By Reverend Mark
Hunnemann
My passion is to see all of reality through God's eyes,
but my calling is to focus on the paranormal--to analyze it through the
spectacles of a biblical worldview. I want to educate and equip folks to be
able to discern supernatural evil. In our series on the attributes of Scripture
we have come to its comprehensiveness. In all my discussions with people
who believe in trapped spirits, there is one commonality: they all explicitly
or implicitly deny the comprehensive authority of Scripture. Hence, it is of
paramount importance! Which may explain why, after a period of silence, there
was a loud triple bang on my bedroom window as I wrote on this topic.
I define Scriptures comprehensiveness as the relevance
of ALL Scripture to ALL of life. There are two aspects of it. The first
part is that ALL Scripture is our standard., not just part of it. When tempted
by Satan, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
...EVERY WORD...(Matt.4:4) Paul says, "All Scripture is breathed out by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good
work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17) This is true of ALL of Scripture.
EVERY...ALL...words which clearly imply comprehensiveness. This concept is
sometimes called tota scriptura (by all of Scripture). The Word of the
Lord should be our chief delight...all of it (Psalm 1:2)
In addition, the text in 2 Tim. points out that all of
the Bible is ethically useful. God Himself is our ultimate ethical
norm, but Scripture was breathed out by God. to guide us ethically. We need to
remember that what we believe about trapped spirits is a significant ethical
issue. Mere belief in trapped spirits is sinful because it is contrary to God's
word. That may sound harsh in our ethically relativistic age, but our minds are
not autonomous--they are just as subject to God's norms as our behavior is.What
we believe guides our behavior....and both are subject to the comprehensive
Lordship of Christ.
The second aspect of the comprehensiveness of Scripture
is that the Bible refers to all aspects of human life. "So, whether
you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.." (1
Cor. 10:31) "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
(Col. 3:17) This second aspect of comprehensiveness is related to the first. As
John Frame says, "If only some passages or themes of Scripture were
ethically useful, then Scripture would apply only to those parts of human life
treated in those passages or themes. Conversely, if Scripture only addressed
some aspects of human life, we would have to dismiss as irrelevant what it
appears to say about other matters. But in Scripture's view of its own mission,
the whole Word applies to the whole world." (The Doctrine of the
Christian Life, pg 152)
This discussion boils down to God;s Lordship--and it is
comprehensive! He demands that every aspect of life (read
"paranormal") be under His authority. Lest this be seen merely an issue of power and authority, it is also
stated in terms of love. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut. 6:4-, cf. Mark
12:30) Obedience and love are friends in the bible, not enemies or rivals.
Christians sometimes say that the Bible is silent on this
or that matter:dieting, tax increases, nuclear power, cloning, auto repair, and
so on. But (and this is key) though there is much the Bible does not
mention explicitly, it speaks of EVERYTHING implicitly. It provides principles
for ethical decision making.
Certainly the comprehensiveness of Scripture rules out
attempts to limit the authority of the bible to
"religious"matters--things necessary for salvation.Sadly, some of
today's most influential evangelical theologians and pastors state that, when
the bible speaks of matters touching on history and science, then it is not
inerrant. However, our salvation was accomplished in space and time, and the
drama of redemption is inextricably bound together with history. If we cannot
trust the bible regarding history (or in any category deemed not necessary for salvation),
then how can we trust it spiritual matters? What this does is allow theologians
to think autonomously in matters other than salvation--narrowly defined
(something hubris is inclined to do).
A thousand times NO!! If we are told things in
Scripture (and we are) that are contradictory to the demonic theory of
macro-evolution, then we must stand with the Lord against this theory.Many
believe this theory because there is no alternative...except to intellectually
bow the knee to the Lord. The Lord is right even if every man is wrong (Rom.
3:4)
To say that Scripture is comprehensive means that the
whole Bible applies to the whole world. In my research before and after I
wrote Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes, I have seen that there are many
explicit things in Scripture which apply directly to this debate and even more
basic principles which apply implicitly. My challenge to you is this: how does
the comprehensive authority of the bible affect your paranormal beliefs and
methodology? Are you a sincere Christian but have fallen prey to the
dangerously mistaken notion that the paranormal can be understood via the
scientific method? What is your ultimate presupposition or authority which
informs your interpretation of paranormal data? Is Scripture comprehensive in
forming your ethical obligations regarding the spirit realm? How do you even
know what the paranormal realm is? Scripture can answer that, but science
cannot. Are there compartments in your life which have not been brought under
the comprehensive Lordship of the God of the Bible, and the Bible of God?
