His Article:
God’s will: the central issue for Biblical Christians
His First Argument:
1. 2 Tim 3:15-17 teaches that scripture is adequate to tell us all that we are morally accountable for
2. If there was revelation besides scripture, then scripture wouldn’t tell us all that we are morally accountable for.
3. Therefore, there can’t be revelation outside of scripture
My Rebuttal:
This argument closely mirrors the very first one that I addressed, although it is stated more precisely here. Dan does raise a good point, however, once again I bring to his attention that the manner in which we interpret signs and wonders and revelatory gifts are clearly defined in the Bible. Therefore, even if we receive revelation besides scripture, the Bible can still tell us how to test the sign and therefore the Bible still teaches us all that we are morally accountable for. The argument fails. See, once again I’ve expanded the power and reach of the Bible, whereas those who claim to defend its supremacy actually end up limiting it by saying it can’t or doesn’t give us guidance concerning extra-Biblical revelation, which it does.
For the best examples in scripture, I think we can use (1) Paul’s vision of the Macedonian man (Acts 16:9-10) and (2) Peter’s revelation that Gentiles are to be included in the new covenant (Acts 10:9-48 and one of my favorite stories about the power and usefulness of extra-Scriptural revelation). Given that God gave these extra-Canonical revelations to these men, the question is then: did he hold them accountable for them? (i.e., if Paul had not gone to Macedonia, would God have been angry?) This is a good question that I would be interested in discussing, but clearly it demonstrates that there can be extra-Canonical revelation that God expects us to follow. Why? Again, I think you will find that the answer is that we should know what to do about our visions, dreams, experiences, etc. because the scripture makes it clear what to do with them. Thus, there is revelation besides scripture, yet scripture still tells us what we are morally accountable for.
His Second Sub-Argument?:
1. Continuationists say there are 3 wills in God
2. The bible says there are only 2
3. Therefore, there is no 3rd, “jus’ sayin” will
My Rebuttal:
This is one of those times when Dan just wants to make continuationists look silly and I don’t think he really means this (or does he?). But for the sake of responding, less you think this is what continuationists actually believe, hear me out.
I, too, believe that there are 2 wills in God: sovereign will and moral will, efficient will and permissive will, secret will and revealed will, will of decree and will of command, decretive will and preceptive will, voluntas signi (will of sign) and voluntas beneplaciti (will of good pleasure). You know the deal. For my sake, I will use the terms “secret will” and “revealed will”. I think you can clearly see by my selection of these terms what I am getting at. God does have a secret will, which no one knows (until it happens). Yet clearly, if he gave some sort of revelation to someone that informed his or her behavior, then it would be categorized under the revealed will. See how that works? Revelation = revealed. Neat, huh?
Consequently, I do not say that there are 3 wills in God, what is “jus’ sayin” will? There are 2, but God’s revealed will is revealed both in the Bible and by whatever other means of revelation God should choose to use. (I recall an article Dan wrote just last week wherein he demonstrated a time when God spoke through ants.)
Now, you may accuse me of being contradictory: “but you said that the Canon is unique revelation from God in that it rules over every other type of revelation – so then you must say that there are three types.” However, just because extra-Biblical revelation is in the same category as Canon, does not mean that there is no hierarchy. Or, to put it more precisely, when one receives revelation that is not a verse in the Bible, the question is automatically, “is this from God, does it accord with the Bible?” If it most obviously does then it would be wise to accept it and obey it just as you would the Bible. If there is any question as to whether it is actually God’s revealed will then it would be wise to say “no” until it is absolutely clear that it is, and if it is clearly not then reject it outright.
But you can see that there must be this period of testing (Acts 17:11, 1 Cor 14:29,32,37) and once the testing has confirmed that it is the will of God, then you may accept it as the revealed will of God, just as Canon is. So – there is no third will, just as the Bible teaches.
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