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Once again we need to note that the author promises to give a biblical critique. But unfortunately he will not restrict his presentation to the biblical argument. We have previously set forth our requirements when considering the claims of cessationists. Any argument presented must
Once again we need to note that the author promises to give a biblical critique. But unfortunately he will not restrict his presentation to the biblical argument. We have previously set forth our requirements when considering the claims of cessationists. Any argument presented must
- be biblically based
- not appeal to contemporary expressions of other believers
- not appeal to silence
- not appeal to events or practices of history
We shall note any part of the author's presentation that violates these criteria by highlighting them in red.
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Signs and miracles
Charismatics believe that the miraculous sign gifts ((We note the author will continually use the phrase "sign gifts." This is an imposition designed to prejudice the reader. We shall add emphasis each time the author uses this pejorative and unbiblical phrase),
including “faith healing,” are normative for today. Therefore, they believe that dramatic miracles are still occurring in the church. Historic Protestantism teaches that the sign gifts served a distinct purpose in the apostolic church—that of authenticating the apostles’ teachings. (Maybe this is the problem. It's his tradition he's promulgating, subjecting his interpretation of the Bible to it. We discuss authentication here.
There is no verse in the Bible that describes an apostle performing a sign to prove who he was. The concept is simply not in the Scriptures.
And why are we talking about "sign gifts?" The title of the article is "signs and wonders.")
Once the Spirit-inspired teachings concerning the person and work of Christ were inscripturated, the sign gifts ceased, because they were no longer needed. (He has not proved this thesis.)
To determine if the sign gifts are still normative, we must answer three questions: What is the purpose of the sign gifts?
Did these gifts cease after the completion of the New Testament canon? Are the miracles that are supposedly occurring today the same as those that occurred in the days of Christ and the apostles?
The Bible teaches that signs are public, visible, miraculous events. (No reference for this assertion is provided.
Once the Spirit-inspired teachings concerning the person and work of Christ were inscripturated, the sign gifts ceased, because they were no longer needed. (He has not proved this thesis.)
To determine if the sign gifts are still normative, we must answer three questions: What is the purpose of the sign gifts?
Did these gifts cease after the completion of the New Testament canon? Are the miracles that are supposedly occurring today the same as those that occurred in the days of Christ and the apostles?
The Bible teaches that signs are public, visible, miraculous events. (No reference for this assertion is provided.
The author defines a word that he has imposed on the subject matter, i.e., the "sign gifts." He creates a neologism and then defines it as if it is assists him in proving his case. But as we mentioned, we reject the "supernatural" gifts of the Spirit as being "sign gifts."
No if the author wants to talk about signs apart from the "sign gifts," we will entertain him within limits.)
Their purpose was not to give believers exciting worship services [39] or a wonderful experience (Who has claimed this?)
but to authenticate a divine message or messenger, to prove publicly that the person performing miracles was sent from God. “In Exodus 4:5 God told Moses to perform miracles in order ‘That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers...has appeared to you.’ Thus the miracles attested Moses’ divine mission.” [40] Elijah was sent to reside with a widow in Zarephath (1 Kgs. 17). After the widow’s son died, Elijah prayed to God, and God revived her son. What was the widow’s response? “Now by this [miracle] I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth” (v. 24). When Jesus was asked at the Feast of Dedication if He was the Christ, He said, “I told you, and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (Jn. 10:25). Nicodemus told Christ, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn. 3:2). The man born blind chided the Pharisees for not knowing that Jesus was sent from God: “You do not know where he is from, and yet he has opened my eyes!... If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (Jn. 9:30, 33; cf. Mt 9:6; 14:33; Ac. 2:22). The signs that Jesus did authenticated both Him and His message. His greatest sign, of course, was His resurrection from the dead (Mt. 12:38-40). (The author begins with OT references, and finds the passages about Jesus' authentication, but has nothing to offer us regarding apostolic authentication.)
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that the miracles he performed proved his apostolic authority. “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds” (2 Cor. 12:12). (The translation of sémeion into "signs" is common, with some exceptions like the NIV:
but to authenticate a divine message or messenger, to prove publicly that the person performing miracles was sent from God. “In Exodus 4:5 God told Moses to perform miracles in order ‘That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers...has appeared to you.’ Thus the miracles attested Moses’ divine mission.” [40] Elijah was sent to reside with a widow in Zarephath (1 Kgs. 17). After the widow’s son died, Elijah prayed to God, and God revived her son. What was the widow’s response? “Now by this [miracle] I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth” (v. 24). When Jesus was asked at the Feast of Dedication if He was the Christ, He said, “I told you, and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (Jn. 10:25). Nicodemus told Christ, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn. 3:2). The man born blind chided the Pharisees for not knowing that Jesus was sent from God: “You do not know where he is from, and yet he has opened my eyes!... If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (Jn. 9:30, 33; cf. Mt 9:6; 14:33; Ac. 2:22). The signs that Jesus did authenticated both Him and His message. His greatest sign, of course, was His resurrection from the dead (Mt. 12:38-40). (The author begins with OT references, and finds the passages about Jesus' authentication, but has nothing to offer us regarding apostolic authentication.)
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that the miracles he performed proved his apostolic authority. “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds” (2 Cor. 12:12). (The translation of sémeion into "signs" is common, with some exceptions like the NIV:
2Co. 12:12 The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance.
The word means a sign, miracle, indication, mark, token, so the NIV is a good rendering for our purpose. That is, the apostles were marked by their ability to do signs, wonders, and miracles. This does not imply that only they could do them.
Indeed, Stephen did signs and wonders [Ac. 6:8] but was never described as an apostle. The man in Mk. 9:38, likewise. And 1Co. 12:28 lists miracles as a spiritual gift, separate from apostles.)
If miraculous signs were common in Paul’s day, such a statement would have proved nothing. (The author provides no documentation for this assertion.
Clearly Paul was not teaching that only apostles could do signs and wonders. He was teaching that he couldn't be an apostle unless he was doing them.)
Miracles were never an end in themselves (Who has claimed this?)
but authenticated the apostolic message in the first century church. When Paul and Barnabas preached, the Lord, “was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Ac. 14:3; Barnabas is called an apostle in v. 14).
The author of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Heb. 2:3-4). (Unfortunately for the author, this passage is devastating to the cessationist perspective. It tells us that "this salvation" was what was being confirmed, not the apostles. Then, it subsequently identifies miracles and widely distributed gifts. Thus it differentiates between the one category of the miraculous as compared to another.
Miracles were never an end in themselves (Who has claimed this?)
but authenticated the apostolic message in the first century church. When Paul and Barnabas preached, the Lord, “was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Ac. 14:3; Barnabas is called an apostle in v. 14).
The author of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Heb. 2:3-4). (Unfortunately for the author, this passage is devastating to the cessationist perspective. It tells us that "this salvation" was what was being confirmed, not the apostles. Then, it subsequently identifies miracles and widely distributed gifts. Thus it differentiates between the one category of the miraculous as compared to another.
It does violence to the passage to insert the apostles as being the only ones to do these things.)
The passage refers to those who heard Christ—the apostles. (Did only the apostles hear Christ say this? The writer of Hebrews uses the word "us." Who is "us?" Who wrote the book of Hebrews, was he an apostle? Was Luke, who wrote Acts and the eponymous book an apostle? What about Jude?
The passage refers to those who heard Christ—the apostles. (Did only the apostles hear Christ say this? The writer of Hebrews uses the word "us." Who is "us?" Who wrote the book of Hebrews, was he an apostle? Was Luke, who wrote Acts and the eponymous book an apostle? What about Jude?
So far we have discovered that more than just the apostles performed "sign gifts," and more than the apostles wrote the NT, two reasons supplied by the author to support his false thesis.
We now turn to his next, also erroneous reason.)
A prerequisite of being an apostle was to have seen the resurrected Christ (Ac. 1:21-22; cf. 1 Cor. 9:1). (Um, no. We discuss this here. Let's quote the passage:
And note what the passage actually says, For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. It doesn't say, "was a witness." What Peter was really telling them was that the person chosen must join them and become a teller of the resurrection. Becoming a witness is a duty, not a qualification!
This is borne out in Ac. 4:33:
Paul says that he was the last living person to see the risen Lord (1 Cor. 15:7-8). (Again, let's actually quote the passage:
If the purpose of the sign gifts was to authenticate the apostles as true messengers God, and the apostles are all dead, then the sign gifts are no longer needed; they have served their purpose. (And that's a big "if," since nothing the author has offered so far has actually supported his thesis. Therefore, we have good cause to reject this assertion.)
If a modern faith healer claims to have seen the resurrected Christ, he is a liar. [41] (The author runs with his false criteria.)
B. B. Warfield did an intensive historical study of miracles and concluded that miracles did, in fact, cease after the death of the apostles. [42] (An appeal to history, not the Bible.)
He noted that as heresy and superstition increased in the papal church, so did the accounts of “miracles.” These “miracles” were obviously fraudulent, because they were associated with gross heresy, idolatry and superstition (e.g., being sprinkled with Mary’s breast milk, or touching a piece of the cross, or placing the eucharist on a person’s forehead). The Reformation, with its solid biblical theology, discarded all such nonsense and pointed people back to the pure, infallible, sufficient Word of God. Sadly, the Charismatic movement is turning from the purity of Reformation doctrine back toward the subjectivism, mysticism and superstition of Rome.
A prerequisite of being an apostle was to have seen the resurrected Christ (Ac. 1:21-22; cf. 1 Cor. 9:1). (Um, no. We discuss this here. Let's quote the passage:
Ac. 1:21-22 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.Notice Luke records one criteria, ...men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us... If this is the definitive criteria of apostleship, then Paul didn't qualify!
And note what the passage actually says, For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. It doesn't say, "was a witness." What Peter was really telling them was that the person chosen must join them and become a teller of the resurrection. Becoming a witness is a duty, not a qualification!
This is borne out in Ac. 4:33:
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.Further, the NT specifically identifies 18 apostles by name, and none of those who came after the Twelve were mentioned as being held to the Acts 1 standard except Matthias.)
Paul says that he was the last living person to see the risen Lord (1 Cor. 15:7-8). (Again, let's actually quote the passage:
1Co. 15:7-8: Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.Does this anywhere say he was the last apostle? And what about Barnabas and all the other apostles who were not the Twelve?)
If the purpose of the sign gifts was to authenticate the apostles as true messengers God, and the apostles are all dead, then the sign gifts are no longer needed; they have served their purpose. (And that's a big "if," since nothing the author has offered so far has actually supported his thesis. Therefore, we have good cause to reject this assertion.)
If a modern faith healer claims to have seen the resurrected Christ, he is a liar. [41] (The author runs with his false criteria.)
B. B. Warfield did an intensive historical study of miracles and concluded that miracles did, in fact, cease after the death of the apostles. [42] (An appeal to history, not the Bible.)
He noted that as heresy and superstition increased in the papal church, so did the accounts of “miracles.” These “miracles” were obviously fraudulent, because they were associated with gross heresy, idolatry and superstition (e.g., being sprinkled with Mary’s breast milk, or touching a piece of the cross, or placing the eucharist on a person’s forehead). The Reformation, with its solid biblical theology, discarded all such nonsense and pointed people back to the pure, infallible, sufficient Word of God. Sadly, the Charismatic movement is turning from the purity of Reformation doctrine back toward the subjectivism, mysticism and superstition of Rome.
The fact that...glossolalia were virtually (Hmmm. "Virtually." The claim has a qualifier.)
They were able to heal serious organic disease, crippled bodies and birth defects (Lk. 6:6, 17; Jn. 9:7; Ac. 3:6-8; 5:16; 8:7). They cast out demons (Lk. 13:32; 10:17; Ac. 10:38) and raised the dead (Lk. 7:11-16; Mk. 5:22-24, 35-43; Jn. 11:43-44; Ac. 9:26-42; 20:9-12).
There are a number of serious discrepancies between the healing miracles in the Bible and what is supposedly occurring today. Most healings performed by Christ and the apostles occurred in public places, in front of unbelievers. (Waaaait. Didn't the author just quote 2 Cor. 12:12? Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. Does this sound like the apostles did all these things in front of non-believers?
absent during eighteen hundred years and the fact that the gifts of healing which the apostles possessed were no longer in evidence after the apostles had died should certainly give us pause. The testimony of church history would seem to be that the Spirit has not continued to bestow these gifts on God’s people, even though he has continued to guide the [true] church into all the truth. If these miraculous gifts were intended to remain in the church, why did they disappear? If these gifts are essential to the life of the church, why did God withhold them from His people? The conclusion seems inescapable: these gifts were never intended to remain in the church. [43]If real, dramatic sign miracles are still occurring today, they should be easy to verify objectively. A brief comparison between the New Testament gift of healing and that practiced by Charismatics will prove that Charismatic faith healers are fraudulent. Jesus and the apostles healed many people with a word or touch (e.g., Mt. 8:6-7; Ac. 9:32-35). They healed instantaneously (Mt. 8:13; Mk. 5:29; Ac. 3:2-8). They healed totally not partially (Jn. 9:7; Ac. 9:34). (Well, not totally... Mk. 8:25:
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.)They were able to heal everyone who believed (Lk. 4:40; Ac. 5:12-16; 28:9). (Absent form this list is Ac. 8:7:
With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.Many, not all.)
They were able to heal serious organic disease, crippled bodies and birth defects (Lk. 6:6, 17; Jn. 9:7; Ac. 3:6-8; 5:16; 8:7). They cast out demons (Lk. 13:32; 10:17; Ac. 10:38) and raised the dead (Lk. 7:11-16; Mk. 5:22-24, 35-43; Jn. 11:43-44; Ac. 9:26-42; 20:9-12).
There are a number of serious discrepancies between the healing miracles in the Bible and what is supposedly occurring today. Most healings performed by Christ and the apostles occurred in public places, in front of unbelievers. (Waaaait. Didn't the author just quote 2 Cor. 12:12? Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. Does this sound like the apostles did all these things in front of non-believers?
The healing in Ac. 28:8 was not public. Paul's healing was not public [Ac. 9:18]. Nor was Aeneas' [Ac. 9:34]. Peter made a point of emptying the room for Tabitha's healing [Ac. 9:40].
Does the author not know these things? He purports to be a teacher of the Bible, but has failed time and again to demonstrate correct knowledge.)
They did not hold healing services; they healed people right out in the open, even in front of their enemies (e.g., Lk. 5:22-26; Ac. 3:4-10). Have you ever seen a modern faith healer go into a major hospital and heal the sick? (Yes.)
Have you ever seen one heal someone on the steps of city hall, in a shopping mall, or at a public park? (Yes.)
If these faith healers have the same ability as the apostles, (Have they made this claim?)
why do they do their “healings” in church buildings, in front of people who already believe? Signs are given for unbelievers; Christians do not need to be convinced that Jesus is the Christ—they already believe. (Waaaaaaait. Signs are only for non-believers? Does the author have a text that says such a thing?)
Christ and the apostles healed people who were generally known to be suffering from illness. Peter healed a man “lame from his mother’s womb” who begged daily at the temple. Afterward, the people “knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him” (Ac. 3:10). Christ healed a man who couldn’t walk for thirty eight years, who lay daily by the pool of Bethesda (Jn. 5:2-15). If you go to the typical faith healing crusade what do you see? A room full of total strangers. Virtually anyone could throw away a pair of crutches, and no one would really know if a healing had taken place or not. Why don’t modern faith healers do what Christ and the apostles did and perform a public healing on someone that everyone knows is crippled? The answer is simple: they can’t.
The people who claim to have the gift of healing never seem to get out of their tents, their tabernacles, or their TV studios. They always seem to have to exercise their gift in a controlled environment, staged their way, run according to their schedule. Why don’t we hear more of the gift of healing being used right in the hospital hallways? Why aren’t healers using their gift in places like India and Bangladesh? Why aren’t they right out in the street where masses of people are racked by disease? It isn’t happening. Why? Because those who claim the gift of healing don’t really have it. [44]If miraculous healings were still occurring today, it would be very easy to prove. Anyone could take a camcorder to the healing crusade and film the miracle for all to see. But why is this not happening? Because the supposed healings taking place today prove nothing. The typical Charismatic healing deals with back pain, hemorrhoids, leg lengthening (not by two feet but half an inch), headaches etc. Christ restored a man’s hand that was lifeless and withered; the “hand was restored as whole as the other” right in front of Christ’s enemies (Lk. 6:10). They could not deny the miracle. On another occasion, Jesus restored a man’s ear that had been cut off, right in front of His enemies (Lk. 22:51-52). Are modern faith healers restoring amputated limbs? Of course not. Can you go to a healing crusade and observe a withered hand restored right in front of your eyes? No, it’s not happening. If Charismatics were healing crippled legs, withered hands, cut-off ears, blind eyes, deaf ears, palsy, hemorrhages, etc., like Christ and the apostles, they would be on the nightly news, 60 Minutes and 20/20. Sadly, the only Charismatic faith healers who make the news are there because of fraud, adultery, theft, prostitution, and the like.
Christ and the apostles raised the dead. Jesus raised the widow’s son who was dead and already in a casket; afterward, the account of what Christ did “went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region” (Lk. 7:11-17). He brought to life a synagogue ruler’s daughter (Mk. 5:35-43). Lazarus had been dead for four days and was starting to rot. When Jesus “cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus come forth!’” Lazarus rose from the dead in front of many Jews (Jn. 11:43-45). Paul raised the young man Eutychus who had fallen out of a window and died (Ac. 20:9-12). He probably had a cracked skull, broken bones and serious internal injuries, yet he was completely healed in an instant! The Apostle Peter raised the godly widow Dorcas from the dead (Ac. 9:36-42).
Are modern faith healers raising the dead to life? Have they ever stopped at the scene of a fatal car accident and restored shattered bodies to life, as Paul did with Eutychus? Have they ever walked up to a coffin at a funeral and simply spoken the word of life to the dead? “It is interesting to note that those claiming the gift of healing today do not spend much time in funeral parlors, with funeral processions, or in cemeteries. The reason is obvious” (MacArthur, p. 145). While there are stories on Christian television shows of those who supposedly died and then came back to life, these stories cannot be verified. If Charismatic healers could raise the dead, like Christ and the apostles, then they could prove it by doing it in front of a large group of witnesses.
Conclusion
The Bible teaches that miraculous sign gifts served a distinct purpose; once that purpose was accomplished, they ceased. Modern tongues, prophecy and faith healing do not even remotely resemble what took place during the days of Christ and the apostles. The objective testimony of history is that these miraculous gifts ceased after the completion of the New Testament canon. Christ and the apostles did their miracles openly, even in front of their enemies. We challenge our Charismatic brothers to do likewise and prove to the world and non-Charismatic Christians that these gifts are real. Until there is biblical and empirical evidence to support Charismatic claims, we must regard the distinctives of the Charismatic movement to be bogus and fraudulent (2 Cor. 13:1). (Lk. 16:31 ...they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.)
While we believe that modern faith healers are living in self-deception and (knowingly or unknowingly) committing fraud, we also believe that God heals His people with prayer. If you are presently attending a Charismatic church, you are exhorted to leave and attend a church that focuses on the truth as revealed in Scripture. God is not impressed by large numbers, silly entertainment and the phony miracles of modern Charismatic preachers. He wants you to attend a church that teaches the truth and worships Him as He has appointed in His Word.
Notes
[39] The miracles performed by Christ and the apostles were not done in revival meetings or in worship services. The majority of miracles recorded in the New Testament were done in the open—in public. The few miracles which occurred in a somewhat private setting were not in church but in people’s homes. The only recorded instance of a miraculous healing taking place during a church service is in Ac. 20:7-12. Eutychus dozed off during Paul’s message and fell three stories to his death. Paul healed him in the street where he lay dead, then brought him back to the service. There is no biblical precedent whatsoever for the modern Charismatic healing services conducted today. The biblical pattern is set forth in Jas. 5:14: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” The elders are to go to the sick person’s home and pray for him.
[40] Gordon Clark, “Miracles,” in Merrill C. Tenney, ed., Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 4:244.
[41] Miracles do not appear in Scripture arbitrarily. They are clustered around major events in Israel’s salvation-history. There are three major periods of signs within the Bible. The first occurs during the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. The signs authenticated Moses and Joshua before the pagan world and God’s people. This was a period of great revelatory activity (e.g., the five books of Moses). The second period encompassed the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah’s ministry is at the beginning of the great prophetic period. The prophets explained the law and revealed the coming Messiah. The third great period of miracles and revelatory activity is the ministry of Christ and the apostles. The apostles explained the person and work of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the finality and focus of all revelation. “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things...” (Heb. 1:1-2).
[42] Benjamin B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (New York: Scribners, 1918).
[43] Hoekema, p. 65. Another question needs to be asked: why did none of the great Protestant Reformers such as Luther, Calvin or Knox exhibit such gifts? These men were used by God to restore the true gospel to a world darkened by Papal heresy. They risked their lives, and through their efforts half of Europe was converted to Christ. Does it make sense that God would ignore the Protestant Reformers yet give miraculous gifts to people of heretical doctrine such as Charles F. Parham, Agnes Ozman and W. J. Seymour? Does the Spirit of truth authenticate heretics?
[44] MacArthur, p. 134. The author personally attended over a hundred “healing services” and crusades. It is significant that almost all modern faith healers operate on the basis of what is called the “word of knowledge.” The “faith healer” will stand on stage and say, “There is someone in the balcony who suffers from low back pain. Whoever you are, God is healing you right now.” Or “Come on down; God is going to heal you right now.” If the faith healer uses the second option, he will lay hands on the “sick” person, tell him that he is healed and send him back to his seat. “Faith healers” on TV use the “word of knowledge” to heal people thousands of miles away. They can even heal people who watch on time-delay or see a rerun. How amazing! There is one problem with the use of the “word of knowledge” technique by modern faith healers: there is not a shred of biblical evidence that Christ and the apostles ever used such a method for healing. The “word of knowledge” technique is a twentieth-century phenomenon. In a large church or auditorium anyone can say, “Someone in the balcony has back pain,” and be correct. Why? Because back pain, hemorrhoids, intestinal problems, etc. are common. The “word of knowledge” technique is unbiblical and a complete fraud. If God is giving these men information regarding someone in the audience with a disease, why is this information so vague? God knows everything. Why doesn’t the faith healer say, “John Robbins, you have lower back pain; come on down and be healed”? The information is vague because it does not come from God. Two popular faith healers that did give specific names, addresses, and exact medical problems were both exposed as frauds (their wives were backstage giving them information over a radio receiver). If God can give a prophet exact information 500 years before it happens, could He not tell Pat Robertson the name of the person whose hemorrhoids are being healed in Dallas, Texas?
Copyright © Brian Schwertley, Lansing, Michigan, 1996
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