Leadership and Service in Christ’s Church - by Dennis Johnson

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-----------------------

The author is a cessationist, which means he believes the "supernatural" activities and gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today. His entire thinking process is colored by this, so much so that he uses words incorrectly, overlooks key Scriptures right in the middle of passages he references, and teaches more to his tradition than he does the Scriptures.

In addition, the author repeatedly uses the Christian vernacular "Word" to refer to the Scriptures. This is a continual irritant to us, because the "Word" is not the "Scriptures." We will explain below.

-------------------------

Stop Trying to Discover Your Spiritual Gift. Start Serving the Church - by Alistair Chalmers

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-------------------------

On one hand the author acknowledges spiritual gifts, but then seems to dismiss them in favor of just volunteering to serve the church with what you're good at. In doing so the author does his best to avoid some uncomfortable Scriptures.

The author never does manage to actually explain what spiritual gifts are. So, we shall do the author's work for him. "Spiritual gifts" in the Greek is pneumatikos charisma, of the spiritual realm, and, empowerment. The two words appear together only once in the Greek text, in Romans 1:11: 

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong...

charisma hymin pneumatikon
    gift      to you    spiritual

but the connection between the two is clearly presented in Scripture. Every spiritual gift is a spiritual empowerment. 

This is quite different than a natural skill or ability. While it is certainly true that a person's natural ability might give a hint of a spiritual gift, a spiritual gift is a notably a supernatural endowment. 

It is clear that some of these spiritual endowments make the author uncomfortable, because they are unnecessarily supernatural. The reason is, the author is a cessationist who doesn't believe in prophecy, tongues, words of knowledge, healing, or miraculous powers. Yet all these are listed as gifts. 

So rather than engage these uncomfortable things the author either doesn't mention them or glosses over them. Though he manages to quote a few Scriptures, he doesn't quote any part of the verses that mention spiritual gifts.

We must therefore regard this as Bad Bible Teaching.

---------------------------

What is the gift of speaking in tongues? - Gotquestions.org

Found here. Our comments in bold.
---------------------

Gotquestions is supposed to be a provider of Bible explanation. It represents itself as a sober, unbiased source of truth. But in fact it has a definite doctrinal tilt toward Reformed/Calvinist and cessationist. 

For the serious Bible student, Gotquestions is not a trustworthy source.

We see that quite clearly in Gotquestions' explanation of tongues. They make absolutely no effort to explore the charismatic doctrinal viewpoint at all.

We are therefore happy to assume that role and explain the other side.

----------------------

What is the spirit of wisdom and revelation in Ephesians 1:17? - by GotQuestions.org

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------------

Gotquestions never quotes the passage all together, instead quoting chunks here and there. Here it is:

Ep. 1:17-20 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms...

Paul covered a lot of ground here, and we see a procession of thought as he builds concept upon concept. We need to understand this as we analyze the verses in order to properly answer the question. But by dividing up the passage and deleting parts of it, Gotquestions misses this development. Gotquestions then compounds the problem by summarily dismissing alternatives (most likely charismatic) to their view. 

We will explain below.

-----------------------------

Is new prophecy done? If it is, what about that verse in Acts? - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

--------------------------

It's only a couple of weeks ago we looked at Ms. Prata's shortcomings. Well, she's back.

This is simply Bad Bible Teaching. There is no other way to describe it. Ms. Prata creates doctrines based on supposition and assumption, denies the plain words of Scripture, and invents an entire fantasy scenario in an attempt to find a workaround for Joel's prophecy, quoted by Peter.

This is dismal. We have had reason to question Ms. Prata's Bible competence in the past, but we no longer need to do so. The matter is now proven.

-------------------------

Speaking of Tongues… - by Amy Spreeman

Found here. Our comments in bold.
---------------------------------

We have spent a lot of time searching for a coherent biblical explanation for the cessation of the "miraculous" spiritual gifts. We have yet to find one.

Today we shall examine Ms. Spreeman's attempt to refute contemporary tongues. This is relatively short at 690 words, which means she ends up explaining precious little. She quotes precisely two Scriptures, neither of which come to bear on her effort to refute contemporary tongues. The balance of her presentation will be made up of various claims and assertions, using pejorative phrases to make her case.

The author will be focused on private prayer language. She will pretty much avoid explaining general tongues. And she doesn't even understand what charismatics believe.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

---------------------------

The Restful Finality of Pentecost - By Melody Muniz

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------------

Over 1800 words, but only 33 of them are words quoted from the Bible. But none of these Bible quotes were employed to document the author's assertions. In addition, there are many undocumented assertions, stated as if they were unvarnished truths. 

In reality, the author wanders around searching for a point. She seems to want to refute Pentecostalism, spending a great deal of time on it, but this is only a rabbit trail. We are guessing, but we think she wants to tell us that receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation is enough, and more of Him is not possible. Which makes Pentecostals heretics. 

Or not Calvin/Reformed or something.

We do not intend to defend Pentecostals. Nor do we intend to mock or denigrate the author. We are here to examine her deficient writing.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

----------------------------

Testing the “God Told Me” Claim; Part 1 - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

---------------------------------

Ms. Prata is reliably cessationist. But it isn't a biblical or rational position, it's reactionary. She doesn't like certain doctrines but is unable to intellectually articulate, from the Bible, her doctrines. 

A cessationist believes that God no longer speaks, among other things. But apparently there is some level of revelation from God that is acceptable, though Ms. Prata draws the line arbitrarily. So the Holy Spirit pricks the conscience, but doesn't inform us about the decisions we face. He warns us about sin, but not about danger around a street corner. He informs us about the contents of the Bible, but not about discerning someone's need.

None of this parsing is backed up by Scripture. She's inventing the whole scenario.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

-------------------------------------

Gifts for All Time? The Purpose and Cessation of Revelatory Gifts - by Todd M. Rester

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-------------------------------

We began our quest for the biblical case for cessationism in 2013. As of yet we have not found anyone who is able to clearly explain this doctrinal stance. Our criteria for proponents of cessationism is simple. The explanation must

1. be from the Bible (quote the verses that speak to the point being made)
2. Not appeal to contemporary expressions of charismata (what a church happens to believe is not the biblical case)
3. Not appeal to silence (i.e., what the Bible does not say)
4. Not appeal to events or practices of history (i.e., the historical absence or presence of something, or the statements of post-biblical writers)

The article below is another faulty attempt to explain cessationism. The author is guilty of inventing terminology, making undocumented claims, and misleading us about Bible verses. His key premise, that the close of the "apostolic" age means the close of revelation, is repeatedly asserted but never discussed.

But worse, he quotes a mere three Scriptures (one is a short snippet), only one of which comes to bear on his argument.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

---------------------

The Ordinary and Enduring Gifts of the Spirit -by William Barcley

Found here. Our comments in bold.

--------------------------

Let's quote the pertinent verses so that it's all together: 

Ro. 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

It is interesting that the author chose to explain this passage and not 1 Corinthians chapters 12 - 14. He probably made this choice because 1 Corinthians is substantially more problematic to his cessationist doctrine. But even so, the author will have to find a way to explain away the gift of prophecy.

It will not be a good explanation. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

---------------------

The Danger of NAR Church Leven (sic) - by Don Pirozok

Found here. Our comments in bold.
------------------------

We have commented on the author's writing before and have not been impressed.

1665 words, but not a single word quoted from any of the author's adversaries. Not even a quote from a source he agrees with. Every single assertion and accusation the author makes is undocumented. He makes claim after claim, dire warning after dire warning. The NAR may indeed be false, dangerous, and heretical like he says, but that is the case he must prove, not just make empty claims.

We are not here to defend the NAR, we intend to evaluate the author's presentation. And that presentation is embarrassing. Beyond Bad Bible Teaching, this is just bad.

-------------------

Recommend a Church - by Michelle Lesley If you’re searching for a new church

Found here. Our comments in bold.

----------------------------

Those who have "discernment ministries' (actually, these are not actual ministries, they are mostly a single individual with a blog and a sour disposition) have a tendency to find heresy under every rock. They have severe and exacting standards, and anyone that violates a single jot or tittle from their micro doctrines is cast into the outer darkness. We have deemed these folks the doctrinal police.

Ms. Lesley has been bestowed this honor more than once in our blog, so much so that we have awarded her her own tag.

Today we are posting Ms. Lesley's standards for being able to recommend a church. Astonishingly, there are 14 requirements, some of which exclude entire denominations. Remember, these are the criteria for her to be able to recommend a local church. 

Ms. Lesley doesn't quote a single word of Scripture. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

-----------------------------

“Praying in the Holy Spirit”: What Does Jude 20 Mean for Christians Today? - by Alistair Chalmers

Found here. Our comments in bold.
---------------------

The author is going to do his best to stay within his Calvinistic/Reformed views (which he describes as a "conservative evangelical perspective"), but he is clumsy in doing so, to the point that he violates Scripture and even his own doctrine.

The problem is, he's walking a tightrope. He wants to restrict prayer to a doctrinal system where nothing supernatural is allowed, even as he talks about the Holy Spirit's influence. He's deathly afraid that Charismatics will pray in tongues (1Corinthians 14:14 refers to praying in tongues), but admits there is a supernatural something involved in praying.

So, his general effort is to encourage Christians to pray, but to only go so far.

Lastly, because he generally avoids quoting Scripture, and misrepresents other Scripture, we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

We discuss tongues here.

---------------------------

Have Tongues Ceased? A Reformed Answer for Christians Leaving the Charismatic Movement - by Anthony Faggiano

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-------------------------

The author tells us he is here to help those who are leaving the charismatic movement. How he helps is a mystery because he never speaks to the topic at all. Rather, he makes a bunch of doctrinal assertions, uses obtuse terminology, and quotes sympathetic theologians who also make doctrinal assertions. A typical charismatic would find no help from this because a typical charismatic is not acquainted with these things.

So, the author writes to defend his doctrine, not to help charismatics.

But even then, we had hoped he would lay out the Scriptural case for his doctrine, but he doesn't. In his over 2000 words, we find

• The number of Bible verses quoted: Six, none of which improve the author's case
• The number of Bible verses cited but not quoted: Twenty three, none of which improve the author's case
• The number of agreeable theologians quoted or referenced: Twelve, none of which improve the author's case
• The number of undocumented assertions: Dozens
• The number of contrary sources quoted in order to evaluate and refute: Zero

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching, and bad polemics.

We discuss tongues in detail here.

----------------------------------

Is Sola Scriptura Biblical? Exploring the Fundamental Divide Between Protestants and Catholics - by Kevin DeYoung

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-------------------------

Although this article is about the way Catholics approach Scripture, we are redacting that material in favor of examining the author's explanation of Sola Scriptura.

The author, for all his advocacy of Sola Scriptura, only manages to quote snippets of Scripture.

In view of this irony, we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

--------------------------

Yesterday, Today, Forever: Christ Against False Teaching - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
----------------------------

Ms. Prata is a cessationist who doesn't believe in contemporary prophecy. This means she needs to reframe the NT to conform to her doctrine. So she redefines prophecy as teaching (or false prophets as false teachers). 

This is a rather clumsy attempt to impugn those Bible teachers she disagrees with. Thus the pursuit of the miraculous by some churches is made out to be mere thrill-seeking. It can't be good because it violates her doctrine. It must be false because she knows the truth.

Someone once said that when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. We would say, when you have a doctrine, everyone who believes something else is a heretic.

We should note that we ourselves are committed to understanding and promulgating biblical truth. So we don't have issue with Ms. Prata's main point. We do have an issue with her presumption.
--------------------------

Cessationism - Episode 19 - Hebrews chapter one and the cessation of the sign gifts

Our next Episode in the cessationism series.

Additional Episodes:

• Episode 1, the Perfect.
• Episode 2, the apostles.
• Episode 3, prophecy.
• Episode 4, the closed canon.
• Episode 5, extra biblical reasons.
• Episode 6, only the apostles had all truth.
• Episode 7, there were only limited periods of miracles.
• Episode 8, tongues.
• Episode 9, the work of the Holy Spirit.
• Episode 10, does God speak only through the Scriptures?
• Episode 11, what about impressions?
• Episode 12, what is discernment? 
• Episode 13, the sufficiency of Scripture.
• Episode 14, Was the purpose of miracles restricted to the authentication of the apostles?
• Episode 15, Is revival excluded because of apostasy?
• Episode 16, is prophecy subjective?
• Episode 17, Could only the apostles confer miraculous powers or gifts?
• Episode 18, are charismatics functional cessationists?
• Episode 19 - Hebrews chapter one and the cessation of the sign gifts.

Our criteria for the cessationism debate is that the argument must

1. be from the Bible
2. Not appeal to contemporary expressions of charismata
3. Not appeal to silence
4. Not appeal to events or practices of history

That is, any defense of cessationism must be Sola Scriptura.

Dominionism, Kingdom Now: NAR’s Heretical Eschatology - by Marsha West

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------

This is a very frustrating article. It is a litany of charges, assertions, insinuations, and assumptions about a nebulous group of people who supposedly are intent on taking over the world. She warns us about a great danger of these Christians infiltrating various facets of society with the goal of Christianizing these institutions. But what that danger is, she doesn't say.

She does manage to provide a couple of quotes from supposed NAR people, but those quotes contain nothing nefarious, and don't speak to the subject of eschatology. We long for some sort of documentation that the NAR wants to take over the world. We would like at least some quotes from supposed NAR leaders that articulate these principles. 

Only about 400 words belong to the author, so it's really no wonder she doesn't document any of her claims. And there are no Bible verses quoted. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

-----------------------------

An Evaluation Of Wayne Grudem’s View Of NT Prophecy - By Steven Kring

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.
---------------------

The author is going to evaluate some other teacher's ideas. Though he quotes a good deal of Scripture, he's not going to teach the Bible, he's going to teach his cessationist doctrine. He make many of the standard cessationist arguments, but add little new light.

Which is a wasted opportunity, especially considering the article weighs in at a hefty 5200 words. Surely with such an opportunity the author might make some thorough biblical analysis, perhaps even having it evaluated by a hostile witness.

Then his arguments might have been a little better. Otherwise, this is just Bad Bible Teaching.

--------------------------

Does the Holy Spirit Work Miracles Today? - By Daniel Nealon

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-----------------------------

This is simply Bad Bible Teaching. There's no other way to describe it. The author doesn't quote the Bible. At all. He misrepresents Bible verses. He lies to us about the Bible's contents. He incompetently teaches about things he clearly doesn't understand.

We don't wish to dishonor the man, but this is bad. 

-------------------------------