To Be Continued?: Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today?

This is one of the most excellent books on the topic of the miraculous gifts in the Bible. It is a concise book (~100 pages) and an easy one to read. I have read number of books and articles on this and related topics as I was involved for longer time with a Charismatic/ Pentecostal church that eventually moved towards the Third Wave and the Signs & Wonders movement, and this is one of the key books that helped me clearly understand this important Biblical topic. I recommend it to Continuationists who are open-minded to examine their own views, as well as Cessationists who like to be able to better understand and defend their view. Finally, I would most highly recommend this book to busy pastors, or ones who are "open but cautious", and any others who may be considering becoming Continuationists, and want to learn more about its Biblical claims. Dr. Samuel E Waldron does a superb job of covering the key Biblical verses showing clearly and beyond a reasonable doubt how going from the most important miraculous gift of Apostles, to prophets, to tongues, to workers of miracles (including healing workers), all have ceased after the time of the 1st century Apostles of Christ. It is interesting that he states that most Continuationists are Cessationists when it comes to the first gift, the gift of Apostles (big "A", Apostles to Christ). Furthermore, he answers most of the typical objections given by Continuationists, including Scripture misunderstandings, such as the view that New Testament (NT) prophets don't have to be 100% accurate in their prophecies. This is the most amazing and very spiritually damaging view for the body of Christ and it is supported by such moderates as Wayne Grudem. The 100% accuracy rule (Deut 18:21-22) was given for our protection, and it is easy to see how false prophets have created many spin-offs to the Biblically accurate Christian faith. By supporting the removal of the 100% accuracy rule for prophecies, leaders like Wayne Grudem, possibly without fully realizing it, are opening a Pandora's box of problems. Why? Why not accept the Bible as sufficient; just as it itself claims to be (2 Tim 3:16-17)? This leads me to the final point, and that is the emotional arguments or objections that Continuationists raise. Having been in that camp, I can tell you that these are very popular. Dr. Waldron addresses number of these at the very end of the book via the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) - "...They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them...". In my experience, many become Continuationists, because of emotional arguments, such as: we want "more power from God", improved or "deeper" prayer life, increased zeal and joy, more drama in life (as Dr. J.P. Moreland, a well-known Charismatic leader has stated) and similar claims. The problem is that they are looking for God in all the wrong places, as Hank Hanegraaff puts it well in his book: Counterfeit Revival - this one covers the more extreme cases of

The previous two reviewers did an excellent job summarizing the purpose, content, and line of argumentation of the book. Therefore, I will not belabor those points. Dr. Waldron uses the cascade argument quite effectively to prove his main point: the miraculous gifts ceased with the end of the apostolic age and close of the biblical canon. In this review, I want to stress the importance and usefulness of the book. I am concerned about the growing influx of the charismatic movement in evangelical theology, especially in light of the "third wave" theology promoted by some evangelical pastors and scholars. My concern becomes particularly acute as I see the charismatic movement making inroads in my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. I believe the charismatic movement has a divisive influence when it penetrates local churches and denominations that are not historically charismatic. I can name local churches that are right now being torn apart over divisions caused by members who adopt charismatic beliefs and practices. The main problem is that too many evangelical pastors and theologians have never wrestled with the main claims of the charismatics. Thus, they do not have a clear response when their fellow pastors and parishoners begin to dabble with charismatic theology. These pastors and theologians tend to "ride the fence" when asked about these issues. Many of them may have a gut-level feeling that the movement is wrong, but they do not have a good biblical foundation to support their feelings. Dr. Waldron has provided a valuable solution to the problem. "To Be Continued?" is a brief, effective treatise that provides evangelicals with a firm biblical foundation to respond to the charismatic movement. This book helps us to become clear-headed in our thinking in this area. It is also written in a style that is accessible to the layman and brief enough that it can be read in one sitting. (I took this book with me on vacation, settled down in a lawn chair, and finished it in a couple of hours.) I especially liked two things about this book. First, his handling of the question of modern-day Apostles is devastating to the opposition. He proves beyond any doubt that there can be no "big A" Apostles after the close of the biblical canon. Therefore, the third wave movement and its relatives are destroyed at the foundation. Second, he ends the book on a very inspiring note. Chapter 9, "Has the Glory Departed?" provides an excellent discussion of one of the parables of Jesus. Dr. Waldron leaves no doubt: the glory has not departed! even if the miraculous gifts have ceased. I commend this book to any evangelicals who wish to think more clearly and more biblically about the charismatic movement. I especially commend it to those pastors and churches who are even now being divided by charismatic influences.

There are few subjects more debated and more hotly debated in the church today than whether or not the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to this day. We have recently seen a great deal of discussion about this issue in the blogosphere. It is an issue which leaves many believers confused, unsure as to what they believe and what they should believe. Cessationists, who believe that the miraculous gifts have ceased, often point to the excesses of the charismatic movement as proof that God surely could not stand behind such manifestations of His Spirit. Many continuationists, who believe the gifts continue to be poured out on the church, suggest that it is unfair to rely on the extremes of the movement and point instead to the more biblical, moderate charismatics, among whom are often cited Sam Storms, John Piper, Wayne Grudem and C.J. Mahaney. In an attempt to bring clarity to this issue I recently conducted interviews with Dr. Wayne Grudem and Dr. Sam Waldron. Dr. Waldron discussed a defense of cessationism he outlined in his new book To Be Continued. Dr. Waldron's argument is simple. If it can be proven that the gift of Apostle is no longer operative in the church today, and this is something that even many continuationists believe, that provides the opportunity to discuss the possibility that other gifts have also ceased. And so he argues from the greater to the lesser. If the gift of Apostle has ceased, so too can it be proven that the other miraculous gifts have ceased - gifts that include speaking in tongues, miracle working and prophecy. His argument naturally cascades from one point to the next. This is how Dr. Waldron summarized the argument of his book during the interview I conducted with him: That we must begin as cessationists with what is most clear in Scripture and it is also admitted by many continuationists, and that is that there are no longer "big A" Apostles, or what I might call, strictly speaking, Apostles of Christ or the church. But what I argue is that that is a great or even fatal admission for continuationists to make, and it is also something that's made plain in the Scriptures. If there are no Apostles of Christ that creates the precedent for saying that, at least in certain respects, the apostolic period and the church today are distinctly different because the absence of Apostles of Christ is a great difference between the apostolic period and today. The first gift, the most important gift, is now missing in the church. I think that exposes a fundamental flaw in continuationist argument and in the mockery of cessationism that you meet in some circles. Then I argue that if Apostles are no longer in the church that creates a precedent for discussing the issue of whether prophets are in the church. And then I bring, on the basis of the absence of the Apostolic gift, arguments for the absence of the prophetic gift. And then on the basis of those two things I argue that tongues-speaking was a form of

In "To Be Continued" Sam Waldron presents an excellent case for the cessation of the New Testament miracle gifts. And not only does he present a compelling case, but he does so from a reformed perspective. Contrary to other works on the subject, Waldron builds his case on the foundation of the Apostles. In other words, if there are no Apostles alive today, then there is no prophecy, no miracle-workers, and no tongue speaking. The first few chapters dealt with the issue of the Apostles. Waldron brilliantly demonstrated that there can be no Apostles alive today. He did this in a number of ways; 1. The church was founded upon the apostles 2. Apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ 3. The Apostles were chosen personally by Christ These were a few of the many criteria that Waldron based his claim on. There is no way any man today can claim to be an Apostle because he simply would not be able to fulfill these claims. Another interesting concept was modern-day prophecy. Are there prophets alive today? Is God still giving divine revelation? These questions and many more were answered by Waldron as he refuted many of the latest objections to the cessation of modern prophecy. Personally, I've encountered more than a few alleged modern prophecies. And I can now say with certainty that these were false prophets. How do I know? Because if even one prophecy is found to be false, then the prophet is false. This is the one area of Pentecostalism that I find most disturbing. When anyone claims a "thus saith the Lord" they are claiming that the Bible is not complete and sufficient. They may not claim this or agree, but there is no way else to put it. Does the Bible not contain all the revelation and prophecy that we will ever need to live our lives? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 seem to say so! So why are Pentecostals continuing to give modern prophecy? Why isn't the Word of God enough? One thing that I found to be extremely helpful was the discussion of 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. Until I read Waldron's work, I used this passage as evidence that prophecy and tongues had ceased with the completion of the canon ("that which is perfect"). I was honestly awestruck to find that Waldron didn't agree with this interpretation. He claimed that both the cessationists and continuationists were wrong. The passage had nothing to do with the gifts themselves, but rather the knowledge that was given through the gifts. But fortunately, the case against continuationism is so compelling that we are not dependent on such passages to refute the assertions of Pentecostals. Overall, I found Waldron's work to be short and to the point. It wasn't filled with hundreds of quotes and long discussions. In fact, "To Be Continued" is only a little over a hundred pages long. But the discussions were very in depth. However, I feel that Waldron should have made a slightly lengthier book simply because it wasn't as enjoyable to read as I had hoped. However,