2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity
Eddie L. Hyatt
Number of quotes: 8
Book ID: 3 Page: 24/26
Section: 2C
The move toward institutionalism in the early church arose as a means of defense against persecution from the state and imposition of error from heretical sects such as Gnosticism and Marcionism. Reacting to these threats, the church formalized worship and centralized power in the bishop. Unfortunately, this move toward organizational structure brought about a change in the very meaning of the word bishop.The word bishop is derived from the Geek word episcopas, which in its verb form means, “to watch over” and, therefore, “to superintend or to oversee.” Not unique to the New Testament, it was used in the larger Greco-Roman world of the first century in reference to individuals who functioned as tutors, inspectors, scouts, watchmen and superintendents. {2} In the apostolic church, the word was used to describe the function of oversight given to certain individuals in matters related to the churches. Acts 20:17, 28 and Titus 1:5-7 show that the same individuals who are known as episcopas are also referred to as elders who are expected to shepherd of pastor the flock.
With the growing emphasis on organizational structure, episcopas evolved into a separate and distinct office with increasing prestige and power.
. . . .
History demonstrates that the institutional trend advocated by Ignatius continued, culminating in the ecclesiasticism of the medieval Roman Catholic Church and in its monarchical bishop. This meant that outward ecclesiastical forms of both office and ritual came to be valued over personal, spiritual experiences. It also meant that spontaneous manifestations of the Holy Spirit became less and less desirable, especially by those in authority. It is for this reason that Ash, in answer to the popular notion that the charismatic gifts were replaced by the New Testament Canon, declares, “The bishops, not the Canon , expelled prophecy.”{7}
Quote ID: 15
Time Periods: 127
Book ID: 3 Page: 27
Section: 2D3A
Several regional councils or synods held in the latter half of the second century censured Montanus and his followers. This calling of church councils, however, merely highlights the impact that Montanism was having throughout the church. In their book Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Kilian McDonnell and George Montague point out that these were the first councils in the history of the church except for the Jerusalem council of Acts 15, and that “neither the threat of gnosticism, nor Marcionism had ever pressed the Church into calling councils”. {13}
Quote ID: 16
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 3 Page: 28
Section: 2D3A
In North Africa, the Montanists were defended by Tertullian, who joined the movement around the year A.D. 200. In Against Praxeas, Tertullian says that the bishop of Rome initially “acknowledged the prophetic gifts of Montanus, Prisca and Maximilla” and “bestowed his peace” upon the Montanist churches of Asia and Phrygia.{16} McDonnell points out that peace was a synonym for personal and ecclesial communion, and for the bishop to send letters of peace to the Montanist churches was to say, “We belong to the same communion; we celebrate the same Eucharist; we hold the same faith.” {17}A complication, however, arose through Praxeas, who taught a doctrine called monarchianism, declaring that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one and the same. He successfully influenced the Roman bishop against the new prophets, and the letters of peace were withdrawn. Tertullian says that Praxeas did a twofold service for the devil at Rome. “He drove away prophecy, and he brought in heresy; he put to flight the Paraclete, and he crucified the Father.” {18} Tertullian also wrote seven books defending ecstatic prophecy, all of which were either lost or destroyed.
Quote ID: 17
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 3 Page: 29
Section: 2D3A
After reading this book, Wesley wrote the following response in his Journal on August 15, 1750:I was fully convinced of what I had once suspected: 1) That the Montanist, in the second and third centuries, were real Scriptural Christians; and 2) That the grand reason why the miraculous gifts were so soon withdrawn was not only that faith and holiness were well nigh lost, but that dry, formal, orthodox men began even then to ridicule whatever gifts they had not themselves, and to decry them all as either madness or imposture. {20}
In summation, it is probably safe to say that Montanism was the first Charismatic Renewal within the church and that it sought to bring revival to a rapidly hardening ecclesiasticism. The institutional church obviously overreacted to the movement and accelerated a trend of disregard and disdain toward spiritual gifts. It also began a trend, as Philip Schaff has pointed out, wherein a sharp line was drawn “between the age of the apostles, in which there had been direct supernatural revelations, and the later age, in which such revelations had disappeared.” {23} McDonnell says, “The Church never really recovered its balance after it rejected Montanism.” {24}
Pastor John notes: Wow!
Quote ID: 18
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 3 Page: 30
Section: 2D3A
This institutional trend brought a sharp division in the church between clergy and laity, a division unknown in the New Testament Church. The criteria for teaching and leading ceased to be the calling or gifting of the Spirit, but was instead, ordination by ecclesiastical officials. Bultman points out that the gift of the Spirit to teach and lead, “which was originally given by the Spirit to the person, is now understood as an office--charisma conveyed by ordination.” {26} The clergy thus assumed all the ministerial responsibilities of the church, and a distinct priesthood parallel to that of the Old Testament emerged {27}The church’s reaction to Montanism contributed to the now rapid disappearance of spiritual gifts. By the third century, Origen would state explicitly that “these sign have diminished.”{28} The freedom of the Spirit was being replaced by ceremonial ritual and ecclesiastical order. The final blow to the charismatic character of the church would come with the conversion of Constantine and the church’s acquisition of earthly affluence and power.
Quote ID: 19
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 3 Page: 33/34
Section: 3C
[used in the Introduction] Constantine became directly involved in the affairs of the church, thereby setting the stage for the amalgamation of the powers of the church and state. In A.D. 325, for example, he called the first General Council of the Christian Church. Bishops from all parts of the empire convened in Nicea, a city in Asia Minor, at government expense. Constantine himself presided over the first session, and in later sessions he intervened at significant points in the discussions even though he had not yet been baptized. Kung says:Constantine used this first council not least to adapt the church organization to the state organization. The church provinces were to correspond to the imperial provinces, each with a metropolitan and a provincial synod. In other words, the empire now had its imperial church!{1}
Constantine also initiated the building of facilities to accommodate the religious gatherings of Christians. Prior to this, believers had met primarily in homes. Constantine, however, erected buildings in which the church was to meet. These he modeled after the architecture of the civic auditoriums of the day. This architecture, with its elevated throne-like seating at the front for the bishop and its rows of seating for the congregation, made significant congregational involvement impractical. In addition, the liturgy and worship style, once plain and personal, were now adorned with the pomp and practice of the Imperial court. {2}
Quote ID: 20
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 3 Page: 35
Section: 3A2A3
The elevation of Christianity to official status as the religion of the empire brought a political cohesion to the church it had previously not known. A universal system of church government began to emerge, and it soon became clear that it reflected the prevailing political pattern of the Roman Empire. At the same time, the bishop of the city of Rome began to be looked upon as a first among equals.PJ Note: “a political cohesion” means that its will could be imposed on others.
[This may be my addition, too] But the people who these Christians wanted to impose their will upon were not those who already agreed with them, but those who did not, be they believers holding on to a different gospel, the believers holding on to the true Gospel, or pagans clinging to the old ways. In the beginning of the New Testament, love of fellowship, and the concomitant fear of losing it, was the most powerful tool at the elders’ disposal for maintaining order; but now, that love and that fear would be replaced by self-preservation and fear of the sword; there was nothing left to love, officially anyway.
Quote ID: 21
Time Periods: 4567
Book ID: 3 Page: 45
Section: 2D3B
Augustine also discusses a phenomenon that he called jubilation, which is very similar to what modern Charismatics would call “singing in the Spirit,” that is, in other tongues. According to Augustine, a person begins to jubilate when the mouth is not able to express with words what the heart is singing. The person continues to make sounds, but the sounds are inarticulate because the heart is giving utterance to what it cannot say in words. He then says:And for whom is such jubilation fitting if not for the ineffable God? For he is ineffable whom one cannot express in words; and if you cannot express him in words, and yet you cannot remain silent either, then what is left but to sing in jubilation, so that your heart may rejoice without words, and your unbounded joy may not be confined by the limits of syllables. {17}
. . . .
Augustine may, therefore, be responsible, more than anyone else, for what has become known as the Cessation Theory.
PJ Note: Augustine (13 November 354 – 28 August 430)
Quote ID: 22
Time Periods: 45
End of quotes