DEBUNKING Priscilla Shirer’s Teaching About Scripture!

Priscilla Shirer’s Emphasis on Personal Revelation

Hey guys, and welcome back to Fight for Truth, the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter. In today's video, we're going to be talking about Priscilla Shire. Now, Priscilla is the daughter of megachurch pastor Tony Evans.

She's also the leader of Going Beyond Ministries. She has written multiple New York Times bestselling books, including The Resolution for Women and Fervent. But besides being a renowned speaker and preacher, Priscilla is a teacher who emphasizes personal and private revelation from God.

In fact, personal revelation is one of her trademark teachings, and according to her, it is an essential part of the Christian life. One example of this teaching can be found in the following clip, which comes from her message entitled, quote, expect to hear the voice of God.

Watch this.

I remember opening up the box. I remember pulling out the stuff and I remember feeling a little bit disconcerted about the fact that this stuff had not been specifically chosen for me. This stuff had been chosen for her, and I'd been okay with hand-me-downs with secondhand clothes all of these years, but all of a sudden, I wanted my own stuff.

I wanted something to come with my name on it that had specifically been chosen for me. So the full message will.

Be linked in the description, and if you were to watch it, you would find that the beginning of the message here includes a detailed story about how Priscilla always got her sister's hand-me-downs as a child.

That is to say, she received the old used clothes, which previously belonged to her sister, while her sister received new clothes. And she follows this up by saying, quote, I wanted something to come with my name on it that had been specifically chosen for me.

This is a personal, relatable story for younger and older siblings alike. It's a very common experience, and this is a good public speaking strategy in order to draw people in. But the theological implications of her statement here, which you're about to see, are truly staggering.

Watch the next.

Clip. There ought to come a time in your relationship with the Lord where hand-me-down revelation just doesn't do it for you anymore. But there ought to come a time in your life where you've decided, you know what?

I want fresh revelation with my name on it that has come straight from God's Spirit for my life. Because, you know, we can be handicapped as Christians. So Priscilla goes on,.

Connecting her personal story of her childhood to Christianity, saying, quote, there ought to come a time in your relationship with God where hand-me-down revelation just doesn't do it for you anymore.

And she finishes this segment of her message saying, quote, I want fresh revelation with my name on it for my life. Again, the theological implications of this are very concerning. Just to be clear, Priscilla's direct example of hand-me-down revelation in the message is receiving the preaching of the Word of God without consistent private revelation on your own time.

Why the Bible Cannot Be Treated as “Hand-Me-Down Revelation”

But that's not the only problem. The real issue here lies in the fact that Priscilla Shire is effectively saying that the Bible, the very Word of God, is hand-me-down revelation. Again, she doesn't specifically refer to the Bible as such, but by definition the Bible would fit into her description of hand-me-down revelation.

Let's explain. She defines new, fresh revelation as that which has your name on it and is, quote, specifically for your life. The Bible does not fit neatly into this category at all. Read the book of Leviticus, read the book of Deuteronomy, for example.

One would be hard-pressed to come to the conclusion that the laws of God written in these Old Testament books are fresh revelation with, quote, your name on it, written specifically for your life. Now don't get me wrong.

Can these scriptures apply to a Christian's life? Absolutely. Do these scriptures teach the Christian important things about the Christian life? Of course they do. But the inconvenient fact still remains.

These books, just like all books of Scripture, were written first and foremost by the author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and to the immediate audience of the written work. There is not a single passage in all of Scripture that has your name on it, unless, of course, you happen to be named after someone in the Bible.

And even if that were the case, these passages are about the person you're named after, not you yourself. There is not one verse in all of the Bible that has been written for you and you specifically, and you alone.

The Bible is an ancient revelation that has been given to millions, if not billions, of Christians who came before you. Priscilla Shire says that any revelation which does not have your name on it, and is not specifically for your life, is just hand-me-down revelation that you shouldn't be fully satisfied with.

Again, remember that she doesn't use the example of Scripture here specifically, but by definition the Scriptures fit into Priscilla's category of hand-me-down revelation. After all, the Bible has quite literally been handed down to us by the Christians who came before, through God's grace, by His will.

Yet referring to the Bible, or even sound-teaching from your pastor about the Bible as hand-me-down revelation is seriously problematic. First off, this is a very irreverent comparison. Priscilla is comparing the Bible effectively, and the preaching of the Bible, to a set of raggedy old clothes that belong to someone else, clothes which you are now unlucky enough to be in possession of.

That's the actual comparison she made through her story. This comparison, though, is deeply unbiblical. Priscilla says that you can't just have the Bible or sound-teaching about the Bible. No, that's not enough.

You need new, fresh, personal, private revelation in your spirit, she declares. But Hebrews 4 .12 says that, "...the word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.".

You see, the Word of God and the preaching of the Word of God, when done rightly, is not an old hand-me-down that has no fresh effect. No, we must remember that the Bible is living, active, and sharp.

The Word of God is powerful because it comes from our powerful God. So to call the Bible and sound-teaching about the Bible, apart from getting personal revelation alongside these things, as if they're hand-me-down revelation?

That falls far short of the biblical standard of how we should think and talk about God's Word. But let's keep watching and see what Priscilla follows this with. Watch this. There ought to come a little bit of disconcerting,.

A little bit of maturity in your walk with God, where you become a little bit unsettled to only be spoon-fed the Word of God from someone else to you. Now we thank God for our pastors and our teachers and our leaders that help us to rightly divide the Word of Truth, but there ought to come a time in your life where you've decided, you know what, I want fresh revelation with my name.

On it. So in this particular segment, Priscilla says that, quote, there ought to come a little maturity in your walk with God, where you become a little bit unsettled. She's referring to the previously mentioned hand-me-down revelation here.

According to her message, any revelation that is not new, fresh, and given specifically for you with your name on it, which again would include the Bible, is revelation that you should not be fully satisfied with.

It is, after all, just a hand-me-down. In fact, if you are truly maturing in your faith, then this hand-me-down stuff just simply won't do it for you anymore, according to Priscilla. But this, too, is not biblical.

Scripture Is Living, Active, and Sufficient for the Christian

2 Timothy 3 .16, it says this, quote, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

You see, the ancient hand-me-down revelation of the Scriptures, to use her phrase, is so powerful, so effective, that it equips the Christian for every good work. The Christian can be utterly competent just through the effect of the Scriptures by God's grace.

Even if those Scriptures aren't a fresh, audible revelation with your name on it popping into your head spontaneously. But this is completely at odds with the teaching of Priscilla Shire. You see, Priscilla says that you cannot be a fully mature Christian without private revelation consistently.

Yet the Bible says that God's special revelation in Scripture is absolutely sufficient to make you a competent and mature Christian. And it should be deeply concerning to us as Christians that Priscilla tells us to be, quote, unsettled with hand-me-down revelation.

Again, contrast this with what God's Word says about itself. In Matthew 4, Jesus says this, quote, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

So Priscilla says that just hand-me-down revelation, just the Bible or accurate teaching about the Bible will unsettle us in the long run. But Jesus says that the Bible is spiritually nourishing to us.

Good teaching and accurate understanding of the Word of God should not be unsettling for the Christian. On the contrary, it should help us cultivate peace, contentment, and steadfastness in our faith.

So in summary, while Priscilla Shire did not specifically call the Bible a hand-me-down revelation, she did call the pastoral teaching of the Bible that. And it is abundantly clear that the Scriptures do not fit with her definition of new, fresh, and personal revelation, quote, with your name on it.

Her statements about God's revelation in the video we just watched were entirely inaccurate, unhelpful, confusing, or just unbiblical. Instead of exalting personal and private revelation above Scripture, we ought to live and breathe by the Scriptures.

Psalm 119 verse 105 says this, quote, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. You see, Priscilla Shire's teaching on revelation in the Christian life creates an overemphasis on private revelation and a clear devaluing of the objective Word of God.

A careful analysis and comparison of her teaching to Scripture shows us that we ought to stay away from her preaching. I pray that this has been a blessing to you, and please know that this video isn't meant as a sinful attack but rather as a biblical critique.

So let's pray for Priscilla Shire that she would stop this problematic teaching by God's grace and turn to the truth of God's Word. Thank you so much for watching that video. Please give us a like and subscribe so that you don't miss any content.

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