Faith and Fiction
The sermon highlights the difference between faith and credulity, emphasizing that faith honors God by believing His promises, while credulity is a child of superstition and lack of insight.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the distinction between faith and credulity, illustrating that while they may appear similar, their effects are fundamentally different. True faith is characterized by a deep trust in God's promises, even in the face of doubt, while credulity reflects a lack of discernment and a tendency to accept unverified claims without question. Tozer warns that an uncritical acceptance of fantastical stories can lead to the spread of false teachings within the church, highlighting the importance of spiritual insight and mental clarity in matters of faith.
Text
Credulity and faith are like toadstools and mushrooms respectively, near enough in appearance to be mistaken for each other, but so wholly unlike that their effects are exactly opposite.
The true man of faith is seldom credulous, and the credulous man seldom has real faith. Faith belongs to the simple-hearted, credulity to the simple-minded. They are worlds apart. The one honors God by believing His promises against all evidence; the other is a child of superstition and honors nobody. Rather, he reveals untidy mental habits and lack of spiritual insight.
It is astonishing what some people will believe when they get going. They properly hold it a sin to doubt the Bible, so they refuse to doubt anything that is served up along with the Bible, however ridiculous and unscriptural it may be. If the story has a flavor of wonder about it, these uncritical friends will accept it without question and repeat it in an awed voice with much solemn shaking of the bowed head. Multiply such people in any given church, and you have a perfect soil for the growth of every kind of false teaching and fanatical excess.
Sermon Outline
- The Difference Between Faith and Credulity
- The Effects of Credulity
- The Dangers of Blind Acceptance
- Credulity leads to false teaching and fanatical excess
- Credulous people lack spiritual discernment
- Refusing to doubt anything, no matter how unscriptural
- Accepting false teachings without question
Key Quotes
“Credulity and faith are like toadstools and mushrooms respectively, near enough in appearance to be mistaken for each other, but so wholly unlike that their effects are exactly opposite.” — A.W. Tozer
“Faith belongs to the simple-hearted, credulity to the simple-minded.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- Be discerning and not credulous, especially when it comes to spiritual matters.
- Don't blindly accept teachings or stories without questioning their validity.
- Cultivate spiritual insight and discernment to avoid false teachings and fanatical excess.