Cessationism

Cessationism

Fr. Rand York

“Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man” (Article VI of the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion). For me, this involves not just escape from hell and admission to eternal life, but the theosis of becoming like Jesus through the restoration of the imago dei. But while Scripture contains all truth, it does not follow that God’s truth cannot be found anywhere else. The idea of “cessationism” suggesting that revelation stopped at the close of the apostolic age is a notion that grows from, I think, a desire to exalt the Bible at the expense of the work of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Eucharist, and every way that God works in us and among us and through us. Sola scriptura finds its roots in the Reformation, and is a doctrine that is not shared by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Oriental Orthodox churches. In addition, there are many Anglicans who also question such a position.

Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, however is not among them. ++Jensen is quite suspicious of modern day claims of revelation and prophecy: “The gospel has been launched, the Scriptures have been completed and the church has been founded. We have the prophetic gift in abundance in the Scriptures; contemporary prophecy is only a diversion” (p. 273). He goes on to say a few pages later: “The idea that God may be continually speaking in the still, small voice may sound ‘godly’ and relational, but it is a myth” (p. 278). To be fair to ++Jensen, even he allows that we cannot confine God to any theological box of our own design: “Claims about contemporary revelation do not need to be dismissed out of hand. Such events fall within the power of God if it pleases him to bring them about. But, if they are genuine, they come within the category of general rather than special revelation” (p. 272). So, he permits God to do as he pleases, but then in the same breath restricts God’s action to one specific category, denying that it could possibly be anything else. Of course, if they were anything else, like maybe God speaking through people and events today, we would have to allow that Joel’s prophecy (see Joel 2:28 ff., Acts 2:17-21) would apply to our own day, as well as to Peter’s generation. Or are we truly past the Last Days? I have heard the argument that because no evil can come about, but that God allows it, is proof that the reign of Christ has come. But the same was true in Job’s day. Satan could do nothing then without God’s permission (Job 1:12). What, then, has changed? No, we live still in the Last Days as we await his return (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Joseph Murphy+ contends that, “the attribution ‘revelation’ is pointless since it adds nothing to the Canon.” We should say rather that while contemporary revelation may not add to the Canon, it does reveal God’s truth in accordance with and in agreement with the Canon. The revelation of God is an eternal thing, not something that is somehow “trapped” in the creature we call time. It emanates from God, and for that very reason does not cease. Likewise, it does not change, and so extra-biblical revelation and prophecy can and must always be tested by the Scripture. This is exactly why Article VI adds, “…may be proved thereby…” Revelation is a constant unfolding, both through the created order (general) and through the church (special). He relates to us no differently than to the Christians of the Apostolic Age. We are one church, not two. And while the Canon is fixed (though even that varies among the churches), it does not follow that God speaks nowhere else. And wherever God speaks, there is revelation.

©2011 Rand York