The year 1918 saw the publication of Counterfeit Miracles, in which Presbyterian theologian Benjamin B. Warfield argued that supernatural prophecy stopped shortly after the New Testament was written. According to Warfield, spiritual gifts (charismata) served only to authenticate the Apostles’ gospel message — and only to people of their generation. Warfield said that the gifts ceased when the last person died who had known the Apostles personally. In keeping with this understanding, some cessationists interpret “the perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10 as the written books of the New Testament.
However, church history reveals quite a different story. In a scholarly article in the December 1997 Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Gary Steven Shogren, associate professor of New Testament at the Biblical Theological Seminary (a Reformed and non-charismatic institution), quotes extensively from church fathers until 300 A.D. who attest to the ministry of prophecy (and other supernatural gifts) in their churches.
These early Christian leaders believed that supernatural gifts were a sign of God’s presence with his believing people — and that they would continue until Jesus comes again. They did not see any conflict between completed Scripture and ongoing prophecy.
