Covenant Reformed News – September 2022 • Volume XIX, Issue 5
This article examines the nature of apostolic miracles as described in Scripture, particularly focusing on their verifiable and undeniable character as attested in Paul's ministry. The author contrasts the genuine, wonder-producing miracles of the apostles with contemporary Pentecostal and Charismatic claims, arguing that modern miracle claims lack the substantive evidence and transformative power characteristic of apostolic signs. The piece defends the cessationist Reformed perspective by demonstrating that authentic apostolic miracles served as compelling attestation to the gospel message in ways that modern claimed miracles do not.
The Nature of Apostolic Miracles In the last issue, we introduced the signs of an apostle (II Cor. 12:12) and listed various types of miracles (Matt. 10:8; Mark 16:17-18). But what about the miracles claimed by Pentecostals and Charismatics in our own day? A lot of them are non-verifiable, such as the “healings” of bad backs and headaches or psychosomatic illnesses. How does one prove that a person actually had these pains, that he or she no longer has them and that this was due to a miracle...