The Gospel Coalition Now Promoting Charismatic Heresies

The Gospel Coalition is basically a bridge between orthodox Christianity and practically every conceivable theological heresy there is. While on the one hand, TGC is mostly Calvinists — at least in name — the practical implications that come from much of the drivel pouring out of its pages are strange, at best.

TGC is the epicenter of the Rauschenbusch heresy — the social gospel. Led by such names as Tim Keller and Russell Moore, the social gospel has effectively infected the vast majority of Evangelical churches so much so that it’s extremely difficult to find a Church that isn’t “woke” — the modern craze.

It’s also very common for heresies to enter the church through the conduit of continuationism — that is, the continuation of the apostolic sign gifts. In fact, most heresies have crept in that way. And it is also true that the typical TGC contributor/follower is, at least on some level, open to continuationism. But in a recent article, TGC is now promoting some of the outright heresies of the charismatic movement.

A new term, eucharismatic, coined by Andrew Wilson is basically a mixture of charismaticism with orthodox Christianity. Of course, when you mix falsehood with truth, you get falsehood, and when you mix heresy with orthodoxy, you get heresy. This idea, eucharismaticism, endorsed by Matt Chandler and now being promoted at TGC, calls on orthodox Christians to embrace the apostolic sign gifts, like healing, prophecy, and tongues — even a second baptism in the Holy Spirit — as normative. The article What Does it Mean to be Eucharismatic reads,

It’s a word that, as I see it, sums up a theological vision for the church, in which all of God’s gifts are treasured and celebrated, whether they are eucharistic (the sacraments, liturgy) or charismatic (prophecy, healing); it invites the church to bring out of our storehouse both old and new treasures, so that God’s people can enjoy his grace in Spirit and sacrament.

The continuation of the apostolic gifts is, by all discernible standards, heretical. There heresy, founded by Montanus in the 2nd century, was condemned as heresy by the early Church. Yet, the heresy is alive and well today.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit is among the most serious and dangerous ideologies of the charismatic movement. It teaches that a second experience apart from the moment of salvation is the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” where ostensibly one receives the apostolic sign gifts, such as tongues, prophecy, and healing. Of course, this is nowhere substantiated by Scripture.

Wilson, however, wants orthodox churches to embrace these serious errors. He writes,

Then imagine them drenched in the Holy Spirit, prone to spontaneous outbursts of praise and the kind of joy that reaches the face. They begin to heal the sick. They read Psalm 150—and actually do it. They cast out demons when needed. They use spiritual gifts in meetings—not just the leaders, but everyone. They shout sometimes and dance sometimes. They laugh like children. They pray as if the Lion of Judah is on the edge of his seat, hackles raised, ready to pounce. They expect God to speak to them at home or in the office. Their meetings look more like African weddings than English funerals.

Now put all of this together. Imagine a service that includes healing testimonies and prayers of confession, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit, creeds that move the soul and rhythms that move the body. Imagine young men seeing visions, old men dreaming dreams, sons and daughters prophesying, and all of them coming to the same Table and then going on their way rejoicing.

Can you see it?

That’s what it means to be Eucharismatic.