THIS IS PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES ON THE GIFT OF PROPHECY. Click here for the rest of the series.

Continued from Part 1…

Objection 3: Gifts were needed to build the early church, but are no longer needed today.

According to objection 3, the gifts were integral to demonstrate the power of the Spirit through the early church, but is no longer necessary for today because the church has been established. Once the church was established, the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit present in individuals was not necessary for continued church growth. The strategy of God changed. This wouldn’t mean that the ability of God to heal had ceased, but the metering out of a gift through individuals ceased.

The strategy for church growth certainly did change as the church became one of the prime influencers in the culture of the 4th and 5th centuries. For the first 300 years, church growth was very grassroots. It was driven by person to person contact. This often did include powerful displays of the power of the Spirit, but also radical displays of love.

The fundamental shift in how the church spread was influenced by the European expansion. Rather than person to person, by the 7th and 8th century, the primary way a region was won to Christ was by winning the ruler of the area. The ruler, upon becoming a Christian, would generally enact a decree making Christianity the religion of the people. Pagans became Christian in name only.

However, this was not precipitated by a change in the how the Holy Spirit dispensed gifts. This was precipitated by the favor in the Roman empire for Christianity. The shift in expansion strategy happened due to the political climate of the church leading into the middle ages, not because something had dramatically changed about how the church in general saw the Holy Spirit moving. In fact, Augustine the Great, in the 4th century, basically claims that miraculous stories had become common place that no one remembered them anymore. They did not fade because they were not happening, they faded because they were so common.

Ephesians 4 tells us that the gifts will be in operation until a specific time. That time is laid out clearly:

Does the need still exist for unity of the faith? Are there inter-denominational disagreements about theological positions? Has the church become the “perfect man”? Have we attained the stature of the fullness of Christ within every believer? Are we still tossed to and fro by doctrinal disagreements?

Seems to me that all of these points Paul lays out as purposes for the gifts given by God to man still exist. There is no perfection within the church and we are still in desperate need of God today.

Objection 4: Prophecy is adding to scripture

The general argument goes something like this: the prophets of the Old Testament were infallible in their words and what they said were counted as the very words of God. So much so that their words have always been considered as the same level as scripture. If prophesying means to speak the very words of God then if someone today actually had a prophetic gift we would have to consider their words as authoritative as scripture.  They would be adding to the bible which the book of Revelation specifically warns us against. Also, if prophecy is speaking the very words of God, you would then have to be infallible in your prophetic utterances today. Any mistake would disprove your gift.

The problem with this comes in a misunderstanding of the nature of the gift of prophecy. Scripture does not even consider every prophetic utterance as infallible and the direct words of God that must be incorporated into the bible if they are uttered. A few examples are as follows:

Saul prophesied and it is not recorded what he said:

When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, ‘What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?’ Then a man from there answered and said, ‘But who is their father?’ Therefore it became a proverb: ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

1 Samuel 10:10-13

Timothy was prophesied over yet it is not in scripture

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

1 Timothy 4:14

It is recorded that the disciples at Corinth prophesied.

And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Acts 19:6

Scripture itself does not consider every prophecy as authoritative in and of itself.

In regards to the infallibility of prophecy, consider two examples from the ministry of Paul. The first being a prophetic word given by a recognized and respected prophet named Agabus in Acts 21:

And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”

Acts 21:10-11

This is about as authoritative a word as it gets. Agabus couches this as the direct words of the Holy Spirit. Consider the fulfillment of the prophecy later in the chapter:

And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.

Acts 21:30-33

The actual events as they played out do match exactly match what Agabus claimed the Holy Spirit spoke. Rather, there is room for interpretation. The Jews do not bind Paul, the Romans bind Paul. He is not delivered by the Jews to the Gentiles, but saved by the Gentiles from the Jews.

The most obvious and direct reason for Agabus’ interpretation of what he was shown was the concern over Paul’s well being. When Agabus shared the warning with Paul they expected a different reaction from Paul.

Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:12

What they interpreted as a warning, Paul saw the Holy Spirit advising him. The agency of man dilutes the actual message.

Another example from Paul’s voyage to Rome:

Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.

Acts 27:9-10

Paul claims prophetic perception of what is going to happen to them. He specifically states that there will be much loss of life. However, just a short while later, an angel appears and corrects his assumption:

But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.”

Acts 27:21-24

Paul’s assumption (as a man of God providing prophetic direction - he “perceived”) was mistaken.

We have already mentioned the example of Ignatius previously, so we will not retread ground there. Suffice it to say that Ignatius viewed his words as inspired by the Holy Spirit, but not akin to scripture. One other pertinent example is from Thomas Aquinas, the famous 13th century theologian. Thomas Aquinas, in commenting on the nature of prophecy in his work the Summa Theologica, allowed for two forms to exist: those that were the inspired utterances of the prophets in scripture and those that now direct the church:

Prophetic gifts continued into the time of the book of Acts and stretched at least until the time of Augustine in the 4th century when credible prophetic voices were found giving direction to the church. There are countless other examples of historical prophetic voices that we will cover at a later date.

The simple fact (that scripture and history bear out) is that the gifts of the Spirit have never ceased. No amount of twisting of scripture will convince me that they have. And again, the purview of this study is not to cover all the different nuances of the cessationist approach, but to give helpful information for those hoping to grow in their understanding of the spiritual gifts. In order to not be thrown to and fro by every wind of doctrine we must staunchly defend the unchanging nature of God and the revelation of his nature in scripture. The well from which you draw is vitally important to your continued growth. My prayer is that this well is a blessing to you.