All and None

A smart man I once knew told me, “All generalities are false,” and then laughed. The statement is funny, of course, because it too is a generality. We make a mistake in logic when we use generalities to prove an argument. The statement itself assumes that the speaker is an expert of omniscient proportions, or else he thinks you are an idiot. It can also mean the speaker is the idiot and has no clue what he is talking about.

That is what I love about the current debate over private prayer language. The articles I have read so far are laughable if not heretical. I mean laughable in the way a crazy man laughs when he realizes the rest of the world is never going to get what is going on in his mind, and he is suddenly ok with that.

The cessationists look at all tongues alike. To them, all tongue-speakers are Pentecostal/Charismatics and embrace Pentecostal/Charismatic theology, as if they all agreed and had a common theology. (Start with GeoffBaggett.wordpress.com - Geoff does a good job explaining this point of view, his blog is worth reading even if you don't agree with him) Wow. And… all Baptists are alike and embrace Baptist Theology. Sure we are.

I remember hearing Herschel Hobbs say, “You can always tell a Baptist, you just can't tell him much.” Look at any index of denominations and you will find quite a variety, including a variety of Baptists. We seem to be winning the world for Christ with the old military strategy of Divide and Conquer, only we are doing all the dividing. Instead of the Body of Christ we have become the Amoeba of Christ. I do not think that is what Jesus meant for us to become.

I also enjoy reading some continualist bloggers who suggest that cessationists just need to keep an open mind, as if this debate is winnable. Who are you kidding? It is about as winnable as the debate between Sunnis and Shiites, which has been going on since the 600s with no end in sight. Let’s get real here for a moment. Sometimes people get so committed to a side in an issue there is no reasoning. It is part of our nature. It is why we have different political parties, and different denominations. It’s ok. Jesus will one day sort it all out. There are some things we cannot fix ourselves. Of course, that does not mean we should not try. I commend the attempts. I just have my doubts.

The problem with the PPL debate is that we are not speaking the same language, (pun intended). Both sides have defined their terminology in a way that proves their point. There is no common ground for discussion. The cessationists cannot comprehend that the Theology of Baptists who use PPL is radically different, in most cases, from that of Classical Pentecostalism, (which is also different from Charismatic Theology, etc.). WE have allowed this to happen. But the point is, we cannot discuss intelligently a topic that we are approaching from radically different sets of assumptions.

We are not all alike. Calm down. It’s ok. Jesus sees us. Seize us Jesus.
Dr. Robin