On Waxing Eloquent Without Knowledge

Comments on Acts 17 from author Michael John Beasley:

 

"Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man" (Acts 17:29).

The primary verb in this statement is opheilomen [we ought]. This is a word that speaks of one's debt to another, and in the case of man's relationship to God, it refers to our divine obligation towards the Lord who is the Creator and Despot of everything. What Paul states here is... that men are not at all free to entertain thoughts about God that He Himself has not revealed. Implicitly, Paul is indicating to us that it is Scripture, and Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) that must be embraced in order to have an explicit revelation of the One who is, Himself, the exegesis of the Father, Jesus Christ. 

When men wax eloquent regarding their own philosophies and subjective feelings about God's nature, they are violating their divine obligation towards the One who created them. Ultimately, man's lack of freedom to think of God as he wishes mirrors the principal commandments found within the Decalogue [Exodus 20:3-5].

(From  Altar To An Unknown Love: Rob Bell, C.S. Lewis, and the Legacy of the Art and Thought of Man by Michael John Beasley)