• Where did the word “trinity” originate?

  The following excerpt from Basic Thelogy by Charles Ryrie should answer your question.

  The early church fathers did not formulate any clear statement concerning the Trinity. Some were unclear about the Logos, and most were unconcerned about giving attention to the Spirit except for His work in the lives of believers. In answer to Praxeus, Tertullian (ca. 165-220) asserted the threeness aspect of God, being the first to use the word Trinity. However, he did not have a full and accurate understanding of the Trinity, his views being tinged with subordinationism.

  QA ID: 

  282

  Topic ID: 

  57

  Biblical Topics: 

  Trinity

• Were the Samaritans believers before they received the Holy Spirit?

  Though the Samaritans had been baptized in water (v. 12), the gift of the Holy Spirit was delayed until Peter and John came and laid their hands on them. Normally the Spirit is given at the moment of faith (see Acts 10:44; 19:2; Eph. 1:13). In this instance, however, it was imperative that the Samaritans be identified with the apostles and the Jerusalem church so that there would be no rival Samaritan Christian church because of the long-standing rivalry that had existed between the Jews and the Samaritans.

  QA ID: 

  281

  Topic ID: 

  7

  11

  Biblical Topics: 

  Dispensational / Covenantal Theology

  Pneumatology (The Holy Spirit)

• How is the ministry of the Holy Spirit different in the Old and New Testaments?

  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was given selectively and temporarily to indwell certainly individuals for special ministries. It was not universal nor was it permanent. David’s words in Psalm 51:11 make sense in light of 1 Samuel 10:5-13, where the Spirit came mightily upon Saul, enabling him to serve as King of Israel. We know from 1 Samuel 16:14 and 18:10 that the Holy Spirit departed from Saul, and was replaced by an “evil spirit” sent by God. God was taking away Saul’s kingdom, and so too the Spirit that empowered him as king.

  QA ID: 

  280

  Topic ID: 

  7

  11

  Biblical Topics: 

  Dispensational / Covenantal Theology

  Pneumatology (The Holy Spirit)

• Are events of the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” in the NT corporate?

  Calling the various workings of the Holy Spirit in Acts “the Baptism of the Spirit,” is something which the book of Acts never does. Just because people call it that does not make it one and the same thing. The book of Acts is a transitional book where we have the beginning of the work of the Spirit and His indwelling. Because of that we would expect this to involve groups of people, but this does not mean it would always occur this way. Based on other passages like Jn 7:37f; Eph.

  QA ID: 

  279

  Topic ID: 

  11

  Biblical Topics: 

  Pneumatology (The Holy Spirit)

• What is the difference between prophesying and preaching?

  My understanding is that prophecy is not identical to preaching, but involves both forthtelling and foretelling. The reason women may prophesy but not teach or preach to men is that the message that the prophet gets from God is not filtered through the interpretive process—that is, it is directly mediated by the Spirit. Hence, in effect, prophecies are ‘tamper-proof,’ whereas teaching is not (cf. 1 Tim 2:12-14).

  QA ID: 

  278

  Topic ID: 

  69

  25

  19

  Biblical Topics: 

  Teaching the Bible

  Spiritual Gifts

  Prophecy/Revelation

• How does one support cessationism in light of Acts 2:17?

  When Peter quotes from Joel, he quotes 3:1-5 (Hebrew text; the numbering of the English text is a bit different). As you will notice, vv. 19-21 are a part of the same quotation. This puts us in a dilemma. Verses 19-20 certainly were not fulfilled literally on the day of Pentecost—the sun was not darkened, the moon did not turn to blood. Further, v. 20 seems to indicate that such things would happen just before the great day of the Lord came. This ought to give us our first clue about how Peter is using the Old Testament.

  QA ID: 

  277

  Topic ID: 

  27

  69

  25

  Biblical Topics: 

  Spiritual Gifts

  Scripture Twisting

  Prophecy/Revelation

• What do you think about the miracles, signs and wonders’ we are seeing today?

  What we see going on today in the charismatic movement needs to be critiqued on the basis of Scripture and never by our own experiences which are never reliable unless judged by the Word of God. We are so easily deceived and can so quickly look for proof texts to justify what we want to believe in the light of our experiences. People look at the claims, experiences, and phenomenal growth of the charismatic movement and see this as evidence of its genuineness but this kind of evidence is never valid in itself. We can see the same kind of phenomenon among some of the cults.

  QA ID: 

  276

  Topic ID: 

  79

  Biblical Topics: 

  Miracles

• How does the gift of prophecy fit with Hebrews 1:1 as it seems the role of prophets ended with the coming of Christ?

  I believe that the gift of prophecy was essential in the first century (as is clear from the rest of the New Testament) for the communication of New Testament truth through the apostles in the early church because there was no completed canon of Scripture at that time. There are many today who believe the gift of prophecy still exists, but I do not believe this is correct. Now that we have the completed canon of Scripture, Old and New Testaments, the gift of prophecy is no longer needed.

  QA ID: 

  275

  Topic ID: 

  69

  25

  Biblical Topics: 

  Spiritual Gifts

  Prophecy/Revelation

• What role does discerning of spirits’ (1 Cor. 12:10) play in the church today?

  Paul is probably referring to the spiritual gift of distinguishing whether what people say comes from the Holy Spirit or some other spirit (1 John 4:1) or to the differentiating (i.e., evaluating their truthfulness) of the words of the prophets in 1 Corinthians 14:29. While the gift may still exist today, the measure of what is true is Scripture. Therefore, this gift must be practiced in accordance with what is true in Scripture.

  QA ID: 

  274

  Topic ID: 

  27

  15

  Biblical Topics: 

  Spiritual Life

  Scripture Twisting

• How can our church learn to speak in tongues?

  According to the clear teaching of the New Testament, speaking in tongues is the ability to speak in a language previously unknown by the one speaking it. Tongues are not ecstatic utterances which many people today are seeking. The main passages of the New Testament that deal with tongues are Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 13-14. We have several articles our web site that cover this issue in the “Theology / Pneumatology” section. Before you seek this experience, let me encourage you to read these articles.

  QA ID: 

  273

  Topic ID: 

  8

  68

  Biblical Topics: 

  Ecclesiology (The Church)

  Tongues

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