“Those foundational apostles had been eyewitnesses of Jesus both before and after His death and resurrection—plus they had been personally called by the living Christ! No person today can meet these requirements, and no person today can build the foundation of the church. That has been built, and nothing can prevail against it.”
(Colleen Tinker – Proclamation!) As often happens, we received a significant question in a recent email—and this one addressed the troublesome subject of apostles and prophets. It came from a woman who had just listened to our podcast in which Nikki Stevenson and I interviewed Justin Peters at the Truth Matters Conference last October. Her email was short but direct:
I’m a big fan of your new podcast! However, this latest one I couldn’t finish. I heard Justin say that EGW couldn’t be legit because she was a WOMAN, and then I heard him say that no one hears from God nowadays—it’s their imagination or the devil!! And the only apostles were the original disciples?
I’m no expert for sure, but this feels very much like Adventism’s penchant for “throwing out the baby with the bath water.” Why would Paul go to the trouble of teaching the new Christians all about the gifts of the spirit and the gifts to the church (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher) if he knew it was all just a temporary thing that would die with the disciples? It doesn’t make sense.
Thanks for all the work you do to produce the new podcast.
This writer is not asking a unique question. In fact, in recent years a plethora of apostles and prophets—many of them women—has flooded charismatic and health-and-wealth communities, and their words from the Lord direct the lives and decisions of their followers.
How are we to understand the biblical roles of apostles and prophets? I will share my response to this letter writer below.
Research