TMSJ 14/2 (Fall 2003) 287-310

THE HERMENEUTICS OF NONCESSATIONISM

Robert L. Thomas
Professor of New T estament

The Master’s Seminary is noncessationist in regard to such gifts as

teaching, helps, and administration, but is cessationist regarding revelatory and
sign gifts. Recent changes in evangelical biblical hermeneutics that have
accompanied com parable change s in evang elicalism as a wh ole hav e open ed do ors
of opportunity for nonecessationists to defend their position in a new way. The new
hermeneutical subjectivism has given continuationists an opportunity that is
nonexistant when following traditional gra mm atical-historical principles of
interpretation. Four examples illustrate this use of revisionist hermeneutics. (1)
Narrative-based interpretation takes its cue from eva ngelical redaction criticism
and its theory that na rrative literature can teach d octrine just as effectively as
dida ctic type writings, a theory that has been successfully refuted. (2) Comm unity-
based interpretation sees a contemporary Christian community as playing an
indisp ensa ble role in assign ing m ean ing to a bib lical text. This too contradicts
traditional gram matical-historical principles. (3) Tradition-based interpretation
allows for reading into a biblical passage an interpreter’s own background and
beliefs, but differences in defining how to limit that tradition reflects the extreme
subjectivism to which such a principle lead s. (4) Mediating-based interpretation
theorizes the existence of a common ground between cessationists and noncessation-
ists and alters traditional h ermeneutical principles in a way to accommodate that
preunderstanding. All four approaches illustrate the growing sophistication of
noncessationist hermeneutics and their continuing violations of gra mm atical-
historical herm eneutics.

*****

To frame this discussion, the positio n of T he M aster’s Seminary on

cessationism is a good startingpoint. The institutional “Statement of Faith” on that
issue reads as follows:

We teach that the Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit

287
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glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ
by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most
holy faith (John 16:13, 14; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 3:18).

We teach, in this respect, that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His
gifts for the perfecting of the saints today and that speaking in tongues and the working
of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to
and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth, and were never intended to
be characteristic of the lives of believers (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph.
4:7-12; Heb. 2:1-4).

Tho se word s indicate that as an institution T MS is noncessationist in regard to some

of the gifts such as teaching, helps, and administration (1 Cor 12:28), but is
cessationist in regard to o ther gifts such as miracles, healing, and tongues (1 Cor
12:28-30). The gift of apostleship (1 Cor 12:28, 29 ) lasted only as long as witnesses
of Christ’s incarnation and resurrection rem ained alive. T hen it ceased along with
other revelatory gifts and sign gifts, whose purpose it was to confirm revelation
through the reve latory gifts. The remainder of the gifts co ntinue and co ntribute
imme asurably to growth in the bo dy of C hrist.

Hermeneutical C hang es and Their E ffect on N oncessationism

In the last two or three decades, evangelicalism has undergone some

dramatic changes that are not often noticed. David F. Wells has commented
extensively on the chang es in his “Forew ord” to The Eclipse of the Reform ation in
the Evangelical Church, 1 as has Iain H. Murray in his work Evangelicalism Divided:
A Reco rd of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000.2 Along with the changes in
evangelicalism have come changes in evangelical biblical hermeneutics, whether as
a result of or as a cause for the changes in evangelicalism remains to be determined.
W hatever the relationship between the two spheres of alteration, the two have gone
hand in hand in revam ping the evang elical land scape substantially. 3
Nonc essationism, of course, antedates the above-mentioned differences
between the two stages of evangelicalism,4 but the continuationist perspective has not

1
David F. Wells, “Foreword” to The Eclipse of the Reformation in the Evangelical Church, eds.
Gary L. W. Johnson and R. Fowler White (Phillipsburg, N. J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2001) xv-xvi,
xvii, xix, xxviii.
2
Iain H. Murray, Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000
(Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2000) 51.
3
For a further description of the changes, see Robert L. Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics: The
New Versus the Old (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2002) 13-20.
4
Menzies and Horton trace the beginning of noncessationist Pentecostalism as follows:
The current Pentecostal movement traces its origin to a revival at Bethel Bible College in
Topeka, Kansas that began on January 1, 1901. Students, from their studies of the Bible concluded
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 289

been unaffected by the recent hermeneutical shift. In earlier days charismatics

defended their alleged contemporary use of gifts like tongues and prophecy purely
on the basis of experience,5 but today their de fense in many cases has shifted to
claims of biblical interpretation as the basis for their exerc ise of such gifts. The shift
has come through implementing new evangelical principles of interpretation.
W hat is the hermeneutical switch that has ma de this possible? First and
foremost, it is the incorporation o f a new first step in the interp retative p rocess, a
step called preunderstanding. In a ve ry subtle w ay, beginning the exegetical practice
with a conscious embracing of the interpreter’s preunderstanding of what to expect
from the passage under investigation has transformed evangelical hermeneutics from
an obje ctive exercise of letting a passage speak for itself into a subjective exe rcise
of allowing an interpreter to read into a passage the meaning toward which he is
inclined. Obviously, this transition moves away from letting the text speak for itself
toward the p ractice of reade r-response he rmeneutics.
No ncessa tionists and other fringe evangelical subgroups who have been
uneasy with trying to defend their systems from the Bible have taken advantage of
the new hermeneutical subjectivism to present for the first time a biblical defense for
what they believe. That is why so many new “isms” like noncessationism are
cropping up among evangelicals. The new “isms” are difficult to deal with because
evangelicals have a s yet to isolate the root cause of the deviations: a change in
principles of interpretation. 6
The Master’s Seminary advocates traditional grammatical-historical

that speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4) is the initial outward evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
One of the students, Agnes Ozman, said she felt “as though rivers of living water were proceeding
from [her] innermost being.”
The revival became a Pentecostal explosion when, in 1906, W. J. Seymour secured an old
two-story frame building at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. For about three years
services ran almost continually, from ten in the morning to midnight. Many of those who received
the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit there scattered to spread the message. Many Pentecostal
churches sprang up. (William W. Menzies and Stanley M. Horton. Biblical Doctrines: A
Pentecostal Perspective [Springfield, Mo.: Logion, 1993] 10)
5
Pentecostalist Gordon Fee has observed, “Pentecostals, in spite of some of their excesses, are
frequently praised for recapturing for the church its joyful radiance, missionary enthusiasm, and life in
the Spirit. But they are at the same time noted for bad hermeneutics. . . . [T]heir attitude toward
Scripture regularly has included a general disregard for scientific exegesis and carefully thought-out
hermeneutics. In fact, hermeneutics has simply not been a Pentecostal thing. . . . [I]t is probably
fair—and important—to note that in general the Pentecostals’ experience has preceded their
hermeneutics” (Gordon D. Fee, Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics [Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991] 83, 85-86).
6
For a detailed discussion of how new evangelical hermeneutics have given birth to Progressive
Dispensationalism, Evangelical Feminism, Evangelical Missiology, Theonomy, and Open Theism, see
Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 351-505. Currently, the Evangelical Theological Society is trying
to cope with the presence of open theists in the Society, but is having difficulty doing so because the
preunderstanding of the open theists has predetermined the results of their biblical interpretation (ibid.,
479-82).
290 The Master’s Seminary Journal

hermeneutics as evidenced in its Statement of Faith:

We teach that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of
Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of Scripture is to be found
as one diligently applies the literal, grammatical-historical method of interpretation under
the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Cor. 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20).
It is the responsibility of believers to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of
Scripture, recognizing that proper application is binding on all generations. Yet the truth
of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of it.7

Four illustrations of noncessationism’s use of the revisionist hermeneutics

will help to specify the issues involved.

A Narrative-Based Interpretation

Pentecostal Awareness of a Hermeneutical Change8

According to an Academ ic De an at W estern P entecostal B ible College in
Clayburn, British Columbia, Pentecostal hermeneutics in earlier days since the
movement began has been characterized as a “Pragmatic” hermeneutic.9 That
charism atic dean adm its that the go verning princ iple in this approach is to interpret
Scripture in light of contemporary charismatic experience, a principle established in
1901 when the father and fountainhead of Pe nteco stalism laid hands on one of his
students and she began speaking in tongues. 10 That has been the method of studying
Scripture for noncesssationists ever since. They have simply asserted the method,
taking it to be “self-evident and self-authenticating.” 11 Exp eriences in the early
church as recorded in A cts are taken to be no rmative for the present day.
In 199 2, M enzies confessed th at earlier Pentecostals viewed the Bible as
“a homogeneous whole and built our [Pentecostal’s] theology on texts arranged
together with little regard for the author’s original intent.” 12 That app roach has in
recent times become an embarrassment to noncessationists who desire to become a
part of mainstream evangelicalism. Recently, in the work coauthored by William
and Robert Menzies, Robert Menzies observed,

7
“Statement of Faith,” Catalog for The Master’s Seminary 2002-2004.
8
Cf. David Diez, “An Inductive Study on the Spiritual Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament”
(Th.M. thesis, The Master’s Seminary, Sun Valley, Calif., 1998) 7-24. Pastor Diez’s work was
foundational to the study in preparation of the present article.
9
Roger Stronstad, “Trends in Pentecostal Hermeneutics,” Paraclete 22/3 (Summer 1988): 3.
10
Ibid., 2-5.
11
Ibid., 4.
12
Robert P. Menzies, ed., “The Essence of Pentecostalism: Forum Conducted at the Asia Pacific
Theological Seminary Chapel,” Paraclete 26/3 (Summer 1992): 1.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 291

Pentecostal Scholars have seized the opportunity afforded by the new hermeneutical
context and raised important questions concerning the nature of Luke’s pneumatology
(doctrine of the Holy Spirit) and its relationship to that of Paul. This in turn has
stimulated discussions within the wider Evangelical world concerning the nature of fully-
orbed biblical pneumatology and how this might impact contemporary church life.13

Cessationists can derive profit by looking first at how m ainline P entecostal-

ism now claims a hermeneutical base in biblical interpretation, and then from a
survey of how other c harismatics, includ ing third-wavers, have respo nded to this
hermeneutical base.

Rationale for Using Narrative as a Basis for Doctrine

Pentecostal hermeneutics has learned a redaction-critical approach to the
book of Acts from evangelical redaction-critical studies of the Synoptic Go spels.
Robert Menzies has emphasized the lesson learned in the following words: “The
tools of redaction criticism, aided by more wide-ranging developments in literary
analysis, were employed with considerable success.” 14 For the most part, they credit
I. Ho ward Marshall, a non-P entecostal, for this disco very:

In 1970, I. Howard Marshall’s influential book Luke: Historian and Theologian appeared
on the scene. . . . Marshall suggested that Luke wrote history, accurate and careful
history; but not bare, objective, detached history. Luke-Acts represents history with a
purpose—history written with a theological agenda in view. Marshall’s book signaled
an important watershed in Evangelical thought. Although in 1970 many had not yet
perceived the full implications of Marshall’s position, the reappraisal of the theological
character of biblical narrative, particularly the Gospels and Acts, was underway. 15

On the basis of M arshall’s work, he also w rites, “A revolution is taking p lace in

13
William W. and Robert P. Menzies. Spirit and Power: Foundations of Pentecostal Experience
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000) 43; William Menzies wrote chapter 1, the postscript of chapter 13, and
the conclusion of this work; Robert Menzies wrote the rest (ibid., 11 n. 1). In commenting on the
Pentecostal shift in focus, Dempster has commented, “Hermeneutics has been a hot topic for Pentecostals
in recent years. In the annual meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies over the last decade, no
topic has been investigated with greater frequency or intensity than the topic of hermeneutics” (Murray
W. Dempster, “Paradigm Shifts and Hermeneutics: Confronting Issues Old and New,” Pneuma: The
Journal for Pentecostal Studies 15/2 [Fall 1993]: 129).
14
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 41. William Menzies joins Robert Menzies in noting
the utter dependence of Pentecostal theology on redaction criticism in Acts: “In fact, if one can
demonstrate that Luke did not intend to convey a theological message by his narratives, he has at that
point effectively undercut the possibility of a clear Pentecostal theology” (William W. Menzies, “The
Methodology of Pentecostal Theology: An Essay on Hermeneutics,” Essays on Apostolic Themes, ed.
Paul Elbert [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1985] 7). Later he adds, “Marshall, although certainly not
a Pentecostal, makes a good case for the contribution of redaction criticism to an understanding of Luke
as a theologian” (ibid., 8 n. 12).
15
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 40-41.
292 The Master’s Seminary Journal

Evangelical hermeneutics. . . . I refer to the substantial change in Evangelical

attitudes toward the theological significance of biblical narrative.” 16 He describes
the effect of this revolution on the study of the G ospels in the following wo rds:

[A] new generation of Evangelical scholars and seminary instructors, many of whom had
studied under Marshall, began to reappropriate and utilize the tools of redaction criticism.
These scholars—e.g., Grant Osborne, Robert Stein, Joel Green, Darrell Bock, Craig
Blomberg—began to judiciously use the positive insights of this method of analysis while
at the same time discarding some of the more radical presuppositions. This resulted in
an impressive array of scholarly studies that showed the value of the method and its
compatibility—if employed properly—with a high view of Scripture. The impact upon
Evangelical hermeneutics was inevitable, if not immediate. Here were Evangelical
scholars highlighting the distinctive theological perspectives of the various Gospel
writers.17

Menzies then transfers the redaction-critical method to the book of Acts and
concludes that since Acts is narrative literature like the Gospels, one can derive
doctrine from narrative literature just as well as he can from didactic literature such
as the NT epistles:

These developments converged to produce what is today a clear consensus. There is now
widespread recognition in the Evangelical world that biblical narratives, particularly
those found in the Gospels and Acts, were shaped with theological concerns in mind and
thus they convey a theological message. The crucial question is no longer whether Luke
and the others were theologians; the central question now is what is the specific shape
or content of their theology.18

He confirms such a conclusion by referring to two recent works on

hermeneutics written by non-P entecostals. O ne is by K lein, Blomb erg, and
Hubbard:

We have already stated that narrative often teaches more indirectly than didactic literature
without becoming any less normative. Thus, we reject Fee and Stuart’s highlighted
maxim that “unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is merely
narrated or described can never function in a normative way.”19

16
Ibid., 37.
17
Ibid., 41.
18
Ibid., 41-42. Archer is of the same opinion: “Pentecostal scholarship has aided in elevating Acts
from a purely historical narrative to a historical-theological narrative thus giving it the same doctrinal
clout as Paul and John” (Kenneth J. Archer, “Pentecostal Hermeneutics: Retrospect and Prospect,”
Journal of Pentecostal Theology 8 [April 1996]:73).
19
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 42; see William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and
Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Dallas: Word, 1993) 349-50.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 293

The other is by Grant Osborne:

Moreover, I also oppose the current tendency to deny the theological dimension on the
grounds that narrative is indirect rather than direct. This ignores the results of redaction
criticism, which has demonstrated that biblical narrative is indeed theological at the core
and seeks to guide the reader to relive the truth encapsulated in the story. Narrative is not
as direct as didactic material, but it does have a theological point and expects the reader
to interact with that message. My argument is that biblical narrative is in some ways even
better than the teaching applied to similar situations in the lives of the people.20

W ith this encouragement from non-Pentecostal scholars, Pentecostals have

plunged ahead with using historical precedent in Acts as a scriptural basis for their
alleged continuing exercise of such sign gifts as tongues and prophe cy. 21 They
justify this on the basis of the “quiet revolution” that has transpired in evangelical
hermeneutics when writing,

Because Luke-Acts is so pivotal for Pentecostal theology and experience, the recent
hermeneutical shift within the larger Evangelical world has had a special impact on
Pentecostals. Pentecostals, often chided in the past for simplistic arguments from
historical precedent, have entered into a new era of creative theological reflection.22

Robert Menzies cites Stronstad as an early voice that noted the distinction
between Lukan and Pauline theo logies, b ut acknowledges that Stronstad’s experience
probab ly played a part in his disco very. 23 He writes, “Stronstad will undoubtedly be
criticized by some for reading his own Pentecostal expe rience into Luke-Ac ts. . . .
[M]ight it not be that Stronstad’s P entecostal experience ha s actually enabled him
to read Luke-Acts more accurately?” 24

20
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 42; see Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral:
A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1991) 172.
21
Pinnock wholeheartedly endorses such a use of narrative portions of Scripture among
Pentecostals: “Other believers also read the Bible as narrative, because it is in fact a narrative, but
Pentecostals are particularly strong in this. Pentecostals read the Bible not primarily as a book of
concepts, but as a very dynamic narative [sic] of ongoing divine activity. They inhabit the story-world
of the Bible and experience God according to that pattern” (Clark H. Pinnock, “Divine Relationality: A
Pentecostal Contribution to the Doctrine of God,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 16 [April 2000]:9).
In defending his position of open theism, Pinnock continues, “Pentecostals are in the happy position of
being able to avoid categories that have long burdened classical theism, because they stick closer to
biblical metaphors and biblical narrative” (ibid., 10).
22
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 43.
23
Ibid., 51.
24
Ibid., 51-52.
294 The Master’s Seminary Journal

Evalua tion o f the D octrine-B ased -on-Na rrative R ationale

Three observations regarding the new Pentecostal hermeneutics are in order
at this point.
(1) Even with the new sophistication that characterizes Pentecostalism’s
post-“revolution” hermene utics,25 the subjectivism of read ing one’s experience into
the biblical text still prevails.26 In other words, an experience-based preunderstand-
ing of what meaning the text should yield is still the determining factor.27 They are
doing the same as they always have, but have gained a new respect from other
evangelicals, because new evangelical hermeneutics have opened the door for them
to come to the text with a preconceived interpretation.
(2) To credit I. Howard Marshall with launching this revolution raises
questions about the legitimacy of the revolution’s origin. Marshall’s stand on the
issue of biblical inerrancy is at best questionable. One whose redaction-critical
studies acknowledge unhistorical elements in the text of the Gospels 28 can ha rdly
furnish a suitable found ation for inerrantists to adopt new hermeneutical procedures.
Neither do the disciples of Ma rshall listed by Ro bert M enzies supp ly suitable mod els
of biblical inerrancy, because they all follow Marshall’s example of finding

25
Joseph Byrd, Senior Pastor of the Stewart Road Church of God in Monroe, Michigan, agrees with
many others about the new trend among Pentecostals: “Recent publications demonstrate the transition
of Pentecostalism from its oral theological origins to a new theological sophistication in the last two
decades” (“Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutical Theory and Pentecostal Proclamation,” Pneuma: The Journal
for Pentecostal Studies 15/2 [Fall 1993]:203). Archer concurs: “Pentecostal scholarship has reached new
levels of sophistication as the Fall 1993 issue of Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal
Studies demonstrates” (Kenneth J. Archer, “Pentecostal Hermeneutics: Retrospect and Prospect” 70).
26
Noncessationists differ from one another regarding the exact role of experience with some holding
that experience should not be the starting point for interpretation (Fee, Gospel and Spirit 85-86; Menzies,
“Methdology” 12-13) and others that it is inevitably involved throughout the interpretive process (F. L.
Arrington, “Hermeneutics, Historical Perspectives on Pentecostal and Charismatic,” in Dictionary of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, eds Stanley M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee, and Patrick H.
Alexander [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993] 384). Whatever position a noncessationist may take on this
issue, the fact remains that contemporary experience plays a role in interpretation, as Ellington readily
admits: “Beliefs are not derived from understanding, but arise from intense individual and corporate
experiences of the presence and action of God in the lives of Christian believers. Doctrine is descriptive
of and, as such, arises out of experience. . . . This is not to say that, for Pentecostals, doctrine is
unimportant, but it is to recognize that the basic fodder of the doctrinal process within Pentecostalism
is the experience of the community of faith” (Scott A. Ellington, “Pentecostalism and the Authority of
Scripture,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 9 [1996]:18).
27
Noncessationist Arrington in essence admits this influence: “[T]he Pentecostal movement’s own
theological presuppositions also impact the movement’s interpretative principles. . . . Interpretation,
indeed, the very approach to the task of interpretatin, is shaped by the theological presuppositions that
the interpreter brings to the process” (Arrington, “Hermeneutics, Historical Perspectives” 378).
28
I. Howard Marshall, “Historical Criticism,” in New Testament Interpretation, ed. I. Howard
Marshall (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977) 136.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 295

unhistorical eleme nts in the Synoptic Gospels.29 If evangelical redaction-critical

procedures allow for editorial emb ellishments leading to histo rical inac curac ies in
the Gospels, they very well may allow that Luke embellished and altered historical
accounts in Acts with a view to enhancing his own theological preferences.
Evangelical redaction criticism has had detrimental effects by dehistoricizing the
Synoptic Gospels, and if used in Acts, will do the same there.
(3) Using narrative literature as a basis for doctrine is precarious for a
variety of reasons. For one thing, that policy fails to allow for the transitional nature
of Acts. As Lo der ob serves,

Acts 2—when understood in light of the unique historical setting of the event
described—does not support the view that the ‘vocational’ work of the Spirit can only
be experienced as one enters into a whole new realm of the Christian life through a post-
conversion crisis event.30

The delay between the Samaritans’ confession of faith and their reception of the Spirit
is probably best understood within the context of the literary structure of Acts—which
is apparently designed to reflect God’s programme of salvation-history. 31

Many events in Acts are unrepeatable because they are unique in God’s ongoing plan
from the time o f His original creation to the time of His new creation. Acts describes
a period of transitions such as those from the law to grace, from Israel’s history to
the church’s history, from an emphasis on the kingdom of Israel to an emphasis on
the bo dy of C hrist.
Furthermore, to attribute to Luke a double intent o f writing histo ry and
theology is an unrealistic approach to narrative literature. Th e goa l must be to
determine a historian’s prima ry intent. As F ee expresses it,

it [i.e., discovering the author’s and the Holy Spirit’s intent] is of crucial importance to
the hermeneutics of the historical narratives, for it is one thing for the historian to include
an event because it serves the greater purpose of his work, and yet another thing for the
interpreter to take that incident as having didactic value apart from the historian’s larger
intent. . . . Whatever else one gleans from the story, whether it be the place of visions in
Christian guidance (!) or the nature of Christian conversion, such gleanings are incidental
to Luke’s intent.32

29
Cf. Robert L. Thomas and F. David Farnell, eds, The Jesus Crisis: The Inroads of Historical
Criticism into Evangelical Scholarship (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998) 18-27, for examples of historical
inaccuracies cited by various evangelical scholars.
30
Allan Loder, “The Classical Pentecostal Doctrine of Spirit-baptism: Some Exegetical
Considerations,” )4*"F6"84" 13/2 (Spring 2002): 80.
31
Ibid., 81.
32
Fee, Gospel and Spirit 90-91.
296 The Master’s Seminary Journal

By basing doctrine and Christian practice on incidental details, an interpreter

com mits grievous injustices against the narrative in particular and biblical doctrine
in genera l. In so doing, he fails to allow for traditional grammatical-historical
hermeneutics in its reco gnition o f history as unembellished history.

A Community-Based Interpretation

Rationale for Using the Community as a Basis for Interpretation

Recently, Kenneth Archer, a professor at Church of God Theological
Seminary in Cleveland , Tennesse e, presented another approach to Pentecostal
hermeneutics. 33 He p roposed that the co mmunity is an ind ispensable partne r in
assigning meaning to a biblica l text:

The Pentecostal hermeneutic being presented embraces a dialogical interdependent

relationship between Scripture, Spirit and community as a necessary process in the
making of meaning. . . . This hermeneutic emphasizes the important contributions that
the Pentecostal community brings to the interpretive process. . . . The primary filter for
interpretation will be the Pentecostal story. 34

Archer continues, “T he B ible, the H oly Sp irit and the Pentecostal com munity are
actively engaging each other in the co nversa tion.” 35
In reflecting the influence of modern linguistics upon his thinking, the
Pentecostal scholar writes, “T his tridactic conversational approach to ‘meaning’ is
necessary because all forms of communication are underdeterminate; that is a
listener or reader is needed to com plete the communicative event, hence producing
meaning.” 36 He dismisses the possibility that the individual hermeneut can arrive at
a meaning through use of objective hermeneutical principles, and says that he needs
the input of the co mmunity to assign meaning to a biblical text. 37 Archer later ad ds,
“Penteco stals take very serious [sic] Goldingay’s warning that ‘those who pretend
to be objective and critical and then find their own concerns in the texts they study

33
Kenneth J. Archer, “A Pentecostal Hermeneutic: Spirit, Scripture and Community” (Paper
presented to the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
November 22, 2002). The paper was a condensation of the sixth chapter of his dissertation scheduled
for publication in the fall of 2003 under the title A Pentecostal Hermeneutic: Spirit, Scripture and
Community (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, forthcoming) (ibid., 1 n. 4).
34
Ibid., 1-2.
35
Ibid., 2.
36
Ibid., 2; cf. Robert L. Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 195-240, especially 226-27, for a
comparison of modern linguistics with grammatical-historical interpretation. The field of linguistics
downplays precision in biblical interpretation (ibid., 226-27).
37
Archer, “A Pentecostal Hermeneutic” 2, also 2 n. 6.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 297

need to take a dose of self-suspicion.’” 38

Archer continues,

The biblical passage is at the mercy of the community. However, a Pentecostal

community will give the biblical passage the opportunity to interact with the readers in
such a way that the passage fulfills its dialogical role in the communicative event. This
is so because the Pentecostal community recognizes the Bible as the penultimate
authoritative written testimony of Divine revelation—the inspired word of God.
Furthermore, the community believes that the Scripture can speak clearly and creatively
as word of God to the contemporary Pentecostal community’s situations and needs
Hence the Pentecostal community will read the Bible as sacred Scripture that speaks to
the community’s current needs thus enabling the community to live faithfully before and
with the living God.39

Furthe r, he says,

Knowledge as meaningful understanding will be rooted in and related to human life

because ‘the only sort of (theological and theoretical) knowledge that really counts is
knowledge grounded in life.’ ‘Meaning, therefore, is no longer seen in terms of an
original “cause” or ultimate “effect” but in terms of relationship.’ This meaning is
arrived at through a dialectical process based upon an interdependent dialogical
relationship between Scripture, Spirit and community. 40

In clarification, he states, “Meaning is negotiated through the conversation between

the text, community and Spirit with the world behind the text informing not
controlling the conversation.” 41

Evaluation of Using the Community as a Basis for Interpretation

Several brief co mments will compare A rcher’s hermeneutic with the
traditional grammatical-historical approach.
(1) Most conspicuous is this scholar’s concession to reader-response
hermeneutics as relates to deconstructionism, postm ode rnism, and poststructural-

38
Ibid., 3-4; cf. also Kenneth J. Archer, “Early Pentecostal Biblical Interpretation,” Journal of
Pentecostal Theology 8 (2001):41, where he writes, “The Modernist attempt to to [sic] be a neutral
interpreter by setting aside one’s ‘experience’ and/or presuppositions is a false illusion.”
39
Ibid., 3. Note Archer’s reference to the Bible as “the penultimate authoritative written testimony
of Divine revelation.” If the Bible is the next to the last authority, is the community the ultimate
authority? Archer is unclear on this point.
40
Ibid.
41
Ibid., 6.
298 The Master’s Seminary Journal

ism.42 He indicates that the text has no meaning in and of itself, but must be assigned
a meaning by the Pe nteco stal com munity. In contrast, the go al of grammatical-
historical hermeneutics is to exclude preunderstanding of any contemporary person
or co mmunity and let the text sp eak for itself. 43
(2) Reader-response hermeneutics leads inevitab ly to allowing a single
passage of Scripture to have m ultiple meaning s. If the Penteco stal com munity
controls the meaning in its community, and so does the Re formed co mmunity in its
com munity and the dispensational com munity in its com munity and so on, that
means a given passage has as many meanings as there are communities. That
chara cteristic of community-facilitated hermeneutics directly violates the
grammatical-historical princip le of a single meaning for each passage of Scripture.44
(3) Community-based interpretation stands against ano ther grammatical-
historical principle, that of keeping application separate from interpretation. When

42
Robert Menzies tries to distance himself from “the extreme subjectivity of some reader-oriented
methodologies (such as reader-response criticism and deconstructionism)” by calling them “disturbing”
(Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 65-66). Commendably, he also insists, “[T]he distinction
between the meaning of the text and the numerous applications (or significances) it may have for various
situations and cultures is necessary if we are to restrain ourselves from distorting the text” (ibid., 66).
Yet his wholehearted endorsement of redaction criticism and experience-based preunderstanding cited
earlier in this article clearly evidences his deconstructive leanings and his willingness to let application
have its part in determining textual meaning. Archer goes so far as to say that “Pentecostalism must have
a postmodern accent” and that a promising Pentecostal hermeneutic “will speak with a liberating voice
accented by postmodernity” (Archer, “Pentecostal Hermeneutics: Retrospect and Prospect” 81). Cargal
is strong in his insistence that Pentecostals must adopt multiple meanings of a single text along with
endorsing postmodern methods for Pentecostal hermeneutics (Timothy B. Cargal, “Beyond the
Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy: Pentecostals and Hermeneutics in a Postmodern Age,” Pneuma:
The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 15/2 (Fall 1993):177-78).
43
Note Ramm’s words: “The true philological spirit, or critical spirit, or scholarly spirit, in Biblical
interpretation has as its goal to discover the original meaning and intention of the text. Its goal is
exegesis—to lead meaning out of the text and shuns eisogesis—bringing a meaning to the text . . .”
(Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook on Hermeneutics [Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1970] 115). See also those of Terry: “The systematic expounder of Scripture doctrine . . . must
not import into the text of Scripture the ideas of later times, or build upon any words or passages a dogma
which they do not legitimately teach” (Milton S. Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics: A Treatise on the
Interpretation of the Old and New Testaments [1885, reprint; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1947] 583).
For further discussion of preunderstanding, see Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 41-62.
44
Terry speaks of single meaning this way: “A fundamental principle in grammatico-historical
exposition is that the words and sentences can have but one significance in one and the same connection.
The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture” (Terry,
Biblical Hermeneutics 205). Ramm expresses it thus: “But here we must remember the old adage:
‘Interpretation is one, application is many.’ This means that there is only one meaning to a passage of
Scripture which is determined by careful study” (Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation 113).
Summit II of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy concurred: “We affirm that the meaning
expressed in each biblical text is single, definite and fixed. We deny that the recognition of this single
meaning eliminates the variety of its application” (Article VII, “Articles of Affirmation and Denial,”
adopted by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, Chicago, November 10-13, 1982). For
further discussion of this principle, see Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 141-64.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 299

Archer speaks of the Bible speaking to “the community’s current needs,” that is not
interpretation; it is application. In a traditional approach to hermeneutics, the two
must be kept separate. Failure to do so will distort the meaning o f the passage in its
original setting. 45 To arrive at the one correct interpretation, application cannot be
allowed to control interpretation.

A Tradition-Based Interpretation

Using Presuppositions as a Basis for Interpretation

Gordon D. Fee fits well into the philosophical zone created by Anthony
Thiselton in his 1980 work. Thiselton endorsed Smart’s stateme nt that “[the] claim
of absolute scientific objectivity in interpreting scripture involved the interpreter in
an illusion about himself that inhibits obje ctivity.” 46 Thiselton then concluded, “The
biblical scholar therefore needs the help of someone who has made it his life’s work
to wrestle with the problem of how these two sides [i.e., the ideal of a “pure”
description of the text’s meaning and the inab ility of the interpreter to escape the
confines of his finite or ‘historic’ existence] of the situation can be held together,
without either being lost to view.” 47 By insisting on an interpreter’s inability to
approach a text ob jectively, Thiselton represents an agnostic skepticism toward
obtaining propositional truth from Scripture.
Fee follows in this train. He writes,

In a now famous essay, Rudolf Bultmann once asked whether it was possible to do
presuppositionless exegesis, in answer to which he gave a resounding No. We bring too
much of ourselves—our culture and our traditions—to make such exegesis possible.
Although he was contending in particular against sterile historical positivism, his essay
continues to be a byword in biblical studies.48

Fee acknowledges his own Pentecostal upbringing and his current differen ces with
Pen tecostals in accepting the baptism of the Spirit as separate from and subsequent
to conversion,49 but clings to the use of the gifts of faith, healings, miracles, wisdom,
knowledge, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues

45
For more detailed information on this point, see Brian A. Shealy, “Redrawing the Line between
Hermeneutics and Application,” in Evangelical Hermeneutics, ed. Robert L. Thomas (Grand Rapids:
Kregel, 2002) 165-94.
46
Anthony C. Thiselton, The Two Horizons: New Testament Hermeutics and Philosophical
Description with Special Reference to Heidegger, Bultmann, Gadamer, and Wittgenstein (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1980) 27.
47
Ibid.
48
Fee, Gospel and Spirit 70.
49
Ibid., 105-19.
300 The Master’s Seminary Journal

in the contemporary church.50 Because of the combination of his differences from

traditional Pentecostalism and his Pentecostal lineage, it is difficult to know whether
to classify him as a Pentecostal, a charismatic, or a Third-W ave no ncessa tionist.
One of Fee ’s pecu liarities lies in the a rea of definitions. The following
reflects his unusual definition of hermene utics:

Exegesis is in fact concerned with what the text meant in its historical context.
Hermeneutics has to do with the science of interpretation in all its ramifications. But
since the term has to do especially with what a text means (which includes what is
meant), I will use the term to refer to what the biblical text means for us in terms of our
understanding and obedience. 51

Earlier he commented, “Because I am an exegete committed to the canon of

Scripture as God’s word, I can neither reject exegesis (what it meant then) nor
neglect hermeneutics (what d oes it say to day).” 52 In so defining hermeneutics, he is
equating hermeneutics with a contemporary application of the text rather than using
it in its traditional sense of the rules governing exegesis or interpretation. 53
By this nove l definition of herm eneutics, this author has put present-day
application into the d river’s sea t in obtaining the m eaning of a bib lical text. 54 In
essence, that puts the focus on the interpreter’s subjective opinion of the meaning as
viewed through the filter of his own perso nal circumstances. Such a step distances
him from the m eaning the original autho r intended for his imm ediate read ers to
comprehend.
That definition also goes hand-in-hand with the prominence that Fee gives

50
Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996)
165, 168.
51
Fee, Gospel and Spirit 4 n. 5.
52
Ibid., 4.
53
For further discussion of the meanings of exegesis and hermeneutics, see Thomas, Evangelical
Hermeneutics 20-27. Some sources refer to application as significance and interpretation as meaning
(cf. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Validity in Interpretation [New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, 1967] 8).
54
Pinnock is in essential agreement with Fee in equating application with interpretation: “The Spirit
is active in the life of the whole church to interpret the biblical message in languages of today. He
actualizes the word of God by helping us to restate the message in contemporary terminology and apply
it to fresh situations” (Clark H. Pinnock, “The Word of the Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics,” Journal of
Pentecostal Theology 2 [April 1993]:16). He justifies such applications in “fresh situations” by
comparing use made of the promise given to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 by Isa 51:1-3 and Ezek 33:23-29.
“The original text was a dynamic one and capable of being used in new ways by subsequent interpreters
in the Spirit,” he writes (ibid., 13). Similarly, he notes, “Peter changes the direction of Amos 9.11-12
. . . in a speech recorded in Acts 15” (ibid.). Reasoning in this manner, he concludes, “God’s revelation
is not a closed conceptual system. It is a word of life which becomes ever new” (ibid., 19). Pinnock
fails, however, to distinguish between writers of inspired Scripture and present-day interpreters. The
former received direct inspiration from God; the latter have no such direct revelation (see Thomas,
Evangelical Hermeneutics 252-53).
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 301

to presuppositions in his interpretation of the text. After citing several examples of

interpretations with which he d isagrees, Fee says,

Let me finally conclude this critique of others, with the candid admission that I do not
with all of these illustrations suggest that I come to the text with a clean slate. . . . But
I am also illustrating in part how much easier it is to see this problem in others than in
oneself. And that is precisely the great hermeneutical danger—that the biases of others
are so clear!55

But after soundly rebuffing others for allowing their presuppositions to rule, he adds,

Having set the reader up with all of this, let me now seem to reverse myself and say that
coming to the text with our tradition(s) in hand is not in itself a bad thing. Indeed, it is
impossible to do otherwise. But what I want to stress here is that in itself this is neither
good nor bad, and that in fact, it may often serve to the good.56

He then describes how tr aditions can be beneficial. Citing 2 Pet 1:20— “‘no
prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation’ (NRSV )”— he
conclud es, “Exegesis and hermene utics, even when worked on or wo rked out in the
privacy of one’s own study, must finally be the product of the C hristian co mmunity
at large.” 57
At this point, Fee appears to agree with Kenneth Archer regarding the
involvement of the comm unity in the interpretive process, but he guards himself
against placing as much weight on the co mmunity by proposing several levels of
tradition: (1) a level that has been a consensus of the church for centuries such as the
Trinity and the perso n of Christ; (2) a level that has not been the focus of much
theological reflection such as the trad itional ro le of ma le leadership; (3) a level of
interpretation dealing with single verses where no reflective consensus exists; (4) the
level related to our personal traditions; and (5) the level related to the personal
traditions of others. 58 He implies that level o ne can be a good thing, b ut that levels
two thro ugh five a re less beneficial.
If level one is the only helpful tradition—and sometimes there may be doubt
about that—allowing tradition to govern interpretation cannot but harm rather than
help interpret the Bible. By starting the interpretive process with one’s biases about
what meaning a passage will yield, one violates the principles of single meaning and
of not allowing application to control interpretation.
Fee criticizes P entecostals for experience-based he rmeneutics: “W hat I
hope to show in the rest of this essay is that the Pentecostals are generally right on

55
Fee, Gospel and Spirit 77-78.
56
Ibid., 78.
57
Ibid., 80.
58
Ibid., 80-82.
302 The Master’s Seminary Journal

target biblica lly as to their experience of the Spirit. Their difficulties arose from the
attempt to defend it biblically at the wrong point.” 59 Yet by his admission that
preunderstanding has helped forge his own herme neutics o n the issue, he too is guilty
of the very same error as they, that of not approaching the text “with a clean slate.”
One other feature of Fee’s hermeneutical approach is worth mentioning.
His view of the gift of tongues is that it was not an actual earthly language.60 Also,
he is not sure whether “the speaking in tongues in contemporary Pentecostal and
charism atic communities is the same in kind as that in the Pauline churches.” 61 He
says the issue is “proba bly irrelev ant.” 62 All that matters is that “[a]s an experienced
phenomeno n, it is analogous to theirs” and that “for its practitioners [it] has the value
similar to that described by Paul.” 63 In other word s, it is dynamically or functionally
equivalent, but not necessarily formally equiva lent.
In a similar vein, Fee thinks that the supernatural cha risma ta named in 1
Cor 12:8 -10 d efy rational explanation. To try to explain them rationally, he says, is
to impose standards of today’s W estern culture on activities of the Holy Spirit. In
speaking against assigning the meaning “mature” to JÎ JX8,4@< (to teleion) in 1 Cor
13:10,64 he writes,

It is perhaps an indictment of Western Christianity that we should consider ‘mature’our

rather totally cerebral and domesticated—but bland—brand of faith, with the concomitant
absence of the Spirit in terms of his supernatural gifts! The Spirit, not Western
rationalism, marks the turning of the ages, after all; and to deny the Spirit’s manifesta-
tions is to deny our present existence to be eschatological, as belonging to the beginning
of the time of the End.65

59
Ibid., 108.
60
Fee, Paul, the Spirit 169.
61
Ibid., 170.
62
Ibid.
63
Ibid.
64
In this issue of The Master’s Seminary Journal, see Professor McDougall’s presentation of the
overwhelming exegetical evidence for assigning the meaning “mature” in 1 Cor 13:10; see also Robert
L. Thomas, Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Verse-by-Verse Study of 1 Corinthians 12–14, rev. ed.
(Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999) 123-32.
65
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT, ed. F. F. Bruce (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans1987) 644-45 n. 23. Pinnock concurs with Fee in contrasting a rational explanation of
Scripture with the Spirit’s illumination of the text: “[T]here is the strong influence of rationalism in
Western culture which fosters a neglect of the Spirit. There is a mystery when it comes to the Spirit
which rationalism does not favour. It does not feel comfortable talking about God’s invisible wind. It
prefers to draw up rules for interpretation which will deliver the meaning of any text by human effort.
It does not want to drag mysticism into hermeneutics. Therefore, the only thing we leave for the Spirit
to do in interpretation is to rubber-stamp what our scholarly exegesis concludes. This is an obstruction
to effective biblical interpretation which grieves the Spirit of God” (Clark H. Pinnock, “The Work of the
Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics” 8). Archer makes the same point: “This concern [i.e., that focus upon what
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 303

The outlook thus represented may explain why Fee has no explanation for speaking
in tongues and why contempo rary tongues need not match the biblica l pattern. Bo th
were and are a mysterious emotional experience that have no rational explanation.
According to Fee, our Western culture misleads us into thinking that such an
explanation should exist, but that is not necessarily true.
Pinnock carries irrationality a bit further than Fee when speaking of the
perfections of God.

The problem of classical theism lies in the fact that it posits an ideal of the divine infinite
perfection, which is often (not always) at odds with what the Bible says about God. It
adopts a standard of what God must be like derived from human reason and used [sic,
uses] it to interpret the Bible. Thus, for example, if God must (by that standard) be
immutable, he cannot have changed, whatever the Bible says. Or, if God (by that
standard is all-powerful, he cannot be vulnerable or take risks, whatever the Bible says.
Or, if God (by that standard is timeless, he cannot have acted in time, whatever the Bible
says. Or, if God is (by that standard) impassible, he cannot suffer, whatever the Bible
says. Or, if God is (by that standard) omniscient, he cannot be surprised, whatever the
Bible says. In effect, non-Christian philosophy trumps what the Bible may say; and this,
ironically, what we usually call liberal theology.66

Interestingly, Pinnock credits the Bible with sp eaking of “an ideal of the div ine
infinite perfection” sometimes, but not always. He blames non-Christian philosophy
for attributing such to God throughout the pages of Scripture. Is that the fault of
non-Christian philosophy or of rational thinking? According to Pinnock, the mystery
is so great that no one can ever know who God is. Sometimes He is who rational
thinking says He is, but at other times He fits into an irrational pattern. If that is true,
what good is the Bible in helping people to know God?

Evaluation of Tradition-Based Interpretation

Three observations regarding tradition-based interpretation are appropriate.
(1) Fee’s agreement with Bultmann regarding the impossibility of
presuppositionless exegesis repeats the same error as many evangelicals of recent
years have com mitted. That position focuses its attention on the inability of humans
to receive com munication and turns aside from emph asizing G od’s ability to
com municate successfully. 67 Human inability to attain absolute objec tivity is no
excuse for not striving to achieve the goal of objectivity. The Lord J esus left as a

the original inspired author meant and/or intended first readers to understand is inadequate as a
Pentecostal hermeneutic] has led some scholars to articulate a hermeneutic that is more representative
of the early tradition and ethos of Pentecostalism. These scholars desire to move away from a
hermeneutical system that is heavily slanted toward rationalism which tends to downplay experience
and/or the role of the Holy Spirit” (Archer, “Pentecostal Hermeneutics: Retrospect and Prospect” 75).
66
Pinnock, “Divine Relationality” 18.
67
Cf. Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 49-57, for further discussion of this point.
304 The Master’s Seminary Journal

goal that His followe rs love the Lo rd their Go d with all their heart, soul, mind, and
strength (Mark 12 :30). Failure to attain that absolute standard is inescapable, but is
no excuse for no t trying. Similarly, the interp reter’s go al should ever be o bjectivity
in letting the biblical text speak for itself. Settling for his own biases as a starting
point in studying Scripture has huge ramifications in distorting the meaning that God
put there. Expe cting the Bible to correct those biases is quite different from starting
with a clean slate. If an interpreter app roaches a text with noncessationist
expectations, the chances are very great that he will arrive at noncessationist
conclusions regarding the meaning.68 Fee criticizes other Pentecostals for their
experienced-based hermene utics, yet admits that preunderstanding has helped forge
his own position on the noncessationist issue.
(2) Fee’s equation of hermeneutics with contemporary applications of the
text reflects his inclination to allow current significances of a passage to have their
part in interpretation. He cites 2 Pet 1:20 as support for allowing the Christian
com munity at large to determine meaning— in itself a highly suspect interpretation
of Peter’s words— demonstrating his opinion that the text has no meaning all its own,
but depends on contemporary interpreters to assign a mea ning. H e proposes that
tradition of a certain type can be a good thing for interpretation and assigns five
levels of tradition, one of which is good, others bad. He fails to answer the question
of how one distinguishes where one level ends and another begins. He honors the
church’s longstanding tradition regarding the Trinity and the person of Christ by
putting it at level one, but disparages the church’s longstanding tradition regarding
male leade rship in the church by putting it at level two.69 Subjectivism prevails in
his placement of wha t belongs in each category.
(3) Fee’s characterization of Western Christianity as a “cerebral and
domesticated— but bland— brand of faith” reflects a b asic inco nsistency. Here is an
authority in Western Christianity writing about and using hermeneutical principles
based on log ic and reasoning, bu t issuing a p rono uncement that no ra tionality exists
in the biblical text. Western culture in its rational approach to Scripture is dead
wrong; the interpreter must throw reason out the window and proceed purely on the
basis of emotion. That position flies in the face of God’s ra tionality and H is ability
to communicate rational truth. It denies fallen man’s opportunity to receive
illumination by the Holy Spirit in receiving God’s reasoned revelation.70 The ability

68
The only bias that is inevitable relates to biblical inspiration. An interpreter must approach the
text with either a favorable or an unfavorable disposition toward biblical inerrancy. Neutrality on that
issue is impossible
69
Fee, Gospel and Spirit 81.
70
Cf. Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics 50-53. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Perspectives on Pentecost:
New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit [Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed,
1979] 75-76) observes the contemporary tendency to set in contrast the cognitive and preconceptual sides
of man as a reaction against a secularized use of reason. Yet he concludes that as bad as the
dehumanizing use of reason is, it does not warrant an overreaction against reason in biblical
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 305

to think logically in W estern culture derives from the impact of Christianity and the
B ib le— a very rational book— upon that culture. In instances where logical
reaso ning does not pre vail, the B ible has not yet ha d its full effect.
The position of Max Turner— another noncessationist— regarding
rationa lity closely re semb les that of Fee. Turner criticizes B. B. Warfield’s stand for
cessationism as being base d on Scottish Common Sense P hilosophy, which he labels
as a product of the Enlightenment because it shifted the focus of knowledge away
from revealed truth to the knowing subject, the inquiring critical mind.71 According
to Turner, Scottish Common Sense Philosophy contended that “God had set in the
intellectual constitution of humankind a set of self-evident principles and logical
abilities that enabled objective knowledge and true understanding of the real
world .” 72 Warfield reasoned that “[t]he divine origin and nature of the miracles of
Christ and the apostles are transparent to ‘common sense’ by their great quantity and
utter perfection” in contrast to occasional miracles that may have occurred at other
times. 73
In attributing W arfield’s p osition to Sco ttish Common Sense P hilosophy
and the Enlightenment, however, Turner forfeits his own position, because he adm its
that “the pro totypica l gifts gradu ally became marginalized” in the subapostolic era.74
In essenc e, the early church fathers, who co uld not have been affected by Scottish
Common Sense Realism and the Enlightenm ent, agre ed with W arfield’s cessationist

interpretation. He acknowledges that characteristics of an infinite God are beyond human logic, but an
allegedly deeper aspect of personality than the mind (with its language capacities) is not where man
copes with them. He observes, “Man is more than his mind; he is not an intellectualistic machine. But
this ‘more’ is not inevitably in tension with the mind, nor does language necessarily distort or obscure
the wholeness of experience” (76). Gaffin’s answer to the proposal that the gift of tongues consisted of
some type of ecstatic utterances rather than foreign languages closely parallels an effective response to
the proposal that logical consistency should not be required in interpreting the Bible.
71
Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts in the New Testament Church and Today, rev.
ed. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1998) 287.
72
Ibid. Ellington joins Turner and Fee in objecting to a rationalistic approach to knowing God and
explaining His Word: “The rationalist paradigm in which we have been so successfully indoctrinated has
made it all but impossible for us to avoid ‘demythologizing’ and rejecting everything which does not fit
the structure of reality in which we are immersed. We are robbed of our ability to imagine any reality
outside the physical, verifiable, predictable, domesticable world which we have created for ourselves.
. . . Because most formal doctrine is expressed through and bound up in a rationalist paradigm, the
community of faith in a dynamic, experiential relationship with God, and not the academic community,
is the proper setting for the discovery and exploration of a Pentecostal understanding of biblical
authority” (Ellington, Pentecostalism and the Authority of Scripture 26, 29). It is true that we as finite
beings cannot know everything about God and understand every facet of His Word from a rationalistic
standpoint, but when His Word does fall within our skills for comprehension, it behooves us to apply the
rational abilities He has given us. The nature and use of spiritual gifts as described in the NT are areas
we can understand by using our reasoning capacities.
73
Ibid., 288.
74
Ibid., 301.
306 The Master’s Seminary Journal

position.75 Turner’s proposal that cessationists read mod ern rationalism back into
the NT is without merit.

A M ediating-Based Interpretation

The principal theme of this article has been preunderstanding and how
incorporating that in the first step of exegesis skews other grammatical-historical
principles. Preunderstandings vary from interpreter to interpreter, ranging from
narrative-based interpretation to community-based interpretation to tradition-based
interpretation to any one o f many o ther po ssible beginning points for studying a text.
One preunderstanding that app ears to charac terize most if not all noncessationist
writers is what may be c alled a mediating-based interpretation. Such an approach
is searching for com mon ground ac ceptable to both cessationists and noncessation-
ists.
Penteco stalist Turner furnishes an exam ple of this when he writes,

[A]s a member of the Evangelical Alliance’s Committee on Unity and Truth . . ., I would
wish to support any attempt to find unity between the Pentecostal/Charismatic and the
more traditional forms of Evangelicalism. In that respect, Part 2 of this work is intended
to be bridge-building, not polemical; many of its assertions should be heard as tentative
questions rather than as dogmatic statements.76

In the same vein, Pentecostalist Robert M enzies speak s:

My vision of the future . . . [sees] the assimilation of the modern Pentecostal movement
into the broader Evangelical world as an exciting and positive event. . . . Twenty years
ago, who would have thought that today we would find such openness concerning gifts
of the Spirit? Looking forward, I see the potential for additional theological contribu-
tions to the larger body. . . . [T]he hermeneutical climate within Evangelicalism is more
conducive now than ever before to our theological contributions. 77

W ayne Grudem , who is not a lifelong Pentecostal, reflects the same

preunderstanding as he has approached the biblical text. In discussing the NT gift of
prophecy, after allud ing to the charismatic and noncharismatic positions, he writes,
“Can a fresh examination of the New Testament give us a resolution of these views?
Does the text of Scripture itself indicate a ‘middle ground’ or a ‘third position’ which
preserves what is rea lly important to b oth sides and yet is faithful to the teaching of

75
Regarding the alleged radical break between ancient Christianity and modern evangelicalism’s
insistence on a rational approach to biblical interpretation, cf. F. David Farnell, “The Case for the
Independence View of Gospel Origins,” in Three Views on the Origins of the Synoptic Gospels, ed.
Robert L. Thomas (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2002) 200-2.
76
Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts x-xi.
77
Menzies and Menzies, Spirit and Power 67.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 307

the New Testament? I think the answer to these questions is yes.” 78 At another point
he adds, “I wonder if there may be room for more joint theolo gical reflection o n this
area.” 79 Grudem sought to present a concept of prophecy that is not so restrictive
(i.e., authoritative) as to exclude charismatically incline d people or so loose (i.e.,
nonrevelatory) as to repel the noncharismatic. His presupposition that a mediating
position exists and the presupposition’s consequences for other hermeneutical
principles warrant further investigation.
Grudem ’s presupp osition forces him into some strange hermeneutical
prob lems. For example, to curry favo r with noncharismatics and cessationists, he
acknowledges that the gift of apostleship ceased at the end of the apostolic era, at
about the end of the first century A.D.80 But to curry favor with the charismatics and
noncessationists, he must hypothesize two gifts of prophecy—an apostolic-prophetic
gift and a local-church prophetic gift— with the local-church prophetic gift
continuing until Christ’s second coming. 81 His case leans heavily o n his questiona ble
treatment of “the foundation of the apostles and prophets” ( Jè 2,:,8\å Jä<
•B@FJ`8T< 6" BD@N0Jä<, tÇ- them eliÇ- tÇ n apostolÇ n kai proph‘ tÇ n) in Eph
2:20. One of his ma in argum ents for d istinguishing apostle-prophets from lo cal-
church prophets is a gram matica l one in this passage, the single article governing two
nouns connected by kai (“and”).82 He c omm its two hermeneutical errors in
interpre ting Paul’s language here. One is a grammatical error. The construction
article-noun-kai-noun does not co mbine the two nouns into a sing le entity unless
both nouns are singular, which they are not in Eph 2:20.83 To disregard a basic
grammatical principle on an important point like this is a serious breach of
gramm atical-historical hermeneutics.

78
Wayne A. Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today. (Westchester, Ill.:
Crossway, 1988) 14.
79
Ibid., 249 [emphasis added]. In an earlier work he expressed his goal differently: “But even
though I do not agree fully with either group, I hope that in my somewhat new definition of the nature
of Christian prophecy both pro-charismatics and anti-charismatics may be able to find a ‘middle ground’
with a considerable potential for reconciling their current differences” (The Gift of Prophecy in 1
Corinthians [Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982] xv).
80
Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament 275-76; for other hermeneutical
consequences, see Robert L. Thomas, Understanding Spiritual Gifts 133-42.
81
Ibid., 63-64, 160, 251-52, 331 n. 143.
82
Ibid., 49-51.
83
For a refutation of Grudem’s interpretation of Eph 2:20 from a grammatical perspective, see F.
David Farnell’s excellent discussion in “Fallible New Testament Prophecy/Prophets?,” The Master’s
Seminary Journal 2 (Fall 1991):162-69, and that in Thomas R. Edgar, Satisfied by the Promise of the
Spirit (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996) 76-79. As his dissertation supervisor on this subject, Grudem had
the advantage of expert guidance by a widely recognized grammatical authority, C. F. D. Moule (referred
to in Gift of Prophecy in 1 Corinthians, xvi), but apparently he chose to disregard Moule’s counsel on
this grammatical point (cf. C. F. D. Moule, An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek [Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 1960] 110).
308 The Master’s Seminary Journal

A second area where Grude m has skewed traditional hermeneutical

principles in deference to his preund erstand ing of wh at he presum es Ep h 2:20 sho uld
teach is his disregard for the double occurrence of a term in a given co ntext.
Evidence contradicting his treatment of the verse goes unnoticed when he fails to
acknowledge the clear distinguising of prophets from apostles in Eph 4:11.
Grudem ’s later rebuttal of the evidence in Eph 4:11 acknowledges that prophets are
separate from apostles, but he says these prophets were d ifferent from th e one s in
2:20. 84 That conclusion is arbitrary and exegetically invalid, for nothing in the
intervening verses reflects a shift in meaning to a second kind o f prophets.85 The
revelatory foundation of the church was laid by two group s, not one— apostles and
prop hets, not apostle-prophets. 86 If the revelatory gift of apostleship ceased around
A.D . 100 , so did the reve latory gift of prop hecy.
In regard to this se cond area of skewing, Grudem has violated another
principle, that of usus loquendi or current usage of a word as emplo yed by a
particular writer. As Terry describes the principle, “It often happens . . . that a writer
uses a common word in some special and peculiar sense, and then his own
definitions must be taken, or the context and scope must be consulted, in ord er to
determine the precise meaning intend ed.” 87 Since Paul clearly distinguishes prophets
from apostles in Ep h 4:11, it is irresponsible for an interpreter to id entify pro phets
with apostles in Eph 2:20.
That is Grudem’s way of erecting a concept of prophecy that is not so
restrictive (i.e., authoritative) as to exclude charismatically inclined people or so
loose (i.e., nonrevelatory) as to rep el the no ncharismatic, but his hermeneutics in so
doing clearly vio late grammatica l-historical standards. H is violation is the product
of a preunderstanding of what he thinks Scripture should teach, a preunderstanding
that reads back into Scripture a co ntemp orary application he wants to ma ke. As
noted above, allowing ap plication to influence interpretation crosses over the line
between interpretation and application.
Ephesians 2:20 has been the “thorn in the flesh” for all noncessationists.
No one has successfully countered the verse’s supp ort for cessationism. Since the
gift of prophecy is paired with the gift of apostleship as the fou ndation for the “holy
temple”— the church— and since ap ostleship is a temp orary gift, prop hecy is
obviously a temp orary revelatory gift just like apostleship. Noncessationist Jon
Ruthven acknowledges that “Pentecostal or charismatic scholars generally have

84
Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today 59.
85
Cf. Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Charismatic Gift of Prophecy, 2nd ed. (Memphis, Tenn.:
Footstool, 1989) 30-31.
86
John R. Stott, God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity,
1979) 107; Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., “A Cessationist View,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four
Views, ed. Wayne A. Grudem (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996) 43-44; Robert L. Saucy, “Open But
Cautious,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views 111-12.
87
Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics 181.
 The Hermeneutics of Noncessationism 309

failed to treat this cessationist argum ent [i.e., the support for cessationism from Eph
2:20] to any sign ificant or a deq uate degree .” 88 He agrees with cessationists that
Grudem ’s explanation is unconvincing,89 and offers his own rebuttal to the ve rse’s
proof of cessationism. He rejects the idea that apostles and prophets were
repositories for Scriptural revelation 90 and contends that apostleship along with
prophecy continues functioning until the second coming of Christ. 91 Ruthven’s case
falters, however, in light of the clearly delineated NT teaching about apostolic
authority in the N T and ea rly church and how that autho rity played a part in
delivering and preserving the b ody of truth that is contained in the N T books. 92

Practical Re sults of No ncessatio nism

W ithout question, no ncessa tionism’s influence amo ng eva ngelicals is

spreading rapid ly. Literature supp orting the position is multiplying almost faster
than can be imagined.93 A noncessationist estimate places the numbe r of Penteco s-
tals and charismatics combined as second only to Roman Catholicism throughout the
world.94 That may b e an ex aggeration, b ut major Christian publishers’ attention to
nonc essationists and their scholars who have veered toward the new evangelical
hermeneutics have strongly influenced the evangelical church, resulting in the
probab ility that the majority of evangelicals are in the “Open But Cautious” category
regarding the issue of cessationism.95 This is the group that is unconvinced by the

88
John Ruthven, “The ‘Foundational Gifts’ of Ephesians 2:30,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology
10/2 (2002):30. Ruthven is Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at Regent University School
of Divinity, Virginia Beach, Va.
89
Ibid., 31-33.
90
Ibid., 41.
91
Ibid., 41-43. Deere joins Ruthven in holding to the possibility that apostles continue to be
appointed throughout the church age (Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 248), but he hedges a bit in offering another suggestion, i.e., that apostleship was not a
spiritual gift (ibid., 242). Neither proposal fulfils the biblical criteria of apostleship.
92
Thomas, Understanding Spiritual Gifts 58-59, 174-76.
93
To illustrate, the “Introduction” to a recent work by Craig S. Keener (Gift and Giver: The Holy
Spirit for Today [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001]) includes the following: “I have been miraculously healed,
experienced supernatural gifts such as prophecy, followed by the Spirit’s leading in witnessing, and had
deep experiences in the Spirit during prayer (including, regularly, prayer in tongues). I consider such
experiences (and others mentioned later in the book) an advantage in writing a book on the Holy Spirit
that includes controversial questions. . . . I could not deny that such works happen today any more than
I could deny the existence of someone I know personally, because I have witnessed their reality
firsthand.” Without examining Keener’s work further, it is not difficult to predict where that
preunderstanding leads him in his handling Scripture, regardless of the hermeneutical distortions he must
resort to.
94
Ibid., 92.
95
This is the opinion of Grudem (Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? 12-13) and Keener (ibid., 91).
310 The Master’s Seminary Journal

cessationist arguments, but are also cautious about the emphasis given to spiritual
gifts by noncessationists.
I will not venture to estimate the size of the “Open B ut Cautious” category
as have the noncessationist writers, but I do w ish to issue a warning about the
dangers of a “charismatic sympathy” position that remains open to the possibility of
noncessationism. All it takes for a local church or a Christian college or seminary
to become totally noncessationist is for the leadership to become “charism atic
sympathizers.” Recent evang elical history has taught that. An institution does not
have to be pro-noncessationist to mo ve in that directio n. All it has to do is to have
“Open But Ca utious” leaders, membe rs, or students, and over time, nonce ssationism
will leave its mark o n that bo dy.

A Last W ord

This article has been a study of the growing sophistication of noncessation-

ist hermeneutics in recent years. The noncessationist movement has changed from
a simplistic approach of basing doctrine on experience to an appropriation of new
hermeneutical principles that now characterize evang elical hermeneutics in genera l,
principles ruled by preunderstanding that, in the examples cited, leads to subjectiv-
ism, dehistorizing tendencies, using narrative literature as a basis for theolo gy,
meanings assigned by read ers, multiple meanings for a single passage, application
that controls interpretation, and an intolerance for Spirit-led common sense. At the
beginning of a new century cessatio nists face a different challenge, the challenge of
responding to noncessationism’s principles of biblical interpretation.
Cessationists must meet the challenge by returning to traditional
grammatical-historical rules and elaborating on those principles in areas where they
have become obscured by advocates of a strong subjective element in understanding
the Bible. Let the Bible speak for itself without forcing it into patterns molded by
human opinions. Approach the text with a “clean slate,” a tabla rasa ,96 and do away
with preunderstanding as a starting po int in exegesis. That is the only way to counter
the noncessationist error and deliver evangelicalism from its impending hermeneuti-
cal em ergency.

96
Cf. R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1977) 105.