My Comments to and From David James Part One

This is Part One of several exchanges I've had with David James, the author of The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? wherein he and I have a difference of ideas which also appear on his own web site as of this writing.

I am currently working on a volume of my own that examines Biblically what Dr. James has written in his book. But here is what he and I have exchanged with each other past night or so for your reading. Because our replies to one another have been rather many and lengthy, I will post each as part one, part two and so forth in consideration to the reader.

Jose says:
October 1, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Dr. James,

Can you clarify for your readers if you are a Cessationist? If you answer in the affirmative, then how do you explain the new birth succession throughout history? Are you Dispensationalist? If so, then when did God cease imparting the gifts? Where can you provide the evidence to this effect?

Also, if the Scriptures such as Isaiah 9:10 cannot be applied to another point in history, as you claim, then how can you justify the use of specific historical prophecies to New Testament events.

Where does it say in the Scriptures that the gifts ceased with the Apostolic Second Temple Era?

Dave James says:
October 1, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Hi Jose,

Thank you for your questions.

If you take a look at the in-depth doctrinal statement on the ABI website, you will be able to see both our positions, as well as the supporting scriptural references.

Yes, I hold to cessationism and dispensational theology. I have spent many years carefully studying and teaching on this topic and have developed a 10-hour course on the theology of signs and wonders from Genesis to Revelation. As with many theological issues, including the Trinity, just because a specific theological truth is not exhaustively stated in just one verse does not mean that it isn’t biblical. I believe an examination of all the relevant biblical passages lead very clearly to the conclusion that God phased out the giving of the sign gifts of the Spirit with the end of the apostolic era. Obviously, developing and proving this to the satisfaction of some is not possible in a book-length treatment, let alone in a couple of paragraphs.

I am not suggesting that Isaiah 9:10 cannot be applied to another point in history – the principles can certainly be applied in any number of situations. That is not the question. This issue is whether this is a mystery that God has hidden as in now revealing to be about America when there is no textual reason or anywhere else in Scripture that indicates this is true. The Bible just does not teach what Cahn claims because it cannot be found in the text. If the text itself doesn’t inform both our interpretation and application, then what does? The very simple issue is that if it isn’t in the Bible, someone made it up. Isaiah 9:10 does not represent a pattern of judgment – it represents what God happened in a specific situation with the Northern Kingdom. As far as other prophecies are concerned, we recognize their future application in the NT because God has told us very explicitly.

Thanks, again, for writing.
Dave

SIDEBAR: A brief rebuttal here is necessary; If indeed, the gifts and the calling of God ceased with the Apostolic Age, as all Cessationists claim, then the prophetic writings about the events of the Great Tribulation and the time between that period and the New Testament Period, is one in which for all intents and purposes; God has ceased to function in the realm of the miraculous and the prophetic, but because according to these people He only did so in the pages of the Bible, and will do so in some future date of their Eschatological calling.

But they would retort that they do not teach this, but that God does work in the realm of the miraculous; and will do so, but that He does not at the present time. Amazing. No wonder the Lord asked, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
(Luke 18:18) The Greek here employs the literal meaning of "the faith," thus it can be rendered "But when the Son of Man comes, will He find 'the faith' on the earth?"

Only time will tell, but here is a foreshadow from the very halls of Christianity in our Post-Modern Age of skepticism. No Dr. James, I am not referring to you, dear brother; though you be the judge in your own heart before the Lord (who knows your heart and your thoughts) whether or not it can apply to you regarding The Harbinger.