CIM Briefing Papers
C.I.M. #57
THE GIFT OF PROPHECY: IS IT FOR TODAY?
I. Introduction
According to their training manual, Mormon missionaries are
instructed that the first step to winning converts to their
faith is to create the need for a prophet. Ironically, there
are a growing number of evangelicals, some with impressive
academic credentials, that are saying something similar.
(See "Why Christians can still Prophesy." CHRISTIANITY
TODAY, Sept. 16, 1988.) "The gift of prophecy," these
advocates say, "should be revived as it was in the First
Century Church." What is noteworthy is that many of these
scholars formerly believed that the spectacular gifts, such
as prophecy, ceased near the end of the First Century.
II. Brief Statement of the View that Prophecy is for the Church
Today
A. The Uniformitarian Principle: Just as the spiritual
gifts (all of them) functioned in the early church so
should they function today. They would argue: "If
they were needed then, so they are needed today." They
would even go so far as to say that the reason the
church has failed to carry out the Great Commission is
because it neglected the supernatural gifts. They cite
evidence showing rapid church growth wherever all the
gifts of the Spirit are operational.
According to these teachers the gift of prophecy should
be exercised in local church bodies today as it was in
the early church. The gift of prophecy (as well as the
other "power gifts") did not cease when the last book
of the Bible was written, or after the deaths of the
Apostles. Rather, it was rarely seen during times of
spiritual decay and apostasy, or accounts were simply
not recorded (note: one writer, i.e., Jack Deere,
believes accounts of the prophetic gifts were even
suppressed). According to some in this camp, we are
now experiencing an outpouring of these gifts,
including prophecy, due to the nearness of a great
revival and Christ's return. Other advocates say they
are reappearing due to the recovery of truth about the
gifts (see Grudem's book).
B. There are Two Levels of Prophecy in the New Testament
1. The first is that exercised by the Apostles. Their
office and gift is in direct continuity to the
prophets in the Old Testament. They functioned as
God's mouthpiece. When they spoke prophetically
("Thus saith the Lord") it was the very words of
God; it was infallible and was to be obeyed (see
Deut. 18:15-19). Some of the revelations they
received from God (like the 39 books of the OT)
were written down and are universally applicable.
Hence the 27 books of the NT are likewise
infallible, authoritative and universally
applicable.
2. After Pentecost, and due the fulfillment of Joel
2:28 in Acts 2:17, all members of the Body, not
just the Apostles, could exercise the gift of
prophecy. However, when a non-apostle exercised
the gift the revelation was fallible and did not
come with the same authority. It was this use of
the gift that was being abused in the Corinthian
church (as well as tongues, a form of prophecy).
When an ordinary member of the Body exercises this
gift the prophecy comes from the same God of truth,
but in the process of human transmission it can
degenerate to a mistaken or distorted report of
that revelation. Grudem believes the gift is
exercised when a believer shares a message with the
Body he believes the Lord has spontaneously brought
to mind. This prophecy does not have to be obeyed
as it would if it had come from an Apostle, rather
it has to be weighted in the light of other
teachings. The purpose of these prophecies may be
to encourage, exhort to some action, or they may be
predictive (though fallible). They may come to a
believer through his thoughts, or via visions,
dreams, or by angelic visitation. Grudem, for the
most part, downplays the supernatural; for others,
it is emphasized. For example, the most popular
manifestation is when the gifted individual
receives a "word of knowledge" about someone in the
body. A name is called out followed by a prophecy,
usually the naming of an illness of which the
person will be shortly healed. (See the book: SOME
SAID IT THUNDERED for specific examples.)
III. The Controversy
Two important doctrinal issues are at stake:
A. The Sufficiency and Authority of Scripture
Does God speak propositionally (thoughts expressed in
words) today apart from the Bible? Since the
Reformation it has been the consensus among
protestants that God's revelatory activity ceased with
the last book of the New Testament. This doctrine was
known as sola scriptura ("the Bible alone."); Only
the 66 books of the Bible were the inscripturated
words of God and they alone had absolute authority.
B. The Nature of Our Mystical Relationship to Christ
(Illumination)
The believer's relationship with the person of Christ
is said to be at a mystical level. He speaks to us
and guides us through His Word as it is illumined by
the Holy Spirit. This illumination may take the form
of promptings, impressions, leadings, conviction,
etc., but does not come in verbal propositions. This
movement though, claims it can be propositional as
long as nothing contradicts what is already in
Scripture. It is revelation, they say, but is
personal and is not universally applicable, and
therefore, does not have absolute authority. Personal
guidance is seen at a new level as God may give
personal direction through visions, dreams, or from
the prophetic ministry of others in the Body.
IV. The Development of the Movement to Reinstitute the Gift of
Prophecy
A. The idea that God can speak through prophets today is a
resident idea of classical Pentecostalism (The First
Wave) from early in this century. It was also a belief
of the Charismatic Movement of the 70's (The Second
Wave) which swept through old line denominational
churches and even the Roman Catholic church. More
recently, the Vineyard Movement (also The Signs and
Wonders Movement, or the Third Wave) has argued for the
re-institution of the prophetic gifts more vigorously
through the publication of persuasive books containing
both argument and anecdote.
B. Major Spokespersons in the Current Movement
1. John Wimber, the founder and ipso facto bishop of
the Vineyard Movement, believes that for the church
to thrive and accomplish its task (The Great
Commission), all the spiritual gifts mentioned in
the NT should be operative in every worship
service. For a good overview of the Signs and
Wonders Movement see D.A. Carson's article: "The
Purpose of Signs and Wonders in the New Testament."
in POWER RELIGION, edited by Michael Scott Horton,
and, "An Appraisal of the Signs and Wonders
Movement." by Ken L. Sarles in BIBLIOTHECA SACRA,
Jan-Mar, 1988.
2. Wayne Grudem is a professor of New Testament at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and author of
THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND
TODAY. This book is probably the single most
influential source of the movement.
3. Jack Deere was formerly a professor at Dallas
Seminary. He is author of two books (listed below)
which argue persuasively for the reinstitution of
the "power gifts" in the Body of Christ. The books
tell of his own experiences that led to his change
of conviction.
4. The Kansas City Prophets are a group of men who
claim to be prophetically gifted and have attained
some notoriety from a best-selling book: SOME SAID
IT THUNDERED, by David Pytches. See also Chapter
8 of HOLY LAUGHTER AND THE TORONTO BLESSING, by
James A. Beverly.
V. The Case for the Revival of the Gift of Prophecy
A. The Eschatological Argument
"This is happening because we are living in the last
days." Those of a more classical Pentecostal
background, and those from the Charismatic Movement
argue that the increase in the prophetic gift is due to
the nearness of Christ's return. Indeed many of the
prophecies seem somehow related to this apocalyptic
event. Some have even predicted that there would be a
large out-pouring of Apostles in the end-times. This
seems to be logically consistent with the view that all
the gifts should be operational. If prophets, why not
apostles?
B. The Historical Argument
"The use of these gifts never ceased." Deere and others
argue that the gift of prophecy never completely ceased
throughout 2000 years of church history. Deere, in
SURPRISED BY THE VOICE OF GOD gives evidence of the use
of prophetic gifts among the leaders of the Scottish
Reformation. He even gives an example of the great
preacher, Charles Spurgeon, exercising the gift
(SURPRISED BY THE VOICE OF GOD, p.89).
C. The Argument from Experience
"I know God speaks prophetically today because I've
witnessed or experienced it." Most of the books (with
the exception of Grudem) by volume are filled with
contemporary anecdotes of the exercise of the "power
gifts." For advocates of this position, the experience
itself is powerful and overwhelming. By its very
nature, experience cannot be denied (because it's
personal). However, when a group has confirming
experiences it becomes a strong movement. The argument
would be thus: "Look how the church is growing. Look
how many people are being ministered to."
D. Exegetical Arguments (based on the original language of
the New Testament)
Grudem believes the gift of prophecy, when exercised by
an Apostle, was infallible. When an ordinary member of
the body exercised the gift, the result was fallible.
He believes this two-tiered view of the gift of prophecy
is supported by the following arguments:
1. Eph.2:20. God's household is "built on a foundation
of apostles and prophets." Grudem argues that the
Greek here can be taken as "apostles who are
prophets," or, as "apostle-prophets." He maintains
that this combination should be taken the same way
as in 4:11, where pastors and teachers are one
class, i.e., pastor-teachers. In other words, the
foundation equals just apostles, not one of apostles
and prophets.
2. The meaning of the word "prophet" in the NT had a
broad range of meanings. In the OT the word for
"prophet" was fairly specific; it implied "a person
who spoke the very words of God by supernatural
means." Grudem, however, believes the NT word for
"prophet" had a very broad range of meaning, and
this is why Jesus called His disciples Apostles and
not prophets. He believes "prophet" meant someone
who spoke according to an outside influence or was
simply a "spokesman."
3. In Acts 21:4ff. a prophet named Agabus and "some
others" gave a prophecy warning Paul not to enter
Jerusalem less he be bound by the Jews and delivered
to the Romans. Grudem believes that Paul perceived
that the prophecy was slightly inaccurate, and
therefore, disobeyed the command not to enter the
City. The error was in the agent of the binding.
It was the Romans and not the Jews. He concludes
that this is an example of a fallible NT prophecy.
4. According to I Cor. 14:30, one prophet could
interrupt another. Grudem believes that if this
were a prophet of the OT order, or an Apostle, you
would not dare interrupt the very words of God as
they were being spoken.
5. I Cor. 14:29 reads: "And let two or three prophets
speak, and let the others pass judgement." Grudem
believes "the others" refers in general to the Body,
and the fact that they could stand in judgement
indicated that it was not inspired, or infallible
prophecy.
6. In the OT a prophecy was prefaced by the formula:
"Thus saith the Lord." Grudem maintains that non-
apostolic prophecy did not come with this preface.
He also urges contemporary prophets not to say "This
is from the Lord" when they prophesy.
7. I Cor. 13:9-10. "For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the
imperfect disappears." Grudem believes "but when
perfection comes," can be translated "but when the
perfect comes," and, that this refers to the second
coming of Christ (as in the KJV and NASV). He thus
concludes that the prophetic gifts will not cease
until then and should be operative today.
VI. Response to Grudem
Some Observations:
A. Most of Grudem's above arguments are possible
interpretations. However, taken together they
represent the more abnormal or unusual way of
interpreting the Greek grammatical constructions. If
only one or two of his arguments were the unusual
reading, Grudem might have a strong case. The fact is,
nearly all of his renderings are the more irregular or
rare ones. It is our humble opinion that given the way
Grudem strains to conclude that there is a two-tiered
exercising of the gift of prophecy, that his (and
others) exegesis seems to be experience-driven. If it
is not driven by experience, it still seems forced.
B. In Grudem's first argument (#1 above) we believe he
misapplies the Granville Sharp rule to plural nouns
(for Greek students). Also, in the same epistle (4:11)
prophets are seen as definitely distinct from apostles.
He does however, conclude that only the Apostles were
the foundation of the church, and he believes the
office of Apostle was only for the beginning period of
the church. But why, in the light of his
interpretation of I Cor. 13:10? This appears to be
inconsistent. Why should the gift of Apostle not
continue until Christ's return? (See his argument #7)
C. He fails, in our opinion (#2 above), to demonstrate the
broad meaning of "prophet" as it is used in the NT. By
his definition of what a prophecy would be in today's
church, a testimony would qualify. If a person feels
led of the Lord to stand up in the Body and give a
testimony, that would appear to qualify as a prophecy
according to Grudem in his article in CHRISTIANITY
TODAY (see below).
D. The case of Agabus (#3 above) is a major point for
Grudem, and it is on this that his argument could stand
or fall. We feel the argument for Agabus giving a
fallible prophecy just does not hold. Earlier in the
book of Acts, the same prophet predicts a famine which
Luke notes is exactly fulfilled (see Acts 11:27ff.
Note that the writer specifically says he prophesied
"through the Spirit"). Agabus is not in error to say
the Jews bound Paul, when indeed it was the Romans who
actually did the binding, anymore than Peter would be
wrong to say that the Jews crucified Jesus even though
it was literally done by the soldiers (Acts 5:30). The
fact that seems to totally negate this argument is the
formula used by Agabus. "The Holy Spirit says" is the
"Thus saith the Lord" of the OT. The Holy Spirit is a
member of the Trinity! Note also that this is recorded
as Scripture. Why Paul did not obey the command not to
enter Jerusalem is a mystery, and Grudem is right to
bring it up. On the other hand, it is not our task to
defend the actions of the Apostles!
E. I Cor.14:29ff.(#4 above). Because the prophets could
interrupt each other does not necessarily mean that it
was prophecy of a lesser order. What the preceding
context shows is that the gift was under the control of
the prophets' will and not as the ecstatic gifts of the
pagans. Paul is simply saying that if a prophet is
from God, he will maintain conscious control of his
faculties. If it is from God, it can wait. That is
the force behind the command to speak in turn. If two
or three have already spoken he can wait until the next
meeting.
F. I Cor. 14:29 (#5 above). The "others" of this passage
could have just as easily been the other prophets or
those with the gift of discernment. It definitely fits
the context better. The force of the passage is then
that the prophets should judge each other. Remember,
false prophets were a major problem in the church. The
passage is not teaching that true prophets can give
false prophecy. Rather, the problem was false prophets
who, on occasion, gave true prophecy (I John 4:1).
G. I Cor. 13:10 (see #7). The meaning of the Greek word
for "perfect" here can just as easily be "maturity."
Paul is then saying that when maturity comes the need
for the gift will disappear. This is not a novel or
abnormal way to interpret the passage.
H. Paul is not commanding every one in the congregation to
seek additional gifts of tongues or prophecy in I Cor.
12:31; 14:4,5,39. The command is that the congregation
as a whole should seek the greater gifts that will
edify the body. Some of the writers who teach that the
"power gifts" are for today's church teach that
spiritual gifts are given sovereignly at salvation, yet
teach that gifts should be sought by individuals. This
appears to be contradictory.
VII. Other Questions and Concerns
A. If the gift is for today it seems strange that a
Sovereign Dispenser of gifts would cease giving a gift
to the church because the nature of the gift is
misconstrued. That is, some teach that the gift was
witheld during periods of apostasy and bureaucracy in
the church. The question is, why? It is during these
times when it was needed more than ever.
B. Grudem admits that his understanding of the degrees of
authority involved in prophetic utterances is somewhat
novel. Novelty in itself does not make it wrong. It
should raise red flags, however, when we are being
asked to reinstitute a gift that has great potential
to be divisive when the arguments based on exegesis
are nowhere near the unequivocal state.
Unfortunately, Grudem's book abounds in novel
interpretations.
C. According to this position, prophecy originates in a
revelation from the God of truth who cannot lie, but
in the process of human transmission the prophecy may
degenerate into an erroneous report of that
revelation. Why, we might ask, would God give someone
a revelation without a guarantee of faithful
communication? It raises a lot of other questions.
In particular, how is the listener to be guided into
truth? Is the hearer the final arbitrator? the elder
board? those in the body who have the gift of
discernment? How will we know if the discerners know?
How can a gift which is uncertain edify? If you add
to the written Word, do you not complicate the issue
by having multiple authorities as in the Catholic
church? (see briefing #49)
D. Luke, who wrote a large portion of the NT, was not an
apostle, yet we would assume he had a prophetic gift
to write Scripture. The writer of the Apocalypse was
the Apostle John (we assume), yet he does not invoke
his apostleship, and no one would question that he was
a prophet. Other writers of the NT were not
considered apostles either (Mark, James, Jude, and
possibly the author of Hebrews), yet by Grudem's
standards these books should not be seen as
authoritative.
E. Note that Paul includes himself among the prophets
mentioned in I Cor.13:9. Why would he do this if the
gift as exercised by non-apostles was inferior?
F. In some respects this view of revelation is
reminiscent of the Neo-orthodoxy that arose in Europe
following WWII. Major figures of this movement (Barth
and Brunner) taught a subjective and existential view
of revelation. The revelation came to man but man
could never communicate it exactly as given. Hence
the Bible was only a fallible record of revelation.
Those of the current movement to revive the gift of
prophecy seem to be saying something similar: "The
Word comes to man in an infallible manner, but the
prophet hears it imperfectly and can err in its
interpretation." One wonders why an omnipotent God
could not preserve it from error?
G. During the time of the Apostles, God performed mighty
miracles through them to authenticate their office and
authority (II Cor. 12:12). Could God do miracles
today? Yes, if He so chose. We must not be guilty of
putting God in a box. Likewise, He might choose to
use a saint on occasion to give an accurate prophecy
as He may have done during the Scottish Reformation or
through the great preacher Spurgeon. But we should
not conclude these men were prophets. The NT prophets
regularly practiced their gift in the Body.
H. Our final nagging question is: did this two-tiered
view of prophecy evolve to cover for the phenomenon of
fallible prophecy as it is exercised today? Did the
cart come before the horse? Did the experience come
before the mandate from the Word? Despite denials, it
seems so.
VII. Conclusion
The men who challenge the Church to revive the gift of
prophesy have good intentions. They want to see
significant growth in the Kingdom; they want to see
believers have a vital mystical relationship to Christ in a
materialistic age. They are not heretics, but they are
proposing major doctrinal shifts that we sincerely believe
will lead to confusion and dangerous consequences.
Regardless of the spectacular experiences being reported by
godly men, we must resist the temptation to satisfy our
spiritual thirst for anything other than the certainty of
the written Word of God.
For Further Study:
Alnor, William, and Lyle, Robert. "Newswatch." CHRISTIAN
RESEARCH JOURNAL, Fall, 1990, p. 5.
Armstrong, John H. ed. THE COMING EVANGELICAL CRISIS. See
Chapter 4, by E. Fowler White.
Deere, Jack. SURPRISED BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT.
Deere, Jack. SURPRISED BY THE VOICE OF GOD.
Edgar, Thomas G. SATISFIED BY THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT,
Farnell, F. David. "Is the Gift of Prophecy for Today." A
series of 4 articles in BIBLIOTHECA SACRA. July-Sept 1992,
Oct-Dec 1992, Jan-Mar 1993, and, April-June, 1993.
Gentry, Jr. Kenneth L. THE CHARISMATIC GIFT OF PROPHECY.
Grudem, Wayne A. ed. ARE MIRACULOUS GIFTS FOR TODAY?
Grudem, Wayne. THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND
TODAY.
Maudlin, Mark G. "Seers in the Heartland." CHRISTIANITY TODAY,
Jan. 14, 1991.
McWilliams, David B. "Something New Under the Sun." WESTMINSTER
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, #54, 1992, pp. 321-330.
Pytches, David. SOME SAID IT THUNDERED.
Thomas, Robert L. "Prophecy Rediscovered? A Review of the Gift
of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today."
BIBLIOTHECA SACRA. July-Sept., 1992.
Warfield, B.B. COUNTERFEIT MIRACLES.
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