PROBLEM:
Since “that which is perfect” is NOT specified, any interpretation of it must be an assumption.
At some point, the church claimed the “perfect” meant the completion of the Canon of Scripture.
Indeed. And the same also applies to the common continuist interpretation that "the perfect" is the return of Christ. Christ is not mentioned in the passage - it is an unwarranted assumption. To determine what "the perfect" or "completion" (as other translations have it) is likely to refer to requires a detailed study of the passage. See
Speaking in Tongues a Cessationists’ View
PROBLEM:
Did knowledge also pass away?
The 'knowledge' referred to in this passage is the spiritual gift of knowledge (1 Cor 12.8), not general knowledge. And yes it did pass away along with tongues and prophecy.
PROBLEM:
The early church fathers witnessed the gifts of the Spirit (ref: Wikipedia) …
● Justin Martyr (d.165) -- “For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time.”
The
early church fathers did indeed say that prophecy was still active in the early church. But that was before the completed canon was distributed among the churches and prophecy was still needed to instruct the church in the faith.
● Irenaeus (d.202) -- “In like manner do we also hear many brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light, for the general benefit, the hidden things of men and declare the mysteries of God, who also the apostles term spiritual”
Notice that Iranaeus says he has only heard of such events - he hadn't witnessed them first hand. So already they were becoming rare.
● Origen (d.253) -- “He (Origen) professes to have been an eye-witness to many instances of exorcism, healing, and prophecy” … “Origen has been described as ‘the greatest genius the early church ever produced’ ”.
This is what Origen actually wrote:
Origen - Against Celsus
And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos. (1.46)
For they have no longer prophets nor miracles, traces of which to a considerable extent are still found among Christians, and some of them more remarkable than any that existed among the Jews; and these we ourselves have witnessed, if our testimony may be received. (2.8)
Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave signs of His presence at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, and after His ascension He gave still more; but since that time these signs have diminished, although there are still traces of His presence in a few who have had their souls purified by the Gospel, and their actions regulated by its influence. (7.8)
He says that only "traces" of such gifts remained. Clearly they were well on the way out in 253AD.
● Augustine (d.430) -- “Augustine noted that miracles in his own day were not as spectacular or noteworthy as those at the dawn of Christ-ianity, but that they continued to take place.”
Like Augustine, Cessationists do not deny that God can perform miracles today. But that is not the same as someone having the 'gift of miracles'.
Augustine along with the other later church father affirmed that the gifts had ceased.
Augustine - The Homilies On John
In the earliest time, “the Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed; and they spake with tongues,” which they had not learned, “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” These were the Sign adapted to the time. For there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit in all tongues, to show that the Gospel of God was to run through all tongues over the whole earth. That thing was done for a betokening, and it passed away.
Augustine - On True Religion
When the Catholic Church had been founded and diffused throughout the whole world, on the one hand miracles were not allowed to continue till our time, lest the mind should always seek visible things, and the human race should grow cold by becoming accustomed to things which when they were novelties kindled its faith.
Augustine - Retractions
For not even now, when a hand is laid on the baptized, do they receive the Holy Spirit in such a way that they speak with the tongues of all nations; nor are the sick now healed by the passing shadow of the preachers of Christ. Even though such things happened at that time, manifestly these ceased later. (1.12.7)
Chrysostom - Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12
This whole passage is exceedingly obscure; and what creates the obscurity is both ignorance of these matters and the cessation of things which happened then but do not now occur.
Chrysostom - Commentary on 1 Cor 13:8
For if both these [gifts of prophecy and tongues] were brought in for the sake of the faith; when that is every where sown abroad, the use of these is henceforth superfluous. . . . It is no marvel that prophecies and tongues should be done away.
Theodoret - Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians:
In former times those who accepted the divine preaching and who were baptized for their salvation were given visible signs of the grace of the Holy Spirit at work in them. Some spoke in tongues which they did not know and which nobody had taught them, while others performed miracles or prophesied. The Corinthians also did these things, but they did not use the gifts as they should have done. They were more interested in showing off than in using them for the edification of the church.
It is also interesting to note that all the Church Fathers understood tongues to be foreign human languages. The idea of tongues being a heavenly / non-human language only was only introduced at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Cessationism begins -- The obvious reason why the church came up with this doctrine
Powerful church leaders (who did NOT have any of the 9 spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12) were obviously jealous of those who had them!
So starting after 400 a.d., these leaders simply declared that the gifts had ceased … using
1 Corinthians 13:10 as an excuse! Could any-thing be more obvious? Less obvious is that Satan was involved in deceiving these men
into satisfying their desires.
How is it obvious? Do you have some evidence that church leaders were jealous of those with gifts and so conspired against them? The reason the church came to the conclusion the charismatic gifts ceased was because they observed that they did actually cease.
PROBLEM:
The Almighty God says He does not change
“For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6)
God's character doesn't change, but he certainly does change the way he operates in human history. Christ is no longer walking the earth. God is no longer inspiring people to write scripture. He no longer requires animal sacrifices. Etc, etc, etc.
“Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (
Hebrews 13:8)
That verse clearly cannot refer to spiritual gifts as even continuists would say that tongues doesn't last forever, but ceases at the return of Christ.
God has always been a God of signs, wonders, and miracles. He performed them all throughout the OT (Moses, Elijah, Elisha, etc.), and all throughout the NT (as a confirmation of the truth of Jesus’ gospel).
“… in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that (everywhere) I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Romans 15:19)
“… God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:4)
As I said, cessationist do not deny that God can perform miracles today. However it is wrong to say that God performed them throughout scripture. There were only 3 times of large scale miracle workings in the bible - the times of Moses, Elijah & Elisha, and the Jesus & the apostles. Those all correspond to times of new scripture writing - the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the New Testament. Those miracles authenticated the men involved - just as the scriptures you quoted state! At other times miracles are rare, just as they are today. I would say that 90% of claimed miracles today are not miracles at all.
PROBLEM:
Are verses like this in the NT only for the church back then?
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:14-15)
If this was only for the NT church, then what about all the other verses in the NT, such as the salvation verses? Who can divide the NT verses: Those for back then … versus … Those for now?
No cessationist would say we shouldn't pray for the sick to be healed. But praying for healing is not the same as the gift of healing. If you have to pray for healing it proves you do not have the gift of healing.
PROBLEM:
God’s miraculous signs were prophesied for these last days
“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy … before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.’ ” (Acts 2:16-20)
The "last days" doesn't mean the whole length of time from Pentecost to the return of Christ. The bit you clipped out says that during the last days the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood. Is that happening today? No, that only occurs at the END of the last days. Similarly prophesying etc would only occur at the BEGINNING of the last days.
PROBLEM:
Peter prophesied that the Pentecost experience would be common for many
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off,
as many as the Lord our God will call.’ ”
(Acts 2:38-39)
Peter promised that “as many as the Lord our God will call” among them and their ancestors … would receive the same “gift of the Holy Spirit” as was given to the 120 on this Day of Pentecost. Those of the 120 who had not received the Holy Spirit previously (see Luke 20:22), received the born-again experience … and ALL of the 120 received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, evidenced by: “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2:4)
The promise is for the gift (singular) of the Spirit himself, not the gifts (plural) of the Spirit.
The obvious reason why cessationism has been one of Satan’s biggest successes
God’s method of confirming the truth of Jesus’ gospel with miracles, etc. was squashed for many centuries! Due to the church’s UNBELIEF, many people have been robbed of this confirming evidence of the truth of the gospel, and therefore did not believe. Not only that, but countless people have been robbed of being healed of all manner of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problems/
So the average pentecostal/charismatic christian has more faith than Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, etc?
Where does it say gifts are given according to the Church's level of faith? It says in 1 Cor 12:11 that the Spirit distributes gifts to each believer according to His will , not according to our faith. If gifts are absent it is because the Holy Spirit wills them to be absent.
Several reasons why BACs today choose to believe in cessationism
Some simply have been misled-brainwashed-deceived about it since childhood.
Some are guilty of the serious sins of doubt,
lack of faith, and unbelief.
I think a more likely reason people believe in cessationism is they see that the gifts as described in the NT are no longer in operation. What Pentecostals/charismatics today call the gifts tongues, healing, and prophecy does not match the description of those gifts in scripture.