[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Level playing field?



Tom Blake writes,
>1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (KJV)
>    But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
>withal. [8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to
>another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;  [9] To another faith by
>the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;  [10]
>To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
>discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the
>interpretation of tongues:  [11] But all these worketh that one and the
>selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 
>
>    It seems to me that Paul did not believe the Holy Spirit levels the
>playing field in this manner, (giving us all equal ability to interpret
>other languages.)
>
>    Some of us are given the gift of interpreting other languages, and
>some of us are not.  We all benefit from the gift that some of us have
>recieved.

Tom,

        I do not consider the gift of interpreting other languages as a
spiritual
gift.  To me, interpreting other languages is an entirely natural process.  It
requires much time, effort, and education.  Anyone on earth, Christian or
non-Christian, can interpret other language.  A certain talent of language
interpretation couldn't hurt, but that talent would be a natural enduement
and not supplied by the Holy Spirit.

        When I asked, "Doesn't the power of the Holy Spirit level the playing 
field?", I meant to compare those who know the Greek language with those
who don't (or even those who don't even know nor care that the New 
Testament was written in Greek).  A person doesn't have to know the
original language of the New Testament.  A person only needs to know
the voice of the Holy Spirit within them to lead them into all the truth of
the Old and New Testaments (as the Scripture says).

        Actually, on second thought, I would not consider a Greek scholar-- 
without the infilling of the Holy Spirit--with complete knowledge of Greek 
culture, language, thought, etc. to be on an equal footing with an illiterate 
man or woman full of the Holy Spirit and completely surrended to Jesus 
Christ.  The scholar would not stand a chance of knowing the Scripture 
as God intended the Scripture as well as the illiterate.

KH

Ken Hall
Voice:  894-5559
Pager:  655-0362
e-mail: ken.hall@business.gatech.edu
Georgia Institute of Technology



Follow-Ups: