"Spiritual Gifts" (Thomas R. Schreiner)

TITLE: Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They Matter
AUTHOR: Thomas R. Schreiner
PUBLISHER: Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2018, (192 pages).

Spiritual gifts are important for us, individually as well as for the  Church. While there are different interpretations of what they are and how they are used, the general agreement is that they are from God and are used for the edification of the body of Christ. Unfortunately, many churches and believers have unwittingly allowed their differences and interpretations get in the way of seeing the bigger picture of what spiritual gifts are essentially about. What are the essential and non-essential aspects of spiritual gifts? How do we disagree without tearing our communities apart? In this book, author Thomas Schreiner deals with one of the most contentious gifts in the history of the Church: What about the gifts of apostle, prophets, and tongues? Have they ceased? Schreiner argues from a "nuanced cessationism" perspective. Healing and miracles still exist but are increasingly rare because all we need are in the revealed Scriptures already. More importantly, he wants us to focus more on the "nuancing" rather than the "ceasing." For once we understand the nuances, we will understand why he is arguing for the cessation perspective.


Schreiner begins by arguing that the matters is not a "first-order issue," meaning it does not come into doctrinal category of faith statements and convictions. Nuancing means the ability to distinguish what are the first, second, third, or other order matters. It is about respectable discussions based on reasoned interpretations of Scripture. It means learning to disagree in a respectful and mature manner. He notes upfront about disagreeing with friends and teachers such as Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Sam Storms, and others. His purpose is to offer a defense of his views and to briefly discuss the alternative views to the "continuationist" view.  He highlights the pluses and minuses of the charismatic movement and poses probing questions about how our own backgrounds colour our interpretations of the charismatic movement. He defines spiritual gifts as "gifts of grace granted by the Holy Spirit for the edification of the church." Using Kenneth Berding's table of spiritual gifts, he goes on to highlight the gifts of teaching to help us understand the place of prophecy. With teaching comes knowledge. With prophecy comes revelation. The simple logic is that if the Scriptures are already fully revealed, what is the place of prophecy then? The gift of faith is not about salvation but about vision for the future. Healing and miracles may still exist but they need a shroud of regularity in order to be considered mainstay of faith. He deals with other gifts such as discernment, help, administration, exhortation, giving, evangelism, and mercy before making an exception for apostles and tongues. He nuances the latter two into gifts of serving and speaking according to 1 Peter 4:11. One helpful thing he does is to share more about pastoral aspects of Spiritual Gifts, something he notes as "Five Truths about Spiritual Gifts." First, the Lordship of Christ means we let our gifts reflect our obedience to our Lord Jesus. Second, we need to think reasonably and constructively about our giftings.  Third, we honour the diversity of gifts from God. Fourth, we cannot let gifts set us apart in superior or inferior categories. Fifth, only God decides what gifts are given. We are not what the gifts tell us. We are what God says we are. Other truths include the edification of the Church; empowerment for service; edification through understanding; and most of all, love. After setting down the primary rules of engagement, we are ready for a fuller treatment of tongues, prophecies, and all the other controversial gifts made popular by the charismatic movement.

Three Thoughts
First, this book is a bold attempt to deal with something often avoided because of the fear of conflict and disagreement. Truth is, whether we admit or not, we already have different opinions about spiritual gifts. By using his nuanced approach, Schreiner has expanded the space for inclusiveness regardless of where we stand. This is helpful because it gives us room to be different. We can take our time to understand one another without being hasty in abandoning our convictions. Such a space for discussion will be good for conversation and constructive feedback. When we no longer feel threatened about being forced to change our views, we are more able to see beyond self-interests and selfish motives. We all have a common desire for truth and being inclusive about such a topic will help us approach that objective.

Second, the manner of "nuanced cessationalism" adopted by Schreiner is an example for us to follow. Sometimes, we are tempted toward a binary perspective which forces us to take sides. While it can help in terms of clarity of positions, it may harm the overall mood of the relationships we have. By nuancing our views and understanding the nuances of other perspectives, we are better able to reason, to argue, and to debate in a loving and constructive manner. We open ourselves to the gifting of others which would do wonders to the exercise of the spiritual gifts for the edification of the Church at large.

Third, I believe the conclusion is not so important. That means the cessation or non-cessation statements should not be the main thing. The main purpose is the glory of God. The more important thing is the truths of spiritual gifts as described in the set of ten truths discussed over two chapters and beyond. These truths help the various gifts be exercised altogether. One helpful thing I have learned is to distinguish the majors from the minors. Schreiner calls the majors as "first order." Since the gifts of prophecy and tongues are of the second or third orders, we should be able to maintain a more open stance.

This is a useful book that would help believers of different backgrounds to come together for discussion or learning from one another, without any need to dumb down anyone or any one perspective. He helpfully deals with the different questions and gives us his views about them. He even challenges some conventional views that argue for the cessation of such gifts and shows us how we could argue more constructively and biblically. Whether you are cessationist or not, Schreiner is one person that you would feel you could engage with.

Thomas R. Schreiner is the James Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has also taught New Testament at Azusa Pacific University and Bethel Theological Seminary.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

---

This book has been provided courtesy of B and H Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.