Mark Driscoll Mocks a Biblicist Stance

Mark Driscoll, the very cool megachurch pastor in the very cool city of Seattle, belittles a Biblicist stance in his recent blog entitled "Father, Son, and Holy Bible?" He claims that in "a cessationist tribe, the functional Trinity is sometimes the Father, Son, and Holy Bible: the Holy Spirit wrote the Scriptures through human authors, and then it's like he's been on vacation ever since." I don't know who, exactly, he is referring to, and I doubt that he could give any real life examples of this. In my experience, which began when I was converted in 1973, I haven't known of any cessationists who believe this or act like this. It is a convenient straw man. I am a cessationist, believing that the apostolic sign gifts ceased with the apostles, but I don't believe the Lord has been on a vacation. To disbelieve in apostolic sign gifts is not to disbelieve in miracles. In our church planting work, we see souls saved from darkest paganism, people delivered from demons, healings, marriages healed, and many other miracles. But no apostolic sign gifts. I don't believe that a man would mock a Biblicist stance unless he had cut himself loose from Scripture as sole authority, which is exactly what you have to do to accept the continuation of the sign gifts. A Biblicist doesn't worship the Bible, but he knows that we have no other sure Word from God. He knows that there are false christs and false spirits and demons masquerading as angels of light and we must carefully test everything by Scripture so as not to be deceived, particularly in these last days. The Biblicist stance is not to have the "Father, Son, and Holy Bible"; it is to have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as defined by the Holy Bible. The true Spirit does not operate contrary to the Holy Bible. Any man who mocks that, even if he is half-kidding, is a dangerous man. By the way, Mark, what happened to your New Year's Eve rock & roll champagne parties? I haven't seen those advertised since we reported on them some years ago. Was that too "culturally liberal"* even for some of your friends? (* Mark Driscoll calls himself "theologically conservative and culturally liberal.)

(Friday Church News Notes, October 25, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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