Bibliographic information:
Ruthven, Jon. On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-Biblical Miracles. 2nd edition, revised and expanded. Tulsa, OK: Word & Spirit Press, 2011.
Description:
The first edition of On the Cessation of the Charismata has been recognized by several major scholars as the “definitive study” or “best” in the field to date. Now the expanded edition introduces new material that moves the discussion well beyond the current dialogue. While this book answers traditional cessationist arguments emphasizing the experience of history, it focuses instead on the extensive biblical teaching that all its listed gifts of the Holy Spirit, commended “to all” and required by scripture itself, occupy the very center of God’s relationship with mankind today. The New Covenant prophetic Spirit is introduced as the climax and action point of the most significant speech of Christianity: the Pentecost address, where Peter’s citation of Isaiah 59:21 predicts that the Spirit of prophecy will “not depart from . . . your children’s children, forever.” The centrality of this prediction finds support in the fact that the early chapters of Acts (especially Acts 2) represent a coherent, expanded paraphrase of Isaiah 59:19-21. Appendix III addresses Ephesians 2:20, claimed by cessationists as the key verse to prove the cessation of the so-called “miraculous” charismata, is the very verse that teaches that the Spirit offers these “foundational” gifts for as long as the Church exists on this earth.
Publisher:
Tulsa, OK: Word & Spirit Press.