Posts Tagged ‘ Continuationists ’

Cessationist Bullet Points

Just like the apostles!

Benny Hinn's Holy Coat of Smiting gives him +2 Defense.

Spiritual Gifts!  Let’s talk about them again.  Now I’m a cessationist when it comes to the issue.  I’d better explain what that means.  The popular straw-man is that a cessationist is fearful of the Holy Spirit and leaves no room for Him to work in the life of a Christian.  This is dumb.

No, a cessationist is someone who acknowledges the spirtual gifts mentioned in the book of Acts but believes they no longer continue.  Clarification: This does not mean that God cannot employ the means he thinks necessary for salvation – so cessationism isn’t putting a limit on God.

The cessationist argument in a nutshell is this: The work of the Holy Spirit in the apostolic age was to show the truth behind – (wait for it) – apostolic teaching (2 Corinthians 12:12).  Apostolic churches were regularly practicing these gifts, so much so that Paul’s letter to the infant church of Corinth gives language suggesting it to be a normal or common occurrence (1 Corinthians 14:26).  As the apostolic age came to a close, so did the expression of Spiritual gifts, as there were no longer apostles which needed validating as they had fulfilled their calling and purpose by establishing the canon of the Holy Scriptures.

So if the gifts are still happening – why are they still happening?

Even with a Biblical why, there’s still the problem of where & how it came to be.  That these gifts which were so regular that Paul included them in a discussion about common worship, it seems odd that they only pop up now in select groups.   We don’t see a similar pattern of preferential distribution of the fruits of the spirit, but we are led to believe that this is the case for the gifts of the spirit.  B.B. Warfield addresses this issue very aptly here and here.

And lastly, if the gifts are still happening, which ones and to what degrees?  This seems like a silly question, but there’s no shortage of folks to are cessationist with certain gifts but maintain continuation for others.  So which ones and why?  Tongues only? Prophesy too? Healing? Working Miracles?  Are these gifts a 1:1 representation of those in the apostolic age?  If not, is there any Biblical indication as to why this would be?  Am I asking enough questions?  Are these rhetorical questions?

I guess we’ll work this out in the comments.  Or at least, I hope we will.

2010
08/19
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CATEGORY
Christianity
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19 comments

Tongues speaking heresy.

Honest question (not trolling): Who were the orthodox proponents for continuation of spiritual gifts in the early church? I’m not seeing it.

From what I’ve read of Warfield, he doesn’t seem to think there were any either. I haven’t read the writings of the 2nd century so exhaustively that I can say anything definitively, but it does seem that the proponents of continuation weren’t generally the most sound people. The Montanists, Tertullian being the most famous alum, were strict ascetics who followed a former Phyrigian priest claiming to have a direct revelation called the “age of the Paraclete”. This was bolstered by the visions of “prophetesses” Priscilla & Maxilla who claimed to have been given revelation of the end times. They subsequently left their husbands to devote their lives to the church and taught that holding church offices was bueno for women. So yeah, not a lot of orthodoxy present, but a familiar picture when compared the founding of some modern charistmatic churches.

What’s my point? Well… my thinking is framing up issues like continuationism & credo-baptism (to a lesser extent) as ideas that are assumed as facts by their adherents. These are questions begged to a level I like to call “Well, duh. Of course that’s true.” But early proponents of continuationism all seemed to be theologically jacked up. The modern day rank & file, eager for a life reflective of the clear teaching of Scriptures are moving towards a Reformed & Covenantal theology (hooray!). But they’re bringing a few things with them and reinterpreting Scripture to justify themselves along the way. So I’m seeing continuationism not as a good apostolic teaching which has been faithfully carried on by those devoted to sound doctrine from the earliest NT church until now, but as an idea that came hand in hand with unorthodox teaching. Just like Isildur wouldn’t destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom after defeating Sauron, so modern adherents of continuing spiritual gifts won’t let go of “the precious” even though they’ve dropped the bad theology it rode into town upon.

Then there’s guys like this, who haven’t dropped the bad theology or the “precious”.

2010
06/16
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Christianity
Seminary
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