Holy Spirit and Church
Are miraculous spiritual gifts for today?
Christians agree that the Holy Spirit equips the church and that every claimed miracle or prophecy must be tested. They disagree over whether revelatory and sign gifts ceased with the apostolic foundation, may still occur but should not be expected as ordinary ministry, continue under careful biblical regulation, or should be actively sought as a normal dimension of Pentecostal mission and worship.
The question
Where the disagreement lies
The debate concerns gifts such as prophecy, tongues, healing, and miracles rather than the Spirit’s continuing work in general. It depends on how the uniqueness of the apostles relates to later church ministry, whether New Testament prophecy carries the same authority as Scripture, and how experience should be welcomed, tested, and corrected.
Different Perspectives
TransparencySources, generation and reviewHuman review pending
AI generation record
- System
- OpenAI Codex AI assistant
- Generated
- 19 August 2026
- Review
- Human review pending
The AI synthesized the content from the listed biblical, scholarly, and ecclesial sources. Associations describe broad affinities, not formal endorsements by every person or tradition represented.
- Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Robert L. Saucy, Sam Storms, and Douglas A. Oss, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views
A Zondervan Academic comparison of cessationist, open-but-cautious, continuationist, and Pentecostal/charismatic positions.
- Assemblies of God (USA), Modern-Day Prophecy
An official Pentecostal statement affirming contemporary prophecy while requiring scriptural testing and communal accountability.