Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? [Paperback]

Wayne Grudem (Author), Robert Saucy (Contributor), Richard B. Gaffin (Author), Stanley N. Gundry (Author), Sam Storms (Author), Doug Oss (Author)

Book Description

Series: Counterpoints: Bible and Theology | Publication Date: October 10, 1996

Are the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and healing for today? No, say cessationists. Yes, say Pentecostal and Third Wave Christians. Maybe, say a large sector of open-but-cautious evangelicals. What's the answer? Is there an answer? Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? takes you to the heart of the charismatic controversy. It provides an impartial format for comparing the four main lines of thinking: cessationist, open but cautious, third wave, and Pentecostal/charismatic. The authors present their positions in an interactive setting that allows for critique, clarification, and defense. This thought-provoking book will help Christians on every side of the miraculous gifts debate to better understand their own position and the positions of others. Wayne Grudem has brought online the four major views on miraculous gifts today. Downloading them into your own understanding takes effort, but the worldwide network that you join is the fellowship of the Spirit! The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Wayne Grudem is professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinitiy Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He holds degrees from Harvard (B.A.), Westminster Seminary (M.Div.), and Cambridge (Ph.D.). He is the co-editor of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

From the Back Cover

Are the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and healing for today? No, say cessationists. Yes, say Pentecostal and Third Wave Christians. Maybe, say a large sector of open-but-cautious evangelicals. What’s the answer? Is there an answer?

Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? takes you to the heart of the charismatic controversy. It provides an impartial format for comparing the four main lines of thinking: cessationist, open but cautious, third wave, and Pentecostal/charismatic. The authors present their positions in an interactive setting that allows for critique, clarification, and defense.

This thought-provoking book will help Christians on every side of the miraculous gifts debate to better understand their own position and the positions of others.

Wayne Grudem has brought online the four major views on miraculous gifts today. Downloading them into your own understanding takes effort, but the worldwide network that you join is the fellowship of the Spirit!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 10, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310201551
• ISBN-13: 978-0310201557
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take up and read, February 14, 2001

By 

www.DavidLRattigan.com (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? (Paperback)

I did not find this book overbalanced on the charismatic side, as one Amazon reviewer suggested. On the contrary, I feel that Richard B. Gaffin was a very wise choice for a representative of the cessationist viewpoint. His arguments move away from flimsy prooftexting and he engages well with the biblical evidence. He avoids the virile tone towards continuationists that many others on his side of the debate have exhibited, and relies on good argumentation and scholarship rather than just anti-charismatic rhetoric.

Similarly, those propounding a continuationist view of spiritual gifts raise some interesting points, Sam Storms giving the most compelling arguments in its favour.

This book will provide an excellent introduction to the current debate, and will be far more helpful to cessationists and continuationists alike than the many other books in the genre which exhibit a much more partisan, even hostile approach.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly but accessible, October 19, 2005

By 

LauraGrace (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? (Paperback)

This book, required for a Systematic Theology class I'm taking, surprised me with its depth and breadth; but above all I was delighted to read four positions stated eloquently, earnestly, firmly, and courteously. Each author went out of his way to emphasize the common ground held by all four men, and each scrupulously avoided personal attacks or the use of inflammatory language, something that cannot be said for one of the reviewers of this book!

Most importantly, I believe, this book has greatly assisted in the formation of my own understanding of Scripture regarding this subject, which is often characterized by poor exegesis, over- or under-reliance on intellect, and childish attacks. In the end, I found that Storms' position dealt comprehensively and convincingly with the testimony of Scripture, but all of the views were addressed fairly and competently.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Represents a major breakthrough on study of cessationism, June 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? (Paperback)

Had Evangelical scholarship kept up to date, this work could have been written 40 years ago, saving a lot of grief and controversy over a highly volatile issue. Cessationism, the doctrine that spiritual gifts ceased with the apostles, is now the focus of a disciplined, scholarly debate between scholars representing four views, ranging from "Gifts Ceased" (R. Gaffin), "Less Frequent" (R. Saucy), "Continued--3rd Wave" (C. Storms) and "Continued--Pentecostal/charismatic" (D. Oss). 17 hours of face-to-face debate forced the positions to confront each others' arguments more squarely. No one changed his mind, but the dialog broke new ground, providing a rich array of insights for those with the tenacity to work through this sophisticated work. (See full review in forthcoming Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society by Jon Ruthven, author of "On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-Biblical Miracles." Sheffield, 1993).