Some Words on This:
As a middle-aged "evangelical" who went through a year of college at Wheaton College (IL) and then the University of Minnesota where I became very involved with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, I look back at some defining spiritual moments.
Creation, Biblical Authority, Theistic Evolution, Calvinism, and spiritual warfare continue to be water-shed issues that I've grappled with now for decades.
The LORD has been good to me, my Heavenly Father patient and longsuffering as I've lived and read and grown spiritually.
Do I know it all now? Sorry if it seems I act that way. I'm not stupid. There is so much to learn! One thing I can say, that as I continue to grapple and define life dependent issues I am most comfortable with God's Word. Whatever reliable translation....German, English...(for me), the Bible is the most satisfactory authority I've ever found.
Philosophies sway us for a season, but the truth of Scripture eclipses even the most alluring ones.
As a lowly freshman at Wheaton I remember three "confrontations" which helped to define my passions now.
Pardon the "navel gazing"----but I think these things may be pivotal for many of us.
Experience No. 1: "Why does it matter so much?"
A friend, Randy, asked me, as we questioned the view about Scripture being all true---inerrant.
I remember saying that I could trust God if He was consistently truthful, not so much if He was recording (through men) myths as the Bible. To me this was foundational.
Experience No. 2
My anthropology professor, Dean Arnold, was a solid evolutionist. Why Wheaton ever gave him a position at the college I wonder, as he seemed to continuously undermine evangelical students and their solid upbringing in the truth of the Bible , particularly the Genesis account. I remember writing a paper on Ramapithicus, an early humanoid creature (according to archeology) and how it didn't fit in with the Biblical inference that by MAN came DEATH. Ramapithicus was (according to archeology) long gone before man made his appearance. I got a "D."
Experience No. 3
Dr. Bilezikian and I had a brief conversation. I remember that I said something about God's sovereignty, and he got a quizzical look on his face. He replied to me something like, "Is He?"
Eighteen-year-old's tend to take these moments of confrontation and turn them into cud for chewing.
Seminaries have consistently chosen the path of "intellectualism" ala Malcom Muggeridge. Look where intellectualism leads: Dusty, lifeless thought.
The Spirit is dead.
The above YouTube conversation is an excellent explanation of why the intellectual approach is so shaky. God is so way above man's intellect.
The Father, Elohim, is almighty. What does that word mean to you?
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