A Case for Cessationism

Here is part 2 of Gary Gilley's series on continuationism versus cessationism (I posted a link to part 1 last week).  This week he outlines a case for cessationism.

An excerpt:

"...the question is reduced to this: Is God giving authoritative revelation on par with that which He has given in the past, much of which has been inscripturated, or is He not? If He is, then the church of Christ needs to take note and come into compliance with the modern prophecy movement, following its revelations as it would Scripture. But if the Lord is not revealing His inspired word today, then we need to reject the claims of the modern prophets and expose these supposed revelations for what they are. This means the position taken by most on prophecy—cautious but open—is untenable. The cautious but open crowd is skeptical of the claims coming from the prophetic movement and they are suspicious of the many “words from God” that so many evangelicals are claiming."

Read the rest here:

Cessationism, Revelation & Prophecy

Over at the SharperIron blog Gary Gilley begins an outline of the five identifiable views on revelation that are prevalent in evangelicalism today.  I can vouch from my own experience that a true cessationist position is not well received by most evangelicals, they truly do think you are putting the Holy Spirit in a box, but aren't really thinking through the implications of what they are really saying.  In reformed circles, the Wayne Grudem continuationist position is very popular, but to me it is illogical and unsustainable biblically.  Read more about his position in Gary's article and you will see what I mean.

Gary starts out this way:

"Despite the fact that the majority of conservative evangelical Christians since the Reformation have held to a cessationist position with regard to divine revelation, true cessationists are rapidly disappearing. In the articles and books I have written nothing has evoked as much criticism and anger as my position that God is speaking to His people today exclusively through Scripture. Due to the influence of a multitude of popular authors, theologians and conference speakers, cessationism is barely treading water, even within the most biblically solid churches and organizations."

Read the rest of his article here:

Spurgeon, Impressions, and Prophecy

Over at the the Cripplegate blog contributor Nathan Busenitz recently wrote a post addressing Charles Spurgeon and whether or not he was an advocate of cessationism.

The article starts out:

"I recently received an email asking a question that I have been asked from time to time. It pertains to the topic of spiritual gifts and cessationism. In today’s article, I’ve summarized the question and provided my response.

Question: You mention Charles Spurgeon as an advocate of cessationism. But Spurgeon confessed that on several occasions, while he was preaching, he received impressions from the Holy Spirit that gave him extraordinary insights to expose specific sins in people’s lives with incredible accuracy. From my perspective, those impressions seem to align with the gift of prophecy. How do you reconcile Spurgeon’s impressions with your claim that he was a cessationist?"

Read the rest of Nathan's article here:

Driscoll versus Calvin, doctrine versus the Spirit?

Can doctrine really be elevated over the Spirit, or is this a false dichotomy?  Eric Davis from the Cripplegate blog does a great job dealing with this question, especially as it relates to Mark Driscoll's latest video called "Don't elevate doctrine above the Holy Spirit".  Read the article here:

A debate on the continuation of prophecy

Here is a debate between Wayne Grudem and Ian Hamilton. What strikes me the most is the gracious way these men treated one another. An example for us all.



EMA 2010: discussion about prophecy from The Proclamation Trust on Vimeo.