Prof Thomas
R. Edgar
Bibliotheca Sacra / October-December 1988
Referring to the charismatic movement Hollenweger states that "in the not
too distant future there will be more Christians belonging to this type of
Christianity than to the Anglican community. They will number almost as many as
all other Protestants together." He feels that the numerical and perhaps the
spiritual center of Christianity will shift to "Indigenous Non-white" or "Third
World Pentecostal" churches. The validity of such a prevalent force is an issue
that cannot be ignored.
The Essential Question: From God or Not from God?
As with any other doctrinal issue it is important to know the truth or the
error of the "charismatic" position. This is not a purely doctrinal matter,
since in the charismatic movement in all its various forms, such as
Pentecostalism, neo-Pentecostalism, "power evangelism," and the "signs and
wonders" movement, emphasis is placed on phenomena and subjective
experiences. These experiences, which transcend doctrinal considerations and
doctrinal boundaries, are the raison d'etre of the movement. They are not merely
the daily outworking of one's doctrine as distinct from his doctrinal position, but are usually
crisis events that allegedly go beyond normal, traditional Christian
experience. These so-called "spiritual" experiences are either from God or
not from God. There can be no neutral or partially true position. Either
they are biblically true or they are false experiences. If they are
biblically false then the issue is much more serious than merely another
view of the Christian life, since the charismatic movement involves a
spiritual experience that attempts to be in direct contact with supernatural
forces. Whether the charismatics are correct can only be determined from the
Scriptures and other relevant facts. By the very nature of the issue, the
"gifts," such as tongues, healings, and signs and wonders, so prevalent in
today's charismatic movement, are either from God or not from God. There can be
no middle ground.
Evidence Contrary to the Validity of the Phenomena
Several factors give evidence that the phenomena of the charismatic movement are
not the gifts and activities of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. On the
other hand charismatic proponents have given no evidence, other than their
assumption, that these are the same phenomena. That their numbers are growing,
that the followers are enthusiastic, and that there are alleged miracles are not
evidence that the phenomena are from the Holy Spirit, since all these occur in
other religions. To argue that the New Testament gifts could occur today or that
no verse rules out such a possibility is not enough; it must also be shown that
the modern charismatic "gifts" are the same as in the New Testament. The
proponents of the charismatic movement have been unsuccessful in proving either
the first (the possibility of the gifts today) or the second (that these are the
same phenomena). Are all phenomena automatically from the Holy Spirit simply
because someone makes such an assertion, unless a verse can be found that
directly states they are not? It is not enough merely to assert that charismatic
phenomena are New Testament phenomena. There must be evidence that they are the
same.
The Evidence Of History
If the miraculous gifts of the New Testament age had continued in the
church, one would expect an unbroken line of occurrences from apostolic
times to the present. If they are of God, why should such miracles be absent for
centuries?
The entire controversy exists because the miraculous gifts of the New
Testament age did cease and did not occur for almost 1,900 years of church
history and certainly have not continued in an unbroken line. Questions
about their presence today as well as differing opinions, even among charismatics, regarding the nature of tongues, prophecy, and
certain other gifts are due to the fact that they ceased. Chrysostom, a
fourth-century theologian, testified that they had ceased so long before his time
that no one was certain of their characteristics.
History contradicts the charismatics. Though some have attempted to prove
that tongues and other miraculous gifts have occurred in the postapostolic
history of the church, the very paucity and sporadic nature of alleged
occurrences is evidence against this claim. Referring to alleged instances
of tongues-speaking, Hinson, a church historian, sums up the situation this
way: "The first sixteen centuries of its history were lean ones indeed. . .
. if the first five centuries were lean the next were starvation years for
the practice in Western Christendom and doubtful ones in Eastern
Christendom."
After a few alleged instances in the second century there is a gap of almost
1,000 years before a few more occur. Obviously it would not have been difficult
to produce evidence for these gifts during the apostolic age. Why then is there
such a dearth of evidence if the gifts continued throughout church history? The
alleged instances are even more rare if restricted to genuine believers, and if
hearsay evidence is omitted. If instances of the gift of healing rather than
supposed answers to prayer are considered, the alleged instances all but vanish.
That these miraculous workings ceased in the past can hardly be refuted, and this
is recognized by many charismatics. Dayton feels that many charismatics actually
prefer to grant that certain gifts ceased, since they regard today's phenomena as
a latter-day pouring out of the Spirit.
Explanations are unrealistic. It is one thing for a doctrine such as
justification by faith to be temporarily lost due to man's frailty. It is
another thing entirely for miraculous signs and wonders to be missing. Those at
Pentecost were not expecting to speak as they did.
In Acts no tongues speaker was previously aware of the existence of the
gift; yet they spoke. They could hardly have had faith in their ability to
perform miracles or to speak in tongues, since they were unaware of such
gifts. They did not obtain or lose the ability because of their belief or
lack of belief in the charismata. If God gave these gifts during the history of
the church, they would have occurred regardless of man's frailty. To argue that
the gifts faded away in the postapostolic church because of a failure to believe
in miracles evades the facts of history and has no biblical support.
First Corinthians 12-14 implies that the early church was only too inclined
toward such gifts rather than against them. In almost every religion men
have been inclined toward the miraculous rather than toward rejecting
obvious miracles. And yet some argue that miracles ceased or nearly so in
the early church—an era when belief in the supernatural was rampant and
when the signs and wonders actually occurred—because of disbelief in
miracles! Yet it is claimed that in the most rationalistic of ages, when no
miracles were occurring, 19- and 20th-century Christians believed to the
extent that the gifts reoccurred, and reoccurred on the scale of today's
claims. Since modern Christians are so receptive to signs and wonders and
modern man is so willing to believe the charismatic claims, on what basis
can one assume that the early Christians would refuse to do so? Those
willing to believe religious miracles are always plentiful. To claim that
this "miraculous infusion" of the Spirit gives joy, purpose, power for
service, and revitalization of the church, and at the same time claim that
such a tremendous working was ignored, rejected, and allowed to drop out of
the early church which experienced it, is illogical. The only reasonable
explanation for the lack of these gifts in church history is that God did
not give them. If He had given them, they would have occurred.
Since these gifts and signs did cease, the burden of proof is entirely on
the charismatics to prove their validity. Too long Christians have assumed
that the noncharismatic must produce incontestable biblical evidence that
the miraculous sign gifts did cease. However, noncharismatics have no burden to
prove this, since it has already been proved by history. It is an irrefutable
fact admitted by many Pentecostals. Therefore the charismatics must prove
biblically that the sign gifts will start up again during the Church Age and that
today's phenomena are this reoccurrence. In other words they must prove that
their experiences are the reoccurrence of gifts that have not occurred for almost
1,900 years.
"Latter day" Explanations are Inadequate.
Many Pentecostals hold that the sign gifts did cease and that they have reoccurred in these
"latter days." This must be demonstrated from Scripture, however. There is
no biblical evidence that there will be a reoccurrence in the church of the
sign gifts or that believers will work miracles near the end of the Church
Age. However, there is ample evidence that near the end of the age there
will be false prophets who perform miracles, prophesy, and cast out demons
in Jesus' name (cf. Matt. 7:22-23; 24:11, 24; 2 Thess. 2:9-12). During the
Church Age there will be false leaders who fashion themselves as ministers
of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:13-15). During the Tribulation period, there is
no indication that believers, other than the two witnesses of Revelation
11:3-12, will perform miracles. Those performed by the two witnesses are
exceptional, and their actions are comparable to those of Old Testament
prophets rather than to those of the apostles. The two witnesses are not
part of the church, and if they were, they could hardly be considered
typical of the church.
The "latter rain" arguments are incorrectly based on verses that actually
are referring to seasonal rainfall in Israel. Hosea 6:3 and Joel 2:23, for
example, refer not to some unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days
of the Church Age. They refer instead to spring rains, in contrast to early rains
in the fall.
The arguments based on the expression "in the last days" in Acts 2:16-21 are also
invalid. If the "last days" referred to in Acts 2:17 includes the day of
Pentecost, the beginning of the Church Age, and "if this is that" (v. 16)
includes Pentecost, then it cannot mean at the same time the "last days"of this
Church Age. On the other hand if the "last days" do not include Pentecost, then
Pentecost was not a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, and Acts 2:16-21 refers
specifically to Israel and is still future. Either way this passage gives no
evidence for a reoccurrence of miraculous gifts during the "last (latter) days"
of the church. The present charismatic movement is characterized by phenomena
that began in the church about 100 years ago, which apart from any historical
connection or evidence are claimed to be the same as the miracles performed in
the apostolic age. It is simply naive to accept this claim without some direct
historical link or solid biblical evidence that these present phenomena are the
same as those in the days of the apostles. The most reliable evidence would be a
direct historical link with the apostolic gifts due to their continuity in the
church. However, as already argued, history testifies to the contrary. The gifts
ceased and there is no reason to expect their presence or reoccurrence today.
Lack Of Similarity With The New Testament
For any phenomena to make credible claim to be the same as the gifts and
miracles of the apostolic age there must be great similarity between the two. Any phenomena can be intentionally duplicated or copied.
Therefore similarity alone cannot prove the modern phenomena are genuine.
Conversely a lack of similarity is definitely evidence against the claim
that they are the same as the New Testament gifts and miracles.
An examination of the New Testament reveals that the modern charismatic
phenomena are not sufficiently similar to those of the apostolic age. Where
are the tongues of fire and the rushing of a mighty wind as on the day of
Pentecost? Do missionaries blind their opponents as Paul did? Do church
leaders discern hypocrisy and pronounce the immediate death of members as in Acts
5:1-11? Do evangelists amaze an entire city with miracles as did Philip (8:5-8)?
Are they then taken to another place of ministry by the Holy Spirit (vv. 39-40)?
Are entire multitudes healed by merely being in the shadow of the healer (5:15)?
Do prophets give specific prophecies which come to pass soon after (11:27-28)?
The miracles and signs of the apostolic age were clearly and overtly
miraculous. Even the opponents of the gospel could not refute the miracles
of the apostolic age. But today's "signs and wonders" cannot be verified
even by those who are neutral or friendly to the movement. A detailed
comparison with specific individual gifts shows an amazing lack of
similarity between the New Testament gifts and the modern "charismatic"
gifts.
The gift of healing. The New Testament gift of healing is a specific gift to an
individual enabling him to heal. It is not to be confused with healing performed
by God in answer to prayer. New Testament healings include those with verifiable
afflictions and handicaps such as the man who was crippled from birth (Acts
3:1-10). The healings were instantaneous, complete, and obvious to all. The man
crippled from birth had never walked, but he was instantly able to walk and jump.
The healings in the apostolic age never failed regardless of the faith of the
recipient. They did not depend on direct physical contact (5:15). There were no
preliminaries, healing meetings, or incantations. The healer merely stated to the
individual, even when the individual was unaware of the intention to heal
(3:1-10), something equivalent to the words, "In Jesus' name, stand up and walk."
The healings were usually in public, performed on unbelievers, and often en
masse.
The modern charismatic movement made little impact on the basis of speaking
in tongues alone. It was not until "healing" was added that the movement
began to grow in significant numbers.
Today's healers admittedly often fail. This is blamed on the lack of faith
of the sick rather than on the healer. The alleged healings are seldom
instantaneous or complete. They usually are not healings of objectively
verifiable illnesses; they often pertain to internal disorders such as
"emotional healing." Rather than being irrefutable, they are unverified or
even denied by those neutral. They involve healing meetings, preliminaries,
incantations, and usually repeated visits. They are not performed in the
streets, en masse, or at a distance. In a crowd they are usually performed
on only a select few. They are never performed on those who are not aware of the
"healer" or his intention to "heal."
There is little correspondence between modern-day charismatic "healings" and the
healings recorded in the New Testament. The differences are so vast that many of
today's healers are careful to point out that they do not have the gift of
healing, but are merely those to whom God often responds with healing. No one
heals today in such a way that it is clearly the New Testament gift of healing.
Exorcism of demons. The miraculous ability to exorcise demons directly also
needs to be differentiated from answers to prayer (James 5:14). The
exorcisms in Acts concerned those clearly recognized as "possessed,"
including a girl with a mantic gift (Acts 16:16-18). They were clearly
differentiated from those who were merely ill (5:16). They were not nebulous
cases of emotional problems such as "personality meltdown," frustration, tension,
the "demon of worry," the "demon of drugs or alcoholism," as is often the case in
alleged exorcisms today. Such can hardly be considered demonism in the New
Testament sense.
The New Testament instances of exorcism never failed, were without
preliminaries, were instantaneous, were usually performed in public, often
en masse, usually on unbelievers, and in the case of the mantic girl (Acts
16:16-18) apart from any cooperation of the demonized. Today's "exorcisms"
often fail, often require repeated sessions, are usually unverified as
demonism, are never en masse, seldom if ever occur in public, and are only
on the cooperative "faithful." Many cases are similar to common psychiatric
or religious counseling sessions that are claimed to be "demon exorcism."
This is not to suggest that genuine cases of demon possession may not exist. The
point is that merely claiming to exorcise demons gives no evidence that one is
actually doing so.
Raising the dead. Dorcas had been dead for some time when Peter apart from
fanfare instantaneously raised her (Acts 9:40). The incident regarding
Eutychus (20:7-12) concerns a boy who fell three stories and was dead. Paul
with no fanfare pronounced him alive. In the apostolic age with all the
miracles, exorcisms, healings en masse, and so on, there are only these two
low-profile incidents of raising the dead. This action was apparently rare
even for the apostles. There is no reason to expect this today. No
modern-day "raising of the dead" has been verified. Wimber refers to a man
who fell, hit his head, was apparently unconscious for three minutes, and
"came to" with a bump on his head. After Wimber and others prayed the bump
eventually went away. This is incredible, not as a miracle, but that anyone
would consider this as a possible raising of the dead. Would anyone have
been convinced by such a "miracle" that Jesus was the Son of God or that the
apostles represented God?
The gift of tongues. The nature, purpose, and other characteristics of the
gift of tongues, including a complete exegetical discussion and refutation
of the concept of private or devotional tongues is included elsewhere. The
tongues of the apostolic age were genuine miracles, since they were the
ability to speak previously unlearned foreign languages, rather than the
"charismatic tongues" of today, which can easily be duplicated. The only
passage describing the nature of tongues speaking is Acts 2:4-11, where they are
definitely languages. Peter stated that the tongues-speaking in Cornelius's house
(10:46) was the same as on the day of Pentecost (11:17). And there is no reason
to assume the instance in Acts 19:6 was different. Since 1 Corinthians 14
repeatedly states that the tongues-speaking in Corinth was in an assembly of
believers, why then was it mysterious and why was there lack of understanding? It
was because the believers did not understand the foreign languages of the
tongues-speakers. The mystery was not because the tongues in 1 Corinthians
differed in nature from the tongues in Acts.
New Testament tongues were verifiable foreign languages. The term glw'ssa
means "language" and is never used for ecstatic speech. By contrast, today's
"tongues" have never been verified as actual languages. All objective studies by
impartial linguists indicate that they do not have the characteristics common to
languages.
The New Testament gift of tongues is specifically said to be a sign for
unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22). This is how it functioned at Pentecost. All
instances were public, not private. The people who spoke in tongues in Acts (2:4; 10:46; 19:6) were not previously aware that
the ability or gift existed, and in Acts 10:46 and 19:6 the people were not
previously aware of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They could not have been
seeking or in any way exercising belief in such a gift, and yet they
received it. There is no indication that the New Testament speakers spoke in a
trance; they were in control of the phenomenon. Perhaps the most outstanding
contrast is usage. The gift of tongues in the New Testament functioned, as did
all the other gifts, for ministry to others (1 Cor. 12:1-30; 1 Pet. 4:10), rather
than primarily for the benefit of the speaker as in the modern charismatic
movement.
There is no similarity between today's tongues and the New Testament gift.
Today's charismatic proponents are wrong regarding the nature, purpose, use, and
every other aspect of tongues. There is no reason to assume merely on the basis
of their claim that they are correct in identifying their tongues-speaking—which
can easily be duplicated and is common to man—as the New Testament gift of
tongues.
Conclusion. The "charismatic gifts" of today are not similar to the New
Testament phenomena either in general perspective or in the details. There
is no evidence to conclude that they are the same; there is every reason to
conclude that they are not. The historical fact that the New Testament gifts
ceased long ago and the fact that there is no historical link whatever between
the charismatic phenomena and the New Testament gifts require the same
conclusion. The only remaining possibility for giving credence to the modern
charismatic claims would be to produce direct statements of Scripture that the
apostolic phenomena will always be present in the church, or that they will
specifically be in the modern church despite their cessation through most of
church history. Even if this were produced, there must also be evidence that the
charismatic phenomena are somehow the same phenomena referred to in the passages.
However, there is no specific biblical evidence such as this. There is no
biblical statement that requires a denial of historical fact or that requires an
equation of such dissimilar entities merely on the assertion of the proponents.
All objective evidence is contrary to the charismatic claims. It is not
sufficient to assert that by faith their claims must be taken contrary to the
evidence. This is existential naivetT, not faith. Faith is trust in biblical
evidence rather than in experience.
Biblical Evidence For Cessation
No Bible verse specifically states that tongues, signs, and wonders will
continue throughout the Church Age. Nor is there a verse that specifically
states they will cease at the end of the apostolic age. However, this does not mean that one cannot take a position on this
issue. Many doctrines, such as the Trinity, are not directly stated but are
derived from the study and correlation of passages of Scripture. There are
several indications in the Scriptures that the gifts of tongues, healing,
and miracles (signs and wonders) will not continue. The charismatic movement in
all its forms rests not on exegetical evidence that the gifts will continue, but
on the assumption contrary to history that since they occurred in the apostolic
age they should also occur today. The foundation for this assumption is
nonexistent.
The New Testament church was not characterized by power and miracles as the
charismatics assume. It was characterized by the problems addressed in the
epistles (including, e.g., the problems that beset the Corinthian church)
and the problems of the churches described in Revelation 2 and 3. Miracles
were performed with very few exceptions only by the apostles (Acts 2:43;
5:12). Those who "turned the world upside down" were the apostles, not the
churches as a whole. The charismatics assume that the church today should be like
their imaginary church. They assume that the entire church today should be able
to do all the apostles did in the New Testament.
If the church as a whole had performed miracles, it is only an assumption,
apart from evidence, that this should be true today. This assumption is not
interpretation. The assumption that the miraculous events recorded in the
Book of Acts should occur today is "a distinct hermeneutic, a distinctively
Pentecostal manner of appropriating the Scriptures." This development of
theology on the basis of narrative rather than on direct teaching of
Scripture is always a precarious methodology.
General biblical evidence. Moses performed a series of miracles. However,
they did not continue throughout the Old Testament nor were other believers
expected to do the same. The Old Testament prophets occasionally performed
miracles, but Israel in general was not expected to do so, nor did the
miracles continue throughout Israel's history. The fact that some
individuals on special occasions in biblical history performed miracles did
not result in others doing the same or in a continuity of those miracles. So
there is no reason to assume that since the apostles and a few members of the
early church performed miracles, they are to be expected today.
Specific biblical evidence. In addition to evidence from history there is
also specific biblical evidence that certain gifts were temporary. The term
"apostle," commonly used in ancient times in the sense of "representative," in a few passages describes representatives of a
local church. This is not the New Testament gift of apostleship. Nor can
this term, contrary to its normal meaning and contrary to the New Testament
descriptions, be equated with the modern missionary merely on the basis of
etymology. The only individuals in the New Testament who clearly possessed
the miraculous gift of apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and could perform
miracles as required of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12) were the Twelve and Paul.
Perhaps Barnabas and James can be included. Almost every branch of the
church, including most Pentecostals, has held that apostles in this sense
have not continued in the church. The charismatic reliance on the narrative
of Acts is often avoided when defining "apostles" or "prophets," as too
restrictive. These gifts can be precisely delineated, however. Imprecise use of
Scripture is a common failing among charismatics. No matter how one tries to
broaden the term "apostle," there is little doubt that apostles such as the
Twelve and Paul did not continue. If they did not, then all things are not as
they were in the New Testament church, all miraculous gifts did not continue as
in the beginning church, and at least one gift in the New Testament did not
continue.
In addition the New Testament sets standards for an apostle that preclude
the continuance of this gift. Not only must an apostle be able to perform
miracles (2 Cor. 12:12), not only was the early church very careful about
granting anyone, even Paul, the title of "apostle" (Gal. 2:1-10), but also
an apostle must have seen the resurrected Lord (1 Cor. 9:1-2; Acts 1:22-26). Paul
explicitly stated that he was the last one to see the resurrected Lord (1 Cor.
15:8), and he specifically connected this fact with his apostleship. This
requirement for apostleship refers to genuine appearances of the resurrected
Christ and not to "visions." There have been no resurrection appearances since
the apostolic age. Paul clearly stated that the last appearance was to him.
(Revelation 1:12-18 refers to a vision, and is not an appearance of the
resurrected Lord in bodily form on earth.) Therefore apostles in the sense of the
Twelve and Paul cannot occur today.
When Paul wrote that all gifts were given to the church (1 Cor. 1:7) and
benefited the church, he did not mean that all believers were apostles or performed miracles, but that the apostolic, miraculous
ministry was experienced by and benefited the Corinthian church. Paul wrote
in Ephesians 2:20 that the apostles and prophets are the foundation for the
universal church. This at least implies that they were only for the
beginning, and this accords with the other specifics mentioned above. Since
"apostle" in the full sense of the gift was only a temporary gift and did
not continue in the church, the biblical precedent is established that some
gifts given in the apostolic age did not continue and were only temporary.
It is contrary to Scripture to assume that all gifts and all happenings of
the apostolic church are to continue and to be expected in today's church.
Since the ones who performed the miracles were only in the beginning church, it
is logical that the miracles themselves were only for the apostolic age. Since
the ability to perform such miracles was evidence of apostleship (2 Cor. 12:12),
then with rare exceptions others could not have performed such signs and wonders,
and they would not continue when the apostles ceased. In addition to this
implication the temporary nature of miracles is directly supported by Scripture.
Mark wrote that the apostles went forth in accord with the Lord's instructions
and preached (aorist tense) everywhere and the Lord confirmed their word with
signs. This is all placed in the past at the time of Mark's writing (Mark 16:20;
the time of the present participle is relative to the past tense of the main
verb). The same is true in Hebrews 2:3-4, which says miracles were performed by
eyewitnesses of the Lord (apostles), and were performed by God to confirm the
word of the eyewitnesses. All this was past at the time Hebrews was written (the
main verb is past tense and the participle is relative in time to the main verb
"was confirmed"). In both cases the signs, wonders, and miracles are referred to
as being in the past at the time of writing; they were not referred to as
occurring at that time. In both passages miracles were performed by the apostles
(eyewitnesses) and are described as intended by God as evidence to authenticate
the apostles' preaching.
James 5:14 does not instruct the sick to look for a healer or for someone
with the ability to heal. Rather it instructs the sick to call for the
elders and they are to pray for him. This is basically in accord with the
procedure in noncharismatic churches, but is in direct contrast to what
would be expected if the gift of healing were available for believers.
Either the gift was not to be used to heal believers, or the only other
option is that it had ceased.
Conclusion. There is ample biblical evidence that the miraculous gifts
ceased with the apostolic age. To assume that such gifts are permanent is
contrary to the Scriptures in general and to the biblical precedent that
some gifts such as full apostles of the Lord definitely ceased. History is
against the charismatic claims. The dissimilarity between the New Testament
gifts and the alleged gifts of the charismatics also contradicts their
claims. The assumption that because these gifts existed in the apostolic age they
should also exist today is a gratuitous assumption contrary to objective
evidence. It is also an assumption contrary to scriptural principles and specific
biblical evidence. There is no teaching in Scripture that the church should look
for such miraculous gifts, nor are they referred to in the passages discussing
the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-18), the
life of faith (Eph. 5:18; Col. 3:12-17), and requirements for church leaders (1
Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9) as necessary for the believer to lead a spiritual life.
Characteristics That Refute Charismatic Claims
Various present-day forms of the charismatic movement are offshoots of
Pentecostalism. All have the same basic ideology and all have arisen because of
the modern Pentecostal movement. The primary focus for the individual, no matter
how their theologians may describe it, is experiential. Many people in the
charismatic movement emphasize the miraculous nature of this experience seemingly
for personal benefit more than service to others.
Theological Associations
In Pentecostalism the doctrine of Christian perfectionism assumed a specific form
in the inaccurate concept of a postconversion crisis experience, a "second
blessing." This teaching with its concept of an effusion of power from the Holy
Spirit resulted in the expectancy of and search to obtain overt "power" as
described in Acts.
The movement crosses all theological boundaries. Speaking in tongues is
present in non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and in
cults such as Mormonism. Healing, miracles, and exorcisms are also common in
non-Christian religions. In conventional Christian circles the charismatic
movement includes Protestants and Roman Catholics, liberals and conservatives,
and individuals in many denominations. Those who believe in the inspiration of
the Bible, justification by faith, and many other doctrines—as well as those who
do not—are also involved.
Questionable Theology
The concept of the "second blessing" or "baptism or fullness of the Spirit"
presupposes that while Jesus' death on the cross paid for sin, it is
insufficient to empower for service, to enable one to be spiritual, or to
give effectiveness in prayer. This differs drastically from the teaching of
the New Testament. The view that only those who speak in tongues have real
communication with God is contrary to the biblical teaching that all
believers have full access to God. Romans 8:26 states that all believers are
helped in prayer by the Spirit with inaudible, non-uttered, internal groanings.
The tongues movement presupposes that communication with the spiritual realm is
more direct when it is apart from the mind. Such a concept, though found in
various religions, is contrary to biblical Christianity. This emphasis on a level
of communication that bypasses the mind and is not direct communication from the
believer to God is a dangerous teaching. This interest in "supernatural" events,
not primarily as convincing signs but as the daily experience of believers that
supposedly places them in contact with the supernatural, is dangerous. This
middle-level, spirit realm, called the "excluded middle," is an area of
charismatic emphasis.
The emphasis on experience, particularly in this level above the rational,
often results in emphasizing "experience" over Scripture. In a recent
nationally televised program on the subject of televangelism several
charismatically oriented evangelists appealed to the "call" as the license
for a sinning preacher to continue his ministry. They made no appeal to the
Scriptures.
Similarities To Non-Christian Religions
The modern-day charismatic movement is disturbingly similar to practices
common in paganism, while at the same time it lacks correspondence to
biblical miracles. Trancelike states and communications on a level apart
from the mind are common in paganism. An emphasis on physical healing and
exorcism for the benefit of adherents is common. The experience of a power
or force "overcoming" the participants is similar to pagan practice. The
bizarre and often wild practices of early Pentecostalism seem similar to
pagan religion.
The idea of contact and interest in the spirit world, the "excluded middle"
between God and man, is also common to pagan religions.
The Effects Of The Movement
All groups and doctrinal persuasions of Christendom have experienced
theological and moral problems with both their leaders and laymen. As other
Christians have experienced, so a number of charismatic leaders have led
lives that are morally or ethically contrary to Scripture. If not more
common, this is at least as common as among noncharismatics. Therefore it
may be safely concluded that all the alleged miracles and so-called
tongues-speaking have not produced any genuine spiritual advance over
noncharismatics. It has produced enthusiasm for the miraculous, but this is
not to be equated with spirituality.
All these supposedly miraculous events have produced no advance in biblical
knowledge or spiritual living. The basic doctrines common to the movement
are not original with charismatics. Their main claim to biblical knowledge
is the assumption that the current church should be like the early church.
Since the movement has not produced more spiritual believers or any advance
in biblical or theological knowledge, what has it accomplished? Is it not
amazing that a movement that claims to have restored power for service,
ability to communicate with God more than others have, ability for
self-edification, power to heal and perform other miracles, and ability to
prophesy and receive direct revelation, has produced no significant advance
in spirituality or in biblical or theological knowledge? Is it not
inconsistent that a movement which claims to be in direct contact with the
Holy Spirit, to have all gifts such as prophecy, apostleship, and the word
of knowledge, to communicate directly with God by tongues-speaking and other
means, can at the same time include Roman Catholics, conservative and liberal
Protestants, amillennialists, premillennialists, Calvinists, Arminians, those who
deny the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and those who reject Christ's vicarious
atonement on the cross?
Apparently the Holy Spirit is not concerned with communicating any
information to correct all these differences, many of which are crucial and
some of which are incorrect. All this direct communication with the Spirit
has apparently done nothing to correct even basic errors. It has not even
produced unity among charismatics regarding the nature and purpose of many
of the gifts. This movement has solved no theological issue, produced no
advance in biblical knowledge, and has not produced more spiritual
Christians. Would such an effusion of the genuine Spirit of God produce so
little? Other than enthusiasm there seems to be no spiritual advantage to this movement and the noncharismatics are not missing out on any genuine
spiritual benefit. On the negative side the movement has split churches, and
through its televangelists the movement has had one of the most significant
negative impacts on the testimony of the church in recent history. These
characteristics are evidence that the charismatic phenomena are not the New
Testament phenomena, that the genuine gifts are not present.
Conclusion
In every attempt to prove that the New Testament gifts exist today, the
charismatic movement fails. The objective evidence of history and lack of
correspondence with the New Testament indicate that the genuine miraculous
gifts ceased and have not reoccurred. Biblical evidence indicates that these
gifts ceased with the apostolic age. The theological associations and results of
today's so-called miraculous gifts are contrary to gifts given by God. The
movement has not produced Christians who are more spiritually mature, as would be
expected of a genuine occurrence of the New Testament gifts. Apparently a
Christian experiences no spiritual loss by not becoming involved in the
charismatic movement.
On the other hand there is a dangerous similarity to non-Christian
practices, there is a dangerous interest in supernatural phenomena that give no
evidence of being from God, and there is a disturbing interest in the spiritual
world somewhere between God and man. Since evidence points to the cessation of
the miraculous gifts in the apostolic age, no one can be confident that the
charismatic phenomena are from God. Since believers are warned to avoid contact
with the intermediate spiritual world and since they should do only what they are
confident God approves, no one should experiment in the realm of the charismatic
phenomena.
Author
Thomas R. Edgar Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis Capital Bible Seminary, Lanham, Maryland.
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Return to the Charismatic Movement Index
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