Dr Paul Allen

Although it is common for my Calvinist, non-charismatic friends to point to church history in support of their cessationist position, it’s really a mistake for them to do so. A big mistake. Church history actually works against them. The first reason is the most obvious. Reformed cessationists, like me, are in the Protestant, rather than Catholic, camp of the church. That means that we believe that, in some very fundamental ways, much of the church lost its way through history, because of which a massive reformation was needed. Many Reformed Christians even argue that Roman Catholics are not Christians at all, meaning that roughly half of all professing Christians today are de facto disqualified. On what basis, then, does a Reformed cessationist appeal to church history, when so much of that history is rejected from the outset? If the argument is that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which were normative in New Testament times gradually disappeared from church history, what do these

English: By Rembrandt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It is often contended that people who lived during biblical times were more simple minded and superstitious than modern man, and could be tricked into believing the miraculous stories contained in the Bible. Today it is claimed we live in a scientific age and have outgrown these superstitions , since we have developed the mental capacity to see these miracles as being superstitious myths rather than paranormal phenomena. A close study of the evidence will show that these accounts are not a superstitious reaction to some clever trickster. The response to the miraculous acts of God show the same surprise and anxiety that modern man would have if he were placed in the same situation. The people living at the time of Jesus certainly knew that men born blind do not immediately receive their sight (John 9:32), that five loaves and a few fish would not feed 5,000 people (John 6:14), or that men do not walk on water ( Matthew 14:26 ).

Image via Wikipedia (A cessationist view by the blogger Cripplegate) God can and does do miracles. I also believe the gift of miracles (i.e. a person with the ability to perform miracles at will) is no longer operative in the church. One of the most common objections to this view I hear is, “You can’t put God in a box.” Ever heard that soundbite? The thinking is that God can do what He wants, but the Cessationist position limits God’s abilities. So I want to go on record as saying I believe God can do whatever He wants, but He never wants to do something against what His word says. For example, God said in His word, “ Tongues will cease,” and He used a Greek tense for “cease” which means “to stop and not start again.” Then the gift of tongues ( miraculously speaking in an unlearned foreign language according to Acts 2) did cease. And for over 1900 years no credible Christian claimed otherwise. If you want to scratch this itch some more, check out Nate Busenitz’s excellent ar