holy scripture?

in Christianity you can't have one without the other.

 

[sunlover1]

Should our understanding of God (theology) be based on our own reasoning or feelings, or on the texts of holy scripture?

Given a written exam, most Protestant Christians would agree with the statement, “the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice”; however, spend more than an hour on CF, and you will discover that, in practice, many trust their feelings, intuition, experiences, and even their goosebumps over the what the written written Word of God has declared.

I asked someone for a biblical backing for a statement he/she made. This was the reply: "you don't need to reference a book to understand reality." It's a perfect example of what I see on CF, and it explains the question I'm asking.

What's your theology based on?

Jesus Christ, as He alone is perfect theology.

 

[sunlover1]

in Christianity you can't have one without the other.

I started to say that my theology was based on faith alone, but i remembered
how God has made Himself known to me even as a little girl, through visions and
dreams and nature etc.

 

[BobRyan]

Should our understanding of God (theology) be based on our own reasoning or feelings, or on the texts of holy scripture?

Given a written exam, most Protestant Christians would agree with the statement, “the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice”; however, spend more than an hour on CF, and you will discover that, in practice, many trust their feelings, intuition, experiences, and even their goosebumps over the what the written written Word of God has declared.

I asked someone for a biblical backing for a statement he/she made. This was the reply: "you don't need to reference a book to understand reality." It's a perfect example of what I see on CF, and it explains the question I'm asking.

What's your theology based on?

"sola scriptura"

"they studied the scriptures daily to SEE IF those things were so" Acts 17:11

"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the WORD of God" Rom 10.

 

[BobRyan]

I wonder if the people described here felt God's presence and were reassured by it.

"On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’"

John 16 - the Spirit of Truth - convicts the WORLD of sin and righteousness and judgment. AND He leads into all truth.,

Thus the Word of God - Heb 4 is "living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword" for those that 'choose' not to be dead to it.

 

[BobRyan]

OK. How can you prove that to me? What's the basis for your assertion?

"oh TASTE and SEE that the LORD is good" Ps 34:8

 

[Kersh]

The basis for "my theology" is threefold:

1. The Bible as understood through careful study and exegesis.
2. Direct revelation from God during times of meditation and prayer.
3. Interactions with other believers.

In the case of any one of these, the others act as somewhat of a check. So, if my interpretation of Scripture contradicts what God has personally told me or with the understanding of other believers whom I trust, then I would reevaluate my interpretation of Scripture. If I feel that God has revealed something to me, but it doesn't line up with Scripture or what He has told other believers whom I trust, then I probably misunderstood the source. If other believers say something that contradicts Scripture or what God has shown me, then I would question it.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

2. Direct revelation from God during times of meditation and prayer.

Could you explain this in detail? I'm not sure what you mean.

 

[Kersh]

Could you explain this in detail? I'm not sure what you mean.

When I am in prayer and meditation, God will often speak to me about various things that I am praying or meditating on.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Should our understanding of God (theology) be based on our own reasoning or feelings, or on the texts of holy scripture?

Given a written exam, most Protestant Christians would agree with the statement, “the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice”; however, spend more than an hour on CF, and you will discover that, in practice, many trust their feelings, intuition, experiences, and even their goosebumps over the what the written written Word of God has declared.

I asked someone for a biblical backing for a statement he/she made. This was the reply: "you don't need to reference a book to understand reality." It's a perfect example of what I see on CF, and it explains the question I'm asking.

What's your theology based on?

Sticking my neck out to have it chopped off, I'll say my personal theology has evolved in tension with many things. I inherited Catholicism, in my case a mixture of Baltimore Catechism and early 1970's mush and familial piety that needed to be worked out into something more coherent. Enter some evangelical friends and pope John Paul II, pulling and pushing and prodding my thinking, not always in the same direction. I began serious Bible reading and serious reading of the Church Fathers. I never was of the sort to say “the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice”. I pretty much know that there is no such thing as 'Bible only' in any pure sense. Anyone who claims that can't see that they have other influences on their own thinking that they have blinded themselves about. Anyhow, I never pretended. Nor did I pretend that I was so rational that I could figure it out. Nor did I dare trust my own experiences or feelings even though I have had them.

I ended up with the old Catholic three legged stool of Bible and Tradition and Teaching Authority. When they agree, I am trusting I'm on the same page with the apostles, with Jesus, with God. When they seem to disagree I dig deeper. Having worn out a few Bibles, I dig deeper into the text. But I never let my own theories of what the text might mean have ultimate sway. What the text has meant over the long haul has great weight. My reading of the text provides, or had better provide, the same Jesus as has been believed from the beginning. It is worth wrestling with, to find how the elders in the faith already wrestled with far deeper concerns than my petty reading. I find myself becoming more and more Biblical as time goes on, led by the Fathers into more understanding than I would have found on my own. It's not exactly where I would have predicted in the mid 1970's. In some ways it looks like very conventional somewhat traditional Catholicism. In some ways it's just prayer.

Theology is best done on one's knees. It is not a solo undertaking either. I have appreciated the skepticism that my evangelical friends have provided me, prodding me to test everything, but to retain what is good. Experiences come and go. Being an intentional disciple with mentors like John Paul II, holy priests and lay people, and the Fathers, a literal cast of thousands living and dead, has led me to much good, Bible always in hand. It's not my own reasoning, or feelings, or my own view of the Bible. Those are fickle things.

 

[Extraneous]

I like the scriptures and the feelings both. They go well together. Sorrow goes before Joy. Pride before the fall. The Lords Chastening before peace. Trial and tribulation before the kingdom. Its all Good, in the end. All things work good.

 

[Extraneous]

Aww, c'mon. That's a reach.
Of course they had warm fuzzies. You say that like you don't have warm fuzzies about what I call Churchianity.
So go ahead... try and guilt trip me some more about my my warm fuzzies, because it entertains me to watch hypocrisy display itself.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

When I am in prayer and meditation, God will often speak to me about various things that I am praying or meditating on.

Can you give an example of something God said to you? You are saying that God spoke, correct? You are not saying that you had a feeling or thought, right?

 

[jimmyjimmy]

Sticking my neck out to have it chopped off,

I haven't chopped off a Catholic's head in 3 or 4 years.

I ended up with the old Catholic three legged stool of Bible and Tradition and Teaching Authority.

In my early days of my Protestantism, and having coming from Catholicism, I was very opposed to both tradition and teaching authority, as many Protestants are; however, over the last 10 years I have come to see the arrogance of my position and repented (I'm a slow learner). Now I submit to the authority of my church. I look to confessions e.g. The Westminster Confession of Faith, and I read what dead guys have written about a subject before I go spouting off my "wisdom" on a matter of doctrine (I still go off half-cocked at times)

Church history is ignored by many/most Protestants, and it means we repeat the same mistakes, and have the same arguments, endlessly.

I never let my own theories of what the text might mean have ultimate sway. What the text has meant over the long haul has great weight.

Yes.

Experiences come and go.

Yes.

It's not my own reasoning, or feelings, or my own view of the Bible. Those are fickle things.

". . . do not lean on your own understanding.", which does not mean that we unplug our brains. Quite the opposite, it means that we use our brains to understand that His ways are not ours, and that other people may be a bit wiser, more Godly and more intelligent than ourselves.

 

[Kersh]

Can you give an example of something God said to you? You are saying that God spoke, correct? You are not saying that you had a feeling or thought, right?

In my experience, God's voice os rather quiet. So much so, that I only udually hear it when I dedicate time to quietly
listen. The first times that I remember hearing it, I think I did confuse it for a thought or a feeling. He had spoken to me about certain "believers" who were sewing dischord in the local church. Over time, I began to realize that I had been shown things that I couldn't possibly have figured out on my own. He has spoken to me about sins in my own life, cautioned me about others, and reassured me about things going on around me (such as the current state of affairs in America).

I sense that you are skeptical about the idea that God speaks to his sheep. If that's the case, I'd ask why you would believe the Bible (which is essentially a collection of writings of people who heard God's voice and wrote it down, but not that God still speaks to his sheep today.