Will you explain how so many extreme positions can apparently be sustained by quotations from the spirit of prophecy?
By their misuse. One can " prove almost anything with selected statemnents from the spirit of prophecy, just as various popular reIigionists seemingly sustain many strange doctrines by arbitrary groups of expressions from the Bible. It is a fundamental principle of exegesis that we should take all the Bible says on a even theme, understanding obscure texts in the light of clear expressions, and reading every passage in the light of the entire teaching of the Scripture on the specified subject and in relation to the whole tenor of Biblical truth.
In other words, let us in research assemble the inspired expressions, draw our conclusions from the sum of these teachings, not first assuming a position and then bolstering it up with supporting proof. This is unsafe, unfair, unethical. It tends and frequently Ieads to extremism or fanaticism.
The Bible is a book of balanced statements, an unusually strong text on the one hand being balanced by an explantory expression elsewhere. Likewise with the spirit of prophecy. Let us value this priceless gift to the church. Let us read it with diligence and follow its counsel. But let us use it as God designs, and never abuse it.
L. E. F.
