Before the Argument Begins

The Holy Spirit moves in people who hold every tradition named in this document. That is not in question. God works through sincerely held faith even when that faith carries assumptions its holder has never examined. The Iranian church is largely charismatic. The global South church is largely Pentecostal. The Reformed tradition has produced some of the most careful, Scripture-saturated theology in church history. None of that is being taken away.

What this document questions is narrower than that. It questions whether pride in a tradition — specifically, the pride that presents a man's framework as God's own word and then wields Sola Scriptura — the Reformation principle that Scripture alone holds final authority over the church — as a weapon to silence examination — is costing the people who hold it something they cannot afford to lose. The knowing of John 17:3 is not secured by being right about your tradition. It is available to the poor in spirit. And pride in tradition, whether you notice it or not, moves you away from poverty of spirit and toward something else.

This document is not a verdict on your standing before God. It is a question about what you are putting in God's mouth that He never said — and what that is costing you.

"Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and prove you to be a liar." — Proverbs 30:6 (NET)

That verse applies to every case in Chapter Three. God did not say the earth is 6,000 years old. A 17th century archbishop said it. God did not reveal the pre-tribulation rapture. A 19th century Irish minister systematized it. God did not promise you health and wealth. A 20th century Texas pastor popularized it. When you defend these things as Scripture's own testimony, you are putting words in God's mouth. Proverbs 30:6 calls it lying. This document is an invitation to stop — and it is written by someone who has needed the same invitation, more than once, and will need it again.