Welcome everyone to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth! We’ve lately been looking at Christian sound bites, a series we’re almost done with and while I had another target in mind for a next mini-series, I have elsewhere where I plan to go, but it should prove to be entertaining.
With my viewpoints on God not speaking today being normative, one common argument I often hear is “You can’t put God in a box!” Someone who says this believes that when I make my claim, I am saying that God cannot speak to someone today and therefore, I throw out any attempt to show that He has done so a priori.
Such an objection however shows a lack of thinking again. Why would someone like myself hold to the position that God speaking today would not be normative. Is it because I believe God was capable in the Old Testament and the New Testament of speaking to people but somehow over time He has lost this ability? Surely not! If He has done so before, He can do so again.
It’s not something in God’s nature that is an inability on His part but by looking at the way God acted in the Old Testament and the New Testament. When did He speak? Why? What was the purpose of the revelation? I take the same approach to miracles. They can happen today, but I do not think we should expect them to be normative. In fact, I think we can expect God more often to work through non-miraculous ways.
The given objection rules out debate. It centers on God’s abilities vs. God’s methods. Now there are some things I do not believe God can do and some would say this is putting him in a box. For instance, I do not believe that God can make a contradiction true. He cannot violate the laws of logic. If someone disagrees with this, the best approach is to discuss the objection rather than say “You can’t put God in a box.”
Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason has also pointed out that saying this in reply to being concerned if some “new movement” is of God would ultimately be a way to justify anything no matter how crazy. “Who are you to say that God cannot act in this way? If God wants his children on all fours barking like dogs, who’s to say he’s not going to do that?”
Well if God can take King Nebuchadnezzar and give him the mind of a beast, I have no problem saying that this can be done. The question to ask is not can it be done, but rather, is God doing this? What some Christians need to realize is that to say “God can do X” is not the same as saying “God is doing X.” If you are claiming that God is doing something, you need to have a reason why. If I think He is not, I will give a reason why I think He is not.
And you know what? It could be that we’ll end up having what the sound bite is meant to avoid, a real discussion on the nature of God, and surely some fruit will come of that.
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