Why have the Sign Gifts Ended
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The Death of Polycarp
Eventually, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to pierce him with a dagger. When he did this [a dove flew out and] [*this may well be a later interpolation or transcription error] such a great quantity of blood flowed that the fire was extinguished. The crowd were amazed at the difference between the unbelievers and the elect – of whom the great Polycarp was surely one, having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. For every word he spoke either has been or shall be accomplished.
Eventually, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to pierce him with a dagger. When he did this [a dove flew out and] [*this may well be a later interpolation or transcription error] such a great quantity of blood flowed that the fire was extinguished. The crowd were amazed at the difference between the unbelievers and the elect – of whom the great Polycarp was surely one, having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. For every word he spoke either has been or shall be accomplished.
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Ephesians 4:11 was written while there were actual apostles and prophets alive on earth, and the complete Bible had not been written. By the time all the apostle passed on the Bible was complete, but the apostles and prophets were gone. Therefore not a single "Apostolic Father" claimed to be an apostle or a prophet. We now have the prophets primarily in the OT and the apostles in the NT.
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Again, your reasoning is flawed.
Firstly, I don't hold that Israel "required" a sign from God that someone was sent to them. I believe they wanted signs, not that they needed signs. They had the prophecies, and didn't see the fulfillment of those prophecies even when He was standing before them.
Secondly, neither premise says anything at all about the gentiles, so you are using a fallacious argument from silence. That fallacy is at the core of your entire thesis in this thread.
Firstly, I don't hold that Israel "required" a sign from God that someone was sent to them. I believe they wanted signs, not that they needed signs. They had the prophecies, and didn't see the fulfillment of those prophecies even when He was standing before them.
Secondly, neither premise says anything at all about the gentiles, so you are using a fallacious argument from silence. That fallacy is at the core of your entire thesis in this thread.
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Your argument with regard to prophets is flawed. It is unreasonable to claim that prophecies ended with the close of the canon on the basis of the prophecies recorded in the canon. A book cannot possibly contain narrative records of events that occurred after it was written.
Scripture itself tells us that not all prophecies are recorded in Scripture. Agabus was identified as a prophet before any of his prophecies were recorded, and Philip's daughters prophesied, and none of their prophecies were recorded.
Nobody need claim to be a prophet to actually be one. Most of the biblical prophets did not make such claims. Amos actually declared that he was not a prophet, yet God told him to prophesy.
Scripture itself tells us that not all prophecies are recorded in Scripture. Agabus was identified as a prophet before any of his prophecies were recorded, and Philip's daughters prophesied, and none of their prophecies were recorded.
Nobody need claim to be a prophet to actually be one. Most of the biblical prophets did not make such claims. Amos actually declared that he was not a prophet, yet God told him to prophesy.