Sunday Sermons
The "Illumination" Theory
“There is a doctrine, quite common in the denominational community, that is making its presence increasingly felt among the people of God. It is the notion that the Christian has the promise of a direct ‘illumination of the Holy Spirit’ in interpreting the text of the Bible. The theory suggests that the Scriptures, as they presently stand, are incapable of being thoroughly understood, and so, in addition to the biblical record it is alleged that there must be a direct working of the Spirit of God upon the heart of the Bible student, thus effecting an ‘illumination’ that brings into sharper focus the meaning of the divine text” (Christian Courier, “The Holy Spirit Illumination Theory: A Critical Review, Wayne Jackson). The illumination view is of course rooted in the Calvinistic concept of total hereditary depravity. This is the idea that man is so hopelessly depraved as a consequence of Adam’s sin, that man cannot understand the Scriptures without supernatural intervention. Calvin probably borrowed the “illumination” idea from Augustine, who not only taught that the Holy Spirit is “the means by which we receive God-written revelation” (Confessions 7.21); he further taught that the Holy Spirit is also necessary for illuminating its truth (Homily VI). Other reformers, such as Luther and Zwingli, taught a similar idea, that is, in order to understand the Scriptures one needs some special power from the Holy Spirit. Henry C. Theissen, a Baptist writer, wrote, “The illumination of the Holy Spirit…is vouchsafed to every believer…. (which will) enable us to understand the revelation God has already made of Himself, especially that revelation of Him in the Scriptures” (Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 45). Roy Zuck, a former Bible professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote a book entitled, Basic Bible Interpretation. He writes, “no one can fully comprehend the meaning of the Bible unless he is regenerate” (p. 22). He further adds, that even the Christian “must also depend upon the Holy Spirit” in order to have a correct view of the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 12:3
“That no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’, except by the Holy Spirit”
John Calvin appealed to the above verse, and argued that this passage is teaching that due to man’s supposed corrupted nature, he cannot even believe what the Bible says about Jesus without the miraculous aid of the Holy Spirit. But Jackson notes, “This Corinthian passage merely asserts that belief in Christ’s lordship is dependent upon the revelatory mission of the Spirit. To suggest that it affirms that each individual must have a direct, personal enlightenment of the Spirit, is to assume more than the text says. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Scriptures; apart from that body of information, no man can declare Christ’s lordship” (Christian Courier). In addition, Paul in this context is talking about inspired men. No man who is truly inspired would ever say anything against Jesus (remember in Corinth all sorts of false religions and false prophets existed). Paul is not teaching that only an inspired person can say, “Jesus is Lord”, because people who will end up lost also professed that Jesus was Lord (Matthew 7:21-23). Even unsaved people can profess that “Jesus is Lord”. “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).
John 16:13
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth”
This verse is also frequently used to prove the idea of a special illumination that is given to each Christian (see Zuck p. 24). The problem is that this text is referring to the apostles. A careful examination of the context will confirm this point (John 14:26 “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you”; 15:26-27 “He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning”. Through the apostles and their inspired coworkers the Holy Spirit did reveal all the truth (Ephesians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 2:11-13; 2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3). Christians today are not miraculously guided into all the truth, rather we already have all the truth in the Scriptures. We simply need to pick up the Scriptures and read them (2 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 3:4).
Matthew 10:19-20/Luke 21:14-15
It is equally a misuse of Scripture to claim that these passages which promise inspiration while on trial, are available to Christians today. The context is the persecution that would come upon the apostles prior to the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:12,20).
1 Corinthians 2:14
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritual appraised”
“Natural”: “Refers to one who obeys the promptings of his bodily nature, unspiritual or carnal” (Lenski p. 115). “He's the man who stands aloof from the wisdom of God and who depends on his foolish wisdom” (McGuiggan p. 46). “Does not accept”:“Rejects, refuses to accept” (Robertson p. 89). “The things of the Spirit of God”: The things that the Spirit revealed through the Apostles (2:11-13), the natural man rejects the gospel message. Many consider this "natural" man to be a non-Christian, and such a person would certainly qualify. Yet the Corinthians were in danger of becoming this "natural" man, “for you are still fleshly” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Paul defines the "natural" man as anyone who rejects the teachings delivered by the Spirit, and some Christians did that in the First Century (14:37; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14). Therefore, the "natural" man is not a man so depraved that he cannot understand the gospel without the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. The phrase does not acceptimplies a choice, a conscious decision. He hears it, he understands what is being said, but he does not like it. The enemies of Jesus ("natural men") understood what He taught (Matthew 21:45; 27:63). Those who rejected Paul's message, understood the concepts he was presenting (Acts 17:32; 22:22; 25:25 (Felix, a "natural" man, understood exactly what Paul was driving at). The Bible does not picture the sinner as “unable” to repent, but rather as “unwilling” to repent (Acts 13:46 “since you repudiate it”; Revelation 2:21 “She does not want to repent”). “For they are foolishness to him”: Again note, the various unconverted Jews and Gentiles that had rejected Paul's preaching, "understood" that Paul was preaching a crucified Messiah. It's simply that they thought such a concept was ridiculous, “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). To this day people consider the message of the New Testament to be foolishness for various reasons. It's important to note that one's attitude towards the gospel, reveals one's true self. Those that reject the gospel message are automatically labeled as "unspiritual". "People are revealed for who they are by their response to the cross" (Fee p. 117). “He cannot understand them”: In order to consider it "foolishness", he must know something about the gospel, if only what it claims. Paul has already stressed that man cannot know God apart from revelation (2:8-9; 1:21). Hence, the man or woman who has rejected the gospel message has just cut himself or herself off from the only true information that we have about God.
Inconsistencies
· “If one has been illuminated regarding a passage, are all others who take a different view in error? If two people, both of whom claim illumination, differ on the interpretation of a passage, how could one know which of these is correct—or if either is?” (Jackson) Why is it that groups that claim illumination are so often in disagreement on doctrine? “Common sense says that something is seriously wrong with this theory” (Jackson).
· Zuck concedes that the Spirit’s role in illumination “does not mean that one’s interpretations are infallible” (p. 24). Yet this is extremely inconsistent with the claim that the Holy Spirit guides the Christian into “all the truth”. If the Holy Spirit truly does illuminate the Christian’s understanding, then how could one’s interpretation be wrong?
· “If the Holy Spirit failed to make the Scriptures comprehensible to man the first time around, by the process of revelation (as Calvinists claim), then what is the guarantee that He could illuminate them the second time around?
· If the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures for the Christian then why do scholars, who ascribe to the above theory, write books about the proper methods of Bible interpretation? “Such efforts would not be of value to the unbeliever, who has “no spiritual capacity for welcoming and appropriating spiritual truths” (Zuck p. 22). And they should not be needed by one who has the illuminating Spirit” (Jackson).
· “What if one proposed the following. Select two spiritual Christian people and put them in separate rooms. Provide them with a difficult biblical text with which each person is equally unfamiliar. Let one of them have access to a good library of reference works, and provide the other with nothing but an empty room and the ‘illumination of the Spirit’. Allow each several hours of concentration. Then have each of them write his explanation of the obscure text. It can be guaranteed that the person with the library will have a better grasp of the passage than the one who has relied solely on the ‘presence’ of the Spirit” (Jackson). If fact, John specially told us, “Beloved, believe not every spirit (that is every person making a religious claim or claiming that God is speaking through them), but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
This theory motivates people to interpret Scriptures based on how they “feel”, rather than accepting what the text says. The most important component in Bible study is a good and honest heart (Luke 8:14), and a love for the truth (Acts 17:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). This theory contradicts the Scriptures, namely the explicit claim that the Scriptures can be understood(Ephesians 3:4; Mark 16:15). Note, in Ephesians 3:4 Paul did not suggest reading plus a special intervention of the Spirit. In addition, when people are told that they have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is guiding them into the truth, then under what circumstance would such a person ever consider that their interpretation might be wrong? Finally, the Bible makes it clear that the Scriptures, as they stand, are perfect for instructing both the unbeliever and the believer in the way of salvation (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 19; 119).
