What Are Spiritual Gifts?: Rethinking the Conventional View

by Kenneth Berding (Editor)

In this groundbreaking work, New Testament scholar Kenneth Berding suggests that we have misunderstood spiritual gifts themselves and how they function, and thus have embarked on a misplaced search to find individualized spiritual gifts. Berding reconsiders at a fundamental level what spiritual gifts are and argues that the Holy Spirit does not give personalized abilities or enablements, but rather ministries to be undertaken.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, New Testament

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2006

Reviews

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a grind to get through but the author has done solid exegetical work. It is a great antidote to the conventional approach to the idea that Holy Spirit gives special abilities at conversion that need to be discovered and that the church has to somehow figure out how to match its needs up with these oft-hidden gifts among its people.

[Andrew Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read.

He essentially argues that spiritual gifts are NOT spiritual super-powers (that ought to be used for ministry) but instead ARE ministries (some of which require special enabling).

He argues this thesis through many means such as tracing the usage of the word "charisma," setting the spiritual gifts in the more comprehensive Biblical theme of service to the church, analyzing Pauline lists, looking at the use of "grace...given," and so on. For example, he argues the gift of "apostles" requires no special ability but is instead someone who has seen the resurrected Christ and has been chosen/appointed to be a special witness to His death and resurrection.

I think I'm probably convinced, but not sure. I have some lingering questions (such as: when a man is put forward for congregational vote to be recognized as a pastor-teacher, wouldn't he have to be specially gifted with teaching prior to being given that ministry?). I also am always hesitant to adopt an "alternate view" that "rethinks the conventional view," especially when it isn't from a recognizable name and has no endorsements on the back (but Marsh was the one that recommended it). All in all, it's not yet fully resolved in my mind.

[Donald Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agree with the thesis, but…

Rated low for two reasons. 1. The writing style is difficult to follow, sometimes due to the author’s own special terms for describing his points, sometimes just an overall awkwardness in writing. 2. I read the Kindle edition that was very poorly formatted and often difficult to follow. There were no hyper-links to the footnotes, so when I got to the footnotes section, I saw there was extensive extra explanations here, but now no context. Consequently the notes were of no value to me.

Still, I essentially agree with what the author says. He makes strong points that show that the church has much misunderstood the “spiritual gifts” passages in the Bible, consequently causing confusion among church members about how they should serve in their local church. Better writing would make the point better.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instead of spiritual gifts as "special talents given to a Christian believer at salvation", Breding proposes that the Bible passages' context suggests spiritual gifts are rather "ministries or acts of service believers are called to for any length of time". The distinction may not seem significant at first glance, but has important ramifications for how we place people in ministry, fill needs in the Church, and view service in God's kingdom.

[Jon Campanella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on the topic that I’ve read. Exegetical, contextual and practical. If I still believed in these gifts at all, this would be the position I would hold.

[Matthew Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book on looking at spiritual gifts for Cities Church’s class on the edification of the church. It was an insightful look at the significance and meaning of spiritual gifts. Berding defines spiritual gifts as the ministry assignments that God has given to believers and to the church through those believers to build up the body of Christ (pg. 119 and 137). This means that they are ministries given to us by God to further His church and is not the conventional view of spiritual gifts. Paul uses the metaphor of a body throughout 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:1-16 to explain spiritual gifts. Paul shows in these two passages how God has “placed each believer in roles of ministry for the purpose of edifying His church” (pg. 77). As a result, God has gifted every Christian with the skills that he/she needs to be a functioning member of a church body and to help unite and build up the body. Berding says that we should ask questions like “God, where in my local church do you want me to serve?” or “I want to serve Jesus by building up the church any way I can,” rather than “God, how can I discover the special powers that you have given me?” or “I have the gift of administration, do you have a place for me to use my gift here?” Berding focuses on asking God to show us the ministry needs that we can help meet with the skills that God has gifted us to further the body. Wisdom and guidance will help us to figure out where we can serve. Finally, “Christians who are faithful in seeking Biblical principles, searching out mature counsel, and submitting their requests to God, should not worry about whether they’ve missed doing what God wants them to do” (pg. 203). God will help us to see the needs that we can help fill which is exactly what He calls us to do.

[Ronnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book hits the very important topic that spiritual gifts are not special abilities but ministries. So instead of using the term spiritual gifts the term spiritual ministries leads to better understanding of Paul's intended meaning. The first two parts felt slow to me but I already agree with the author's premise so they were necessary to clarify the issue and make his argument. Part 3 and 4 were easy enjoyable reads where he puts spiritual ministries into the context of Paul and the whole new testament and then gives application to this change in understanding. I think this book is a must read but because it is an easy read but because it corrects a common misunderstanding in the church today.

[John Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any time you encounter something "new" in the area of theology you should be careful and critical. But everything in this book sounds right-on and provides a much better understanding of the spiritual gifts discussion than does the traditional view. The idea is this: spiritual gifts are not talents or abilities, but ministries. Paradigm shift. It will be interesting to see what Tom Schreiner says in his book that releases next month.

[Andrew Sturt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book really only makes only one point--which is a good point: that the standard, evangelical view of spiritual "gifts" really doesn't align with the verses we say we get it from--but after that one point is made, everything else is supposition. As such, the book provides a great starting point for uncoupling from old views, but offers no compelling replacement theology.

[Starla Gooch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed scholarship, but boring as heck. This is a good reference material to own, as Berding has done meticulous work concerning Paul and the New Testament authors’ views of spiritual gifts and ministries. But I wouldn’t recommend it for reading cover to cover.

[Tim Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Exegesis, Terrible Formatting

A fresh new look at so-called "spiritual gifts" by taking a very close look at the original Greek. However, far from "Great on Kindle," this might well be the worst formatted and least navigable eBooks I have ever read.

[Phillip]

In this book, Ken Berding tries to put Paul's teaching on "spiritual gifts" within the larger context of his teaching on the Spirit and ministry. His thesis is compelling. Spiritual ministry callings, i.e. "gifts", are first and foremost meant to serve the Christian community. The clear emphasis for Paul is on service and ministry, not on any kind of special abilities, i.e. "the conventional view."

Thus, the question is not, "what is my spiritual gifting?", but "what is the ministry the Spirit is leading me to invest in?" This effectively eliminates the need for spiritual gift inventory tests and the like. Berding's "spiritual ministries" view focuses the church on its primary mission to serve each other and build each other up as we all grow into maturity, thus evidencing the power of the gospel to change lives.

The book is a little repetitive, but for the most part well written. The research is solid and convincing. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone considering Paul's teaching on this topic.

[Fernando Almeida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different and challenging perspectives about the understanding of Spiritual Gifts and their practice in the church. The book presents an alternative view, to the traditional view of gifts as a "special ability", backing it up with a hermeneutical review of the relevant NT Literature.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a healthy corrective to many of the unbiblical ideas about spiritual gifts that abound today.