Charismata Ceased in 1st Century?

Recently I published some thoughts on the "charismata," and how it is my belief that the "strict cessationist" view is incorrect. One of the integral elements of this view avows that the "charismata" came to an abrupt end "in the first century." This view is a derivative of the erroneous view that tries to make "that which is perfect is come," in I Corinthians 13, to be the completion of the bible, or the completion of the writing of the Book of Revelation, about A.D. 95, which it does not, of course, but rather refers to the coming of the "perfect day," or to the second coming of Christ.

If the "completed canon" of the bible is what is referred to in that passage, then the date is fixed. A.D. 95 marks the date when all the charismatic gifts in the church just suddenly "ceased." This is not only absurd, and unscriptural, but also against plain facts of history.

Recently I read a statement by Phil Johnson where he made the statement (at pyromaniacs) that the charismatic gifts ended "in the first century." I thought about leaving him a comment to correct him, but thought, "what's the use, seeing how I have been treated before at pyromaniacs by Frank and Dan?" Is it historically and literally true that the charismatic gifts suddenly "ceased" in A.D. 95?

Read the following historical information from my friend Billy on his blog yesterday.

"John MacArthur, like so many Dispensationalists, insists that there were only three periods in history when signs and wonders occurred. In his book The Charismatics, he wrote, "Essentially the numerous other Charismatics say that what happened during New Testament times should be the norm throughout the church's history. Many state that everything in the New Testament that was miraculous, remarkable, and characterized by supernatural manifestation should be normative for all of the church age, including today."

I can use MacArthur's views on this subject since he has not wavered from his position since the time he wrote that book. Perhaps some Charismatics have made comments that the miraculous should be the "norm" throughout the Church age, but "norm" does not accurately describe the miraculous. What Charismatics and Pentecostals mean by "norm" is that those signs and wonders did not pass away with the first century Church.

MacArthur continued, "According to Scripture, miracles occurred in three major periods: the days of Moses and Joshua, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Christ and the apostles. Each of these periods lasted something less than one hundred years, but in each period there was a proliferation of miracles. Miracles were the norm."

Is that so? In his book 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity, Eddie Hyatt has investigated these claims and found that signs and wonders did not cease with the first century apostles. What do men like MacArthur do with such evidence of the early Church fathers which clearly contradicts what he is propagating?

Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue With Trypho, claimed, "For the prophetical gifts remain with us even to the present time . . . [and that] Now it is possible to see among us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God." In The Second Apology of Justin, he writes, "For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men."

What do we do with this? Justin Martyr lived A.D. 100-165, well after the death of the last apostle! But the miraculous does not stop there.

Irenaeus (A.D. 125-200) wrote, "For some do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have been thus cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe, and join themselves to the Church. Other have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions and utter prophetic expressions. Others still heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole."

He also noted that "the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number of gifts which the Church throughout the whole world has received from God in the name of Jesus Christ." Is this some residual left over from the age of the apostles, or was the Holy Spirit still manifesting His sovereign works even into the second century? We believe the latter.

If all we had were the witnesses of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, MacArthur's claim would still be contradicted by history. But there is so much more! For the sake of brevity, I will only quote five other men from church history.

Tertullian wrote, "Let Marcion then exhibit, as gifts of his god, some prophets such as have not spoken by human sense, but with the Spirit of God, such as have predicted things to come and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; let him produce a psalm, a vision, a prayer ~ only let it be by the spirit, in an ecstasy, that is, in a rapture, whenever an interpretation of tongues has occurred to him. Now all these signs are forthcoming from my side without any difficulty."

It is true that when Constantine wed the Church with the culture, and unregenerate people were forced to become Christians, there was a waning of spiritual manifestations. John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407) noted, "If anyone is trying or intending to corrupt a woman, there is no place, I suppose, that seems to him more suitable than the Church. And if anything is to be sold or bought, the Church appears more convenient than the market. Or if any wish to say or hear any scandal, you will find that this to be had here more than the forum without."

But we find evidence of the Spirit's work whenever and wherever the people were serving Christ Jesus with purity of heart. Though the Church had become corrupt, there were pockets of miracles in the midst of faithful believers. When Pope Innocent IV had informed Thomas Aquinas, "You see that the Church is no longer in an age in which she can say, 'Silver and gold have I none'" [Acts 3.6a], Aquinas responded, "It is true, nor can she say to the lame man, 'Rise up and walk'" [Acts 3.6b]. But note that the reason for this was not due to a withdrawal of the Holy Spirit's power (because He was done with His miraculous works in the Church); the Church had corrupted her ways, and He was not willing to work in the midst of corruption.

Bernard of Clairvaux (A.D. 1090-1153) was reported to have performed healings by the power of the Holy Spirit. "From all quarters sick persons were conveyed to him by the friends who sought from him a cure."
Martin Luther (A.D.1483-1546), when his colleague, Frederick Myconius, laid sick, said, "I command thee in the Name of God to live because I still have need of thee in the work of reforming the Church. The Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead but permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done because I seek only to glorify the Name of God." (He outlived Luther by two months.)
John Wesley (A.D. 1703-1791) recorded, "As it can be proved by abundance of witnesses that these cures were frequently (indeed almost always) the instantaneous consequences of prayer, your inference is just. I cannot, dare not, affirm that they were purely natural. I believe they were not. I believe many of them were wrought by the supernatural power of God." He also noted, "I do not recollect any Scripture wherein we are taught that miracles were to be confined within the limits either of the apostolic age or the Cyprian age, or of any period of time, longer or shorter, even till the restitution of all things."

And finally, George Whitefield (A.D. 1714-1770) records the following for our edification. Though these are not miracles, they represent expressions or reactions to the work of the Holy Spirit which one might find in a modern Pentecostal/Charismatic church during the revivals in his own day.

He wrote, "There were some instances of persons lying in a sort of trance, remaining perhaps for a whole twenty-four hours motionless, and with their senses locked up; but in the mean time under strong imaginations, as though they went to heaven and had there visions of glorious and delightful objects."

Hopefully, my friends, enough Church history has been recorded here in this one short post to convince you that miracles, signs, wonders, and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit have not passed away. Such things the Spirit of God is willing to do for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the drawing of sinners to the Gospel, and the building up of God's children.

Let's develop this further tomorrow, singling out the gifts of healings. I have commentary waiting in the wings by John Piper, Wayne Grudem, and Howard Ervin."

http://classicalarminianism.blogspot.com/2008/09/if-age-of-signs-wonders-ceased-someone.html


So, did the charismatic gifts "cease in the first century"? NO!