Final Word

'Christianity emphatically is not a mystery religion.' pg 26 Professor O Palmer Robertson takes issue with the continued presence of false teachers of doctrine. The office of prophet is qualitatively that of mediator, Robertson maintains, and since its inception with Moses, revelational content from God served a redemptive function. In the NT 'the mediator of the covenant is God Himself, now standing among men as their servant.' pg 11 Special revelation found its consummation in Christ. Robertson clarifies the position that it is special revelation alone that is under fire. Claims to further communications from God, dubbed 'ordinary congregational prophecy', are due cause for concern as the facade is pock-marked with hypocrisy. 'A great danger also lies in another direction if we accept this concept of a prophetic utterance that is indeed God's word, and yet is something less than the perfection of His word associated with biblical prophecy. It destroys the necessary distinction between the true and the false prophet, and makes God's people the helpless victims of error mixed with truth.' pg 19 Professor Robertson sees those who hold that biblical prophecy continues today in either its forms (as foreteller or forthteller) clearly to believe that revelation continues today. Yet the difficulties of that position seem never-ending. Unjustifiable evasion of the biblical standard has introduced the difficulties. 'Women', says Grudem, 'were able to prophesy in both the Old Testament and the New. They could deliver messages from God to His people. But women could not assume the role of teacher over God's people in either the Old or the New Testament (see 1 Tim 2:12; 3:2; Titus 1:6 on New Testament teachers being only men, including the elders who did most of the teaching).' pg 86, Countering The Claims Of Evangelical Feminism, 2006. Grudem subordinates and ranks as less important the NT office of prophet to that of teacher, which is antithetical to Scripture: (Eph 2: 20; Eph 3: 5; Eph 4: 11) - a flaw with immense implications for church structures. A better view would be that the gift of prophecy has, in fact, ceased, whilst the office of teacher is still in effect. Giftings, such as speaking in tongues, are more often than not practiced in the wrong context, e.g., where Paul states almost inadmissible usage 'in the church', as specified in 1 Cor 14:19, 'Yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.' Charismatic pastors with little or no formal education in theology would do well to study this book, for they appear to be least informed of God's intended design with the offices of prophet and apostle. 'Tongues illustrated dramatically the universalistic nature of Christianity. God was not limiting Himself to one people. His wondrous works could be heard in all the languages of the world. Christianity was not exclusively a Jewish religion, despite its cle

If you are interested in the controversy over the role of the charismatic gifts in the church today, you owe it to yourself to read this book. The writing was excellent, and the author managed both clarity and concision. He managed to explain quite a few key concepts without using too much jargon, too long of a length, or many of the other issues that often turn laymen off to theology-related books. The arguments were, for the most part, quite compelling; although there are a few arguments I'm not sure I find that convincing (such as his argument that the gifts played a less prominent role in the Apostles' ministries and in the early church), he brought up many good points as well. His arguments against the Third Wave view of prophecy (which teaches, among other things, that ordinary congregational prophecy can legitimately be a mix of truth and error) and for the continuity between Old and New Testament prophecy (some claim that New Testament prophecy is fundamentally different from Old Testament prophecy and thus must be held to a different standard) are especially compelling. These arguments alone make the book worth the price. I honestly don't see how anyone who has read his critique could maintain that the Third Wave view of prophecy is Biblical. As I said, although I found this section of the book to be the strongest, this isn't to say that the other sections aren't strong too, or that he doesn't bring up good points there too. He does. In fact, most of his arguments for cessationism are quite strong and clearly presented. For you non-cessationists, no, his case does NOT depend on 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; he presents arguments from many different angles, none of which are dependent on this text. In particular he looks at why we would even need the gifts anymore. I'd recommend reading this book with "Perspectives on Pentecost" by Richard B. Gaffin. They compliment each other very well, and these books could easily revolutionize your understanding of the Bible's teaching on the spiritual gifts. These books are perfect if: - You're not sure what the Bible teaches on the topic - You're convinced that the Bible doesn't teach cessationism (these books will show you that it does) - You want to learn more about the controversy over the charismatic movement - You want to understand how to answer the arguments for the charismatic movement and defend cessationism. Robertson's book is very good for this and ably answers many of the common arguments and misunderstandings found in the charismatic doctrines of the spiritual gifts. I fall into this category, as by the time I read this book I was already convinced that the Bible teaches cessationism (which I wasn't always convinced of, as I was charismatic for a number of years). In short, this is a compelling book that I highly recommend to both charismatics (at least those who are prepared to test their beliefs in light of Scripture) and to non-charismatics (especially if you want to know how to defend

O. Palmer Robertson has written a very succint book on the doctrine of the cessation of revelatory gifts. He deftly traces the prophetic office from the Old Covenant into the New and finds its completion in the "prophet like unto Moses," the Lord Jesus Christ. He also correctly identifies biblical "tongues" as a subset of prophecy from the Book of Acts and demonstrates biblically how the gift of tongues and prophecy were anticipated to cease even in New Testament times with the completed canon of Scripture. Biblical theology at its best - highly recommended.