Spirit Taught
The sermon highlights the conflict between objective and subjective Christianity, emphasizing the importance of spiritual experience and the Holy Spirit in understanding faith.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the critical conflict in contemporary Christianity between objective intellectualism and the necessity of spiritual revelation through the Holy Spirit. He warns that an over-reliance on human intellect could lead to a lifeless orthodoxy, stripping the faith of its vital spiritual essence. Tozer argues that while understanding the faith is important, there are profound spiritual truths that transcend mere reason and require divine insight to grasp fully. He challenges the notion that all essential Christian truths can be comprehended solely through intellect, suggesting that such a belief may lead to rationalism and a diminished faith. The sermon calls for a balance between intellectual understanding and spiritual revelation to preserve the vitality of the Christian faith.
Text
Always the decisive conflict in religion will be where important concepts are joined in opposition, concepts so vital that they are capable of saving or wrecking the Christian faith in any given generation. At this critical juncture in church history, the real conflict is between those who hold to an objective Christianity capable of being grasped in its entirety by the human intellect and those who believe that there are far-in areas of religious experience so highly spiritual, so removed from and exalted above mere reason, that it takes a special anointing of the Holy Spirit to make them understood by the human heart. The difference is not academic merely.
Should the advocates of religious intellectualism succeed in setting the direction for the church in this generation, the next generation of Christians will become helpless victims of dead orthodoxy.
In conversation with one of the better-known devotees of neo-intellectualism in evangelical circles, I asked the question bluntly, "Do you actually believe that everything essential in the Christian faith may be grasped by the human intellect?" The answer was immediate--"If I did not, I would be on my way toward agnosticism." I did not say, but might properly have said, "And if you do, you are on your way toward rationalism." For such indeed is the truth.
Sermon Outline
- The Decisive Conflict in Religion
- The Consequences of Intellectualism
- The Importance of the Holy Spirit
- Dead Orthodoxy
- Helpless Victims of Tradition
- Spiritual Experience Beyond Reason
- The Need for Spiritual Anointing
Key Quotes
“Always the decisive conflict in religion will be where important concepts are joined in opposition.” — A.W. Tozer
“Should the advocates of religious intellectualism succeed in setting the direction for the church in this generation, the next generation of Christians will become helpless victims of dead orthodoxy.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- Recognize the importance of spiritual experience in understanding faith, beyond mere intellectual exercise.
- Be cautious of intellectualism that neglects the role of the Holy Spirit in faith.
- Seek a balanced approach to faith, combining reason with spiritual experience.