Book review
Convergence

Full description of book:
Sam Storms, Convergence: The Spiritual Journey of a Charismatic Calvinist (Kingsway Publications, Eastbourne, UK, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2005). ISBN 1-84291-271-2.

Review:

This book is an interesting book by Sam Storms, a Reformed Charismatic, as he pleads for the convergence of two historically incompatible streams within Christianity — namely that of the Reformed stream and the Charismatic stream. As a charismatic Christian who professes belief in Calvinism as expressed in the historic TULIP or 5 points of Calvinism, Storms' book here tries to reconcile these two disparage strands. This he does through first sharing his own spiritual journey, then examining the positions of both Charismatism and Cessationism with regards to the issues which divide them, which is quite a handful. It is my opinion that Storms does raise legitimate concerns over the Cessationist position, yet his defence of movements such as the Kansas City Prophets and the Toronto Blessing does not help his position at all.

Storms' short autobiography as he shares his journey is interesting and help inform us as to his background and experiences. Most definitely, one can sympathize to a certain extent with his struggles first as he was told that he needed to get out of leadership position while he was a student leader in Campus Crusade (back when it was closed to the Charismatic movement) then as he began to speak in tongues, and therefore he 'suppresses' that gift of his, only to rediscover the gift later on in life. Of course, his journey also shows the people involved in shaping his beliefs especially Jack Deere, who was ejected out of Dallas Theological Seminary after he became Charismatic. All of these help us in knowing the influences in his life. And this is where I truly sympathize with him, because some of the people who were at hand in helping him were those who later became involved in the Vineyard movement with its extravagance manifested in the Toronto Blessing (more bad than good), and therefore he cannot see the error in the movement, and in fact many others, thus lacking discernment with regards to these issues. For just because Cessationism is not correct at one part does not mean that the exact opposite, Charismatism, must be right about it either. So while his autobiography is most helpful, his plea for a convergence between the two positions is severely undermined by his lack of discernment in this regard.

With regards to the actual examination of the two positions, Storms here acknowledges that his take on both positions are "envisioned as tendencies, potential emphases, and underlying assumptions, not rigid categories from which neither group ever parts company" (p. 153-154), and therefore many people may not recognize themselves or their positions in it. In this, I think he is correct, and it would be good here not to be too reactive but instead examine ourselves if that is really where our theology logically leads us to, for people on both sides of the charismata divide. This is not to say that we must agree with Storms, for I disagree with him about various stuff also, but we should be open to listen and examine our own position according to the Scriptures instead of having the classic knee-jerk reaction to any criticism of our position and probable pet doctrines.

With that, let us analyze some of the points Storms bring about in detail. Of course, being more of a Cessationist, I would interact with Storms' analysis of the Cessationist position more.

The first item of contention is the contrast made between principles and power; of understanding and experience. Storms here claims that for Cessationists, "knowledge becomes the index of spirituality" (p. 166). It must be acknowledged that this is sometimes true in Cessationist circles though, of which spirituality and maturity is measured more in terms of how many books and volumes of commentary you have read rather than on the person's walk with God. Hopefully however, this is the minority position, found probably only in Traditionalist circles whereby Tradition is followed to the letter, with the exception of language at least. On the other side, Storms critique the Charismatics as gauging "growth by the depth of spiritual experience (often, the more bizarre the better) and emphasize the affections above the mind" (p. 166). While I may be a Cessationist, I must acknowledge that this is applicable mainly to the extreme Charismatics rather than most mainstream Pentecostals. In fact, it is applicable to such "revivals" such as the Toronto Blessing, the Brownsville revival and other such hyped up events, of which we have seen that Storms had earlier tried to defend due to his affinity for them. This undermines his call for convergence of course, but we shall look on.

The next issue to look at is with regards to Storms' exegesis of 1 Cor. 14, and especially verse 14 (pp. 169-173), which states

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. (1 Cor. 14:14)

The passage in 1 Cor. 12-14 is the most hotly debated passage in all of Scripture when it comes to the issue of the charismata, and understandably so. I will do an exegete of the passage sometime in the future, but for the moment, it must suffice here to note that being unfruitful here does not mean that the mind is set in neutral in some sort of alpha state, but that it is not involved cognitively in the production of the tongue speech. It is not as if the tongue speaker would lose control over his/her body and mind while speaking in tongues, for as it is written also that "the spirit of prophets are subject to prophets" (1 Cor. 14:32) and tongues and the others gifts are so subjected to the spirit of those who yield them, which Paul presupposes as he dictates how they are to be used in the Church.

Storms' next tackles the issue of Anti-intellectualism within the Charismatic circles (pp. 174-176), and this he does reasonably well. He also talks about the different approaches Cessationists and Charismatics have with regards to preaching, and for this I think the Cessationist approach is best as a foundation, though the Charismatic emphasis on the here and now could help remind us that sermons do have to be practical, though in the sense that it is practical only as if flows from a correct exegesis of the text of Scripture.

One thing of concern here is the slant towards promoting a certain type of spiritual growth in Storm's book; that of embracing spiritual formation (p. 181) and of embracing sacramentalism (p. 217), which Storms seem to think sacramentalism is somehow related to the feeling of God's transcendence. Before we go any further, let me just say that I do not think Storms has any idea of the Emerging definition of "spiritual formation" as promoted by Richard Foster et al here, so it should rather be referred to as mere spiritual disciplines as historically understood in the Protestant movement ie Methodism. That said, it must be maintained that not anything that is traditional is somehow good in the aspects it claim to be good at (In other words, something that is old is not neccessarily good). For example, just because in Charismatism the transcendence of God is somehow lost does not mean that anything traditional which purports to "restore" the worship of God as transcendent is by default good. Sacramentalism for example as embraced by high-church Anglicanism (prominent in Anglo-Catholicism) and Romanism, as well as Eastern Orthodoxy, violates the Second Commandment whether directly or indirectly by making the sacramental object to be some sort of intermediary between God and Man, whereas Reformed thought have always maintained that only Baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments and although grace is imparted, such grace is never imparted ex opere operato, of which sacramentalism would demand as such. Spiritual disciplines also (as properly understood) are means by which God ordains that we grow through them, but the efficacy of such disciplines depend on God rather than on the practice itself, and is thus not sacramental in any sense.

On many other issues I concur with Storms, like with regards to seeking God's guidance for example (pp. 201-203). There must be both hearing from others and calculated assessment of the situation, coupled together with prayer to God and openness to God guiding us in non-conventional ways, though most definitely by that I am not necessarily talking about dreams, visions etc which are highly subjective and open to any number of interpretations. On the subject of worship (pp. 2098-215), I identify more with the Charismatic side yet with a yearning for more biblical based songs which speak of the transcendence and doctrinal aspects of God, while basking in the immanence of God. So with this I can say that I am full agreement with Storms on this very subject.

The last subject that concerns us is the subject of God speaking to us. This is an altogether large subject, so I will not talk about it here, but suffice is it to say that Storms' points are worth considering, though I do not think that he is totally correct when he talks about the subject of God speaking to us and closely related to that, the subject of prophecy. My position has been that God most definitely still speaks today alright, through the spoken Word of God (past) as applied to the present world we live in, and such application is indeed prophecy, which in modern times is the present application of the past settled and authoritative Word of God.

In conclusion, I would like to offer these words from Sam Storms with regards to true convergence as regards to the Christian life, which I heartily endorse.

Affections such as joy and love and hope and peace are essential to true Christian living, the sort of living that honors and glorifies and exalts Jesus. But they cannot long survive if severed from the rich soil of truth and doctrine and ever-expanding understanding in the mind of the splendor and majesty of God.

Amen.