Theologizing in the Radical Middle: Rethinking How We Do Theology for Spiritual Growth in Word and Spirit

Theologizing in the Radical Middle

Rethinking How We Do Theology for Spiritual Growth in Word and Spirit

Ryun H. Chang

Foreword by Keith Park

Theologizing in the Radical Middle

Rethinking How We Do Theology for Spiritual Growth in Word and Spirit

Copyright © 2018 Ryun H. Chang. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©

2001

by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptural quotations from the New International Version are from NIV

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.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Preface

Introduction: An Overview

Chapter 1: Urgency for the Paradigm of the Radical Middle

Chapter 2: The Antithetic/Antinomic Nature of Scripture and the Need for the Hermeneutics of the Radical Middle

Chapter 3: Logocentrism and the Radical Middle: How They Differ

Chapter 4: The Interpretation of Antithetic/Antinomic Revelation According to the Hermeneutics of Logocentrism

Chapter 5: The Interpretation of Antithetic/Antinomic Revelation According to the Hermeneutics of the Radical Middle

Chapter 6: The Gift of Tongues in the Radical Middle: A Hermeneutical Response to Hard Cessationism

Chapter 7: The Gift of Tongues in the Radical Middle: A Hermeneutical Response to Flawed Versions of Continuationism

Chapter 8: The Gift of Prophecy in the Radical Middle

Chapter 9: The Gift of Apostleship in the Radical Middle

Chapter 10: Divine Healing in the Radical Middle

Chapter 11: Understanding the Western Mindset, Scripture, and the Disposition Necessary for the Radical Middle and Spiritual Growth

Appendix A: The Enemy is So United, but the Church, So Divided

Appendix B: What a Really Good Arminian Pastor Taught Me about Unity and Humility

Appendix C: A Correct Understanding of Inspiration Can Resolve Many Discrepancies in the Bible

Bibliography

This book is dedicated to

My wife, Insil Chang, who has been putting up with me for the past thirty-one years.

I have seen no better example of Christlikeness than her, hands down!

And to my three children: Christy, Joshua, and Justin,

who remind me of God’s constant favor bestowed upon my life

because it has been through their gracious forbearance of their father’s many faults

that I’ve often understood what God’s forgiveness in his Son Christ is truly like.

Foreword

For as long as I’ve known him, Ryun has devoted himself to the idea of the Radical Middle, although he did not call it by that name at the time. Having graduated from Talbot Seminary, which was considered one of the bastions of cessationism at the time, he had to somehow make peace with the fact that his personal mentor was also considered by many to be the embodiment of Pentecostalism. Thus, I was not at all surprised but in fact more than happy to hear the news that he was writing a book on this topic. My excitement for this book goes beyond Ryun’s early interest and struggle for the Radical Middle, but I deeply believe that he can shed a light on this subject from a uniquely advantageous vantage point, not only because he had struggled as a seminarian, but also faced hardships as a church planter in southern California, trying to formulate a biblically balanced philosophy of ministry as a young pastor. I believe Ryun is uniquely qualified to bring different angles on this subject because his theology is not just academic but is something that he is living and practicing in life. After his doctorate studies, he then served as a missionary in Mexico, teaching and discipling local pastors from all denominations, reconciling them to one another by pointing to the Bible through expository studies. Currently, several theological courses he produced are used in various seminaries and churches in several cities in Mexico, along with one text book that is used nationally (also in Peru). His decade of service as a teacher and missionary who crossed over various denominational boundaries has given him much wisdom, knowledge, and familiarity on the topics of common misunderstandings between different schools of thoughts. Even now, Ryun serves as a mission and resource pastor for our interdenominational community of churches, which now endeavors to apply the Radical Middle to our own doctrine. His work for us currently takes him to many overseas teaching posts in Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Ryun’s book collects many views commenting on the topic of Radical Middle theology, and is a diligent study coming from an honest desire to not only teach but to live according to the overall teaching of the Bible, through a multicultural and multidenominational approach. May we all learn to live in the tension and the exhilarating joy of the Radical Middle as we learn to worship God in Spirit and truth!

Keith Park

Sydney, Australia

Preface

There is no denying that the way we theologize has led to divisiveness in the face of Christ’s call for his followers to become perfectly one (John 17:23b). Regardless, attempts to systematize Scripture under the rubric of one overarching idea (e.g., God is sovereign; once saved, always saved; miracles only happened in the past) will continue because, if truth be told, we do not value unity much. Neither is God’s word, in effect, very valued, since our theologizing requires that the many antithetic and antinomic propositions in the Bible are distorted or ignored in support of the overarching idea. This book challenges our toleration of disunity engendered by the improper hermeneutics responsible for the way we theologize.

My awareness of this issue dates to my Pentecostal and cessationist seminary days in the 1980s when, amid confusion and doubts, a deeper understanding began to take root in my mind. One clarifying moment came after I almost lost my faith while attending a liberal seminary. After being graciously restored by the Lord, I realized that the real danger to our faith is theological liberalism that impugns Scripture itself, not theological differences among those who nevertheless agree on the essentials of the Christian faith. But, the recent escalation of cessationist and continuationist conflicts prompted by the Strange Fire Conference and the 2013 book bearing the same title, which rocked the unity of church, indicates that we are as divisive as ever and Scripture is still read very partially.

In view of this, this book presents the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle as a viable alternative to interpret Scripture in accordance with how it is actually structured, so that we may grow in word and Spirit to embody humility and love to desire unity in Christ. I believe that thirty-five years in public ministry as a pastor and teacher—including ten years spent abroad to train pastors of all denominational backgrounds and studying in several seminaries with varying theological backgrounds— has uniquely prepared me to prepare this material.

Ryun Chang

Philadelphia

Introduction: An Overview

Who incited David to take a census of Israel that later led to God’s judgment against the king? Second Samuel 24:1 says it was the LORD, but 1 Chronicles 21:1 says just the opposite of that: Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. How could that be? And what does that have to with this book? You may be saying to yourself, I thought this book is about word and Spirit, and the tension existing between those who favor one over against the other. Yes, you are right; these matters may appear disjoined. But it is my aim to show that the remedy for one problem might just be the cure for another. Before proceeding, note that most of what is discussed in the introduction, including the terms used, is amplified in chapter 1. This is an overview of the main thesis and its supporting arguments to be developed in the book.

The Convergence

Perhaps a bit of the elitist in me could not help but compare the East Coast to Oklahoma City, but I was genuinely surprised to see a crowd of nearly fifteen hundred in town for the biblical conference I was attending. To be sure, Oklahoma City is not a large city, so I wondered to myself where all these folks had come from. Most undoubtedly came from nearby states, but some participants had traveled from as far as Oceania. In any case, we had all come together in The Passionate Pursuit of Word and Spirit, the theme of the Convergence Conference (October 2017), which was plastered on the cover of every program guide handed out.

Sam Storms, the senior pastor at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City and the brains behind the conference, has long placed the Holy Spirit, along with the faithful exposition of God’s word, as the focus of his ministry, becoming the figurehead for what is called the Third Wave wing of the larger Charismatic Movement. In 2017, after forty-four years of ministry, Storms put together the Convergence Conference, the first national conference of its kind. Perhaps he felt that now is the right time to do so. His perception was timely if anything, as indicated by the crowd’s reaction following an address by Matt Chandler. At face value, Chandler, the lead pastor of a Dallas megachurch and author of The Explicit Gospel, seemed out of place at a charismatic conference; neither he nor Francis Chan, another speaker at the conference, are visible leaders of the movement.

As we soon discovered, both had been invited to share, among other things, their own struggles to incorporate the Spirit into their respective ministries. Chandler, even though he has identified himself as Reformed charismatic¹ admitted to being a coward for hesitating to do so in his church. Later that evening, Storms, perhaps sensing that Chandler hit a nerve with the audience, asked people if they identified with his struggles; a large portion of the auditorium stood in response. The response was telling and indicative of symptoms across the evangelical world as a whole. Most Christians know the roles of the Father and the Son in doctrine, but they are unsure of how to integrate the Holy Spirit into their lives and ministries.

A Pentecostal and Reformed in the Same Room

In the 1990s, I spent my entire thirties pastoring a church in Southern California, an English-speaking congregation attended mostly by young Korean-Americans. One day, while praying about whom to invite as the speaker for our annual summer retreat (1998), an idea arose in my mind that led me to do something I had never done before: invite two speakers—instead of the customary one—whose theological orientations were as different as night and day; so I invited both a Pentecostal and a Reformed speaker.

The first speaker I invited was a Pentecostal missionary named Kim. Ironically enough, while he would be in a room full of Korean-Americans with the same name, Kim was actually a Caucasian missionary serving in Mexico, whom I had known from the very day I became a Christian at a Los Angeles Pentecostal church in 1981. I also invited John, a student attending Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California, who would many years later become a Reformed seminary professor. If Kim was an unapologetic Pentecostalist, then John, who was on my youth ministry staff while I attended Talbot School of Theology, could be his mortal enemy, an unswerving five-point Calvinist. Both accepted my invitation. As countless Pentecostalists have done before him, Kim proceeded to poke a little fun at John’s religious training (to paraphrase: Seminary? More like cemetery, am I right?!). He then went on to share compelling anecdotes of all the divine miracles he had witnessed in Mexico, including one case of resurrection from the dead. John, on the other hand, gave collegiate lectures on divine covenants, and his handouts included excerpts from the Westminster Confession of Faith from 1646, as well as the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.

I do not recall anyone accusing me of purposely trying to confuse the retreat attendees; although some folks were probably scratching their heads as to why such opposites were invited. Once Kim and John had their say, I gave a final talk to clear the air; hopefully, my congregation had a better grasp of what their pastor had in mind. So what did I say? I do not remember too much of what I told them twenty years ago, but I did stress our obligations to pursue a serious study of God’s word, as well as to allow the Spirit to do his works in our lives. In some ways, Kim and John captured this tension when they shook hands at the end (with slightly wary smiles). I just did not know what to call this tension until, several years later, a pastor friend of mine for the past thirty years, Keith Park, gave me a book entitled The Quest for the Radical Middle (1999).

The Radical Middle

What does the Radical Middle mean? One pastor, being unfamiliar with the term, commented that this phrase was a contradiction. He was not wrong to assume this since the word middle or middling implies moderating two or more contending positions to forge a compromise, that is, a middle position acceptable to everyone involved. No one would likely call that middle position radical. But neither is the paradigm of the Radical Middle radical, if what is meant by radical is to be extreme on account of advocating one position at the exclusion of another.

So why did Billy Jackson, a proponent of the charismatic Vineyard Movement founded by John Wimber in 1982, write The Quest for the Radical Middle? The description on the book jacket explains his reason:

The Quest for the Radical Middle provides an in-depth look at the history of one of the fastest growing church movements in the last twenty years. The Vineyard story is a fascinating case study of those that would attempt to hold in tension the great historical doctrines of the Christian faith with an ardent pursuit of the Spirit of God.²

What drew my interest was the phrase, the Radical Middle, and the stated purpose of the Vineyard movement: equally upholding God’s word, which would appeal to cessationists, and pursuing the Spirit, which would appeal to continuationists. However, while the Vineyard Church may have done its part, the situation between cessationists and continuationists has not improved; in fact, it has gotten worse since 2013, when cessationist pastor John MacArthur held a conference and published a book bearing the same name, Strange Fire, to disown the brotherhood with continuationists.

But, upon hearing me say, This book will figure out who is at fault and how to reconcile this mess, someone may say, Has not that already been done by others who have dealt with this same subject? Yes, of course. Authentic Fire by Michael Brown (2013), Holy Fire by R. T. Kendall (2014), and Strangers to Fire (2014), whose contributors include scholars Craig S. Keener and Jack Deere, immediately come to mind.³ Thus, if the intent of this book is to respond directly to MacArthur’s Strange Fire, then I am about four years late in joining others who have already done that. I do have much to say about MacArthur’s response to continuationism in later chapters, but as a microcosm of the larger problem of how we theologize.

Why I Wrote This Book

I wrote this book as a small step toward rethinking how we theologize. My concern stems from our efforts to systematize Scripture under the rubric of one overarching idea, whether it be Calvinism (God’s sovereignty), Free Grace (once saved, always saved), or cessationism (miracles only happened in the past). The typical way this is handled results in the disunity of the church, and no believer should be given to think that this is a small, inconsequential matter.

The Problem

So what is behind the problem? Systematic theology, by its nature, imparts more of a particular theological knowledge, mostly based on selective Scriptures, rather than the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27b). This then has the effect of justifying the very overarching idea responsible for the passages preferred. But, when Scripture is neatly systematized in accordance to one dominant thought, the many antithetic and antinomic propositions in the Bible must be ignored or distorted as a theological expediency; Scripture, as a result, is not allowed to speak for itself.

Certainly, there are theologians who, after presenting opposing views in a fair manner, articulate their disagreements in a cogent manner, perhaps even tweaking their views in the process. Perhaps no one better exemplifies this than Robert L. Saucy, professor of systematic theology at Talbot School of Theology (La Mirada, California) for a half decade, who taught me and (likely MacArthur also).⁴ While no book should be judged by its cover, in the case of two of Saucy’s works, much is suggested by their titles. As a systematic theologian who studied at the dispensational and cessationist Dallas Theological Seminary in the late 1950s, he penned a book entitled, The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism: The Interface Between Dispensational and Non-Dispensational Theology in 1993. A cautious cessationist when he taught me in 1987, Saucy later contributed a chapter called, An Open but Cautious Response in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (1996). What this shows is a theologian who remained open to dialogue with those whom he disagreed with, theologically, even recalibrating his position as his understanding of Scripture deepened.⁵

But some theology is so rigid by design that it can hardly avoid a partial reading of Scripture. For instance, consider Ultradispensationalism that takes a theological idea of dichotomy between Israel and the church⁶ throughout eternity⁷ to such an extreme degree that whatever church is mentioned before Paul [Acts 9] is said . . . to be the Jewish Church and not the body of Christ.⁸ This theology certainly would fall into this rigid category, but not necessarily Progressive Dispensationalism that posits God . . . [as having] a single purpose—the establishment of the kingdom of God—in which Israel and the church will both share.⁹

Hyper-Calvinism that denies all human responsibility in both believing and preaching¹⁰ would also fall into this intractable category, but not necessarily what may be called the moderate Calvinist view¹¹ that upholds election without diminishing man’s responsibility to believe and preach. And as for cessationism, what Keener calls the hard cessationism of MacArthur is a departure from the cessationist views articulated by Richard B. Gaffin in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (1996). In this work, Gaffin, being mindful of our common bond in Christ, cautions against overlook[ing] . . . the genuine work of God’s Spirit in and among believers who identify themselves as charismatic or Pentecostal.¹² Such charitable spirit is almost completely absent in hard cessationism.

The Outcome

What then is its outcome? Note that Ultradispensationalism and hyper-Calvinism are intragroup differences, but often that is all it takes to pit one subgroup against another even within the same systematic theology. Obviously, the level of acrimony escalates rapidly when one systematic theology tries to justify and defend its core beliefs against another system at the macro level, be it the Reformed against Dispensationalism, or Calvinism against Arminianism, or New Perspective (N. T. Wright) against Old Perspective (John Piper). Despite agreeing on the essentials of the Christian faith (for the most part), they become suspicious of each other, sometimes even denying their brotherhood in Christ. Ironically, long before MacArthur disowned continuationists, some in the Free Grace did the same to him for preaching what is, to them, a false gospel of Lordship Salvation (chapter 4).

Still none of them behave all that differently than the apostle John, who expected Jesus to applaud him for stopping a man from doing God’s work for not being like him (i.e., one of the twelve). Instead, Jesus told John, Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you (Luke 9:50). John called for disunity; the Lord, the unity of the body. The larger issue, then, is not simply rectifying the conflict between cessationists and continuationists, but to rethink how we theologize so that we can remain united in Christ.

Focus and Plan of Study

What is at the root of such theological rigidity? There may be several factors responsible for this, such as worldview, personality, and background (e.g., family, church, etc.), to name a few; but this study is largely focused on the matter of hermeneutics (i.e., the interpretation of Scripture.) That is to say, I do not question the heart, for that is what God does (Jer 11:20), but I do question the improper hermeneutics of what is called logocentrism (chapter 3) of those who, in effect, tamper with God’s word (2 Cor 4:2b). In the same vein, while several factors are responsible for cessationist and continuationist conflicts (e.g., the misuse of spiritual gifts for the latter and naturalism for the former), the book’s focus is largely delimited to hermeneutics. Why? It is because of inadequate exegesis, the result of unsound hermeneutical principles rooted in logocentrism, that hard cessationism and flawed versions of continuationism have been produced. In fact, without relying on the hermeneutics of logocentrism, the advocates of these opposing views would not be able to insist on the rightness of their respective pneumatology (i.e., the study of the Holy Spirit) to the exclusion of all others.

The Strategy

This book attempts to point out the inherent weakness of systematic theology in general. To do that, both hard cessationism and flawed aspects of continuationism, as a microcosm of the larger problem stemming from rigid theology, are presented to demonstrate this weakness in the form of the hermeneutics of logocentrism—an essential component to all theological systems.

The first step in this process is the recognition that Scripture, for the most part, is framed antithetically and antinomically (chapter 2), as evidenced by the example given at the outset (Who ordered the census? God or Satan?). Antithesis also affects other doctrinal matters such as Christology, ecclesiology, and soteriology (chapter 3). In reaction, the rigid adherence to systematic theology ends up privileging the interpretation they favor, while ignoring all those that do not fit their system (chapter 4). Instead of logocentrism, I present the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle as a viable alternative to properly theologize the Bible. This is to say, the study seeks to extract principles of the Radical Middle from the very way Scripture is framed, and then apply those principles to our hermeneutics in order that our exegesis reflects what Scripture actually purports, instead of privileging our preferred systematic theology.

As noted earlier, this study has a great deal of interest in the ongoing conflicts between cessationists and continuationists, between word and Spirit. This interest is not merely theological or doctrinal; rather, it stems from the desire to embody a humble and loving disposition, that values unity with fellow believers. By the end of this book, I hope that the readers will see that when both specific arguments for hard cessationism and flawed aspects of continuationism are examined according to the Radical Middle, the result will be the privileging of both word and Spirit in a healthy tension. This, then, will be presented as the optimal way to reach the kind of spiritual growth that leads to humility, love, and unity (chapter 11).

The Three Goals

The three goals of this book are: first, to present the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle as best suited to theologize Scripture in accordance with how it is structured, so that it is the Bible that is taught, and not the entirety of a particular systematic theology; second, to put forward a pneumatology with respect to the sign gifts that reflects the entire Scripture with hopes of narrowing the gap between cessationists and continuationists; and third, to present the upholding of both word and Spirit in healthy tension as the condition for optimal spiritual growth.

The Four Objectives

To ascertain the three goals, the study seeks to meet the following four objectives: The first is to recognize the antithetic and antinomic nature of Scripture, and then the typical ways it is handled under the rubric of the hermeneutics of logocentrism. The second objective is to understand the paradigm of the Radical Middle and how the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle differs fundamentally from logocentrism. The third objective is to appraise the hermeneutics of hard cessationism and certain flawed aspects of continuationism in accordance with the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle, as a prelude to presenting what I deem a pneumatology that is closer to Scripture. The final objective is to compare inadequate and optimal approaches to word and Spirit tension, after which the latter is presented as the approach that is best suited to nurture the kind of spiritual growth that leads to humility, love, and unity.

Structure of the Book

Before discussing the Radical Middle and logocentrism as they relate to theologizing in chapters 2–5, the first chapter presents the long version of the ongoing feud between cessationists and continuationists, with an eye towards pointing out both the inherent weakness and potential danger in systematic theology. In chapters 6–10, the specific arguments of hard cessationism and flawed versions of continuationism are examined through the hermeneutics of the Radical Middle. The final chapter deals with the proper attitude necessary for desiring and upholding the paradigm of the Radical Middle. Interspersed throughout the book are discussions on spiritual growth in word and Spirit.

1. McCraken, "Rise of Reformed Charismatics," para.

9

.

2. Jackson, Quest for the Radical Middle, back blurb.

3. The full title of Kendall’s book is, Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit’s Work in Our Lives. Keener, in his review of Holy Fire, writes: "Whereas Pastor MacArthur’s Strange Fire offers a polemical Reformed cessationist approach, Pastor Kendall’s work offers instead an irenic Reformed charismatic approach. Lest one misunderstand me, I strongly appreciate MacArthur’s calling the church back to the Scriptures; as a biblical scholar, I have devoted my life to the same calling. I believe, however, that MacArthur’s theological presuppositions regarding the Spirit’s activity have obscured for him some key portions of the Bible. Here Kendall offers a better way. Kendall’s humble and gracious style invites dialogue, and his central objective is one that all readers should appreciate. (Keener, Holy Fire," paras.

3–4.

) The full title of Brown’s book is, Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur’s Strange Fire. One reviewer writes: "Dr. Michael Brown in his work Authentic Fire confronts the misinformation of Pastor John MacArthur’s outspoken zeal against all things charismatic in his book, Strange Fire. While Dr. Brown admits that on some points Dr. MacArthur is right on, his language is radically abusive in tone . . . Brown carefully separates the message from the messenger in addressing charismatic abuse before proceeding to the good stuff: how to burn with authentic fire. (King, Authentic Fire," para.

1

.)

4. Saucy began teaching at Talbot Theological Seminary in

1961

. MacArthur graduated in

1963

; I graduated in

1988

.

5. His son Mark, who now teaches at Talbot, told me that it would be incorrect to label [his father] a cessationist, given that whereas he was open and cautious regarding the sign gifts, cessationists are not ‘open’ to the possibility of those gifts continuing. Mark Saucy, email sent to author, May

1

,

2018

.

6. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism,

23

.

7. Fuller, Hermeneutics,

25

, cited in Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today,

45

.

8. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today,

200

.

9. Grudem, Systematic Theology,

860

.

10. Hodges, Reformed Theology Today,

24

.

11. Hammond, In Understanding Be Men,

88

.

12. Gaffin, Cessationist View,

63

.

1

Urgency for the Paradigm of the Radical Middle

It was said that the reason Bill Jackson wrote The Quest for the Radical Middle is because cessationists who advocate word and continuationists who pursue Spirit have not been getting along. This chapter then is a longer version of that, which for the most part should be familiar to those who read the earlier responses to Strange Fire. Therefore, please allow me to present this discussion under the rubric of how two old theological rivals became fast friends after finding out that they had a common foe. In light of the first goal of the study—rethinking how we theologize—the amplification of cessationist and continuationist conflicts highlights the inherent weakness and potential danger in systematic theology, especially when it becomes very rigid and partial.

Ongoing Conflict Between Cessationists and Continuationists

Since the inception of Pentecostalism in 1906, Reformists and dispensationalists took little time to begin criticizing Pentecostalism and the related charismatic movement (i.e., traditionally those in non-Pentecostal churches who believe in and practice the sign gifts). According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (2011) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are 584 million Pentecostal and charismatic believers in the world. Naturally, this impressive worldwide growth has only deepened the concern of cessationists over a movement they feel is unbiblical in many regards.

So what are they fighting about? For most, the main issue at stake is the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Regarding these gifts (namely, the gift of tongues, prophecy, healing, and apostolicism), the discourse may be neatly separated into two camps: continuationists—who uphold that all spiritual gifts as delineated in the Bible continue to exist today—and cessationists—who believe that these signs or miraculous gifts have long ceased to operate in the church, as far back as the first century.

The Main Cessationist Argument

Evidently, the conviction held by cessationists against continuationism is so strong that it has had the effect of turning two long-time theological nemeses into allies.

Strange Bedfellows

Now it is no secret that the Reformed and dispensationalist theologians do not see eye to eye on many theological matters.

Regarding ecclesiology (i.e., the study of churches), while Reformists see the church as the true Israel, dispensationalists see them as separate entities. And many theologians would agree that this difference alone affects how the Bible is understood more than any other biblical issue (see chapter 4). In fact, they disagree on the very premise upon which God’s redemptive plan is established: five or six covenants for the Reformed¹ and seven dispensations for the dispensationalist. A renowned dispensationalist, Charles Ryrie, irked by opposition to Dispensationalism² on the part of Louis Berkhof, a Reformed theologian of equal prominence, writes:

After rejecting the usual dispensational scheme of Bible distinctions, [Berkhof] enumerates his own scheme of dispensations or administrations, reducing the number to two—the Old Testament dispensation and the New Testament dispensation. However, within the Old Testament dispensation Berkhof lists four subdivisions which, although he terms them stages in the revelation of the covenant of grace, are distinguishable enough to be listed. In reality, then, he finds these four plus the one New Testament dispensation, or five periods of differing administrations of God.³

Ryrie’s response to Berkhof is quite tame when compared to how Thomas Ice, a dispensationist theologian and rapture expert, responded to the renowned Reformed theologian R. C. Sproul, who called rapture a silly idea.⁴ The doctrine of rapture posits that any day now Jesus will descend from heaven and meet the church in the air, and then they will return to heaven (1 Thess 4:15–17), at which point the seven-year tribulation will commence on earth.⁵ Ice said of Sproul, Someone who thinks that rapture is a silly concept doesn’t know the Bible.⁶

It is interesting how a biblical scholar says this about another of a different theological persuasion; in fact, even British theologian N. T. Wright felt like he was subject to it. His New Perspective view has garnered criticism for saying that Paul was not countering legalistic Jewish individuals who were attempting to earn their salvation through works-righteousness,⁷ but targeting instead their ethnocentrism and exclusivism which threatened to divide the church and keep the gentiles away. Now regardless how you feel about that view, I believe Wright knows the Bible rather well. Nevertheless, he felt that some critics of [his view] write as if they are the ones who know ‘what the Bible says’ while others of us play fast and lose with it.⁸

What happened? As is often the case when adherents of two differing theological systems discuss theology, the discussion becomes personal. Inasmuch as Ice felt chagrined by Sproul’s comment that denigrated a doctrine he values, had Sproul heard Ice’s comment about his lack of biblical knowledge, the Reformed theologian would have been just as irked—Wright sure was. In fact, this may be the only time anyone said that about Sproul, who likely knew the Bible as well as Ice. In truth, what separated them was not the level of biblical knowledge, but different approaches to interpreting Scripture. Once theological disagreements become personal, the disunity of the body of Christ is not too far behind.

Evidently, there is no love lost between Reformists and dispensationalists when it comes to theology. Howbeit, despite all these theological differences, they become immediate allies under the rubric of cessationism when encountering claims of the supernatural today.

Reformed Cessationists

Speaking on behalf of the Reformed view, Louis I. Hodges, in his Reformed Theology Today (1995), first states that "the extraordinary gifts (often called charismata), involving miraculous elements, . . . were given to confirm the gospel and to authenticate the apostles as God’s messengers (Hebrews 2:3–4)".⁹ As to whether these gifts still operate today, he adds, the majority of Reformed theologians . . . have insisted that the extraordinary gifts ceased with the original certification of the gospel during the time of the apostles.¹⁰ Accordingly then, the sign gifts ceased to exist around the late first century, when the book of Revelation was penned. How does this Reformed theologian then account for millions of continuationists who purportedly speak in tongues, one of the most prominently mentioned sign gifts in the Bible? To that question, he summarily says, For the most part the phenomenon is merely a human reaction, prompted by neither the Holy Spirit nor demons, but psychologically induced.¹¹

Dispensational Cessationists

As for the renowned dispensationalist Pastor John MacArthur,¹² in agreement with this Reformed position, states in reference to the apostle Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians: "First Corinthians 13:8¹³ states plainly that ‘tongues