Christian History Blog: Signs and Wonders: The Charismatic Power of Early Christianity

back to ChristianHistory.net

RSS Feed | Help

e-mail this to a friend

who we are

Chris A.

Ted O.

Elesha C.

Collin H.

David Neff

Free Newsletters

What We're Reading

God and Race in American Politics: A Short History
by Mark A. Noll
It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust
by Elizabeth Bettina
Tradition: Concept and Claim
by Josef Pieper

« A Different Georgian Conflict | Main | Back for the Future in Calvin's Geneva »

Signs and Wonders: The Charismatic Power of Early Christianity

by Chris Armstrong | January 7, 2009

When we teach about the early church, we frequently omit the story of spiritual gifts.

orant catacomb priscilla3.JPG Cessationism is the belief that the miracles of Jesus' lifetime and the apostolic period happened solely to attest to the authority and inspiration of the apostolic writings, and that miracles and extraordinary spiritual gifts ceased after the writing of the apostolic documents was concluded.

As writers such as ex-Dallas Seminary professor Jack Deere have argued, this is a position with no biblical foundation. But it also has a problem with the historical record. That record shows clearly that the early church was quite active in the charismatic gifts at least through 200 AD. There was a decline in the 3rd century, and then again it became active.

Sadly, many writers and teachers who are not cessationist continue to give the impression that miracles and extraordinary gifts were phenomena limited to the apostolic period. The way the early church is usually taught, we hear much about martyrdom and persecution; much about Gnostics and Arians and doctrinal disputes; much about how bishops and clergy roles evolved, and how the apostolic tradition was passed down and the canon of the New Testament evolved.

We hear how Tertullian scoffed at those who tried to translate the gospel into the categories of Greek philosophy; how Origen of Alexandria nearly single-handedly invented the systematic study of the Bible; how Irenaeus defended the faith against a host of heresies and spoke of the Work of Christ in illuminating new ways; how Cyprian insisted on the unity of the church and its necessity for salvation.

What we don't usually hear is how these same august teachers and bishops from the 100s and 200s AD and beyond - Tertullian, Cyprian, Irenaeus, and many more - talked about miracles of healing, prophecy, and exorcism as everyday occurrences in the church. Tertullian is typical when he says "God everywhere manifests signs of his own power - to his own people for their comfort, to strangers for a testimony unto them" (Tertullian, A Treatise on the Soul).

In other words, we are usually not told that the early Christian church was a charismatic church. I use this term in its technical sense: the community of Christians in the 100s and 200s continued to experience the charismata, the spiritual gifts, described by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.

The 19th-century church historian Adolf Harnack, in his Mission and Expansion of Christianity, explored this seldom-seen side of the early church. From the mouth of the influential bishop of Carthage, Cyprian, for example, we hear this:

In Christianity there is conferred (upon pure chastity, upon a pure mind, upon pure speech) the gift of healing the sick by rendering poisonous potions harmless, [143] by restoring the deranged to health, and thus purifying them from ignominious pains, by commanding peace for the hostile, rest for the violent, and gentleness for the unruly, by forcing - under stress of threats and invective - a confession from unclean and roving spirits who have come to dwell within mankind, by roughly ordering them out, and stretching them out with struggles, howls, and groans, as their sufferings on the rack, by lashing them with scourges, and burning them with fire. This is what goes on, though no one sees it; the punishments are hidden, but the penalty is open. Thus what we have already begun to be, that is, the Spirit we have received, comes into its kingdom. (Harnack, 142-3)

Harnack's list

Harnack goes on to categorize the charismatic activities of the 2nd- and 3rd-century church - and the list is impressive:

(1) God speaks to the missionaries in visions, dreams, and ecstasy, revealing to them affairs of moment and also trifles, controlling their plans, pointing out the roads on which they are to travel, the cities where they are to stay, and the persons whom they are to visit. Visions occur especially after a martyr?dom, the dead martyr appearing to his friends during the weeks that immediately follow his death, as in the case of Potamiaena (Eus., H.E., vi. 5), or of Cyprian, or of many others.

It was by means of dreams that Arnobius (Jerome, Chron., p. 326) and others were converted. Even in the middle of the third century, the two great bishops Dionysius and Cyprian' were both visionaries. . . .

(2) At the missionary addresses of the apostles or evangelist, or at the services of the churches which they founded, sudden movements of rapture are experienced, many of them being simultaneous seizures; these are either full of terror and dismay, convulsing the whole spiritual life, or exultant outbursts of a joy that sees heaven opened to its eyes. The simple question, "What must I do to be saved?" also bursts upon the mind with an elemental force.

(3) Some are inspired who have power to clothe their experience in words-prophets to explain the past, to interpret and to fathom the present, and to foretell the future. Their prophecies relate to the general course of history, but also to the fortunes of individuals, to what individuals are to do or leave undone.

(4) Brethren are inspired with the impulse to improvise prayers and hymns and psalms.

(5) Others are so filled with the Spirit that they lose con?sciousness and break out in stammering speech and cries, or in unintelligible utterances - which can be interpreted, however, by those who have the gift.

(6) Into the hands of others, again, the Spirit slips a pen, either in an ecstasy or in exalted moments of spiritual tension; they not merely speak but write as they are bidden.

(7) Sick persons are brought and healed by the missionaries, or by brethren who have been but recently awakened; wild paroxysms of terror before God's presence are also soothed, and in the name of Jesus demons are cast out.

(8) The Spirit impels men to an immense variety of extraordinary actions - to symbolic actions which are meant to reveal some mystery or to give some directions for life, as well as to deeds of heroism.

(9) Some perceive the presence of the Spirit with every sense; they see its brilliant light, they hear its voice, they smell the fragrance of immortality and taste its sweetness. Nay more; they see celestial persons with their own eyes, see them and also hear them; they peer into what is hidden or distant or to come; they are even rapt into the world to come, into heaven itself, where they listen to "words that cannot be uttered."

Burgess's timeline

In the twenty-first century, Pentecostal scholar Stanley M. Burgess updated and deepend Harnack's testimony on this matter. For his The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Zondervan, 2002), Burgess created an absorbing 8-page timeline summarizing his three-volume study, The Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Traditions; Eastern Christian Traditions; and Medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation Traditions. Like Harnack's list, Burgess's timeline shows that the early centuries are full of charismatic phenomena.
Here are just a few high points noted by Burgess, supporting his claim that the Holy Spirit has empowered ordinary Christians through the centuries - with jaw-dropping results:

1st century

Writers of the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas [two inspirational books used widely in the early church] witness so much charismatic activity they find it necessary to distinguish between true and false prophets. At about the same time, the writer of Pseudo-Barnabas suggests prophetic ministry is normative in the church.

2nd century

[Christian apologist] Justin Martyr argues that God has withdrawn the Spirit of prophecy and miracles from the Jews and has transferred it to the church as proof of her continued divine favor.

Irenaeus of Lyon describes the gifts of prophecy, discernment of spirits, and exorcism in his Gallic church, and even mentions that individuals have been raised from the dead. He warns against certain false Gnostics who fabricate spiritual gifts to win favor with the na?ve.

3rd century

Origen of Alexandria says healings, exorcisms, and validating signs and wonders continue to be experienced in the church. Just as miracles and wonders added to the credibility of 1st-century apostles, so they continue to draw unbelievers into the Christian fold."

4th century

Augustine [of Hippo], in The City of God, reports contemporary divine healings and other miracles. These he links directly to the conversion of pagans.

Harnack's list and Burgess's timeline suggest something important: The church has rarely lacked for witnesses, from the widest variety of camps, who have proclaimed that the Holy Spirit is alive, well, and gifting believers in his church.

Though diverse in many ways, these witnesses of past centuries join in claiming for the church the same "promise of the Father" Jesus held out to his Apostles: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:4-5).

Comments

Thought you'd find this of interest.

Love this article. I know a young lady who attends a Christian university whose professor prides himself in the fact that he brought his cessationist views to a church and shut down the manifestion of the gifts.

Yes, God does perform miracles today, but they are in the eyes of the believers.

Chris, I suggest that the word "not" in the beginning of the 3rd paragraph is a typographical error. Perhaps you may wish to look at it again. I think that being a cessationist is a sad thing. It's almost like trying to worship a god who doesn't care.

Delightful, brief summary of what I wish was commonly known. The temptation to excuse ourselves from seeking certain experiences or even achievements by announcing their unavailablity sadly sometimes seems to be a defense for lack of faith, lack of self-esteem or lack of drive. I pray we, myself definitley included, learn to be wholly open to the God of the Bible, even when doing so might make us less satisfied with our present level of spiritual maturity.

The gifts are to day as they were in the days of the apostolic erea. the problem is there is many who do not believe in God or his ability to preform the gifts therefore they are unbeliever and they do not see the mericles being peformed. they do see things happen but they try to give different reasons
for them happening. I feel sorry for these unbeliever because they are missing out on God's power in mankind

When I was considering the charismatic movement, I was quoted the verse that when the perfect comes the partial will be one away with. I was told the perfect referred to the Bible and that 60 percent of charismatics were women. The former interpretation seemed implausible, thus didn't prevent my charismatic pursuit. The latter argument is laughable, as 60 percent of almost any church are women.

A careful study of how the gifts of the Spirit were used in the early church will show that they were used to convert non-believers and not to exalt one's self which is a problem in todays charismatic churches. The Apostle Paul had to address this in his letter to the Corinthians (I Cor 12-14). The sad part is most charismatics will falsify gifts because they feel their relationship with the Lord is lacking without them and also to show others how spiritual they are. I believe in the gifts and that they should be done decently and in order (I Cor 14:40) and the Spirit of God will not go against the Word of God.

I am a Preacher of the Instrumental Church of Christ and I have studied church history from many different view points. The evidense that I have come across does not support a "continuing" Chrismatic experience for Christians in the first centuries of the church. Some of the writings that have been quoted from are "not inspired" as the writer of this article says, so we need to see what was the real purpose of "Spiritual Gifts" in the early church. No gift was used for self gratification as many do today. When I see people using "so called" spiritual gifts today, they seem to feel that is all they need. Faith is not needed. Renpentance is not needed. Bible reading is not needed. Show me evidence of "real" faith in an individual who practices "spiritual gifts" today? If I am wrong, I will change, but it has to be real proof.

So the charismata never ceased, or did not cease immediately and were later restored? So where are the prophets today who are able to discern the spirits and are calling to task the charlatans and hucksters? Where are the healings of verifiable and documented organic disease? How is the Holy Spirit demonstrating the power of God and glorifying Christ is a way that is CLEARLY miraculous and not a subjective interpretation of events or facts? How do non-believers know that it is God and not coincidence?

vis a vis the comment on writings being "inspired" In the bible it calls the church the pillar and foundation of truth. There seems to be a common misconception these days that the bible gives the church rather than the other way around. Because something has not been declared canonical (in line with the rule of faith) or inspired does not make it false either. We're talking about the writings of men and women who gave or lived their lives for their faith.

I really think we need to open the discussion in a big way about what exactly is THE Church that Christ founded that the gates of hell will not prevail against. Until we can discern this we will be forever mired in our own subjective interpretations of scripture which is of no private interpretation.

Matthew 17:19-21

"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

Matthew 13:58
"And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
Could it be that because of our unbelief we are not given these miracles ? I honestly admit that I don't know the answer to this. I have read of present day miracles, dreams, and visions in very many instances coming to Muslim converts in Iran.
(The Coming Fall of Islam in Iran, Reza Safa, author)
I believe this is true. Praise His Name. If this is a gift for us in the present day, give me a double helping!

Great job! The key to Spiritual Gifts is fullness of the Spirit which comes via the Baptism in the Spirit. As a young christian, called to perach, serving Methodist Churches, I was saved, on fire for God and assumed I was Baptized in the Spirit because I was saved. I was wrong. That came many years later when I was able to lay down my fear and pride and seek all that God wanted for me. It was like being born again all over, the experience was so dramatic. The gift of tongues came with it. I've used this and other gifts ever since. I've been iin Charismatic churches ever since and will never go back to anything less than full acceptance and practice of the gifts. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and an Attorney. I teach weekly in my Charismatic Church. I am not some ignorant back woods person living on emotions. Pride is the chief enemy of christians today, who argue that their own spiritual experiences is all there is. Been there. It kept me stuck and justifying my position for years. Let God be God! Lay down intellectual pursuits and seek God with ALL your HEART. Don't be afraid of losing control. God can only fill an empty vessel.

The first 32 yrs. of my life were spent as a born-again believer but without the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was powerless and only a nominal church goer. I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1980 (with tongues/prophecy) and I would never go back. As a missionary in Africa, I regularly cast out demons, heal the sick and work miracles as the Spirit enables. If you are a believer who believes the WORD, you will do these too.
Don't waste your life in cessationist heresy -time is short and the Spirit is moving. Follow Jesus and you will do the same works He did and even greater works!

I believe in he gifts of the Holy Spirit for today, although I don't call myself a Charismatic because there are too many weird ones out there. I am a classical Pentecostal that believes in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues. There are also false tongues out there also from those that are not Christians.

Bill azusa755@sbcglobal.net

A couple comments: Cessationist theology seems to come from dispensational theology, made popular by C.I.Scofield and his Bible notes. Yet, many pentacostals and charismatics believe dispensational theology (especially end times theology). However, they reject the dispensation of the canon completed and cession of gifts. Cessationists need to challenge all of their theology, not just the dispensation of the Spirit gifts. Reformed theology doesn't have chopped up dispensations and accomodates non-cessionism. Other comment: it seems that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit happen most when the darkness is the strongest (when the Gospel is penetrating a dark area for the first time, i.e., mission expansion). But as the darkness is driven out by the Light, spiritual gifts seem to cease significantly. However, this makes sense to me...the fruit of the Spirit becomes pervasive in an area when there are people who now have become indwelt with the Spirit via salvation. What is the greater evidence of the true of Christ? Love shown to one another, and peace and harmony between believers and love to unbelievers, or gifts? I don't think gifts are needed (in general) in areas where the Church becomes established because the fruit of the Spirit and Godly living in the everydayness of life is the greater witness to a community of the reality of God.

Apostasy has been a problem since the early church as shown by the teaching against Gnosticsm by Paul and John. It is dangerous to attempt to use non-inspired writers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Origen to justify a belief in the continuation of miracles. When it comes to church doctrine we should not use any writings that came after the close of the NT.

My first Christian History term paper addressed the topic, "What happened to the baptism of/in the Spirit?" In other words, when and why did the Pentecost-like receipt of the Holy Spirit, with charismata, fall out of practice? The Biblical record indicates that the Spirit and His gifts were received upon heartfelt confession, repentance, submission to the Lord, and baptism in Jesus's name. The early organized church required three years of instruction (i.e., "counting the cost") before one could be baptized into the church, and the final stage of that rite was the invocation and impartation of the Holy Spirit with the expectation that one or more Spirit gifts would be received for the benefit of the church. I concluded that one factor in the apparent cessation of the Spirit's gifts came when the Roman church decided, after a 30-year debate, that Montanus -- whose worship gatherings were decidedly disorderly charismatic in style, and who ultimately declared himself Christ's second coming -- was a heretic; thereafter, the charismata appeared to disappear, and the nearer to Rome, the quicker. The other part was that when Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Empire -- at least as much for political reasons as religious ones -- many citizens became "Christians" because that was what good citizens did, rather than because they had experienced the Spirit's conviction of their sin and revelation of the truth of the Gospel, followed by heartfelt confession, repentance, and commitment to follow Jesus. I concluded that God would be quite unlikely to entrust the keys to the Cadillac, if you will, to the children who simply wanted to be seen driving about town, had taken no driving lessons, and didn't know or didn't care to follow the rules of the road. Over the centuries, most of the renewal movements that purposed to separate Christianity from states' religions saw the charismata "return" to their adherents, lending some support for my theory; and now, most of the world's new Christians are in "pentecostal/charismatic" churches. May we all, especially in the western northern hemisphere, be such ardent followers and servants of Jesus that God knows us to be trustworthy recipients of the grace-gifts of His Spirit!

I used to be a full blown charismatic with much pride. I used to look down on "ignorant backwoods persons living on emotions". --that is people without the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I saw the light and got out of the error. I am still a Christian because of my Methodist upbringing and the relationship I had then with Jesus Christ. So, I will never believe in the charismatic view of spiritual gifts.

Thanks for the informative article, I myself pray in other tongues regularly and have received divine healings a few times as a Born again Christian of 30 years. I have always believed these "Gifts" were for the Church and always wondered how bornagain Christians could deney this biblical truth. I am also sorry to say that "today" even in my Pentacostal denomination we are not seeing the manifestation of the Holy Spirt like I did when I was a new believer. I am going to spread your article around, I think it is great that we also have Historic documentation to confirm what the scriptures declare plainly. Keep up the good work with the Christory History articles I think they are GREAT! Tom Wrobel, Oakbrook Community Church.

Some people have mentioned that the the writers mentioned as evidence of charismata were not 'inspired'. But this is exactly what cessationists do, they look to something outside of scripture to say that the "gifts" have ceased. Nowhere in scripture does it say they have ceased and cessationists must ignore 1 Cor 14:39.

if we worship a god who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then it is really questionable why he should cess the gift. what we must remember is this - it is not the form but the form together with the substance that is important.

this reminds me what Paul writes in corinthians. all these gifts coms to naught if not operated in the context of love.
blessings

So many responses! I'm glad this got read and got folks thinking.

Charles, I _did_ mean the word "not" in the third paragraph. My distress is that even those who are _not_ cessationists are ignoring the vibrantly charismatic character of the early church when they talk about early church history. By silence, they in effect support the unbiblical cessationist position.

So many comments, so much interest. Amazingly, those who doubt the revelency of the Gifts of the Spirit in the life of todays believer will some day learn of their error. Jesus was resurrected & He said after I leave a "Comforter will come." With that Comforter came the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul's Letters to the Church at Corinth explain the the roles of the various gifts and their role in maintaining unity in the body of the church. I truly believe that the Gifts given to the early church are alive & working in true believers today. Thank you for a well researched & written article.

In reading the comments, I find it disturbing how some are asking for proof and others already have it to decide whether "charismatic gifts" occur or not. Experience is not supposed to be our guide. Most churches say that Scripture is our sole authority for faith and practice, we're showing again how this is not true.

Thank you for this article. I often think about people who are pulled into the new age by the "signs and wonders" and even the peace they experience there. I think - we serve the True God...how come we are so powerless? I think the church is weak because as someone else said, we have come to believe that miracles are not for today, that God does not work in our lives as he did in the early centuries or even that God does not speak to us. We seem to have settled into a "comfortable faith" - which we may find is no faith at all - certainly not a living and dynamic faith. Our churches have become luke warm, social institutions - even the evangelical ones. They would not agree I'm sure, but I certainly don't see any power there. We are to have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit...faith for what? For living!! And that encompases every part of our life. Jesus said - will I find faith when I return? I'm sure if we look to God and truly seek his truth and walk in the power he has promised us, we will be able to see the difference between the true and the false.

Forgive this long post, but it may be of interest.

RE: 1 Corinthians 14:20-26

"Paul’s basic message in verse 20 is “Grow up! Don’t be immature in your thinking and understanding.” Thinking and understanding of what? Of tongues. The subject of the immediately preceding verses is tongues. He continues, “Be infants in evil” (v. 20). Other versions translate the word evil (kakia) as malice or maliciousness. It literally means badness, depravity, or wickedness. Paul tells them not to engage evil, not to be malicious or wicked in their assessment of his opposition to their Delphic understanding of tongues, but to be mature, to be men about it. The Greek word translated as mature or men is teleios. We’ve seen it before.1 It means whole, complete, and is often translated as perfect. Paul is calling them to Christian maturity in the same way that he called the Ephesian church to maturity in Christ.

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” —Ephesians 4:11-16

Paul quoted Scripture to establish his point. His reference to the law is a reference to the Old Testament, to the established body of truth. “For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people, to whom he has said, ‘This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose;’ yet they would not hear.” (Isaiah 28:11-12). Paul didn’t quote the verse exactly, but gets the point across. Paul paraphrased it, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord” (v. 21).

It doesn’t matter whether Paul meant foreign languages or angelic languages because his point was that the language being spoken was not understood by the hearers. And it wasn’t so much that they would not listen to the Lord, but that they could not hear the Lord because they were not regenerate. They did not have ears to hear (Matthew 11:15). This is a very common problem that has plagued God’s people from time immemorial. By reaching back into Isaiah Paul was speaking of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the second chapter of Acts and beyond. Paul was saying that God would speak to His people (Hebrews) through foreigners (non Hebrews), that Gentiles would be given the Word of the Lord (the gospel), and in spite of the gift of tongues (translation into other languages, into the native tongues of the Gentiles) God’s Word would not be heard (or listened to) by many, regardless of the language in which it was spoken.

Moses also made note of this problem. “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: ‘You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear’” (Deuteronomy 29:2-4).

Isaiah (Isaiah 28:12, 30:9, 42:20) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5:21, 6:10, 11:10, 13:10, 17:23, 19:15, 25:4, 36:31) struggled against it, as did Jesus and Paul. Paul confronted this particular problem at Corinth here in the issue of tongues. It wasn’t just that people did not understand the foreign languages that were being spoken, or that they did not understand the so-called angelic languages. People did not understand Paul who was speaking in their mother tongue! The deeper lack of understanding was not a function of the language being spoken, but was a function of not having ears to hear, regardless of the language. The issue of understanding the gospel is intimately related to the issue of speaking in tongues.

Those who understand the gospel will speak with understanding, regardless of the language they use. And those who do not understand it, will always speak without understanding. Those who speak without understanding cannot communicate understanding, regardless of the language. The proof of this is that this definition of tongues in conjunction with the lack of regeneration (not having ears to hear) provides the context for the correct understanding of the next verse.

The long history of misdefining the word tongues as Paul was using it has led to a minor mistranslation of verse 22. The sentence structure is awkward to begin with. The KJV translates the word pisteuo? as “to them that believe” and apistos as “to them that believe not.” In a later clause of the same sentence the Greek words are repeated, but this time they are translated as “for them that believe not” and “for them which believe.” Note that the prepositions are different, to verses for. Note also that there is no preposition in the Greek at this point. A literal, word for word translation would be “Therefore tongues are for sign not believers but unbelievers but prophesying not unbelievers but believers.” It’s awkward because it doesn’t flow in English, but uses the Greek order of words.

I’m suggesting that the word for is out of place in the English. It should be placed after the word sign so that it reads “Therefore tongues are sign for not believers but unbelievers but prophesying (implied for) not unbelievers but believers.” I’m also suggesting that the word for (eis) would be better translated as of in this case. “Therefore tongues are sign of not believers but unbelievers but prophesying of not unbelievers but believers.”

Whenever the word tongue(s) is used it always refers to a different language, not common to the one currently in use. Because Paul is in the process of chastising the Corinthians for their immaturity, he is at this point using the word tongues to mean glossolalia (as in Delphic babbling). That is what he has been opposing in the last couple of chapters, and that is the sense of the word in verse 22. So, Paul’s basic message in this verse is that tongues are a sign of unbelief or a lack of understanding (which amounts to the same thing), whereas prophecy is a sign of belief or understanding of the gospel. Why are tongues a sign of unbelief? Because what is spoken in a tongue, whether a foreign language or an angelic language, is not understood. And unbelievers do not understand the gospel in any language.

(from my book Arsy Varsy—Reclaiming the Gospel in First Corinthians)

Holy Straw-Man of cessationism Batman!

Harnack's list has 1, maybe 2, examples of what sound like Apostolic Sign Gifts.

Burgess' timeline is interesting; I've got to check his actual references. When I read through the 37 volumes of the Fathers, I didn't find much at all that sounded like Apostolic Sign Gifts. Either way, all but 1 or 2 of his examples sound nothing like Apostolic Sign Gifts.

I used to be a Charismatic, graduating with a 2 degrees from a school that taught Charismatic doctrine and working for years in and with a charismatic (and apostolic) church. I've been to hundreds of healing services, met tons of the "big guys" (Arnott, Bevere, Hayford, etc.) and have read every book ever recommended on the topic, from the idiotic (Tommy Tenney & Joyce Meyer) to the very respectable (DA Carson & Wayne Grudem).

I don't know about all the other cessationists out there, but I arrived at cessationism out of intense biblical study, not out of dispensationalism or reading Scofield. In fact, I don't know much at all about either.

I DO know my biblical languages and do attempt to consistently use a historical-grammatical hermeneutic when interpreting scripture though; something I never encountered in Charismatic circles, especially when I was struggling through many of the various issues and read the 'intellectual' and 'academic' defense of continuationalism (and Charismatic/3rd Wave theology).

What's even more ironic is that I have experienced instantaneous, complete, medically diagnosed and verified physical healing; something no charismatic I've ever met can back up. The person who was healed (by God, not me) has 2 time-stamped x-rays from 2 different hospitals (along with the medical paperwork), stamped around 2 hours apart, where the first has several broken bones and the second has around 3-4 less broken bones (I forget the actual count).

I've also witnessed, personally, food being created ex nihilo; I've put 16 cookies into an empty jar and pulled out 26, 5 minutes later.

Both of those clear miracles aside, neither of which I disbelieve, I'm still a hard lined cessationist. Attack a position that actually exists, or that people actually hold...

The fourth book of the New Testament is called Acts. It was written by the Holy Spirit through a man named Luke, who was a Christian and a physician.

Acts is a book of transitions. One of the main themes is the transition from Jesus Christ being physically present with His people, to Jesus Christ being with His people in the person of the Holy Ghost.

There is also a transition from the way the Holy Ghost operated among God’s people. In the Old Testament, we see what is sometimes called by Bible scholars, the “prophetic anointing.” In the Old Testament, the Spirit “came upon” the prophets and sometimes warriors, and at times the Spirit left them.

Here are some examples: Amasai, David’s chief of the captains (I Chronicles 12:18); the 70 elders (Numbers 11:25); Othniel (Judges 3); Gideon (Judges 6); Jephtah (Judges 11); Samson (Judges 14 and; 15); Saul (I Samuel 10 and 11); David (I Samuel 16); Azariah, who prophesied to Asa (II Chronicles 15); Jahaziel who prophesied to Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 20); and Zechariah who prophesied right before they stoned him (II Chronicles 24).

The transition in Acts is from this type of Spiritual impartation, to something new, whereby the Holy Ghost takes up permanent residence inside those who have trusted Christ by faith.

Another interesting concept in Acts is the concept of power. We see the power of God manifested in special ways in the Book of Acts. We see it in the Word of God; in prayer; in love; in fellowship; in persecution; and in witnessing.

Acts takes us from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and explains how the Gospel made it to Rome. To skip from the Book of John, straight to the Book of Romans, would be very confusing. We would wonder how in the world the Gospel made it to Rome.

The brief article is succint to the point.

Very indeed, charismatic gifts were manifested not only upto AD200 but also throughout the centuries until now.

Without two miraculous healings of God in my life, I would not be alive now and have become a servant of the Church, an ordained pastor and theologian.

I have been praying in tongue since 2nd grade, and now in my 40s, I still pray in tongue.

To confirm what I personally experienced, God has given me a previlege to serve in a charismatic Baptist church in Korea and now to study in church history Ph.D. program with Patristic focus, and He has shown me that the charismatic gifts, especially healing, have never stopped as the signs of God's grace and power.

Categories

who we are

Free Newsletters

What We're Reading

Signs and Wonders: The Charismatic Power of Early Christianity

Comments

recent posts

Archives

April 2012
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Categories

who we are

Free Newsletters

What We're Reading

Our Blogroll

Signs and Wonders: The Charismatic Power of Early Christianity

Comments

recent posts

Archives