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Particulars
of Christianity:
310
Pentecostalism, the Charismatic
and Faith Movements
The Origins
of the Modern Charismatic Movement
5
Tests for Authenticity: The Test of Apostolic Continuity
The Test of Origination
The Test of Quality (or Ecstasy)
The Test of Heresy
Defining the Test of Purpose
and Verifiability
On Faith and Miracles
The Sign Sign-Giver Process
Applying the Test of Purpose
and Verifiability (Part 1)
Applying the Test of Purpose
and Verifiability (Part 2)
Section 1 | Section
2 | Section 3 | Section
4
| Section 5
So
far from our historical surveys, we have established the following.
First, from the words of Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, we know
that the prophetic gifts including tongues continued past
the close of the New Testament Canon, past the death of the
apostles, and past the destruction of the Temple and were
occurring at least into the mid or later half of the second
century AD. Second, we know from the historic record that
counterfeit gifts had arisen by the time of the second century
and that the orthodox church distinguished between the counterfeit
and the authentic gifts by the fact that the counterfeit gifts
were practiced in a state of ecstasy and accompanied by raving
and babblings, all of which was held to be contrary to the
way in which the prophetic gifts occurred in the orthodox
churches.
Third, by the time of Augustine and John Chrysostom in the
fourth century, Church leaders faced the dilemma that the
authentic gifts had ceased and this dilemma forced them to
deal with the problematic questions of why and how this occurred
and what the implications it had on salvation. Fourth, there
is insufficient documentation to support the conclusion that
authentic gifts occurred among orthodox groups from the Renaissance
until the eighteenth century. And fifth, all modern Charismatic
groups evolved out of the Wesleyan doctrine of "perfection"
and the Wesleyan Holiness movement (despite the fact that
there is no evidence that John Wesley spoke in tongues.)
Now that we know the general history of the charismatic gifts
and the Charismatic movement, we can discuss more specifically
how to evaluate whether or not modern charismatic gifts are
authentic.
There are five tests for authenticity. First we will list
them, then we will explain and apply them.
1.) The Test of Apostolic Continuity.
2.) The Test of Origination.
3.) The Test of Quality (or Ecstasy.)
4.) The Test of Heresy.
5.) The Test of Purpose and Verifiability.
The Test of Apostolic Continuity
This test deals very simply with whether or not a particular
occurrence of the charismatic gifts can adequately trace its
origination all the way back to the 12 apostles in an unbroken
continuous line of practice. Or more simply put, this test
deals with the notion of whether or not the apostle laid hands
on someone who in turn laid hands on the next generation and
so on and so forth in an unbroken chain of charismatic practice
from every generation to the next right until the current
generation.
Justin Martyr and Irenaeus at least indirectly attest to the
Apostolic continuity to the charismatic gifts occurring in
the churches of their day. However, as we have shown, all
modern occurrences of the charismatic gifts fail this test
because the existing historic record and documentation unequivocally
demonstrates that the gifts ceased for a time spanning at
least from the fourth century to through the Renaissance and
the seventeenth century. Therefore, no modern occurrence of
the gifts can trace is origin as a matter of continuous practice
all the way back to the Apostles.
However, it should be noted that while passing this test would
go a long way toward authenticating a particular occurrence
of charismatic gifts, the failure of this test does not necessarily
invalidate a particular occurrence of the charismatic gifts.
Failure of this test simply indicates that a particular occurrence
of the gifts cannot be validated by continuous practice from
the Apostles.
Because the chain of practice is broken, no modern charismatic
group can substantiate their practice of the gifts by appealing
to ties to Apostolic laying on of hands. All modern occurrences
of charismatic gifts are then, by very definition, a hypothetical
restoration or reemergence of the gifts after a time of absences.
Therefore, they began with someone else other than the Apostles
who, like the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, must have
received the charismatic gifts spontaneously without the laying
on of hands by a predecessor. In short, all modern occurrences
of the charismatic gifts fail the test of Apostolic Continuity.
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