1.01. Introduction

Chapter 1:

Introduction On May 20, 1996, the Florida Baptist Convention’s state board of missions voted to “disfellowship” two churches and “further study” the beliefs of a third because the three churches taught “neo-pentecostalism.”1 (The third church subsequently resigned from the Convention.2) The pastor of the first church told Baptist Press that “the baptism of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation” and that tongues and prophesy have not ceased.3 The pastor of the second similarly declared that, “in most cases,” baptism of the Holy Spirit” is something that occurs after salvation” and “tongues are a gift and it is a valid gift and it is for today.”4 A spokesman for the third church expressed similar views, declaring that “the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit were restored to the church” in the early 1970s, and “in the mid-1980s . . . the gifts of the prophet and the apostle in the local church was a restored truth that is being revealed.”5 The Baptist battle for the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible may be over, but the battle for the sufficiency of Scripture may have just begun. When only Pentecostals preached the continuation of the revelatory gifts,6 we Baptists perhaps could afford to ignore them because they were perceived to be out of the mainstream. When Pentecostal doctrine spread to mainline denominations, we perhaps could still close our eyes to the growing movement since the charismatic renewal largely affected liberal denominations with which we did not associate.7 But we ignore at our peril the so-called “Third Wave” of “continuation” theology, for it has infiltrated many of our evangelical pulpits and pews.8 Since the late 1970s, charismatic tendencies have infiltrated en masse the more dispensational and Reformed evangelical groups that historically rejected the prior two waves. Over twenty million people now consider themselves a part of this “Third Wave” category.9 Charismatic doctrine has come to camp in our own backyard. The validity of the charismatic movement and its accompanying “signs and wonders” raises serious and controversial issues. These include: Did special revelation cease with the close of the canon? Are tongues for today? Do physical manifestations of ecstasy have biblical warrant? Is experience an appropriate guide to spiritual fulfillment? These issues are intertwined with an issue already familiar to Baptists -- the nature and sufficiency of Biblical authority. Charismatic Wayne Grudem is correct in observing that “this is a large and interesting area of discussion, one of immense importance in the church today.”10 Obviously, these issues must be dealt with directly. Because of their importance, they cannot be glossed over in an effort to achieve unity at the expense of doctrinal purity. This paper examines three essentially related issues concerning charismatic theology: (1) the relationship between the revelatory gifts and the canon; (2) the place of the revelatory gifts in church history; and (3) the role of related manifestations of spiritual ecstasy (and emotional experience in general) in revival movements. I have framed each of these areas of inquiry around a specific historical context. This approach is profitable because our forefathers wrestled with the same questions we now face, and we would be most unwise to ignore their accumulated wisdom. Hopefully, by reviewing the charismatic phenomena as they were seen in history, we can gain a more rounded understanding and better evaluation of today’s charismatic movement and the theology that informs it. It is said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. I pray that we may learn the lessons of those theological giants who came before us and on whose shoulders we stand. May God grant us the wisdom to walk with the wise!