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A QUESTION OF
GIFTS
Peter with pentecost
Paul with
the word of god
with love
Rev. Dr. Robert
E. Donaldson
Th.D., M.A. (Hons.), B.D., B.A., Dip.Ed.,
of the Presbyterian
Church in
References to The Shadow of a Mighty Rock
(1992 & 1996)
are to a trilogy on Christian apologetics,
by the author, also
published ON THE WEB by –
World Wide Web Witness Inc.
This work:
1996
Revised January 1998
ISBN
0 9586992 5 9
I. INTRODUCTION
Many are and have for
years been exercised by certain questions relating to Pentecostal teachings.
Indeed we might think of some of the chief of these as:
QUESTIONS: QUAINT,
QUERULOUS,
QUIRKISH OR ... SINCERE.
Are unintelligible
tongues commanded by the Bible for the churches ?
Should they have
major emphasis ?
Are they a necessary
or sure sign of conversion ? or of some kind of sanctification ?
If they occur, should
they be a joint church act ? or single ?
How do they compare
with intelligible speech for the purposes of God in churches
?
What is their real
thrust and purpose ?
The
panoramic place of Pentecostalism, amid modern movements, in the terrain
of history, is of great interest. This however is not regarded until the
epilogue, lest the basic questions be confused. Yet when these are done,
and we have examined its particular features, its place broadly in our time
will be of more interest, and more profitable to consider.
Does such a thing
as unintelligible speech, with or without someone
to try to explain it, make it right to join with any others, of whatever
beliefs, who also so speak ?
How do tongues
relate to the word of God, in its teaching, in its preaching
?
What happened
at Pentecost in this regard, and what at
Should Pentecostalism
be called Corinthianism ?
Why ? or
why not ?
What is 'Holy
Laughter', and how does it relate to the Bible ... and to 'tongues' ?
Was such a thing
as speaking in tongues predicted in the Old Testament
? if so, for what purpose ?
CONTENTS
I. Introduction (above)
II. A Question of Gifts 1-37
III. Mark
on Tongues
39-47
IV. The Tongue of Truth and Brotherly Love
49-57
V. Pentecostalism - and Frequent
Mistakes,
Misinterpretations -
in brief
59-64
VI. Pathology : A Panorama for Pentecostalism
and a Place
for
VII. On the All-Sufficiency of God
and the Covenantal
Keeping
of the Contrite
73-76
VIII. Survey of Sights in the Relevant Scene
- The End of the
Rocky Road:
Moving
from Regulative Dangers
from Experience
to Determinative Powers for it:
Surveying in the Context
of Pathology:
Elements of Pentecostalism,
Schullerism,
the World Council of Churches,
and
the Confession of 1967
77-81
IX. Finale ... Christ, Signs and
Salvation
83-91
X. Appendix 1
A
Spiritual Supplement on Seeking Guidance
93-100
A
Structural Supplement
on Prophets and Prophetesses
101-112
XII. Appendix 3
on 'Holy Laughter'
113-123
XIII. Appendix 4
on
multi-functionality of gifts
125-131
See Also
ELTHAM on
Tongues and Authority, the Bible and Revelation,
for a brief pithy summary.
Robert E. Donaldson
Th.D.
1996 (Revised January
1998)