In our church we have a shorthand expression that helps communicate our theology: “We are essentially Reformed with a significant charismatic dimension.” Once we explain what we mean by this those who are traditionally Reformed head for the doors, and those who are traditionally Charismatic follow right behind them. Surprisingly, once this exodus has occurred, a few remain.
For most evangelicals, the rub with matters charismatic is the Bible: is there any way to preserve the uniqueness and authority of the Bible but also allow for (and even pursue!) spiritual gifts like prophecy and speaking in tongues? We would say, yes, but many evangelicals are inclined to say, no. Here are some brief thoughts on the connection between the Bible and the speaking gifts like prophecy, speaking in tongues, words of wisdom, and words of knowledge:
(Comments in italics were added after a comment was posted by “Jessica” encouraging me to incude Scriptural references and not simply the mere statements)
- The Bible is the sole source of our doctrine; the charismatic (speaking) gifts only help us apply and live out this doctrine; –2 Tim 3:16-17 help us to see that God’s word is “breathed out by God,” and thus isn’t to be evaluated but believed and obeyed. The charismatic gifts are to be evaluated (1 Cor 14:29), which implies that they are evaluated in light of God’s word, and thus are meant to encourage us in living a life submitted to God’s word.
- The Bible has a universal, cross-cultural authority; the charismatic gifts have only a subjective and personal authority (akin to Rom 14:23); — God’s word is his word for all humanity (Rom 15:4 says that God’s word is for our instruction and our hope, not just the hope of a few or Jews or the early church). Prophecies are specific to a person(s) and place(s), as when Agabus prophesied of a coming famine (Acts 11:28) and Paul’s chains (Acts 21:10). Rom 14:23 also says that anything apart from faith is sin, and presumably, if we feel a prophecy is of God it will also be of faith. If we rebel against it, then for us, it is sin.
- The Bible is God’s self-revelation (God revealing himself to humanity); the charismatic gifts are are part of God’s self-manifestation; — God’s word is “breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16) and is thus his self-revelation, but the charismatic gifts are experiences of the Holy Spirit as the number of times the apostles are “filled with the Spirit” in Acts. As such they are manifestations of God himself, but different than revelational acts. Of course, here we are into the tricky field of how God’s providential history interacts with his self-revelation.
- The Bible is God’s truth to humanity; the charismatic gifts are part of how we experience God; — As Jesus prayed, “your word is truth” (Jn 17:17), and as Paul observed, when the gifts are present in a church meeting, others declare, “God is really among you” (1 Cor 14:25).
- The Bible contains no error (it is inerrant); the charismatic gifts can (and probably do) contain error (either in content, interpretation, or application); –It is certain enough that God’s word is inerrant (e.g., note Paul in Gal 3:16 basing his argument on the Old Testament being singular and not plural in Gen 12:7), and yet because prophecies are to be “weighed” by others, we acknowledge that they can and often do contain error. Yet, like preaching, the fact that the messenger is fallible does not mean that we can simply ignore all that is said.
- The Bible interprets charismatic gifts; the charismatic are not given to interpret the Bible; — As in all of life, the Bible provides our standard, our wisdom, our definition of righteousness and obedience (1 Tim 1:8-11). Thus we are to be those “rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15), which is a universal obligation for believers. The gifts are given to “teach” that truth and so help us interpret what is recorded in Scripture (Eph 4:11f), but not in such a way as to introduce an entirely new doctrine than that given in the word of God. It would have been better to say it this way than the way I worded it in my original post.
- The Bible is God’s truth for his people; the charismatic gifts are part of God’s presence among his people; – okay, a little redundant. My thoughts are captured above.
- The church dies without the Bible; the church will not thrive without the charismatic gifts; – since the gifts are given to for “upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Cor 14:3), then presumably we will not flourish as Christians without them. On the other hand, to discard the Bible by conviction or negligence removes us from the preeminent means of grace given by God to his people. Jesus is called The Word (Jn 1:1)
- The early church had no New Testament, but it did have a robust experience of the charismatic gifts;
- Apostolic Christianity is to be filled with charismatic experience rooted in biblical truth; — As the apostles were profoundly rooted to a biblical gospel in the book of Acts and yet desirous of the empowering of the Holy Spirit, as Paul is rooted to the biblical gospel in all of his writings and yet encouraging life in the power of the Spirit, so we too want to stand on the shoulders of the apostles as we pursue both charismatic experience and biblical truth.
- The charismatic gifts are required to obey the Bible–meaning, that we cannot obey 1 Cor 12-14 or Eph 4:7-16 or 1 Pe 4:10-11 without a full-orbed experience of the charismatic gifts; –for evangelicals who strongly cling to an inerrant and authoritative Bible, we need always remember what that Bible actually says regarding the charismatic.
- As charismatic experience and a rootedness in Scripture was perfectly united in Christ, and miraculously united in the apostles, so we believe it is to be combined in God’s church–acknowledging the uniqueness of Christ and the redemptive-historical place of the apostles. –We are hurt when we either over-emphasize the uniqueness of the apostolic age (and so eliminate any place for the charismatic) or under-emphasize the uniqueness of the apostolic age (and so look too much for our experiences to mirror what we find in the twelve apostles and Paul).
We could say more. Please let me know if you detect any inaccuracies in what I’ve said.
DJB
