Book Review: UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL GIFTS (SAM STORMS)

This is my first time delving deep into the topic of spiritual gifts. I came from a background of cessationism, or not believing that the spiritual gifts were still active. Storms does a fantastic job of presenting both sides of the conversation around spiritual gifts, and the controversies and uncertainties around them. This book was very helpful in bringing clarity to what the gifts are and how they are used. From the lesser-known gifts to the more commonly discussed, Storms goes into detail on the background, history, and purpose of each spiritual gift.

Understanding Spiritual Gifts is broken up into six sections. The first section contains the first four chapters, where Storms examines the traditional views of the gifts and deepens the reader's understanding of their importance. The author expands our understanding by giving insight into the Holy Spirit’s power and involvement in that specific gift of the Spirit, and how and why he imparts the gifts to the body of Christ. In part two, the conversation is deepened by presenting the history and theological arguments for and against the gifts being active and working within the body of Christ today (cessationism vs. continuationism).

Part three gets into the real substance of the book, explaining what the gifts are and how they are to be used and expressed within the church today. Storms starts with the "revelatory gifts,” such as words of wisdom, words of knowledge, and the prophetic gifts. Part four focuses solely on the speaking and interpretation of tongues, shining light on the purpose and scriptural evidence for both. Part five takes a closer look at the gifts of faith, healing, and miracles. In the last section, part six, Storms concludes the long journey with other gifts that have been mentioned in Scripture, paying especially close attention to the gift of Apostleship and the speculations surrounding it.

When I finished reading this book, I had a more comprehensive understanding of the spiritual gifts, the distinct purpose of each one, and the scriptural background and arguments for and against their use today. I would recommend Understanding Spiritual Gifts to anyone wanting to learn about this somewhat tricky subject, and seeking to know how the spiritual gifts build up the church.