We can see from the writings of the early
Church Fathers in the post-apostolic period that the ministries of healing,
miracles and casting out evil spirits were still practised within the Christian
community. Some relevant quotations are
given below. Such references show us
that the ministry of divine healing did not pass away at the closing of the
apostolic period (nor when the canon of Scripture was completed). God is and always has been a God who will
heal people who come to him in faith and put their trust in the work of Christ
to redeem and heal. The teaching that the charismatic
gifts of the Holy Spirit passed away at the closing of the apostolic period
(so-called ‘cessationism’) is wrong and false. Healing and freedom from spiritual oppression
has always been a part of the redeeming purpose of God for people’s lives.
Attributed
to Clement of Rome (c35 – 99 AD)
‘Let
them (young ministers), therefore, with fasting and with prayer, make their
intercessions, and not with the elegant and well-arranged and fitly ordered
words of learning, but as men who have received the gift of healing,
confidently, to the glory of God.’[1]
Justin Martyr (died 165 AD)
‘For
numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world and in your city, many of our
Christian men, exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified
under Pontius Pilate, have healed, and do heal, rendering helpless and driving
the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the
other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs.’[2]
Tertullian (155 – 240 AD)
‘Why, all the authority and power we have over [demons] is from
our naming the name of Christ, and recalling to their memory the woes with which God threatens them at the hands of Christ as
Judge, and which they expect one day to overtake them. Fearing Christ in God,
and God in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God and Christ. So at our touch and breathing, overwhelmed by
the thought and realization of those judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies
they have entered, unwilling, and distressed, and before your very eyes put to
an open shame.’[3]
‘For the clerk of one of them who was liable to be thrown upon
the ground by an evil spirit was set free from his affliction, as was also the
relative of another, and the little boy of a third. And how many men of rank, to say nothing of
the common people, have been delivered from devils and healed of disease.’[4]
Irenaeus (died c200 AD)
‘Wherefore,
also, those who are in truth his disciples, receiving grace from him, do in his
name perform [miracles], so as to promote the welfare of other men, according
to the gift which each one has received from him. For some do certainly and truly drive out
devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently
both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come:
they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their
hands upon them, and they are made whole.
Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and
remained among us for many years.’[5]
Origen (184 – 253 AD)
‘And
some give evidence of their having received through their faith a marvellous
power by the cures which they perform, invoking no other name over those who
need their help than that of the God of all things, and of Jesus, along with a
mention of his history. For by these
means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities, and from
distractions of mind and madness, and countless other ills, which could be
cured neither by men nor devils.’[6]
‘If,
then, the Pythian priestess is beside herself when she prophesies, what spirit
must that be which fills her mind and clouds her judgment with darkness, unless
it be of the same order with those demons which many Christians cast out of
persons possessed with them? And this,
we may observe, they do without the use of any curious arts of magic, or
incantations, but merely by prayer and simple adjurations which the plainest person
can use. Because for the most part it is
unlettered persons who perform this work; thus making manifest the grace which
is in the word of Christ, and the despicable weakness of demons, which, in
order to be overcome and driven out of the bodies and souls of men, do not
require the power and wisdom of those who are mighty in argument, and most
learned in matters of faith.’[7]
Theodore
of Mopsuestia (c350 – 428 AD)
‘Many
heathen amongst us are being healed by Christians from whatever sickness they
have, so abundant are miracles in our midst.’[8]
St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD)
‘Augustine experienced a revival that
swept North Africa where he was bishop.
He wrote of miraculous healings from breast cancer, paralysis, hernia –
even raising of the dead after the funeral was arranged. In his own church, two epileptics were
instantly healed after they had fallen to the floor in convulsions. He said, “Praise to God was shouted so loud
that my ears could scarcely stand the din.”’[9]
[1] Two Epistles Concerning Virginity, First Epistle, ch.12.
[2] Apology II, ch.6.
[3] Apology, ch.23.
[4] Ad. Scap., IV, 4.
[5] Against Heresies, Book 2, ch.32.
[6] Against Celsus, Book III, ch.24.
[7] Against Celsus, Book 7, ch.4.
[8] Gordon, A.J. The Ministry of
Healing, p.62, quoting Christlieb’s Modern
Doubt, p.32.
[9] See Gear, S. St. Augustine:
The Skeptic Who Believed, Charisma, Sept. 1984, p.45.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.