Dr Paul Allen

John Piper (theologian) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Several months ago, shortly after the  Strange Fire Conference , notable continuationist pastor, John Piper ,  responded to some of the claims of the conference  via his question-and-answer program,  Ask Pastor John .  Over the last couple of weeks, John MacArthur has begun responding to Piper’s remarks over at the  Grace To You blog .  These posts represent valuable, rubber-meets-the-road exegetical discussion as it relates to the cessation of the miraculous gifts, and it’s happening between two lifelong students of Scripture who many in our generation consider to be fathers in the faith. It’s surely an exchange you don’t want to miss. I want to devote today’s post to recapping what’s been said there so far. #1  Biblical Prophecy and Modern Confusion In the first post, MacArthur begins with some comments of appreciation for John Piper and his ministry, speaking...

English: Saint paul arrested (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This is how a John MacArthur handles the application from Acts 14:8-18.  MacArthur says Holy Spirit power is needed by all Christians but not healing power Because healing with signs and wonders was limited to the Apostles until the Bible came. But we still need Holy Spirit power as agents of evangelism and sanctification . Okay, I serve with God's strength ( 1 Peter 4:11) by  preaching the scripture, but  God regenerates, saves and fills them with the Holy Spirit and they and God work out their salvation / sanctification.....but my role is not the power role....I preach...the Holy Spirit does the power role, I am an energized agent...just as the Apostle Paul was.  Is this what happens when your theology interprets scripture instead of the plain reading of scripture? Although today’s believers do not possess miraculous healing power as Paul did, the principle is instructive—God’s p...

MacArthur says: “B ecause there are  false prophets  we should reject charismatic doctrine” . Its not very compelling as an argument, but  Jesus  does indeed warn us about false prophets, and we should pay careful attention to what he says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘ Lord , Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast ou...

The last argument I want to address, basically says that “ because there are false prophets we should reject charismatic doctrine” . Its not very compelling as an argument, but Jesus does indeed warn us about false prophets, and we should pay careful attention to what he says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘ Lord , Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in ...

John Piper strongly affirms that he has benefited from MacArthur’s ministry John Piper confirms that he does indeed advocate obedience to 1 Corinthians 12:31 , “earnestly desire the higher gifts,” 1 Corinthians14:1 , “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts , especially that you may prophesy ,” and 1 Corinthians 14:39 , “earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues ,” and personally tries to obey these verses especially when preaching. John Piper believes 1 Corinthians 14:25 can happen in a moment during preaching. John Piper does believe in prophecy for exegetical reaso ns.  Perhaps you have not read John MacArthur 's book on Slave / doulos. When John examines the origins of this word he claims almost every other author is wrong and implies a conspiracy then claims he has the correct interpretation. Therefore, based on his approach to one very important word, can John be trusted in other areas? Related articles John Piper Struggled With the Wo...

MacArthur believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were solely given to accredit the Apostles . We believe that 1 Corinthians alone demonstrates that is not the case as there is no evidence that the Corinthians were Apostles. He also believes any modern manifestations are different in kind from what seen in the Bible . We would acknowledge that in the vast majority of cases they are different in extent. In other words we believe that modern gifts are the same qualitatively as those seen in the NT but that quantitatively they are different. Thus, for us. a healing is a healing whether it happens in response to a whole church praying, or whether an Apostle can authoritatively command the sickness to leave. The person was still healed. Interestingly in this summary MacArthur doesn’t explain how he sees the modern experiences: are they genuinely of God (in at least some cases), solely of the flesh (which seems hard to accept given for example the supernatural knowledge sometimes s...