Baptism of Spirit With Dispensation

7/25/2019 Baptism of Spirit With Dispensation

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The Pentecostal revival begun in 1901, preparatory with Charles Parham asked

the Topeka Bible School Students to study the scriptures to determine was there any

scripture to support the doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Parham and his school

had first theorized that glossolalia as evidence that believers were baptized in the Holy

Spirit, a doctrine that became the distinguishable theology of Pentecostalism.

Pentecostalism is a major event in the Restoration Movement history.

William Seymour as a black man endured much humiliation studied at Topeka

under Jim Crow laws, in order to learn this new theology of Pentecostalism.1Later

Seymour began to preach this Pentecostal doctrine in a broken down stable on Azusa

Street in downtown Los Angeles, and he quickly attracted a passionate multiracial

congregation. The Azusa Street revival, the first structured Pentecostal worship wasdrawing inquisitive Christians from around the world. Many worshippers saw this racial

integration worship as a sign of Gods presence.2 Their main teaching was based on Acts

chapter two, when the upper room believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and they

were speaking in tongues. They concluded that speaking in tongues is the evident that a

believer has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism linked the spiritual gifts

such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, and healing as described in the book of Acts as

the restoration of the Spirits power to the present day church, a new era of restoration

before the Second Coming.3

Some had argued that Pentecostals have no developed hermeneutics, they

generally disregard for scientific exegesis, and Pentecostals only developed a kind of

pragmatic hermeneutics.4However history shows that the hermeneutics of early

Pentecostals are following closely with the holiness hermeneutics method.5The holiness

1Burgess, The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids,

Zondervan, 2002) p 10552Fahlbusch, The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 4, (Grand Rapids,Eerdmans,2005)p 138

3Blumhofer, Restoring the Faith, The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture,University of Illinois Press (Champaign, 1993) p 4-5, 84, 116

4Fee, Gospel and Spirit (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991), 85-86.5Burgess, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1996) p378


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movement recognizes the importance of exegesis and the historical-grammatical method

for interpreting Scripture; nevertheless they argue that believers need the Spirit of God to

hear the voice of God. Holiness held that the Holy Spirit not only inspired the biblical

writers but He continually inspires and guides all believers in the interpretation through

the spiritual cultural context of the community. Their hermeneutic allows for multiple

meanings from the same biblical passage but guide by the rule of faith. The main

function of the early Pentecostals hermeneutics is to formation of theology to defend their

teaching in glossolalia as evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.6Following the

Holiness, the Pentecostals also argue that the Holy Spirit allows the believers to

understand the meaning of the Scripture, communicating in the Divine revelation,

producing prophetic messages from the Scripture.7Yet modern Pentecostal and neo-

Pentecostal (Charismatic) recognize the necessity of both historical-grammatical

exegetical methods and total reliance on the Holy Spirits ability to illuminate and guide

into spiritual cultural context of the community. The community, the Scripture, and the Holy

Spirit are interdependent dialogical partners participating in discussion for theological

meaning. This hermeneutic is changing the Enlightenment emphasis on the scientific method to

the postmodern emphasis on the experimental method. Some theologians assert the doctrines of

this community become mostly experimental. However, the community experimental method

does not imply that the Scripture can be interpreted to whatever meaning that the community

desire. In the internet age, individual of the community can easily access to free Bible software

with commentaries, Greek and Hebrew directories, background information, even the early

Church Fathers writing to determinate the meaning of a biblical passage. The individual of the

community can also access many theological discussion blogs and writings to confirm the

community interpretation of a passage. While Pentecostals readily endorses the community

experimental method, they often resist placing experience on the front end of the hermeneutical

process.8

There is much criticism against the Pentecostals preference using the book of Acts

as abiblical authority for its distinctive doctrines of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and

spiritual gifts. Many pastors and classicist scholars such as Meyer, Blailock, and Bruce

view the book of Acts is only a historical document of the Early Church era. Some

6Ibid, p 3797Ibid, p 3828Ibid, p 384


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scholars argue that Christians cannot draw doctrine out from the book of Acts; Christian

doctrines should draw from the Pauls writings.

Thus Narrative in and itself is an insufficient form theological discourse as

compared to Epistle 9

Pinnock & Osborne denied that Luke had any theological intent in writing the

book of Acts and there is no normative on the doctrine of speaking in tongues.10The

dispensational theologians also reject that Joels prophecy in Acts chapter two apply to

the current church era. Yet, dispensationalism is facing its own theological challenges

with the progressive dispensationalism, the Kingdom is here but not yet concept.

Dispensationalism is changing, reformulating their dispensationalist theology. Theprogressive

dispensationalists reject the distinctive dispensational hermeneutic, they reduce the number of

kingdoms referred to in the Bible.11Moreover, the Today theological doctrine arises

from the book of Hebrews also becomes problematic to the dispensationalists. In

Hebrews 3:13, the author exhorts the believers to encourage each other every day while

there is the Today; this part of the verse is in the present indicative tense (a continuous

action into the present), again in chapter 4:7 God appoints a certain day called "Today,"

saying through David, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Both

words appoints and saying in verse 7 are inpresent indicative tense, God is

appointing a certain one day, it means during the time or this period, thus this is time of

Christ, unlike another other period, it is not temporary time, nor this is a dispensational

period, this Today is the same yesterday, today and forever age (Heb 13:8), this one

day is the Church Era, Today is the Holy Spirit speaking directly to His children (Heb

3:7), it is the DAY we hear His voice (Heb 3:15).12It is the DAY of the Spirit of

prophecy. There is no dispensation in the Era of the Church, the time of Christ is one

day, the Today.

9Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1994) p 42110Pinnock & Osborne, A Truce Proposal for the Tongues Controversy, Christianity TodayOct. 1971, p 111Mouw, Christianity Today,"What the Old Dispensationalists Taught Me,"March 6, 1995, p. 3412Long, Hebrews, Belief a Theological Commentary on the Bible


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Many of dispensationalists rely on Warfields conclusion to tie the end of

prophecy to the completion of the canon (with or without the help of 1 Cor. 13:810)

without personal research on the second century document evidences but to assume that

the evidence will support Warfields theory. The documental evidences come from every

quarter of the second century, from the widest geographical distribution (Gaul, Rome,

Asia Minor, Africa, Syria), and from the majority of the writers, the documental

evidences had shown that the dispensationalists cannot depend on such document

evidences to support, nor can they rely on the church fathers to agree with the proposal

that prophecy and canon cannot coexist. The spiritual gift and the Spirit Of prophecy

did not suddenly cease at the end of the apostolic era. The documental evidences have

shown that they continue in the churches throughout the following century and into the

next. During that period the Church enjoyed all the components of the emerging Christian

canon and fresh specific guidance from the Spirit.13The Didache is a Church manual of

the late first or early second century, a manual of moral instruction and church order. The

Didache addresses the issue of local and itinerant prophets; it gives directives for

discerning the true from the false prophets. For centuries Christians enjoy reading the

Shepherd of Hermas, which is written in Rome (90150 AD), possibly in stages. Hermes

own experiences tended toward visions, angelic visitations, and voices from heaven.

Polycarp, a younger contemporary of Ignatius, is martyred around the middle of thesecond century. The account of his death is drawn up almost immediately. It included a

vision and a reference to other predictions. The Epistle of Barnabas (early- to mid-second

century?) regards the gift of prophecy as a sign of Gods presence in the congregation.

Throughout the Church history, we will discover that after the Apostle Era and the

completion of the Cannon (about 400 AD), there are still many well documented physical

healings and operations of spiritual gifts in the Church, Augustine (354-430 AD)

provides cases of over seventy miracles in and around his church such as a woman is

healed of her breast cancer when she made the sign of Christ on her sore; an old

comedian of Curubis is healed of paralysis and hernia at baptism. 14Gregory the

Wonderworker (213-270 AD) bishop of Neo-Caesarea, he becomes a Christian under the

13Gary Shogren, Christian Prophecy and Canon in the Second Century: A response to B.B.Warfied,

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Vol.40, No.4 (1997), p 609-62614Augustine, The City of God, Book XXII. Chapter 8


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influence of Origen. He preaches the gospel on the streets, and he heals a crowd of sick

people, soon after he builds a church in that city. Theodore of Sykeon (759-826 AD) is

well-known for his miracles of healing, expelling demons, and for inducing repentance of

sin. St. Catherine of Siena (1380 AD) is prominent by extraterrestrial visions,

consolations, healing power, and bring the dead back to life. J.C. Blumhardt, his healing

ministry is from 1829 to 1880, the famous Swiss theologian Barth calls Blumhardt his

mentors. People are often healed spontaneously, while listening to his sermons, with no

special acts or instructions on Blumhardts part at all. Sometimes people receive healings

while Blumhardt is praying for them after they had come to confess sinning and seeking

God for forgiveness. Blumhardt usually find out the healings well after they had

happened, and often surprise takes him.15 Brother Andre (1845-1937) a humble Quebec

priest who suffer poor physical health, but over 435 people are cured through his

intercession as reported by Lafreniere in 1916, Arthur Saint Pierre even offers medical

certification for some of the cures. 16According to some surveys, currently 70 to 80

percent of U.S. respondents believe God heals people in answer to prayer, and that in

many Latin American, Asian and African countries where Pentecostal growth is

occurring most rapidly, as many as 80 percent of first generation Christians attribute their

conversions primarily to having received divine healing for themselves or a family

member.

17

Most of the modern-day Evangelical scholars such as Stanley Toussaint, Menzies,

Gary McGee and Max Turner even though they hold the opinion that the book of Acts is

history but they also argue that the book of Acts is intensely theological. Luke is teaching

eternal doctrines to the Christians through story telling, his teaching apply to the first

century Christians as well as the present day Christians. The Book of Acts is the doctrines

of God reveal through history,

--- on the contrary, our focus as interpreters must be on the biblical witness.

Gods word is in history but not of it. The ultimate purpose of Scripture is to draw us into

15Ronald A.N.Kydd, Healing through the Centuries Models for Understanding, (Hendrickson Publishers,

Peabody, 1998) p.34-44

16Ibid. 9417Indiana Professor Awarded $150,000 Grant to Study Divine Healing, ASSIST News Service, online:

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09040059.htm (April 9, 2009)


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the drama of redemption, into the life and action of the triune God, so that we can be

faithful yet creative actors who glorify God in all that we say and do. 18

Turner, Dunne, Menzies and Stronstad all had emphasized in different ways that

throughout the book of Acts an emphasis on the spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit is a gift

by its nature prophetic, empowering and experiential, dynamic experience of God.

Of all the evangelists, Luke alone records this consciousness in Jesus and the

disciples that they have received the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of prophecy. Lukes record

of this appeal to the prophets demonstrates that in the experience of the early church and

the theology of Luke the last days have now dawned in the successive ministries of Jesus

and the disciples.19

The first two chapters of Luke, there are nine references to the Holy Spirit (1:15,

17, 35, 41, 67, 80; 2:25, 26, 27), and within the first two chapters of Acts, there again

nine verses refer to the Spirit (1:2, 5, 8, 16; 2:4, 17, 18, 33, 38). Luke divulges one of his

intentions is to emphasis the Spirit of Prophecy, the Lord is speaking to His Church

through the Spirit (Acts 2:17). A look at the 21 st century, the continuing growth of the

world wide Pentecostal/neo Pentecostal Christians will excess 500 millions;20the

doctrine of the Holy Spirit is at the center stage of Christian discussions.

Corroborating with the Today teaching in the book of Hebrews, Luke in hiswriting again emphasis the Holy Sprit is continue speaking to His Church Today, in

Act 2:17 Luke quoted Joels prophecy by adding, God is saying (!"#"$ % &"%') into it,

saying is in the present continuous or progressive kind of action tense. Luke is teaching

the readers a theological concept of progressive revelation that God is pouring out His

Spirit to all believers continuously thorough out the last days. In Joel's wording the

outpouring of the Spirit is to take place in the indefinite "hereafter," but the quotation in

Acts 2:17 replaces "hereafter" by the more definite "in the last days." The coming of the

Spirit, that is to say, is the token that the "last days"--the days for "establishing all that

18Kevin Vanhoozer, Lost in Interpretation? Truth, Scripture, and Hermeneutics, ETS Vol.48, No.1 p.104,113

19Stronstrad, The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (Peabody, Hendrickson, 1984) p 75, 76

20Vinson Synan, The Century of the Holy Spirit, (Nelson, Nashville, 2001) p.372


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God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old" (Acts 3:21)--have been

inaugurated by the ministry, death, and exaltation of Jesus. This eschatological note is not

so prominent in Luke's writings as it is in some of the other NT documents, but the whole

record of Acts presupposes that the "last days" stretch from the exaltation of Jesus to his

coming as judge (Acts 10:42; 17:31), and the presence and activity of the Spirit provide

unmistakable testimony to the fact that the last days are here.21

For Luke, the Spirit is God revealing himself-accosting us, surprise us, giving us

dreams and revelations, leading us in unexpected directions, manifesting himself in

unexpected ways and places, making Christ almost palpably present to us, grasping us

with profound and transformational understanding, bringing joy and praise to our lips and

hearts, giving special wisdom in testing circumstances, on occasion filling us with

special prophetic words, and more generally empowering that us to share the good news

of our God and of his wondrous deeds accomplished in Christ. That is what Luke means

when he talks of Jesus pouring out Joels promised eschatological gift of the Spirit of

prophecy in Act 2. And he does not think of this gift merely as one for the golden age of

the churchs beginnings. For him, as indeed Joel promised, the gift of the Spirit is

essentially the Spirit of prophecy and it is for all Gods people. And so, as the childrens

children of the first post-Pentecost believers, and those also called by the Lord, it is

implicitly for the present-day readers too (cf. Acts 2:38-39). ----- there is little doubt thathe walks shoulder to shoulder with his canonical companions, Paul and John. 22Peter

affirmed the promise is the promise of the Father" in Acts 1:4, it is "the promise of the

Holy Spirit" in Acts 2:33 because the Spirit is the substance of the promise; he is, as Paul

wrote, "the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph 1:13).

Some Bible translations footnoted that the most reliable earliest manuscripts and ancient witnesses

do not have these verses. However, these last 12 verses in Mark are cited (at least in part) by

many ancient witnesses, such as Justin (165 AD), Tertullian (220 AD), Hippolytus (235

21Bruce, LUKE'S PRESENTATION OF THE SPIRIT IN ACTS, Criswell Theological Review 5.1 (1990)p. 15-2922Max Turner, Luke and the Spirit, Renewing Theological Interpretation of Biblical Pneumatology,

Reading Luke (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2005) p.289


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AD), Ambrose (397 AD) and Augustine (430 AD).23 Dr. Cyrus Scofield comments in

the Scofield Bible that these verses are quoted by Irenaeus and Hippolytus in the second

or third century.24The 3rdcentury Church Fathers have quoted the entire verse of Mark 16.17 in their

ancient writing (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII, Book VIII, Sec. I. On the Diversity of

Spiritual Gifts).

It is correct to say that there are two ancientmanuscript copies do not include

Mark 16.9-20 (Vatican Codex and Sinaitic Codex), however there is no evidence to

support these two manuscript copies are more reliable than other 24,000 partial and

complete manuscript copies of the New Testament. We can find about 150,000 variants

among all the manuscript copies; nevertheless, 99% of the variants hold virtually no

significance.Dr. Steven Cox points out the facts that the last 12 verses of Mark are very

possible found in the older manuscripts of Vaticanus Codex and Sinaiticus Codex.

Vaticanus was copied from an ancestor (i.e. older than Vaticanus) which must

have contained 9-20, since space is left for 9-20 to be filled in, and then started to write

Luke on the reverse side of the page. This is the only blank column in the whole NT ofVaticanus. Normally books start on the same page, so Mark starts immediately under

Matthew, Luke immediately under Mark, and so on. Sinaiticus, was also copied from an

ancestor (i.e. older than Sinaiticus) which must have contained 9-20, since the sheet for

Mark 14:54to Luke 1:56has been replaced with a new copy written on new sheet (a

bifolium, a sheet folded in the middle creating four pages). The handwriting of the new

page is different from the scribe who wrote the pages either side. This replacement sheet

for Mark 14:54to Luke 1:56is spaced with larger letters than the surrounding pages, and

includes an ornamental arabesque to fill the extra space.25

23John William Burgon, The Revision Revised, (Conservative Classics, Paradise, PA, 1883), p. 422-42324Cyrus Scofield, Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition), Mark 16.9

25Steven Cox, Is Mark 16: 9-20 Original? http://bibleq.info/answer/629/ (Oct.30, 2009)


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Part of Mark Chapter 13

Part of Mark Chapter 16 26

We can observe by the above images of the Sinaitic Codex, the handwriting in Mark 16 is

of a different person. Thus the reliability of the Mark 14:54to Luke 1:56in this Sinaitic

Codexbecome very questionable. Under the rule of law, these verses written on a new page

inserted into the originalcodex, with the handwriting of a different person from the scribe who

wrote the pages either side is regard as unauthentic document, as a result this inserted page is not

admissible as genuine document in a court of law.27

Beside the Vatican Codex and Sinaitic Codex, there is still another valuable 5thcentury

Greek manuscript of the Old and New Testaments, Codex Alexandrinus (the Britannica

26Codex Sinaiticus, Mark 16, Luke 2, http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/ (Nov. 2, 2009)27Federal Evidence Rule 902


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encyclopedia recognizes it as an importance manuscript which is now preserved in the

British Library).28

Mark 16. 9-20 is found in this manuscript copy, and these last 12 verses in Mark also can

be found in most other complete manuscript copies Greek uncials (A, C, D, K, X, D, Q,

and P) dated among the fifth and ninth centuries, these last 12 verses also contained in

later dated Greek minuscule (137, 138, 1110, 1210, 1215, 1216, 1217, 1221, and 1582)

and in the majority of Old Latin texts as well as the Coptic versions and other early

translations.29

There is no evidence to support those verses 9-20 of chapter 16 of Mark are not in

theoriginal manuscript;on the contrary, the evidences support that these last 12 verses of

Mark have cited by many early Church Fathers. The 3rdcentury Church Fathershave quoted

Mark 16.17 directly, we can find these verses in many reliable manuscript copies of the

New Testament. Throughout Church history, the Church has accepted Mark 16. 9-20 as

part of the Canon. For the reasons cited above these 12 verses are part of the Scripture which

cannot be deleted or ignore by the present day Christians.

Consequently, the promises made by our Lord Jesus to the believers in Mark 16.17 and 18 that the

miracles will accompany those who believe, such as in His name Christians can cast out

demons, Christians can lay their hands on the sick, the sick will recover, and Christians

can speak in new tongues, these promises absolutely apply to the present day Christians.

Evidently from the very beginning Christians have believed in the miraculous and the

power of the Christian faith to work miracles is one factor in the conversion of the

28Codex Alexandrinus, Britannica online encyclopedia, online:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/123927/Codex-Alexandrinus(Oct.29, 2009)

29John William Burgon, The Revision Revised, (Conservative Classics, Paradise, PA, 1883), p. 422-423.

Dr. Steven Cox also has provided extensive information on the evidences to support that Mark 16.9-20 is in

the original text in the bible Q bible questions answered website, http://bibleq.info/answer/629/ (Oct.30,

2009)


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Roman Empire. In the years after 500 AD miracles loom more prominently in the

writings of educated leaders of the church in the West.30

. By His promises, we can connect to our charismatic, supernatural and powerful

God; we must engage in the Divine Power moves us out of the limitation of the absolute

three-dimension natural realm, to witness the deliverance power of God in action. After

all we are commanded to be witnesses for our risen Lord (Acts 1.8), our Lord is alive,

and His redemption model has not been changed, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and

forever (Heb 13.8).

30Kenneth Latourette, A History of Christianity, (Harper & Row, Publishers, San Francisco, 1953) Vol.1,

p.369

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Baptism of Spirit With Dispensation