How and When Did Cessationism Begin?
“He did not get them to memorize a detailed explanation of the gospel. His approach was not intellectual.”
Cessationism states that spiritual gifts, such as prophecy, speaking and interpreting tongues, and healing, ceased with the Apostolic Age. To counteract this doctrine, continuationism was emphasized. Those who hold a continuation doctrine believe that spiritual gifts are still active today. Their discussion also involves the purpose and validity of signs and wonders.
Cessationism is popular in the West and many Westerners have a blind spot that causes us to miss the supernatural. I call it a blind spot because we are not even aware we have it. So, many simply deny any supernatural aspect of life and find a way to explain a different reality. Christians have a variety of opinions on the validity of signs. A famous book entitled Counterfeit Miracles written by Benjamin Warfield, a Princeton theologian, has convinced many that the supernatural events of the Bible no longer take place. The book contains an elaborate set of arguments based on false presuppositions. The claims may sound logical to some, but they lack support in Scripture!
Some say that while there was no explicit statement in Scripture that signs and wonders would cease, they belonged only to the earliest centuries of the church because they needed an extra push of power in the beginning. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed that signs and wonders faded and ceased as leaders of the organized church opposed them. This has some credibility because when leaders themselves have never experienced the supernatural, they often conclude that they are not real.
The truth is that not only has Scripture never called for signs and wonders to cease, but history clearly proves that they have NEVER ceased. I have credibly sourced documents from every century since the ascension of Jesus showing that there have always been miracles.
Cessationism started before Jesus was born to explain the absence of miracles. There was a period of 400 years between the Old and New Testaments where there were no prophets and no miracles. Eventually, rabbis started teaching that they were no longer necessary.
God did not send prophets because the Hebrew Scriptures were complete. They were no longer needed. And since the purpose of miracles was to attest to the truth of the prophet's words, miracles were no longer needed either. So from then on, if a prophet arose, he was considered false and any supernatural signs were labeled counterfeits.
This partially explains the reaction within Judaism when Jesus came to heal the sick and prophesied. Jesus was eventually crucified for using false signs and wonders to lead people astray. The early church, however, claimed that signs were evidence God was with them. Thirty Christian Apologists, such as Justin, Origen, and Cyril, all argued that God withdrew prophecy & miracles from the Jews and transferred them to the Church as proof of her continued divine favor. Some today see the miracles of Jesus as proof of his divinity. But many others also performed miracles. Miracles are signs of the coming of the Kingdom. They express the gospel and the love of God for people.
By the time of the Reformation, the Church took the same arguments as the Jews did. The reformers said that Apostles were given to write Scripture. The miracles confirmed that their writings were canonical. Since we have the New Testament, we don’t need apostles, nor do we need miracles. But Scripture never says there were only 12 apostles. There were actually more than twenty called apostles. And most apostles did not write any Scripture at all. In fact, Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke & Acts was not an apostle at all. And others, like Philip who was not an apostle or writer, moved in signs and wonders.
The reformers were critical of the superstitious claims of Catholics. They wanted to distance themselves from the use of relics & bleeding statues. So the church moved away from the supernatural to more natural expressions. So, prophesy became preaching. Miracles became metaphors like the blind are spiritually blind, not literally blind, and the lame who could not walk spiritually, now walk in righteousness.
I personally believe that Jesus did all his miracles as a man. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. But Scripture says he laid his divinity aside when he came in the flesh. This gives us hope. We too can be used by God in the supernatural. Jesus sent many disciples out in pairs and told them to do miracles. This gives people encounters with God for the purpose of bringing people to faith in Jesus and the Gospel.
Every time Jesus sent people out, he gave everyone the same instructions. He said “Go, announce the Kingdom, heal the sick”, and usually added, “cast out demons.” He did not get them to memorize a detailed explanation of the gospel. His approach was not intellectual.
He introduced people to a powerful God through personal experience. Today, most evangelism classes don’t even mention the Kingdom or Supernatural. The Gospel has become good news about how to get to heaven. Obviously, that is true but it is incomplete. A Gospel and a church without God-encounters are powerless.
