Friday, February 11, 2011

List of Notable Calvinists who are also Continuationists



I've listed them according to (my subjective sense of) their status as being well known in the Christian community.


Andrew Murray
Some may not consider Andrew Murray a continuationist because it's not clear that his belief in Divine Healing also included a belief in the continuation of the charismatic gifts. Also, even though he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, some (like myself) question whether he actually held to Unconditional Election. Some of his statements sometimes seem to indicated that he held to Conditional Election (see for example some of his statements in his book Abide In Christ). Murray's books on prayer are beloved by most everyone in the Evangelical Church and beyond. His most famous book and cherished book is With Christ in the School of Prayer which is freely available on many Christian websites like. It is read by Christians of all strips including Calvinists, Arminians, Lutherans, and Catholics etc.

Here are some basic links online materials related to Andrew Murray

Wikipedia Entry

relevant online books:
Divine Healing (or here)

Links to books by Andrew Murray freely online at various websites:
HERE, HEREHEREHEREHERE



John Piper
For most Evangelicals, John Piper needs no introduction. His teaching is either loved or hated by his fellow Evangelicals. Most love it (even if they may  not agree with either his Calvinism and/or his continuationism).
Piper's most famous book is Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (freely online HERE). Most Christians who have read it say it's Life Changing.

main website:
http://www.desiringgod.org/

Desiring God's page on Spiritual Gifts
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/topic-index/spiritual-gifts



Wayne Grudem
Best known for his book Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Dr. Grudem is well respected in the Evangelical community. Dr. Grudem is an associate of John Piper. His Systematic Theology is hailed by Christians the world round. From Calvinists like J.I. Packer to charismatics like Jack Hayford.

Phoenix Seminary Bio

Online Audio Lessons

Wikipedia Entry

Amazon Books Page

Link to my "Blog Lessons by Wayne Grudem"
gospelmeals.blogspot.com/2013/04/link-to-lessons-by-wayne-grudem.html 

Link to my Blog "Dr. Wayne Grudem Resources on the Charismatic Gifts" www.charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/08/dr-wayne-grudem-resources-on.html



Sam Storms
Sam Storms is another associate of John Piper. Many Calvinists have praised and recommend his book Chosen for Life: The Case for Divine Election, but shy away from his continuationism. He has been the speaker of many conferences where John Piper also spoke.

main website:
http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/

Sam Storms' Articles on Divine Healing 



Matt Slick
 Known for internet apologetics, Matt Slick has a website "Calvinist Corner" where he has an assortment of articles demonstrating that many of the Calvinistic Covenanters moved in the gifts of the Spirit.

main websites:
http://carm.org
http://calvinistcorner.com/



Vincent Cheung
 Because he holds to a modified form of Clarkian presuppositionalism, Cheung is a controversial figure (just like other Clarkians). Clarkians hold to Scripturalism along with their method of apologetics called Axiomatic (also known as "Dogmatic", or "Deductive", or "Rational") Presuppositionalism (which entails empirical skepticism). His views on Calvinism are considered by some to be hyper-Calvinistic or strongly leaning toward it.

main website:
http://www.vincentcheung.com/

My Blog on Vincent Cheung regarding the topic of Divine Healing and the Supernatural (includes Three Books on Divine Healing)
http://charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/07/vincent-cheung-on-healing.html



James K. A. Smith
 Not as well known as John Piper, Smith is nevertheless a professor of philosophy at Calvin College. He has written a number of books including:
- Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition
- Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy

fors clavigera (James K.A. Smith's Blog)
http://forsclavigera.blogspot.com/


Blog Entry at Evangelical Philosophical Society Concerning Smith's Works

Interview of James K.A. Smith

Wikipedia Article on James K.A. Smith



J. Rodman Williams
(Now Suspect as a true Calvinist. I doubt he actually held to Unconditional Election)


Wikipedia Entry

main website:
http://www.rodmanwilliams.com/

Regent University Bio

Regent University Obituary



A.J. Gordon
According to Scott M. Gibson's book A.J. Gordon: American Premillennialist
 Gordon's adoption of premillennialism, embrace of revivalism, practice of healing, and espousal of the second work of the Holy Spirit are not doctrines of strict Calvinism. Yet, he did not turn from the teaching of total depravity and unconditional election. But, like many New England preachers who preceded him, Gordon demonstrated a willingness to accommodate outside influences. He was an heir to the alliance between Calvinism and the revivalism of the late 1700s and the 1800s. In his acceptance of the validity of experience, he simply reclothed the old Calvinist teachings in a new rhetoric of sentiment. Another possible factor for the moderation of Gordon's traditional Calvinism was that many Baptists had been appreciably affected by the influence of democratic thought. Yet, Gordon was a Calvinist in that he remained in the mainstream of historic Baptist thought and practice. However, his Calvinism was certainly not mainstream, but moderate. [page 78, bold added by me].
Here's a LINK to some of Gordon's works including The Ministry of Healing.



Johanes Lilik Susanto
 Not well known, Susanto wrote the following dissertation in defense of  Calvinistic continuationism using the life and ministries of Smith Wigglesworth an John G. Lake as examples and models of modern charismatic manifestations .

Doctoral Thesis


Gavin Ortlund
At 1/28/2022 I found out that Gavin Ortlund is Calvinist and Continuationist. 

I REALLLLY appreciate Gavin Ortlund's YouTube videos on the church fathers and how he defends Evangelical distinctives in an IRENIC way against non-Evangelical positions like Catholicism and Orthodoxy. I knew he was Baptist, but I've been wondering for a while whether he was Calvinistic and Continuationist. When he did his first live video answering common questions posed to him, he confessed to have once been a paedobaptist and became convinced of the credobaptist position. But he also admitted he's a Calvinist and Continuationist!!! Check out his videos and theological books.
He says he's a Calvinist here: https://youtu.be/FgMvRa3nvxM?t=793
He says he's a Continuationist here: https://youtu.be/FgMvRa3nvxM?t=2419

Ortlund's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TruthUnites


Matt Chandler
He is a pastor who, I believe, considers himself a reformed charismatic.
Adrian Warnock blog on Matt Chandler being a reformed charismatic HERE
Wikipedia Article on Matt Chandler Here.


Here's a link to my blog Recommended Resources on Divine Healing 

Other people have made lists of non-cessationists Calvinists, but I'm not sure how accurate their lists are. Here are some examples:
Here
Here

3 comments:

  1. Continuationism is incompatible with Sola Scriptura, hence with the Reformation in general and the Reformed confessions in particular. But more important, it is contrary to the Scriptures.

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    Replies
    1. Wayne Grudem once surveyed the historical evidence for the apparent operation of the gifts of the Spirit among Reformed, Reformational, and Puritan ministers. He wrote in his book The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Revised Edition):


      //I may add a personal note at this point: When I first found this material in Baxter, I photocopied these two pages and sent them to J. I. Packer, whose doctoral dissertation at Oxford was on Baxter's work. Packer sent back the following note:

      By the way, some weeks ago you faxed me an extract from Baxter about God making personal informative revelations. This was the standard Puritan view, as I have observed it—they weren't cessationists in the Richard Gaffin sense.//



      A Reformation Discussion of Extraordinary Predictive Prophecy Subsequent to the Closing of the Canon of Scripture by the Session of the PRCE
      http://www.reformedpresbytery.org/books/prophecy/prophecy.htm

      The charismatic covenanters
      http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-charismatic-covenanters.html

      Extraordinary Gifts and Church Officers
      http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/PGET_ch3.htm

      Steve Hays on Cessationism
      http://charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/08/steve-hays-on-cessationism.html

      John Calvin Apparently Received a Word of Knowledge from God
      http://charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-calvin-apparently-received-word-of.html

      The Suppressed Evidence: Or, Proofs of the Miraculous Faith and Experience of the Church of Christ In All Ages, From Authentic Records of the Fathers, Waldenses, Hussites, Reformers, United Brethren, &c. by Thomas Boys
      https://books.google.com/books?id=5B0PAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

      The Ministry of Healing: Miracles of Cure in All Ages
      http://charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-ministry-of-healing-by-aj-gordon.html

      The Scots Worthies by John Howie
      https://books.google.com/books?id=5iwAAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

      Testimonies of the Supernatural Among Respected Christian Leaders
      http://charismatamatters.blogspot.com/2013/12/testimonies-of-respected-christian.html

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    2. It is not sufficient to say "so-and-so believed one event could or did occur; therefore, he was a continuationist." A continuationist must believe that the Holy Spirit endows the church with all the gifts, and that the gifts, in general, are repeatable for the persons to whom they are given.

      Cessationists accept that the Holy Spirit continues to endow service gifts (helps, administration, teaching, preaching, evangelism, giving). Whereas the signs gifts have fulfilled their purposes and the Holy Spirit would not continuing endowing them for our fun and profit, the service gifts continue to fulfill timeless purposes.

      Cessationists also accept that a one-time miracle can occur; for example, a miraculous healing in response to prayer, or receiving a donation of food when the orphanage has no food remaining. As a Cessationist, I have no problem believing a friend who said that a recent immigrant had heard in her native language a message he gave in English. Continuationists mistake such events for proof of spiritual gifts that ought to be repeatable by the one so endowed. "John Calvin Apparently Received a Word of Knowledge from God," on the other hand, is embarrassing evidence that he was a continuationist.

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