Pursuing Presence, Not Signs: Balancing Pentecostal Experience with Biblical Teaching

 

The emergence of modern Pentecostalism has been characterized in part by its “restorationist impulse,”¹ an impulse which has led many of its adherents to seek the restoration of the attributes of the early New Testament Church. Among these attributes are the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in Ephesians 4, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. These gifts are significant to Pentecostals not for their own sake but for their mission as “a people called and empowered (Acts 1:8) to be fellow workers with Christ in His redemptive mission.”²

Before going further, it is important for me to share that I also believe in the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Church today. But too often the ministry of the Holy Spirit is neglected in favor of an all-out-pursuit of personal “miraculous” experiences. I cannot dispute the importance of individual experiences with God in the life of the believer; indeed, such experiences have resulted in the salvation of many, and the explosive growth for Pentecostalism globally. But the primary role of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to the Word of God, as Christ stated: “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about me” (Jn 15:26).

Presently, the experiential nature of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements has contributed to their engagement of a dangerous perspective which accords practically the same weight to spiritual or miraculous experiences as to the Word of God. This paper will discuss the implications of this experiential paradigm for current Pentecostal praxis with respect to revivals, evangelistic crusades and other missiological functions.

The Experiential Paradigm

It is the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 that has most profoundly influenced the development of modern Pentecostalism. The baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or charismata, are central to Pentecostal self-identity and operate as major differentiators between Pentecostal and Charismatic groups and the rest of Christendom. An unintended side effect of this belief in spiritual gifts and American cultural influences is the emergence of a more experiential Christianity,³ which I will refer to as the “experiential paradigm.” This paradigm is problematic for two major reasons. First, it fractures the relationship between the Word of God and the Spirit of God, by attempting to evaluate spiritual matters independently of the Word. Secondly, it allows personal spiritual experience to become quasi-authoritative, effectively rendering it equal to the Word of God.

Other factors contribute to this experiential paradigm, and the presence of these factors requires, as a practical matter, that miraculous events be subjected to verification. Andrew Walker describes these as: (i) the conflation of behavioral phenomena in large crowds with the work of the Holy Spirit, (ii) the “star” ministerial system, (iii) the presence of entertainers and others who perform for crowds, and (iv) the removal of a sense of sacredness and awe from the miraculous.⁴

Walker notes that large groups often experience behavioral phenomena which may “feel” like the work of the Holy Spirit, as when musicians and actors describe “the energy from the crowd” at a concert or other large-scale event. Another phenomena is that large crowds often draw performers and other entertainers, which could lead to spiritual counterfeits or excesses. An example of this might be the person who desires to become an actor but suddenly feels “called” to ministry because they feel certain that God has “destined them for the spotlight.” Closely related to this is the “star” system of Charismatic leadership in which individuals with considerable personal charisma are afforded undue deference by Christian believers on the basis of personality—a sort of spiritual popularity contest, if you will. Walker’s final phenomena is the lack of awe that these miraculous events seem to inspire toward God. Not only do these miracles generally not result in the glorification of God, they often serve to diminish the public perception of God to those who do not already know Him.

To these several factors, Russell Spittler adds what he terms “Corinthian spirituality.” Corinthian spirituality is a spiritual condition characterized by a “principled exaggeration of the worth of spirit over body.”⁵ While most modern Pentecostals do not necessarily exaggerate the spiritual over the physical—in many cases, precisely the opposite could be argued—an argument can certainly be made that Pentecostals elevate the experience of spiritual things over other aspects of Christianity, thus providing a home for Spittler’s “Corinthian spirituality.”⁶ Even prior to the beginning of the Charismatic renewal, Leslie Newbigin described Pentecostalism as one of three ways of approaching God, and attributed to Pentecostals the desire to “reach for God through personal experience.”⁷ Both Pentecostal and Charismatic perspectives understand the miraculous as part of God’s continuing work today, but these experiences—no matter how spiritual—are required by the Scriptures to be submitted to its authority and judged. A cursory examination of current Pentecostal and Charismatic praxis reveals that this evaluative process happens far too little in the everyday lives of Christians. In the next section I will examine the biblical function of signs and wonders generally, followed by a discussion of the character of those miraculous events.

Signs, Wonders, and Miracles Generally

The occurrences of signs, wonders,⁸ and miracles in the Old and New Testaments are far too numerous to summarize in this paper. In addition to the myriad accounts of the miraculous, no fewer than 20 words are used to describe various aspects of these phenomena, with significant overlap in their descriptive use. Rather than to attempt a static definition of the miraculous, I will instead use a functional definition, which notes that “the purpose of miracles was to legitimate (miracles as proofs) or to point (miracles as signs).”⁹ Three sub-categories exist in the discussion of miracles, including: i) positive miraculous events, such as healing miracles, ii) miracles best described as “divine infliction,”¹⁰ in which a miracle occurs with a punitive purpose, and iii0 pseudo-miracles, which imitate the miraculous function for purposes that are contrary to the will of God.

It is precisely because of the myriad examples and types of miracles that we must look to the theology of the miraculous to gain a better understanding of what they signify. One significant characteristic of miracles is that they use elements which came into existence through God’s creation, but with a “reordering,” which is impossible for an ordinary human being to accomplish.¹¹ When God instructed Moses to pour water on the ground, and it became blood on dry land (Ex. 4:9), or when Elisha threw out a stick and the axe head floated (2 Kgs. 6:6) no new, tangible matter was created. Instead, the prophets took action, and the interaction of the pre-existing objects was divinely re-ordered.

If the miraculous can occur with pre-existing objects, how much greater a miracle is that which brought these objects into existence? God’s creation of the earth ex nihilio is therefore miraculous on a considerably greater scale than the other miracles in the Bible, except, perhaps, the Incarnation of God as Christ. But by understanding creation as the formative miracle, the miraculous event at the head of all other events, it could be argued that there is a sense in which all miraculous events point to God’s act as creator of all.¹² Several examples substantiate this claim, but we must content ourselves with a few examples. The first example is the parting of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:13-31) which manifested God’s power over the waters, a power also evidenced in creation, when God divided the waters (Ge. 1:6-7).

A second example involves God’s power to afflict human beings with leprosy, or other diseases, as in the case of Miriam (Nu. 12:9), or even to God’s power to heal the afflicted, as with Naaman (2 Kgs 5:14). The ability to inflict disease and heal disease is indisputable evidence of God’s power over the human body, also created by Him (Ge. 1:26-27, Ge. 2:7). Romans 1:20 testifies of this very thing: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.” From this we comprehend that everything has been created, without any miraculous re-ordering, testifies of the power and nature of God. We may, therefore, properly view miracles as those things which occur outside of the typical creative order,¹³ and which are signposts directing us into the knowledge of God.

In addition to pointing us to the glory of God in creation, signs and wonders validate the message and identity of God’s servants. When Moses told God that the Israelites might not believe his divine commission, God equipped him with three signs to show the elders of Israel—to legitimize his mission as divine, and to validate his message (Ex. 4:1-9). In Elijah’s case, the miracles validated the messenger as well as his message. The widow of Zarephath initially believed Elijah to be a servant of God (1 Ki. 17:12, 15) and a miraculous supply of food was provided for her and her family. But after Elijah raised her son from the dead, the widow said to him “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (1 Ki. 17:24). Thus, Elijah’s identity as a man of God, as well as his message were validated by the miracle he performed.

With respect to Christ, who is both God and human, the miracles testify of something even more compelling—they testify of Christ as God in the flesh, and as being sent by God. In the Gospel of Mark, when Christ calmed the storm and stilled the waters (Mk. 4:39). He demonstrated the same power over the elements shown by God in creation (Ge. 1:6-7). His power to heal the sick pointed directly to His power over the human body—also created by Him (Ge. 2:7, Jn. 1:3), and He showed power over life and death in raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 11:43). Finally, in John 5:36, Jesus told those questioning Him that “…the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” The miracles of Christ’s ministry validated Him both as God, and as sent by God.

The third sub-category of the miraculous includes signs and wonders which, though claiming to function as pointers and validators, do not point to God as creator or identify God’s messengers or message. Instead, these “pseudo” or false¹⁴ miracles attempt to cast doubt on the power and nature of God, and on God’s messengers or message. Often such miracles occur in opposition to and juxtaposed with divinely mandated miraculous events. When Aaron cast down his rod in Egypt, and it became a serpent, Pharaoh’s wise men and magicians were able to perform the same miracle (Ex. 7:8-11). But the purpose of the wise men and sorcerer in doing the miracle was to oppose the notion that God had sent Moses and Aaron and to frustrate God’s intentions of delivering the Israelites. The conclusion of the narrative makes manifest the superiority of God to the magicians when the serpent from Aaron’s rod swallowed the other serpents from the magician’s rods (Ex. 7:12).

The other purpose of false miracles is to legitimize false teachers and false prophets as God’s representatives, and their teaching as the doctrine of God. In this sense, the miracles are false not because they did not happen but because they validate false doctrine, false prophets, and false teachers. In Matthew 24:24-25, Christ warns His disciples that false prophets and teachers will show “great signs and wonders.” These false miracles do not point to God as creator and do not validate God’s servants or their messages. Instead, they attempt to frustrate the purpose of God by validating those who are not sent by God and supporting doctrine which does not originate with God.

Having delineated the overarching categories of signs, wonders, and miracles, we turn to the discussion of the character of biblical signs and wonders.

The Character of Biblical Signs and Wonders

One recent concern in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles involves the validation of the miraculous. Christians and non-believers continue to look for criteria by which to test and to judge the veracity of miracles, though perhaps for different reasons. Adding to this concern is the relatively recent discussion of what could be termed “trite miracles,” in which God is described as miraculously doing everything from providing parking spaces to fixing a leaky faucet.¹⁵ Holding in abeyance the question of whether God is responsible for such providences, we turn to the larger issue of when a miraculous event dovetails with the character and attributes of the signs, wonders, and miracles found in the Bible. This section of the paper will examine the character and attributes of Biblical signs and wonders, followed by a discussion of the interplay of the Word and the Holy Spirit.

One of the more important aspects of biblical miracles is one’s ability to observe the results of, and in some cases the occurrences of, the miracles themselves. As already noted, the underlying character of the miraculous points to and glorifies God as creator, and validates God’s messengers and His Word. To this can be added the fact that the results of such miracles were externally visible, such as the parting of the Red Sea (Ex. 4:13-31), the reversal of the sun’s shadow ten degrees (2 Kgs. 20:10), the fire from heaven (1 Kgs. 18:38), and the infliction of King Uzziah with leprosy (2 Chr. 26:19-20). In the New Testament, the same principle holds true, as when Christ raised a man from the dead during a funeral procession (Lk. 7:11-15), Peter’s deliverance from prison by an angel (Acts 5:26), the appearance of the angel to Mary Magdalene outside of Christ’s tomb (Jn. 19:11-13), and the death of Ananias and Sapphiras after tempting the Lord (Acts 5:5-10).

In addition to the fact that biblical miracles were generally observable, the results of the miracles generally coincide with their function, which is to glorify God. In Luke-Acts, one effect of miraculous events—whether positive or negative—was that people were astonished or amazed.¹⁶ Raymond Gen notes that in Acts 13:8-9, Elymas the magician was blinded for withstanding Paul and the proconsul who witnessed the miracle was “amazed” (Acts 13:12). Also, after Christ cured a demon-possessed man in the synagogue, the people were “amazed” (Lk. 4:31-37), and in Luke 1:63 when Zechariah spoke suddenly (after previously being struck mute) the result was “astonishment” among the people.¹⁷

Miraculous biblical events also resulted in fear falling on the people,¹⁸ such as that which came upon the people of the Gerasenes after seeing that Christ restore the demoniac they knew (Lk. 8:35-37).¹⁹ Another example of this occurred after the work of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost when “everyone felt a sense of awe” (Acts 2:43), and in the narrative where Christ calmed the storm, His disciples were “fearful and amazed” (Lk. 8:25). These biblical miracles resulted in the glorification of God and placed people in fear and awe, including believers and nonbelievers.

The third effect of biblical miracles is that they result in the growth and multiplication of the Word of God,²⁰ and the salvation of souls. One example of this occurred on the day of Pentecost, after Peter’s sermon, 3,000 people were saved (Acts 2:41). As signs and wonders were performed by the apostles, Luke records that “all the believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women were constantly added” (Lk. 5:14).²¹ This does not just include the “benevolent” miracles of God, as Raymond Gen notes, because even miracles of divine infliction resulted in the multiplication of the Word, as with King Herod Agrippa’s death (Acts 12:24), the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:20), and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).²² Recognizing that biblical miracles result in the glorification and fear of God, as well as the multiplication of believers and of the Word, we now examine more in-depth the relationship between miracles and the Word of God.

The Spirit and the Word

According to Robert Menzies, the proclamation of the Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are deliberately connected in the miraculous accounts of Luke-Acts.²³ Certainly “word and sign are complementary” for Luke,²⁴ and the Lukan account often differs from other gospel accounts because of the inclusion of hearing and teaching along with miraculous events—this emphasizes the relationship between the Word and the Holy Spirit in Luke’s accounts.²⁵ For Luke, the primary evidence of the Holy Spirit in the early Church was not weighted in favor of the miraculous, but rather in the “bold and inspired verbal witness, particularly in the face of persecution.”²⁶

Comparing narratives found in both Mark and Luke will help to illustrate this point. In one particular narrative, Jesus healed a leper and afterwards went away from the crowds and away from the city. Mark and Luke describe the aftermath somewhat differently. Mark records that after the healing, “Jesus could no longer openly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas” (Mk. 1:45). Luke notes that “large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Lk. 5:15-16).²⁷ The Markan account records the result of Christ’s miracle as crowds, but Luke adds that the crowds followed Christ not only to be healed, but also to hear him.²⁸ This and other examples indicate that Luke’s perspective of Christ’s ministry linked His teaching and His miracle working power together. Ultimately, the centrality of the verbal witness (the proclamation of the Word) in the Lukan account is validated, but not superseded by the accompanying signs and wonders.²⁹

The final example of the ascendancy of the Word over the miraculous is found in the Parousia. In it, Christ warned His disciples that His return would be preceded by the emergence of false prophets and false Christs, which would show “great signs and wonders,” which would be of such a great significance that if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect (Mt. 24:24-26). Revisiting the experiential paradigm against the backdrop of the Parousia, it becomes clearer why the Word must have the ascendancy over the miraculous. Christ warns that highly deceptive signs and wonders will accompany deceptive messengers, thus implicitly requiring that His followers examine first the message of the so-called prophets, because it will be the only way to validate the divine origin of the messenger. Any reliance on the miraculous will lead to deception. Even self-deception is a danger, for Christ reminded His followers in Matthew 7:23 that there would be those who had “prophesied and cast out demons” in His name who will, in the end, be told to “depart from Him.” The performance of miracles provide no assurance of eternal life.

Christ’s warnings present unique dangers for Pentecostals and Charismatics who believe in the continued operation of the gifts of Holy Spirit. If Pentecostals and Charismatics flock to places like Toronto, Canada and Pensacola, Florida because of laughter, falling to the ground, and inner healing, what will be the result when false prophets and false Christs begin working substantive miracles—miracles that resemble those found in the Scriptures? If we take literally Revelation 13, it informs us that the false prophet will have power to call down fire from heaven in the sight of humanity, or to speak to a statue that will then come to life (Rev. 13:13-15). As those days approach, one can only wonder whether Pentecostals and Charismatics will take the time to authenticate the messages of these deceivers or if they will simply follow the miraculous. We can start to address this question by examining one alleged recent Pentecostal/charismatic event to determine the degree to which it accords with the biblical witness concerning miracles.

Modern Day Signs, Wonders, and Miracles

Among the more recent movements to occur in what is referred to as the Charismatic renewal is “The Toronto Blessing.”³⁰ Not having attended it myself, I must rely on second-hand accounts of what took place there, and have learned that the unusual phenomena of signs and wonders described there included “holy laughter,” and “falling down under the power” and “even stranger animal noises.”³¹ The results were a huge influx of crowds, as an estimated 600,000 people visited Toronto Airport Vineyard Church by the end of 1995.³² Those participating in the services in Toronto reported feeling refreshed, having new revelations of the Father’s love toward them, and inner healing.³³ But by the close of 1995, John Wimber, the founder of the Association of Vineyard Churches disassociated himself and the organization from the Toronto church.³⁴ Over time, the church (now the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship) has dwindled in importance in the Charismatic renewal, and was followed by a revival in Pensacola, Florida at Brownsville Assembly of God. The Florida revival was characterized by some of the same phenomena present in Toronto, but with an added emphasis on repentance and forgiveness.³⁵

Evaluating this account of the “Toronto Blessing” against our biblical criteria is not particularly encouraging. The first aspect of the miraculous is that it is externally observable, which cannot be said of inner healing, feeling refreshed, or receiving new revelations of God’s love. While it is true that the Holy Spirit may perform any or all of these acts, they hardly meet the biblical criteria for signs and wonders discussed earlier. Even the externally observable phenomena described as being present such as laughing, falling down, and the making of strange animal noises do not glorify God as creator. As for authenticating God’s message or messenger, it could be argued that such phenomena actually cast doubt upon the validity of the “messenger,” since many Christians, even those who believe in the existence of charismata, have rejected these phenomena.

Comparing the “miracles” of Toronto with a biblical account of the miraculous illustrates the chasm between the character of and the results of the ancient and modern miracles. When Peter and John met the lame beggar at the Beautiful gate, the man was healed and leaped for joy (Acts 3:7-9). Besides the man’s healing, the reaction of the crowd is significant. In Acts, all the people around were amazed and ran down to Peter and John. Peter used the occasion to preach the gospel, and despite being arrested with John and being put in jail (Acts 3:10-4:3) many more believed, and the number of men alone was 5,000 (Acts 4:4). While there were undoubtedly people in the community who rejected the Beautiful gate miracle, the strength of it rested in the widespread knowledge of the beggar in the community and because the miracle was externally visible. One hardly need ask whether the community would have responded in the same way if the beggar had testified to an inner healing.

A further question exists as to whether the observable phenomena actually inspire a sense of awe about God or of fear and amazement among Christians as well as unbelievers. The accounts of the “Toronto Blessing” indicate that a large number of people visited the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church, but whether the visits resulted in the multiplication of the Word of God is not clear, nor is the number of salvations. Overall, the “Toronto Blessing” does not fare well when measured against the biblical witness of signs and wonders, in terms of the character of the miracles or the effects they engender. We now turn to an examination of the interaction between the Word of God and the Spirit of God in narratives involving the miraculous.

Developing a New Word-Spirit Paradigm in Pentecostalism

Within Pentecostal and Charismatic circles an implicit and unexamined hierarchy has emerged in which personal spiritual experiences have been elevated to a quasi-authoritative status and are often given weight commensurate with that of the Scriptures. While Pentecostal and Charismatic theologies do not support this proposition, the populist nature of these movements naturally allows for more individualized Christian experiences—which are often left untested unless the Christian pursues greater involvement in the Church. This, in turn, leads to a similar lack of testing at corporate “outpourings” or gatherings where anecdotal evidence points to not only a lack of biblical testing of signs and wonders, but a lack of testing even of the Word of God when preached.

Yet even without a significant evaluative process, these so-called miraculous phenomena are allowed to function as divine confirmation of ministers and ministries. As noted earlier, this illustrates the tendency of Pentecostalism to overemphasize the work of the Holy Spirit and fracture the continuity between the Word and the Holy Spirit. A new paradigm is in order.

The Word-Spirit paradigm I propose is based on the biblical witness of Luke-Acts. In essence, it insists on alignment between manifestations of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, always giving the Word of God the preeminent position. Undergirding this paradigm is the exercise of proper discernment among Christians, individually and corporately. This too is found in the biblical witness. First John 4 enjoins us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” (1 Jn. 4:1-3) and 1 Thessalonians charges us to “examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Th. 5:21-22). The furtherance of this paradigm depends on the completion of practical measures, such as the development of Christian education materials on discernment and testing of spiritual matters. Another potential teaching opportunity may be found in Church small groups. Where such groups have developed trusting relationships and have sound, principled leadership, individuals could engage in discussions concerning “miraculous events” and work through the process of testing these matters for themselves.

One important reason that this discernment is necessary is for the protection of the Church from false prophets and teachers that will increase in power as Christ’s return approaches. Christ warned His disciples in the Parousia about the works of false Christs and false prophets that will carry messages contrary to the Word of Truth, but will still have power to perform miracles. Further, the miracles will be of such a character as “to mislead if possible, even the elect” (Mt. 24:24-25; Mk. 13:22-23). While we are not presently faced with this situation, it is not difficult to imagine Pentecostals and Charismatics being misled by so-called prophets—even in the face of false messages—because they would lend undue credence to the false prophets’ miraculous power. A new paradigm is decidedly in order.

Therefore, we are compelled to develop a system undergirded by spiritual discernment for the sake of our witness concerning God. In a skeptical, post-modern world, the Christian responsibility to investigate miraculous claims³⁶ is important in preventing the proliferation of false testimonies; especially since these testimonies may prevent people from believing in God. Moreover, our rejection of ministers, miracles, and messages that are inconsistent with the requirements of the Scriptures is love (1 Jn. 4:9-11). I am not advocating that we should attempt to separate the “wheat” from the “tares,” but like the servants in Christ’s parable, we should know the difference.

In my view, at least, the false testimonies impact something of even greater significance, so to Walker’s observation, I add one of my own: Most importantly, false and trite testimonies of the miraculous detract from rather than advance the glory of God—which is, after all, the whole point of miracles in the first place.

 

PR 

 

Endnotes

¹ Blumhofer, Edith L, Restoring the Faith (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 12-14.

² Klaus, Byron D, “The Mission of the Church,” in Stanley M. Horton, ed., Systematic Theology (Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 1994), 574.

³ Edith L. Blumhofer, Russell P. Spittler, and Grant A. Wacker, eds. Pentecostal Currents in American Pentecostalism (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999), 5.

⁴ Tom Smail, Andrew Walker and Nigel Wright, Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1995), 125-26.

⁵ Edith L. Blumhofer, Russell P. Spittler, and Grant A. Wacker, eds. Pentecostal Currents in American Pentecostalism (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999), 4.

⁶ Ibid., 12-13.

⁷ Ibid., 6.

⁸ This reference to signs and wonders is not intended to refer to what is commonly termed the “Third Wave.” Here I am making reference to signs and wonders generally.

⁹ Gen, Raymond M, “The Phenomena of Miracles and Divine Infliction in Luke-Acts: Their Theological Significance,” Pneuma 11 (1989): 4. I have extended Gen’s purpose of the miraculous in Luke-Acts to the entire biblical witness of the miraculous.

¹⁰ Ibid., 7.

¹¹ Zakovitch, Yair, “Miracle (OT),” Anchor Bible Dictionary 4 (1992): 847.

¹² Ibid., 846-47.

¹³ Of course, the miraculous may also occur within God’s creative order.

¹⁴ False, not in the sense that the miracles do not happen, but that they direct people away from that which is true concerning God and His will.

¹⁵ Tom Smail, Andrew Walker and Nigel Wright, Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1995), 126.

¹⁶ Gen, Raymond M, “The Phenomena of Miracles and Divine Infliction in Luke-Acts: Their Theological Significance,” Pneuma 11, no. 1 (1989): 17.

¹⁷ Ibid., 17.

¹⁸ Ibid., 18.

¹⁹ Ibid., 17.

²⁰ Ibid.

²¹ Ibid., 18.

²² Ibid.

²³ Menzies, Robert P, “A Pentecostal Perspective on “Signs and Wonders,” Pneuma 17 (1995): 269.

²⁴ Ibid., 270.

²⁵ Ibid., 271.

²⁶ Ibid., 268.

²⁷ Ibid., 271.

²⁸ Ibid.

²⁹ Ibid., 272.

³⁰ Anderson, Allan, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 162-165.

³¹ Ibid., 163.

³² Ibid.

³³ Ibid.

³⁴ Ibid.

³⁵ Ibid., 164.

³⁶ Tom Smail, Andrew Walker, and Nigel Wright, Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1995), 124.

 

Bibliography

Alexander, Kimberly Ervin. Pentecostal Healing: Models in Theology and Practice. Blanford Forum, UK: Deo Publishing, 2006.

Anderson, Allan. An Introduction to Pentecostalism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Blumhofer, Edith L., Russell P. Spittler, and Grant A. Wacker, eds. Pentecostal Currents in American Pentecostalism. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999.

Blumhofer, Edith L. Restoring the Faith. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Burgess, Stanley M. and Eduard M. Van Der Maas, eds. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.

Cox, Harvey. Fire From Heaven. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995.

Gen, Raymond M. “The Phenomena of Miracles and Divine Infliction in Luke-Acts: Their Theological Significance.” Pneuma 11, no. 1 (1989): 3-19.

Klaus, Byron D, “The Mission of the Church,” in Systematic Theology, ed. Stanley M. Horton. Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 1994.

Menzies, Robert P. “A Pentecostal Perspective on “Signs and Wonders.” Pneuma 17, no. 2 (1995): 265-78.

Poloma, Margaret. The Charismatic Movement: Is There a New Pentecost. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1982.

Poewe, Karla, ed. Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1994.

Smail, Tom, Andrew Walker and Nigel Wright. Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1995.

Zakovitch, Yair. “Miracle (OT).” Anchor Bible Dictionary 4 (1992): 845-56.

 

This paper was presented at the 37^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies held at Duke University Divinity School, March 13-15, 2008, under the title: “Believers Seeking the Presence of God or an Evil and Adulterous Generation?: Balancing the Experiential and Eschatological Nature of Pentecostalism with Christ’s Teaching on Signs and Wonders in the Parousia.” Used with permission of the author.