Empowered Evangelism in Medicalized Cultures: A Second Response to Craig Keener

Abstract

This article responds to Craig Keener’s closing article in a special issue, originating with a Holy Spirit Symposium, Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today, Biola University, October 27, 2023. Keener argues that the Holy Spirit empowers the church for cross-cultural evangelism through the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy. My response asks what empowered evangelism looks like in medicalized cultures like that of the United States. I argue that the church can more effectively cross the cultural barriers of medical science by learning to prophesy in “medical tongues”—communicating the gospel in the language, and backed by the evidence, of medical science. It is insufficient for Christians to testify to miracles; the church also needs to make it a priority to document miracles medically.