R.C. Sproul: There Is No True Prophecy Today
By Julio
Severo
According to Charisma magazine, Calvinist theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul says he
was “deeply immersed” in charismatic circles in the 1960s and that after
receiving about 50 false prophecies, he said to himself, “You know, I’m going
to live my life by what it says in the Word, because I know the Spirit has
superintended that.”
So, with his bad
experience with prophecy, Dr. Sproul concluded that there is no genuine gift of
prophecy for today.
Have Calvinist
theologians bad luck?
I see Calvinist
churches ordaining gays, supporting abortion and boycotts against Israel,
especially in Europe and America. Should I conclude that Calvinist churches are
not genuine Christian churches?
I have often
heard Bible misrepresentations by Jehovah’s Witnesses and similar groups.
Should I conclude that the Bible leads to heresy?
Twenty years
ago, I received a prophetic word in a prayer meeting in Brasilia. The word said
that my name would be known throughout Brazil. I had never asked for it. Even
after this prophetic experience, I did not begin to pray for it.
But it came to
pass. Years later, I had a book published by the Brazilian branch of Bethany
House Publishers. My book, “O Movimento Homossexual” (The Homosexual Movement).
was written under prophetic inspiration.
Of course, I
have heard misrepresentations of the gift of prophecy, in the same way I have
heard misrepresentations of the Bible. My way to deal with misrepresentations
is to know how to test and examine. After all, the Bible teaches us: “Do not despise prophecies, but a test
everything.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20,21 ESV) It teaches to examine what is
preached in the name of the Bible and what is prophesied in the name of God.
The cessationist
stance has strong disagreements among Calvinists, because there are Calvinists
who believe that God has never ceased His gifts.
Calvinist
theologian Dr. J. Rodman Williams, in his “Renewal Theology: Systematic
Theology from a Charismatic Perspective” (Zondervan), said, “God, the living
God, is the God of revelation. He is ready to grant through His Spirit a spirit
of revelation and wisdom for a deeper knowledge of Christ and also through
revelation and prophecy to speak to His people. God has not changed in His
desire to communicate directly with those who belong to Him.”
His stance open
to the Holy Spirit is a stark contrast with the cessationist stance of Dr.
Sproul. There are Calvinists in both camps.
I find no Bible
support to reject when God wants to direct or speak to us today through prophecy.
I follow a “Sola Scriptura” which means “only the Bible,” but I fear that when
some theologians mention “Sola Scriptura” (only Scripture) what they mean is
“Sola Theologia” (only theology). Nothing else.
After years
living only in Sweden, you begin to speak Swedish. After years living and
believing only in God’s Word, you begin to live its reality, especially the
reality of its Author. This is real “Sola Scriptura.” But after years living
and believing only in theology, you begin to think and speak it. This is “Sola
Theologia,” often misunderstood as “Sola Scriptura.”
Outside the arid
fields of certain theological misinterpretations of God’s action and guidance,
opportunities are vast for people open to Him and His living Word.
Years ago, I met
George Otis. His father had met Ronald Reagan in his ranch in 1970. In the
presence of singer Pat Boone, a charismatic Christian, he delivered a prophetic
word to Reagan: “God will raise you up as president of the United States.” If
Reagan had had bad luck, later he could also tell about his bad experiences
with prophecy.
Yet, false
prophecy never nullifies true prophecy. False Bible teaching never nullifies
true Bible teaching. Bible misrepresentation or false prophecy is no excuse to
annul God’s Word and prophetic guiding.
There is no
president, in Brazil or other nation, that I admire most than Reagan. As a teen
in the 1980s, I defended Reagan while my peers were taught by media to hate
him. Poor Reagan was portrayed as the cause for all problems in the world. Yet,
he was my hero. I had always felt something from God about him, and when I met
Otis, I had a confirmation about my inklings.
In the words of
Paul Kengor, Reagan was a “crusader” against communism. How could not I admire
such brave man when I also fight the Marxist heresy in Brazil?
But I doubt that
I would be able to nurture this admiration among Brazilian Calvinist apologists
today.
In the Brazilian
Protestant churches, the defense of socialist ideology has been spearheaded by
Calvinist apologists. By contrast, the conservative resistance has been
spearheaded by neo-charismatics, who are fearlessly fighting the abortion and
sodomy agenda.
One of the
leading Calvinist leaders in Brazil is Ariovaldo Ramos, who is a former director
of World Vision in Brazil. He has publicly praised the late Venezuelan Marxist
dictator Hugo Chávez, whom he said he met sometimes. Ramos has led efforts to
criticize neo-charismatic leaders, including Pentecostal minister Marco
Feliciano, who has been viciously attacked by the mainstream media in Brazil
for his vocal stances against abortion and sodomy. Ramos is considered by the
Brazilian evangelical Left as a “prophet” of the Theology of Integral Mission,
the Protestant version of the Marxist Liberation Theology.
There are not many
neo-charismatic theologians in Brazil. In fact, I do not know anyone. But there
are many conservatives among them. On the other hand, there are many
theologians in the Calvinist churches in Brazil, but not many conservative
leaders. Should we conclude that Calvinist theology brings bad luck to
churches?
Calvinist
apologists in Brazil have spearheaded the fight to promote liberalism and
socialism and, at the same time, the fight against neo-charismatics.
Cessationism and Theology of Integral Mission are their passion, and the
neo-charismatic growth is their hate. So should we conclude that Calvinism is
false Christianity by their bad example in Brazil?
The largest
Presbyterian denomination in America is ordaining homosexuals and committing
other abominations. Should we conclude that Calvinism leads to apostasy?
You do not need
prophetic guiding to understand that Marxism is a heresy. In Brazil, it is the
most powerful heresy affecting the churches. Orestes Brownson (1803–1876), who
was raised a Calvinist and converted himself to Catholicism, was probably the
first Christian to warn America about the perils of the Marxist heresy.
If church
leaders do not want to hear what God has to say in His own terms and conditions,
they will see their flocks leaving, as Brownson did.
Regardless the
bad experiences of Sproul and other Calvinists, God speaks today. If they gave
more attention to God through His gifts, they would be more able to resist to
the socialist onslaught against the church and society.
If you want to know this fight in Brazil, download my
free English book here: http://bit.ly/1a6brwP
Portuguese
version of this article: R.C. Sproul: Não
há profecia verdadeira hoje
Spanish version of this article: R.
C. Sproul: No existe profecía verdadera hoy
Source: Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com
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