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Date Posted: 00:19:14 11/29/06 Wed
Author: Surfer51
Subject: Re: Flesh And Blood
In reply to: Phillip Garoutte 's message, "Flesh And Blood" on 12:30:58 11/28/06 Tue

A few more things.

Just because a word does not line up with the Word of God, does not mean you are not a prophet or prophetic. It just means your word is off.

Lets go back to Paul.

1 Corinthians 14:29

The first question to be decided is, who are 'the others' whom Paul commands to do this evaluation of what the prophet said?

Are 'the others' those with the gift of 'distinguishing between spirits' in 1 Corinthians 12:10?

Some, though not many, New Testament commentators claim that 'the others' mentioned here are those with the gift of the distinguishing between spirits' in 1 Corinthians 12:10. The major reason in favor of this view is the similarity between the noun 'evaluation, discrimination, distinguishing' in 1 Corinthians 1210 and the verb 'evaluate, weigh, discern' in 1 Corinthians 14:29.

But it must be noted that both the noun and the verb have a wide range of meaning. It is not at all unlikely that Paul would have used diakrino in 1 Corinthian 12:10 to mean 'distinguishing' (among diffrent kinds of spirits) while using diakrinos in 1 Corinthians 14:29 to mean something quite diffrent, such as 'evaluate' or 'judge' (prophetic utterances). In fact, in 1 Corinthians alone Paul uses the verb diakrino in several senses."

In view of this wide range of Pauline meaning, it would be overly bold to assume that the noun in 1 Corinthians 12:10 must have the same sense as the verb in 14:29, and must refer to the same activity or gift.

Moreover, it is not legitimate simply to suppose that, 1 Corinthians 12:10 is restricted to the testing of prophets and prophecies. Bittlinger, for instance, suggests as examples of 'distinguishing between spirits' some of the exorcisms of Jesus where He knew there was a demon present, and the cases of Elymas (Acts 13:8) and the soothsaying girl (Acts 16:16-18). And Robertson and Plummer define the ability as, 'The gift of discerning in various cases (hence the plural) whether extraordinary spiritual manifestations were from above or not.

If we restrict the temptation to read into the text a limitation to the specific testing of prophecies, then a more general definition, like the one just mentioned by Robertson and Plummer, is in order. Something like 'the ability to recognize the influence of the Holy Spirit or of demonic spirits in a person' is more appropriate.

This means that any situation in which first century Christians would have seen demonic influence was a potential opportunity for the use of the gift of distinguishing between spirits. Was some sickness the result of demonic influence (Matt 12:22 Matt 9:32-34)? Then the person with this gift could recognize it and the demon could be cast out. Was an evil spirit causing someone to interrupt preaching or teaching or worship services (Acts 16:16-18)? Then the person with this gift could recognie the source of the trouble. Was someone prophesying by the power of an evil spirit (1 John 4:1-6)? Then the person with this gift could call attention to it. Since Paul mentions that demons were involved in pagan worship in Corinth (1 Cor 10:20), one can imagine a large number of cases where this gift would have been useful.

But if 1 Corinthians 12:10 is understood in this way, then 'the others' in 1 Corinthians 14;29 need not be restricted to those who possess the gift of distinguishing between spirits. For that gift would include a broader range of activity than simply judging prophets.

Furthermore, if Paul had meant to restrict his instructions in 1 Corinthians 14;29 to those with this gift, he would not have used such a general term as 'the others' and left it without furthur specification. He would have had to say something like, 'those with the gift of distinguishing between spirits' if he had wanted to convey this meaning to his readers.

Are 'the others' in 1 Corinthians 14:29 the other prophets?

A more common view of 1 Corinthians 14:29 is that when Paul said, 'Let the others weigh what is said,' he ment, 'Let the other prophets weigh what is said.'

Those who hold this view also usually appeal to 1 Corinthians 12;10, where it is clear that only some, not all Christians, had the gift of distinguishing between spirits. But then those who hold this view make two unwarranted assumptions:

A. that the limited group possessing the gift of 'distinguishing between spirits' includes most prophets; and
B. that this gift of 'distinguishing between spirits' is used in the 'evaluation' of prophecies in 1 Corinthians 14:29.

The problem with this is that in 1 Corinthians 12:10, Paul makes a clear distinction between one who has the gift of prophecy and one who has the gift of distinguishing between spirits ('to another' 1 Corinthians 12:10). He certainly does not say that all prophets had the gift of distinguishing between spirits.

And several other considerations make it very unlikely that 'the others' in 1 Corinthians 14:29 means 'the other prophets':
A. In other places where congregational speech is discussed, it seems that all the congregation is involved. I Corinthians 12:3 gives a test anyone could apply: is the speaker saying, 'Jesus be cursed'? Then he is not speaking by the Holy Spirit. Does the speaker make a credible confession of faith that Jesus is Lord? Then he is speaking by the Holy Spirit.

Similarly, 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 is addressed to a whole church: 'Do not despise prophesying, but test every EVERYTHING; hold fast what is good.' And similar evaluations by whole churches are implied in 1John 41-6 and Acts 17;11.

Now this does not mean that all would play an equal role in the public evaluation of what was said. We would expect the mature (Heb 5:14), the wise (1Cor 6:5), those perhaps with the gift of distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor 12:10) to speak more often and with more authority. But nowhere do we find judging limited to those with one particular office or gift.

B. If Paul had ment to say, 'Let the rest of the prophets weigh what is said,' he would probably have used words other than 'the others'.
C. If we understand 'the others' to be restricted to a special group of propjhets, we have much difficulty picturing what the rest of the congregation would do during the prophecy and the judging. Would they sit 'neutrally', waiting for the prophecy to end and be judged before knowing whether to believe any of it? This can hardly be true. They would sit and immediately evaluate in their own minds what was being said.

But this mental process of evaluation would be well described by Paul's expression 'weigh what is said'. Therefore it is difficult to exclude anyone from what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:29 about evaluating prophecies. Especially hard to believe is the idea that teachers, administrators and other church leaders who did not have special gifts of prophecy would sit by passively awaiting the verdict of an elite group before they knew whether to accept a prophecy as genuine. Much to be perferred is the view which pictures such leaders as taking a prominent role in the judging of prophecies.

The arguments have shown several serious difficulties in attempting to make 'the others' refer to any special or limited group of Christians. These arguments give good reason for letting the phrase have refrence to the whole church.

As a prophet was speaking, each member of the congregation would listen carefully, evaluating the prophecy in the LIGHT OF THE SCRIPTURE and the authorative teaching which he or she already knew to be true. Soon there would be an opportunity to speak in response, with the wise and mature no doubt making the most contribution. But no member of the body would have needed to feel useless (!Cor 12;22), for every member at least silently would weigh and evaluate what was said.

How is the prophecy judged?

Paul had in mind that the kind of evaluation whereby each person would 'weigh' what is said' in his own mind, accepting some of the prophecy as good and helpful and rejecting some of the prophecy as erroneous or misleading. This is evident both from the general context and from the sense which attaches to the Greek word Paul uses, the word diakrino.

Finally, the idea that the prophet would be judged 'true' or 'false' simply does not fit with the picture which Paul gives of a congregational meeting. We are only judging what is being presented as 'prophecy'.

All New Testament prophest speak by faith in what God is 'bringing to mind.'

If the prophecy is from God, He makes it 'hit home' in the hearts of the hearers.

The 'revelation' is to be judged.

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