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Question 6

Obe and Dirk Philips “rejected revelation over the scriptures,” and Dean warns it’s easy to laugh at Münster while we ourselves read “three sons” or personal signs as God’s will; where do Christians today practically treat subjective guidance as “more sure” than Scripture (2 Peter 1:19), and what disciplines would actually keep the Word as the final authority?

Another way to ask: Where do Christians today treat personal signs, feelings, or “God told me” as more trustworthy than Scripture? What habits would help keep the Bible as the final authority (2 Peter 1:19)?

Direct Answer Dean’s warning suggests Christians treat subjective impressions as “more sure” than Scripture when they let signs, visions, or personal interpretations override what the Bible clearly teaches. The transcript points to practical guardrails: testing everything by Scripture and letting the Word “form us and make us,” rather than being led by “cunning devised fables.”

Support from Transcript:

The Phillips brothers “complain[ed]… the preachers had not enough regard for the scriptures,” especially among “new prophecies, new visions.”
Dean says they “completely then rejected the idea of revelation over the scriptures.”
He applies Münster personally: it’s easy to laugh, but we can do the same when “trying to find the will of God,” like using a sign (“three sons”) and then “put those things over the scripture.”
He cites 2 Peter 1:19: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy… not cunning devised fables.”
He concludes: “The word of God needs to be what forms us and makes us.”

Discussion Follow-ups What modern church language (“God told me,” “I have peace,” “open door”) sometimes functions as unquestionable authority? What habits—Bible reading, accountability, careful interpretation—help keep experiences under Scripture?

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