Do gifts such as tongues, prophecy and healing continue in the Church today, and is speaking in tongues the sign of a baptism in the Spirit?
Earliest statement of each found so far: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them, Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 180; New revelation ceased with the apostles, Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444 (authorship uncertain).
What the early Church said, in their own words →
- Reformed: Divided. Westminster 1.1 says God's 'former ways' of revealing his will 'being now ceased', which speaks of new revelation, not of healing or tongues as such; Reformed churches today differ on the gifts.
- Baptist: Divided. The 1689 Confession 1.1 has the same words as Westminster; the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is silent.
- Oriental Orthodox placements rest mainly on Coptic and Ethiopian church texts. The Armenian texts checked so far are brief, and Syriac and Indian Orthodox texts are not yet checked.
a passage teaches it a passage rejects it authorship uncertain defined after this timeline ends
Baptism in the Spirit, first shown by tonguesPentecostal1 rejects it · Confession 1916 →
Gifts continue as the Spirit gives themCatholicOriental OrthodoxMethodistAnabaptist5 teach it · 1 rejects it · Confession 1992 →
New revelation ceased with the apostles1 teaches it · 5 reject it · Confession 1646 →
The positions
Baptism in the Spirit, first shown by tongues Pentecostal
What it holds: After conversion believers should seek a further baptism in the Holy Spirit, whose first outward sign is speaking in tongues; all the gifts named in 1 Corinthians 12 continue.
This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.Assemblies of God, Statement of Fundamental Truths
The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.Assemblies of God, Statement of Fundamental Truths
In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost.Church of God (Cleveland, TN), Declaration of Faith
Formally defined: Charles Parham's 'Bible evidence' teaching (Topeka, 1901); Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths (1916)
No early passage in the works searched so far states it yet.
Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them CatholicOriental OrthodoxMethodistAnabaptist
What it holds: The Spirit still gives gifts such as healing, prophecy and tongues as he wills; no single gift is the required sign of having the Spirit, and gifts are tested by the Church.
Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying graceCatechism of the Catholic Church 2003
No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds.Catechism of the Catholic Church 799-801
their charismatic gifts and experiences can be considered as fresh wind of the SpiritUMC Book of Resolutions, Guidelines: The UMC and the Charismatic Movement
When United Methodist charismatics adopt a classical pentecostal line, they are no longer United Methodist-at least in the Wesleyan sense.UMC Book of Resolutions, Guidelines: The UMC and the Charismatic Movement
We know from Scripture that the Holy Spirit continues to reveal God's will to us (1 Cor. 14:26-33).Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995)
God endows whatever gift He wishes to whomever He wishes in the time His Divine Wisdom definesPope Shenouda III (Coptic Orthodox), Comparative Theology (1988)
Formally defined: No single defining text; Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), paragraphs 799-801 and 2003; UMC Guidelines on the Charismatic Movement (1976)
Earliest statement: Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 180
New revelation ceased with the apostles
What it holds: God's former ways of giving new revelation, such as prophecy and tongues as revelation, ended with the apostles once Scripture was complete; such revelation is not given today.
those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.Second London Baptist Confession (1689), ch. 1
Formally defined: Westminster Confession 1.1 (1646); Second London Baptist Confession 1.1 (1689)
No secure early statement. Earliest, from a work of uncertain authorship: Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444.
Common ground
These are affirmed by more than one position, so a passage saying only this counts for none of them.
- The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the Church (1 Corinthians 12)
- Love is greater than any gift (1 Corinthians 13)
- Gifts are for building up the Church
- Miracles were done by the apostles (as history)
- The Spirit was poured out at Pentecost with tongues (Acts 2 retold)
Every deciding passage, earliest first
Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 180
Others do not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and push prophetic grace far from them; of them Isaiah said they shall be ‘like a terebinth that has shed its leaves, and like a garden without water’; and those are of no use to God, since they can bring no fruit. (Isa 1:30; 1 Thess 5:19-20)
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Translation in progress
Novatian, c. 250
But the order of reason and the authority of faith, with the Lord's words and letters set in order, admonishes us after these things to believe also in the Holy Spirit once promised to the church but restored at the appointed opportunities of times. For he was promised through Joel the prophet but restored through Christ. In the last days, he says, I will pour out of my Spirit upon my servants and handmaids. And the Lord: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you remit will be remitted, and whose you retain will be retained. This Spirit the Lord Christ now calls Paraclete, now pronounces the Spi…
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Translation in progress
Origen of Alexandria, c. 254
If then to be a teacher is a gift given according to the measure of Christ’s gift, clearly also a pastor who shepherds with knowledge must shepherd having a gift. And how will someone be an evangelist whose feet of the soul are not, so to speak, beautiful? And that they may become so, God must supply them beauty. But also a prophet who convicts and examines the unbeliever (for such is the prophet of the new covenant) must be thought appointed to the church from God. And if these can always be in the church, perhaps also apostles, to whom the signs of an apostle are given to work, can be found …
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Severianus of Gabala, c. 400
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others discern who have the gift of discerning spirits. If to another it is revealed while sitting, let the first be silent, as it is in them sometimes to be silent and sometimes to speak. And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. Do not fear, he says, if you keep silent as if rejecting the Spirit; for he knows that the gifts are to be subject to one another. It is manifest that those having the gifts of the discerning of spirits should use them, so that the church may receive building up and not trouble from all speaking at once.
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Severianus of Gabala, c. 400
For if one does not interpret, but only speaks in a tongue and does not manifest the power, as one not possessing this gift of interpretation, he speaks mysteries indeed—for the Spirit provides tongues—and he utters mysteries through the tongues, but he does not build up the church, not understanding what he says. He who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, knowing that what he did not already utter was intelligible; it was a grace of the Holy Spirit in him and he was building up. Just as one speaking in tongues and interpreting is not less than the prophet. Zeal for the prophecy more than th…
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
John Chrysostom, c. 407
That these things happened before through the apostles is witnessed by the churches everywhere in the world, and by peoples, cities, and nations who ran to laymen and fishermen. For unlettered and poor and needy and lowly men would never have prevailed over the world if they had not had the help of signs. But neither have you been left without the grace of the Spirit. Even now many symbols of that gift remain, far greater and more wonderful than the ones just listed. For it is not the same thing to raise a body that has died and to deliver a soul that has been killed by sins from that destruct…
- Rejects: Baptism in the Spirit, first shown by tongues
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
Catena fragment, author uncertain: A catena fragment: the ascription rests on the catena heading and is not secure.
Thus the divine Paul has been given to those who now insist on speaking in tongues—not as a mere share of grace, but as a sign-gift ordered for the faithful.
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Translation in progress
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
Catena fragment, author uncertain: A catena fragment: the ascription rests on the catena heading and is not secure.
One person confidently assures others that he knows various kinds of tongues, and also claims to interpret them—yet this gift we regard as particular, bestowed by divine economy according to need and opportunity.
- Teaches: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Rejects: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Translation in progress
Cyril of Alexandria, c. 444
Catena fragment, author uncertain: A catena fragment: the ascription rests on the catena heading and is not secure.
For the one speaking in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. It is necessary to think that interpreting the prophets and speaking in tongues is more for the glory of it; for with faith, hope, and love for God and brothers already assumed and preferred in us, which also has the fulfillment of the whole law, let the other things be added. Then we will also be filled with the gifts of God and will overflow with the gifts of the Spirit. I say that prophesying is being able to interpret the prophets; for after the Only-Begotten became human, suffered, and was raised, and our economy was comp…
- Rejects: Gifts continue as the Spirit gives them
- Teaches: New revelation ceased with the apostles
Translation in progress
How this was made
Every whole work in the library on 21 October 2026 was searched for this question. Works added since then are not searched yet. The short excerpts on the topic pages (many from Tertullian, Justin, Irenaeus and Ignatius) join the search once their English has been checked against the Greek or Latin original: 94% of them (1,814 of 1,925) have passed that check, and the rest are still held out, so an early witness may occasionally be missing from these lanes. Two AI models from different labs judged each passage against all the positions at once, seeing them only as letters, without names or churches. A third model settled disagreements, and Claude reviewers then checked every deciding verdict against the passage and, for the earliest dates, against the Greek or Latin. A writer's silence is never counted.
The evidence is only as deep as the works searched: 1st century: 5 writers, 2nd century: 23 writers, 3rd century: 22 writers, 4th century: 18 writers, 5th century: 11 writers, 6th century: 5 writers, 8th century: 1 writer. The lanes are redrawn when the search is run again.