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Review Summary: Best resource for a Biblical, balanced vies |
Date: 2008-03-01 |
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Details: This book is a great resource for a balanced and biblical view of this subject. If you are not a cessationist yet do not appreciate the way the prophetic gift is approached and practiced with such excess and error in many contemporary expressions of Christianity, than this book will be of great value. I have been pastoring for 22 years and a seminary graduate (GCTS). I have found that when the gift of prophecy is allowed to find expression in a Biblical way in a church body it can be a great blessing. Grudem's book demonstrates fine scholarship in a very readable style, address all areas concerning this subject and is of great help in developing a biblical approach. |
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Review Summary: seeking the truth |
Date: 2008-02-16 |
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Details: This book is very scriptural and very thorough. Wayne explains in detail the verses that are used, considering the original language also. It is an eye-opener and a must-read for anyone interested in prophecy. It is the best book I have ever read on prophecy. |
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Review Summary: Biblical and Balanced |
Date: 2007-08-29 |
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Details: Wayne Gruden's book, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, is a comprehensive and biblical review of prophecy in the Scriptures. With balanced hermeneutical methods, he unveils the nature of the Old Testament prophets, the prophetic ministry of the New Testament, and the value and practice of prophecy in the contemporary church. Combining sound deductive reasoning with a relevant didactic approach, he also discusses the issues that have emerged within evangelical Christianity regarding the office of apostle and prophet, clearly rejecting their contemporary usage with solid exegetical evidence. He also tackles those who position themselves on both sides of the spiritual gift spectrum- the "cessationists", who believe that the prophetic gifts are no longer for today, and those in the charismatic camp who place an overemphasis on prophecy. He strikes a practical balance, encouraging both sides to take a closer look at the biblical data and be receptive to a new approach. With Scriptural safeguards in place, he also encourages those who have never been exposed to the gifts of prophecy to expand their understanding and be open to the experience of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Beginning in the Old Testament, Grudem states that the prophets functioned as messengers from God who spoke with absolute divine authority. Since the prophets' words were the very words of God, the messages were beyond challenge and demanded strict obedience. However, in the New Testament, the apostles took over where the Old Testament prophets left off. Citing a number of parallels, Gruden notes how the apostles were divinely appointed, spoke with absolute divine authority, and wrote the inspired books that make up the canon of the New Testament (27-29, 235). Though the apostolic ministry ended when the apostles passed away, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost bestowed the gifts of the Spirit upon the church, enabling people to prophesy revealed messages from the Lord. Though the nature of the gift of prophecy is delivered through imperfect human means and requires evaluation by the church, it is for the church's benefit and is intended to be in operation until the return of Christ.
Grudem, as an ordained Baptism pastor, is surprisingly refreshing in his approach toward spiritual gifts. He repeatedly highlights Paul's exhortation in 1 Corinthians to "eagerly desire" the gifts of the Holy Spirit and especially the gift of prophecy. Throughout the book, he highlights how prophecy is intentionally designed for the "upbuilding", encouragement, and comfort of the church and is a ministry all believers can potentially participate in and develop through sound biblical teaching and the leading of the Holy Spirit (140).
Regarding the controversial issue of the office of the prophet in the contemporary church, Grudem provides a number of biblical examples that deny the existence of the office of the prophet even in the early church. He states that there is no evidence of tension between the gift of prophecy and the office of prophet anywhere in the New Testament (157). In other words, there did not exist any privileged group who held a leadership position over those who had a prophetic gift among the churches. He also states that no one had the ability to prophesy at will, but the gift of prophecy was instead a spontaneous gift, used whenever someone received a revelation from the Holy Spirit (170). Additionally, Grudem notes how the prophetic gift was something that could mature and develop through faith, and was not something someone had ownership of, emphasizing the "progressive" over the "possessive" nature of prophecy in the New Testament (175). Thus, the office of prophet was not in operation in the early church and is therefore incongruent with the context of the contemporary church.
The author also illustrates how the gift of prophecy, or congregational prophecy, was never considered on the same level with Scripture. Instead, prophetic utterances were subject to the authority of Scripture and the careful evaluation of the church (209). He provides five different examples in the New Testament where prophecy was placed in a subordinate role to Scripture, citing how the church is called to "test" and "weigh" prophetic words, and how, on at least two occasions, prophecy was either inaccurate or disregarded (286). The nature of prophecy in the New Testament is thus, not authoritative, but is instead the impartation of divine revelation conveyed to and through an imperfect human being, or as Grudem defines it as, "an unreliable human speech-act in response to a revelation from the Holy Spirit" (76).
The author's description of apostles, as an exclusive group of divinely appointed and empowered men who operated under the same authority as the Old Testament prophets, is a novel perspective that has significant theological implications for the evangelical church. If it is true that the apostles held a divinely appointed position that enabled them to preach repentance, deliver people from demons, and heal the sick with greater authority and spiritual power than the rest of the church, then any contemporary teaching that suggests that the believer has the same authority as the apostles would be inaccurate. As an example, the passage in Matthew 10, where Jesus gives his disciples authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness, is often preached and applied to contemporary Christians who believe they too, possess the same authority for deliverance and healing in their own context. However, if this authority was only granted to the apostles, who operated under a parallel authority to the Old Testament prophets, this exclusive authority cannot be applied to other followers of Christ. Though there are other passages in Scripture that denote the believer's authority in Jesus' name, Christians would be in error if they appropriated apostle-only passages and applied them to their own lives. However, since this is a common belief among evangelicals, could these Christians have a false sense of spiritual authority, believing they have the same authority as the apostles? Though Grudem does not address these issues, his theological understanding of apostles necessitates a reexamination of how certain apostle-only New Testament passages are personally applied in the contemporary church.
Another area that Grudem discusses is the role of women in regards to prophesying and judging prophecies in the church. He states that New Testament teaching clearly encourages women to participate fully in the prophetic gifts but forbids them, or exhorts them to "keep silent" with regards to the evaluation of the prophetic words. Paul's instructions, though considered gender disparate by the current cultural context, conversely highlights the inclusive nature of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Understanding that the divinely imparted message is filtered through the human mind, men and women will prophecy differently, according to the uniqueness of their gender, enabling a creative interpretative method that has the ability to speak intimately and powerfully to everyone in the church. Though the ecclesiastical leadership roles differ when it comes to judging the validity of the prophecies, the prophetic gifts are equally available to both genders and are designed to operate corporately and speak personally. |
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Review Summary: Significant Study Probes the NT Gift of Prophecy |
Date: 2003-07-16 |
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Details: Wayne Grudem is a scholar, and his approach to the New Testament gift of prophecy is refreshing in that he appeals to the thinking Christian. Grudem correlates the Old Testament prophet to the New Testament Apostle, while arguing that the New Testament gift of prophecy is not infallible, verbally inspired speech; it is simply God bringing a thought to the mind of a believer. Grudem's argument here is pretty strong, if incomplete, I think. On the other hand, he quotes many Charismatic authors (in a positive light, mostly) who state that the flesh affects almost all prophecy. Although prophecies need not deal with predicting the future, those prophecies which do attempt to predict the future, according to the charismatic source quoted, are wrong about 80% of the time. If we (and Grudem does not do this)project the same rate of return for non-futuristic prophecy, what we end up with is perhaps 20% of all prophecies being acutally true. If 20% of verifiable prophecies are true, then we should logically project that number to non-verifiable prophecies. Prophecy then is God (perhaps) bringing something to the mind of a believer -- about 20% of the time believers sense a prophecy. Of course, our sinful natures may corrupt even some genuine prophecies, and no prophet is infallible. His/her prophecies must each be evaluated, not necessarily by church leaders, but by individual Christians (so there is no official word as to what we should bank on, except if heresy is involved and the elders must step in). And this gift, with all this uncertainty and potential falliblity attached, is supposed to edify the church. Incredible as this seems, Grudem does make a good argument for the above (although he does not correlate the 80% of future-oriented prophcies with non-future). Some of his points seem valid, espeically his distinction between the Old Testament gift and the New, between God bringing something to mind in a general way (while the prophet uses his own words to express what he senses) and inspired speech. Perhaps a better position would be that some of the early church prophets were somewhat closer in authority to Old Testament prophets, and did, in fact, prophesy with "Thus says the Lord," but that others (the majority) were given a thought regarding what God was doing or wanted done (God bringing something to mind, an experience many Christians with various stances on spiritual gifts have sensed). Perhaps that first initial aspect of the gift is no longer with us (and thus no new infallible revelation), while the second form (God bringing something to mind)is. Of course this seems to be the case with the Apostles (specially empowered founders of the church) in contrast to modern missionaries (apostes in the sense of sent ones) who are sent to regions beyond but do not bear the authority of the founding apostles. Whether Grudem's conclusions are correct in totality, in partiality (my view), or not at all, this is the type of work we need to read for intelligent study of these difficult and divisive issues. A nice break from mindless assertions or studies with pre-existing agendas. We need to be open to the Scriptures, but must avoid playing spiritual "pretend" games. I recommend this work to parties on all sides of the issue. |
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Review Summary: Reformers, Read This Book |
Date: 2002-10-28 |
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Details: I believe that Reformers should read this book. It is accurate and informative. It will help destroy some of the myths surrounding the gift of prophecy and will bring you closer to God's desire. Being Reformed (CRC), I have had many questions about the gift of prophecy (gathered over many years and many book). Almost all of them have been answered here. As J.I. Packer wrote, this book is "Careful, thorough, wise, and to my mind, convincing." I agree. You will find scripturally-based answers to what the gift is, who can have it, how it is used, and how it can benefit the Church. I highly recommend it, as well as they CRC Acts of Synod 1973 (nearly 30 years old!). This book is much newer, but covers much of the same ground. Read it and pray for God's illumination on the matter. |
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out of 9 Reviews
