Spiritual Gifts and Miracles in Church History (Part Two)

We pick up where we left off in the previous post and look at one of the more important of all early church fathers, Tertullian.

Tertullian (d. 225; he first coined the term Trinity) spoke and wrote on countless occasions of the operation of the gifts of the Spirit, particularly those of a revelatory nature such as prophecy and word of knowledge.

“But from God – who has promised, indeed, ‘to pour out the grace of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, and has ordained that His servants and His handmaids should see visions as well as utter prophecies’ – must all those visions be regarded as emanating . . .” (A Treatise on the Soul, xlvii, ANF, 3:225-26).

He described the ministry of one particular lady as follows:

“For, seeing that we acknowledge spiritual charismata, or gifts, we too have merited the attainment of the prophetic gift, although coming after John (the Baptist).” [This lady has been] “favoured with sundry gifts of revelation” [and] “both sees and hears mysterious communications; some men’s hearts she understands, and to them who are in need she distributes remedies. . . . After the people are dismissed at the conclusion of the sacred services, she is in the regular habit of reporting to us whatever things she may have seen in vision (for her communications are examined with the most scrupulous care, in order that their truth may be probed) . . . Now can you refuse to believe this, even if indubitable evidence on every point is forthcoming for your conviction?” (A Treatise on the Soul, ix, ANF, 3:188).

Tertullian contrasts what he has witnessed with the claims of the heretic Marcion:

“Let Marcion then exhibit, as gifts of his god, some prophets, such as have not spoken by human sense, but with the Spirit of God, such as have both predicted things to come, and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; . . . Now all these signs (of spiritual gifts) are forthcoming from my side without any difficulty, and they agree, too, with the rules, and the dispensations, and the instructions of the Creator” (Against Marcion, v.8, ANF, 3:446-47).

We also have extensive evidence of revelatory visions in operation in the life of the martyrs Perpetua and her handmaiden Felicitas (202 a.d.).

The work of Theodotus (late 2^nd century) is preserved for us in Clement of Alexandria’s Excerpta ex Theodoto. In 24:1 we read: “The Valentinians say that the excellent Spirit which each of the prophets had for his ministry was poured out upon all those of the church. Therefore the signs of the Spirit, healings and prophecies, are being performed by the church.”

Clement of Alexandria (d. 215 a.d.; The Instructor, iv.21, ANF, 2:434) spoke explicitly of the operation in his day of those spiritual gifts listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10.

Origen (d. 254 a.d.) acknowledges that the operation of the gifts in his day is not as extensive as was true in the NT, but they are still present and powerful: “And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos” (Against Celsus, i.46, ANF, 4:415).[1]

Origen speaks even of the uneducated through simple prayer: “Some give evidence of their having received through this faith a marvelous power by the cures which they perform, invoking no other Name over those who need their help than that of the God of all things, and of Jesus, along with a mention of His history. For by these means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities, and from distractions of mind, and madness, and countless other ills, which could not be cured neither by men nor devils.” Against Celsus, ANCL 4:473; CC19.

Origen also affirmed the presence of prophecy and discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation were also active in his day.

The pagan Celsus sought to discredit the gifts of the Spirit exercised in churches in Origen’s day, yet the latter pointed to the “demonstration” of the validity of the Gospel, “more divine than any established by Grecian dialectics,” namely that which is called by the apostle the “manifestations of the Spirit and of power.” Not only were signs and wonders performed in the days of Jesus, but “traces of them are still preserved among those who regulate their lives by the precepts of the Gospel” (Against Celsus, i.2, ANF 4:397-98). Many believe Celsus is referring to prophecy and tongues in the Christian community when he derisively describes certain believers “who pretend to be moved as if giving some oracular utterances” and who add to these oracles “incomprehensible, incoherent, and utterly obscure utterances the meaning of which no intelligible person could discover” (Against Celsus, 7.9). This, of course, is precisely what one would expect a pagan skeptic to say about prophecy and tongues.

Hippolytus (d. 236 a.d.) sets forth guidelines for the exercise of healing gifts, insisting that “if anyone says, ‘I have received the gift of healing,’ hands shall not be laid upon him: the deed shall make manifest if he speaks the truth” (Apostolic Tradition, xv, Easton, 41).

Novatian writes in Treatise Concerning the Trinity (@245 a.d.):

“Indeed this is he who appoints prophets in the church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, brings into being powers and conditions of health, carries on extraordinary works, furnishes discernment of spirits, incorporates administrations in the church, establishes plans, brings together and arranges all other gifts there are of the charismata and by reason of this makes the Church of God everywhere perfect in everything and complete” (29, 10).

Cyprian (bishop of Carthage, 248-258 a.d.), spoke and wrote often of the gift or prophecy and the receiving of visions from the Spirit (The Epistles of Cyprian, vii.3-6, ANF, 5:286-87; vii.7, ANF, 5:287; lxviii.9-10, ANF, 5:375; iv.4, ANF, 5:290). He also spoke of visions and prophecy operating through children. The Epistles of Cyprian, ANCL 5:290; CC 21-22.

Cyprian was also responsible for the gradual disappearance of such charismata from the life of the church. He, among others, insisted that only the bishop and priest of the church should be permitted to exercise these revelatory gifts. In the words of James Ash, “The charisma of prophecy was captured by the monarchical episcopate, used in its defense, and left to die an unnoticed death when true episcopate stability rendered it a superfluous tool.”[2]

Gregory Thaumaturgus (213-270 a.d.), a student of Origen, is reported by many to have ministered in the power of numerous miraculous gifts and to have performed signs and wonders. Basil of Caesarea said of him:

“Where shall I rank the great Gregory, and the words uttered by him? Shall we not place among apostles and prophets a man who walked by the same Spirit as they . . . for by the fellow-working of the Spirit, the power which he had over demons was tremendous, and so gifted was he with the grace of the Word . . .he too by Christ’s mighty name commanded even rivers to change their course, and caused a lake, which afforded a ground of quarrel to some covetous brethren, to dry up. Moreover his predictions of things to come were such as in no wise to fall short of those of the great prophets. To recount all his wonderful works in detail would be too long a task. By the superabundance of gifts, wrought in him by the Spirit in all power and in signs and in marvels, he was styled a second Moses by the very enemies of the church. Thus, in all that he through grace accomplished, alike by word and deed, a light seemed ever to be shining, a token of the heavenly power from the unseen which followed him.” NPNF, Vol. 8, The Book of St. Basil on the Spirit, chap. 29, sect. 74: MM32.

Hilary (300-368) – “when by faith we stand inside the Gospel; when healings and miracles are performed; when by prophecy we are taught of God; when spirits, holy or evil, are discerned, when sermons in foreign languages are signs that the Holy Spirit is active; when interpretation makes intelligible the sermons in foreign languages. In all these gifts the presence of the Spirit is manifested in concrete effects. . . . We are inundated with the gifts of the Spirit.” Tract on the Psalms, 64:14-15, 118, 118:12, 4; Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 22:245-246; SC 347:76; On the Trinity 8:29-33, Chr. 62a:340-346; CI 179, 182, 184, 186.

Eusebius (263-339) the great church historian, spoke of “the River of God” that inundates and makes the land “drunk with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” Commentary on the Psalms, 64:10,11; Patrologia Graeca 23:642: CI 164. Eusebius was a theologian and church historian in the court of Constantine, opposed the Montanists’ abuse of the gift of prophecy, but not its reality. He affirmed repeatedly the legitimacy of spiritual gifts but resisted the Montanists who operated outside the mainstream church and thus contributed, said Eusebius, to its disunity.

Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) wrote often of the gifts in his day: “For He [the Holy Spirit] employs the tongue of one man for wisdom; the soul of another He enlightens by Prophecy, to another He gives power to drive away devils, to another he gives to interpret the divine Scriptures” (Catechetical Lectures, xvi.12, NPF 2^nd Series, 7:118).

Although Athanasius nowhere explicitly addressed the issue of charismatic gifts, many believe he is the anonymous author of Vita S. Antoni or “The Life of St. Anthony.” Anthony was a monk who embraced an ascetic lifestyle in 285 a.d. and remained in the desert for some 20 years. The author (Athanasius?) of his life describes numerous supernatural healings, visions, prophetic utterances, and other signs and wonders. Even if one rejects Athanasius as its author, the document does portray an approach to the charismatic gifts that many, evidently, embraced in the church of the late 3^rd and early 4^th centuries. Another famous and influential monk, Pachomius (292-346), was known to perform miracles and empowered to converse “in languages he did not know.”

Another monastic, Hilarion (291-371), had such success in healing the sick that people came from Syria and Egypt to be prayed for. Jerome recorded that Hilarion once “saw a man completely paralyzed lying in front of his gates. . . . Weeping much and stretching out his hand to the prostrate man he said, ‘I bid you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, arise and walk.’ The words were still on the lips of the speaker, when with miraculous speed, the limbs were strengthened and the man arose and stood firm.” Life of Hilarion, NPNF II: 6:42; MM82. Said Jerome, “Time would fail me if I wished to relate all the miracles which were wrought by him” (ibid).

Pachomius the Great (292-346) was described as “a man endowed with apostolic grace both in teaching and performing miracles.” Jerome and Gennadius, Illustrious Men of the Church, NPNF 3:387: CC40.

Among many miracles wrought by him . . . though he had never learned Greek or Latin tongues, he sometimes miraculously spoke them; he also cured the sick and persons possessed by devils with blessed oil.” Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Vol. 5 (D. and J. Sadlier & Co.: New York, 1864): MM95.

Apollonius (4^th century), during a famine in the Thebaid fed all. There were only 3 baskets left over. A lifted his hands to God and said: “Is not the hand of the Lord mighty to make these multiply? Thus says the Holy Spirit. The bread in the baskets shall not run out till we all are filled with the new harvest.” The baskets remained full for four months.

Macarius of Egypt (300-391) – “The Egyptian Macarius performed so many cures, and cast out so many devils, that it would require a distinct treatise to record all that the grace of God enabled him to do.” NPNF II, Vol. 2. Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, 4:23: MM 92.

Martin of Tours (316-397) a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers. “The gift of accomplishing cures was so largely possessed by Martin that scarcely any sick person came to him for assistance without being at once restored to health.” NPNF II, Sulpicius Severus, On the Life of St. Martin of Tours, 11:16: MM 83. He also raised a dead man and a young boy to life and by kissing a leper cleansed him of the disease.

To be continued . . .

[1] Commentary on the Psalms 64:11, Patrologia Graeca 12:1496; CI 149; On John 8:48, SC 290:311; CI 149; Origen, Against Celsus i.46, ANF 4:415; Act 76.

[2] James Ash, “The Decline of Ecstatic Prophecy in the Early Church,” Theological Studies 36 [June 1976]:252.