FAQ¶

Short answers to the questions that come first. Each is three to six sentences and ends with a link to the page that argues it at length. The short answer is not the whole argument, and it is not meant to win an argument on its own; it is meant to tell you where the argument is.

Did the gifts cease with the apostles?¶

No text says so. The apostles were unique in office and authority — the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20) — but the gifts are not the office, and the same letter that names the foundation tells whole congregations to "earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" (1 Corinthians 14:1). If the gifts had died with the last apostle, that command would have expired within a generation of being written, and nothing in the letter says so. See the apostles were unique.

What is "the perfect"?¶

To teleion is a neuter adjective used as a noun: "the complete thing." Paul does not define it in the word but in the next verse: when it comes, "we see... face to face" and "I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). That is the return of Christ and the resurrection, not the completion of a book. See what "the perfect" is not.

Isn't 1 Corinthians 13 about the canon?¶

The chapter never mentions Scripture, writing, apostles, or a canon. It names prophecy, tongues, knowledge, childhood, a mirror, a face, and love. Read as the canon, it also ends faith and hope, because Paul's permanent triad is "faith, hope, and love" (13:13), and faith and hope are interim virtues that give way to sight and possession. The reading proves too much. See 1 Corinthians 13:8-12.

What about Mark 16?¶

The long ending of Mark (16:9-20) is absent from the earliest manuscripts and is treated as a textual question, not a foundation stone. The site does not need it: the same promise of Christ's presence and power is in Matthew 28:18-20, and the gifts are commanded and regulated in letters nobody disputes. If the ending is authentic, it says signs accompany believers; if it is not, the case is unchanged. See Mark 16:9-20.

Why do we not see miracles today?¶

Sometimes we do — the reports are thick in the Global South and thinner, though not absent, in the secular West. Where they are absent, Scripture diagnoses unbelief, not a decree: at Nazareth "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58). A church may also quench the Spirit, neglect the gifts, or simply not ask. Absence in one place is not a decree for every place. See we do not see them today.

Are modern miracles demonic?¶

Some claimed miracles are fraud, some are misdiagnosis, and some may be demonic — Scripture warns of "false signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24). But Jesus answers the blanket version of this objection: a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and if he casts out demons by the Spirit of God, the kingdom has come (Matthew 12:25-28). The answer is not to attribute the Spirit's works to the enemy but to test the spirits. See are the miracles demonic?.

What about fallen ministers?¶

A scandal exposes the vessel, not necessarily the gift. Scripture records gifts operating through Balaam, Saul, and Judas — men whose lives contradicted their ministry — and Jesus warns that some will say "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?" (Matthew 7:22). That is an argument for testing, not for cessation. The same logic would falsify every doctrine a sinful teacher has ever held. See fallen ministers.

Do continuationists add to Scripture?¶

No. The canon is closed, and the church adds nothing to it. Congregational prophecy is not Scripture: it is partial, fallible, subject to weighing (1 Corinthians 14:29), and judged by the apostolic word. To say the Spirit still speaks is not to say he says anything new about the gospel; it is to say he still applies and applies himself to the church. See Scripture is profitable.

Is the canon closed?¶

Yes. The site affirms the canon's authority, sufficiency, and finality. But the closing of the canon is not the same event as the cessation of the gifts, and 1 Corinthians 13 does not name the canon. The church's recognition of the canon was also a long process, running through the fourth century — which makes "the gifts ceased when the canon closed" hard to date as well as hard to exegete. See the canon has closed.

What about tongues — and must every Christian speak in tongues?¶

Tongues is speech to God in a language not learned (1 Corinthians 14:2), useful for private prayer and requiring interpretation in public (14:13, 27-28). Paul thanks God that he speaks in tongues more than the Corinthians, and then ranks it below prophecy because prophecy builds others up. And no, not every Christian must speak in tongues: Paul asks "do all speak with tongues?" in a list whose expected answer is no (12:30). See tongues, order, and abuse.

Will everyone be healed?¶

No, and Scripture never promises it. Paul's thorn remained (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), Timothy had frequent ailments and was told to use a little wine (1 Timothy 5:23), and Epaphroditus nearly died (Philippians 2:25-27). The gifts are real and the church should pray boldly, but the resurrection is the day of complete healing, not this age. See when healing does not come.

What about the dead being raised?¶

The New Testament reports them: Peter raises Tabitha (Acts 9:40), Paul raises Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12), and Irenaeus says the dead were raised in the churches of his day. The site does not claim that every report is verified, or that raising the dead is a normal church programme. It claims that the God who raised Jesus is free to do it, and that the final resurrection is certain. See what about the dead?.

Isn't this just experience?¶

The exegetical case comes first and does not depend on experience: no text promises cessation, and the one text that speaks of an ending places it at the parousia. Experience corroborates or challenges that reading; it does not rule it. That is why the case from Scripture precedes the evidence on this site, and why the evidence is graded rather than merely asserted. See experience is not doctrine.

How do I test a prophecy?¶

Test the content against Scripture and against the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 John 4:1-3); test the fruit and character of the speaker (Matthew 7:15-20); test the fulfilment, and do not be afraid to say a word was wrong (Deuteronomy 18:21-22); and let the congregation weigh it (1 Corinthians 14:29). A true word will accord with godliness and build up the church. See testing the spirits.

What should I do if I want the gifts?¶

Ask, and keep asking: "ask, and it will be given to you" (Luke 11:9-13), with the promise that the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Then seek them in a church, under authority, with love as the aim and order as the rule; desire the gifts that build others up, especially prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12). Do not despise what you do not yet have, and do not despise the ordinary means either. See seeking the gifts.