Pat Robertson and the Swarmers
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . .
Westminster Confession, chapter 1, article 6
One of the issues resolved by the Reformers was that of final authority, i.e., Are the Scriptures sufficient for doctrine and life? The Reformers, of course, answered in the affirmative. Louis Berkhof summarized their case as follows:
In Scripture each succeeding book connects up with the proceeding (except in contemporary narratives), and is based on it. The Psalms and the Prophets presuppose the Law and appeal to it, and to it only. The New Testament comes to us as the fulfillment of the Old and refers back to nothing else. Oral traditions current in the time of Jesus are rejected as human inventions, Matt. 5:21–28; 15:4, 9; I Cor. 4:6. Christ is presented to us as the acme of the divine revelation, the highest and the last, Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 17:4, 6; Heb. 1:1. For the knowledge of the way of salvation we are referred to Scripture only, to the word of Christ, and the apostles, John 17:20; I John 1:3 . . .
Both Rome and the Anabaptists rejected the sufficiency of Scripture. Rome put as Scripture’s rival her church councils and traditions, with the ultimate authority residing in the pope. The Anabaptists, however, had a low view of Scripture for other reasons: they sought guidance from an “inner light” and direct revelations from God, resolving that the Spirit worked apart from the Word because the Word was dead.
Swarmers
Renting the Spirit from the Word by claiming direct revelations from God was something the Reformers could not abide. For that reason, Martin Luther derisively referred to them as “swarmers” because they were “swarming everywhere, deranged by the devil, regarding Scripture as a dead letter, extolling nothing but the Spirit and yet keeping neither the Word nor the Spirit.”
Likewise, in speaking of the link between the Spirit and the Word, John Calvin wrote . . .
Two things are connected here, the Word and the Spirit of God, in opposition to the fanatics, who aim at oracles and hidden revelations apart from the Word.
Modern Swarmers
In my years as a Pentecostal I saw the shipped-wrecked lives of those who listened to the modern swarmers. I’ve also experienced (and am still experiencing) the derision of unbelievers as they scoff at Christ and His followers because of those who claim that God is whispering in their ear. Worst of all, these false prophets blaspheme our God by taking His name in vain. It is for this reason that God commanded that they be put to death (Deut. 13, 18:20-22, 13:12-13; Ez. 13:1-9; Zech. 13:3).
Today, of course, we do not put false prophets to death. Instead, the church’s obligation is to withhold the Lord’s Table from them (see Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 82 and the accompanying Scriptures: 1 Cor. 11:17-32; Ps. 50:14-16; Isa. 1:11-17). If the offender still refuses to repent of his errors, he is to be removed from Christ’s church through excommunication (see Q & A 85 and the accompanying Scriptures: Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:3-5, 11-13; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; Luke 15:20-24; 2 Cor. 2:6-11).
Pat Robertson: The God Whisperer
Pat Robertson, president of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), is such an offender. Time-after-time he claims to be speaking on behalf of God (apart from the Word), despite his confession that “sometimes I miss.” This includes a new “prophecy” uttered on January 3 regarding a major terrorist attack in 2007.
Since it’s evident that the leaders of whatever church he attends refuse to do their Biblical duty, Frank Turk of And His Ministers a Flame of Fire and Pyromaniacs has an idea about what we can do: an online petition. In this petition, which will be sent to Pat Robertson, CBN, and the 700 Club, the signatories graciously ask that Mr. Robertson stop claiming to be a prophet, and to apologies for his false predictions. Please take a moment to sign the petition, and thus take a stand for the holy name of our gracious God.
Labels: Doctrine of Scripture, Reformation
posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 1:50 PM
6 Comments:
Signed. I think it's time for ol' brother Pat to retire, and shut up.
Tom
Doctrine Matters
Thanks, Tom. I think this is a worthy cause. It's time we speak up.
Pat...ugh!!!
anyway...As far as the anabaptists are concerned. In my reading of these people, and I know some of them were way off base, but was there not some who continued to try and reform the church through Scripture alone? that has been my findings...there major proponent being they wanted the church to be completely atonomous apart from the church which Calvin and Luther despised.
Not to prideful to be corrected though...
Do we really think that Mr. Robertson will take the criticism?
I hope so, John!
Greetings, Seth. Calvin and Luther were writing about the Anabaptists. Although they were a diverse lot (so I’m sure there were some who did not hold the view in question), the Reformers were very concerned about all of that “inner light” business.
They had some other strange doctrines too (you probably already know this). They required those who were baptized by Rome to be rebaptized (hence their name—this reminds me of Luther: he said that he didn’t care if you were baptized by Satan himself, as long as it was in the name of the Triune God.). They were strict pacifists and they practiced communism; they also produced the Mennonites, Amish, and, I believe, the Seventh Day Adventists.
This is all from memory. (My books are all in storage pending the sale of my house.) I do have one reference for you though: If you have Berkhof’s Systematic Theology handy, take a look at the Sufficiency of Scripture section (pg. 167 in mine) where he discusses their view of the Word in brief.
''Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up.''
—Pat Robertson, on nuking the State Department
Great article - every decent band of anarchists has a 'wild card.' Ole Pat may still be good for something... entertainment, if nothing else.
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