Foundations of Christian Leadership, Student Workbook, SW07

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F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

A Theological Overview of the Equipping Gifts Described in Ephesians 4.11 (continued)

2 While it is useful to understand the linguistic and social context of the Greek world which informs the word Paul uses here, it is probably that there is relatively little overlap between the prophecy common to the Hellenistic world and Paul’s much more Judeo- Christian use of the term. Christopher Forbes makes a strong case for these differences in his book Prophecy and Inspired Speech in Early Christianity and its Hellenistic Environment (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1997). Among other things, Forbes points out that the social forms that defined Christian prophecy differed dramatically from Greek prophecy. “The early Christian groups . . . had no priestly hierarchies, no consciously formalized prophetic ritual beyond a few simple rules of procedure . . . no oracular places, and no procedure for securing an oracle should one be required. . . . prophecy in early Christianity took a very different overall form from that which it took in the wider Hellenistic world” (p. 319). As opposed to the divination prophecy of Greek culture, “Early Christian prophecy was characteristically spontaneous in at least this sense: one did not approach the prophet with an inquiry. The prophet addressed the congregation, without

an influx into the teaching office (an office which the writer himself appears to hold) points out that the failures of teachers will incur severe penalties in the judgment” (K. Wegenast, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology , Vol. 3, Colin Brown, Gen. ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986, p. 768).

C. Summary

The core of the teaching office is the ability to explain the Scriptures in such a way that “the deposit of faith” is passed on to congregations and the individuals in them, and to oppose false doctrine with scriptural truth. Because they guard sound doctrine, it is important that those who hold the teaching “office” be formally recognized and authorized to speak on behalf of the congregation. Missionaries with teaching gifts must constantly work to entrust sound doctrine to “faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2.2 ESV).

IV. Prophets

A. Linguistic Considerations

Prophetes

“A foreteller” (“prophet”); by analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet ( Strong’s Greek Dictionary of New Testament Words ) “‘One who speaks forth openly,’ ‘a proclaimer of the divine message’. . . . In general, ‘the prophet’ was one upon whom the Spirit of God rested . . . one, to whom and through whom, God speaks” (W. E. Vine, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words , Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996, p. 493). In ancient Greek 2 culture, the term prophet could describe an oracle prophet such as the one at Delphi, where it was clearly used to describe an official position (office). “The oracle prophet enjoys such social esteem that he may be invited to fulfill representative functions like leading delegations and serving as a spokesman for them. The official character of his position is plain from the fact that it was common to name the year after his period of office” ( Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol.6, Gerhard Kittel,

prior inquiry, in the confidence that his

revelation as God’s word for their need, whether or not that need had yet been perceived” (p. 289).