Does This Verse Teach Cessationism? And a Bit On Bethel. 1 Cor 13_10-12
Ideas (29)
1 Corinthians 13:10-12 is the primary cessationist proof-text in the cessationism vs. continuationism debate.
Introduction to the episode. Winger frames the central question: does 1 Cor 13:10-12 teach that tongues, prophecy, and knowledge ceased after the apostolic era?
00:00:00Cessationism defined: miraculous gifts belonged to the apostolic era only, served a unique founding purpose, and ceased before the canon closed.
Winger reads a definition from Theapedia. He contrasts it with continuationism, which holds the gifts are normative and available today.
00:01:331 Corinthians 13:8-13 in context: the love passage is embedded within 1 Cor 12-14, a sustained section on spiritual gifts.
Winger reads the passage aloud (1 Cor 13:8-13) and establishes its literary context before presenting cessationist interpretations.
00:03:03Cessationist Interpretation 1: "the perfect" (to teleion) = the completed Bible, supported by a mirror/perfect-law parallel in James 1:23-25.
First of two cessationist readings. Proponents cite the shared vocabulary of "mirror" and "perfect" (teleios) between 1 Cor 13 and James 1 to argue the perfect thing is Scripture.
00:05:08Rebuttal of Interpretation 1: teleios is a broad word with many non-Scripture referents, and the mirror image in James functions differently than in 1 Cor 13.
Winger raises two problems with equating "the perfect" with the completed Bible.
00:07:10Many cessationists themselves discourage using 1 Cor 13 as a proof-text for cessationism because it does not yield the argument verse-by-verse.
Transitional observation before presenting the second, more sophisticated cessationist argument from the Masters Seminary.
00:10:15Cessationist Interpretation 2 (Masters Seminary): prophecy and knowledge = inscripturated revelation; massive time gap between vv. 11 and 12; "the perfect" = the church brought to maturity by the Bible.
Summary of the three key concepts in the Masters Seminary article that underpin its cessationist reading of 1 Cor 13.
00:11:17The Masters Seminary article: verse 12 is acknowledged to be about seeing Christ face-to-face, but a 1,000-year time gap is inserted between vv. 11 and 12 to salvage the cessationist reading.
Winger quotes the article directly to show how the author handles the face-to-face language.
00:13:51Rebuttal: the inscripturation claim for prophecy and knowledge is unsubstantiated; New Testament prophets generally did not produce Scripture.
First major exegetical objection to the Masters Seminary argument. Winger demonstrates that NT prophets were not primarily Scripture-writers.
00:17:23Rebuttal of the massive time-gap claim: the verse-by-verse flow of 1 Cor 13:8-12 is continuous; no gap is linguistically justified.
Second major objection. Winger argues the narrative logic of the passage runs uninterrupted from v. 8 through v. 12.
00:19:27Verse-by-verse: v. 8 — love never ends; three gifts (prophecy, knowledge, tongues) will pass away; the context is clearly the spiritual gifts of 1 Cor 12-14.
Winger begins his own positive verse-by-verse treatment of 1 Cor 13:8-13.
00:20:30Verse-by-verse: vv. 9-10 — Paul includes himself in "we know in part," undermining the inscripturation reading; even apostolic knowledge is partial, not completable by writing.
Key exegetical point: the first-person plural "we" in v. 9 includes Paul and the other apostles, not just ordinary charismatics.
00:22:35Verse-by-verse: v. 11 — the child/adult analogy illustrates that the gifts are a temporary measure, but the maturity in view is eschatological glorification (1 Cor 15), not canonical completion.
Winger grants that v. 11 sounds like it could support the church-maturity cessationist view, but locates its referent in resurrection/glorification.
00:25:10Verse-by-verse: v. 12 — "face to face" and "know fully even as I am fully known" point to the eschatological vision of God, not completion of Scripture; confirmed by 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.
Winger's positive exegesis of v. 12, identifying "the perfect" with the second coming/resurrection state. He cross-references 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.
00:27:131 Corinthians 15 confirms: "the perfect" is the resurrection state — imperishable bodies, the last trumpet, being changed — not the completion of the Bible.
Winger appeals to 1 Cor 15 (same letter, shortly after ch. 13) as the definitive referent for "when the perfect comes."
00:30:21Main point of 1 Cor 13: love, not gifts, is the permanent priority; pursuit of love must exceed pursuit of spiritual gifts.
Winger concludes the exegesis by restating Paul's actual primary argument.
00:31:22Winger's own position: open but not normative — he agrees with cessationists on apostleship and a likely reduction of healing gifts, but rejects full cessationism.
Having refuted the cessationist use of 1 Cor 13, Winger clarifies his own nuanced view to avoid being read as a rampant charismatic.
00:32:24Critique of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry: prophetic activation exercises using Uno cards reduce prophecy to social engineering and fabrication.
Winger pivots to critique hyper-charismatic practice, using Bethel's published school curriculum as a concrete example.
00:34:26Teresa Dedmon / Bethel: selling art as a vehicle for "spiritual impartation" and prophetic clothing that enhances God's presence is false teaching and commercial exploitation.
Second specific example from Bethel: the creative arts director's website claims her paintings and clothing impart heaven's presence.
00:35:28The cure for hyper-charismatic abuse is not cessationism but the biblical regulative norms already given in 1 Cor 12-14 for how gifts function in the church.
Winger resists the reactionary move of becoming cessationist in response to charismatic excess.
00:39:34Personal testimony: Winger reports a small number of personal experiences he believes were genuine prophetic insights that subsequently proved true.
Winger offers experiential (not dogmatic) support for remaining open to the gifts.
00:40:35Q&A: Tongues in 1 Cor 14 are actual languages; tongues always requires genuine linguistic communication; "groaning" in Romans 8 is distinct from the gift of tongues.
Response to viewer question about whether 1 Cor 14 tongues are languages or ecstatic utterances.
00:43:08Warning against seeking comfort in progressive or unorthodox theology as a false catharsis; such teachers typically demonize biblical Christianity to wedge in their reinterpretations.
Q&A response about walking with a friend questioning traditional beliefs, specifically mentioning Greg Boyd.
00:46:42Cessationism is more common in Reformed theology but not universal; John Piper and Paul Washer are examples of Reformed non-cessationists.
Q&A response on whether cessationism is tied to Reformed or dispensationalist theology.
00:47:14Winger's church practice: open to Spirit-prompted words but does not structure services around spiritual gifts; anti-normative posture.
Q&A response about how gifts function in his church.
00:48:16Views on gifts are often driven more by experience than Scripture; the exegetical case against cessationism from 1 Cor 13 is strong but trajectory arguments for cessationism are weak.
Q&A — viewer asks whether people's positions on sign gifts are experience-based more than Scripture-based.
00:49:19Resource recommendation for documented modern miracles: Craig Keener's two-volume work "Miracles" provides medical/testimonial evidence catalogued by a respected scholar.
Q&A — viewer asks for visible evidence that gifts of healing are active today.
00:51:50Can a person speak in tongues without having the gift of tongues? Possibly — but Romans 8 groaning is distinct: it is heart-pouring to God, not a spiritual gift requiring impartation.
Q&A — question about whether tongues-speaking requires the specific gift.
00:52:50Historical question: sign gifts did not begin at Azusa Street; early church fathers (Justin Martyr, later Augustine) attest to prophecy and miracles continuing post-apostolically.
Q&A — viewer claims modern tongues/gifts stem from the 1906 Azusa Street revival. Winger corrects the historical record.
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