On Friday, December 8th, I was able to attend the second night of the debate between John T. Lewis, a graduate of Brown Trail, and Jason Weatherly, who resides in Beebe, Arkansas. Brother Lewis, from Lone Grove, Oklahoma, the town in which the debate was held, refuted the idea that either Holy Spirit baptism or miracles are part and parcel of the New Testament Church today; Mr. Weatherly affirmed that they were.
The focus of attention was partly on Ephesians 4:11-16. Brother Lewis argued that the use of miraculous gifts was given for the equipping of the saints till we all come to the unity of the faith in order that we can fight against false doctrine. Obviously, if we still have apostles and prophets, who yet reveal the will of God (and who will continue to do so until the second coming), then we will not arrive at the unity of the faith until this world ends. Such an interpretation leaves us with an unsavory dilemma: either we become totally equipped to fight false doctrine when it no longer exists, or there will be false doctrine in heaven to fight against.
Mr. Weatherly responded by trying to weaken the force of the passage. He tried to bypass the duration expressed in verse 15 altogether, but also held that we can fight false doctrine with incomplete revelation today by asserting that if Paul could do so without the entire New Testament, so could we. The flaw in this theory is that he can not prove that Paul did not know the entire body of New Testament teaching. Just because he did not write it all down at one particular point in time does not mean that he had not been divinely taught it or that he had not revealed it orally.
In his next affirmative speech, brother Lewis concentrated on the purpose of the miracles as stated in the New Testament: to reveal truth, and to confirm the truth. The word of God having been completely revealed, no need has existed for miracles since the end of the first century. Weatherly countered by mentioning that there was still a need for non-doctrinal matters to be prophesied of such as the famine mentioned by Agabus in Acts 11:28. This is not a bad explanation, but it carries with it a tremendous risk–the possibility of being asked for some of these types of prophecies. Wouldn’t it be nice for Christians to know ahead of time of upcoming famines, or earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, etc.? But who has foretold such things? Not Jason Weatherly, nor Don Finto, nor anyone else claiming to be a latter-day apostle or prophet. It is not cruel to insist on examples of these kinds of prophecies; they are found in the Bible; they should be found today among those claiming these powers. They cannot duplicate what is in the Bible because they are not apostles, prophets, or divinely inspired.
FAILURE TO END THE DEBATEBrother Lewis chided Mr. Weatherly for coming in word only and not in power, also. He showed a chart listing past debates that brethren have held with Pentecostals. Not once in all those occasions has a single miracle been performed which would effectively and conclusively ended the discussion. After all, if one disputant is denying that miracles are occurring today, and the other one heals a man born blind (for example), what more can anyone say? The debate would be over by virtue of the demonstration of such power. Even Pharaoh’s talented magicians finally had to conclude of the things Moses did, “This is the finger of God” (Ex. 8:19).
Brother Lewis challenged Mr. Weatherly to end the debate as Paul had effectively done with Elymas (Bar-Jesus) by striking him blind (Acts 13:6-12). The Pentecostal’s response was weak–he declined to do what Paul did on the grounds that he did not want Lewis to be blind; he wanted him to see. Does he not think Elymas’ spiritual vision improved dramatically after Paul performed a miracle on him? Yes, he undoubtedly saw better in his blindness than he ever had with physical sight.
This passage in Acts 13 is devastating to the old Pentecostal argument that one must have faith before a miracle can be performed on him. No, that was exactly Elymas’ problem–he had no more faith than the fig tree that Jesus cursed, which withered immediately. Yet this faithless adversary of the gospel received a miracle. To teach that Christians today possess the same powers as the apostles and prophets but then refuse to demonstrate such only proves that they, in fact, lack the powers they claim after all.
In his closing remarks, Jason Weatherly thanked Harding College for giving him access to their library so that he could prepare for the debate. And he did display a knowledge about many of the doctrines we teach. But if he believes that the Holy Spirit works today as He did in the first century, why did he find it necessary to prepare for this debate? The disciples were promised “a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist” (Luke 21:15). Those who hold his view of the Bible should not have to spend hours in diligent preparation; the Holy Spirit should provide wisdom.
Brother Lewis conducted himself well. His opponent talked throughout much of his first speech (to his moderator) and violated the “spirit” of the rules by insinuating that brother Lewis was a liar. Furthermore, Weatherly’s moderator challenged brother Lewis’ quotation from a tract which made their position seem preposterous. The fact is, however, that they had sent him the tract to help him understand their views so that he could use it to prepare for the debate. Their behavior was at times tacky. Some good questions were raised on both sides, which should provoke further study.