日期：2022.03.06
周博傳道注：願這篇文章幫助弟兄姊妹在真理上有更明晰的分辨；更願我們不以反對什麼為傲，而是以熱愛什麼為榮——我們熱愛的永遠是主耶穌榮耀福音的真理！讓我們不僅學會分辨什麼不是恩賜，更是熱忱地按著神的心意「切慕屬靈的恩賜」（林前14:1），也就是在教會生活中不斷使用、操練我們從神領受的恩賜彼此服侍，一同建造基督的身子（彼前4:10；弗4:12）！
From Minister Bo: May this article help you to grow in discernment of the truth. More importantly, may we boast not in what we’re against, but what we’re for, that is, the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus who is and always will be the love of our soul! Let us not only discern what spiritual gift is not, but all the more, let us “desire earnestly spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 14:1) in accordance with God’s will, that is, by using and practicing our own gifts as given by God to serve one another in our church life and together to build up the body of Christ (1 Pet 4:10; Eph 4:12)!
- Why-Our-Church-Is-Not-Charismatic-CN.pdf (246.86 Kb)
- Why-Our-Church-Is-Not-Charismatic-ENG.pdf (91.11 Kb)
為什麼我們教會不是靈恩派
前言
靈恩派是一個含義廣泛的名稱，包含一系列神學立場，其核心就是屬靈恩賜在當今教會中的角色。關乎靈恩派神學的所有問題中，最根本的問題就是:今天還有沒有奇事恩賜?1 這些奇事恩賜——或者更準確地被稱作「非凡恩賜」——具體包括四種:使徒、先知、說方言、和行異能。從使徒恩賜開始，這篇文章將用聖經來證明這四種非凡恩賜在當今教會中已經不再繼續存在。2
使徒恩賜
什麼是使徒恩赐?
關於這個問題的很多困惑都是來自對術語意義的理解。要看一種特定恩賜是否已經停止，搞清楚它的定義非常重要。「使徒」這個詞的希臘文本意是「受差派者」，它的意思可以是寬泛的也可以是特指的(語法上這種現象很常見，如「靈」spirit 可特指聖靈 the Spirit)。泛指時，「使徒」這個詞常被翻成「使者」(腓 2:25; 林後 8:23)，就是帶著差派者的權柄和信息而受差派的法定代表(如當代的宣教士);但當十一位使徒選出馬提亞代替賣主的猶大時(徒 1:15-26)，這裡就很明顯說的是特指的「使徒」。按這種特指性含義，「使徒」(Apostle，大寫 A)是「那些耶穌親自揀選並給他們權柄作祂在地上直接代表的人」。3 使徒的恩賜則是和這個特指性含義直接相關的(弗 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; 林前 12:28-29)。按照這個含義，只有這十二位加上保羅是基督耶穌的使徒。
誰可以作基督的使徒? 聖經清楚地列出三点使徒必须满足的資格。第一、他必須見過復活的耶穌(徒 1:22; 10:39-41; 林前 9:1; 15:7-8);第二、他必須被基督親自差派 (可 3:14; 路 6:13; 徒 1:2, 24; 10:41; 加 1:1);第三、他必須以「神蹟、奇事、異 能，顯出使徒的憑據來」，以此證明他的使命和信息(太 10:1-2; 徒 1:5-8; 2:43; 4:33; 5:12; 8:14; 林後 12:12; 來 2:3-4)。
這個恩賜已經停止了嗎?
很明顯，今天世界上沒有人可以滿足這些資格了。大部分靈恩派都很樂意承認這個事實。僅此一點應該足以斷定使徒的恩賜已經終止了。有人試圖通過保羅的使徒身份來為當今使徒存在的可能性留餘地，但保羅自己的話語就表明了他使徒身份的獨特性和終極性，他是「使徒中最小的」、是「未到產期而生的」，基督向他顯現是「末了(最後)」 的顯現(林前 15:8-9; 參徒 9:1-20)，這暗示在他之後將不會再有使徒。另外，以弗所書 2:20 說教會「被建造在使徒和先知的根基上」，表明使徒恩賜在教會史上扮演一個根基性的角色，當時基督仍在通過使徒向教會啓示那些最終成為聖經的真理。(約 14:26; 16:12-15)。當聖經的啟示完成後，教會的根基已被建立，就不再需要使徒了。因此，我們看到至少一個恩賜已經終止了。
先知恩赐
什麼是先知恩赐?
從嚴格的聖經定義來看，先知並不是那些傳講神已經啓示的話語的人，例如牧師講 道，而是那些直接從神接受啓示並傳講這啟示的人。因此，先知恩賜是一個啟示性恩賜; 並和使徒(弗 2:20; 3:5)及聖經的書寫(彼後 1:20-21)密切相關。
和使徒一樣，聖經給了我們三個具體標準，可以用來檢驗一個先知的真實性。4 第 一、真先知必須在教義上純正。從申命記 13:1-5 可以看到這一點的重要性:若有人自稱 先知卻帶人遠離真神，就要被石頭打死(參彼後 2:1)。第二、真先知必須有正直的品 格。耶利米書 23:14-16 說道德敗壞的先知是假先知，神的子民不可聽從他們(參彼後 2:2-3)。第三、真先知的預言必須百分之百準確。申命記 18:20-22 講到若有自稱先知的 預言不成就，他就應被治死(參結 13:3-9)。因為假先知的危險，同時也因為聖經啟示 完成前的新約時期仍有真先知的預言，所以初代教會必須應用這些測試來判斷一個自稱是 先知的人和他的信息是否真實(林前 14:29; 帖前 5:20-22)。
这个恩赐已經停止了嗎?
和使徒一樣，單從聖經給出的標準來看，我們應該已經可以明確，今天不再有真的先知了。很多靈恩派神學家試圖通過重新定義先知恩賜，來爭辯這恩賜今天仍繼續存在。 他們爭辯說新約時代和舊約時代的先知不同，新約時代先知的預言可以有錯誤。然而沒有 聖經經文能支持這種區別。事實上，彼得引用舊約有關預言的經文，說這正是五旬節所發 生的(徒 2:18 引用珥 2:28)。進一步說，真理的神會給出錯誤預言的這種說法，在神學 上也是不可接受的。此外，既然先知與使徒聯繫緊密，他們在教會成立初期有著同樣的根 基性角色也並不意外(弗 2:20)。這種角色，就像上面論證過的，今天已經不再需要。
說方言的恩賜
什麼是說方言的恩賜?
第一次說方言發生在使徒行傳第 2 章五旬節那天，那里的方言顯然是指說方言的人 從來沒有學過的一種人類語言。事實上，「方言」這個詞在聖經裡從來沒有用來指無人能 理解的話語。靈恩派為支持對說方言的這種不同理解(即不一定是人類語言)，指出保羅 在哥林多前書 13:1 講到「天使的話語」。但在上下文中，「天使的話語」和「明白各樣 的奧秘，各樣的知識」及「全备的信⋯⋯能夠移山」(2 節)是平行的，顯然都是不可能 的事，是一種誇張的修辭手法。哥林多前書 12-14 章與使徒行傳第 2 章兩處語境下的方言 緊密相關，5 靈恩派認為它們是截然不同的方言的論點是站不住腳的。而方言可以被翻出 來的事實(林前 14:26-28)，暗指它們是真實的人類語言。因此說方言的真實性很大程 度上取決於他們所說的是否是真實的人類語言。說方言恩賜的目的是為不信的人做證據 (林前 14:22)，或者，在教會裡使用時，被翻出來造就教會(林前 14:26)。
這個恩賜已經停止了嗎?
大部分說方言的現代靈恩派欣然承認他們的方言不是人類語言。上述單一標準就足以說明他們的做法不是符合聖經的屬靈恩賜。還有更多論據支持這個結論。按聖經意義上的說方言從來就沒有被當作一種延續的恩賜。關鍵的根據在於它和預言的緊密聯繫。在使徒行傳第 2 章，彼得為了向困惑的人群解釋說方言這個非凡的現象，引用了约珥書的預言「我要將我的靈澆灌我的僕人和使女，他們就要說預言」(徒 2:18)。五旬節那天的說方言，應驗了舊約關於末世會有說預言的預言。哥林多前書 14 章對說方言和說預言(和合本譯為「做先知講道」)的比較也清楚體現了它們之間的聯繫。第 5 節說到「說方言的若不翻出來⋯⋯做先知講道(原文為「說預言」)的就比他強了」。言外之意，方言若被翻出來，就和預言等同了。說方言的本質在於它是直接的啟示，因此和預言相似，只是用外語說預言罷了。既然前面已論證，作為根基性啓示恩賜的預言已經停止，說方言的恩賜又怎麼還會繼續存在呢?
行異能的恩賜
什麼是行異能的恩賜?
最後一個要提到的非凡恩賜是行異能，包括各種超自然能力的彰顯。雖然在靈恩派圈子裡最強調的異能是醫病的恩賜，但顯然還有其他異能，因為聖經裡使用了很多相關的 術語(參林後 12:12)。重要的是要認識到異能本身從來不是終極目的。行異能恩賜的目 的是為了伴隨傳神信息的人，證明他們的信息真的來自於神(林後 12:12; 來 2:3-4)。 異能因此可以被定義為「神能力的彰顯，並且是啓示性的、非凡的、外在的、驚人的彰 顯。」6 至於醫病的恩賜，重要的是要認識到聖經裡的醫病不取決於病人的信心(路17:17-19)，並且總是立刻的、完全的、百分之百有效的、無法否認的，並且從來不是事 先安排好的。7
這個恩賜已經停止了嗎?
現代靈恩派的醫病和聖經裡的醫病在上面提到的幾點上有着鮮明的對比。因為行異能恩賜的目的就是證明神使者的身份及他們的信息是神的啓示，所以當聖經啓示已經完 全，就很難想像為什麼行異能的恩賜還要繼續存在。這不是否認神蹟能夠而且依然存在。 我們絕對相信神是行神蹟的神。但按聖經意義上的行異能的恩賜已經停止了。
結論
總的說來，本文從使徒恩賜開始——該恩賜的停止是被公認的事實——進而以聖經論證，所有的非凡恩賜按照神的設計都已經停止。使徒和先知的根基性和啓示性本質有力地說明，它們在聖經正典完成、教會根基立穩之後隨即停止;而說方言和行異能的恩賜與使徒和先知有緊密聯繫，因此也與它們一同停止。
WHY OUR CHURCH IS NOT CHARISMATIC
Introduction
Charismatic is a broad term that describes a spectrum of theological positions regarding the role of spiritual gifts in the church today. The fundamental question for all issues related to charismatic theology is this: “Are miraculous gifts for today?”1 The debated miraculous gifts, or better yet, extraordinary gifts, involve four particular gifts, namely, apostles, prophets, tongue- speaking, and miracle-working. Starting from apostles, this paper will demonstrate from the Bible that these four extraordinary gifts are not supposed to continue in the church today.2
Apostles
What Is It?
Much confusion comes simply from the meaning of the terms. In order to see whether a particular gift has ceased, it is important to clarify what it is. The term “apostle” comes from the Greek word which literally means “sent one.” As is common with languages, it can have a general meaning and a particular technical meaning (think “spirit” versus “the Spirit”). In its general meaning, the word for “apostle” is often translated as “messenger” (Phil 2:25; 2 Cor 8:23), denoting a legal representative who bears the authority and message of the sender (such as a modern missionary). But a technical sense is clearly in view when the eleven in the upper room selected Matthias to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:15–26). In this technical sense, “apostles” (or, to be clear, capital-A Apostles) means “those select individuals directly appointed and authorized by Jesus Christ to be His immediate representatives on earth.”3 It is with this technical sense that the gift of Apostles is concerned (Eph 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; 1 Cor 12:28–29). Only the twelve plus Paul are said to be the Apostles of Christ in this sense.
Who can be an Apostle of Christ? The Bible clearly lays out three qualifications. First, he has to be an eyewitness of the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22; 10:39–41; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:7–8). Second, he has to be appointed directly by Christ (Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13; Acts 1:2, 24; 10:41; Gal 1:1). Third, he has to confirm his mission and message with miraculous “signs of a true [A]postle” (Matt 10:1–2; Acts 1:5–8; 2:43; 4:33; 5:12; 8:14; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3–4).
Has It Ceased?
It should be obvious that no one meets these qualifications in our world today. Most charismatics would readily agree with this statement. This alone should suffice to conclude that the gift of Apostles has ceased. Some attempt to make room for modern apostles by appealing to Paul’s Apostleship, but Paul’s own statement bears witness to the uniqueness and finality of His Apostleship as “the least of the [A]postles,” as “one untimely born,” to whom Christ appeared “last of all” (1 Cor 15:8–9; cf. Acts 9:1–20), implying there would not be any Apostle after him. In addition, Ephesians 2:20 says the church has “been built on the foundation of the [A]postles and prophets,” indicating a foundational role of the gift of Apostles in the life of the church, in a period where Christ was still revealing canonical truth through these Apostles to the church (John 14:26; 16:12–15). With the canon closed, the foundation of the church is established, and Apostles are no longer needed. Therefore, we see at least one of the gifts has ceased.
Prophets
What Is It?
A prophet in a strict biblical sense is not someone who speaks forth God’s truth that has already been revealed, as in preaching, but someone who receives direct revelation from God and communicates it to the people. Therefore, the gift of prophets is a revelatory gift; and, as such, it is closely related to Apostles (Eph 2:20; 3:5) and the canon (2 Pet 1:20–21).
As with Apostles, the Bible has given us three specific criteria by which we can test the genuineness of a prophet.4 First, a true prophet must be doctrinally orthodox. The importance of this criterion is seen in Deuteronomy 13:1–5 where a self-claimed prophet who leads people away from the one true God is to be stoned to death (cf. 2 Pet 2:1). Second, a true prophet must be marked by moral integrity. Jeremiah 23:14–16 clearly describes morally corrupt prophets as false prophets and forbids God’s people to listen to them (cf. 2 Pet 2:2–3). Third, a true prophet must be 100% accurate in their predictions. Again, Deuteronomy 18:20–22 says a prophet should die whose presumptuous prophecy fails to come true (cf. Ezek 13:3–9). Because of the danger of false prophets and the presence of authentic prophetic activity in the New Testament period prior to the closure of the canon, the church needed to apply these tests to determine if a self-claimed prophet and his message were authentic (1 Cor 14:29; 1 Thess 5:20–22).
Has It Ceased?
As with Apostles, the biblical criteria alone should make it clear that there is no authentic prophet today. Many charismatic theologians attempt to defend the continuation of this gift by defining it differently. They argue that the New Testament prophets are different from the Old in that their prophecy can contain error. There is no text that supports such a distinction. In fact, Peter quoted Old Testament on prophecy and said that was exactly what happened on Pentecost (Acts 2:18 quoting Joel 2:28). Moreover, the notion that the God of truth would give fallible prophecy is theologically unacceptable. In addition, since prophets are closely connected with Apostles, it is no surprise that they share the same foundational role in the initial building of the church (Eph 2:20), which, as has been argued above, is no longer needed today.
Tongue-Speaking
What Is It?
The first instance of tongue-speaking took place on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, where all would agree the tongues spoken were human languages which the speakers had never learned. In fact, the term “tongue” is never used of unintelligible speeches in the Bible. Charismatics appeal to Paul’s mention of “tongues of angels” in 1 Corinthians 13:1 in support of a different kind of tongue-speaking that is not human language, but in context, the “tongues of angels,” in parallel with “know[ing] all mysteries and all knowledge” and “all faith … to remove mountains” (v. 2), is clearly a rhetorical hyperbolic impossibility. The charismatic argument that tongue-speaking in 1 Corinthians 12–14 is entirely a different kind than in Acts 2 is untenable if one sees the strong correlations between tongues of the two contexts,5 and the fact they can be translated (1 Cor 14:26–28) implies that they are genuine human languages. The genuineness of tongue-speakers, then, lies largely in whether what they speak are genuine human languages. The purpose for the gift of tongue-speaking is to be a sign to the unbelievers (1 Cor 14:22) and, when used in the church when translated, to edify the church (1 Cor 14:26).
Has It Ceased?
Most modern-day charismatic tongue-speakers readily acknowledge that their tongues are not human languages. The single criterion noted above immediately dismisses their practice as unbiblical as far as spiritual gift is concerned. There is further indication that the gift of tongue- speaking in the biblical sense was never designed to continue. The key argument lies in its close connection with prophecy. In Acts 2, Peter explains the extraordinary sign of tongue-speaking tothe confounded crowd by citing Joel’s prophecy that “I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:18). The tongue-speaking on the day of Pentecost thus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy about end-times prophesying. This connection is also clear in the extended comparison between the two in 1 Corinthians 14, where verse 5 says prophecy is greater than tongue-speaking “unless he interprets,” which essentially equates interpreted tongue-speaking with prophecy. The nature of tongue-speaking is thus similar to prophecy in that it is directly revelatory. It is simply prophecy in a foreign language. Since it has been argued that prophecy as a foundational revelatory gift has ceased, why should tongue-speaking still exist?
Miracle-Working
What Is It?
The last extraordinary gift to be addressed is miracle-working, which includes various kinds of supernatural power manifestation. Though the most emphasized miracle in charismatic circles is the gift of healing, there apparently are other kinds of miracles, as is evidenced by the various related terms used in the Bible (cf. 2 Cor 12:12). It is important to recognize that miracles were never meant to be an end themselves. The purpose for the gift of miracle-working was for it to be an accompanying sign of God’s spokesmen in order to validate their message as genuinely from God (2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3–4). A miracle can thus be defined as a “revelatory,extraordinary, external, astonishing manifestation of the power of God.”6 As for the miracles of healing in particular, it is important to recognize that biblical healings did not depend on the patient’s faith (Luke 17:17-19), were always instantaneous, complete, 100% effective, undeniable, and they were never prearranged.7
Has It Ceased?
The modern charismatic healing practice stands in sharp contrast to biblical healing in the points mentioned above. Since the gift of miracle-working had by design a confirmatory purpose to validate God’s messengers and their message as divine revelation, it can hardly be maintained that revelation is sealed while the gift of miracles is still in operation. This is not to deny that miracles can and do still happen. We wholeheartedly affirm that God is the God of miracles. But the gift of miracle-working in its biblical sense has ceased.
Conclusion
In summary, starting from the gift of Apostles, the cessation of which is most undeniably acknowledged, a biblical case has been made that all extraordinary gifts have ceased by God’s design. The foundational, revelatory nature of Apostles and prophets argue decisively for their cessation after the foundational, canon-forming period of the church; and the close association of tongue-speaking and miracle-working with the Apostles and prophets argue for their cessation together with them.
註釋 Reference
1 This question is the name of the book edited by Grudem on the Charismatic debate. He argues there are four views on this issue, “(1) cessationist, (2) open but cautious, (3) Third Wave, (4) Pentacostal/charismatic.” Wayne A. Grudem, ed., Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?, Counterpoints (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 10–13. The argument advanced in this paper will be identified as the cessationist view.
2 The argumentation will largely follow the logic flow that is helpfully set forth by Samuel E Waldron in his masterpiece, To Be Continued? (Merrick, NY: Calvary Press, 2015). The four gifts can be termed alternatively with the related non-personal nouns, apostleship, prophecy, tongue-speaking, and miracle-working.
3 Nathan Busenitz, “TH 786 Charismatic Theology” (course notes, The Master’s Seminary, 2017), 59.
4 Ibid., 74–79.
5 Busenitz (ibid., 107–10) helpfully observes that they have the same 1) terminology, 2) description, 3) source, 4) recipients, 5) primary purpose, 6) connection to other gifts, and 7) reaction from unbelievers. Also helpful is the observation that Luke wrote Acts under Paul’s apostolic authority after Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, and so it is highly unlikely “that Luke would have used the exact same terminology as Paul if he understood there to be an essential difference between the two gifts (especially since such could lead to even greater confusion about the gifts — a confusion which plagued the Corinthian church)” (ibid., 109).
6 Waldron, To Be Continued, 100.
7 Busenitz, “TH 786 Charismatic Theology,” 121–24.