Brian LePort offers a nice summary of arguments against both cessationism and Word-Faith theology. His arguments are cogent and sound, although I would offer a bit of a different view of "that which is perfect," along the lines of those that Rich Tatum suggests in his comment on the post. I also think the question, "Why don't we see miracles like those that happened in Biblical times?" is a loaded question. The miracles that people experienced were written down precisely because they were unusual. Most people who lived at that time had never seen one. Hence the popular interest in Jesus. Check out Brian's article. Good stuff.
HT: my cup of coffee
Technorati Tags: Pentecostal, Pentecostalism, Charismatic, Word of Faith, Word-Faith, Brian LePort
HT: my cup of coffee
Technorati Tags: Pentecostal, Pentecostalism, Charismatic, Word of Faith, Word-Faith, Brian LePort
Hey! Thanks for the link, I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed Brian hasn't responded to the content, I'm sure he's busy. But in private email he has consented to being added to the PneumaBloggers list. Thanks to Christoph for pointing his blog out.
Rich
BlogRodent
I agree with you and Ruch Tatum's analysis of when the perfect comes. This, to me, makes the best sense - although Brian's angle is a new one on me, and interesting.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, like Brian, I would call myself a Pentecostal if I called myself anything. I also have a strong pentecostal background, and I also agree with him that Pentecostalism as we often see it now does not really deserve the name.
Yes, the miracles of the first century were unusual, and the events described happened over many years - something we may lose sight of if we read the accounts in Acts through in one sitting.
But on the other hand, there seemed to be more miracles in the Church of Acts than seem to be present in the modern Church (charlatans being rightly ignored).
So maybe the questioner in Brian's piece was not completely wrong to point to parayer and fasting. Not because we want to see the miracles of Acts, but because the powerlessness of the modern church points to a more general malaise and complaceny. We should not be happy with the Church as it is now - we should be seeking God for revival.