Understanding Ellen White

Pentecostalism and the prophetic gift

Within the Pentecostal-charismatic movement, the gift of prophecy has held and continues to hold a significant place. “Prophetic revelations,” wrote C. Hill in 1989, “is becoming increasingly common as a normal part of the church’s worship and spiritual life.” ¹⁴ This is true not only in Pentecostal and charismatic churches but also in “mainline churches that until recently have been totally closed to any such possibility”¹⁵ Indeed, a number of modern prophets exist today within Evangelical churches and the Pentecostal and charismatic movement. UEGW 232.1

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Metro Vineyard Fellowship in Kansas City had three modern prophets: John Paul Jackson, Bob Jones, and Paul Cain— today they all have their own ministries. ¹⁶ The prophecies and messages of these “Kansas City prophets” were frequently false and often foolish. For example, John Paul Jackson said in one message that God blew up the space shuttle Challenger on January 25, 1986, to teach America a lesson, given that there was a teacher on board. ¹⁷ Bob Jones predicted that one thousand religious leaders would be killed by God in 1990. He also spoke of a new breed of human beings, the “elected seed,” supposedly “created by God in 1973 to form a super church that would be ten thousand times greater than the church of the book of Acts”¹⁸ Though believed to be inspired by God, the messages of these modern prophets are not considered as authoritative as the messages of the biblical prophets. Not only do they have less authority, they may be “out of order or even incorrect at times”¹⁹ And modern prophets readily admit that they have often prophesied falsely. Bob Jones once said, “If I hit two-thirds of it, I am doing pretty good”²⁰ Nevertheless, the prophecies these men deliver are received by thousands as revealed truths from God. ²¹ UEGW 232.2

Not so long ago, Seventh-day Adventists were seen as a cult because they claimed to have a prophet in their church. Today, Pentecostal and charismatic churches have their own prophets; and evangelical theologians have worked out a whole theology to justify the modus operandi of these modern prophets. UEGW 232.3