Does experience shape our doctrine

[nebula]

If you follow the "Name it and Claim it" - "Word of Faith" - "Positive Thinking" or any other false teachings, you will always be disappointed because it is not His word you are following , by mans doctrine.

Well, this can be another example of that which I refer.

WOF base their doctrine on Scripture.

Arguing against them, people often point out experience - "name it and claim it, blab it and grab it" doesn't work, doesn't happen.

[Mark2005]

I am not exactly sure what churches or groups are classified as Word of Faith. I have never seen that formally listed as a denomination, nor do I have any idea of all they believe. Like with any group, the more sensationalistic points tend to get exaggerated. So I don't know if they are good or not.

When someone says your prayers will all answered and you are guaranteed to be healthy, wealthy, etc., that does not match my experience, so I doubt I would believe that.

[OneLight]

I am not exactly sure what churches or groups are classified as Word of Faith. I have never seen that formally listed as a denomination, nor do I have any idea of all they believe. Like with any group, the more sensationalistic points tend to get exaggerated. So I don't know if they are good or not.

When someone says your prayers will all answered and you are guaranteed to be healthy, wealthy, etc., that does not match my experience, so I doubt I would believe that.

That is good, because your words gave me concern.

But we may experience just the opposite: God doesn't seem to love us, we pray and yet are not healed, we pray and nothing happens or we have legit needs that are not met.

This site will give you an idea of who teaches the Word of Faith doctrine. http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/word-faith.html

[Rare Bird]

David knew he was anointed king but it was the wilderness that made him one.

Paul knew he was an apostle to the Gentiles but the wilderness, being stoned, escaping a city and sitting with Barnabas for, I've heard from three to fourteen years?, in Antioch until the Lord called Barnabas and Paul to the mission field.

Moses spent forty years being a shepard in the same wilderness he would lead the Jews for another forty.

Paul prayed that our love would abound more and more with real knowledge and all discernment. Experiantual knowledge.

We don't learn our doctrine from experience, we learn through experience what doctrine is about.

“The Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.” C.H. Spurgeon

[enoob57]

It's not that they are irrelevant, but that they should not be used to form doctrine. Experiences are always relevant and have something to teach us. Learning from our mistakes is one way that experiences are valuable tools for learning.

But what if your doctrine is wrong and experience teaches this to you?

That is why it should not be relied upon for doctrine. We test everything by the Scriptures. Doctrine is defined as those teachings of Scripture that provide a foundation for practical Christian living. Experiences don't teach doctrine. We use doctrine to test our experiences to know how this experience relates to God's self-disclosure. God uses our experiences. I am not saying that they have no value.

Experience is good teacher where the mundane things of this life is concerned, but experience is a poor teacher when it comes to doctrine.

The problem arises when two people have two different experiences. One believer prays and their spouse is healed from cancer. Another believer prays and their spouse dies from cancer. If both people were to allow their experience to govern how their doctrine of God is formulated, it provides nothing but confusion.

Experiences we face are not necessarily divinely ordained. Sometimes, they are the result of our bad choices or the bad choices someone has made. That is why we have to be careful not read an act of God into what we experience. Our decisions have built-in consequences.

When God does do something in our life, we need to learn what God intends for us to learn, but that does make it "doctrine." It doesn't mean it is the same for everyone. Sometimes God intervenes in certain circumstances and sometimes he doesn't. Consider what happens when God answers your prayer in a certain situation and intervenes, but doesn't intervene when you are praying for someone else going through a similar situation.

When experience contradicts scripture, which is wrong? Too many claim that experience trumps scripture.

Yes and simply they become their own foundation as they build upon their lives, yet as to time, their life is like the flower of grass! ( Where as the Word stretches from the beginning unto eternity )... Love, Steven