The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament Church Part Two

 For those who wish to hear my thoughts on this subject, I recommend that they read all of the prior posts on this blog concerning infant baptism, baptism of fire, and the first post concerning the gift of prophecy in the New Testament. Unless readers take the time to read the earlier posts, they will likely not follow my train of thought on these topics. 

In general, prophecy had somewhat of a broad meaning in the New Testament. Certainly, not all Christian prophets, for example, were gifted with the power of writing infallible scripture. however, they universally testified to the unique power of the Holy Spirit within them. 

                                                                      Introduction: 

So far, I have demonstrated that evangelism was intended for Christians outside of the original twelve apostles. Likewise, I have argued that this Biblical calling was meant for those beyond the first century. Additionally, however, I have shown that the meaning of an apostle was just for the apostolic age. I wish to now continue my discussion of the gift of prophecy in the New Testament. 

                                                The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament:

First, before we discuss whether or not the gift of prophecy was relevant to Christians in the post-first century era, we need to clarify the Biblical meaning of prophecy. Unless we do that, then there will be confusion as to its usage. Indeed, today so many people profess to be prophets of Christianity. Some of them understand prophecy as its relation to the preaching of the gospel. Others, however, believe that prophecy is much more; including visions, special powers, and even church authority. 

Many Cessationists love to look at 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter that speaks of both tongues and prophecy eventually ceasing. To them, this is Biblical proof that such actions ended with the apostles. Once again, however, many of the Cessationists are extremely selective with their passages on scripture. Verse eight confirms that knowledge will also cease. Do we believe that knowledge has yet ceased? Furthermore, when Paul speaks of completeness to eventually come which will not be dependent on these things (verse ten), he never gives date as to when they shall be rescinded. Many Cessationists assume that such gifts were rescinded at the end of the first century. Furthermore, to believe that prophecy has ceased based on the reasons that Cessationists use for this chapter, would also mean that there will not be two literal witnesses (Revelation 11) to prophecy near the end of the age (which many Dispensationalists do believe). Truly, the burden of proof is on them to show that these gifts have been rescinded. 

While many Cessationists may look at these passages and insists that they were only meant for that time, a problem quickly arrives from their exegesis of the texts. 1 Corinthians 11:14 speaks of a woman praying and prophesying with her head covered. For Cessationists to believe that this passage was just relevant for its intended audience, or that it was later rescinded, they would have to concede that the passage's teaching on women praying in the church is also no longer relevant (and even contrary to their position of women remaining literally silent during service). Either praying and prophecying on the part of women during church is no longer relevant to Christians of today, or both are. To pick and choose that one of them is still relevant while the other is not, is simply not Biblical. Likewise, why do many Cessationists believe that Ephesians 5:22-23, which teaches for wives to submit to their husbands, is still relevant but passages concerning when praying and prophesying are conveniently just for the church of the first century? 

For many, a major theological problem arises with 1 Corinthians 11. If women can pray and prophecy in a church setting (as some of them did), then why does Paul elsewhere say for women to be quiet during the presence of the sacraments (1 Corinthians 14)? Since both passages are equally inspired, we cannot just take whichever of the two we please while ignoring the other. No, indeed, both are of equal significance. As Christians, we must use scripture to understand how these two passages reconcile with each other. 

First, as another article noted, to say that Paul's meaning in 1 Corinthians 14 means that women cannot pray would be to contradict his earlier position in 1 Corinthians 11. Indeed, however, to take 1 Corinthians 14 literally would be to mean that women cannot even pray or sing in church service. 

Perhaps Acts 2:17 can provide us with further insight to those who believe that 1 Corinthians 11 is just one passage speaking of women prophesying. In Acts 2:17, God Himself speaks of His sons and daughters alike prophesying. 1 Corinthians 11 Although some would prefer to believe that 1 Corinthians 1 is one rare passage that seems to say promote women's roles in the church, this is simply not the case. 

Second, Paul never rebuked the Christian women from prophecy in 1 Corinthians 11. In fact, he affirmed it. 

Third, some have attempted to reconcile the two passages by suggesting that chapter fourteen was not written by Paul. However, I see little reason to believe this. Indeed, every Greek manuscript of 1 Corinthians 14 includes these verses. While some have suggested that scribes added them, ripping these texts out based on the assumption that they weren't written by Paul is quite the stretch. 

Fourth, the best explanation for women's silence in 1 Corinthians 14 is when someone is interpreting their prophecy. Naturally, a woman falls under the jurisdiction of a male elder. However, this does not mean that scripture forbids her (from my understanding) from her either asking questions or even contributing to the Christian community. This seems confirmed from the chapter at large, but especially by verses 29-32. The context of 1 Corinthians 11:29-32 is prohibiting women from judging true prophecy, not from themselves given prophecy. 

                                  The Gift of Prophecy in second-century writings

Early Christian writings continued to affirm that prophecy was still in play during their own time:

''He Himself is prophesying in us.'' (Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs p. 538).

 -Barnabas (c.70-130, E), 1.147. 

Elsewhere, I discussed that Justin Martyr still believed that prophecy was still relevant in his time. However, Tertullian who came later, believed that prophecy no longer existed. Could this be that prophecy ceased at the time of the middle second century? If this is the case, prophecy lasted a little longer than the time of the twelve apostles (which some Cessationists affirm). 

1 Thessalonians 5:2 warns Christians to not despise prophecies. However, isn't that exactly what many Cessationists are doing? For by rejecting the writings of Early Christianity that accompanied the New Testament, when the prophecy was still known to have existed among the church fathers, they are possibly rebuking the teachings of the Holy Spirit. 

With many false prophets in the world today, Christians need to be aware of true teaching. Hermas warned about the characteristics of a false prophet:

''The false prophet does not have the power of the divine Spirit in him. Therefore, he answers his hearers according to their inquiries, and according to their wicked desires. He fills their souls with expectations, according to their own wishes. For being himself empty, he gives empty answers to empty inquiries (Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs p. 539).'' 

-Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.27. 

Likewise, Origen of Alexandria claimed that there were no longer true prophets by the time of Celsus, a false prophet from the second century (p.539). As mentioned earlier, Tertullian of Carthage believed that it no longer existed in his time (p.538). 

Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. -Matthew 24:11

In conclusion, prophecy has ceased until near the end of the age? I believe that the best reason for arguing that it may have is that Tertullian no longer knew it to exist in his time. However, other spiritual gifts we have not discussed yet. I hope to move on to some of these now. Finally, just because the gift of prophecy ceased during the time of the church fathers, doesn't mean that such gifts are gone forever. Will there be special revelations in the last days? It's an interesting question. Here, is another one. Can we affirm Biblically that no such prophecy exists today? Simply because some of the church fathers no longer knew it existed in their time does not mean that they thought it had ceased forever. 

Further Sources: 

Bercot, David W. Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. (1998). Hendrickson Publishers Marketing.