Apostles and Prophets: The Foundation of the Church (Paperback)

by C. Peter Wagner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"[The household of God has been] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:20). Jesus revealed Himself to be the cornerstone of the Church; but He has built His Church-and continues to build it-through apostles and prophets, men and women who are empowered by the Holy Spirit for this purpose. C. Peter Wagner, who has studied the restoration of apostles and prophets to the Church in recent years, now takes a closer look at how the people called to these crucial roles are meant to function in order to fulffill their divine purpose.

From the Inside Flap
Jesus revealed Himself to be the cornerstone of the Church. But He has built His Church, and continues to build it, through apostles and prophets--people who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now the author of Churchquake! and a leader of the New Apostolic Reformation gives us new insights into how the people called to crucial roles in the Church--apostles and prophets, as well as evangelists, pastors and teachers--must work together in order to fulfill their and the Church's divine purpose. For the first time since the Early Church, God is harnessing apostles and prophets to fulfill the promise of His divine plan. Prepare to play your part!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Regal Books (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830725741
• ISBN-13: 978-0830725748
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,084,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unsound, August 28, 2007

By	William Sloos (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In Peter C. Wagner's book, Apostles and Prophets: The Foundation of the Church, he argues that Christ intended the church to be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets according to Ephesians 2:19-20. He believes that the New Testament endorses the concept that the apostle and prophet are not simply spiritual gifts that function in the body of Christ, but are governmental positions or "offices" that should be strategically operating in positions of ecclesiastical authority. He notes that, even though the church has embraced the office of pastor, teacher, and evangelist, it has yet to submit to the leadership of the apostle and prophet, leaving the church disempowered and disengaged from its divinely appointment mandate (9). Wagner suggests that when the church decides to come under the intended authority of the apostle and prophet, it will experience a new level of influence in the world and a greater degree of power and blessing through the Holy Spirit (89).

Wagner indicates that the office of the prophet began to emerge in the 1980's, even though it was largely isolated from mainstream evangelical Christianity. Though the majority of church leaders rejected the prophetic office, believing that there were no new revelations other than the Bible, the movement continued to develop and, according to Wagner, is now powerfully influencing churches around the globe. He notes that the function of the prophet, similar to that of the Old Testament prophet, is to receive God's divine revelation or "rhema word" and boldly declare it to the church. The author also argues that the office of the prophet is not only Biblical, but when "hitched" to the office of the apostle, is essential in fulfilling Christ's design for church governance (74).

In the 1990's, the office of the apostle emerged in some evangelical circles and, though not as controversial as the prophetic office, is creating a shift in the orthodoxy and praxis of traditional church government (21). Instead of working within the parameters of the traditional church governance model, such as Congregational or Presbyterian, the office of the apostle functions on a new level of authority, placing ultimate decision making ability on the individual as opposed to the congregation or committee (25, 34). The apostle in this position receives a greater amount of spiritual authority from the Holy Spirit, providing a completely new level of spiritual authority to the church. Akin to the ministry of the apostle Paul, Wagner suggests that apostles operate within a sphere of influence over a specific network of churches or church leaders. Apostles also receive divine revelation, either directly from God or through their connection with the prophetic office, which provides spiritual guidance and instruction to their specific sphere of ministry (34).

Wagner has christened this new system of church government as the "New Apostolic Reformation" and has confidently claimed it will completely revolutionize the church. This movement has become what Wagner calls, "an extraordinary work of God" that is "changing the shape of Protestant Christianity around the world" (21). He even goes as far as saying that this development, "could possibly be an even more radical change than the [Protestant] Reformation" (22). However, drawing parallels to the Protestant Reformation seems not only premature, but also terribly overconfident. Instead of providing sound biblical exegesis to support his claims, he prefers to lean heavily on his reputation and expound on his own experiences and ideas.

Wagner's concepts are based on a skewed hermeneutic that suggests that the church remains in a state of incompleteness until the offices of apostle and prophet are restored. The idea that the church is incomplete without the apostles and prophets inherently diminishes the sufficiency of Scripture and the authority of Christ. The office of the prophet diminishes the significance of the Word. Why would a believer search the Scriptures when they can visit the prophet and receive a personal message from God? The office of the apostle, which confers someone with divine authority, diminishes the need for every believer to pursue Christ. Why would a believer pray and seek the Lord when they can simply obey the directives of the apostle? This proposal leads to extremes: it increases the office holder and decreases Jesus. The church must continue to find divine truth exclusively in the Word of God and all find authority in the person of Jesus Christ; promoting ideas that suggest otherwise has the ability to opens doors to spiritual abuse, heresy, and cultic activity.

Wagner himself seems to fall prey to some strange, prophetically directed behavior that most mature believers would strongly discourage. In 1998, upon receiving a prophecy from an associate about an upcoming stock market fluctuation, he openly admits to moving around his retirement funds and, in doing so, making the "equivalent of a generous year's salary" (103). Though his maneuver turned out to be a good financial decision, it implies that one can seek prophetic messages for a variety of matters including personal gain. This behaviour resembles the common practices of psychics and mediums, who help people with everything from love to lottery tickets. The biblical gift of prophecy, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians, was not for any other reason but for the up building, encouragement and comfort of the church. Wagner's apparent liberal treatment this gift is clearly outside the parameters of biblical teaching and is reason enough to reject it completely.

In the concluding chapters of the book, Wagner relates the poignant story of John Wimber and his relationship with the Kansas City prophets. Though Wimber originally embraced the prophetic movement and promoted the ministry within the Vineyard churches, he was later disappointed by a prophecy regarding an upcoming revival in England that turned out to be false. He later admitted that the prophetic movement derailed the progress of the Vineyard movement and was evidently deeply hurt and disillusioned by the unrealized prophecy. In spite of this embarrassing debacle, Wagner remains a strong believer in the prophetic movement and naively believes that the movement simply requires the apostolic relationship to bring structure and accountability. He fails to recognize the grief this has caused, not only for a colleague, but also for the Vineyard fellowship. It is bizarre that after spending most of the book promoting the apostolic-prophetic movement, he would end his book with an example of its profound failure.

There is no doubt that the apostle-prophet church government system could appear attractive to many church leaders today. The church is urgently seeking a ministry or program that will launch the next great revival before the second coming of Christ. Church leaders are tired of the sluggishness of the democratic process and committee meeting after committee meeting; most pastors genuinely desire a move of the Holy Spirit and long to see the restoration of the New Testament church in their current context. However, the Scriptures repeatedly warn the church to be on their guard against false teachers and false teaching. This "New Apostolic Reformation" may appear like the key that unlocks the door to revival, yet it would not be the first time the church is deceived by well-intentioned people. The church must continue to stand firm on the sufficiency of Scripture and the authority of Christ and resist the temptation to grant ecclesiastic authority to those who claim the status of apostle or prophet, regardless of their spiritual giftedness or passion for God.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Thoughts on this new Movement, March 21, 2004

By	R. Neary "Pastor Gadget" (Beaumont, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested understanding the role of Apostle and Prophet. These special offices of the church have been ignored, abused and mostly mis-understood. This is a great book to start a thorough biblical and contemporary study on the topic. C. Peter Wagner's understanding of scripture, expert opinion of Church Growth and personal experience are great resources on this vital topic. It should not be viewed as exhaustive but as the thoughts and understanding of one of the best thinkers in the evangelical church world today

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Church Politics as Usual, October 31, 2003

By	James Lee "JL" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An easy reading for the average believer. I was hoping to find some apostolic missions strategy in it, but disappointingly, the book is about establishing 21st century church government which would be led by newly instituted offices of modern day apostles and prophets. Rather than discussing apostolic missionaries, the book primarily deals with church politics. Aside from naming himself as an example of a modern apostle, his book makes you think about his proposition that the new apostles and prophets are the double-edged sword of the 21st century church hierarchy.