Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Geisler and MacKenzie on "Divine Assurance" of the Bible by the Holy Spirit

Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie, in their 1995 book, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, wrote the following on p. 179 n. 6:

Reformed theologians also believe that the Spirit of God brings divine assurance that the Bible is the Word of God. This is known as the witness of the Spirit. Only the God of the word can bring full assurance that the Bible is the Word of God.. Further, Reformed theologians acknowledge that aid of the Holy Spirit in understanding and applying the Scriptures to our lives. But he does not do this contrary to the Bible or contrary to good rules of biblical interpretation.


And yet, it is wrong for people to believe that one should pray if this very same Spirit of God can bring about divine assurance of the Book of Mormon . . . Ultimately, when all the other arguments are discussed, the Evangelical Protestant/anti-Mormon arguments against Moroni 10:3-5 boils down to the issue of Sola Scriptura, not praying about the Book of Mormon per se (funnily enough, the above quote comes from the authors’ defence of sola scriptura).

As an aside, James Stutz has a good post on a similar issue, "William Lane Craig on Spirit Experiences."