I'm currently on holiday and doing some reading on charismatic manifestations - I'm aiming to write an essay on their use and abuse...
Both in Scripture and in church history godly preachers, far from being manipulative, have sought to suppress manifestations, which sometimes persist in spite of the preachers' attempts to stop them.
John White, When the Spirit comes with Power
There is one basic reason why Bible-believing Christians do not believe in the miraculous gifts of the Spirit today. It is simply this: they have not seen them.
Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit
3 comments:
Sounds like an interesting essay I would be interested in reading... :)
I think in your essay Custard, it would be interesting to address the following:
1. In the NT the gospel spread like wildfire because of the miraculous deeds done by Jesus and the Apostles and that it happened without the use of media and modern electronic communications with individuals using amplification marching up and down the stage screaming at audiences.
2. So-called modern miracles seem to be few and far between and the ones that are, often seem to be somewhat obscure in nature and very often embroidered. Where are the *authenticated* cases of the blind seeing, the crippled walking and the dead being raised?
One can't help feeling that if the miraculous power of God was at work to the extent that modern proponents claim it to be, then the church would be having a much more dynamic effect on society than it are currently does.
Another interesting question is how frequently the miraculous happened in the early church and when it became rarer. I have not read much of church history but it would be interesting to know if there are recorded miraculous events in early church history of a similar magnitude to those recorded in the NT.
PS:
Q. How many Charismatics does it take to change a lightbulb?
Ans. Three. One to unscrew it and two to catch it as it falls..
I thought some more were needed to cast out the spirit of darkness, or was that Penties?
Your question is a good one, and is addressed a bit in some of the literature I'm reading (of which more later). It's unlikely I'll get to cover it much in my essay though - strict word limits and all...
My personal suspicion is that the "individuals using amplification marching up and down the stage screaming at audiences." are more likely to be charlatans and/or using some version of group hypnosis than the people quietly getting on with pointing to Jesus. When the focus is on the manifestations, it's almost certainly wrong.
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