In this post I would like to look at some evidence for the continuance of the gifts of the Spirit. I would like to look at Scriptural evidence first and then proceed to historical.
The first passage I would like to quote in defense of the continuance of the gifts is a much contested one. That is Mark 16:17-18. This whole portion of Mark from verses 9-20 is questioned, because not only does it not occur in some manuscripts, but some have a shorter ending in its place and some have both endings showing that the copyist knew of both and unable to decide put both in. Clearly there was a papyrus roll of Mark floating around with no ending at all at some point which lead to problems for scribes. One Armenian manuscript ascribes these verses to Ariston, possibly Aristion the disciple of John. There is no way at this point in time to conclusively prove or disprove Mark's authorship. However, I submit this:
- They are dated by almost all to at latest 100 AD and so fall within Apostolic times
- We accept John 21:24-25, Numbers 12:3, and a few other verses believed to have been added shortly after the writer wrote the book to also be inspired. If this passage was not written by Mark, but was penned by someone like Aristion, or another one who had heard this portion of Christ's words from an apostle than there is no reason to reject it.
- If it is the Word of God it will stand whether we reject it or not. The children of Israel's unbelief did not make God's promise of no avail but it did keep them out of the land. The disbelief of any portion of God's Word will not damage it, but it will shut us out from the promises and comfort contained in it.
With that in mind here is Mark 9:17-18:
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.
May I suggest that if it were not for what this portion of Scripture teaches it would have been much more readily accepted. Now I inquire do these signs really follow those that believe? For those that believe it, they do. In the instance of laying hands on the sick and their recovery there are scores of men throughout church history who saw this. I will mention a few examples of this and other miraculous manifestations later.
Looking at a few more passages, we come to Peter on the day of Pentecost.
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." (Acts 2:38-39). The promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is for all who are called of God. This is the promise of the Father Christ told the apostles to wait for that was manifested by their speaking in tongues.
As we already saw in our post on 1 Cor. 14, Paul desired all the believers to speak in tongues, but even more he desired them to also enter into prophecy (1 Cor. 14:5). He also wrote to the Thessalonians to not despise prophecies, but to test all things and hold fast to the good (1 Thess. 5:20-21).
Reading these verses alone you would find no hint that the gifts of the Spirit were ever to cease. The only passage of Scripture which alludes at all to the cessation of prophecy and other gifts is 1 Cor. 13:8-13.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The bone of contention in this passage lies with what the perfect is in this passage – the canon of Scripture or Christ's return in glory. Applying this portion Scripture to the canon of Scripture is probably one of the sorriest pieces of eisegesis done in modern times. It is equivalent to doing to this text what God threatened to do to Jerusalem in 2 Kings 21:13 – wiping it clean and turning it upside down! Why do I say this?
- Do we now see Him face to face? If we do not then we are still in partial knowledge not full.
- Do we know as we are known now? Then we are not yet in the time of cessation.
That these verses were understood of the second coming of Christ and not the canon of Scripture until comparatively recently is clear from even a cursory glance at the writings of those who have gone before from a wide spectrum of believers. Gill, Wesley, Clarke and Barnes all refer this to the saints in heaven and second coming not the canon. Going back to the earliest possible commentary on this passage we come to a lost work by an anti-montanistic write quoted by Eusebius, the Church historian:
And again after a little he says: "For if after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they assert, the women with Montanus received the prophetic gift, let them show who among them received it from Montanus and the women. For the apostle thought it necessary that the prophetic gift should continue in all the Church until the final coming. But they cannot show it, though this is the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla."
The editor of the translation of the fathers I took this from (Philip Schaff) confesses ignorance as to what passage this writer refers to, but notes that the term "the apostle" without a name following referred to Paul in the early church. Clearly though this writer interpreted the perfect of 1 Corinthians 13 as referring to the second coming and argued in essence that since the Montanists had lost the gift they were not the true Church. It should be noted while we are on the subject of the Montanists, who are often claimed as the forerunners of Pentecostals by our opponents, that the Montanists were not condemned for prophesying, but for their manner of doing it. They gave their prophecies often in ecstacy, involuntarily, under compulsion. The Church condemned this because as Paul had written, "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Cor. 14:32). The Church at this time had some prophets of its own and clearly believed that there would be some in it until Christ returned.
Having thus shown I from Scripture why I believe the gifts should continue, I would like to look at a few examples of some of the gifts in history. Before I do this I should mention a little concerning how I evaluate miracles that I read of in history. There are many tales of miracles in some of these early works, some of which are, frankly, incredible and absurd. Miracles if done by the Spirit of God must be governed by Scripture. This is as true for ones done a thousand years ago as for ones done today. So here are my criteria for evaluating miracles.
- Since the Comforter does not bear witness to Himself or to the one working the miracle, but rather to Christ any genuine miracle should do so. Peter and Paul both refused any honor for the miracles they worked and pointed to Christ (Acts 4:10; Acts 14:8-18). Any miracle done in the name of a saint or another god, is a lying wonder. Also if the result of the person's miracles tend to produce a cultish following of him rather than of Christ which he does nothing to correct then the source should be questioned.
- The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyman for his profit. The miracles recorded should be done for a specific good reason. Healings may glorify Christ and vindicate the Gospel, but that is not the primary purpose. The purpose of a healing is seeing one afflicted by disease recover. This is why the gifts flow from love. Many of Christ's miracles were wrought specifically out of compassion. On the other hand He steadfastly refused to work miracles as a proof of His ministry. His miracles validated His ministry, but that was not the primary purpose. True miracles should always be worked for the good of the recipient. Flashy, showy manifestations that do little good to anyone, but draw attention to the one doing them are not of God.
- Does it seem plausible or is it a fabulous and absurd miracle which is likely legendary? This one is subjective and thus the least reliable of my criteria. I do try as reading various accounts of men to discern if the said miracle is plausible on many I doubt it and on many others I merely cannot state with any confidence one way or the other.
I will try in this following section to state a few that I believe meet both my criteria and which I also consider plausible. Of course if someone is convinced that miracles have ceased, they will not find them very plausible, but I leave it up to the reader to weigh each case I give himself.
Examples of Prophecy
I quote my first from the Life of St. Columban written by the monk Jonas in the 7th Century.
In the meantime the compact of peace which Theuderich and Theudebert had made was broken, and each one, priding himself on the strength of his followers, endeavored to kill the other. Then Columban went to king Theudebert and demanded that he should resign his kingdom and enter a monastery, in order not to lose both earthly crown and everlasting life. The king and his companions laughed; they had never heard of a Merovingian on the throne, who had voluntarily given up everything and become a monk. But Columban said, if the king was not willing voluntarily to undertake the honor of the priestly office, he would soon be compelled to do it against his will. After these words the holy man returned to his cell ; but his prophecy was soon verified by events. Theuderich immediately advanced against Theudebert, defeated him near Zülpich, and pursued him with a great army. Theudebert gathered new forces and a second battle was fought near Zülpich. Many fell on both sides, but Theudebert was finally defeated and fled.
At that time the man of God was staying in the wilderness, having only one attendant, Chagnoald. At the hour when the battle near Zülpich began, Columban was sitting on the trunk of a rotten oak, reading a book. Suddenly he was overcome by sleep and saw what was taking place between the two kings. Soon after be aroused, and calling his attendant, told him of the bloody battle, grieving at the loss of so much human blood. His attendant said with rash presumption: "My father, aid Theudebert with your prayers, so that he may defeat the common enemy, Theuderich." Columban answered: "Your advice is foolish and irreligious, for God, who commanded us to pray for our enemies has not so willed.. The just Judge has already determined what He wills concerning them." The attendant afterwards enquired and found that the battle had, taken place on that day and at that hour, just as the man of God had revealed to him.
Theuderich pursued Theudebert, and the latter was captured by the treachery of his followers-and sent to his grandmother, Brunhilda. She, in her fury, because she was on Theuderich's side, shut him up in a monastery, but after a few days she mercilessly had him murdered.
I leave the plausibility of this to the reader, but just to help those who are unfamiliar with the events I will state that politically and personally Columban was far more disposed to the king killed than the victor. There is more in the life relating to Columban's prophetic ministry but I leave only this sample. Notice that he is not presented in this tale as one who can change what God has ordained should he wish it, but only as a messenger of what God has already decreed, that is a large part of the prophetic ministry. Sometimes they can intercede, but at other times the decree has already been set.
Next I would like to consider the case of Savonarola. He is a fairly controversial figure who clearly had his faults. He prophesied repeatedly that he had seen judgment coming upon Italy and Rome. After Florence tired of him they had him executed in 1498. In the next 30 or so years following took place the Italian wars, including the sacking of Rome in 1527. This particular sacking is viewed by historians as a far worse one then Rome had seen even by the Vandals and Goths. The whole of Italy was thrown into turmoil during this period. Micah's prophecy that Jerusalem would be like a plowed field, was not fulfilled far later than 30 years after it was given, so the time frame can hardly be used to discredit Savonarola.
Last in my sample, which is by no means exhaustive, is mentioned in George Fox's auto biography concerning the fire of London:
The people of London were forewarned of this fire; yet few laid to heart, or believed it; but rather grew more wicked, and higher in pride. For a Friend was moved to come out of Huntingdonshire a little before the fire, to scatter his money, and turn his horse loose on the streets, to untie the knees of his trousers, let his stockings fall down, and to unbutton his doublet, and tell the people that so should they run up and down, scattering their money and their goods, half undressed, like mad people, as he was sign to them; and so they did, when the city was burning.
Examples of Healings
Without going into too many details as my post is getting fairly long now a few men who were noted for laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover were. St. Anskar (also spelled Ansgar), and St. Bernard (very interesting in that he mentions his own miracles as apparently provoking amazement in himself as well as on lookers) are two candidates for the continuance of healing.
Examples of Speaking in Tongues
There are several possible references to speaking in tongues in the lives of various men of God, but usually they are vague enough that it is hard to state with certainty. John Calvin wrote to Beza concerning his having awoken and found himself speaking in a barbarous language. Charles Finney had an experience in which he felt infilled the Holy Spirit and bellowed unutterable gushings from his soul. Both of these could easily refer to tongues though proof is another matter.
Time and space constraints limit me somewhat in this work on miracles in history. Let me merely add for those willing to do more searching, Charles Spurgeon several times manifested what Pentecostals would call words of knowledge in his pulpit ministry. Speaking in tongues and prophecy were sometimes reported among early Methodists, Quakers, Anabaptists and others.
I intend to write another post soon on why every Christian must logically believe in some measure of divine revelation to an individual, but I'll close this post with a quote from my namesake who was executed as an Anabaptist heretic at Graz in 1534, as his confession of faith he gave the Apostle's Creed with this addition, "We believe also, that there is a Christian church, in which the Holy Spirit has His work." To which I say, "Amen."
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