This is the first installment in a series of articles that clearly and unmistakably refutes one of the cessationist’s favorite and most oft-heard arguments.

There is a constant refrain sung by our cessationist friends concerning the presence of spiritual gifts in the aftermath of the first-century apostolic age. I have yet to hear or read a defense of cessationism that does not include the dogmatic assertion that the more overtly miraculous gifts of the Spirit were withdrawn and disappeared sometime near the end of the first century or early in the second. And as often as I and others have provided explicit evidence to the contrary, I have yet to hear a cessationist withdraw that argument.

Most recently, I sent all the articles that will appear in coming days to Justin Peters, asking him to respond. I appealed to him either to refute the evidence or, in the interests of Christian integrity, pass along the information to his fellow cessationists and issue an apology and retraction of their spurious appeal to what they have said is the absence of miraculous gifts in the history of the church. To this day I have yet to hear back from him. To be honest, I’m not surprised.

What value is there in looking closely at the presence or absence of spiritual gifts in the history of the Christian church? On the one hand, I could quickly answer this question by saying: nothing. We must never base our beliefs on anything other than the 66 books of the biblical canon. Scripture is our final authority when it comes to what we believe and how we behave.

That being the case, I suppose I might say to you, the absence of spiritual gifts over the past two millennia has no bearing whatsoever on whether we should believe that all the gifts of the Spirit are still operative in our day. We make that determination based on what Scripture says, not what history might dictate. Likewise, I might say to you that the pervasive presence of spiritual gifts in church history has no bearing on whether we should believe they are available to us in the 21st century. If we believe the Bible teaches cessationism, we would be compelled to reject the testimony of the past 2,000 years. But I think both of those conclusions are misleading.

Although I believe in the sufficiency and finality of the Scriptures, that does not mean we can afford to ignore what we find present or absent in church history. Here’s what I mean. If the NT authors consistently teach that the charismata are an essential element in the growth and influence of the local church, then surely we should expect to see them in operation in the thousands upon thousands of local churches and in the writings of reputable theologians over the past 2,000 years. I find it almost impossible to believe that a truth clearly taught in Scripture as an expression of God’s will for his people would be entirely absent from the experience of God’s people for 2,000 years.

For example, knowing what we do about water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, it would be incredibly odd should we discover that no church in the past 2,000 years practiced either of these ordinances. If God, in the NT, clearly affirms that a particular practice should be embraced until the second coming of Jesus Christ, we should expect to see it in the experience of God’s people. In the absence of that practice, we would be compelled to ask why it is not present. Is its absence due to the sinful disobedience of God’s people? What possible explanation might we give as to why some particular practice is nowhere to be found?

My point is simply this. In light of what the NT teaches concerning miraculous spiritual gifts, I should expect to see them in operation throughout the history of the church up until the time that Jesus consummates his kingdom by returning to earth. If I truly believed that these gifts were absent from church history, I would be greatly befuddled. Of course, if I thought that the NT teaches that they are designed to last until Christ returns, I would have to look for some other explanation for why they are missing.

So, although it is true that we do not decide on the truth or falsity of any doctrine based on what we see or don’t see in church history, the fact that we do see these gifts in continual operation down through the centuries makes perfectly good sense. The presence of the gifts of the Spirit in church history does not prove that God intended them to be perpetual, but their undeniable presence is a massively important confirmation that he did.

So, while I will always base my beliefs on the authority of Scripture, what has happened consistently throughout church history bears witness to the truth of what I find in God’s Word.

For cessationists to say that the gifts of the Spirit gradually disappeared from the scene around the end of the first century is a blatant falsehood. For them to argue that gifts such as speaking in tongues were not present beyond the death of the last apostle is deceptive, wrong, disingenuous and a clear indication that they have not examined the literature.

So why do we hear well-known cessationists constantly making this claim? My theory is this. A handful of popular scholars from the past (such as B. B. Warfield) asserted that the gifts are absent beyond the 2nd century a.d., and their followers simply regurgitated what their predecessors believed. But their predecessors never actually read the writings of the apostolic fathers or others in the so-called patristic age of the church, much less in the medieval period. Men such as John MacArthur, having heard the cessationist opinion from his teachers, passed that along to his followers who in turn have passed it along to theirs. But hardly any of them ever paused to ask the question: Does the evidence truly support our belief? Seriously, who among modern cessationists would have the courage to suggest that men like MacArthur and other prominent evangelicals failed to read the original sources and are guilty of parroting what their teachers taught them?

A Survey of the Patristic Period

We are now ready for a brief survey of church history, starting with the Apostolic Fathers and extending up to the present day. The representative examples cited will demonstrate that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were, and are, still very much in operation. Indeed, before Chrysostom in the east (347-407 a.d.) and Augustine in the west (354-430 a.d.) no church father ever suggested that any or all of the charismata had ceased in the first century. And even Augustine later retracted his earlier cessationism (see below). In other words, as far as I can tell, there weren’t any cessationists in the first 400 years of church history. So, let’s conduct a quick overview.

The Epistle of Barnabas (written sometime between 70 and 132 a.d.), says this of the Holy Spirit: “He personally prophesies in us and personally dwells in us” (xvi, 9, Ancient Christian Writers, 6:61).

The author of The Shepherd of Hermas claims to have received numerous revelatory insights through visions and dreams. This document has been dated as early as 90 a.d. and as late as 140-155 a.d.

Justin Martyr (approx. AD 100-165), perhaps the most important 2nd century apologist, is especially clear about the operation of gifs in his day:

“Therefore, just as God did not inflict His anger on account of those seven thousand men, even so He has now neither yet inflicted judgment, nor does inflict it, knowing that daily some [of you] are becoming disciples in the name of Christ, and quitting the path of error; who are also receiving gifts, each as he is worthy, illumined through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of the fear of God” (Dialogue with Trypho, ch.39).

“For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time. And hence you ought to understand that [the gifts] formerly among your nation have been transferred to us. And just as there were false prophets contemporaneous with your holy prophets, so are there now many false teachers amongst us, of whom our Lord forewarned us to beware; so that in no respect are we deficient, since we know that He foreknew all that would happen to us after His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven” (Dialogue with Trypho, ch.39).

“For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world and in your city, many of our Christian men, exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those used incantations and drugs” (Second Apology, vi; Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:190).

Irenaeus (approx. AD 120-202), certainly the most important and influential theologian of the late second century who wrote against the teaching of the Gnostics writes:

“Wherefore, also, those who are in truth His disciples, receiving grace from Him, do in His name perform [miracles], so as to promote the welfare of other men, according to the gift which each one has received from Him. For some do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number of the gifts which the Church, [scattered] throughout the whole world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practicing deception upon any, nor taking any reward from them [on account of such miraculous interpositions]. For as she has received freely from God, freely also does she minister [to others]” (Against Heresies, Book 2, ch.32, 4).

“Nor does she [the church] perform anything by means of angelic invocations, or by incantations, or by any other wicked curious art; but, directing her prayers to the Lord, who made all things, in a pure, sincere, and straightforward spirit, and calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, she has been accustomed to work miracles for the advantage of mankind, and not to lead them into error” (Against Heresies, Book 2, ch.32, 5).

“In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages [i.e., tongues], and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms ‘spiritual,’ they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit” (Against Heresies, Book 5, ch.6, 1; Euseb. H.E. 5.7.6).

That’s enough for a start. The next article will pick up the narrative by citing the testimony of one of the greatest of early church fathers and defender of the Trinity, Tertullian.