The Power of the Cross: Introduction

³John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Healing, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987; id., Power Evangelism, 2nd revised and expanded ed., San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1992; Kevin Springer, ed., Power Encounters among Christians in the Western World, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988; C. Peter Wagner, How to Have a Healing Ministry in Any Church, Ventura: Regal, 1988; id., The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, Ann Arbor: Servant, 1988; Charles H. Kraft, Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural, Ann Arbor: Servant, 1989; Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1992), chps. 18-20 (pp. 203-242); Don Williams, Signs, Wonders, and the Kingdom of God, Ann Arbor: Servant, 1989; Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988; John White, When the Spirit Comes with Power: Signs and Wonders among God’s People, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988; Ken Blue, Authority to Heal, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1987; David Lewis, Healing: Fiction, Fantasy or Fact? A Comprehensive Analysis of Healings and Associated Phenomena at John Wimber’s Harrogate Conference, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989; David Pytches, Spiritual Gifts in the Local Church: How to Integrate Them into the Ministry of the People of God, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985; George Mallone, Those Controversial Gifts. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983; Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985; Colin Brown, That You May Believe: Miracles and Faith Then and Now, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985; Morton T. Kelsey, Healing and Christianity. New York: Harper & Row, 1976 (revised and expanded, Psychology, Medicine, & Christian Healing, Harper & Row, 1988); Francis MacNutt, Healing, Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1974; J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament, Philadelphia: the Westminster Press, 1975; id., Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Re-examination of the New Testament Teaching on the Gift of the Spirit in Relation to Pentecostalism Today (Studies in Biblical Theology, 2nd series, no. 15) London: SCM Press, 1970.

⁴D. A. Carson, J. Armstrong, and J. M. Boice in M. S. Horton, ed., Power Religion. The Selling Out of the Evangelical Church? Moody Press, 1992; M. G. Moriarty, The New Charismatics. A Concerned Voice Responds to Dangerous New Trends, Zondervan, 1992; J. F. MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, Zondervan, 1992; Phillip Jensen, et al., The Briefing 45/46 (April 24, 1990; St. Matthias Anglican Church, Sydney, Australia): 1ff.; D. A. Carson, How Long , O Lord (Baker, 1990), pp. 123ff.; J.R. Coggins and P. G. Hiebert, eds., Wonders and the Word, Kindred Press, 1989; P. Masters, The Healing Epidemic, London: The Wakeman Trust, 1988; J. Woodhouse, P. Barrett, and J. Reid, in R. Doyle, ed., Signs and Wonders and Evangelicals: A Response to the Teaching of John Wimber, Homebush West, Australia: Lancer Books, 1987; Lewis Smedes, ed., Ministry and the Miraculous, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1987; Ben Patterson, “Cause for Concern,” Christianity Today (August 8, 1986), p. 20; Donald Lewis, “John Wimber: Signs and Wonders?” Channels (Spring, 1986), p. 10; Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity: Spiritual Discernment in the Last Days, Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1985; F. D. Bruner and W. Hordern, The Holy Spirit—Shy Member of the Trinity, Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 1984; F. D. Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970.

⁵E.g., Benjamin B. Warfield, Miracles: Yesterday and Today, True and False, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans: 1953 (formerly published asCounterfeit Miracles, Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1918); R. B. Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost, Presbyterian and Reformed, 1979; R. L. Reymond, What About Continuing Revelations and Miracles in the Presbyterian Church Today?, Presbyterian and Reformed, 1977; W. Chantry, Signs of the Apostles: Observations on Pentecostalism Old and New, Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976; N. Geisler, Signs and Wonders, Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1988.

⁶See appendix 4: “Spiritual Gifts” and Wayne Grudem’s chapter in this book, objection no. 21; see also Prof. Gordon Fee’s comments on I Cor. 13:9-10 in his commentary, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 644-645, n. 23; 646 and nn. 30-31; F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians, (The New Century Bible, London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1971), p. 122; Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Westchester, Il.: Crossway, 1988), pp. 233-243.

⁷D. B. Barrett, “Statistics, Global,” in Burgess et al., eds., Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, pp. 812-813.

⁸Third wave thelogy and practice have been largely articulated by John Wimber and Kevin Springer as well as C. Peter Wagner: John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Points: Your Action Plan to Hear God’s Voice, Believe God’s Word, Seek the Father, Submit to Christ, Take up the Cross, Depend on the Holy Spirit, Fulfill the Great Commission, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1991; id., Power Evangelism, 2nd revised and expanded ed., San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1992; id., Power Healing, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987; Kevin Springer, ed., Power Encounters among Christians in the Western World, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988; C. Peter Wagner, The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, Ann Arbor: Servant, 1988; id., How to Have a Healing Ministry in Any Church, Ventura: Regal, 1988.

⁹See Don William’s chapter below and Wimber and Springer, Power Points, pp. 156ff.

¹⁰Gordon D. Fee, The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels (Beverly: Frontline, 1985), p. 19; see also Wimber and Springer, Power Healing, pp. 152-157 (and references cited there) which also discusses the relationship, coming to similar conclusions.

¹¹BAGD, pp. 876-879.

¹²See references cited in notes below and also J. Becker, “Wunder und Christologie,” NTS 16 (1969-70): 138-140; G. Delling, “Das Verständnis des Wunders im Neuen Testament,” ZSTh 24 (1955): 265-280; J. Hempel, Heilung als Symbol und Wirklichkeit im biblischen Schrifttum (Nachrichten der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 3) 1958; B. Klappert, “Die Wunder Jesu im Neuen Testament,” Das Ungewöhnliche, Aussaat-Bücherei 45 (1969): 25ff.; G. Mensching, W. Vollborn, E. Lohse, and E. Käsemann, “Wunder,” in K. Galling et al., eds., Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (3rd ed., 1957-65), vol. 6, pp. 1831ff.; R. Renner, Die Wunder Jesu in Theologie und Unterricht, 1966; G. Siegmund, “Theologie des Wunders,” Theologische Revue 58 (1962): 289ff.; R. E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, vol. 1 (1967), pp. 525-532 (“Signs and Works”); id., “The Gospel Miracles,” New Testament Essays (1965), pp. 168-191; A. B. Bruce, The Miraculous Elements in the Gospels, 1886; R. H. Fuller, Interpreting the Miracles, 1963; A. de Groot, The Bible on Miracles (St. Norbert Abbey Series 19), 1966; J. Kallas, The Significance of the Synoptic Miracles, 1961; K. Tagawa, Miracles et évangile: La pensée personnelle de l’évangéliste Marc (Études d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses, vol. 62, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1966), pp. 75-80; J. S. Lawton, Miracles and Revelation, 1959; H. van der Loos, The Miracles of Jesus (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, vol. 8) Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1965; L. Monden, Le miracle, signe de salut, Desclée, 1960.

¹³F. F. Bruce, The Hard Sayings of Jesus (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1983), pp. 96-97.

¹⁴A. Feuillet, “Le ‘Commencement’ de l’Economie Chrétienne d’après Heb. ii.3-4, Mar. i.1 et Acts 1.1-2,” NTS 24 (1978): 171-173: “En Marc ii.2 et iv.33 on voit Jésus ‘proclamer la Parole’. . . . En Mc. xvi.19-20, une fois Jésus monté au ciel, les apôtres à leur tour ‘proclament la Parole.’ Et comme la Parole proclamée par Jésus était accompagnée d’oeuvres de puissance, il en va exactement de même d’après Marc xvi.20 pour la Parole proclamée par les apôtres. . . . ce que Jésus a commencé à dire (la Parole) et à faire (les miracles), tout cela est continué après l’Ascension par les apôtres. . . . Mus par l’Esprit, les apôtres reprennent l’appel de Jésus à la repentance (ii. 38, iii.26, v.31, xviii.30) et son annonce du ‘Royaume de Dieu’ (viii.12, xix.8, xx.25, xxviii.31). . . . ils attestent la résurrection de Jésus. . . . Ils s’appuient sur l’invocation du Nom de Jésus. . . .C’est pour ce Nom que les apôtres souffrent (v.21, xxi.13; cf. I Pet. iv.14); c’est ce Nom qu’ils prêchent (iv.10-12, 17-18; v.28-40). Et l’invocation de ce Nom met en action la puissance divine détenue par Jésus. Il en résulte que, par cette invocation, les apôtres accomplissent des prodiges semblables à ceux du ministère public de Jésus, guérissent les malades, chassent les démons et même ressuscitent des morts: iii.1-10, viii.6-7, ix.32-43, xiv.8-18, xx.7-12… v.16… xix.12.”

¹⁵A. Richardson, The Miracle-Stories of the Gospels (London: SCM Press, 1941), pp. 44-45.

¹⁶B. Klappert, in C. Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology [hereafter NIDNTT] (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), vol. 3, p. 1108.

¹⁷G. Friedrich, in G. Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament [hereafter TDNT] (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-74), vol. II, p. 720.

¹⁸D. S. Cairns, The Faith That Rebels. A Re-examination of the Miracles of Jesus (London, 1929), p. 93.

¹⁹Ibid., p. 29.

²⁰Van der Loos, The Miracles of Jesus, p. 220.

²¹“[Die heilungen] sind . . . Zeichen, die den Sieg des Christus über Sünde und Tod anzeigen und damit die Macht seines Wortes bekräftigen,” E. Thurneysen, Die Lehre von der Seelsorge (Zürich, 1946), p. 230.

²²W. Grundmann, TDNT, vol. 2, p.303.

²³H. van der Loos, The Miracles of Jesus , pp. 252f.

²⁴A. Richardson, The Miracle-Stories of the Gospels, p. 61f.

²⁵O. Hofius, NIDNTT, vol. 2, pp. 632-633.

²⁶Horton, Power Religion, p. 348.

²⁷Carson in Horton, ed. Power Religion, p. 117.

²⁸Ibid.

²⁹Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life (Waco: Word, 1978), chapter 13.

³⁰G. W. H. Lampe, in C. F. D. Moule, ed., Miracles. Cambridge Studies in Their Philosophy and History (London: A. R. Mowbray & Co., 1965), p. 171: “By the divine power the gospel is preached, converts are made, the Church is established in unity and brotherhood, the opposing powers, whether human or demonic, are conquered, persecution, of which certainly, much has to be endured, is turned to good account for the furtherance of the gospel, and judgment overtakes the persecutors”; C. H. Powell, The Biblical Concept of Power (London: Epworth Press, 1963), pp. 78-79.

³¹E.g., Mat. 4:23; 9:35-36; 10:1, 7-8; 11:5; 12:15, 18; 15:30; 19:2(cf. Mk. 10:1); 21:14(cf. Lk. 21:37) Mk. 1: 38-39; 2:2, 11; 3:14-15; 6:12-13; 10:1(cf. Mat. 19:2) Lk. 4:18; 5:17, 24; 6:6-11, 17-18; 7:22; 9:1-2; 10:9, 13; 13:10-13, 22, 32; 14:4, 7ff.; 21:37(cf. Mat. 21:14); 16:15-18, 20 Jn. 3:2; 7:14-15, 21-23, 31, 38; 10:25, 32, 38; 12:37, 49; 14:10, 12; Acts 1:1; 2:22; 10:38.

³²E.g., Acts 3:6, 12; 4:29-30; 5:12-16, 20-21, 28, 42; 6:8, 10; 8:4-7, 12; 9:17-18 (cf. 22:13), 34-35; 14:3, 8-10, 15ff.; 15:12, 36; 18:5, 11(cf. II Cor. 12:12; I Cor. 2:4-5); 19:8-12. Rom. 15:18-19; I Cor. 2:4-5; 11:1; 12:1-11, 28-31; II Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:5; Phil. 4:9; I Thes. 1:5-6; Heb. 2:3-4; 6:1-2; Jas. 5:13-16.

³³In Eph. 5:18 Paul commands us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (cf. I Thes. 5:17; Col. 4:2). Yet, Paul was ill in Galatia for a long enough period that it “was a trial” to the Galatians (Gal. 4:14); Epaphroditus did not experience immediate healing from illness and almost died according to Phil. 2:27; Timothy had chronic illnesses involving his stomach which were not completely healed according to I Tim. 5:23; and Paul had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus, apparently seeing no healing in response to prayer (II Tim. 4:20).

³⁴On experiencing healing of illness as a “gift of grace” (I Cor. 12:9, 28, 29) experienced only in part in the Early Church according to the New Testament, see A. Oepke, “iaomai,” TDNT, vol. 3, p. 214; on experiencing spiritual gifts in this age only “in part (ek merous I Cor. 13:9),” see Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT, ed., F. F. Bruce; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 644 and n. 21; J. Schneider, TDNT, vol. 4, p. 596.

³⁵J. Wimber, Kingdom Suffering: Facing Difficulty and Trial in the Christian Life (Ann Arbor: Servant, 1988), pp. 27-28; cf. id., Power Healing, pp. 147-166 (chp. 8), 184.

³⁶Richardson, Miracle-Stories of the Gospels, p. 68, quoting the German historian of Christianity, A. von Harnack, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries (2nd ed., London, 1908; originally published in German, 1902), vol. 2, pp. 121f.

³⁷Richardson, Miracle-Stories of the Gospels, p. 11; cf. Powell, The Biblical Concept of Power, p. 142.

³⁸M. Green, Evangelism through the Local Church (Nashville: Nelson, 1992), p. 408.

³⁹Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 203.

⁴⁰Foster, “Introduction” in Wimber and Springer, Power Healing, p. xi.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NIV®.

This chapter is from Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer, eds., The Kingdom and the Power: Are Healing and the Spiritual Gifts Used by Jesus and the Early Church Meant for the Church Today? A Biblical Look at How to Bring the Gospel to the World with Power (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993). Used with permission.

At the time of original publication (1993):

Gary S. Greig is senior editor of Gospel Light Publications, Ventura, California, USA, and is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Hebrew, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. He received a B.A. (Archaeology and Egyptology, 1983) from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, did graduate study in the School of Theology at Fuller Seminary (1982-1983), Pasadena, California, USA, and received an M.A. and Ph.D. (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1990) from the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute. He has published articles in scholarly publications and journals and is an elder at Community Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Ventura, California.

Kevin N. Springer is associate pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Anaheim, California, USA. He received an M.A. (Church History and Theology, 1976) from Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio, and did graduate work (Reformation History) at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. He has authored numerous articles and books, including Power Evangelism (with John Wimber; HarperCollins), Power Healing (with John Wimber; HarperCollins); and Power Encounters (HarperCollins).

Tags: cross, introduction, power

Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Spring 2006