Page 57 - Pneumatology - Student Textbook

Study Section 11: Are the miraculous gifts tongues, healings, and
miracles of the Spirit for today?

11.1 Connect

Have you ever heard about the “flying house of
Mary?” It is told that Mary, mother of Jesus, grew up
in a house in Nazareth. The house was empty for
hundreds of years, but in the 13 century, some
th
angels decided to pick it up and fly it to a couple
locations, but finally flew it to a field in Italy. It landed
in the field of a lady whose name was Loreta, near the town of
Recanati. St. Peter put an alter in the house and a figure of Mary
was carved by St. Luke. Many miracles have been linked to the
house. Supposedly Pope Pius IX came to the house seven times
and was healed of chronic fatigue, fever, and epileptic seizures.
People come from all over the world to venerate the house and perhaps receiving healing by touching its
walls or praying under its roof (pictured to the right is the chapel at the “Flying House of Mary” in Loretto,
Italy).

Is this for real? Do you believe that angels actually picked up the house and flew it from Nazareth to Italy?
Do you think that the healings that people testify occur there really do happen?

Similar things are happening within many churches throughout the world. People come up to the front and
are slain in the Spirit, falling limp to the floor. Others receive special water which will, when blessed by the
pastor, provide a job or a miracle when drunk. Is this a description of the workings of the Holy Spirit in the
church today? Let’s see if we can clear up some of these questions that are abundant today….

11.2 Objectives

1. The student should be capable to answering the question regarding whether the sign gifts are
for the church today.

2. The student should be able to discuss the filioque controversy and give an orthodox position
on it.

3. The student should be able to describe what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is and why it is the
unpardonable sin.

11.3 Are the miraculous gifts tongues, healings, and miracles of the Spirit for today?

First, it is important to recognize that this is not a question of whether God still performs
miracles today. It would be foolish and unbiblical to claim God does not heal people, speak to
people, and perform miraculous signs and wonders today. The question is whether the
miraculous gifts of the Spirit, described primarily in 1 Corinthians 12–14, are still active in the
church today. This is also not a question of can the Holy Spirit give someone a miraculous gift.
The question is whether the Holy Spirit still dispenses the miraculous gifts today. Above all else,
we entirely recognize that the Holy Spirit is free to dispense gifts according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:7-

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