Tabletalk Miracles November 2025

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Dr Andreas Kostenberger argues that before the Bible was written, the Holy Spirit authenticated the Apostles' teaching with signs. He then states that once the Bible canon was closed, the scriptures became the abiding authoritative norm for all believers. The need for signs and wonders ceased, because any such additional miracles would only distract from the uniqueness of the person and work of Jesus, and the apostles' role as the foundation of the church, along with the prophets

"With the writing of the New Testament documents and the closing of the biblical canon, the need for miracles ceased."   Andreas Kostenberger


My Response: 

No—there is no explicit biblical teaching that miracles ceased once the canon was closed.

That claim comes from a theological inference, not a statement of Scripture.

Below is a careful, fair explanation.

1. What the cessationist argument actually says

Classical cessationism argues that signs and wonders had a specific, temporary function:

Core claims

  1. Miracles authenticated a new revelation

    • Exodus 4:1–9 (Moses)

    • Hebrews 2:3–4 (apostolic witness confirmed by signs)

  2. Apostles were uniquely marked by signs

    • 2 Corinthians 12:12

  3. Once revelatory foundations were laid, signs were no longer necessary

    • Ephesians 2:20 (apostles and prophets as foundation)

The canonical-closure step

Cessationists then reason:

If miracles authenticate revelation, and revelation is complete, miracles are no longer needed.

Key point:

This conclusion is logical, not textual.
No verse says: “When the canon is complete, signs will cease.”

2. What the Bible actually says about the duration of gifts

1 Corinthians 13:8–12

“Where there are prophecies, they will cease… when the perfect comes…”

Two main interpretations:

  • Cessationist: “the perfect” = completed canon

  • Continuationist: “the perfect” = Christ’s return / full eschatological maturity

Most scholars (including many Reformed scholars) acknowledge that Paul’s language fits eschatological completion, not a completed Bible.

Joel 2 / Acts 2

“In the last days… I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…”

Luke presents signs, prophecy, and visions as features of the entire “last days” period, not just the apostolic era.

The NT never defines “last days” as ending with canon closure.

3. Miracles in the NT are not limited to apostles

This matters directly for the claim.

As we already noted:

  • Stephen (Acts 6:8)

  • Philip (Acts 8)

  • Ananias (Acts 9)

  • The Seventy (Luke 10)

  • Unnamed believers (Mark 9)

Therefore:

If miracles were only for validating apostles or Scripture, the NT itself violates that rule.

4. Hebrews 2:3–4 — often misunderstood

“God also bore witness by signs and wonders…”

Cessationists read this as past tense = finished.

But grammatically:

  • The passage describes how the gospel was first confirmed

  • It does not say God stopped bearing witness afterwards.

Descriptive ≠ prescriptive.

5. Canon closure is never used in Scripture as a theological boundary

Important historical note:

  • The NT writers never discuss “canon closure”

  • The church formally recognised the canon centuries later.

  • No apostle connects miraculous gifts to a future canonical milestone


So the doctrine:

“Miracles ceased when the canon closed” would have been impossible for the apostles to teach explicitly, since the canon was not yet a defined category.

6. What can be biblically affirmed without exaggeration

A careful, biblically grounded position would say:

You can say:

  • Miracles are never guaranteed

  • Miracles are subordinate to Scripture

  • Miracles do not add new doctrine

  • False signs and false claims must be tested (Matt 24:24; 1 John 4:1)

You cannot say (biblically):

  • Miracles must cease when Scripture is complete

  • God no longer heals or acts supernaturally

  • The Spirit’s gifts are time-locked to the apostolic era

7. A historically important nuance

Many theologians who are often labelled “cessationist”:

  • John Calvin

  • B.B. Warfield

Still affirmed:

  • God may heal

  • God may act extraordinarily

  • God is not bound by epochs

They denied normative miracle-working offices, not God’s freedom to act.

Bottom line

The statement is not biblically demonstrable.

It is:

  • A theological inference

  • Based on a particular view of revelation

  • Not explicitly taught by Scripture

A more accurate formulation would be:

“The New Testament does not promise the ongoing normative presence of signs and wonders, but neither does it teach their cessation at canon closure.”

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