robwilkerson.net

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 5

Friday, November 22, 2013

In the last post of this brief series I want to summarize what was discovered in the concise surveys presented in Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. I believe that when we start reading the Scriptures and take it at face-value that we cannot come to the conclusion that is known as cessationism.

I have attempted to do this with the subject of prophecy. And my face-value readings on this subject not only called into question the presuppositions I had about the gift itself, but eventually dissolved the very foundation of my belief in cessationism. Eventually it collapsed, giving way to new life growing in the cracks of the rubble which now laid upon the more secure foundation that God is still speaking to His people today like He always has.

A Summary of Differing Types of Prophecy

In summary, there's a qualitative difference in prophecy itself, isn't there?

There is prophecy that is canonical, that is, prophecy that resulted in the Scriptures we have today.

There is prophecy that is not canonical, which is not recorded in the Scripture, even though it occurred during the time the Scriptures were being written.

The first survey of texts indicated that a majority of the prophecy referred to in the Bible was never actually recorded in the Bible, and is therefore non-canonical.

The second survey of texts indicated that a great deal of prophecy was simply practical in nature, and therefore non-canonical. (And judging from what I see there, I personally make the assumption that it probably occurred more than we see in this short survey.)

And 1 Corinthians 14:3 indicates that there is a "one-anothering" type of prophecy that is simply a revelation of the Holy Spirit enabling one believer to strengthen, comfort, and encourage another believer.

Has ALL Prophecy Ceased Today?

Now, there are some cessationists who will argue that all types of prophecy have ceased and are no longer in operation for today. They argue that since doctrinal prophecy resulted in the canon of Scripture that all prophecy, even those of a "lesser" or different quality, including practical prophecy and "one-anothering" prophecy are also out of operation today and not valid. But here's my question: how does one come up with that arbitrary conclusion?

Think about it for a moment. If most of the prophecy in the Bible is non-canonical, and if a great deal of it is just practical and about loving one another, then why must these types of prophecy necessarily cease when the final book of the Bible was written? Does the Bible actually say that this will happen? No. It doesn't. Anywhere. At least, not until Jesus returns (1 Corinthians 1:7; 13:10).

So we have a significant confusion existing within the DNA of the cessationist's reasoning. They argue that prophecy is canonical in nature, when clearly it is not always the case. And they argue as a result of this faulty conclusion that no prophecy of any kind can exist anymore after the Bible is written. However, if we've proved the first conclusion is wrong, then the second conclusion falls as well. Follow the rationale here:

If the canon of Scripture is equal to prophecy...
...while prophecy is not always equal to the canon of Scripture...
then the completion of the canon of Scriptures means that doctrinal prophecy has ceased...
...while the completion of the canon of Scripture has virtually nothing to do with the cessation of practical prophecy and "one-another" prophecy, in the very least.

I recall being a cessationist once. Understandably, I argued from what I perceived to be a historical decline and cessation of these gifts. In other words, I didn't seem them any longer and I didn't see them really operating in the church history that I had personally read. So I concluded that the gifts were not for today. I read more church history and concluded otherwise.

On another plain of thought I also argued from Scripture. I argued from what I perceived to be a decline in these gifts in the New Testament times. In other words, I saw the gift of prophecy, in particular, declining in use as early church history progressed. So I concluded that the gifts were not for today.

The problem with both lines of thought - historical and exegetical - is that neither can be supported by the facts of Scripture itself, or history for that matter. I read more church history and found that my previous perceptions were incomplete. Prophecy has been happening since Pentecost. And I read my Bible a lot more and found that my previous perceptions about its history was also incomplete. The book of Acts ends with the miraculous kingdom in full swing with the prophetic, and the last book of the Bible written was itself one long prophecy.

Personal Conclusions

God is finished speaking in doctrinal prophecy. That much is true. This means I'm a reformed guy who sees Sola Scriptura and the sufficiency of Scripture as the bedrock of my faith. But God is not finished speaking in practical and one-another prophecy. This means I'm also a charismatic guy who sees the qualitative differences in the prophetic throughout the Bible that are plain enough for any person to see, regardless of theological background or exegetical training. The gift of prophecy is also a bedrock of the experience of my faith.

God hasn't finished speaking prophetically to His people for the simple reason that...

We still need literal directions from God to go places He wants us to go to help people come to Jesus.
We still need the Holy Spirit to predict things for us so that we, His people, can prepare ourselves to help and serve one another.
We still need the Holy Spirit to direct us in the mission Jesus has given us.
We still need the Holy Spirit to predict danger so that we can prepare or evade if, necessary.
And we still need the Holy Spirit to give us practical directions on the mission in general.

My conclusion is that...

...the Bible is not an encyclopedia or dictionary of

all the prophecy God has ever spoken to His people.

Instead, my conclusion is that

the Bible is a book of stories that provides

a trajectory for the kinds of practical and one-another prophecy

God will continue to speak to His people.

In the end, we should move beyond an argument about whether or not prophecy is for today.

It is.

And I think it's plain as to why it is.

I think it's plain for the simple reason that practical prophecy and one-another prophecy is not equal to Scripture.

I also think it's plain for the simple reason that Jesus promised us in John 10:27 that His sheep would hear His voice and follow Him.

We hear the voice of Jesus in the Holy Spirit. And we hear the Holy Spirit in Scripture and in prophecy. The latter doesn't in anyway outdo or trump the former. Practical prophecy and one-another prophecy is and never will be equal with doctrinal prophecy. But we always need the first two to elaborate on and apply the latter.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

About the Author: Rob is a follower of Jesus at Jubilee Church. From there he pursues Jesus' mission at Revive Consignment as the Business & Operations Development Director, as well as at Jubilee Church of Atlanta, in Woodstock, GA. From there he envisions and pursues missional-shaped business for the kingdom. He and his wife Sherri have been married for 20 years and together have three sons and a daughter. Rob believes the mission of the gospel is summed up in four simple phrases: know God, obey Jesus, make disciples, and plant churches. This is the pursuit of his life, as well as the point of his blog.

1 corinthians 14

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 4

Thursday, November 21, 2013

This brief blog series is about attempting to answer one important challenge from cessationism: prophecy is equal to Scripture. Since the Scriptures are completed, there is no further need for prophecy. Therefore it does not exist today in any legitimate form.

In Part 2 I attempted to survey the fact that most of what has been legitimately prophesied in ages past was never recorded in Scripture. Therefore, the things they prophesied are not equal with Scripture. In Part 3 I attempted to survey the differing qualities of prophecy that we find in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, in particular. Out of Part 3 arises another application of the same point that there is a plain and clear difference in the nature and quality of prophecy in the Bible. In this post I want to elaborate.

In 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, we find Paul's teaching on the subject of women and prophecy.

"Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings."

Immediately it becomes evident that women were among those who had the gift of prophecy in the New Testament. Our survey in Part 2 of this series discovered that Philip had four daughters who seemed to be prophetesses and therefore prophesied in the early church (Acts 21:9). In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul gives instruction regarding women who prophesy (11:5). This is all is no doubt the joyful inclusion given in the New Covenant promise and fulfillment at Pentecost.

"In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants— men and women alike — and they will prophesy" (Acts 2:18).

When it came to the issue of women remaining silent during church meetings, we only need to reach out to the previous verses to get the context of what he's talking about.

"Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God's holy people" (14:29-33).

When taken in context, Paul is explaining that when it came to the act of evaluating prophetic activity (v. 29), the women were prohibited from participating (v. 34). Evaluating was therefore something relegated to the men. Why? Because Paul had already explained in another letter that women were not to exercise authority over men. This applied to the prophetic context of a church gathering, as well as to teaching, and to other forms of authoritative activity within the local church.

"Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result" (1 Tim. 2:11-14).

Now consider for a moment how these two passages fit together, as it relates to women, prophesy, authority, and Scripture.

Paul acknowledges that women may prophesy.

Paul teaches that women may not exercise authority by evaluating prophetic words. The very act of evaluating or judging was an activity reserved only for men who were prophets.

Prophecy is therefore not always an authoritative activity in the local church.

Some prophetic activity that was authoritative was recorded in the Scriptures we have today.

Therefore, some prophetic activity, at least by women, was not considered authoritative, and therefore was not recorded in the Scriptures.

Therefore not all prophecy is equal to Scripture.

In short, there is a clear difference in the very nature of prophecy itself. There is prophecy that is authoritative, and some of that was recorded for us in the Scriptures. And there is prophecy that is not authoritative, and was obviously not written in the Scriptures. This should be proof enough that not all prophecy is equal to Scripture, and at least an argument for the concept that prophecy today should at least be considered a possibility, and a valid and biblical one at that.

canon

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 3

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

In this brief series on prophecy, I'm attempting to re-ask one question that I presupposed so many years ago while I was still a cessationist. During the first half of my life, I assumed that everytime a prophet prophesied something it was equal with Scripture. In Part 2 of this series I gave a sampling of my survey on prophets in the Bible. There I attempted to show a simple conclusion, that very little of a prophet's prophecies were ever recorded in the Scripture. Therefore, not all prophecies are equal to Scripture. If they were, they would have made it into the Bible. This was the first reason I offered as to why this premise just isn't true. It was the beginning of the end for my cessationism. It's simple. And it's hard to argue with. The facts are what they are. And it becomes difficult to interpret them any other way, at least in my opinion.

There's a second reason why this premise is not true. It centers on the very nature of the prophecies themselves. Not only were most prophecies not recorded in the Bible, but many of the very examples of prophecy we have given to us in the Bible are not...well...Scriptural. While at first this statement sounds blasphemous, it will make sense as I move on, and hopefully you'll understand what I mean. In short, I simply mean that many of the prophecies we have in the Scripture are not of a doctrinal content which we normally think of when we think of Scripture.

2. There are differing qualities and content of prophecy itself.

The second reason why not all prophecy is not equal to the canon of Scripture is simply seen in the differing qualities or content of prophecy itself. I've already demonstrated that Scripture is of the highest level of prophecy. In other words, there is a doctrinal type of prophecy that delivers revelation from God on the truths of the gospel. And this is no doubt what Jude referred to in verse 3 of his letter, when he mentioned "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints."

However, there is other prophetic information that God revealed to people in the Scripture that is not of a doctrinal quality. Here is a sampling. I break them down into two basic categories.

A. Practical Prophecy: Hearing From God About Doing the Mission

The Holy Spirit Gives Directions...Literally

In Acts 8:26 the Holy Spirit told Philip which road to take in order to ensure that he intersected with the Ethiopian eunuch, who was later led to Christ.
In Acts 9:11, the Holy Spirit basically gave Ananias an address where he could find Saul, who had just been struck blind by the resurrected Jesus on Saul's religious rampage to Damascus.
In Acts 10:5, the Holy Spirit told Cornelius what city he needed to send his men to in order to find Simon Peter and bring him back for more teaching and revelation.

The Holy Spirit Predicts...In Order to Help His People Prepare

In Acts 11:27-30, Agabus was one of several prophets who came from Antioch to Jerusalem to help. In the process, the Holy Spirit told him about a famine that was going to come. As a result, the disciples in Jerusalem started preparing to help financially.

The Holy Spirit Directs...In Order to Further Jesus' Mission

In Acts 13:1 and following, the Holy Spirit told the church in Jerusalem to set apart a couple of men for a missionary journey.
In Acts 16:6-7, the Holy Spirit somehow redirected Paul and Silas on their second missionary journey away from a region and to another one.
In Acts 16:8, the Holy Spirit gave Paul a dream about a man from Macedonia calling him to cover and help.
In Acts 20:22, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is telling him to go to Jerusalem. Strangely, it seems that the Holy Spirit was telling other men to tell Paul not to go to Jersualem, in Acts 21:4. (Go figure that one out!)

The Holy Spirit Predicts...Danger Ahead!

In Acts 21:10-11, Agabus prophesied again that if Paul went to Jerusalem he would be arrested and harmed.
In Acts 27:9-10, Paul, presumably the prophetic power of the Holy Spirit, predicted that the voyage he and his shipmates were on would be dangerous and even disastrous.
In Acts 27:21-26, Paul is again informed prophetically by the Holy Spirit about the incredible and merciful solution to the disaster they were experiencing.
In Acts 27:33 and following, Paul is seen giving what again appears to be prophetic insight about how to prepare for the danger and deliverance God had prepared for them.

The Holy Spirit Reveals Hearts...to Get Things Done

In Acts 5:1-10, Peter received a supernatural word that Ananias and Sapphira were lying to the church and to the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 8:23, Peter prophetically discerns the heart of Simon and stops the work of the enemy.
In Acts 13:8-11, Paul prophetically discerned the spiritual condition of Elymas and spoke correction and judgment into the situation.
In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Paul teaches that a prophecies in the local church expose a sinner's heart so that he falls to his knees and claims that God is alive through His people.

B. "One-Anothering" Prophecy: Strengthening, Comforting & Encouraging One Another

Just from this simple survey of the book of Acts it should be easy enough to see that the Holy Spirit can communicate practical information to people. And that's called prophecy. But it isn't doctrinal prophecy, is it?

And what about the kind of prophecy spoke about in 1 Corinthians 14:3? There, Paul writes that prophecy is also for strengthening, comforting, and encouraging. This means that prophecy among the average believer in the early church was simply about doing those things for one another.

This would create another non-canonical type of prophecy that occurred with great frequency in the early local churches, wouldn't it? I guess we could call this non-canonical prophecy a "one-anothering" type of prophecy.

Based on a simple reading of that verse within its context, Paul gives clear guidelines on how prophecy is to operate in a gathering of believers. When they prophecy in that setting they are to strengthen, comfort and encourage one another. Plain and simple, right?

In this non-canonical type of prophecy, God is spontaneously revealing information to a person. It's revelation. But it's not equal to Scripture...anymore than the revelation of wisdom and knowledge we get about God is equal to Scripture (Eph. 1:17-19)...anymore than the way the Spirit gives us assurance about being a son or daughter of the Father is equal to Scripture.

In short, just because the Holy Spirit spoke, it didn't always result in Scripture. He spoke onto tablets, scrolls, and papyri. But He also spoke into men's minds and hearts. And He still does today...on the tablets, scrolls, and papyri of our heart. That was guaranteed in the New Covenant (Ezekiel 36:36-37; Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Stay tuned for Part 4 where I'll reference the relationship of women to prophecy in an attempt to show the plain difference in prophetic content and quality. This will be a further attempt to show why not all prophecy is necessarily equal to the canon of Scripture.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

canon

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 2

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

In this series I wanted to resurrect the assumption that prophecy in the NT is equal to Scripture. I used to believe that. I don't anymore. It's a basic axiom of a teaching called cessationism. I don't agree with it anymore, and for two good reasons:

exegesis of the Scripture,

and experience of the Spirit.

I ended up turning to a charismatic understanding of Christian theology through basic Bible study. When I approached the Bible afresh I started by reading with childlike faith, seeking to understand God as a child would a Father. To be sure, it has to go a little deeper than that, if for no other reason than that I am separated by what was written in the Bible by a minimum of 2,000 years. So some research and study into the history, background, cultures, language, etc. is very helpful. All those things are summed up in a fancy word scholars and theologians call "exegesis."

However, when it came to the issue of prophecy in the New Testament church, little exegesis was needed. Why? Because a simple survey of prophets and prophecy in the Old and New Testaments builds a solid foundation. When I began to read the Scriptures afresh in this way, I found that many of my personal beliefs and arguments about cessationism began to dissolve and eventually collapse. One of the most important arguments I held dearly was my belief that prophecy in the New Testament church today cannot exist any longer because the canon of Scripture is closed. I referred to this in Part 1 of this series.

Problem is, this is not a legitimate belief for two reasons. I'm dealing with the first reason in this post today.

1. Not all prophecy that has ever been given was written in the Bible

The first is quite simple, and again is something almost every Christian would agree with. Not all prophecy that has ever occurred was written in the Bible. There is a large amount of prophecy that is referred to in the Scriptures, but was not recorded in Scriptures. Here's a sampling. According to my count, there were about 133 prophets named in the Bible.

In addition, the Bible mentions other groups who were also prophets: the 70 elders of Israel, the 100+ prophets saved by Obadiah, the 50+ prophets sons who came from Jericho, the 100+ prophet's sons at Gilgal, and 288 sons of Aseph, Heman, and Jeduthun. Where are their prophecies?

There were also nine other unnamed and and unnumbered prophets throughout the Bible. Where are their prophecies?

There were various schools of prophets (1 Samuel 10:11; 19:19-20; 2 Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38; 6:1; Amos 7:14). Where are their prophecies?

There were 7,000 prophets that have not bowed the knee to Baal in Elijah's day (1 Kings 19:18). Where are their prophecies?

The prophets at the church in Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul (Acts 13:1). We have some of what Saul (Paul) prophesied, in his thirteen NT letters. But where are the prophecies of the other men who were named?

There were other prophets from Antioch, some unnamed, but another named Agabus, who were prophets and came to Jerusalem to help (Acts 11:27). We have one of Agabus' prophecies. But where are his other prophecies, as well as the prophecies of his friends from Antioch?

Judas and Silas were also prophets (Acts 15:32). Where are their prophecies?
The Ephesian men whom Paul laid hands on prophesied (Acts 19:6). Where are their prophecies?

Philip had four unmarried daughters who were prophetesses. Where are their prophecies?

The Thessalonians were experiencing prophecy, according to 1 Thessalonians 5. Where are their prophecies?

The Corinthian church is believed to have had the most incredible display of spiritual gifts in the New Testament. Paul wanted them to prophecy to more than they spoke in tongues. Assuming they did, where are they recorded?

Jesus prophesied more than anyone! But the last chapter of John tells us that if everything was written down that Jesus did, all the books in the world couldn't contain it. Within all of the unwritten content would include the other things Jesus said. Sorry if this is a shock to you, but Jesus said a whole lot more than what's in red in our New Testaments! And if everything Jesus ever said was considered prophecy (which it probably was since He was God Himself and since the Spirit was leading Him), then we have an innumerable amount of prophecy that never got written down.

I think it's safe to say on this first point that...

not everything that is

spoken prophetically

is necessarily canonical,

simply because it wasn't

recorded in the canon.

Therefore, based on this first fact, we can safely conclude that just because it's prophetic doesn't mean it should be included in the Bible. So there's no reason for a cessationist to continue making this claim, as I used to. The facts, when read plainly, clearly say otherwise. It's even safe to say that most of the prophecy that was given by prophets was not recorded in Scripture. If it were, our Bible would be ten thousand volumes long, probably.

Now, to be sure of something important, since most of this non-canonical prophecy was never recorded in the canon, we don't necessarily know what all that prophecy was about, do we? Perhaps not. However, there are enough reflections of the varying content and quality of prophecy that would prove there is a difference in canonical prophecy and non-canonical prophecy.

After a fresh reading of the Scriptures, it became clear to me that while we don't have the actual content of non-canonical prophecies made by all those many named and unnamed prophets, we do have an idea of the kind of stuff they prophesied about. This brings me to the second reason why not all prophecy is not equal to the canon of Scripture. Stay tuned for this in Part 3.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

canon

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 1

Friday, November 15, 2013

One of the most challenging thoughts that cessationism struggles with is the relationship between the canon of Scripture and the gift of prophecy. For many cessationists, they are the same thing. They believe that the gift of prophecy is not in existence or operation today simply because we have the Bible.

What is the "Canon" of Scripture?

Many theologians use the term "canon" to refer to the Bible. And they use the term "closed canon" to refer to a complete Bible. In short, it is a truth that basically every Christian probably already does believe. And if not, they should. That's because God isn't writing anymore Bible today. What we have is what there is. And frankly, it's really all the written revelation we need about God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

What we do have in the Bible came supernaturally to the men who wrote the stuff we read. Paul told Timothy that the Scriptures were "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Greek word is theopneustos, and it means that somehow the Holy Spirit supernaturally and mysteriously worked with the minds of men to write specific things to specific people for specific purposes, and the result was a perfect revelation of God that mankind needs to know in this life. To be sure, we'll get far more than we can imagine when we eventually see God face to face.

For me personally, I would understand the process of theopneustos to be prophetic. And I would understand prophecy as a revelation of God from the Holy Spirit. Everything we have in the Bible is a revelation of God from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, everything we have in the Bible is prophetic. Therefore, we safely assume the following equation, and almost every Christian alive would agree with this axiom.

The Canon IS
equal to Prophecy.

But, and this is a very big "but", the fact that this axiom is true doesn't automatically mean the reverse is true.

All Prophecy is NOT
equal to the Canon.

There are a two important reasons why this is true, and they are plainly evident to anyone who reads the Bible.

1. Not all prophecy that has ever been given was written down in the Bible.
2. The Bible plainly shows that there is a differing quality and content in prophecy itself.

Stay tuned as we unpack these through three more posts in this series.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 5

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 4

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 3

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 2

Is All Prophecy Equal to Scripture? Part 1

Translate

Search This Blog

Background

Charismatic Issues

Gospel Series

Other Series

My Best Reads

Blog Archive

Labels