At times I have wondered what guided the early Christians before the New Testament was formed. Not all the early Christians had access to an apostle or someone who had spent any length of time around Jesus.
An example is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The Ethiopian eunuch had the Old Testament, but he had at most a few hours of instruction about Jesus under Philip (Acts 8:26-40). When he had questions, how did he resolve them?
Today we have access to the New Testament and to thousands of books about the life of Jesus. We also have hundreds of different denominations that give us an organized system of beliefs about Christianity but how do we know which version to believe?
Fénelon, an archbishop in France in the 17th century, gives us an answer.
“God can teach more than then even the most experienced Christians know. He can teach you better than all the books that the world has ever seen.” [1]
Fénelon is just echoing what the apostle John tells us. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV).
“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything—and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you—abide in him.” (1 John 2:27 ESV).
The question is whether we will recognize when the Holy Spirit is talking to us and whether we will put into practice what the Holy Spirit teaches.
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[1] Fénelon. Let Go. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1973, p. 23.
