Modern

Pentecostal
Controversies
in light of the Early Church
by Dr. Joseph B. Fuitcn
1996
Table of Contents
Forward 4
Introduction 5
Baptism of Jesus 8
Analogy as Precedent 8
Jesus received the anointing on the shore, not in the water 16
The baptism of Jesus as a theological model for believers 21
30
31
32
35
Analogy of the disciples Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The Grace of the Spirit
Hippolytus
Cyril of Jerusalem
Pentecost at Ephesus 42
The Ascension and the gifts of the Spirit 43
Applying Mt. Sinai to Pentecost 50
The Early Church Fathers and the Book of Acts 54
Cyril and the Acts 2 Pentecost 56
64
66
69
69
70
72
73
74
A Two-stage work of Grace
The Samaritan believers who received the Holy Spirit
Water Baptism and Baptism with the Holy Spirit
John the Baptist
Tertullian
Cyprian
Origen
Cyril of Jerusalem
Imparting Spiritual Gifts 82
Laying on of hands 83
The Centrality of Spiritual Gifts in the late second century 87
Spiritual Gifts-Defining the Church 90
After Easter, consider what the Church had 90
First Clement and Church order based on Spiritual gifts 92
Requiem for the Reformation 94
Sola Scriptura and the law of unintended consequences 94
100 Biographical sketch
3
Forward
I have read the manuscript of this book with keen interest. Pastor Joe Fuiten
has done a great service for those interested in knowing the historical foundation
for the Pentecostal movement He has shown that our present understanding of
Pentecost is not unique to the Church in the twentieth century. The early
centuries of the church had this same knowledge of Pentecost and, indeed, the
same experience.
He has presented evidence that the experience of Jesus, in his anointing for
ministry, as well as the Acts 2 experience of the disciples, formed the foundation
of the early church's understanding of the Holy Spirit's anointing. The early
church not only saw this as past experiences, they also saw it as the model for
their experience with the Holy Spirit.
While some today would disallow the book of Acts to show us what is normative,
Pastor Fuiten has cited many examples out of the early church that prove
otherwise. We certainly believe, along with the early church, that what happened
in Acts is exactly what we can expect to happen today.
Even though we do not place the same value on the testimony of the church
fathers as we do the Holy Scripture, it is useful to see how they treated this
important topic. We are indebted to Pastor Fuiten for his thorough research on
this subject. I am delighted that scholars are increasingly urging the modem
church to follow the Scripture and the early church into a lively experience of
Pentecost.
4
Introduction
In the early part of the 20thCentury, the debate was whether or not speaking in tongues
was of the devil. That debate has been decisively won by the Pentecostals. Only a few
theological diehards still teach that tongues and the other gifts of the Spirit ceased with
the Apostles or with the adoption of the canon of Scripture.
Today, the battle among Pentecostals is in two areas. Is speaking in tongues the initial
evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? The second area is even more fundamental.
Is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation?
If the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not subsequent to salvation, there is no point to argue
that speaking tongues is the initial evidence. Otherwise we would end up defending the
notion that speaking in tongues is the sign of salvation. The doctrine of initial evidence
rests upon a presumption that non-Pentecostals challenge. Since they deny that the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from salvation, they would only accept the signs of
salvation as initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In their view, since
tongues is not a sign of salvation, it cannot be a sign or initial evidence of the Baptism of
the Holy Spirit.
Prior to defending the doctrine of tongues as evidence, it is necessary to establish that the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation and not part of it. This idea, the
doctrine of subsequence, is essential to the Pentecostal position. Without it, it is
impossible to defend tongues as evidence.
In this book, I am arguing that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation.
I am basing my argument on two concepts. First, we find this analogy in the life of Jesus,
among the disciples, and in the New Testament church. These analogies, taken as a
group, strongly suggest that it will be subsequent for us as well. Then I argue that the
post-biblical church viewed the Baptism of the Spirit as subsequent to salvation.
In my first argument, I am following some who have drawn upon the analogy of Jesus,
and many who use the analogy of the disciples. Where the field gets thinner is making
this argument from the early church apologists and fathers. If this book makes any
contribution at all, it is looking to the early church for their views on this subject.
There is a reason why Protestant Pentecostals have neglected to look to the early church
for support of our views. Catholic Pentecostals have contributed far more in this area for
obvious reasons rooted in their tradition. Since the Reformation, the views of the early
church have been largely disregarded among Protestants, including Pentecostals. I give
some of the reasons in the chapter, Requiem for the Reformation. Hopefully the Church
will not mind meeting their grandparents.
5
There is a third line of reasoning which I have not developed here, but which I think
could yield useful insights. I hope to follow it in some future Pentecost sermon series. In
that series I want to look at the Old Testament, especially the Biblical Feasts, and see the
concepts of subsequence that are built into that system.. Particularly, I want to study the
connections between Passover and Pentecost. Only in the Hebrew Roots branch of
Christianity is any effort being made to explore this aspect and even there the effort is
tiny.
Those who reject the classical Pentecostal position fall into two categories. First, there
are those who deny subsequence, and therefore so not feel the need to defend any
further position. The second category accepts tongues as a gift for today, but not as
initial physical evidence.
I am personally convinced that the preponderance of evidence is in favor of the
Pentecostal doctrine of subsequence. I believe that tongues is the critical evidence of that
subsequent experience. That belief is based on the preponderance of evidence in the book
of Acts. While the writings of the early church certainly refer to speaking in tongues,
there is insufficient detail to draw strong conclusions in either direction. The lonely
assertion of Amobius that Jesus spoke in tongues is tantalizing. Even though we do not
doubt him on the other things he has said, the sheer solitude of his report has kept his
view from prevailing. (I do think it is a bit arrogant of the ANF editors to suggest that
only on this point he must be mistaken.)
Even though the final brick is the wall of proof may be lacking for speaking in tongues as
the initial evidence, I think it is essential that the Assemblies of God hold to this position.
Others have observed before me, that when the insistence upon it is lost, it is not long
until tongues itself is lost. My pastoral position leads me to prefer insisting upon tongues
as evidence and seeing the experience in the lives of people over waiting until everyone
conclusively agrees. I can sleep easily at night knowing that if it happened in the New
Testament Church, Im not too far off in urging it to continue today. Indeed, the only
time I dont sleep easily is when preachers yell in Church.
Joe Fuiten
December 1996
6
7
The Baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus is the prototype of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit preceded by
Salvation. What we know about the baptism and the subsequent anointing of the Spirit
we have from the Gospel writers. Matthew says
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went u p out of the water. At that
moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.1
Luke describes the same scene but highlights different details.
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as
he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him
in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my
Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.2
Following the two Evangelists, we have two thesis statements regarding the baptism of
Jesus. First, the baptism of Jesus is really a two stage event. Jesus is first baptized in
water, then he is anointed with the Holy Spirit. Second, this two-step process is the usual
way Christians encounter the Holy Spirit. First we encounter him in salvation, then in the
baptism in the Holy Spirit. We say that the anointing of Jesus is the first New Testament
description of our experience, hence it takes on normative elementsit shows us how it
should happen for those who follow.
Analogy as Precedent
Some reject the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit as being normative for the Christian
life. They choose to reject the event as normative for two reasons.
First, they incorrectly characterize our analogy: Jesus is bom, conceived of the Holy
Spirit, through the Virgin Mary. This correlates with our supernatural rebirth or
regeneration.3 Gordon Fee says it is difficult to see the appropriateness of the
, Matthew 3:16-17.
2Luke 3:21-22.
3H. I. Lederle, Treasures Old and New. Interpretations of Spirit baptism in the
Charismatic Renewal Movement (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers,
1988), p. 57
8
relationship of that event to his birth as analogy for subsequent Christian experience.4 In
their conclusions, Fee and Lederle closely follow the analysis of James Dunn.5
Pentecostals, in using the analogy, do not necessarily liken the birth of Jesus to being
bom again. The two births are not analogous, and do not need to be, in order for the
Pentecostal position to stand. The Pentecostal position is that the Spirit was alive in Jesus
before he was anointed with the Spirit. They come to the correct summary of our
position when they characterize the Spirits descent on Jesus:
This is seen as Jesus Spirit baptism, which brought an enduement with power and
initiated his period of public ministry which included signs and wonders. It is then
concluded that if the Son of God needed this extra experience how much more do we, his
disciples.6
Secondly, some deny the normative nature of the baptism of Jesus because they deny the
use of analogies out of hand.
Gordon Fee says, The use of historical precedent as an analogy by which to establish a
norm is never valid in itself. Such a process (drawing universal norms from particular
events) produces a non sequitur and is therefore irrelevant.7 For Fee, the analogy of the
baptism of Jesus is of such a different kind from succeeding Christian experience that
(it) can scarcely have normative value.8
Fee closely mirrors James Dunn. For Dunn, the anointing of Jesus relates to his unique
role in salvation-history. This event is so pivotal that salvation-history takes a decidedly
different turn at the moment of anointing. Dunn says,
Where the Pentecostalist thesis breaks down is in its failure to grasp the
fact that we are dealing here with events whose significance, at least for
those who record them, lies almost totally in the part they play in
salvation-history.
H. I. Lederle says of our point the argument fails to take sufficient cognizance of the
uniqueness of Jesus and his unrepeatable role in salvation history.9 Fee makes the same
argument for Pentecost. They are certainly correct that Jesus is entirely unique and no
one else could have provided for our salvation. The four living creatures and twenty-
4Gordon Fee, Gospel and Spirit. Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics (Peabody,
Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), p.109.
5James D. G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The
Westminster Press, 1970).
6Lederle, p. 57.
7Fee, p. 94.
8Fee, p. 94.
9Lederle, p. 57.
9
four elders of Revelation 5 affirm this. After searching heaven and earth for someone
worthy and finding none they proclaim of the Lamb, You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for
God...1011
Christs unique role in salvation history is not disputed, but neither do these writers prove
that it is relevant to the normative nature of his anointing by the Spirit. It is not sufficient
just to say Jesus is too unique to count as a model. What exactly is the causal link
between the unique mission of Jesus and the inability to use his experiences as a model
for our own? This is always left unstated as if it were self-evident, an unchallengable
premise. Am I the only one who is missing something here? Since both the Bible itself
and the early church used Jesus as a model, upon what basis is he now ruled out of
bounds? I wonder if this is nothing more than the prejudice of hyper-Protestantism. If
Jesus becomes our model, then we might try to copy his behavior. If we copy his
behavior, we might be inclined to think that by works we can earn our way into heaven.
If it is by works, that sounds like medieval Catholicism. The Reformations thrust was to
overthrow medieval Catholicism. Therefore, the unique role of Jesus in salvation history
makes his experience off limits for establishing Christian norms.
Since both Fee and Lederle follow Dunn on this topic, I would like to relate to Dunn as
generally representing the views of all three.
Dunn begins with the concept of the intent of the author. He argues that it was the
nearly exclusive intent of the Gospel writers, in recording the anointing of Jesus, to
show the eschatological mission of Jesus. Closely related to intent is the new era
which is revealed. This is the announcement of his Messiahship, the beginning of a new
era. Only with the descent of the Spirit does the new covenant and new epoch enter..
This is his critical concept. The anointing begins something new. It is like Adam being
created, or the first day out of the ark.
If the anointing of Jesus is the start, then someone failed to tell Luke before he wrote his
first two chapters. The angel tells Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be bom will be called
the Son of God.12 A determined polemicist might argue that the angels words describe
a future reality. Dunn says only then, at the Spirit anointing, does Jesus becomes the
Christ or Anointed One. Only then, with the descent of the Spirit, can the messianic
age begin.13 But Luke has a whole host of angels say, Today in the town of David a
Savior has been bom to you; he is Christ the Lord.14 For Dunn, the anointing initiates
10Revelation 5:9
11Dunn, p. 32.
12Luke 1:35.
13Dunn, p 27.
14Luke 2:11
10
Jesus into the Messianic age,15 but Luke calls Jesus the Savior from day one and even
from conception. Luke reports Jesus being about his Fathers business long before the
anointing. One has to wonder if Dunns nearly exclusive intent is as exclusive as he
suggests.
The start of the messianic era concept is important to Dunns analysis, so he subpoenas
some unlikely witnesses to testify. Although the dove might speak of Jesus as the sin
sacrifice,16for Dunn it quite probably is intended to recall Genesis 1:2. David sees the
wings of the dove as an escape to the very desert where Jesus is anointed,17but Dunn says
it should probably be given eschatological significance.18 God gives the dove as a
divine symbol,19but Dunn chooses it to remind us of the time of Noahs flood. Dunn
sounds more like Origen when he says the dove is a symbol of Israel, and infers from
this that Marks Gospel is suggesting Jesus is the new Adam.20 This forced cross-
examination is necessary because for Dunn, it must be an initiation, the start of
something. If it only represents the continuation of the Spirits work begun in
conception, continued as Jesus grew in wisdom, and flourished as he confounded the
scholars, then the evidence falls into the Pentecostals viewpoint. But if Dunn can brush
off the Spirits work in these areas, then his concept of a new era at the anointing at least
has a stronger pulse on arrival.
Dunn himself seems to struggle with his new era concepts. He says that Luke believed
the new era brings Jesus a new role yet he cannot finally decide if Jesus was Christ the
Lord at birth, or only after the anointing at the Jordan. He admits Luke calls him both
Savior and Christ before the anointing, and he knows that Luke does not contradict
himself. If Dunn is right, Simeon could not have seen the Lords Christ as promised, but
only the one who would later be the Christ. But Luke tells us Simeon saw the Lords
Christ. Dunn says that only after the anointing does the voice from heaven call him
Son. But we either need to make the angels words strictly prophetic or stuff a sock in
the mouth of the other voice from heaven which said to Mary the holy one to be bom
will be called the Son of God.21 Was Jesus the Christ or not? Was he the Son or not?
The crown jewels of his argument are thus left dangling between the horns of his
dilemma and he is left with two large dents in his there is also a sense argument. Luke
makes Dunn admit
He (Luke) does not intend to deny what he has already written in Chs. 1
and 2, nor does he naively contradict himself; there is a sense in which
Jesus is Messiah and Son of God from birth but there is also a sense in
15Dunn, p 25.
16Lev. 12:6.
17Ps. 55:6.
18Dunn, p. 27
19Ps. 68:13.
20Dunn, p 30.
21Luke 1:35.
11
which he only becomes Messiah and Son at Jordan, since he does not in
fact become the Anointed One til then and only then does the heavenly
voice hail him as Son.22
His dilemma is not resolved by resorting to an argument from silence. Yet Dunn
employs it with regard to the heavenly voice. Do we really know that Jesus had no
commending voice from heaven calling him son before the anointing? There is
nothing in the text which says Today, and not before today, you are my son. First
Dunn goes against Luke by denying that Jesus is the Christ until the moment at the
Jordan. Then Dunn tries to implicate the Father in his conclusion because the Father
never previously denied or affirmed, on the record, that Jesus was his Son. His
conclusion is forced.
In one respect Dunn is correct in pointing to a beginning. It is the beginning of Jesus
preaching of the kingdom confirmed by signs and wonders. But this is precisely how the
Pentecostal sees the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is for preaching the Gospel of salvation
which God confirms with signs following.
Dunn also presents the nearly exclusive intent argument. He says that it was the
nearly exclusive intent of the Gospel writers, in recording the anointing of Jesus, to
show the eschatological mission of Jesus. Of course, if the Gospel writers were
presenting Jesus mission as their exclusively intended purpose, then it would not be
proper to use their account to establish normative Christian activity from the actions of
Jesus. This is a popular theme with those who wish to limit the influence of Acts as
normative for Church life today. But was it really the intent of the authors to achieve
such an exclusive goal? Can Dunn and Fee be so certain about the unwritten intent of the
authors as to exclude other uses of the Scripture beyond what they narrowly say?
We have Johns own words as to his intent, But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.23 We also have Lukes. Luke wanted to write an orderly account and one that
would allow his readers to know how sure their teaching had been.
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been
fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who
from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore,
since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning,
it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most
excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you
have been taught.24
22Dunn, p 28.
23John 20:31.
24Luke 1:1-4.
12
With an amazing Pentecostal flair, demonstrating the gift of interpretation, Dunn is able
to transform the stated objectives of the Gospel writers themselves into unstated and
different objectives. Dunn supports a hermeneutical principle which says that only the
intent of the author can determine the primary meaning of a text. Then, looking through
the inverting lens of hermeneutical principles which he himself invented, Dunn sees that
Pentecostals have turned the account upside-down and wrongly use it for establishing
norms. Why is it wrong? Because it goes against the nearly exclusive intent of the
author. As we will show throughout this book, Dunns arbitrary principles would have
come as a surprise to the first several centuries of Christians. Such hermeneutical
principles would never have been accepted in the early church, and therefore their
conclusions from Scripture were entirely different from Dunn, Lederle, and Fee.
We want to show that the anointing of Jesus for ministry is parallel to our experience of
being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Dunn and Fee notwithstanding, we will show that the baptism of Jesus was not the first,
but rather the continuation of Old Testament events. It became the first of several,
similar, New Testament events. When all these are added together they fit into the caveat
which Fee himself allows: for a biblical precedent to justify a present action, the
principle of the action must be taught elsewhere, where it is the primary intent so to
teach.25 We maintain that in the Old Testament anointing of priests this is directly
taught. Further, that references in Ephesians point to this event as normative.
Consider the parallels:
Jesus was alive in the Spirit and by the Spirit from the beginning of his human journey.
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. His early growth in wisdom, demonstrated at age
twelve in the Temple, evidences the workings of the Holy Spirit. Luke notes this when
he says, And the child grew and became strong, he was filled with wisdom, and the
grace o f God was upon him."262728No one can reasonably argue that Jesus needed more of
the Holy Spirit. The grace of God was on Him. The Holy Spirit was alive in him.
The Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus does compare to the Holy Spirit in the life of
Christians. It is here that we claim an analogy. Jesus was alive in the Spirit before being
anointed with the Holy Spirit. The very definition of salvation is to receive the Holy
Spirit I f anyone does not have the Spirit o f Christ, he does not belong to Christ."21 In
this reference, it is clear that Paul was referring to the Holy Spirit because he goes on to
say, And i f the Spirit o f him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. 28 n js ironic that
25Fee, p. 95.
26Luke 2:40 NIV.
27Romans 8:9.
28Romans 8:10.
13
Pauline scholars such as Fee and Dunn stumble on the analogy of Jesus anointing since it
most closely resembles Pauls approach.
The analogy that we claim is that just as Jesus was alive in the Spirit before his anointing,
so we are alive in the Spirit from the moment of Salvation. And, just as Jesus received a
further encounter with the Holy Spirit beyond what he had during his early years, so we
further encounter the Holy Spirit at some point after our initial contact.
That a parallel in the life of Jesus exists, is the conclusion of scholars such as Tak-Ming
Cheung, who has written
The Pentecostal understanding of Spirit-Baptism has gained some support
in recent scholarship. R. Stronstad points out that the parallelism between
Jesus anointing at Jordan and the disciples receiving of the Spirit on the
day of Pentecost implies the functional equivalence of the Spirit in the two
eventsthat is, for charismatic empowerment in mission.29
This is also the view the Robert Menzies.
The striking parallels between Jesus pneumatic anointing at the Jordan
and that of the disciples at Pentecost suggest that Luke interpreted the
latter event in light of the former: Pentecost was for the disciples what the
Jordan was for Jesus.30
But it is not only recent scholars who find parallels between the baptism of Jesus and the
subsequent work of the Spirit and the Spirits work in our lives. Ancient writers do as
well.
And if He was perfect, why was He, the perfect one, baptized? It was
necessary, they say, to fulfill the profession that pertained to humanity.
Most excellent. Well, I assert, simultaneously with His baptism by John,
He becomes perfect? Manifestly. He did not then learn anything more
from him? Certainly not. But He is perfected bv the washingof
baptismalone, and is sanctified bv the descent of the Spirit? Such is the
case. The same also takes place in our case, whose exemplar Christ
became.(emphasis mine)31
29Tak-Ming Cheung, Understandings of Spirit Baptism, Journal of Pentecostal
Theology 8, April 1996, p. 116-117.
30Menzies, Part II, Chpt.10, Empowered for Witness, (Sheffield, England: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1994), P.174.
31Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book I, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Alexander
Roberts & James Donaldson, eds., Vol. 2 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers,
1994)215-6.
14
Another example is found in a comment by A. Cleveland Cox in the Ante-Nicene
Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, who writes:
The seven gifts of the Spirit seem to be prefigured in this symbol,
corresponding to the seven (spirits) lamps before the throne in the vision
of St. John . The prediction of Isaiah intimates the anointing of Jesus at
his baptism, and the outpouring of these gifts upon the Christian Church.32
More than casual references, the analogy made its way into the earliest liturgies of the
church. Being part of the liturgy, to be prayed in every service, made it at the very core
of what the church practiced and believed. The editors cite Neale33as to the dates of the
various early liturgies. We will quote from The Divine Liturgy of James, the Holy
Apostle and Brother of the Lord. Neale says the Liturgy of St. James is of earlier date,
as to its main fabric, than AD 200. Three times in the liturgy there is a prayer for the
gifts of the Spirit. In the third prayer, which comes as part of the lengthy communion, the
liturgist prays for the Holy Spirit to come. Just as Tertullian urged that they pray for the
gifts to be poured out at the communion altar, so this liturgist prays for the Spirit who is
described as the one,
that descended in the form of a dove on our Lord Jesus Christ at the river
Jordan, and abode on Him; that descended on Thy apostles in the form of
tongues of fire in the upper room of the holy and glorious Zion on the day
of Pentecost; this Thine all-holy Spirit, send down. O Lord, upon us. and
upon these offered holy gifts.
Enshrined in the divine liturgy, the analogy takes on enormous theological force. It is not
incidental or secondary. The analogy is firmly within the mainstream of early church
belief. What the early Christians hoped to receive was compared to what Jesus and the
disciples had received. It short, what was hoped for was analogous to what their
predecessors had received.
Although he writes in the mid-fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem is very precise in using
the anointing of Jesus as an analogy for the beginning of ministry after the Spirits
anointing. In doing so, he takes a decidedly Assemblies of God viewpoint with regard to
when ministry should begin. He says:
Jesus Christ was the Son of God, yet He preached not the Gospel before
His Baptism. If the Master Himself followed the right time in due order,
ought we, His servants, to venture out of order? From that time Jesus
32A. Cleveland Coxe, Elucidations, IV, relating to The Instructor, Ante-Nicene Fathers:
Vol. 2, Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, eds.,(Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Publishers, 1994) p. 477.
33General Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church, p. 319, cited on p.
553, Vol. 7 Ante-Nicene Fathers.
15
began to preach, when the Holy Spirit had descended upon Him in a
bodily shape, like a dove;.... If thou too hast unfeigned piety, the Holy
Ghost cometh down on thee also, and a Fathers voice sounds over thee
from on high... .34
The editors of the second series of The Nicene Fathers indicate very clearly the
analogous nature of the anointing of Jesus for the anointing that believers were to receive.
They said:
The custom of anointing the baptized with consecrated ointment is regarded by
Cyril as a sacramental act representing the anointing of Jesus by the Spirit at His
Baptism. As the Holy Ghost in substance lighted on Him, like resting upon like,
so, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred waters, there was given to
you an unction the counterpart (t o avTiTonov) of that wherewith He was anointed,
and this is the Holy Ghost (Mystag. iii. $ x.).35
We cite these authors and the early liturgy to counter Lederle and Fee who wish to
remove the baptism of Jesus as an illustration of what happens to us. For Gordon Fee, the
baptism of Jesus is not an appropriate analogy for our experience. But the early church
fathers were not so hesitant. Further, since Fee is careful to define exegesis as what it
meant then,36and since the church fathers are among those who comprise the then,
their interpretation of what was meant by the recording of the event becomes important to
the exegesis of the text. It would be inappropriate for us, some twenty centuries later, to
deny the understanding of the Gospel writers by those who were so closely connected
both in time and culture. Even when their writing is some years removed, they are
communicating traditions much older than themselves. Especially since their claim to
legitimacy was primarily their direct connection to the apostles and those who succeeded
them, we must give careful weight to the exegesis of the early church fathers.
If Jesus had the Holy Spirit in him, then what was the nature of what happened to him on
the banks of the Jordan River? Before we address that question, I want to suggest that the
significant experience with the Holy Spirit did not occur in the Jordan River and certainly
was not his baptism by John. On this point, James Dunn becomes an ally as he engages
in his interpretive conflict with the sacramentalists.
Jesus received the anointing of the Spirit on the shore, not in the water
34Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., Catechetical Lectures, Lecture III, Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995) 17.
35Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., Ceremonies of Baptism and Chrism, Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995) xxiv-xxv.
36Fee, p. 4.
16
This point is not absolutely necessary to my main argument. However, I think the weight
of evidence from the Scripture and from the church fathers makes this view at least as
reasonable as the view that all the activity of the Spirit takes place in the water. When I
read Matthew there is nothing to suggest that the Spirit event takes place in the water.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out o f the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit o f God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
We have two ideas here. First, that Jesus was baptized, and second that he went up out of
the water. If we try to argue that the reference to ow/ o f the water somehow speaks of
the baptism itself, then we would make the sentence redundant (Jesus was put in the
water, came up out of the water, then he went up out of the water). Certainly baptism
means to go into the water and to come back up, otherwise it is a drowning not a baptism.
When Matthew adds the expression, Went up out o f the water, are we presumptuous in
assuming that it was onto the shore that he went?
The choice of words in Matthews account matches that of Lukes account in Acts:3738
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch
said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave
orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into
the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not
see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
Of particular significance is the expression they came up out of the water. Clearly,
Philip himself was not baptized again. He was the one doing the baptizing. Yet both of
them came up out of the water. It can only mean that they left the water and arrived on
the shore. That is the only sense in which both of them came out of the water.
In Acts, we do not suppose that out of the water refers to baptism. Yet in Acts, these
are the same words used by Matthew to describe Jesus coming up out of the water. This
is the point which Dunn also makes. Dunn notes that Matthews reference
could be translated simply, he left the water, and is shown most clearly
by Acts 8.39, where both Philip and the eunuch came up out of the water,
and certainly Philip had not been immersing himself.39
In the same way Dunn concludes that Mark
37Matthew 3:17
38Acts 8:36-39
39Dunn, p.34.
17
does not describe the emergence above the surface of the water which
follows the complete immersion; it describes rather the climbing out of the
river onto the bank after the rite has been completed.40
While the Greek text may not absolutely resolve the question of where Jesus was when
the Spirit came upon him, when we see how the early church interpreted this, then our
conclusion is more reasonable. Lukes description and our conclusion is that Jesus was
not in the water when the Spirit came upon him. Rather, he was on the shore praying.
Seldom do the early Church Fathers speak categorically to this precise point. In the other
cases, we are left to assemble the meaning from the clues they leave. For example, Justin
Martyr, writing in his dialogue with Typhro, seems to contrast the descent of Jesus into
the river with his emergence from the river. Our main clue is that he uses similar
terminology we have seen in Matthew and in Acts.
And then, when Jesus had gone to the river Jordan, where John was
baptizing, and when He had stepped into the water, a fire was kindled in
the Jordan; and when He came out of the water, the Holy Ghost lighted on
Him like a dove, [as] the apostles of this very Christ of ours wrote.41
Justin is helpful, but we do have more direct statements. Origen indicates that the Spirit
came upon Jesus after his baptism, rather than as part of it.
The Father therefore, the principal, sends the Son, but the Holy Spirit also
sends Him and directs Him to go before, promising to descend, when the
time comes, to the Son of God, and to work with Him for the salvation of
men. This He did, when, in a bodily shape like a dove, He flew to Him
after the baptism.42
Jacob of Serugh (ca. 451-521) is one who makes a categorical statement. He says that the
Holy Spirit did not appear at the Jordan to sanctify the water or Jesus, but to bear
witness. For Jacob, the proof of his argument is that the Spirit appeared only after Jesus
ascended out of the water.43 In Jacobs case we are not left to wonder. He leaves no
uncertainty at all. His whole logical argument is built upon the assumption that Jesus was
out of the water. It is worth noting that no one responds to Jacob by saying Jesus was in
the water when the Spirit descended upon him. His conclusion is left unchallenged. If
40Dunn, p. 34.
41Justin Martyr, Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew.
Chapter LXXXVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. l,p. 242.
42Allan Menzies, D.D., "Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John," Book II, Chapter
VI, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 9.
43Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, ed. PI Bedjan, 5 Vols. (Leipzig:
Harrassowitz, 1905-1910) 1.159, cited in Theological Studies 56 (1995) p. 212.
18
there had been a general belief in the early church that the Spirit event had occurred in the
water, Jacob could not have advanced his argument. Reasoning backward from this
conclusion, we suggest that it is following his emergence from the River that Jesus is
anointed with the Spirit. Therefore we speculate that it was upon Matthews text, at that
moment, that they fixed the Spirit event on the shore, and subsequent to the baptism of
John.
When Peter preached at Cornelius house he seems to indicate that the water baptism and
the Spirit event, a term which we are using for the Spirit baptism of Jesus, were two
separate events. Peter preached,
You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John preached - how God anointed Jesus o f
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power o f the devil, because God
was with him. 44
Typological evidence also suggests separation. The washing with water followed by
the anointing with the Spirit is consistent with the Old Testament pattern for consecrating
priests for ministry. There the priest was first washed, then he was anointed with oil.4445.
It is commonly said that Jesus baptism fulfilled righteousness by way of being an
example for baptizing of new converts. According to this belief, the righteousness
fulfilled anticipated the Scripture, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.46
We do not have this belief by Scripture, but by logical deduction from Scripture. It may
be that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the priesthood by being washed and
anointed rather than in the baptism of repentance which Jesus did not need. In that case,
this event could not be an initiation comparable to salvation, but would remain the final
ceremony before entering ministry as a priest. Indeed, this is what we maintain when we
say that the baptism of Jesus was a prototype of our Spirit baptism which prepares us for
ministry.
Later, when we deal with the two-stage work of grace, we show that Cyril of Jerusalem
viewed the water baptism followed by the anointing with the Holy Spirit as analogous to
the Old Testament anointing of the High Priest.47 Cyrils understanding and commentary
on the subject, drawing upon the type, is meaningless if the anointing was not subsequent
to the water baptism.
44Acts 1:37-38
45Exodus 29:4 and 7
46 Mark 16:16
47Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture XXI.6, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Vol.
7, (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian
Literature Publishing company, 1894.) p. 150. Also, Lecture III.5, page 15.
19
Roger Stronstad has shown Lukes continuity of expression with the Old Testament
regarding the experience of the Spirit. Even Pentecost is not the first experience with the
Spirit, but a continuation of charismatic encounters that reaches back into the Old
Testament.48
Peters use of Joel, on the one hand, and Lukes parallel between the
anointing of Jesus and the Spirit baptism of the disciples, on the other
hand, make it clear that Pentecost stands in continuity with the charismatic
activity of the Spirit in Old Testament times and in the ministry of Jesus.49
In the section that compares water and Spirit baptism we will show those who believed
that water baptism was a preparation for the Spirit, but not the entry of the Spirit himself.
Here, let us say that Gregory Nazianzen is one who spoke of the bridegrooms friend,
that prepared for the Lord a peculiar people and cleansed them by the water in preparation
for the Spirit.50 If the water is the preparation for the Spirit, then it cannot be the Spirit
himself. The preparation cannot be the thing itself, otherwise it is not the preparation, but
the thing itself.
Gregory makes it clear that he does not regard water baptism as the same thing as Spirit
baptism. Rather, this anointing of the Holy Spirit is something which is separate and for
which a person must seek:
. . .That perfecteth so as even to anticipate Baptism, vet after Baptism to
be sought as a separate gift: that doeth all things that God doeth; divided
into fiery tongues; dividing gifts; making Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
Pastors, and Teachers; understanding manifold, clear, piercing, undefiled,
unhindered, which is the same thing as Most wise and varied in His
actions; and making all things clear and plain; and of independent power,
unchangeable, Almighty, all-seeing, penetrating all spirits that are
intelligent, pure, most subtle (the Angel Hosts I think); and also all
prophetic spirits and apostolic in the same manner and not in the same
places; for they lived in different places; thus showing that He is
uncircumscript.51
In another of his sermons, Gregory indicates that Jesus was not in the water when he
received the Spirit. Rather, he describes Jesus, who,
48Roger Stronstad. The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke. (Peabody, Mass:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1984) p.53.
49Stronstad, p. 57.
50Gregory Nazianzen, The Second Oration on Easter, XXVI, Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers: Vol. 7, Philip Schaff and henry Wace, eds., (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson
Publishers, 1995) p. 432.
51Gregory Nazianzen, On the Holy Spirit, XXIX, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol.
7 p. 327.
20
goeth up out of the water... for with himself he carries up the world ... and
sees the heaven opened which Adam had shut against himself and all his
posterity, as the gates of Paradise by the flaming sword. And the Spirit
bears witness to His Godhead, for he descends upon One that is like Him,
as does the Voice from Heaven (for He to whom the witness is borne came
from thence), and like a Dove, for He honors the Body (for this also was
God, through its union with God) by being seen in a bodily form.52
For Gregory, all the activity which we associate with the event at the Jordan takes place
after Jesus goes up from the water. Then he sees heaven open. There is a clear
sequence. Jesus goes up, then the heavens open. Using this terminology, there is no
question as to the meaning of the words comes up out of the water because he does not
use them. He substitutes goes up in its place. Here I agree with the conclusion of
James Dunn.
It must be stated emphatically, that the baptism of Jesus and the descent
of the Spirit are two distinct eventsclosely related, but distinct.53
The conclusions of these writers seems to be warranted based on the selection of details
used by Luke. While Menzies notes Lukes emphasis upon the Spirits anointing upon
Jesus, we would prefer to see these events as occurring, first in the Jordan, and second,
beside the Jordan.
Luke has Jesus receive the Spirit after his baptism, while praying. Luke is
not concerned to draw connections between Jesus water baptism and his
reception of the Spirit. Indeed, what was of central importance to Luke
was not Jesus baptism, rather, his reception of the Spirit, occasioned by
prayer. For this reason Luke has transformed an account of Jesus baptism
into an account of Jesus reception of the Spirit.54
The Baptism of Jesus as a theological model for believers
The baptism of Jesus was the model for the early church, at least in several branches of
the church. In the Syriac tradition, one of the oldest, this took on some interesting
52Gregory Nazianzen, Oration on the Holy Lights, XVI, Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers: Vol. 7, p. 358.
53Dunn, p. 35.
54Menzies, Part II, Chpt.8, Section 1.2, Empowered for Witness. (Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), P.134. In a footnote he adds In view of the change in
the tenses of the participles (aorist participle to present participle, my translation reads:
After all the people and Jesus had been baptized, while he was praying...
21
aspects. From the beginning the paradigm at Antioch was the baptism of Jesus when he
was anointed with the Spirit and proclaimed Son of God.55
Keilian McDonnell suggests that Only at this rather late date (4thcentury) did people
note that the Spirit comes down on Jesus only after he emerges from the water.56 The
fact is, this was the understanding well before the 4th century. The rituals associated with
water baptism, and the anointings which followed it, give clear evidence that the early
church understood that the Spirit came upon Jesus after his emergence from the water. It
was the understanding from the beginning. Particularly when you study Tertullian do
you see this. McDonnell himself admits that what Tertullian wrote reflected traditions
much older than himself. Tertullian writes at the end of the second century about
traditions which were already of some antiquity.
Indeed, the early Christians of the Syriac and Armenian traditions, place the greatest
emphasis on the baptism of Jesus precisely as our model for the descent of the Spirit:
If one is tracing the beginnings of Spirit-Christology it will be
found in the baptism of Jesus.
What is significant in this creed is that the prototype of Christians
baptism is the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan. The greatest theological
weight was attached to this mystery. As Jesus received the Spirit at his
baptism in the Jordan, we receive the Spirit at ours. At the Jordan the
epiphany of the Spirit had as its function to identify and proclaim that
Jesus is the one sent from the Father. This very ancient creed not only
safeguards the pneumatological content of Christian baptism, but retains a
Trinitarian dynamic.57
We want to remember that McDonnell writes from the theological viewpoint of a
Catholic. They believe that water baptism is the moment of salvation and the moment at
which the baptism of the Holy Spirit actually occurs. It is particularly significant, then,
that he acknowledges the separation, even though he tries to keep them together. In his
conclusion he first admits the separation, then argues to put them back together. He
writes:
The Spirit descends on Jesus upon or after his coming out of the water, not
during his submersion in it. The sequence is noted by all the Synoptics.
On the one hand this indicates that the Spirit comes on Jesus as a
sovereign intervention of God (the heavens are opened) and not just
because Jesus received the baptism of John. On the other hand, the
55Kelian McDonnell and George T. Montague. Christian Initiation and Baptism in the
Holy Spirit. Evidences from the First Eight Centuries (Collegeville, Minnesota: The
Liturgical Press, 1991) p. 231.
56McDonnell, p. 231.
57McDonnell, p. 232-233.
22
descent of the Spirit is immediate (even Luke considers it part of the
baptism story). Consequently, when Jesus Jordan baptism becomes the
icon for Christian initiation (Christian baptism being modeled on Jesus
baptism rather than Johns baptism), the gift of the Spirit must be integral
to the initiation rite. The post-biblical theology, especially in the East,
would distinguish two moments but it considered them inseparable-
immersion into the water (seen as a union with Christ) and gift of the
Spirit.58
In the end, McDonnell comes to the same conclusion that I do. He says, As Jesus begins
his public ministry with an imparting of the charisms, so must also ours.59 For
McDonnell, the baptism of Jesus is a prototype for us.
It is quite clear that the ancients such as Cyril regarded the baptism of Jesus as a
prototype of our experiences and that they saw the Spirit baptism of Jesus as the moment
when his ministry began.
Jesus Christ was the Son of God, yet He preached not the Gospel before His
Baptism. If the Master Himself followed the right time in due order, ought we, His
servants, to venture out of order? From that time Jesus began to preach, when the
Holy Spirit had descended upon Him in a bodily shape, like a dove; ...If thou too
hast unfeigned piety, the Holy Ghost cometh down on thee also, and a Fathers
voice sounds over thee from on highnot, This is My Son, but, This has now
been made My son.60
If thou too... is evidence that Cyril viewed the baptism of Jesus as a suitable analogy
for his use. Cyril, in another place, indicates that the baptism of Jesus had an effect upon
those who were to be baptized. Jesus received grace in his baptism. In the same way,
and because of what Jesus did, the newly baptized can expect to receive the grace which
we call the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
. . . He shed forth blood and water; that men, living in times of peace, might be
baptized in water, and, in times of persecution, in their own blood.. . . He was
baptized, that He might give to them that are baptized a divine and excellent
grace.61
Hilary, a contemporary of Cyril, takes the same view that the baptism of Jesus is an
analogy for our experience. We have noted elsewhere that Hilary viewed the baptism of
58McDonnell, p. 316.
59McDonnell, p. 152.
60Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture III. 14, Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers: vol. 7. p. 17.
61Cyril, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture III. 11, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7
Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995) 16.
23
Jesus as the time of his charismatic empowering. We will add here that he tied the
imparting of charisms to being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Further, he sees a distinction
between water baptism and Spirit baptism when he writes of the sacraments of baptism
and of the Spirit.62 Hilary again draws the analogy between the baptism of Jesus and of
Christian believers.63 Like Jesus, we receive the gifts of the Spirit when we are baptized
in the Holy Spirit. Even Dunn agrees that it was this anointing with the Spirit which
equipped Jesus with power and authority for his mission to follow.64
We have more than a casual interest in when the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs. If the
baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs in salvation, and the gifts of the Spirit flow from
salvation, then for every saved person, they posses the gifts at that moment and maybe
the gifts they then possess are all the gifts they will ever possess. For most people that
hardly seems adequate. On the other hand, if the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at
some time after salvation, and the spiritual gifts follow, then we can anticipate a greater
exercise in spiritual gifts later on.
We do believe that spiritual gifts follow the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On this point, the
baptism of Jesus is critical. Only after his anointing with the Spirit does he go out into
ministry with signs, wonders, and miracles. Origen notes that Jesus received the charism
of wisdom at his baptism.65 Lactantius says that after being anointed by the Spirit, from
that time on Jesus does the miracles associated with his ministry.6667In the same way that
the early church saw Jesus receiving the gifts of the Spirit at his Spirit baptism, we see
that it will be the same for us. We will go out from Spirit baptism proclaiming the
Gospel and seeing salvation confirmed with signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the
Spirit.
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to
us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and
various miracles, and gifts o f the Holy Spirit distributed according to his
will.61
The Church Fathers understood the charismatic empowering associated with the baptism
of Jesus. This McDonnell readily acknowledges:
This charismatic empowering is implicit already in the New Testament in
the modeling of Christian initiation upon Jesus baptism, which was an
anointing for the ministry of the kingdom. It becomes explicit in Acts, in
62Hilary, On Matthew, 4:27, cited in McDonnell, p. 143.
63Hilary, On Matthew, 2:6, cited in McDonnell, p. 142.
64Dunn, p24.
65Origen, Against Celsus, 1:44, cited in McDonnell, p. 128.
66Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, Book IV, chapter XV. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol.
7, p. 117.
67Hebrews 2:3-4.
24
Paul, and increasingly so in Tertullian, Hilary, and Cyril. Pauls
exhortation to seek the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1) is picked up by
Tertullian and Cyril in their baptismal exhortations to seek and expect the
charisms, and in Hilarys urging the faithful to use them..68
For John of Apamea one must perfectly possess in oneself the power of
holy baptism, then one will be adorned with all the divine gifts.
Further, he places this empowerment through the actualized baptism in
contrast to Jesus life before the Jordan experience. Just as Jesus
manifested himself in signs and wonders only after his baptism, so the
charisms manifest themselves only after one has perfectly possessed the
power of baptism.69
Our principal point of disagreement is to note that these things are not truly related to
water baptism, but to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John of Apameas ideas form the
core of what McDonnell recommends for Catholic Christians. McDonnell wants
Catholics to pray for the actualization of the gifts which they received in infant baptism.
As adults, when they begin to speak in tongues, they are actualizing the baptism of the
Holy Spirit received in salvation. The practical result is the same, but the theology is not.
Some today question the significance of Jesus anointing. Particularly, Lederle departs
from the views of the early church and objects to the connection of the Spirit event of
Jesus with the subsequent signs and wonders which he performed. But Peter was not so
reluctant. Peter tied the two together as though one flowed from the other.70 Similarly, in
Acts 4, when the disciples wanted to be able to speak the Word boldly, and when they
wanted God to stretch out his hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders,
they prayed to God who responded by filling them with the Holy Spirit once again.71
Luke wants us to see that when God wants his Word spoken boldly and when signs and
wonders are to occur, it happens after people are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lukes Gospel relates the water baptism of Jesus to the water baptism of the rest of the
people. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. Luke then
68McDonnell, p. 323.
69McDonnell, p. 323.
70Acts 10:37-38 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John preachedhow God anointed Jesus o f Nazareth with the Holy
Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under
the power o f the devil, because God was with him.
71 Acts 4:29-31. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak
your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous
signs and wonders through the name o f your holy servant Jesus." After they prayed, the
place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and spoke the word o f God boldly.
25
indicates that Jesus was praying when the Spirit event occurred. Luke does not relate the
Spirit event to the water baptism but rather, attaches it to the praying of Jesus.
We are arguing for subsequence, that Spirit baptism is subsequent to salvation. We
should note that Lukes account does nothing to dissuade us from our belief. Instead, the
way Luke separates the water baptism from the Spirit event encourages us to see an
indication of a subsequent event to water baptism. Tertullian follows Lukes emphasis in
suggesting to those newly baptized to pray for their inheritance, the distributed charisms.
Even if we should fail to prove that the anointing of the Holy Spirit was subsequent to his
baptism in water, the anointing was clearly subsequent to the entrance of the Holy Spirit
into the physical life of Jesus. In reality, our point of subsequence is proved both ways.
Given the separation that Matthew and Luke do show, others definitely cannot use it to
argue that salvation and/or water baptism are the same as Spirit baptism since Jesus was
not being initiated into anything except his public ministry.
We have said the unique role of Jesus in salvation history is unrelated to the question of
the usefulness of the analogy of his Spirit event to that of the believers baptism in the
Holy Spirit. To argue otherwise would require that Jesus not be used as a model or
example for our lives. If Scripture uses Jesus as an analogy, and if the church fathers use
him that way as well, are we taking something away from the uniqueness of Jesus by
noting the parallel of his Spirit event with ours? But can we use Jesus example to
predict our own experiences?
The writer of Hebrews is not hesitant to use the parallels of the believers trials with those
of Jesus. ,','Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will
not grow weary and lose heart.72
The Apostle Paul notes that we are Built on the foundation o f the apostles and prophets
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.73 Paul indicates that the Church is
built, not just upon the apostles and prophets, but in the same way, upon Christ himself.
Is the church only built on his sacrifice and not his example?
Jesus himself urges each of his followers to take his cross and follow me....74 Jesus
relates the cross he will bear with the cross that his followers must carry. We dont hear
Dunn and Fee objecting that Jesus should not use the analogy of his unique role in
salvation history as the one who bears the cross. Jesus uses the analogy of the cross, even
though it is a unique moment in salvation history. But when Pentecostals try to use the
analogy of Jesus anointing, we suddenly do not appreciate Jesus unique role in salvation
history. If we Pentecostals are hermeneutically ignorant for breaking the rule regarding
72Hebrews 12:3.
73Ephesians 2:20,
74Matt 10:38.
26
analogies, at least we are in the excellent company of the most important figures of the
ancient church.
Cyril of Jerusalem, blissfully ignorant of Dunn and Fee, is quite willing to compare the
baptism of Jesus in the Jordan with that of the believers:
He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance of His
Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the
fullness of His being lighted on Him, like resting upon like. And to vou in
like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams,
there was given an Unction, the anti-type of what wherewith Christ was
anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in
his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord, The Spirit o f
the Lord is upon Me. Because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to
preach glad tidings to the poor.15
It seems to me that the burden of proof is upon Dunn, Fee, and Lederle, and those of their
persuasion, to show that we cannot build upon the life and experience of Jesus to
anticipate our own experiences. It is not sufficient for them to simply assert, in light of
the acceptance of it in the early church, that the analogy cannot be used. They must show
why the early church was wrong to include it and why they are right to exclude it.
Lederle seems to recognize the burden and suggests that the reason we cannot use the
analogy of his Spirit event is because we do not carry over every aspect of the Life of
Jesus and make it normative:
Neo-Pentecostals take some elements in Jesus life as normative for his
followers while others are passed by, e.g. the fact that he remained
unmarried, was circumcised, or that he waited until his thirtieth year
before starting his ministry.7576
But Lederle is not convincing in this argument. He knows full well that circumcision was
a sign of the Jewish covenant and that it was not binding upon Gentiles. Further, the age
of thirty was usual for beginning the priesthood, but was not slavishly adhered to, with
even the age of twenty accepted at times in Jewish history.77 Clearly, the age of thirty
was the age Jesus chose for maximum acceptance but was not intended to be normative
or Jesus would have corrected the age adaptation in Biblical history. His choice of
remaining single was also an option, but equally clearly not the norm of creation or
Biblical history, as indicated by Paul not using Lederles line of thinking in 1 Corinthians
7 when he addresses the topic of marriage.
75Cyril, Lecture XXI.l, (On the Mysteries III. On Chrism) p. 149.
76Lederle, p.58.
771Chronicles 23:24-27.
27
We will be well served to recall the Gospel of Johns perspective on the Spirit event by
the Jordan. The Apostle John completely leaves out the baptism by John. There is no
mention of it at all. Rather, he emphasizes the Spirit coming down:
I saw the Spirit come down from Heaven as a dove and remain on him. I
would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize
with water told me, the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and
remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. '28
If we are to consider the Apostle Johns emphasis, which leaves out the water baptism,
we would have to conclude that the Spirit event was the central event. Further, God had
spoken to the Baptist that he would see the Spirit come down and remain on Jesus.
Johns emphasis is also Lukes. Luke interprets the central event of the Jordan
experience as the encounter with the Spirit: Jesus, full o f the Holy Spirit, returnedfrom
the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert..."19 Again, later in the chapter,
Luke indicates that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power o f the Spirit...."90 Luke also
lets us hear Jesus giving his own understanding of what had happened when Jesus read in
the synagogue The Spirit o f the Lord is on me..."9' The Apostle John joins Luke in
emphasizing the anointing of the Spirit as the definitive act from the Jordan, rather than
his baptism in water.
Pentecostals have no difficulty accepting the Apostle Johns account, since Jesus
experience is akin to our own. We have already noted that Jesus had a significant
relationship with the Holy Spirit prior to the moment of the Spirit event. No one would
try to refute that. Yet here we have the Spirit coming down on him in a definitive act.
Was this just window dressing, or a divine show to convince John that Jesus was the
Messiah? Were they seeing theatrics for popular consumption, or was this a real event?
Did the Spirit really come upon Jesus in some new way?
When we consider Isaiah 42 with its vision of a coming Messiah, we are struck by the
similarities with the scene from Jordans bank. Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my
chosen one in whom I delight: I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the
nations. 82 The voice from heaven and the voice of the Old Testament prophet sound
remarkably alike. The prophet indicates that God would put his Spirit on him, and that is
what happened as Jesus prayed following being baptized by John.
In the same way, God has promised his Holy Spirit to us, not just in salvation, but as
equipping for ministry. It happened to Jesus, and we accept it as an illustration of what 7879808182
78John 1:32-33.
79Luke 4:1
80Luke 4:14
81Luke 4:18
82Isaiah 42:1.
28
God wants to do in the life of each individual believer. Across the centuries, and across
the empire, the early church frequently expresses the belief that the baptism of Jesus is a
model for Christian experience. It is an analogy of our Pentecostal experience.
29
30
The Analogy of the Disciples Baptism in the Holy Spirit
In this chapter, I want to show that the analogy of the disciples experience is also parallel
to our Pentecostal experience. The experience of the disciples shaped their doctrine and it
should shape ours. Indeed, what happened with regard to the baptism of the Holy Spirit
among the disciples was used in the early church as the model for what others should
expect to experience. In showing this, I will assert that those who have abandoned
analogies used by the early church, have come to wrong conclusions about the baptism of
the Holy Spirit.
Gordon Fee, among others, denies the applicability of the Easter night/Pentecost Sunday
experiences of the disciples with our encounter with God in salvation, followed by the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. In his view the uniqueness of the event of Pentecost in
salvation history, not to mention the exegetical difficulties of demonstrating that John
20:22 refers to a regenerational experience makes the analogy equally tenuous...
J. I. Packer, Fees fellow Professor at Regent College, calls John 20:22 a problem text.
For him, Jesus made the believers clean during his ministry (before the cross!)
Believers were regenerated, then, during Jesus three years of ministry, including eleven
out of Jesus chosen twelve.83 Therefore, this could not have been their moment of New
Testament conversion. But the implications of this with regard to the meaning of the
cross are enormous. He further thinks the Spirit could not be given until Jesus was
glorified. So for him, the in-breathing is a kind of commissioning. McDonnell would
disagree with Packer when he points out that the word receive is a traditional expression
for the initial gift of the Spirit.84 McDonnell follows Origen who said, ...in the Gospel
of John the Savior having given the Holy Spirit unto the disciples by breathing upon them
said, "Receive you the Holy Spirit," . . .85
Packer says The only reason why the first disciples had to be taken through a two-stage,
two-level pattern of experience was that they became believers before Pentecost.86 Fee
must have a problem with Packers view. Fee sees the gifts occurring as part of salvation
83J. I. Packer. Keep in Step with the Spirit. (Tarrytown, New York: Chosen Books,
1984) p. 87.
84Kelian McDonnell and George T. Montague. Christian Initiation and Baptism in the
Holy Spirit. Evidence from the First Eight Centuries. (Collegeville, Minnesota: The
Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 58. The footnote on this section says to see the extensive
references given in Burge, Anointed Community, 126.
85John Patrick, D.D., "Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew," Book XII,
Chapter XI, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 9.
86Packer, p 91.
31
which is the empowerment for life, with openness to gifts and the miraculous.87 But if
the disciples were really all that Luke describes, Then they worshipped him and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising
God,88then what did they need further with Pentecost?
Dunn sees the comparison of the in-breathed spirit on Resurrection night with the
creation of life within man. Even though he will reject the experience as normative, or as
supporting the idea of subsequence for anyone other than the disciples, he does
acknowledge the merit of thinking of this as the moment of salvation.
It is the word used in Genesis 2.7, Ezekiel 37.9, and Wisdom 15.11 to
describe the creation of manthe divine breath which brings life to what
was otherwise a corpse. In other words, John presents the act of Jesus as a
new creation: Jesus is the author of the new creations as he was of the old.
If Pentecostals look for the moment when the apostles became regenerate
they can find it only here and not beforeonly then was the spiritual life
(breath) of the new creation communicated to them.89
With Fee and Packer, however, their views are different from those of the early church.
Several of the most important early church fathers refute Fee and Packers interpretation.
We will come to them shortly.
The Grace of the Spirit
When modem Pentecostals read the Church Fathers for their views on the gifts and work
of the Spirit, the first reading would suggest that it was not a topic in which they showed
much interest. This supposed lack of interest has two explanations.
First, when the church in the early centuries debated issues relating to the Holy Spirit
they were not over gifts of the Spirit, but over the nature of the Holy Spirit. Mostly, they
spent their energy defending the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity. Their works
defined the nature of the Spirit and the relationship of the Spirit to the Father and to the
Son.
Secondly, their terminology for the gifts of the Spirit is different from what is commonly
used in contemporary Protestant and Pentecostal literature. We talk of gifts, they
talked of grace. For them, the gifts of the Spirit are called grace of the Spirit.
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the
87Fee, p. 117.
88Luke 24:52-53
89Dunn, p. 180.
32
laying on o f the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give
me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive
the Holy Spirit.
Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you
thought you could buv the sift o f God with money ! 9 0
When Cyril of Jerusalem summarized this same event he said it like this:
Thy money perish with thee, because thou has thought to purchase the
gift9i of God with money ; for thou art a second Judas, for expecting to
buy the grace of the Spirit with money .92
In another of his lectures he uses similar terminology to describe the incident:
Peter came, and the Spirit was poured out upon them that believed, and they spake
with other tongues, and prophesied: and after the grace of the Spirit the Scripture
saith that Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name o f Jesus Christ: in
order that, the soul having been bom again by faith, the body also might by the
water partake of the grace.90919293
This adjusted expression has continued down through the Church. In Roman Catholic
reference, for example, the gifts of the Spirit are called the grace of the Spirit, following
the lead of Cyril. Once you understand that grace of the Spirit speaks of the work of
the Holy Spirit through believers, what we call gifts, then references abound.
Hippolytus believed the disciples received the Holy Spirit on Easter night.
The views of Hippolytus on this subject are very important because of the early date that
he lived. He lived between 170 and 236 AD. Not only is he early, but he is the disciple
of Irenaeus. We are only three generations from the Apostle John, one of those who
actually received the Spirit on that Easter night. Hippolytus is describing the unique
Christ:
This (is He who) breathes upon the disciples, and gives them the Spirit,
and comes in among them when the doors are shut, and is taken up by a
90Acts 8:17-20
91dorea
92Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture XVI. 10. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
Vol. 7, (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian
Literature Publishing company, 1894.) p. 117.
93Cyril Catechetical Lectures, Lecture III.4, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7, p.
15.
33
cloud into the heavens while the disciples gaze at Him, and is set down on
the right hand of the Father, and comes again as Judge of the living and
the dead.94
From the context, there is no mistaking the time period. This is the resurrected Christ.
Furthermore, Jesus gives them the Spirit. This is not a promise of the Spirit. Nor does
Hippolytus know anything of a commissioning for future service as Packer would have us
believe. Hippolytus is quite plain that Jesus here gives them the Spirit. Packer says they
did not receive the Spirit and Fee says it does not matter since it is a unique event, but
this important church father is plain enough on the subject.
When Hippolytus speaks in this way, he may be following the lead of the liturgy of St.
Mark. Certainly he is in step with the view contained in that liturgy of which portions
date before AD 200.95 In the liturgy, a prayer at the very beginning asks the Holy Spirit
to come upon those who will be leading the service in the same way that the Holy Spirit
came upon the disciples on Easter night.
O Sovereign Lord our God, who .. .has breathed upon their faces and said
unto them, Receive the Holy Spirit the Comforter.. .breathe also thy Holy
Spirit upon us thy servants, who, standing around, are about to enter on
thy holy service.. .96
The prayer also notes that the disciples healed the sick and forgave sins. Since the
liturgist was going to be engaged in the same sort of work, they needed the same spiritual
aid. This liturgy is another evidence that some in the early church looked upon the Easter
night experience as where the disciples received the enabling for their work. What is
without question is that the liturgy viewed what happened to the disciples as analogous to
what these later believers were to experience. It should be noted again that an adopted
liturgy has considerably more theological force than even the writings of some important
father. A liturgy represented the collected practice and belief within the church. If the
Assemblies of God relies upon the analogy of the disciples experience as we pray to
receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit for our ministry, at least we would not have
been alone in the early church. Indeed, it is not we who would be alone, but Fee.
Hippolytus and the liturgy of St. Mark are joined by an anonymous monk or Bishop in
the fourth century:
94Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of One Noetus Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5, p. 231.
95Per Neale cited earlier.
96The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, the Disciple of the Holy
Peter Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 7, p. 552.
34
Moreover, our Lord after His resurrection, when He had breathed upon His
apostles, and had said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, thus and thus
only bestowed upon them the Spirit.97
When Cyprian describes his conversion experience he says, . .by the agency of the
Spirit, breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man.98 Unlike
Fee, Cyprian uses the analogy of the disciples experience to describe his own. He is
bom again by the in-breathed Spirit from heaven.
Cyprian argues that the disciples received the Holy Spirit on Easter night so they could
forgive sins (in baptism). .. .he alone can baptize and give remission of sins who has the
Holy Spirit.99 For Cyprian, if they had not received the Holy Spirit, they would not have
been in a position to carry out the assignment Jesus gave them that night. This is also the
position of St. Marks liturgy. We might not precisely agree with their conclusion, but
there can be no doubt that Cyprian and others believed that the disciples received the
Holy Spirit that Easter night. Of course, it goes without saying, that they were to receive
some other dimension of the Spirit on Pentecost.
The view of Lactantius is similar. For him, the disciples not only received the Spirit, they
actually received the charismatic empowering that Easter night. Certainly, if they
received the gift of miracles, they received the Holy Spirit Himself.
.. .having arranged for the preaching of the Gospel throughout the whole
world, He breathed into them the Holy Spirit, and gave them the power of
working miracles, that they might act for the welfare of men as well by
deeds as by words; and then at length, on the fortieth day, He returned to
His Father, being carried up into a cloud.100
Gregory Nazianzen identifies three phases of encounter with the Holy Spirit. These are
during the ministry of Jesus, at the in-breathing, and at Pentecost. His argument follows
the same logic as Cyprian. If the disciples did miracles, they must have had the Holy
Spirit since only the Spirit can give such power. There is no doubt that he believed the
disciples received the in-breathing of the Spirit on Easter night.
...the disciples of Christ...(received the Holy Spirit) in three ways, as they
were able to receive him, and on three occasions; before Christ was
glorified by the passion, and after he was glorified by the Resurrection;
97A Treatise on Re-Baptism by an Anonymous Writer. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5, p.
669.
98Cyprian, The Epistles of Cyprian Epistle LXIX.2, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5, p.
276 Cyprian lived between 200 and 258 AD.
99Cyprian, p. 400.
100Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes. Chapter XL VII. Ante-Nicene
Fathers. Vol. 7. p. 241.
35
and after His ascension.. .to heaven. Now the first of these manifest
Himthe healing of the sick and casting out of evil spirits, which could
not be apart from the Spirit; and so does that breathing upon them after the
Resurrection, which we are now commemorating.101
Furthermore, Gregory viewed each of these experiences as progressive. The second was
more than the first, and the third was more than the second. In another of his sermons he
shows that it was progressive and each one was more substantial than the next.
. . . by gradual additions, and, as David says, Goings up, and advances and
progress from glory to glory, the Light of the Trinity might shine upon the
more illuminated. For this reason it was, I think, that He gradually came
to dwell in the Disciples, measuring Himself out to them according to their
capacity to receive Him, at the beginning of the Gospel, after the Passion,
after the Ascension, making perfect their powers, being breathed upon
them, and appearing in fiery tongues.102
No doubt it is upon Hippolytus, Cyprian, St. Marks liturgy, and Lactantius, as well as the
Scripture, that Cyril relies when he comes to his conclusions. Gregory and Cyril share
common views but Cyril brings these previous streams of thinking together in a
distinctive way.
Cyril of Jerusalem sees the In-breathed Spirit as less bountiful than the
out-poured spi ri t
It is worth noting the literary style of the early writers. In the quotation which follows,
Cyril puts words into the mouth of Jesus which do not come from any biblical text we
now have. This is a common technique among the ancients. It is like an Amplified
Version of the Bible. That is, he adds words which further clarify the meaning.
This is very valuable, because the additional words provide a commentary on the biblical
text itself. The additional words give us Cyrils understanding of what Jesus was actually
saying. Unlike Packer, for Cyril, there is no doubt that the Disciples received the Holy
Spirit on Easter night. Nor is there any doubt in his mind that what they received there
was less than what they, and others, would receive fifty days later:
.. .the Gospel relates, that after his resurrection He breathed on them. But
though He bestowed His grace then, He was to lavish it yet more
101Gregory Nazianzen, On Pentecost, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7. p. 382
383.
102Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., Gregory Nazianzen, On the Holy Spirit, Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995) 326.
36
bountifully; and He says to them, I am ready to give it even now, but the
vessel cannot yet hold it; for a while therefore receive ye as much grace
as ve can bear; and look forward for vet more: but tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem, until ye be clothed with power from on high. Receive it in
part now; then, ye shall wear it in its fullness. For he who receives, often
possesses the gift but in part: but he who is clothed, is, completely
enfolded by his robe, (emphasis mine)103104105
Later in the same section, Cyril leaves the words of Christ and summarizes what took
place using his own words. Notice that he compares the fullness of what takes place at
Pentecost with the partiality of what took place that first Sunday night. For him, both
events were the work of the Holy Spirit. It was just a matter of degree.
But He came down to clothe the apostles with power, and to baptize them;
for the Lord says, Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence. This grace was not in part, but His power was in full
perfection: for as he who plunges into the waters and is baptized is
encompassed on all sides by the waters, so were they also baptized
completely by the Holy Ghost. The water however flows round the
outside only, but the Spirit baptizes also the soul within, and that
completely.(emphasis mine) 104
I want to be careful to point out that Assembly of God doctrine does not follow Cyril on
the in part versus completely division. Our doctrine is that the Holy Spirit is
received fully at the moment of salvation. Indeed, it is the very definition of salvation:
And i f anyone does not have the Spirit o f Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
However, the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation is not the same work as the Holy Spirit
in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Cyrils interpretation of the biblical text is clearly
supportive of the Pentecostal interpretation even if he does not seem to distinguish
between the nature of the two works. Rather, he sees the Spirit doing a partial work at
first, which is finished in Spirit Baptism. Even if Cyril lacks the precision of Pentecostal
doctrine today, he is in step with the Pentecostal way of thinking about the work of the
Spirit. His views stand in sharp contrast to Packer and Dunn, and to those who believe
that Baptism of the Spirit is the same as the work of the Spirit in salvation.
Not only does Cyril notice the two-phased work in the Scripture, but he
expects that the work will be two-phased for those he is about to
baptize.
103Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture XVII. 12, p. 127.
104Cyril, XVII. 14, p. 127.
105Romans 8:9
37
Here Cyril stands in contrast to Fee. Fee sees no analogy between what happened to the
disciples and what happens to us. The disciples were unique, so the analogy must be
dismissed. But Cyril finds the disciples a perfect example of what he hopes for with his
students. He doesnt describe this scene to his students who are about to undergo baptism
and have hands laid upon them for no reason. He fully expects that the historical-
theological intent of Lukes record will be repeated again.
Cyril described the procedure for those preparing to be baptized in water. They were first
anointed with oil. Then they were baptized. Then, later, they were to receive the
anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Then, when you were stripped, you were anointed with exorcised oil, from
the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the
good olive-tree, Jesus Christ.106
Cyril then says:
After these things, you were led to the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as
Christ was carried from the Cross to the Sepulcher which is before our
eyes.107
His procedures of two-phases of anointing, speak of an understanding of the two-phased
work of the Spirit. The anointing with oil, we would understand as the Holy Spirit
received in salvation. It is the Holy Spirit in salvation which drives out the devil from
our lives. Then we are baptized in water. Following salvation we may receive the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. This procedure was not something invented by Cyril.
Rather, it is the echo of a long-standing doctrine and practice. The Spirit in Salvation is
not of the same degree as the Spirit in Spirit baptism.
Are we right in concluding that the anointing with oil after baptism should be considered
to be the baptism of the Holy Spirit? We are arguing for subsequence here, so it becomes
an important question. We know that Chrysostom viewed the oil as based upon the Spirit
baptism of Jesus. .. .the Spirit is the chief point in the unction, and that for which the oil
is used.108 The procedures of Cyril are in the middle of the fourth century, but he did not
invent them. So we rely upon those earlier than Cyril to define the procedures. Origen is
very clear how he views the oil of gladness. Because he relates the oil of gladness to
Jesus, then he must be relating the filling of the Holy Spirit to Jesus. In doing so, he ties
the believers oil of anointing with that of Jesus.
... Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: therefore God,
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
106Cyril, Lecture XX (on the mysteries, II.) p. 147.
107Cyril, XX.4, p. 147.
108Chrysostom, Homily I, The Epistle to the Romans, NPNF, Vol. 11. P. 338.
38
As a reward for its love, then, it is anointed with the oil of gladness; i.e.,
the soul of Christ along with the Word of God is made Christ. Because to
be anointed with the oil of gladness means nothing else than to be filled
with the Holy Spirit.109
Origen sees miracles and other gifts of the Spirit going on around him. When he thinks
about these gifts, he relates them to the dove which earlier descended upon Jesus and to
the miracles of the disciples. His comments indicate that he viewed the empowering of
Jesus and the disciples as analogous, and precedent setting, to those demonstrating gifts
around him. Acts was normative.
And I shall refer not only to His miracles, but, as is proper, to those also of
the apostles of Jesus. For they could not without the help of miracles and
wonders have prevailed on those who heard their new doctrines and new
teachings to abandon their national usages, and to accept their instructions
at the danger to themselves even of death. And there are still preserved
among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of
a dove. They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee
certain events, according to the will of the Logos.110
In another place, while discussing why gifts were diminishing, Origen very explicitly
connects the anointing of Jesus, and the Pentecost day outpouring which followed the
ascension, with the present activity of the gifts of the Spirit in his era.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave signs of His presence at the beginning of
Christs ministry, and after His ascension He gave still more; but since
that time these signs have diminished, although there are still traces of His
presence in a few who have had their souls purified by the Gospel, and
their actions regulated by its influence. For the Holy Spirit o f discipline
will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without
understanding. 111
This is a theme to which Origen returns again and again. What he hopes to see repeated
is Pentecost. He wants his disciples to experience the rushing mighty wind and the
109Origen, Origen De Principiis, Book 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts, and
James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4,
pg. 283
110Origen, Origen Against Celsus, Book 1, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts,
and James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994),
Vol.4, pg. 415
1,1Origen, Origen Against Celsus, Book 7, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts,
and James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994),
Vol.4, pg. 614.
39
tongues of fire. He wants all that the early disciples had at Pentecost because for Origen
the disciples were the analogy for later Christian experience. The historical precedent of
Acts 2 still spoke to him those centuries later just like it still speaks to me. I could walk
into the pulpit this Sunday and preach this. But if historical precedent cannot be used for
doctrine, why should I? Without the doctrine, I have no assurance that God will do it
again (unless I resort to that awful beast, experience!)
We are risen with Christ, and He hath exalted us, and made us to sit
with Him in heavenly places in Christ, is always living in the season of
Pentecost; and most of all, when going up to the upper chamber, like the
apostles of Jesus, he gives himself to supplications and prayer, that he may
become worthy of receiving the mighty wind rushing from heaven,
which is powerful to destroy sin and its fruits among men, and worthy of
having some share of the tongue of fire which God sends.112
Earlier, Cyprian had set the stage for the two-phased approach that Cyril and Origen
followed:
It is also necessary that he should be anointed who is baptized; so that,
having received the chrism, that is, the anointing, he may be anointed of
God, and have in him the grace of Christ. Further, it is the Eucharist
whence the baptized are anointed with the oil sanctified on the altar.113
What is of particular interest here is that Cyprian associates the receiving of the chrism,
not with baptism itself, but with Holy Communion. Here Cyprian is much like his
spiritual father, Tertullian. Both want the gifts to be received at the altar, not in the
baptistery. If the gifts of the Spirit are one element in the five-part conversion, as Fee
would have it, then Tertullian and Cyprian know nothing of this idea. For them, the gifts
come at the altar. Tertullian and Cyprian know our Pentecostal approach. Fee seems to
have forgotten.
To this point we have drawn upon two critical analogies. We have observed that the
early church used the anointing of Jesus and the anointing of the disciples as illustrations
of what they might expect to receive. Although he does not approach the matter from the
views of the church fathers, Roger Stronstad nonetheless arrives at our position:
.. .just as the anointing of Jesus is a paradigm for the subsequent Spirit
baptism of the disciples, so the gift of the Spirit to the disciples is a
112Origen, Origen Against Celsus, Book 8, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts,
and James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994),
Vol.4, pg. 647 - 648.
113Cyprian, The Epistles of Cyprian, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5, p. 376.
40
paradigm for Gods people throughout the last days as a charismatic
community of the Spirita prophethood of all believers.114
Stronstad draws upon Charles Talbert who outlines Lukes fourfold parallelism between
the anointing of Jesus and Pentecost: 1) both Jesus and the disciples are praying, 2) the
Spirit descends after their prayers, 3) there is a physical manifestation of the Spirit, and
4) the ministries of both Jesus and the disciples begin with a sermon which is thematic of
what follows, appeals to the fulfillment of prophecy, and speaks of the rejection of
Jesus.115
When Stronstad and Talbert come to their conclusions, they do so by comparing the
terminology of Luke with Old Testament references. They find patterns from the Old
Testament which are repeated in Luke. From these patterns they see norms being
established.
We are using the church fathers as our base of approach rather than one that starts with
the Scripture. Clearly, the Scriptural approach takes precedent. However, when citing
the early church apologists and fathers who relied upon the Scripture, we are showing
that the interpretations of modem Pentecostal theologians are in step with the early
church.
114Roger Stronstad. The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (Peabody. Mass:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1984) p. 9.
115Stronstad, p.51-52 referring to Charles Talbert. Literary Patterns. Theological Themes
and the Genre of Luke-Acts. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series, 20
(Missoula: Scholars Press, 1974), p. 16
41
42
Pentecost at Ephesus
The Book of Ephesians has several references that indicate that Paul may have had
Pentecost at least partially in mind when he wrote it.
At one point Paul even expresses a desire to be in Ephesus for Pentecost when he wrote,
But I will stay on a Ephesus until Pentecost.""6 I doubt if his reference to Pentecost is
comparable to our referring to an event as being around Thanksgiving. It was more than
a reference in time. Pentecost was a Jewish feast. If it was only a time reference, would
the Gentile Corinthians have understood the Jewish reference?
We have to remember that when 1 Corinthians was written the church in
Corinth was four or five years old at the most, and that the majority of its
members had come out of paganism and would have known nothing of the
Jewish calendar before their conversion. Would the date have meant
anything to them unless it had some association with the Christian life?"7
Pauls attitude may have been related to the content of the Feast of Pentecost itself. By
Pauls time it had already changed from its ancient agricultural roots to a celebration of
the giving of the law on Mount Sinai.
In the Tanach the Feast of Weeks is also called the Feast of the Harvest,
the Feast of the First Fruits, and the Feast of Ingathering (cf Exodus
23:16). It was thus an agricultural feast, marking the end of the wheat
harvest. However, in late Tanach times this festival also came to be
related to a historical event, the giving of the Torah and the covenant at
Sinai. The book of 2 Chronicles tells us that in the fifteenth year of King
Asa (i.e. approx. 896 BC) the people renewed the covenant with God in
the third monththe month when the covenant was made at Sinai and the
Feast of Weeks was celebrated (2 Chr 15:10). By the mid-second century
BC observance of the Feast of Weeks included also celebration of the
Sinai covenant and the giving of the Torah.116117118
This early connection with the giving of the Law is also the opinion of Kirby, Professor
of New Testament at McGill University. As a summary of his lengthy defense of this
idea, he says,
1161 Corinthians 16:8.
117J. Kirby. Ephesians: Baptism and Pentecost. An inquiry into the Structure and Purpose
of the Epistle to the Ephesians. (Montreal: McGill University Press, 1968), p. 80.
118Ole Kvarme. The Acts of the Apostles. (Caspari Center for Biblical and Jewish
Studies, PO Box 71099, Jerusalem, 91710, Israel, 1994). p. 9.
43
.. .while there is little direct evidence in rabbinic Judaism in the first
century to connect Pentecost with the giving of the law, the evidence is
clear in the apocryphal tradition and in the Qumran literature.119120121122
There are numerous indications in Pauls Epistle that he is slanting his comments to
fit into this understanding. The passage that we associate with the so called ministry
gifts is one example.
But to each one o f us erace has been siven as Christ apportioned it. This
is why it says: When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and
save sifts^ 0 to men. '121 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he
also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the
very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to f i l l the
whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be
prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to
prepare God's people f or works o f service, so that the body o f Christ may
be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge o f the
Son o f God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure o f the
fullness o f Christ. 122
In considering this passage, we first must ask, why does Paul link the ascension of
Jesus with giving of the gifts of Grace?
Pauls first thought is about the gifts of the Spirit which he refers to as grace which has
been given to each one. Once his mind turns to the gifts of the Spirit, he turns
immediately to the ascension. The question is, why does he do that? There are three
reasons why Paul links the two.
First, Peter did this from the first day of New Testament Pentecost when the Spirit was
poured out. That first sermon of the Gospel era linked the two together:
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses o f the fact.
Exalted to the right hand o f God, he has receivedfrom the Father the
promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.123
In Peters mind, there was a direct connection between the resurrection, ascension, and
the giving of the Holy Spirit. His sermon simply reflects his understanding of the flow of
119J. Kirby, p.69.
120Greek: doma (dom'ah); from the base of 1325; a present. (Strongs)
121Ps 68:18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received
gifts from men, even from the rebellious- that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
122Ephesians 4:7-13
123Acts 2:32-33
44
events. On that Pentecost Sunday, the words of Jesus are still fresh in Peters mind.
Those words form the second reason:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends o f the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very
eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sightJ 24
For the disciples, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was associated with the promise of
Jesus, a promise he gave them just before he ascended into heaven. Thereafter, to think
about the ascension was to think about his promise. In the same way, whenever they
received gifts of the Spirit, the new recipients were no doubt told that this was what Jesus
had promised just before he ascended to the right hand of the Father.
The third reason has to do with the Scripture readings for the Feast of Pentecost. There
are three Scriptures which formed the synagogue readings for Pentecost. They were
Exodus 1920, which is the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai,124125126Psalms 68, and Numbers
18.
One of the more interesting subjects is how Psalm 68:18 migrated into Ephesians 4:8.'26.
Of course, we believe in the inspiration of Scripture, both Old and New. Under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Rabbis had given their commentary on this passage as
meaning the one who ascended was Moses, and the gifts that God had given to man was
the law. One Rabbi had translated the passage, not received gifts from men but gave
gifts to men. Paul, if not his Jewish readers, may have had this in mind as he wrote and
it shaped his understanding of the passage.
We might ask, why does this teaching emerge at Ephesus? Was there anything unique
about Ephesus which made it a likely candidate?
124Acts 1:8-9
,25Kvarme. The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9
126See Richard Taylor, Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
in Bibliotheca Sacra. July-September 1991 in an article titled, The Use of Psalm 68:18
in Ephesians 4:8 in Light of Ancient Versions for a complete study on this topic. He
says: In a similar vein Cambier maintains that the Ephesians pericope adopts a
midrashic technique which in this instance exploits the variant textual tradition found in
the Targum in order to make an analogous application to Christ of ideas which in the
Targum are applied to Moses. (p. 329). Then he adds: That Ephesians 4:8 is
following a variant text-form of Psalm 68:18 is the view to be preferred. The general
technique behind this preference for the variant reading has much in common with a
restrained use of Midrash pesher as sometimes practiced in early rabbinic circles.
45
Ephesus had been treated to some of the best Bible teaching available. Paul himself was
there a long time.
They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself
went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 127
The ministry of Paul, Priscilla and Aquila was followed by Apollos:
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native o f Alexandria, came to
Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge o f the
Scriptures. 128
Timothy pastored there:
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that
you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer J 29
Even the Apostle John pastored the church, and many think wrote the Gospel of John
while there. However, it is not likely that he had pastored here before the Epistle of
Ephesians was written by Paul.
Given such leadership, the connection between Old and New Testament Pentecost
seems unlikely to have been missed by these outstanding preachers and teachers.
Connecting the two events was done by the early preachers. This makes perfect sense
when you consider Gods promise to Jeremiah.
This is the covenant I will make with the house o f Israel after that time,"
declares the LORD. "I will put mv law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people. 120
Kvarme makes note of the connection between the Old and New Testament Pentecost.
In the prophetic literature of the Tanach the memory of the Sinai covenant
is also connected with the hope of a new covenant. Both Jeremiah and
Ezekiel speak about an end-of-days act of God when he will give his
people a new heart and a new spirit. Then he will forgive the people their 127128129130
127Acts 18:19
128Acts 18:24
1291Tim 1:3
130Jeremiah 31:33
46
sins and by his Spirit write the Torah in their hearts so that they will live
according to his will.131
These early preachers made the connection because the evidence was so obvious as to be
inescapable. Acts 2 looked and sounded like Exodus 1920. The comparisons are so
striking that only God could have planned it.
The cloven tongues of fire reminded them of Sinai where the words of God divided into
70 tongues of fire, representing the tongues of the 70 nations. In Jewish thought, the
world is divided into Jews and 70 Gentile nations. According to the tradition there were
literally tongues of fire at Sinai which sat upon the people of Israel like a diadem or
crown. It may be that Cyril was aware of this tradition because of the words he uses to
describe the tongues of fire. He said, He sat upon them in the form of fiery tongues, that
they might crown themselves with new and spiritual diadems by fiery tongues upon their
heads.132
On the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire sat upon the 120,133134this came as no
particular surprise to those present. Israel had seen it before. By seeing it again, they
clearly made the connection that what God had done at Sinai, he was doing again. God
had made a covenant with Israel at Sinai. Now he was communicating the new covenant
with Israel and those who would believe, the Covenant that Ezekiel and Jeremiah had
foreseen.
Acts 2 and the sound of the rushing mighty wind reminded them of the growing sound
of the trumpet on Sinai.
On the morning o f the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a
thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in
the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out o f the camp to meet
with God, and they stood at the foot o f the mountain. Mount Sinai was
covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke
billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain
trembled violently, and the sound o f the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Then Moses spoke and the voice o f God answered him. 134
131Kvarme, p. 10.
132Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture XVII.8, p. 126-128. See also the following
footnotes.
133Chrysostom in Homily IV on The Acts of the Apostles, (Vol 11, p 25) says that it was
not upon the 12 but the 120 that the Spirit came, otherwise the prophecy regarding all
flesh, including sons, daughters, and young and old men could not have been fulfilled as
Peter preached.
134Exodus 19:16-19
47
The great sound that accompanied Gods speaking at Sinai was echoed at Zion. Again, it
was not just that a sound was present, but it was a sound that reminded them of Gods
presence on Sinai and communicated that this was an event of equal significance.
Kirby gives us a possible second connection with the wind.135136137138One of the other frequent
readings for this day was out of Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel. In the Book
of Jubilees (10:1827 ), there is a version of the story which includes a mighty wind which
God sends to destroy the tower. Unlike Babel, the Pentecostal wind is not for
destruction, but for construction. It is part of God reclaiming his fallen world. When we
see that Cyril uses the speaking in tongues of Pentecost as a reclaiming of the confusion
of tongues at Babel, we may be seeing reflection of a document which Cyril possesses
which is a reflection on this event. Indeed, it may be the Book of Jubilees. If it is, there
can be no doubt that the early church made the connection between Pentecost and Sinai.
The speaking in tongues reminded them that at Sinai, Gods words came first as flames
of fire which then became words and voice. When God spoke, they could both see and
hear his words. They could see them in stone, but also hear God speak in their language.
At Zion, this was how God manifested himself. First came the sound, then the fire, then
his Spirit speaking through the believers in words which could be heard. The glory of
God has spoken by the Spirit in the tongues of those who were present to listen. The
spoken languages were a physical evidence that God had spoken. God spoke to Israel on
Sinai with physical evidences. Now he speaks to the world, also accompanied by
evidence that it is God and not another who is speaking.136137138
135Kirby, p 116-117.
136Kvarme, page 10 writes: Aramaic Targums of the Tanach and the Jewish Hellenistic
writer Philo explain that Gods words at Sinai came first as flames which then became
words and voices [Texts 2 & 3]. The rabbinic tradition also mentions that the words from
God were divided into seventy tongues of flamesi.e. the tongues of the 70 nations. The
same rabbinic tradition also explains that the glory of God descended upon the heads of
the Israelites as divine diadems when they received the Torah at Sinai [Text 4]. Note: A
Targum is an Aramaic translation or paraphrase of an OT book. The Tanach is the
Hebrew word for the Old Testament taken as a whole. It has three divisions: Pentateuch
or Torah, Prophets or Nebiim, and the Hagiographa or Ketubim.
137Philo, The Decalogue, 45-46: They had cleansed themselves with ablutions and
lustrations for three days past, and moreover had washed their clothes. So in the whitest
of raiment they stood on tiptoe with ears pricked up in obedience to the warning of Moses
to prepare themselves for a congregation which he knew would be held from the oracular
advice he received when he was summoned up by himself. Then from the midst of the
fire that streamed from heaven there sounded forth to their utter amazement a voice, for
the flame became articulate speech in the language familiar to the audience, and so
clearly and distinctly were the words formed by it that they seemed to see rather than hear
them.
138Fragment-Targum (from the Cairo Geniza) to Exodus 20:2 said, /am the Lord: The
first commandment, when it left the mouth of the Holy One Blessed be He,...as meteors
48
Jewish Sages have interpreted Exodus 20:22 as reading, ...you have seen
in the heavens what I spoke to you. They say that while God spoke the
Law to Moses audibly in 70 languages, He also wrote the commandments
in the sky with fire for the Children of Israel to read.139*
Given these obvious connections between Pentecost and Sinai, it is understandable that
Paul uses Psalm 68 in relation to the gifts of the Spirit. For him, if it applied to Sinai,
then it must have something to do with Pentecost as well.
The third Scripture reading does not relate as directly to Sinai, but does relate to the order
which was established there. At Sinai, God said:
I myself have selected vour fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a
sift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent o f Meeting.
But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with
everything at the altar and inside the curtain. Iam giving you the service
o f the priesthood as a sift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary
must be put to death J 40
In the minds of Israel, then, the service of those who served God in the tabernacle was
seen as a gift. Peter also described the coming of the Holy Spirit as the gift of the Holy
Spirit
Kirby reflects on this possibility of how this understanding came about:
That this Psalm (68) was connected with Pentecost in Acts is shown by W.
L. Knox:
The Targum on that Psalm interpreted the verse, the Lord gave
the word; great was the company of preachers by rendering it Thou
by thy word gavest thy word unto thy servants the prophets. So
Jesus, having been exalted to the right hand of God, received from
the Father the promised Spirit and has poured it out on the
Apostles.
He thinks that it is only in the light of this rabbinic view that any
sense can be made of Acts 2:33, for no reason is given in Acts why the
ascension should have been followed by the gift of the Spirit. In a similar
and lightening and as torches of fire; a fiery torch to its right and a fiery torch to its left,
which burst forth and flew in the air of the heavenly expanse; it proceeded to circle
around the camp of Israel; and then was engraved upon the tablets of the covenant.
139Clarence H. Wagner, Jr. International Director, Bridges for Peace, May 1996
Newsletter,
,40Numbers 18:6-7
49
way, the author of Ephesians brings in Psalm 68:18 to show that the
ascended Jesus gave gifts to men.141
We might comment on how this understanding played itself out in the understanding of
how ministry is to be performed. If the gifts of the Spirit are analogous to the Old
Testament Priesthood, then we should say that all ministry in the Lords Church is to be
done by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, this is how Irenaeus and others described the
Church as functioning.
By listing what we call ministry gifts in this passage in Ephesians, it is clear that Paul is
relating these gifts of ministry in the New Testament to the role of the Levites in the
Tabernacle. Without any doubt, Paul views the operation of spiritual gifts as the
equivalent of the priesthood. In this, the vision of Zechariah is realized. The golden
lampstand is the means of ministry within the Church:
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD
Almighty.142
A Pentecostal view of ministry is that all the gifts of the Spirit are meant for ministry to
the Church. However, in recent years some have started breaking up the various lists of
gifts in the New Testament as if there were different types of gifts. The gifts of Romans
12 change into motivational gifts, while those of 1 Corinthians 12 become
manifestation gifts. The Ephesians 4 list is arbitrarily named ministry gifts. The
labelers think they are adding clarity by making these distinctions. However, their
unwarranted distinctions undermine the Pentecostal view of gifts. We really should think
of gifts simply as the manifestation of the Spirit, and leave it at that.
Unlike today, the so-called ministry gifts of Ephesians 4 were not understood in the
early church as narrowly limited to the five mentioned, but were inclusive of all
ministries in the Church. If this is true, then any distinction that tries to separate the five
gifts as being different from the others is a departure from what the early church would
have accepted. The Pastor of Hernias, a very early church father, knows no such
division:
Hear now with regard to the stones which are in the building. Those
square white stones which fitted exactly into each other, are apostles,
bishops, teachers, and deacons, who have lived in godly purity, and have
acted as bishops and teachers and deacons chastely and reverently to the
141Kirby, p. 146. Numbers 18:6-7
142Zechariah 4:6
50
elect of God. Some of them have fallen asleep, and some still remain
alive.143
Hilary writes often of the charisms. In one place he writes about wisdom, knowledge,
teaching, miracles, healing, tongues, and interpretations as ministries and workings
(ministeria et operationes) of the church in which (church) is the body of Christ.144
Hilary knows nothing of the distinctions that modems try to place on the gifts. In fact, he
specifically argues against it in Book 8, section 33. My personal view is that Pentecostals
have uncritically adopted evangelical designations which make it possible for
Evangelicals to have the gifts of Romans and Ephesians without taking on the obligation
of the more uncomfortable 1 Corinthians 12 gifts.
When Paul applies the concept of the Grace of God, he does so in all the Hebraic
ways familiar to the celebration of Pentecost. He relates it to the Mt. Sinai ascension,
to law as a gift, and ministry as gifts to the Sanctuary.
There are tremendous pastoral as well as theological implications to this application of
spiritual gifts to the law from Mt. Sinai. For Paul, the gifts of the Spirit to the Church
carry the same force as the law had to the covenant community at Sinai and beyond.
There is now a new dynamic in the Covenant community.
We have maintained that the anointing of Jesus is a prototype of the normative Christian
experience. Some have suggested that the anointing of Jesus at the Jordan also carries
with it connections to Sinai.145 If this is so, we have another Pentecostal connection with
Pauls teaching.
Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his
peoplewhere is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd
of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,...146
God has put the law in our hearts and he expresses it through the people as they exercise
their spiritual gifts.
Given this high place of spiritual gifts in the new covenant community, we can
understand why Paul urges us to covet earnestly the best spiritual gifts. The
143The Pastor of Hermas, V, Ante-Nicene Fathers: vol. 2, Alexander Roberts & James
Donaldson, eds. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) 14.
144Hilary, On the Trinity, 8:33, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, p. 147.
145James Dunn says (30) if the echoes of Isa. 63:1 If., suggested by S. I. Buse could be
established, it would suggest that Mark saw the events at Jordan as parallel in
significance to the passing through the Red Sea. The gift of the Spirit would then parallel
the giving of the law at Sinai,...
146Isaiah 63:11
51
pastoral implications of this are profound. If we are to take on the role of Pastor, we must
also be about the process of urging the search for spiritual gifts. We must also provide
the means within congregation life for the gifts to be acquired, developed, and used. To
fail in this is to fail in a fundamental function of pastoral ministry.
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially
the gift of prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to
men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with
his spirit. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their
strengthening, encouragement and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue
edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like
every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you
prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues,
unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.147
In setting forth the priority of spiritual gifts, Paul also establishes a hierarchy of value for
the spiritual gifts.148 He indicates that prophecy is to be prized because it strengthens,
encourages, and comforts. On the other hand, speaking in tongues benefits the person
who speaks. Prophecy is superior to speaking in tongues because in prophecy the church
is edified whereas speaking in tongues benefits only the speaker. The indicator of the
relative value of a spiritual gift is based upon the number of people who benefit by its
exercise.
In conclusion, we have found several connections between the giving of the Law on Mt.
Sinai, and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on Mt. Zion. These two mountains, along
with Calvary in between, form the anchors of their respective Testaments. Paul, in
writing Ephesians, is mindful of these connections and draws upon them for his analysis.
In doing so, he reminds us that Pentecostal expressions are not an appendix to the church
but part of its very core. This connection is one more brick in the wall of normative.
As Pastors, we must find ways to encourage the growth of the use of spiritual gifts within
our congregations.
Lets return to the question of the Book of Acts as the basis for theology. Pauls use of
Acts to form his theology of the church is very clear. He uses Lukes description to form
the foundation for his teaching. Acts 2 is to the church what Sinai was to Israel. Just as a
1471 Corinthians 14:1-5
148Origen, Origen Against Celsus, Book 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers. (Peabody,
Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4, pg. 483, writes, Paul also, in the
catalogue of charismata bestowed by God, placed first the word of wisdom, and
second, as being inferior to it, the word of knowledge, but third, and lower down,
faith. And because he regarded the word as higher than miraculous powers, he for
that reason places workings of miracles and gifts of healings in a lower place than the
gifts of the word.
52
Jew studies what was written on Mt. Sinai, so the Christian looks to the Acts 2 experience
to be repeated in his heart. It is as though the tablets were imprinted on the heart. The
baptism of the Spirit becomes a personal Sinai.
Obviously, Sinai was not a repeated event. Yet it shapes our understanding of Pentecost.
Pentecost and Sinai are analogous events. Pentecost is personal, not just corporate. An
event which occurred before I was bom cannot impart spiritual substance to me unless I
come to be a participant in it. To the extent that each individual needed to obey the law,
then each individual needs to experience a personal Pentecost. The counting of the Omer
moved the Israeli from Passover to Pentecost. In the same way, a Christian should move
from Salvation to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. When Paul urges the Ephesians in the
direction of the gifts of the Spirit, using the comparison of Sinai, then I think he makes
Acts 2 normative. Sinai and Zion, as Hebrews 12 also shows us, peer down on our
theology. All other sights must have these two mountains also in the picture.
53
54
The Early Church Fathers and the Book of Acts
According to Fee, and others of his persuasion, we cannot use the book of Acts for
doctrinal statements unless it was the clear intent of the writers to establish doctrine. Of
course, without the book of Acts, it becomes very difficult to demonstrate that the
doctrines of the Assemblies of God relating to the baptism of the Holy Spirit are true.
Then, if we cannot prove that our beliefs are true, relating to subsequence and speaking in
tongues as the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then they must not be true. If
we cant prove it, it must not be true. It is a difficult place for us to be. We must prove it
from the Bible, but we cant use those portions of the Bible which speak about it. The
theological police have ruled the evidence inadmissible.
The reasons Acts cannot be used as the Assemblies of God uses it, is because of a
hermeneutical principle which some theologians have invented. There is certainly
nothing in the Scripture itself which would prevent this. Indeed, we might argue that the
Bible says the opposite. Paul said, All Scripture is given by inspiration o f God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness.149
Even though Scripture says we can, some scholars say we cant.
Steven Land has defended the Pentecostal approach by suggesting that the Holy Spirit is
back of the Scriptures. His term for the Scripture is Spirit-Word. In his view, the
Spirit who inspired and preserved the Scriptures illuminates, teaches, guides, convicts
and transforms through the Word today.150 Fee wants Acts limited to the actual intent of
the author. But who is the author? If the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write Acts, could
there be more to the text than even Luke knew? When Psalm 22 was written, did the
author know fully what was being written? Clearly, when the Old Testament was applied
in the New Testament, some pretty amazing interpretations were applied. Hilary believed
that each Psalm was originally given in the Spirit of prophecy.151 We accept these
interpretations because we recognize the Spirits work in the interpretation. But what has
happened to the Spirit today? Fee argues for what amounts to a more mechanistic
approach to the Scripture. But we are not even arguing for an interpretation beyond what
the Scripture actually says. We simply want to use all Scripture. We think we can
know God in the Scripture, not just read about him. There is a tension between authorial
intent and inspired Scripture.
What is the Bible? Is it limited to the sum of its individual writers? One gets this
impression with all the emphasis upon the individual approach of each individual writer
that characterizes all of the modem approach. If the Holy Spirit caused each part to be
1492 Timothy 3:16.
150Steven J. Land, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom (Sheffield,
England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993) p. 100.
151Hilary, Against Constantius, 11. Cited in McDonnell p. 135.
55
written, did he also have something to do with its final collection? If he had something to
do with the final collection, doesnt the Bible have more weight than its individual parts?
Then, if we observe a trend in how God works in Acts and the Epistles, are we not
justified to suspect that we have this trend for a reason which God knows? What if each
individual author is inspired to write a piece of the puzzle, not knowing that it was a piece
and not the whole. And what if the Holy Spirit superintends the whole? Can we not,
then, see the Holy Spirit as the author even as we consider each individual contribution?
Are there no limits to redaction criticism? If this is reasonable, then our approach of
assembling evidence from Jesus, the disciples, Acts, and the Epistles is reasonable in
knowing the intent of the Holy Spirit.
We may not have to resort to a collective intent to be able to use Acts. Stronstad has
suggested that it was Lukes intent in Acts to illustrate the universality of the vocational
gift of the Spirit.152 No matter where the Gospel went, among Jews or Gentiles, God
poured out the gifts of the Spirit. If we use Acts to suggest some things are normative as
evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, are we not doing exactly what Luke did in
Acts? We join Peter in reasoning that we know the Spirit is present because God, who
knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as
he did to us.153 Conversely, Peter would know that a person had not yet been baptized in
the Spirit if it had not happened to these others as it had to Peter. The Assemblies of God
gets into that line of reasoning. Like Peter, we say, if it happened to the 120, and it
happened to those at Cornelius house, and it happened to us in the same way, then it
must be the same thing.
Menzies has worried about taking the concept of primary intent too far.
An exclusive focus on an authors primary intent or intention to teach
too often leads to a form of tunnel vision which ignores the implications of
an individual text for the theological perspective of the author. This
myopia is illustrated in Fees treatment of the Samaritan episode in Acts
8.4-17. He argues that this passage is ultimately irrelevant to discussions
concerning the doctrine of subsequence for Lukes primary intent lies
elsewhere. Now, the primary intent of the narrative, as Fee suggests, may
be to stress that the expansion of the gospel beyond the bounds of Judaism
had divine and apostolic approval. And, I would agree, it is unlikely that
Luke consciously sought to teach here that the gift of the Spirit is normally
separate from saving faith. Yet this does not allow us to ignore the clear
implications of the narrative for Lukes pneumatology. Indeed, the fact
that Luke does separate the gift of the Spirit from saving faith clearly
reveals his distinctive pneumatological perspective. Paul would not-
indeed, could not-have interpreted and narrated the event in this way.
Furthermore, this separation refutes the commonly accepted interpretation
152Stronstad, p. 68.
153Acts 15:8.
56
of the Lukan gift as the climax of conversion-initiation. In other words,
the value of a passage for assessing the theological perspective of a given
author cannot be reduced to its primary intent. A passage must be
understood in terms of its original setting and intention, but the theological
freight it carries may transcend its 'primary intent. Each piece of
evidence must be taken seriously as we seek to reconstruct the theological
perspective of the biblical author.154155
There are several approaches we can take to resolve the tension of the appropriate use of
Acts. In this paper, I have chosen to emphasize what the church fathers thought on this
subject. I think I can show pretty clearly that the early church was not at all hesitant to
use Acts for their theology or to establish church norms. Id like to offer a few examples.
When the day o f Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing o f a violent wind came from heaven and
filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to
be tongues offire that separated and came to rest on each o f them. All o f
them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues
as the Spirit enabled them. ^5
Cyril and the Acts 2 Pentecost.
There are several different ideas that Cyril develops about the Acts 2 event:
First, Cyril views tongues as the restoration of the confusion of Babel, and the fire as
restoring the flaming sword of the garden of Eden. Second, he seems to suggest that the
outpouring was the completion of an earlier baptism because they are now entirely
baptized. Third, this baptism seems to complete the Salvation experience for Cyril,
because the fire of it bums away sin (sanctifies). While it is a rather lengthy quotation, it
is interesting to listen to him preach on a core text.
And lest men should be ignorant of the greatness of the mighty gift
coming down to them, there sounded as it were a heavenly trumpet156, For
suddenly there came from heaven a sound as o f the rushine o f a miehtv
wind, signifying the presence of Him who was to grant power unto men to
seize with violence the kingdom of God; that both their eves might see the
fiery tongues, and their ears hear the sound. And it filled all the house
where they were sitting; for the house became the vessel of the spiritual
water; as the disciples sat within, the whole house was filled. Thus they
were entirely baptized according to the promise, and invested soul and
154Menzies, Part III, Chpt.13, Section 2, Empowered for Witness. (Sheffield Academic
Press), P.247.
155Acts 2:1-4
156St. Jerome lived in Bethlehem shortly after Cyril and may have picked up this idea
from Cyril since Jerome likens the sound at Pentecost to that of the trumpet on Sinai.
57
body with a divine garment of salvation. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as offire, and it sat upon each o f them; and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost. They partook of fire, not of burning but of
saving fire: of fire which consumes the thorns of sins, but gives lustre to
the soul. This is now coming upon you also, and that to strip away and
consume your sins which are like thorns, and to brighten yet more that
precious possession of your souls, and to give you grace; for He gave it
then to the Apostles. And He sat upon them in the form of fiery tongues,
that they might crown themselves with new and spiritual diadems by fiery
tongues upon their heads. A fiery sword barred of old the gates of
Paradise; a fiery tongue which brought salvation restored the gift.
And they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance. The Galilean Peter or Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John
and the rest of the Apostles spake every tongue to those of Gentile
extraction; for not in our time have multitudes of strangers first begun to
assemble here from all quarters, but they have done so since that time.
What teacher can be found so great as to teach men all at once things
which they have not learned? So many years are they in learning by
grammar and other arts to speak only Greek well; nor yet do all speak this
equally well; the Rhetorician perhaps succeeds in speaking well, and the
Grammarian sometimes not well, and the skillful Grammarian is ignorant
of the subjects of philosophy. But the Holy Spirit taught them many
languages at once, languages which in all their life they never knew. This
is in truth vast wisdom, this is power divine. What a contrast of their long
ignorance in time past to their sudden, complete and varied and
unaccustomed exercise of these languages!
The multitude of the hearers was confounded;it was a second
confusion, in the room of that first evil one at Babylon. For in that
confusion of tongues there was division of purpose, because their thought
was at enmity with God; but here minds were restored and united, because
the object of interest was godly. The means of falling were the means of
recovery. Wherefore they marveled, saying, How hear we them speaking?
No marvel if ye be ignorant; for even Nicodemus was ignorant of the
coming of the Spirit, and to him it was said, The Spirit breatheth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof but const not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth; but if, even though I hear His voice, I know
not whence he cometh, how can I explain, what He is Himself in
substance? (emphasis mine)157
It is obvious that Cyril used the experience of the disciples as a model for what would
happen to those he was about to baptize. If he can use this to model one part of their
157Cyril, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture VII. 16-17, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers:
Vol. 7 Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers,
1995)128.
58
experience, are we so far off when we use the same event to describe another part of our
experience? Isnt it true that Cyril was using Acts for doctrine? This being part of his
important catechism lectures, he is offering a systematic discussion of the Christian faith.
The miracle of tongues was in the speaking, not in the hearing. Altogether, fifteen
different people groups are mentioned as having heard them speaking in their own
language,
They spoke with strange tongues, and not those of their native land; and
the wonder was great, a language spoken by those who had not learnt it.
And the sign is to them that believe not, and not to them that believe, that
it may be an accusation of the unbelievers, as it is written, With other
tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and not even so will
they listen to Me saith the Lord. But they heard. Here stop a little and
raise a question, how you are to divide the words. For the expression has
an ambiguity, which is to be determined by the punctuation. Did they
each hear in their own dialect so that if I may so say, one sound was
uttered, but many were heard; the air being thus beaten and, so to speak,
sounds being produced more clear than the original sound; or are we to put
the stop after they Hear, and then to add them speaking in their own
languages to what follows, so that it would be speaking in languages their
own to the hearers, which would be foreign to the speakers? I prefer to put
it this latter way; for on the other plan the miracle would be rather of the
hearers than of the speakers; whereas in this it would be on the speakers
side; and it was they who were reproached for drunkenness, evidently
because they bv the Spirit wrought a miracle in the matter of the
tongues.158
Although Cyril and Gregory say important things, they are not the earliest ones to use
Acts for doctrine. One of the important debates that shaped the third century was whether
people who had been baptized by heretics must submit again to water baptism. A council
was held at which Cyprian apparently presided over many priests assembled at once.
The results of this council were directed to Stephen, the Roman bishop, in the form of a
decree. Notice that they relied upon the book of Acts to form their decree or doctrine.
Those who have been dipped abroad outside the Church, and have been
stained among heretics and schismatics with the taint of profane water,
when they come to us and to the Church which is one, ought to be
baptized, for the reason that it is a small matter to lay hands on them that
they may receive the Holy Ghost, unless they receive also the baptism of
the Church. For then finally can they be fully sanctified, and be the sons
158Gregory Nazianzen, The Last Farewell, XV, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: vol. 7
Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995)
384.
59
of God, they be bom of each sacrament; since it is written, Except a man
be bom again of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. For we find also, in the Acts of the Apostles, that this is
maintained by the Apostles, and kept in the truth of the saving faith, so
that when, in the house of Cornelius the centurion, the Holy Ghost had
descended upon the Gentiles who were there, fervent in the warmth of
their faith, and believing in the Lord with the whole heart; and when, filled
with the Spirit, they blessed God in divers tongues, still none the less the
blessed Apostle Peter, mindful of the divine precept and the Gospel,
commanded that those same men should be baptized who had already been
filled with the Holy Spirit, that nothing might seem to be neglected to the
observance by the apostolic instruction in all things of the law of the
divine precept and Gospel.
Not only did they reference Acts 10, but they also took up the issue of Acts 8. Those who
felt the baptism of heretics was sufficient, argued that because the Samaritans were not
rebaptized after Peter and John came to them, then it was not necessary to rebaptize those
who had been baptized by heretics. The council rejected the argument, not because it was
from a historical narrative, or because it was outside the intent of the author, as Fee would
do, but because the facts of the case were not an appropriate ground for the conclusion
they sought. The council said,
They who had believed in Samaria had believed with a true faith; and
within, in the Church which is one, and to which alone it is granted to
bestow the grace of baptism and to remit sins, had been baptized by Philip
the deacon, whom the same apostles had sent. And therefore, because
they had obtained a legitimate and ecclesiastical baptism, there was no
need that they should be baptized any more, but only that which was
needed was performed by Peter and John; viz., that prayer being made for
them, and hands being imposed, the Holy Spirit should be invoked and
poured out upon them, which now too is done among us, so that they who
are baptized in the Church are brought to the prelates of the Church, and
by our prayers and by the imposition of hands obtain the Holy Spirit, and
are perfected with the Lords seal.159
Elsewhere, when we discuss the Samaritans, we address the question of whether or not
they were saved without receiving the Holy Spirit in baptism. Cyprian and the council of
priests agree that they were saved, even though they had not received the Holy Spirit
through the laying on of hands. As such, this early council affirms the position of the
Assemblies of God and does not agree with Packer,160Dunn, or Fee. Dunn, a vigorous
opponent of the Assemblies of God position, will not let them be saved, but the council
declares that they were saved. The difference in the conclusions of Dunn and this early
159Cyprian. The Epistles of Cyprian. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5, p. 381.
160Packer, Ibid., p.89.
60
church council could not be more pronounced. Although Fee agrees with the Councils
conclusion, he is uncomfortable with their use of the passage. Fee does not want to use
Acts 8 for theology. Fee objects that such a passage must not be used for theological
precision. For the early church, Acts 8 is pressed into service exactly for theological
precision. They based their theology on it. Although it is a historical narrative, and
supposedly was outside the authors intent to establish a pattern, yet the Council was
willing to make one incident into a doctrine. The history in Acts was deeply imbedded in
the foundation of their doctrine. Fee says,
In the Samaritan case, for example, Luke actually says the Spirit does not
come on them until the laying on of the apostles hands. In order to square
this with Pauls statement in Romans 8, James Dunn has argued that Luke
does not consider them to be genuine believers before that. But that seems
to run aground on the rest of linguistic evidence used to describe them
prior to the laying on of hands, all of which is Lukan language for
Christian conversion. Indeed the resolution to this tension is most likely
to be found at the linguistic level. One simply must not press Lukes
phenomenological use of Spirit language into service for theological
precision. Although Luke says otherwise, we may assume the Samaritans
and Paul to have become believers in the Pauline sensethat without the
Sprit they are none of his. For Luke, however, the phenomenological
expressions of the Spirits presence are what he describes as the coming
o f or filling with the Spirit.161
Not only was Acts 8 used, but so was Acts 19.162 The results of such councils became
doctrine. They took on absolute force. To ignore such councils was to be branded a
heretic. For Cyprian and this council, because it was in the book of Acts, there was a
firm foundation for applying the text to their lives. In short, Acts shaped doctrine.
What Acts was for Cyprian and the council, it also was for the anonymous writer, also of
the same time period.
And there will be no doubt that men may be baptized with the Holy Ghost
without water,as thou observest that these were baptized before they
were baptized with water; that the announcements of both John and of our
Lord Himself were satisfied,forasmuch as they received the grace of the
promise both without the imposition of the apostles hands and without the
laver, which they attained afterwards. And their hearts being purified,
God bestowed upon them at the same time, in virtue of their faith,
remission of sins; so that the subsequent baptism conferred upon them this
benefit alone, that they received also the invocation of the name of Jesus
161Fee, p. 110.
162Cyprian, p.392.
61
Christ, that nothing might appear to be wanting to the integrity of their
service and faith.163
For this anonymous writer, there is no doubt that the book of Acts may be used to
establish his point of doctrine. There is nothing of this discussion about the authors
intent limiting the application to which a Scripture could be put. It described a previous
reality that established the norms for his times. Without any doubt, these issues of
doctrine in the early church were resolved by relying upon Acts, not upon Paul or the
Epistles alone.
If it has been within the tradition of the church to establish doctrine based upon the
historical narratives of Acts, why must Pentecostals go into exile and be the only ones
who may not use the Acts. By what authority does a teacher stand up today and say that a
new limitation has been imposed upon the church? You cant use Acts for doctrine any
longer. We contend that the church has, historically, used Acts for doctrine, and it is still
available.
Some have suggested that the book of Acts forms what they describe as narrative
theology. Rather than a series of propositions, stories are told which communicate the
theology. Jack Deere, formerly of Dallas Seminary writes,
In the ancient world, especially in the ancient Near Eastern world of which
the Bible is a part, the most common way to communicate theology was to
tell a story. Stories were written to communicate theological doctrine.
Sometimes modem writers treat the Gospels and Acts as if they were
nothing more than newspaper accounts of what happened. They are
definitely more than this; they are themselves theologies. When Luke
wrote his Gospel and the book of Acts, he selected all of his material very
carefully to teach definite theological truths to his audience.164
Deere suggests that if we were to follow the advice of this new approach, we would be
eliminating some 59% of the New Testament. Then Deere goes on to say,
Nobody really believes this. They only mean you cannot use the Gospels
and Acts to determine the relevance of miracles for the churchs present
ministry, and this is a completely arbitrary decision. It is not based on the
teaching of the Bible but rather on a personal prejudice.
I dont know that it is right to call it personal prejudice, but I think Deere is correct in
calling it completely arbitrary. Deere notes that theologians have always used the
163A Treatise on Re-baptism by an Anonymous Writer. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5.
P.670.
164Jack Deere. Surprised bv the Power of the Spirit (Grand Rapid Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1993), p. 112-113.
62
Gospels and Acts for doctrine.165 This is the point that I have been making here. He
goes on to cite John Calvin and subsequent Reformed theologians who made use of the
Acts and the Gospels. Missions and evangelism doctrines regularly make use of these
books, as do dispensational doctrines.
Roger Stronstad notes that Paul was not hesitant to use the Old Testament narratives for
doctrine. Paul reveals his hermeneutical principle when he writes, These things
happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
fulfillment of the ages has come.166 Stronstad says,
If for Paul the historical narratives of the Old Testament had didactic
lessons for New Testament Christians, then it would be most surprising if
Luke, who modeled his historiography after the Old Testament
historiography, did not invest his own history of the origin and spread of
Christianity with a didactic significance.167
Finally, we hold that if the church fathers used the Gospels and Acts for doctrine, and if
theologians down through the ages have continued the same practice, then it is not
unreasonable for Pentecostals to do the same. If Stronstad is correct, then we are using
Acts for precisely the purpose that Luke had in mind.
165Deere,p. 111.
1661 Corinthians 10:11.
167Roger Stronstad. The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (Peabody, Mass:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1984) p. 7.
63
64
A Two-stage work of Grace
Several of the quotations in the previous chapter, indicate that the authors believed that
the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the same as salvation. An examination of John
20:22, Acts 1:4-8, and Acts 2:1-4 reveals two stages of the work of the Holy Spirit in the
lives of the Disciples. First the Spirit is in-breathed by Jesus on Easter night. Then the
Spirit is out-poured upon the same people on the Feast of Pentecost.
That there are two stages of grace is clear in Origens commentary on John. He
introduces us to the subject when he writes:
The words "Of his fullness all we received," and "Grace for grace," show,
as we have already made clear, that the prophets also received their gift
from the fullness of Christ and received a second grace in place of that
they had before; for they also, led by the Spirit, advanced from the
introduction they had in types to the vision of truth.168
Cyril compares the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan with that of the believers:
He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance of His
Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the
fullness of His being lighted on Him, like resting upon like. And to you in
like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams,
there was given an Unction, the anti-type of what wherewith Christ was
anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in
his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord, The Spirit o f
the Lord is upon Me. Because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to
preach glad tidings to the poor.169170
We understand the relationship of water baptism to the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus.
Or don't you know that all o f us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raisedfrom the dead
through the glory o f the Father, we too may live a new life. I f we have
been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united
with him in his resurrection. 170
168Allan Menzies, D.D., "Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John," Book VI,
Chapter II, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 9.
169Cyril, Lecture XXI.2, (On the Mysteries III. On Chrism) p. 149.
170Romans 6:3-5
65
It is upon this biblical understanding that Cyril draws when he says:
And as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are
in baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried, and raised
together with Him in a likeness, so is it with the unction also. As He was
anointed with an ideal oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Ghost, called
oil of gladness because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so ye were
anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and fellows of Christ.
In both these quotations from Cyril, he contrasts the spiritual realities of water baptism
with what we call Spirit baptism. While he does not call the second work Spirit
baptism, it is plain that he acknowledges some further action following water baptism.
The anointing with oil was a symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit which Jesus
received. The analogy of Jesus baptism determines their procedure and expectation.
Throughout his writings, Cyril draws this two-step distinction. Again he says:
For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went
forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism
and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armor of the Holy
Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it,
saying, lea n do all thing through Christ which strengthens me.
We notice several features of Cyrils theology. First, he separates water and Spirit
baptism. Second, he draws the analogy between the baptism of Jesus and believers
baptism. Third, he links the Spirit anointing of Jesus with power to overcome the devil.
Fourth, he relies upon a narrative account to form his theology. In doing so, he goes
beyond the intent of the author. In this Cyril would not get along well with either Lederle
or Fee.
Cyrils comparison of this anointing after baptism, with the anointing of the Old
Testament priests, further strengthens the two-step view. Cyril writes:
Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol
of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command
of God, and made him High-Priest, after bathing in water, he anointed
him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical
Chrism. So also the high-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom,
anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon. To them however these things
happened in a figure. But to you not in a figure but in truth; because ye
were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost.'72171172
171Cyril, Lecture XXI.4, (On the Mysteries III. On Chrism) p. 150.
172Cyril, Lecture XXI.6, (On the Mysteries III. On Chrism) p. 150.
66
The fact that he makes the comparison between the anointing of the high priest in the Old
Testament and that of Christians adds further substance to the baptism of Jesus who was
also washed then anointed. It also makes the baptism of Jesus something more than a
historical analogy. It is the fulfillment of the law. When he makes the connection
between the believers and the Old Testament, he thereby makes the baptism of Jesus the
analogy for our experience.
It is also significant that Cyril does not limit this two-phased approach only to baptism.
In his lecture on the crucifixion and burial of Jesus he says, thou receivest now
remission of thy sins, and the gifts of the Kings spiritual bounty.173
In his lecture on the Holy Spirit he says:
If thou believe, thou shalt not only receive remission of sins, but also do
things which pass mans power. And mayest thou be worthy of the gift of
prophecy also! For thou shalt receive grace according to the measure of
thy capacity and not of my words; for I may possibly speak of but small
things, yet thou mayest receive greater; since faith is a large affair.. ..He
will give thee gifts of grace of every kind. ... Be ye ready to receive grace,
and when ye have received it, cast it not away.174
The Samaritan bel ievers who received the Holy Spirit
If Cyrils view was widely held, and if he is following a view which is rooted in an
understanding of Scripture, then we might have a reflection of how Luke describes the
experience of the Samaritan believers. Consider the Biblical account:
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ
there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did,
they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits
came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there
was great joy in that city.
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in
the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was
someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their
attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the
Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long
time with his magic.
173Cyril, Lecture XIII.23, (On the Words, crucified and buried) p. 88.
174Cyril, Lecture XVII.37, (Continuation of the Discourse on the Holy Ghost) p. 133.
67
But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women.
Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip
everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted
the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived,
they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the
Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed
their hands on them, and they received175176177the Holy Spirit.^ ^
For some, the troubling part of Lukes account is that the believers received the Holy
Spirit so long after salvation. If Cyril were to apply his model to these believers, he
would say they had some partial experience with the Holy Spirit which was not
completed until the Apostles came and laid hands on them. Only then had they received
the Holy Spirit completely. On the other hand, if Cyril learns his view from this passage,
and from those before him who were also schooled by it, then we have evidence for a
Pentecostal interpretation of this passage from the earliest days.
The Pentecostal explanation of the situation is that they received the Holy Spirit in
salvation, but had not yet received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. On the other hand,
these early Christians believed that only the Baptism with the Holy Spirit completed the
process and any partial experience was inadequate. They had not yet received the Holy
Spirit, that is, completely and fully received the Holy Spirit.
Can we deny that these Samaritans were saved? They believed Philip as he preached the
good news of God and Jesus Christ. They were baptized. Then Luke notes that they
accepted the Word of God. They met the fundamental requirement for salvation:
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.11' Cyprians Council, referenced
earlier, said yes, they were indeed saved.178 The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles also
follows this line saying they embraced the faith of the God of the universe, and of the
Lord Jesus, and were baptized into His name.179
The Samaritan passage poses one small problem for Pentecostals and one large problem
for those who deny our interpretation. Our small problem is the seemingly exclusive
175Received: lambano; a prolonged form of a primary verb, which is used only as an
alternate in certain tenses; to take. In very many applications, literally and figuratively;
properly objective or active, to get hold of. (Strongs)
176Acts 8:5-17
177Mark 16:16.
178See page 41.
179Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book VI, section VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.
7, p. 452.
68
nature of Lukes explanatory comment, the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of
them. If salvation is defined by receiving the Holy Spirit, as Romans says, and if the
Holy Spirit had not yet come upon these believers, then they cannot be saved. However,
if we keep the first half of the sentence attached to the second half, the tension is relaxed.
The fall sentence reads,
When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they
had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
In the full sentence, not having received the Holy Spirit is compared to their water
baptism. Thus the discussion is about the two baptisms. They had not received the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit, only water baptism. Luke is not categorically denying the
Holy Spirit had come upon them, he is saying the Spirit had not come upon them in Spirit
baptism. Lukes distinction between the two baptisms follows John the Baptists /
baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."m The comparative
statement was an existing mental construct which Luke condenses further.
In light of Cyprians Council, the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, and Cyril of
Jerusalem, this is a more reasonable reading than what Dunn offers. Dunn is forced into
an odd position for a Reformed theologian, he must take away their salvation. Luke says
they believed Philip as he preached the good news. Dunn would have another Acts 2
miracle. Even though Philip preached the Gospel, Dunn thinks they heard him speaking
about the Tahed.180181 The Scripture says they believed and were baptized. Dunn says it
was not believing the Gospel that motivated them to be baptized but the herd-instinct of
a popular mass-movement.182 Then Luke notes that they accepted the Word of God.
Dunn says it was simply the assent of the mind to the acceptability of what Philip
preached.183
Dunn is inventive. He has explanations for why we must resort to his very specialized
interpretations. Why must Dunn take away the salvation of the Samaritans? If they stay
saved and receive the Holy Spirit later, then the Pentecostal doctrine of subsequence
stands. Rather than allow that, he must take away their salvation prior to the Apostles
laying hands upon them. Dunn needs to hear Cyprian:
180Mark 1:8 See also Matt 3:11 which says: '7 baptize you with water for repentance.
But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals l a m not f i t to
carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.''
181Dunn, p. 64.
182Dunn p.65.
183Dunn p.65.
.. .one is not bom by the imposition of hands when he receives the Holy
Ghost, but in baptism, that so, being already bom, he may receive the Holy
Spirit....184
Catholic theology recognized the problem of the Samaritans and developed the idea of
confirmation based on the dynamics of this account. They could not deny that the
Samaritans were saved. The whole history of the church affirmed their salvation. But if
the Catholic theologians accepted the Samaritans as saved, then they must explain away
the phrase: Then Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy
Spirit.
In Catholic theology, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is received as part of the salvation-
water baptism event. So Catholic theology, along with Anglicans and others who follow
them, is caught on the horns of a dilemma. Was the Holy Spirit received in Salvation or
when the Apostles laid their hands on them? Rather than accept the views of Cyril or
accept the Pentecostal views, the Catholics invented the notion of confirmation. In
their view, the Holy Spirit was received earlier, when the Samaritans believed and were
baptized. The Spirit was only confirmed in their lives when the proper authorities laid
hands on them. They were comfortable in this view because their own practice often
delayed baptism, and the imposition of hands, some time beyond when the catechumen
entered the churchs influence.
It is not clear to me when the church developed the idea of confirmation. Possibly it
was with Hippolytus of Rome in the third century. What is quite clear is that Cyril, in the
middle of the fourth century, is more in tune with a two-step process than he was with
Baptism with the Holy Spirit occurring at salvation and a mere confirmation occurring
later.
What is equally clear is that a very important feature in Catholic/Anglican/Lutheran
theology is built only on the Book of Acts. Why do they have no reluctance to build on
the historical narratives for their theology but Pentecostals must stay far away from it?
Who has forced us to play with one book tied behind our backs?
Water Baptism and Baptism with the Holy Spirit
The principal question of this section asks about the relationship between the two
baptisms. Many maintain that the two are virtually identical, or that they are simply two
parts of the same event. We will maintain that they are two separate things entirely.
J ohn the Baptist saw two baptisms.
184Cyprian. The Epistles of Cyprian, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 5, p.388.
70
John said, / would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with
water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who
will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'*5 Lukes account is the same: John answered them
all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs o f
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with
fire.185186187188
Marks Gospel is simple in its declaration: / baptize you with water, but he will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit."'11 In each Gospel, a distinction is made between water baptism
and baptism with the Holy Spirit.
In Matthews Gospel we learn that Johns baptism was particularly connected to
repentance:
I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 188
John himself notes that there is a difference between the two baptisms. It remains to be
established that Johns baptism is related to the baptism of new converts to Christianity.
Some might say, since John baptized before the New Covenant era, that his baptism is
entirely different from that of convert baptism after the crucifixion. But if Packer can
have the disciples saved before the cross, can we baptize them? In any case, John was
making reference to the baptism with the Holy Spirit which would not occur until the
New Covenant was in place.
Tertullian treated the baptism of John as relating to repentance. For him, since
repentance is part of the Christian initiation, Johns baptism was the same as the baptism
of any person who repents in the Christian era. Further, it is the baptism of repentance
which prepares the way for the next work of the Spirit.
For Tertullian, water baptism does not convey anything celestial, that is, of the Holy
Spirit. Johns baptism was for repentance.
But we, with but as poor a measure of understanding as of faith, are able to
determine that that baptism was divine indeed, (yet in respect of the
command, not in respect of efficacy too, in that we read that John was sent
by the Lord to perform this duty,) but human in its nature; for it conveyed
185John 1:33
186Luke 3:16
187Mark 1:8 See also Matt 3:11 which says: '7 baptize you with water for repentance.
But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not f i t to
carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
188Matthew 3:11
71
nothing celestial, but it foreministered to things celestial: being, to wit,
appointed over repentance, which is in mans power. In fact, the doctors
of the law and the Pharisees, who were unwilling to believe did not
repent either. But if repentance is a thine human, its baptism must
necessarily be of the same nature: else, if it had been celestial, it would
have given both the Holy Spirit and remission of sins.189
By making the distinction between human and celestial acts, and noting that water
baptism is human, then it cannot impart the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is
celestial. For Tertullian, water baptism prepares us to receive the Holy Spirit, but is not
the reception of the Spirit itself.
Not that in the waters we obtain the Holy Spirit; but in the water, under
(the witness of) the angel, we are cleansed, and prepared for the Holy
Spirit. In this case also a type has proceeded; for thus was John
beforehand the Lords forerunner, preparing His ways. Thus, too, does
the angel, the witness of baptism, make the paths straight for the Holy
Spirit, who is about to come upon us, by the washing away of sins, which
faith, sealed in (the Name of) the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
obtains.190
It is a very small step of logical deduction that if the baptism which relates to repentance
precedes the Holy Spirit, it cannot be the same thing as the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Tertullian understood Peters Pentecost Day sermon to be urging the baptism of
repentance as a preparation for the gift of the Holy Spirit, rather than as the gift itself:
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all
who are far offfor all whom the Lord our God will call.191
In light of the above two statements by Tertullian, and if the other Apostles were of the
same view, one can understand how the Apostle Paul would have asked the believers in
Ephesus if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. He wanted to know if
they had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit:
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the
interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked
189Tertullian, On Baptism, X. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 3. (Peabody Massachusetts:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian Literature Publishing company,
1894.) p. 674.
190Tertullian, On Baptism VI, p. 672.
,9Acts 2:38-39.
72
them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They
answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's
baptism," they replied.
Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism o f repentance. He told
the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On
hearing this, they were baptized into the name o f the Lord Jesus.
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on
them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.192
Tertullian also adds a decidedly Reformation slant when he notes that faith obtains the
work of the Spirit, even though baptism also plays a part in preparation for the Spirit.
Baptism in water becomes the sealing act of the faith.
But now that faith has been enlarged, and is become a faith which believes
in His nativity, passion, and resurrection, there has been an amplification
added to the sacrament, viz., the sealing act of baptism: the clothing, in
some sense, of the faith which before was bare and which cannot exist
now without its proper law. For the law of baptizing has been imposed,
and the formula prescribed: Go, He saith, teach the nations, baptizing
them into the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The comparison with this law of that definition, unless a man have been
reborn of water and Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of the
heavens, has tied faith to the necessity of baptism. Accordingly, all
thereafter who became believers used to be baptized. Then it was, too,
that Paul when he believed, was baptized: and this is the meaning of the
precept which the Lord had given him when smitten with the plague of
loss of sight, saying, Arise, and enter Damascus; there shall be
demonstrated to thee what thou oughtest to do, to wit,-be baptized, which
was the only thing lacking to him.193
In another place, Tertullian describes baptism as the act of sealing which he contrasts
with the working of the Holy Spirit and the Communion. It is significant to note that
after water baptism, in Tertullians time, the candidate immediately proceeded to the next
two steps which included having hands laid upon him for the gifts of the Spirit, and then
Holy Communion. No one would confuse Holy Communion with water baptism, even
though they occurred in immediate sequence. In the same way, we should accept that for
Tertullian, each of these three events had their own distinctive reality, even though
connected sequentially for the candidate.
One Lord God does she [the Church] acknowledge, the Creator of the
universe, and Christ Jesus (bom) of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God the
192Acts 19:1-6.
193Tertullian, On Baptism XII, p. 676
73
Creator; and the Resurrection of the flesh; the law and the prophets she
unites in one volume with the writings of evangelists and apostles, from
which she drinks in her faith. This she seals with the water (of baptism),
arrays with the Holy Ghost, feeds with the Eucharist, cheers with
martyrdom, and against such a discipline thus (maintained) she admits no
gainsayers.194
Cyprian, who was a pupil of Tertullian, follows his teacher into the same conclusions.
Cyprian argues that the Spirit cannot enter until a receptacle has been formed. The
receptacle is formed in salvation, then the Spirit enters. It is a subsequent action of the
Spirit.
.. .one is not bom by the imposition of hands when he receives the Holy
Ghost, but in baptism, that so, being already bom, he may receive the Holy
Spirit, even as it happened in the first man Adam. For first God formed
him, and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. For the Spirit
cannot be received, unless he who receives first have an existence.195
Later, Origen notes that the gifts of the Spirit can be received in a variety of ways.
Normally, non-Pentecostals say that the gifts are part of salvation. But when Origen says
that gifts can come from baptism or in some other way, his comment exposes a belief that
gifts are not necessarily attached to water baptism. This is an important admission,
because if gifts are not always attached to baptism and salvation, then they cannot be
inherently connected. If they are not inherently connected then they are different.
... we shall understand this to be said of the gift of the Holy Spirit: that
when, whether by baptism, or by the grace of the Spirit, the word of
wisdom, or the work of knowledge, or of any other gift, has been bestowed
upon a man, and not rightly administered, i.e., either buried in the earth or
tied up in a napkin, the gift of the Spirit will certainly be withdrawn from
his soul, ...196
If gifts are not part of salvation for Origen, where do they come in? In Chrysostoms day,
there was still the sense of separation. He writes of ...the cleansing of Baptism, the
giving of the Spirit, the furnishing of the other blessings.197 Chrysostom noted the delay
of Pentecost as a necessary preparation of the hearts, a longing desire for that event, by
the disciples. Once we had a change of heart, and our nature could be seen in
194Tertullian, On Prescription against Heretics, XXXVI, p. 260-261.
195Cyprian. The Epistles of Cyprian, ANF. Vol. 5, p.388.
196Origen, Origen De Principiis, ANF. Alexander Roberts, and James Donaldson, eds.,
(Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4, pg. 296.
197Chrysostom, Homily XIV, The Epistle to the Romans, NPNF. Vol. 11, p. 441.
74
heaven.. .then the Spirit should come.198 This was not just for the disciples. It is the
same with us also.199
With the passage of the early centuries, we see more and more of Origens view that
spiritual gifts are a very distant result of an exceptionally holy life. The gifts become
more and more out of the reach of ordinary Christians. The question we are addressing
here is what is the connection between water baptism and spirit baptism. Origen does not
really believe that gifts come from water baptism, because he sets them so far forward
into the future. In his system, gifts are the Ph.D. of Christian maturity.
Now these effects we are to suppose are brought about in the following
manner: As holy and immaculate souls, after devoting themselves to God
with all affection and purity, and after preserving themselves free from all
contagion of evil spirits, and after being purified by lengthened abstinence,
and imbued with holy and religious training, assume by this means a
portion of divinity, and earn the grace of prophecy, and other divine
gifts;...200
Even with Origin this is not an entirely new idea. While we see lots of this idea still
today, it actually had roots even before the time of Christ. Robert Menzies points to the
Mishnah as originating this idea
R.Phineas b. Jair says: Heedfulness leads to cleanliness, and cleanliness
leads to purity, and purity leads to abstinence, and abstinence leads to
holiness, and holiness leads to humility, and humility leads to shunning of
sin, and the shunning of sin leads to saintliness, and saintliness leads to
(the gift of) the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of
the dead. And the resurrection of the dead shall come through Elijah of
blessed memory. Amen (m. Sot 9.15).
The initial part of the chain (up to and including saintliness leads to [the
gift of] the Holy Spirit) portrays the Spirit as a gift presently available to
the pious individual.201
198Chrysostom, Homily I, The Acts of the Apostles, NPNF, Vol. 11, p. 6.
199Chrysostom, Homily I, The Acts of the Apostles, NPNF, Vol. 11, p.6.
200Origen, Origen De Principiis, Book 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts, and
James Donaldson, eds.,(Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4,
pg. 336
201Menzies, Part I, Chpt.5, Section 2.2, Empowered for Witness. (Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), P.98-9. In a footnote he adds The Holy Spirit is cited
as a reward for: obedience to the law (Mech. 11314 ); learning and doing (the law)
(e.g. Lev. R. 35.7; b. Ber. 17a); good works (Num. R. 10.5; Ruth R.. 4.3); the
proclamation of the Torah (Cant. R. 1.1.8-9); devotion to Israel (Num. R. 15.20); study
of the Torah (Eccl.R. 2.8.1).
75
Cyril of J erusalem also saw water baptism as the seal of the Holy Spirit
For this cause the Lord, preventing us according to his loving-kindness,
has granted repentance at Baptism, in order that we may cast off the
chiefnay rather the whole burden of our sins, and having received the
seal bv the Holy Ghost, may be made heirs of eternal life.202
When Cyril begins to view water baptism as the seal of the Holy Spirit, he is starting to
depart from an earlier way of looking at it.203
When we move from water baptism as a preparation for the Holy Spirit, to water baptism
as a seal of the Holy Spirit, we are starting down the road of risking the distinctive
aspects of water baptism verses baptism with the Holy Spirit. The terminology which
covers these activities, and which distinguishes them one from the other, is here starting
to confuse the church. For Tertullian, there is no confusion, and for Cyril the confusion is
only partial, but by comparing the two writers, separated by 170 years, we can observe
the slide.
For Tertullian and Cyprian, the gifts of the Spirit are after water baptism and occur later
in response to prayer. Therefore, for them, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit cannot be
the same as water baptism.
Therefore, blessed ones, whom the grace of God awaits, when you ascend
from that most sacred font of vour new birth, and spread your hands for
the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brethren, ask
from the Father, ask from the Lord, that His own specialties of grace and
distributions of gifts may be supplied you. Ask, saith He, and ye shall
202Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture IV.32, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Vol.
7, (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian
Literature Publishing company, 1894.) p. 26
203There is an interesting phrase in Clement of Alexandria who may be contrasting water
baptism with the seal of the Spirit: And what place is there any longer for the repentance
of him who was once an unbeliever, through which comes forgiveness of sins? So that
neither is baptism rational, nor the blessed seal,10nor the Son, nor the Father. But God, as
I think, turns out to be the distribution to men of natural powers, which has not as the
foundation of salvation voluntary faith. 10 Either baptism or the imposition of hands after baptism.
[For an almost pontifical decision as to this whole matter, with a very just eulogy of the German (Lutheran)
confirmation-office, see Bunsen, Hippoi., iii. Pp. 214,369. Clement of Alexandria. The Stromata, or
Miscellanies, III, Ante-Nicene Fathers: vol. 2 .] Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson,
eds., (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) 349.
76
receive. Well, you have asked, and have received; you have knocked,
and it has been opened to you.204
The anointing of the Holy Spirit takes place after baptism and is not the same as baptism
and this anointing is comparable to the Old Testament anointing of the priests which
followed the washing with water.
After this, when we have issued from the font, we are thoroughly anointed
with a blessed unction, (a practice derived) from the old discipline,
wherein on entering the priesthood, men were wont to be anointed with oil
from a horn, ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses. Whence Aaron is
called Christ from the chrism which is the unction; which , when
made spiritual, furnished an appropriate name to the Lord, because He was
anointed with the Spirit by God the Father; as written in the Acts For
truly they were gathered together in this city against Thy Holy Son whom
Thou hast anointed. Thus, too, in our case, the unction runs carnally, (i.e.
on the body,) but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism
itself too is carnal, in that we are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual,
in that we are freed from sins.205
Cyril also recognizes that these two events are not the same, but he is less clear on the
subject.
I do not deny that many in the early centuries eventually saw water and Spirit baptism as
the same thing, or at least the two were bound up together. But this was not always the
understanding. This was a position they eventually came to because the spiritual realities
of Spirit baptism became less and less frequent and more and more a formality. Church
leadership needed these gifts, but not the ordinary people. But in the church of Acts it
was different.
Chrysostom recognized that his century was different than the earlier church. In those
times even ordinary persons were gifted with the Holy Ghost...."206 His statement can
only infer that in his day they were not so gifted, yet he does not deny that Christians in
his day have the Holy Spirit.
He also acknowledges that, in the beginning, the spiritual realities of water baptism were
not the same as Spirit baptism. They were divided. However, by his day they had
merged under one heading. He is reminded of this as he considers the upper room and its
baptism.. How can there be a baptism if there is no water?
204Tertullian, On Baptism, Chapter XX, p. 679
205Tertullian, On Baptism, Chapter VII, p. 672.
206Chrysostom. Homily I, The Acts of the Apostles. NPNF Vol 11, p. 3.
77
But why does Christ say, "Ye shall be baptized," when in fact there was no
water in the upper room? Because the more essential part of Baptism is
the Spirit, through Whom indeed the water has its operation; in the same
manner our Lord also is said to be anointed, not that He had ever been
anointed with oil, but because He had received the Spirit. Besides, we do
in fact find them receiving a baptism with water land a baptism with the
Spirit], and these at different moments. In our case both take place under
one act, but then they were divided. For in the beginning they were
baptized by John; since, if harlots and publicans went to that baptism,
much rather would they who thereafter were to be baptized by the Holy
Ghost.207
Furthermore, Chrysostom notices that a gap between the first experience of God and the
baptism of the Holy Spirit seems to be normal. Indeed, he gives several examples of
those who had to wait on God or watch. Elisha had to watch before receiving the
double portion of the Spirit. In the case of Paul, grace did not come to him immediately,
but three days intervened, during which he was blind; purified the while, and prepared by
fear.208 Then Chrysostom, using the example of Paul as his premise, compares the
experience at Pentecost by saying, neither did he immediately send the Spirit, but on the
fiftieth day.209 In each case they had to wait for their baptism of the Spirit.
In this paper we have not considered the role that speaking in tongues plays in the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Is it just one of the gifts of the Spirit or does it play an
additional role as initial evidence of the Spirit baptism itself? Neither the Bible nor any
church father makes any direct statement one way or another. We are left to come to our
conclusions by way of deduction and preponderance of evidence. The way that Tertullian
refers to what happened at Cornelius house does raise an interesting question. Luke
describes what happened: ,,While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all
them which heard the word. And they o f the circumcision which believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured
out the gift o f the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify
God. .21 Tertullian, relying upon Luke, describes it slightly differently:
Finally, granting that upon the centurion Cornelius, even before baptism,
the honorable gift of the Holy Spirit, together with the gift of prophecy
besides, had hastened to descent, we see that his fasts had been heard.211
207Chrysostom. Homily I, p. 7.
208Chrysostom, Homily I, p. 7.
209Chrysostom, p. 7.
2,0 Acts 10:44-46. KJV.
211Tertullian, On Fasting, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 4 Alexander Roberts, and James
Donaldson, eds., (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), pg. 107.
78
There are two conclusions we might draw from Tertullians language. He might believe
that only the descent of the Holy Spirit and prophecy have any significance, and tongues
is such a small matter that it is not even worth mentioning. On the other hand, Tertullian
may not have mentioned speaking in tongues because, in his mind, speaking in tongues
and the gift of the Holy Spirit are inseparable.
The disciples of Acts 19
The disciples of Acts 19 offer an important sidelight on the question of when salvation
occurs and how water baptism and spirit baptism are different. From the Pentecostal
viewpoint, this passage is important because it distinguishes between the two baptisms
and because it affirms the doctrine of subsequence.
When Dunn describes the Ephesian disciples of Acts 19, he denies they are Christians
when Paul arrives. He has two reasons. First, Dunn seizes upon their ignorance of the
issues relating to water baptism and Baptism in the Holy Spirit. From that starting point,
he leaps, without evidence, to the conclusion that they were also ignorant about Jesus.212
Dunn once again goes too far in his polemical pursuit. Just three sentences before, Luke
had written that Apollos taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism
of John.213But Dunn argues that because they only knew the baptism of John, not
baptism in Jesus name, they could not have been saved. Dunn denies Lukes premise
statement. Chrysostom asked the important question: If this man knew only the
baptism of John, how is it that he was fervent in the Spirit,-* for the Spirit was not
given in that way?214
Luke first tells us why these twelve disciples had gaps in their knowledge about the Holy
Spirit. Lukes explanation does not satisfy Dunn. Like the Samaritans, he must strip
them of their relationship to Jesus. Apollos taught about Jesus accurately, and presumably
these disciples understood what Apollos said. Indeed, Chrysostom indicates it was for
this very reason that Paul tied the Apollos information with the baptisms of Acts 19.215
But for a convenient moment, Dunn becomes a sacramentalist, insisting that only in
baptism can one become a Christian. To counter Dunns view, Robert Menzies has
written:
Dunns argument at this point is based on the idea of believers being
without the Spirit. However, this objection fails to take into account the
fact that the narrative as it currently exists (particularly w.2-4) has been
significantly shaped by Luke. The dialogue between Paul and the
Ephesians is a Lukan construction which highlights the Ephesians need of
212Dunn, p.83.
2,3 Acts 18:25.
214St. Chrysostom, Homily XL, The Acts of the Apostles. NPNF, Vol 11, p. 246.
2,5 Ibid, p 246.
79
the Spirits enablement and its normal prerequisite, Christian baptism.
Paul would undoubtedly have related the story differently, for the potential
separation of belief from reception of the Sprit simpliciter is presupposed
by the question, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 216
Throughout his book, Dunn relies excessively upon Pauls statement And if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.217 Without considering how
the rarely used phrase Spirit of Christ might differ from other references to the Holy
Spirit, Dunn amplifies this into an overarching statement which exceeds all other
statements on the subject. He makes it the gatekeeper of all truth relating to the Spirit.
Luke is not free to use his own terminology without passing through Pauls gate. The
gatekeeping phrase so dominates Dunns thinking that he cannot hear Lukes statements
on the subject. He rules Luke out as though it was Pauls intention that his statement
should drown out Luke. (Both Fee and Dunn become oddly silent here as to Pauls
primary intent with this verse). Dunn brings a subtle change to Pauls statement. Paul
uses possessing the Spirit of Christ as a defining characteristic of being a Christian
particularly as it relates to holy living. Dunn says it is Pauls doctrine that a man
receives the Spirit when he believes (emphasis his).218 Under Dunns pen, it changes
from an element relating to the definition of character, to an element relating to sequence.
This idea was not Pauls intention at all. Nonetheless, thereafter, if the sequence does not
fit, then Luke cannot be allowed to mean other than what is allowed by the sequence.
Before we return to Dunns analysis of Acts 19,1would like to reflect further on the
treatment of the Romans 8 passage in church history. Dunn and Fee use it, not as Paul
intended, but to argue that since receiving the Spirit is the definition of salvation, then
there really is no such thing as subsequence. Not only is Dunn and Fees application
removed from Pauls intent, it is not found in the church fathers. For example, St. John
Chrysostom views the passage as a trinitarian statement. .. .where the Spirit is, there
Christ is also.219 This defines the nature of the Trinity. The passage may relate to
character, as in Paul, or it may express the nature of the Trinity, as in Chrysostom, but
there is nothing detrimental to the idea of subsequence.
Returning to Acts 19, Dunns second reason is actually a denial of the meaning of the
term which Luke uses to refer to those whom Paul met. Dunn admits that the term
disciples in Acts usually equals Christians.220 However, because in this case, the term
is not preceded by a definite article it probably implies that the twelve did not belong to
the disciples in Ephesusa fact confirmed by their ignorance of basic Christian
216Menzies, Part II, Chpt.l 1, Section 2.5.2, Empowered for Witness. (Sheffield Academic
Press), P.223.
217Romans 8:9.
2,8 Dunn, p. 87.
219St. John Chrysostom, The Epistle to the Romans, Homily XIII. Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers, Vol. 11. (Hendrickson, 1994) p. 436.
220Dunn, p. 84.
80
matters.221 His whole argument dangles by a thread attached to something which isnt
there, the definite article.
Why does Paul use the term disciples at all? Dunn says it was a mistaken
presumption on Pauls part which he discovered and quickly rectified by baptizing them.
When Dunn says it was a mistaken presumption he admits that Paul presumed they
were Christians. Indeed, Dunn admits that the use of the word disciples even without
the definite article, requires some connection with Christianity.222
No explanation is offered by Dunn for how Paul happened to meet these disciples when
he came to the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. Did Paul happen to meet them in
the market, button-holing them in a kind of have you ever heard of the four holy
spiritual laws approach? Or, in that vast pagan city, did Paul meet them under the
narrower auspices of the church where Apollos preached?
Once again, Dunn must take away the salvation of these disciples. If they were indeed
Christians before receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, then his argument goes under
the water as quickly as these Ephesian disciples did, and only the Pentecostals emerge
from it.
But even if Dunn is right and the disciples were not truly disciples after all, Lukes way
of phrasing the encounter affirms the doctrine of subsequence. Luke first notes they were
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Surely by now, receiving the correct baptism,
Dunn can accept that they were Christians and had received the Holy Spirit in salvation.
On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and
they spoke in tongues and prophesied.223
Are we to think that Luke has the preachers disorder of redundancy? If being baptized
indicates that the Holy Spirit has been received, why does Luke say that they received the
Holy Spirit when Paul laid his hands on them? Is his second sentence repeating the same
thing over and over again in a very redundant and repetitious manner? Hundreds of times
I have laid hands on people and they immediately began speaking in tongues. There was
no gap in time, they began to speak in the same instant. If, when Paul laid his hands on
them, they began speaking in tongues, does Luke the doctor know that even Holy Ghost
anointed lungs dont operate under water? Or, does he mean to say that, after being
baptized, they began to speak in tongues? When Luke reported the anointing of Jesus, he
was precise enough to write that Jesus was praying when the Spirit came upon him. Does
221Dunn, p. 84.
222Dunn, p. 84.
223Acts 19:5-6.
81
he lose that precision here, or does he really believe that just as the anointing of the Spirit
came on Jesus after his baptism, as he was praying, that it also came on these disciples?
In Acts 19, the disciples receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, either some time after
salvation, or immediately after salvation. In either case, it is after salvation, thus
demonstrating the doctrine of subsequence.
Chrysostom clearly understood the theological problem that Dunn struggles with.
However, Chrysostom had a more simple explanation. He said, .. .it was likely they had
the Spirit, but it did not appear.224 The Holy Spirit was present in the lives of these
disciples from the moment of salvation but it did not appear until hands were laid upon
them. Interestingly, this is precisely the position that Kelian McDonnell took some
sixteen centuries later.
224Chrysostom, Homily XL, The Acts of the Apostles. NPNF, vol 11, p. 246.
82
Imparting Spiritual gifts
Imparting and receiving spiritual gifts was something which continued well
after a person was a Christian.
It is clear that one generation from the Apostles, the people were eager for spiritual gifts.
This was not limited to novices, but it was also true of bishops, presbyters, and deacons.
But the very disciples of the Apostles were involved in imparting and receiving spiritual
gifts.
Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostle John as was Polycarp. Ignatius was involved in
imparting spiritual gifts. This is important for two reasons. First, it establishes that
people other than the Apostles were imparting spiritual gifts. Second, it establishes that
the spiritual gifts were still in operation after the Apostles, that spiritual gifts did not die
out with the Apostles.
Wherefore, with great joy, through his desire to suffer, he came down
from Antioch to Seleucia, from which place he set sail. And after a great
deal of suffering he came to Smyrna, where he disembarked with great
joy, and hastened to see the holy Polycarp, [formerly] his fellow-disciple,
and [now] bishop of Smyrna. For they had both, in old times, been
disciples of St. John the Apostle. Being then brought to him, and having
communicated to him some spiritual gifts, and glorying in his bonds, he
entreated of him to labor along with him for the fulfillment of his desire;
earnestly indeed asking this of the whole Church (for the cities and
Churches of Asia had welcomed the holy man through their bishops, and
presbyters, and deacons, all hastening to meet him, if bv any means they
might receive from him some spiritual gift-), but above all, the holy
Polycarp, that, by means of the wild beasts, he soon disappearing from this
world, might be manifested before the face of Christ.225
Much later in time, Origen still views gifts of the Spirit as being received well after
salvation. Specifically he mentions gifts of wisdom as coming to those who are worthy.
The gifts come to those who had been previously sanctified. Such a description clearly
separates the gifts from the moment of salvation.
225The Martyrdom of Ignatius, Chapter 3. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 1. p. 130. While
not all these works are considered equally authentic, it still can serve as a window on how
the early centuries viewed such things. See The Apostolic Fathers. Second edition,
translated by Lightfoot and Harmer, edited by Holmes (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker
Book House, 1989) p. 82-83.
83
.. .those who have been previously sanctified by the Holy Spirit are again
made capable of receiving Christ, in respect that He is the righteousness of
God; and those who have earned advancement to this grade by the
sanctification of the Holy Spirit, will nevertheless obtain the gift of
wisdom according to the power and working of the Spirit of God. And
this I consider is Pauls meaning, when he says that to some is given the
work o f wisdom, to other the work o f knowledge, according to the same
Spirit. And while pointing out the individual distinction of gifts, he
refers the whole of them to the source of all things in the words, There
are diversities o f operations, but one God who worketh all in all.226
What happened to Polycarp, and what Origen describes, is similar to what happened to
the disciples in Acts 4, where they were filled again with the Holy Spirit and did the work
God had for them.
Laying on of hands
This text does not indicate the method by which the spiritual gifts were imparted. But
because of its attachment to the person, it seems obvious that he laid hands upon them.
This was a practice which was common in biblical days and continued on in the church.
The book of Hebrews identifies six doctrines or teachings which were considered
elementary or basic to the faith. They are laid out in such an order as to appear to be
progressive of the Christian faith. One teaching leads to another. Dunn notes this
progression. He says, as far as baptism is concerned it seems that instruction about it
had to be given before repentance and faith could be truly established.227
It is particularly significant that laying on of hands follows baptism. This is the same
pattern we have seen in Tertullian, Cyril, and others of the ancients. In those cases, after
baptism, the person would have hands laid upon them to receive the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. With Ignatius and Polycarp we observe the same process.
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to
maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead
to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of
hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.228
226Origen, Origen De Principiis, Book 1, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts, and
James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4,
pg. 255
227Dunn, p. 208.
228Hebrews 6:1-2.
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Fee would have us believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is part of salvation. He
identifies the empowerment for life, with openness to gifts and the miraculous... as one
of the five components of conversion.229 We could give him the benefit of the doubt and
say that Fee is reflecting the values of Origen. However, that would undermine Fees
reluctance regarding the doctrine of subsequence. When he speaks of this openness to
gifts and the miraculous as flowing from salvation, he is uttering spiritual fluff because in
so saying he infers that there is some special link that would not be equally true of any
other spiritual effect. Is there anything in the Christian life that could not be described in
the same way? Therefore to single out spiritual gifts and the miraculous is to infer that
these are somehow uniquely related to salvation. This is nothing more than a theological
bone, devoid of meat, tossed to the memory of Assemblies of God dogs. Indeed, it is so
lacking in substance, it is only a picture of a bone.
But it hardly seems that the writer of Hebrews shares Fees vision. If these six items are
indeed as sequential as they appear, then the laying on of hands follows baptism. Dunn
observes that baptism is distinct from laying on of hands and cannot be used as a title
for the complete rite of initiation, let alone for the total event of conversion-initiation.230
Hence the gifts of the Spirit must also follow baptism. We do not rely on the strength of
Hebrews 6 alone to make this point. It follows from this whole discussion. Hebrews 6
simply adds one more piece to the complete picture.
Origen adds his opinion to those who say that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is
subsequent to water baptism.
And therefore the expression is competently applied to the Holy Spirit,
because He will take up His dwelling, not in all men, nor in those who are
flesh, but in those whose land has been renewed. Lastly, for this reason
was the grace and revelation of the Holy Spirit bestowed by the imposition
of the apostles hands after baptism. 231
There are various scriptures which indicate the role of laying on hands.232
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles'
hands, he offered them money.233
229Fee, p. 117.
230Dunn, p 208.
231Origen, Origen De Principiis, Book 1, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Alexander Roberts, and
James Donaldson, eds.,(Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), Vol.4,
pg. 254
232The church fathers see the laying on of hands also as having to do with forgiveness of
sins, particularly for those who were previously saved, but fell away.
233Acts 8:18
85
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in
you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.234
It may also be that laying on of hands was the main way in which a person passed into the
higher offices in the church. For this reason, Paul warns against doing this too quickly,
without knowing the actual spiritual condition of the person receiving the laying on of
hands, especially if it is for spiritual leadership. The context of laying on hands has to do
with elders:
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double
honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the
Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,"
and "The worker deserves his wages." Do not entertain an accusation
against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who
sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. I
charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to
keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of
favoritism. Do not be hasty in the laving on of hands, and do not share in
the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.235
In the Church Fathers, laying on of hands became the way in which spiritual gifts were
imparted. Pentecostals allow for the Spirit to be poured directly on seekers as in the case
of the first Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius. In fact, we generally expect it will
happen that way. We also lay hands on people to receive the gifts. We do not want to
create the impression that laying on of hands was the only way gifts were imparted. The
seven deacons of Acts were known to be full of the Spirit before hands were laid upon
them. Nonetheless, the laying on of hands took on greater force as time went on.
The Church Fathers struggled with heretics. One of their main defenses was to appeal to
their direct line to the Apostles. In each generation, the head that received gifts from the
preceding generation became the hand that passed it on. Laying on of hands was not the
option, it was the norm.
.. .in the days of Moses, the Spirit was given by laying on of hands; and by
laying on of hands Peter also gives the Spirit. And on thee also, who art
about to be baptized, shall His grace come, yet in what manner I say not,
for I will not anticipate the proper season.236
2342 Timothy 1:6-7
2351Tim 5:17-22
236Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture XVI.26, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
Vol. 7, (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian
Literature Publishing company, 1894.)p. 122.
86
When Cyril speaks like this, he is following a much older tradition. For Clement of
Alexandria, important things were conveyed by the laying on of hands.
For the apostle says, All other things buy out of the shambles, asking no
questions, with the exception of the things mentioned in the Catholic
epistle of all the apostles, with the consent of the Holy Ghost, which is
written in the Acts of the Apostles, and conveyed to the faithful by the
hands of Paul himself.237
Robert Menzies has tried to emphasize the laying on of hands as a commissioning for
ministry. In many respects, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a commissioning for
ministry. But when he takes that idea to its logical conclusion he ends up moving away
from the view which the early church held on this subject. He says:
It appears that the primary focus of the rite can be either healing or
commissioning, or, as in the case of Paul, both (9.17; cf. 22.14-15; 26.16-
18). Since the rite is clearly not related to healing in Acts 8.17 and 19.6, it
is not unreasonable to assume that in these instances it forms part of a
commissioning ceremony. I therefore suggest that Peter and John
incorporate the Samaritans, not into the church, but into the missionary
enterprise of the church. This involves commissioning the nucleus of
Samaritan believers for service in the churchs mission through the laying
on of hands because those commissioned have not yet received the
prophetic enabling necessary for effective service (cf. 9.17; 19.6), unlike
the seven (6.6) or Paul and Barnabas (13.3). Thus the Samaritans are
commissioned and empowered for the missionary task which lay before
them.238
He wants to show that the Samaritans were not receiving the laying on the hands as
initiation into the faith. In this he is correct. But he misses the mark when he suggests
that the laying on of hands was a commissioning for missionary work. This is not at all
how the early church saw this. When hands were laid upon the Samaritans, they were
receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the usual Pentecostal way. There is no
evidence of any commissioning for missionary work either in the text or in subsequent
references to the incident. On the contrary, the historic churches developed their idea of
confirmation from this incident. In doing so they showed that they always believed that it
was a genuine impartation of the Spirit, or more precisely, a confirmation that the Holy
Spirit had already been received in salvation. I do not want to take anything away from
the Spirits Baptism as a fundamental for ministry or from the brilliant and humble
237Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies, XV Ante-Nicene Fathers:
vol. 2 Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, eds., (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Publishers, 1994) 427.
238Menzies, Part II, Chpt.l 1, Section 2.2, Empowered for Witness. (Sheffield Academic
Press. 1994), P.212.
87
ministry of Robert Menzies. On the other hand, we should not move so quickly to the
mission that we overlook the more fundamental concept of the Baptism of the Spirit as a
normal next step in the Christian life.
The central ity of spiritual gifts in the late second century
The various writings of the period bear strong witness that the gifts of the Spirit were a
defining mark of the Church. Ignatius defines the church with seven descriptive phrases.
In his view, this is the Church:
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church of God the Father,
and of the beloved Jesus Christ, which has through mercy obtained every
kind of gift, which is filled with faith and love, and is deficient in no gift.
most worthy of God, and adorned with holiness: the Church which is at
Smyrna, in Asia, wishes abundance of happiness, through the immaculate
spirit and word of God.239
Of the seven, two have to do with the Church originating with the Father and Jesus, and
two have to do with the gifts of the Spirit. The other three deal with love, holiness, and
worthiness. From such a list, no one could argue that spiritual gifts are at the periphery of
the Church. Rather, they are defining elements in the same degree as love and holiness.
Furthermore, these are not gifts limited to four or five, but every gift is included.
For this purpose thou art composed of both flesh and spirit, that thou
mayest deal tenderly with those [evils] that present themselves visibly
before thee. And as respects those that are not seen, pray that [God] would
reveal them unto thee, in order that thou mayest be wanting in nothing, but
mayest abound in every gift.240
The period of Justin Martyr is around 165 AD, later than Ignatius and Polycarp. The
progression of time does nothing to diminish the gifts of the Spirit.
...who are also receiving gifts, each as he is worthy, illumined
through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of
understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing,
another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of the fear of
God.
To this Trypho said to me, I wish you knew that you are beside
yourself, talking these sentiments.
239Epistle of Ignatius to the Smymaeans, preface Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 1p. 86.
240Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp, Ch. 2 Shorter Version, Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 1p.
94.
88
And I said to him, Listen, 0 friend, for I am not mad or beside
myself; but is was prophesied that, after the ascent of Christ to heaven, He
would deliver us from error and give us gifts. The words are these: He
ascended up on high; He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men.
Accordingly, we who have received gifts from Christ, who has ascended
up on high, prove from the words of prophecy that you, the wise in
yourselves, and the men of understanding in your own eyes, are foolish,
and honor God and His Christ by lip only.241
Justin lets us know that the Church is still alive in the Spirit.
For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time.
And hence you ought to understand that [the gifts] formerly among your
nation have been transferred to us.242
Spiritual gifts at the end of the second century
We have similar, and also dramatic spiritual gifts being exercised in the times of Iraneaus
which is between 120 and 202 AD. What is particularly powerful about his account is
that he seems to suggest that miracles and other gifts of the Spirit were very common, and
were of the same type done by Jesus and the Apostles. It suggests that Gods power,
revealed in the gifts, was not meant to be diminished over time. He contrasts the gifts
exercised in the church with the lying wonders of the heretics.
Moreover, those also will be thus confuted who belong to Simon and
Carpocrates, and if there be any others who are said to perform miracles
who do not perform what they do either through the power of God, or in
connection with the truth, nor for the well-being of men, but for the sake
of destroying and misleading mankind, by means of magical deceptions,
and with universal deceit, thus entailing greater harm than good on those
who believe them, with respect to the point on which they lead them
astray. For they neither confer sight on the blind, nor hearing on the deaf,
nor chase away all sorts of demons [none, indeed,] except those that are
sent into others by themselves, if they can even do so much as this. Nor
can they cure the weak, or the lame, or the paralytic, or those who are
distressed in any other part of the body, as has often been done in regard to
bodily infirmity. Nor can they furnish effective remedies for those
external accidents which may occur. And so far are they from being able
to raise the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles did by means of
prayer, and as has been frequently done in the brotherhood on account of
241Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 39. ANF, Vol. 1p 214.
242Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 82. ANF, Vol. 1p. 240.
89
some necessity the entire Church in that particular locality entreating
[the boon] with much fasting and prayer, the spirit of the dead man has
returned, and he has been bestowed in answer to the prayers of the saints
that they do not even believe this can be possibly done, [and hold] that the
resurrection from the dead is simply in acquaintance with that truth which
they proclaim.
Since, therefore, there exist among them error and misleading
influences, and magical illusions are impiously wrought in the sight of
men; but in the Church, sympathy, and compassion, and steadfastness, and
truth, for the aid and encouragement of mankind, are not only displayed
without fee or reward, but we ourselves lay out for the benefit of others
our own means; and inasmuch as those who are cured very frequently do
not possess the things which they require, they receive them from us...243
If the gifts were so powerfully exercised at the end of the second century, and we see
similar accounts late in Augustines life in the fifth century, then plainly, the gifts were
not meant to disappear. They are for today.
Further, if the receiving of spiritual gifts was not part of salvation, but was a definitive act
subsequent to salvation, then we cannot argue that the gifts are inherently connected to
salvation. The gifts of the spirit flow from the baptism of the Spirit. Just as Jesus did not
begin his charismatic ministry until after being anointed with the Spirit, so we say that the
baptism of the Spirit is the event that begins our charismatic ministry.
In the next chapter, we intend to show that this use of the gifts of the Spirit is at the very
center of what it means to serve Christ.
243Irenaeus Against Heresies, 2.31.2-3, ANF, Vol. 1p. 407.
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Spiritual GiftsDefining the Church
Spiritual gifts are not at the periphery of the Church. Rather, they form one of the
defining characteristics of the Church. We come to this conclusion by considering the
words of Jesus to his disciples before the Ascension, and by considering the emphasis
brought by the early Church Fathers.
After Easter, consider what the disciples had
Following the resurrection, the disciples were treated to the best Bible preaching
known to man. In Luke 24 and in the other post-resurrection appearances, Jesus taught
them powerful Bible studies:
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses,
the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could
understand the Scriptures.
He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and
rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins
will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You
are witnesses of these things.
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in
the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
As a result of these visitations of the Lord, they had great joy and tremendous
worship.
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his
hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and
was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to
Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple,
praising God.^^
If churches today had these elements in place, they would think they had everything,
because we believe great worship and great Bible study defines a great church. But Jesus
was not satisfied with that for his church. He had something more for the disciples. Luke
gives us this perspective:
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began
to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving
244Luke 24:50
91
instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After
his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing
proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days
and spoke about the kingdom of God.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this
command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father
promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with
water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this
time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the
Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."245
I think about this Scripture from a pastoral point of view. It is clear that Jesus expected
more for his church than Bible study and worship. He expected that the church would be
baptized with the Holy Spirit. Without that, even with the other, they were not complete.
Jesus was setting the pattern for his Church. Indeed, as we have shown, this was also the
pattern of Jesus himself. As he was ready to enter ministry, he received the anointing of
the Holy Spirit. Now he is urging it upon his followers.
The early Church understood that the dimensions of Acts 1 and 2 were not optional but
fundamental. It formed the defining characteristic of the Church. Those who take the
view that Pentecost was the birthday of the Church do so because they believe that the
Church was not complete without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I take the view that the
Church was bom when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into his disciples. However, my
point that spiritual gifts are essential rather than peripheral is confirmed in the more
general view that the Church is not truly complete without the gifts of the Spirit which
accompany the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And if the Church is not complete without the
gifts of the Spirit, then we cannot say that it was fully bom until such gifts were received.
In this section, we are taking the view that the early church believed that only in the
reception of spiritual gifts was the church formed. Another way of saying it, is that the
Spirit, expressed in the gifts, is the defining characteristic of a church. This was the view
of Irenaeus. He said, where the Spirit is, there is the church, and where the Church is,
there is the Spirit. Further, this presence of the Spirit is evidenced by the presence of
every kind of grace, more commonly known to us as the gifts of the Spirit.
For this gift of God has been entrusted to the Church, as breath was to the
first created man, for this purpose, that all the members receiving it may
be vivified; and the [means of] communion with Christ has been
distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit,.... For in the Church,
245Acts 1:1-8
92
it is said, God hath set apostles, prophets, teachers, and all the other
means through which the Spirit works;.... For where the Church is, there
is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church,
and every kind of grace; but the Spirit is truth.246
This is a powerful statement. In his view, you could put an equal sign between Church,
Spirit, and every kind of grace. That is, you will not find one without the other. They are
defining characteristics. But Irenaeus is not alone in his assessment.
According to the oldest first century writings we have, outside the Bible,
Church unity and Church order were based on the gifts of the Spirit.
For Clement, there are two essential elements in what the Church is. First, we are
preserved in Christ Jesus. Second, we are related to each other based on the spiritual gift
that each exercises. The spiritual gifts are not some optional or secondary element.
Rather, they form the whole basis of the relationship within the Church.
Let our whole body, then, be preserved in Christ Jesus; and let every one
be subject to his neighbor, according to the special gift* bestowed upon
him. Let the strong not despise the weak, and let the weak show respect
unto the strong. Let the rich man provide for the wants of the poor; and let
the poor man bless God, because He hath given him one by whom his
need may be supplied. Let the wise man display his wisdom, not by
[mere] words, but through good deeds. Let the humble not bear testimony
to himself, but leave witness to be borne to him by another. Let him that
is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it, and boast, knowing that it was
another who bestowed on him the gift of continence. Let us consider,
then, brethren, of what manner of beings we came into the world, as it
were out of a sepulcher, and from utter darkness. He who made us and
fashioned us, having prepared His bountiful gifts for us before we were
bom, introduced us into His world. Since, therefore, we received all these
things from Him, we ought for everything to give Him thanks; to whom be
glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(* Literally, according as he has been placed in his charism.)247
In this vision of the Church, which flows from the Apostolic age, it is clear that Clement
places great importance upon the gifts of the Spirit. It goes without saying that gifts of
the Spirit were prevalent in his time since they formed the basis of relationship.
246Irenaeus Against Heresies 3.24.1. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 1. p. 458.
247The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, Chapter 38 Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol
1. p. 15. (*Lightfoot has translated it: to the degree determined by his spiritual gift.
The Apostolic Fathers. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Publishing, 1989) p. 49.
93
Because of the importance of spiritual gifts, Paul sai d each believer shoul d
eagerly desire the best spiri tual gifts.
Follow the way o f love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift o f
prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.
Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone
who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and
comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies
the church. 248
From studying Corinthians, a clear impression is acquired. Spiritual gifts were a
significant part of the Church in Corinth. Was that an aberration, or typical of the
Churches? The fact that the letter to Corinth gained wide acceptance and became part of
the canon, indicates that the early Church felt it had value beyond its original audience.
(Could we say that they used it beyond the authors intent?) We look at it as another
indication of the prevalence of spiritual gifts in the Church. We also see it as indicating
the actual purpose of gifts.
What is the purpose of the gifts? To help the Church. What are the best gifts? The best
ones are those that strengthen, encourage and comfort, those that help the Church the
most! What is the definition of the Church? It is the people of God working according to
their gifts that God has given them.
From the Pastoral point of view, we should be calling upon God and calling upon the
people for movement toward the release of the gifts of the Spirit in the Church. We say
to God, restore your church in the power of the Holy Spirit so that every task, every work,
every person, every service, every meeting, will be in that power. Our hope is, like the
early Church, we might relate to one another according to the gift of the Spirit which God
has given us. We pray that once again the church will be known as the place where the
Spirit is, and where the Spirit is, there is the church.
A faithful Protestant is weary by now. Can all these strange people in distant times and
places have more to say to us than Calvin and Luther? Why cant we just use the Bible to
settle all this? What a Protestant wants is exegesis not church fathers! Can I offer a
defense of the church fathers, even before the inevitable question is asked?
2481Corinthians 14:14
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Requiem for the Reformation
or
How did we get so many Protestants in the Pentecostal Church?
It is hard to remember the old man in the positive way I know I should. He lived right
next door and was mostly friendly, so I dont want to say too much bad about him.
Besides, he did so much good and lived to such a ripe old age. In a lot of ways, we might
not have anything if he hadnt been willing to leave the old country and move here,
starting fresh with nothing.
However, these last few years of senility nearly exhausted the family resources. He spent
most all the money that was saved over the years. Even most of the hard assets are gone.
And his great-grand-kids are shot to hell, at least those that still believe there is such a
place.
He started out to give his kids freedom of conscience, and that is what they had. But then
their kids decided that freedom of conscience meant one truth was the same as another,
that everything was relative and it only mattered what they themselves thought. Now the
great-grand-kids dont even bother with truth, they just think everybody should leave
them alone. Theyve turned into libertarians.
But now that the old boy is dead, we have three problems. First, where do we find a
casket big enough? Second, will his descendants admit that he is dead so we can bury
him? And third, how can we get all his relatives out of our house? They moved in here
while he was sick, but now there seems to be more of his family in here than our family.
Ive been thinking about all this and wondering how in the world things ended up like
this!
It all started a long time ago....
Sola Scriptura and the law of unintended consequences.
The Scriptures are alone the rule of faith and practice. From the Scripture alone, Salvation
could be found. This idea took on singular force over the last five centuries. We will
consider how the idea has shaped the American experience.249.
A favorite Reformation text was 2 Tim 3:15,16:
.. .and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All
249Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, p. 61. "The Essential Rights and
Liberties of Protestants" by Elisha Williams, 1744. p. 62.
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Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness,...
Any passage which speaks of the Scripture as leading to salvation was pressed into
Reformation service. So John 20:31, "These things are written that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son o f God, and that believing you might have Life through
his name, became evidence of the sufficiency of Scripture alone. Similarly, John 5:13,
"These things have I written, that you may know that you have eternal Life, and that you
may believe on the Name o f the Son o f God," was evidence that God did not need the
hierarchy, only the Scripture.
If the Scripture is alone, then the opinions of others cannot be of force, because if they
were, then the Scripture would not be alone as the means of faith. Williams, an important
preacher of the American Revolutionary period, said:
Now inasmuch as the Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice to a
Christian; hence every one has an unalienable right to read, inquire into,
and impartially judge of the sense and meaning of it for himself. For if he
is to be governed and determined therein by the opinions and
determinations of any others, the scriptures cease to be a rule to him, and
those opinions or determinations of others are substituted in the room
thereof.250
So quite naturally, a progression of ideas took place. If Scripture is alone, then who is to
say what leads to Salvation. That would put them in the place of Scripture. But if they
cannot say what leads to Salvation, that only leaves me to make the decision. The
common man is empowered.
Thus, a corollary to sola Scriptura was that the common man must judge Scripture (truth)
for himself.
Every man has an equal right to follow the dictates of his own conscience
in the affairs of religion. Every one is under an indispensable obligation to
search the scripture for himself (which contains the whole of it) and to
make the best use of it he can for his own information in the will of God,
the nature and duties of Christianity. And as every Christian is so bound;
so he has an unalienable right to judge of the sense and meaning of it, and
to follow his judgment wherever it leads him; even an equal right with any
rulers be they civil or ecclesiastical.251
In America, we can lay the concept of religious freedom at the feet of sola Scriptura.
The Reformation was the father of our uniquely American view of religious freedom.
250Ibid., p. 63.
251Ibid., p. 61.
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But it was not for America that the concept came into being. It was to correct abuse
within the church. Without a doubt, the church had grown exceedingly seedy prior to the
Reformation. Clergy and laity alike knew changes had to be made. We certainly do not
regret many of the changes which were brought into the church during the Reformation.
In order to break the strangle-hold of the church hierarchy, the reformers postulated the
idea that Scripture alone was sufficient to Salvation. Their sola Scriptura" concept was
a polemical mechanism to defeat the hierarchy and empower the layman in his relation to
God. After all these centuries, who are we to judge that they were wrong to use such an
idea to defeat the hierarchy?
The question is not whether sola Scriptura" was an appropriate polemic, but is it
universally true? When John said that he wrote so that they might know that they have
eternal life, did he mean to exclude all other knowledge? Did John mean to contradict
Pauls witness of the created order?
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitieshis eternal
power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are without excuse.252
Given what Paul has written here, I doubt if he would have accepted the Reformations
notion of sola Scriptura. Certainly the early church knew nothing of such a concept.
Yet they did believe in the superiority of the Scriptures to all other revelations. Cyril
affirms this when he speaks to his students awaiting baptism:
Even to Me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless
thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine
Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious
reasoning, but on the demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.253
Cyril lived in the heady days when the faith had swept the empire into its fold. Indeed he
preached that sermon in the newly dedicated Church of the Holy Sepulcher built by order
of Emperor Constantine himself. They could rely upon the Scripture because they were
king of the hill. But previous generations of church fathers spoke in an entirely different
way. They believed that God had revealed himself in a variety of ways, including the
way of the reasonings of the Greeks. For them, all previous revelations had their focal
point in Jesus, but they would not have said that the Scripture alone contained the
revelation of God.
252Romans 1:20
253Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lecture IV. 17 Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Vol.
7, (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Reprint of Christian
Literature Publishing company, 1894.) p. 23.
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Clement of Alexandria showed that the Christian way is a new way of worship. It does
not continue the old ways, but is something entirely different.
For we find in the Scriptures, as the Lord says: Behold, I make with you a
new covenant, not as I made with your fathers in Mount Horeb. He made
a new covenant with us; for what belonged to the Greeks and Jews is old.
But we, who worship Him in a new way, in the third form, are Christians.
For clearly, as I think, he showed that the one and only God was known bv
the Greeks in a Gentile wav, bv the Jews Judaicallv. and in a new and
spiritual wav bv us.254
We might choose to argue about what he said, but at least we can conclude that he
believed that Greeks could have come to a knowledge of God, and therefore to salvation,
without even one Scripture. In thinking like this, they were following Paul in his witness
of creation as a revelation of God. Even so, they were more interested in the conclusions
the Greeks arrived at by means of logic and reason.
However, during the Reformation, all these others paths disappeared. The witness of
creation, the reasonings of the Greeks, and every other path except the Scripture, went
away. For the reformers, it was the early doctors of the church who had allowed the
church to go astray. So, it was the baby out with the bath water. The good with the
bad, throw them all out, and start over with the Scripture alone. The only trouble is, they
did not truly eliminate the church fathers, they just replaced the 1500 year old fathers
with new ones.
Where does the law of unintended consequences come in? All the church fathers
disappear as unnecessary because the Scripture alone is sufficient. If it is sufficient, we
do not need anyone else. With the ancient church fathers gone, it is possible for the new
fathers to substitute their new exegesis of Scripture, free of the restraints of theology
which had guided the church during the first three centuries.
In this, an irony is produced. We now pay high regard to the thinking about Scripture of
the reformers, while diminishing the role of the church fathers. We replace a tradition
now 2,000 years old, with one 500 years old, and think we have made progress. It is a
double irony that the reformers thought they were bringing the church back to what it was
like in the New Testament era What they actually succeeded in doing was wiping out the
witness of those who saw the New Testament first applied.
This is freedom indeed! Now, we think we can interpret scripture without reference to
the first witnesses. Modem exegetical wizards go to great lengths to show how words are
used, even in the non-biblical literature, as a way of showing the meaning of the words
254Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies, 6.5 Ante-Nicene Fathers:
Vol. 2, p.489.
within Scripture. This is all good and adds insight. We appreciate the contribution. But
how is it reasonable to ignore the interpretation of those who had read both the secular
literature and the Scripture in their native language? They read the New Testament with
the understanding that being in the immediate culture would bring.
In the first three centuries such Protestant thinking would never have been allowed.
Listen to Irenaeus on this subject!
True knowledge is [that which consists in] the doctrine of the apostles, and
the ancient constitution of the Church throughout all the world, and the
distinctive manifestation of the body of Christ according to the
successions of the bishops, by which they have handed down that Church
which exists in every place, and has come even unto us, being guarded and
preserved, without any forging of Scriptures, by a very complete system of
doctrine, and neither receiving addition or [suffering] curtailment [in truths
which she believes]; and [it consists in] reading [the work of God] without
danger and without blasphemy; and [above all, it consists in] the pre
eminent gift of love, which is more precious than knowledge, more
glorious than prophecy, and which excels all the other gifts [of God].255
A Protestant Irenaeus would have ended after the first phrase. In this, many modem
Pentecostals are consummate Protestants. Fee is among them. He can leap directly from
the 20thcentury, over the early centuries of biblical interpretation, and land upon the
original text and proclaim its meaning. Even when he disagrees with those who were one
or two generations from the original hearers, he is comfortable in doing so because the
Reformation killed the early church fathers long ago and the dead offer no resistance.
255Irenaeus. AgainstHeresies. 4.33.8. ANF. Vol. 1.p 508.
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Joseph B. Fuiten
J oseph Fuiten was raised in rural Oregon in the home of a mother and father who were
both Assemblies of God ministers. As a youth he was active in sports, music, debate, student
government, and politics. His life-long dream was to go into law and politics. Pursuing that
dream led him to attend Willamette University and obtain a BA in Political Science .
At Willamette University, J oe pursued politics, being elected Chairman of the College
Republicans of Oregon, Student Body President of Willamette, and National Student
Representative. His internship was as a lobbyist in the Oregon Legislature working on the
Oregon Motorist Information Act of 1971. He also worked as a chauffeur for Clay Meyers,
Oregons Secretary of State.
A call to the ministry resulted in a changed direction. Licensed as a minister while still
a student, J oe began preaching to youth during the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s,
and helped start the Willamette Christian Body on campus. He also helped start the J esus
Festival Movement by founding the Sweet Jesus, Prince of Peace, Rock Festival, in 1971 at
McCullough Stadium in Salem
In 1972 J oe entered the formal church ministry as a Youth Evangelist and thereafter as
a Youth Pastor. He has served as an Associate Pastor in Aloha, Oregon with Rev. John
Fuiten and as Associate Pastor with Dr. Fulton Buntain at Life Center in Tacoma
Washington.
In 1979 he was elected Director of Christian Education for the Northwest District
Council of the Assemblies of God, with responsibilities in Church Growth, Christian
Schools, and Sunday Schools for the 370 churches of the Northwest District Council.
Since 1981 he has served as Senior Pastor of Cedar Park Assembly of God in Bothell,
Washington, starting with one part time secretary and building an organization of twelve
Pastors and seventy four staff members, including founding a fully accredited Christian
School through twelfth grade.
J oe earned his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Northwest Graduate School of the
Ministry in 1995. He has since joined the regular faculty of the Graduate School. He also
serves as an adjunct faculty member for Northwest College of the Assemblies of God. He
serves the denomination on the Ministerial Enrichment Committee which designs personal,
family, and professional programs for the 32,000 ministers of the Assemblies of God. J oe is
a member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.
J oe has also helped found a number of organizations including Channel 20 in Seattle, a
Christian television station now owned by Trinity Broadcasting Co., Mission of Mercy, a
Colorado based Missions fund raising organization generating about $3 million per year,
Mainstream Ministries, a national Youth Pastors training organization, and the Chapel of the
Resurrection, a ministry for burial of Christians in an inspiring setting.
His interests in the community have been reflected in hosting television and radio talk
programs, coaching Little League, serving two Governors on the Governors Advisory
Council on HIV/AIDS, and serving on a variety of boards. He is the Vice-President of
Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government.
J oe is married to the former Linda VandenBos. Together they have four children, from
ages 16 to 23.
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