(Tim) At ETS's recent annual meeting in San Diego, J. P. Moreland gave a paper titled, "How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to the Bible and What Can Be Done About It." And in the wake of Francis Beckwith's recent conversion to Roman Catholicism, Moreland's paper carried quite a punch. Apparently Moreland failed to acknowledge that evangelicals' overemphasis on Scripture's inspiration has not resulted in any overemphasis on Scripture's authority. Yet, I'd like to note this excerpt from his paper and make a comment on a related matter...
Moreland thinks evangelical scholars and the movement as a whole are rejecting “guidance, revelation, and so forth from God through impressions, dreams, visions, prophetic words, words of knowledge and wisdom. We shut that down because of charismatic excesses. Because of abuses, we fear teaching people how to use it. We think it’s all going to be Benny Hinn or something like that."
I wouldnt' put it quite the way Moreland did, but yesterday in Jeff Ewers' Sunday school class, we were studying Job 33 and for the first time I noticed the direct statement there that God commonly speaks to men through the sickbed, nighttime dreams, and visions:
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction... (Job 33:14-16)
It's time for reformed protestants to stop claiming a high view of Scripture demands we deny God uses such means.
Likely I should add that God's use of the sickbed and dreams would neither displace nor contradict the unique and final revelation of the Bible. So yes, Chris is right in asking me to clarify that "these night visions are not authoritative in the sense of what we attribute to Scripture."
