Glossary¶

Thirty-five terms that do load-bearing work in this casebook, in alphabetical order. Each tells you what the word means here and, where it matters, what it does not mean. Greek is transliterated and glossed.

Ainigma¶

Greek, "riddle." Paul's word for present knowledge in 1 Corinthians 13:12 ("dimly"), and the Greek Old Testament's word in Numbers 12:8 for the speech God did not use with Moses. It names mediated knowledge, not unclear knowledge. See Greek Notes.

Already/not yet¶

The shape of the New Testament age: the kingdom has come in Christ and has not yet come in full. The gifts belong to the interval between Pentecost and the parousia. See the last days.

Apostolic age¶

The era of the apostles and the churches they founded, roughly the first Christian century. It has no fixed end date, which makes "the gifts ceased with it" harder to test than it sounds. See the apostolic age.

Apostolic foundation¶

Paul's image in Ephesians 2:20 — the church "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets." A foundation is laid once; the image concerns the church's founding, not the duration of everything built on it. See Ephesians 2:20.

Autographs¶

The original manuscripts. None survive, and the church's faith in Scripture has never depended on possessing them. "The canon closed when the last autograph was written" describes an event no one witnessed. See the canon has closed.

Canon¶

The church's list of authoritative books. Greek kanōn means a rule or measuring line (2 Corinthians 10:13-16; Galatians 6:16); it is not a New Testament word for the list, and that usage is later. See Greek Notes.

Canon-completion cessationism¶

The view that the gifts ceased when the New Testament was completed and recognised, because "the perfect" of 1 Corinthians 13:10 is the canon. Popular, and exegetically exposed. See what "the perfect" is not.

Cessationism¶

The view that the miraculous gifts ceased after the apostolic age. It is a family of five positions, not one, and they rest on different premises. See what cessationism claims.

Charism¶

The singular of charisma: a gift freely given, from charis, "grace." It marks the gift as unearned, not as spectacular or temporary.

Charismata¶

Greek plural, "gifts," used of ordinary and extraordinary alike (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Peter 4:10-11). The New Testament does not divide them into "natural" and "supernatural." See Greek Notes.

Charismatic renewal¶

The movement from about 1960 to the 1980s in which Christians in historic denominations received and practised the gifts without leaving their churches. See the charismatic renewal.

Congregational prophecy¶

Prophecy in the gathered church, regulated in 1 Corinthians 14: one speaks, others weigh, and the goal is upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation (14:3). It is testable. See the gifts in the local church.

Continuationism¶

The position of this site: Scripture nowhere teaches that the gifts would cease, and the passage that speaks of their ending places it at the return of Christ. See the one-page summary.

Deniability¶

The grade used in the source library: how easily evidence can be set aside. It measures the cost of dismissal, not the truth of the claim.

Discernment of spirits¶

The gift of 1 Corinthians 12:10 and the duty of 1 John 4:1-6: distinguishing the Spirit of God from other spirits, including the human spirit and the spirit of the age. See testing the spirits.

Ek merous¶

Greek, "in part." Paul's description of present knowledge and prophecy in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12. It marks the mode of present knowledge as fragmentary, not the gifts as false. See Greek Notes.

Epignōsis¶

Greek, "full knowledge, recognition," behind "I shall know fully" in 1 Corinthians 13:12. The prefix epi- intensifies; it does not mean "exhaustive." See Greek Notes.

Esoptron¶

Greek, "mirror." Paul's image for present knowledge in 1 Corinthians 13:12; James uses it for the word showing a man his face (1:23). A mirror is true but mediated. See face to face.

Faith healing¶

Healing sought from God in prayer, in Jesus' name, without technique or guarantee. The phrase is often pejorative; here it means the New Testament practice of asking and trusting. See when healing does not come.

Functional cessationism¶

Cessationism in practice rather than doctrine: the gifts affirmed in the statement of faith, never sought in the prayer meeting. Many churchgoers live here, on both sides. See we do not see them today.

Hagiography¶

Edifying biography of a saint, a genre with its own conventions and incentives to magnify. Low-tier evidence, graded accordingly in the source library.

Hard cessationism¶

The view that the sign-gifts ended with the apostles or the last apostle's death, so every later claim is delusion, fraud, or demonic. Consistent, and hard to falsify. See comparison chart.

Interpretation¶

The public rendering of a tongue so the church may be built up (1 Corinthians 14:5, 13, 27-28). A gift to be prayed for, not a translation technique, and required in public. See tongues, order, and abuse.

Katargeō¶

Greek, "abolish, bring to nothing." Three times in 1 Corinthians 13:8-11 of prophecy and knowledge; also of death's destruction (15:26) and the dividing wall (Ephesians 2:15). See Greek Notes.

Montanism¶

A second-century prophetic movement associated with Montanus in Asia Minor. Its excesses shaped the church's later suspicion of prophecy — a fact about reception, not a decree. See Tertullian and Montanus.

Pauō¶

Greek, "cease." Paul uses the middle future pausontai of tongues in 1 Corinthians 13:8, where the other two verbs are passive. A stylistic variation, not a chronology. See Greek Notes.

Pentecostalism¶

The movement that emerged from Azusa Street in 1906 and became the fastest-growing Christian family of the twentieth century. Its classic distinctive, tongues as initial evidence, is not this site's claim. See Azusa Street.

Prophecy (New Testament)¶

Speech given by the Spirit for upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation (1 Corinthians 14:3). Not primarily prediction, and not Scripture. How far it is fallible is disputed. See the gifts in the church.

Prosōpon pros prosōpon¶

Greek, "face to face" — the Bible's idiom for immediate presence with God (Exodus 33:11), and the New Testament's idiom for a visit rather than a letter (2 John 12). See Greek Notes.

Signs and wonders¶

The biblical phrase for God's mighty acts, paired with their purpose: attestation of the word (Hebrews 2:3-4) and mercy to the suffering (Matthew 9:36; Acts 10:38). See Hebrews 2:3-4.

Teleion¶

Greek, "perfect, complete, mature." The neuter substantive to teleion in 1 Corinthians 13:10 is the verse the argument turns on. Its range includes maturity; it does not include "canon." See Greek Notes.

Third Wave¶

A 1980s term, associated with C. Peter Wagner, for renewal in evangelical churches that did not adopt Pentecostal distinctives. Wimber's Vineyard is the type. See Wimber, Storms, and the practice of the gifts.

Tongues (glōssa)¶

Greek glōssa, "tongue, language." Speaking to God in a language not learned (1 Corinthians 14:2), which in public requires interpretation. Not all speak (12:30). See tongues, order, and abuse.

Word of knowledge¶

The gift of 1 Corinthians 12:8: an utterance disclosing something not naturally known. Not omniscience, not infallible detection, and to be tested. See testing the spirits.

Word of wisdom¶

The gift paired with knowledge in 1 Corinthians 12:8: insight into what to do rather than what is the case. The New Testament does not define the difference. See the gifts in the church.