A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
by Fred G. Zaspel
Both of these books have been available for a while, and both are now published in a new edition. Both remain highly relevant, speaking to issues that remain alive and well today. Both are small size and easily accessible to the general reader, and both deserve the attention of today’s generation.
Pastor and seminary professor Palmer Robertson demonstrates that today’s call for gifts such as prophecy do not advance a biblical Christianity but represent a failure to grasp the fulness of New Testament privileges. Particularly valuable is his discussion of Wayne Grudem’s views on the continuation of prophecy in the church today.
Pastor Walter Chantry focuses on the uniqueness of the miraculous gifts in the apostolic age, laying the groundwork of the traditional cessationist doctrine. He addresses related issues such as baptism with the Spirit and the work of the Spirit today as taught in the New Testament.
Tables of Contents
Signs of the Apostles
Walter Chantry
1 Reports of Signs and Wonders
2 Stating the Question Precisely
3 Miracle-workers Sent from God
Old Testament Miracles
Messianic Miracles
Apostolic Miracles
4 Is Scripture Complete?
A Pertinent Question
An Evident Answer
5 Gifts in the Early Church
A Warning
General Principles About Gifts
Gifts No Sign of Grace
Love in Exercising Gifts
Gifts Must Depart from the Church
Supervision of Temporary Gifts
One Purpose for Tongues
6 Why Christians Seek ‘the Gifts’
Today’s Appeal
Corinthian Appeal
Biblical Response
7 Baptism with the Spirit
8 When the Spirit Comes
The Spirit of Holiness
The Spirit of Truth
9 Perplexing Experience
10 A Positive Word
11 The Holy Spirit and Revivals
The Final Word
O. Palmer Robertson
Chapter 1: Prophecy Today?
1. The Origin of Prophecy according to the Old Testament
2. Foundational Passages on Prophecy in the Old Testament
3. Prophecy about Prophecy in the Old Testament
4. The Testimony of Peter and Paul concerning Prophecy
5. Conclusion
Chapter 2: Tongues Today?
1. New Testament Tongues Were Revelational
2. Tongues Were Foreign Languages
3. New Testament Tongues Were for Public Consumption, Not Private Use
4. New Testament Tongues Were a Sign
5. Conclusion
Chapter 3: Revelation Today?
1. What It Means that Revelation Has Ceased
(a) God’s Revelation in Nature and Providence Has Not Ended
(b) God Has Not Ceased Communicating through the Scriptures
(c) There Are No Further Inspired, Authoritative Communications apart from Those in the Bible
2. The History of the Cessation of Revelation
(a) The ‘Do Not Add’ Declarations
(b) The ‘End’ in Relation to the ‘Means’ of Special Revelation
(c) Evidence of the Decline of the Revelational Gifts in the New Testament Era
3. Objections to the Concept of the Cessation of Revelation
(a) Scriptural Objections
(b) Theological Objections
(c) Practical Objections
Chapter 4: Current Advocacy of the Continuation of Revelation
1. This Viewpoint Asserts that Revelation Continues Today
2. This Viewpoint Hangs on an Exegetical String
(a) Arguments for an Inferior Kind of Prophecy Based on the Teaching about Prophecy in 1 Corinthians
(b) The Evidence of the Rest of the New Testament
3. This Viewpoint Brings a Venerable Institution with an Impeccable History into a State of
Disrepute
4. This Viewpoint Introduces a Factor of Uncertainty into Worship
5. This Viewpoint has the Potential of Bringing into Question other Prophetic Revelations from God
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Buy the books
THE FINAL WORD: A BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO THE CASE FOR TONGUES AND PROPHECY TODAY, by O. Palmer Robertson
SIGNS OF THE APOSTLES: OBSERVATIONS ON PENTACOSTALISM OLD AND NEW, by Walter J. Chantry