Q1nurnr~itt wqrnlugirul flnut41y Continuing Lehre und Wehre (Vol. LXXVI) Magazin fuer Ev.-Luth. Homiletik (Vol. LIV) Theol. Quarterly (1897-1920) -Theol. Monthly (Vol. X) Vo1. I October, 1930 No. 10 CONTENTS MUELLER, J. T.: Die Verneinung der Mitteilung der Eigen- Page schaften 'seitens der Papisten... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 721 ARNDT, W.: Does the Bible Teach that Only Christians of the Apostolic Age Would Possess Miraculous PowersP 730 FUERBRINGER, L.: Paulus in Athen ...................... 735 FAYE, C. W.: The Superman ............................... 742 MEYER, A. W.: Schools of the Prophets in Old Testament Times ................................................... 754 WISMAR, O. W.: Sermon Study on Acts 16, 16--32 ....... 759 Disposi tionen ueber die Eisenacher Evangelienreihe....... 766 STREUFERT, F. C.: The Pastor at the Bedside of the Back- slider ................................................... 775 Theological Observer. - Xirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ...... 778 Book Review. - Literatur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 792 Ein Prediger muss nicht allein weide", also daBs er die Schafe unterweise, wie • ie rechte Christen sollen sein, sondern BUch daneben den Woelfen wehr ... , daBs sie die Schafe nicht angreifen und mit falscher Lehre verfuehren und Irrtum ein· fuehren. - lAtther. Es ist kein Ding, das die Leute mehr bei der Kirche behaelt denn die gute Predigt. - Apologie, Art. 24 • If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle Y 1 Oor.1.j, 8. Published for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States :}. :I' CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. I I ARCHIVES 730 Only Christians of Apostolic Age to Possess Miraculous Powers? Does the Bible Teach that Only Christians of the Apostolic Age Would Possess Miraculous Powers? (A Conference Paper.) The question is frequently asked, Are there Scripture-passages by means of which we can prove that the extraordinary gifts possessed by Christians in apostolic times, like those of healing, prophesy- ing, etc., were intended for, and given to, the Church of early New Testament times only? The reply has to be, There are no such Scripture-passages. Our Lord at various times conferred upon His disciples the power to do miraculous works. The best-known occasion is one of the meetings which He held with His disciples prior to His ascension. According to Mark He said at that time: "And these signs shall follow them that believe. In My name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," Mark 16,17.18. Jesus, it will be observed, is not merely speaking of the Eleven, but of be- lievers in general. He does not say, These signs will follow you, but, These signs will follow "them that believe." It will be noticed, too, that Jesus does not add a limitation. He does not say, For a short time these signs will follow, etc. His promise is very broad. The unprejudiced reader will think that the faculty to perform these signs was given to the believers of all times. As long as there will be believers, this promise will stand. Incidentally it might be remarked that the five miracles which Jesus mentions here, namely, the casting out of devils, the speaking with new tongues, the taking up of serpents, the drinking of deadly things without hurt, and the healing of the sick, can well be looked upon as representing miracles in general and that it is not doing violence to the words of Jesus if we understand Him here simply as endowing His followers with miraculous powers. It is true, Scripture-proof has been submitted for the position that these extraordinary so-called charismatic gifts can no longer occur. 1 Cor. 12, 11 is quoted, where Paul, speaking of the spiritual endowments of the church in Corinth, says: "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." The point of the argument is that the Spirit divides as He will; He is not bound, or compelled, to equip people with these miraculous faculties in our day and age. Certainly, that is true; but it does not show that the Spirit would not grant miraculous en- dowments beyond the limits of the Apostolic Age. 1 Cor. 13, 13 is adduced: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three." The stress is laid on "abideth." People who use this passage in the argu- ment we are considering say that Paul declares faith, hope, and love are abiding, that is, remaining, virtues, while the miraculous gifts Only Christians of Apostolic Age to Possess Miraculous Powers? 731 cease. Again quite true, but the argumentation is deficient because it does not prove just what is to be proved, namely, that these miracu- lous gifts did not last longer than about the first century. Paul evi- dently is contrasting the present world with the future one of glory. The miraculous gifts have their sphere here. They cease at the grave. In yonder world they are not found. But faith, hope, charity, are abiding virtues, forming a golden diadem whose luster will not be dimmed during the vast cycles of eternity. Deut. 13, 1-3 is at times thought to furnish an argument showing that Ohristians nowadays cannot possess charismatic gifts. Moses says there: "If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord, your God, proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul." Now, evi- dently, there is no argument for the position in question contained here. The Lord warns against false prophets who work miracles. It is an important warning. But there is in it not a scintilla of proof showing that only the Ohristians of the first century were super- naturally endowed. We turn to Acts 2,16.17 as another passage cited in this con- nection. Peter says there: "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams," etc. The argument based on this runs thus : Joel had prophesied a miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now, Peter says that this prophecy was fulfilled on the first day of Pentecost, hence it would be wrong to think that the Spirit would be poured out miraculously at a later time. That is an argu- ment which falls to pieces the minute you look at it a little more closely. It would mean that only those present in Jerusalem at the first Ohristian Pentecost received that great endowment, the extraOl'- dinary communication of the Spirit; and this, again, would imply that the Ohristians in Oorinth who had special endowments were not living in the era spoken of by Joel, hence that their gifts were not of the Holy Spirit, but that their charismatic faculties were a deception. It would imp~y that Paul was not equipped with the power of the Spirit, in spite of his specific declaration that he had performed mir- acles in his congregations. No, the exegesis underlying this argument is entirely faulty. True it is that the prophecy of Joel was fulfilled on the first Ohristian Pentecost Day, but not exclusively on that day. That great day marked the beginning of the era of the Spirit, as has 732 Only Christians of Apostolic Age to Possess Miraculous Powers? well been said. The dam was opened, and the refreshing waters began to flow in a wide and ever-spreading stream to cover the world, and the blessed floods have not yet receded. The argument which is usually advanced is that these gifts were needed in the early Ohurch to establish Ohristianity and that, since this has been accomplished, God withholds these special endowments. I might present it in the words of Gregory the Great, quoted by N ebe, Evangelische Perikopen, II, p. 437: "These things were necessary in the beginning of the Ohurch, for in order that faith might grow, it had to be nourished by miracles; for we, too, when we plant shrubs, pour water on them till we see that they have gotten a strong hold on the ground; and when once they are firmly rooted, we stop the watering. For this reason Paul says: 'Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not,' 1001'.14,22." We see a twofold argument here. The one is taken from human reason. The gifts were intended merely for the first age of the Ohurch because at that time they were needed. The necessity no longer exists, hence this endowment is no longer granted. Strictly speaking, we ought not to call it an argument which proves that the extraordinary gifts were meant for the early Ohurch only. It does not furnish any such proof. It merely explains the absence of these gifts in our days and hence has an apologetic value. Moreover, it does not rest on revelation, on a word of God, but, as has been stated before, simply on our own reason and constitutes merely a plausible conjecture on our part, which I, for my part, am very willing to accept for what it is worth. The other argument of Gregory is taken from 1 Oar. 14, 22: "Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not." What Gregory wishes to deduce from this evidently is: Miracles are to help in converting unbelievers. In the first century the Ohurch was surrounded by unbelievers on all sides, and therefore God gave the Ohristians the power to perform miracles. Now there are not many unbelievers any more, speaking by comparison, hence God has withdrawn this power. In arguing thus, he, of course, gets more out of the words of Paul than they contain. What Paul wishes to inculcate is the proper evaluation of the spiritual gifts. Speaking with tongues - such is the meaning of the apostle - impresses the outsider, the unbeliever, it does not edify the Ohurch; hence strive after something else, something higher, namely, prophesying. That is a gift which really benefits the Ohurch. It is clear that this pas- sage, too, does not limit the charismatic gifts to the Apostolic Age. As far as I know, there is no argument from Scripture by which we could show that the charismatic gifts of the Spirit were intended only for the early Ohristians. Now, does that not put us into a rather deplorable situation? We are plagued by various very active sects which maintain that they possess the extraordinary spiritual gifts Only Christians of Apostolic Age to Possess Miraculous Powers? 733 which the early Ohurch possessed. They stress possession of these gifts as evidence of the superior character of their religion, and over against them we have to admit that we cannot show from Scripture that such charismatic endowments are impossible in our day. It would be a beautiful cutting of the Gordian knot with the sword of Alexander, I grant, if we had Scripture-passages showing unmistak- ably that such gifts are a thing of the past. But in the Ohurch here on earth knots are not cut in that way. We see it in the present financial situation in our Synod. How fine if we could stamp our feet and instantly produce the millions of dollars we need! In the divine revelation as given in our Bible there are many matters on which we, according to our reason, think we ought to have more light. God has not given it to us. How fine if we had that light! How easily could we not then refute heretics! we say. But God has not given us the light our reason clamors for. We find that there are passages which errorists quote to bolster up their wrong teaching. Perhaps the wicked thought has come to us, Too bad that such and such a passage is found in Holy Writ. Well, that is God's way of dealing with us. He has not taken away all Gordian lmots, and He has not given us a sword to cut these knots in short fashion. In all humility, with fear and trembling, we have to proceed on our way. And as we despair of our own strength and wisdom, a Mightier One than we are will find us and lead us upward, and when He surrounds us with His heavenly light, then our difficulties take on a brighter hue, obscure texts become illumined, and we see blessings in the very things we deplored. - This is a digression which had no other purpose than to emphasize that certain things which we, according to our own little human wisdom, might wish to find in the Bible are not con- tained there. Let us not say: The Bible teaches that the charismatic gifts were confined to the early Ohurch. In my conviction we cannot prove that the Bible carries such teaching. No, it is in an altogether different way that we have to approach the problem which is here facing us. I think that Luther in this case, as usual, takes the right position. He writes in the KirchenpostilZe with reference to Mark 16, 19 (XI, 988 f.): "Hier haben die Rotten auch zu gruebeln von den Zeichen mit unnuetzen Fragen, ob sie aufgehoert haben und warum sie nicht noch durch uns geschehen. Es ist abel' hiervon auch genug zu wissen, dass solche Zeichen gegeben sind zum Zeugnis und oeffent- licher Beweisung diesel' Predigt des Evangeliums, wie sie denn sonder- lich im Anfang desselben stark haben gehen muessen, bis das Evan- gelium in die Welt ausgebreitet worden, da sie nicht mehr so gemein sind; wie auch nicht not ist, nun diese Predigt schon durch alle Lande und Sprachen gangen. Wiewohl es wahl' ist, dass allezeit dieselbe Kraft und Wirkung Ohristi in del' Ohristenheit bleiben, dass, wo es 734 Only Christians of Apostolic Age to Possess Miraculous Powers? not waere, auch wohl noch solche Wunder geschehen koennen. Wie denn auch oft geschehen ist und noch geschieht, dass in Ohristi N amen der Teufel ausgetrieben, item, durch Anrufung desselben N amens und Gebet die Kranken gesund werden und vielen in grossen, beide leiblichen und geistlichen, Noeten geholfen wird; so wird auch jetzt noch das Evangelium mit neuen Sprachen verkuendigt, da es zuvor unbekannt gewesen. Denn solche Zeichen sind del' ganzen Ohristenheit gegeben, wie er hier sagt 'denen, die da glauben,' ob man gleich nicht allezeit bei einzelnen Personen solche Gaben sieht, wie sie auch die Apostel nicht aIle gleich getan haben." Again he writes (XI, 956): "Etliche fahren hie zu und legen diese Zeichen geistlich aus, damit sie del' Heiligen Ehre erhalten. . .. Abel' solche Auslegung leiden diese W orte nicht; denn damit macht man uns die Schrift wanken und unbestaendig. Etliche fahren zu und sagen, dass, wie- wohl diese Zeichen nicht jedermann hat und tut, so sind sie doch del' ganzen Gemeinde, dem ganzen Haufen del' Ohristenheit gegeben, dass del' die Teufel austreibe, del' andere die Kranken gesund mache und sofort an. Darum sagen sie, dass solche Zeichen seien eine Offen- barung des Geistes, dass, wo die Zeichen sind, sei auch die christliche Kirche, und wiederum. Abel' diese W orte wollen nicht gehen auf die Gemeinde, sondern auf einen jeglichen insonderheit, dass die Meinung sei: Wenn ein Ohristenmensch ist, del' den Glauben hat, del' solI Ge- walt haben, diese nachfolgenden Zeichen zu tun, und sollen ihm folgen, wie Ohristus im Johannes, Kap. 14, 12, sagt: 'Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch: WeI' an mich glaubet, del' wird die Werke auch tun, die ich tue, und wird groessere denn diese tun'; denn ein Ohristenmensch hat gleiche Gewalt mit Ohristo, ist eine Gemeinde und sitzt mit ihm in gesamten Lehen. . .. Darum wo ein Ohristenmensch ist, da ist noch die Gewalt, solche Zeichen zu tun, wenn es vonnoeten ist. Es solI sich abel' niemand unterstehen, die zu ueben, wenn es nicht vonnoeten ist odeI' die Not erfordert; denn die Juenger haben sie auch nicht alle- wege geuebt, sondern allein das Wort Gottes zu bezeugen und durch die Wunderzeichen dasselbe zu' bestaetigen; wie denn in dem Text allhier steht: 'Sie abel' gingen aus und predigten an allen Oertern, und del' Herr wirkte mit ihnen und bekraeftigte das Wort durch mit- folgende Zeichen.' Sintemal abel' das Evangelium nun ausgebreitet und aller WeIt kund geworden ist, ist es nicht vonnoeten, Zeichen zu tun wie zu del' Apostel Zeiten. Wenn es abel' die Not erfordern wuerde und sie das Evangelium aengsten und dringen wollten, so muessten wir wahrlich dar an und muessten auch Zeichen tun, ehe wir das Evan- gelium uns liessen schmaehen und unterdruecken. Abel' ich hoffe, es werde nicht vonnoeten sein und werde dahin nicht gereichen. Als, dass ich mit neuen Zungen sollte allhier reden: ist es doch nicht von- noeten, sintemal ihr mich aIle wohl vernehmen und verstehen koennt. Wenn mich Gott abel' hinschickte, da sie mich nicht vernaehmen, da ~aurus in 5Ut~en. 735 koennte er mir wohl ihre Zunge oder Sprache verleihen, dadurch ich verstanden wuerde." Luther, as the above shows, holds that the doing of miracles in our days is not a priori excluded. If it should become necessary, he holds they would be done, and, in a measure, they are being done every day, namely, when Ohristians pray and God grants their petitions. To be brief, I think these canons might guide us: - 1. Oharismatic powers were conferred for the upbuilding and edifying of the Ohurch. If anyone uses miraculous powers from personal aggrandizement, they are not from God, but from the devil. Of. Acts 8, 18 ff. 2. The charismatic gifts accompanied the pure GOSpBl. If any one uses extraordinary powers to defend and spread false teaching, they are not from God. Of. Deut. 13,1-3; 2 Thess. 2, 9 ff. 3. There must exist a real need for miracles if they are to be pBr- formed. It would be tempting God if anyone undertook to do them without such necessity. Of. Matt. 4, 7. 4. Signs "shall follow them that believe," Matt. 16, 7. When they are genuine, they merely accompany the pure Gospel. Putting them in the foreground, making them the chief factor in one's ministry, is proof that the the respective "prophet" is an errorist. Holding these principles, we shall be able to overcome errorists who set up the claim that they can perform miracles and disturb the Ohurch with their false doctrines. W. ARNDT. ~ . ~ ~aufu~ in 2ltfjcn. SUet. 17, 16-34. 1. ~HeUeiclj± barf iclj bie nacljfolgenbe mefjanbIung biefer in±erelfanten unb tvicljtigen ®jJifobe im 2e6en unb jffiiden bei3 SUjJofteli3l13aului3 mit einer jJerfiinIicljen ®rinnerung 6eginnen. mor ciner fficifje bon ~afjren traf iclj aUf ciner ffieife cinen amerifanifcljen Uniberfiti±ti3jJrofelfor, ber aUf natut~ tvilf enf cljaftIicljem unb matfjematif cljem 05e6ie±e ar6eUe±e. jffiit filfjden eine liingere UnterfjaHung; feber rebe±e il6er fein eigenei3 05e6ie±, unb aum @'icljlut taufcljten tvir unfere ~arten mti3.~aclj einigcr 3eit fcljrie6 biefer 05eIefjrte an miclj unb erfucljte miclj, e±tvai3 filt ifjn nacljauf cI)Iagen in ben mericljten ber l13reutif cljen SUfabemie ber jffiilf enf cljaften in merlin. jffiir fjatten niimHclj gerabe auclj bon biefen tvertboUen meriiffentHcljungen ge~ rebd, unb iclj fjatte 6emerft, bat fie ficlj boUftiinbig fiinben in ber mi~ 6Iiotfjef ber @'it. 20uifer SUfabemie ber jffiilfenfcljaften, an beren 05rilnbung unb zsiirberung fcineraeit ber 6efannte 05eIefjde l13rof. Dr. 05. @'iet)ffartfj, bamali3 2efjrer an unferm @'it. 20uifer @'ieminar, 6e±eifigt tvar. ~clj er~ filUte gern ieinen jffiunfclj, unb 6eim @'iucljen bei3 6dreffenben 2TdifeIi3