As a conclusion to this mini-diatribe on the value, authority, and accuracy of non-Scripture-equivalent prophecy, I’d like to make a couple of comments. 1. Regardless of anything a prophecy says, Jesus and his death and resurrection remain the central point of our faith. As Revelations 19:10 says: the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If a prophecy seems accurate in every way and yet leads us away from the centrality of Jesus and the cross, chuck it out (see also Deut 13:1-3). 2. On the question of prophecy and spiritual gifts, cessationists and continuationists are a lot closer than they often realise in practice. Unfortunately, it is when…

(Originally posted in 2006) This is the fifth post in the series “Non-Scripture-equivalent prophecy”. Prophecy can be accurate or inaccurate – I don’t think anyone would disagree. There is also prophecy that is partly accurate. How does this happen? Let me draw up a list from innaccurate to accurate and suggest some ideas – some with biblical support, others supported by commonsense and experience. 1. Totally inaccurate. This can occur because someone is speaking prophecy out of their own heart and mind (Ezek 13:1-7) or through an evil spirit (Acts 16:16-18 though interestingly in this case there wasn’t inaccuracy, but it is an example of demonically inspired prophecy). 2. Partly…

(Originally posted 2006) Prophecy that communicates the words of God has divine authority. One big issue is deciding whether a prophecy is a divine communication. Another is what “divine authority” means. When a prophecy is given, the task of the church is to discern the authenticity and accuracy of that prophecy (1 Thess 5:19-22; 1 Cor 14:29-33a). The testing of prophecies shall be discussed more fully in a following post, but suffice it to say that Scripture encourages various means of testing revelation: comparison with Scripture, the prophetic reputation of the speaker, the character and life of the speaker, personal subjective discernment, the agreement of other believers and holding the…

(Originally posted February 2006) I think most cessationists would agree with me that their definition of prophecy is that it is Scripture-equivalent. To break that down further, that means that prophecy is a) as valuable as Scripture, b) as authoritative as Scripture and c) as accurate as Scripture. What’s more, cessationists would argue this has always been the case, and God has always intended prophecy to be that way. I disagree. Prophecy as valuable as Scripture. I have read and been told by cessationists that if I believe prophecy exists today then I should write down every prophetic word I hear from God and add it to my Bible. But…

(Originally posted February 2006) Not long ago I listened to a tape of a message by D.A. Carson called, “Greater than King David”. The basic message was explaining why Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest to have been born of a woman and why even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. But that, though interesting, is not what I want to discuss here. In the message Carson suggests that when John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) the word “lamb” in the text actually refers to a “warrior lamb” as opposed…