Paul King: Is It Of God?

Paul L. King, Is It Of God? A Biblical Guidebook For Spiritual Discernment Volume 1 (Newberry, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2019), 384 pages, ISBN 9781610364065.

Dr. Paul King is a man with significant academic credentials. He holds two doctorates, one from Oral Roberts University and one from the University of South Africa. He has served on the faculty of Oral Roberts University, he has also served as a Faculty Mentor at United Theological Seminary for the Randy Clark Scholars in their Doctor of Ministry Program. In addition to teaching, Dr. King has authored a number of books and has served in pastoral ministry. He has been involved in ministry for almost 50 years and is an ordained minister with the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination.

Is It Of God? is devoted to the subject of spiritual discernment. More specifically, the author writes to help believers determine if certain teachings, practices, or manifestations are from God. This current volume is the first of two volumes; the second will be released at a later date. The main body of the book consists of 20 chapters and 3 appendixes. In the course of his writing King cites some well-known Christians from the past, the list includes, A. W. Tozer, A. B. Simpson, and Jonathan Edwards. There is a lot of material in this book, some of which is quite detailed. The text contains some Hebrew and Greek but these are not major features of the book, the material in the text is very accessible and the size of the print is comfortable.

These are some of the topics that Dr. King covers in this book: why we need discernment, the biblical foundations of discernment, the biblical principles of discernment, cessationism, and continuationism. He discusses why revival is so messy (a mixture of divine, human, and at times, demonic elements). In the course of discussing revivals he compares some of the characteristics of the revivals in Brownsville, Toronto, and Lakeland against certain discernment criteria. He also addresses the question “If It Is Miraculous, Is It Always From God?” (Chapter 13).

Dr. King is very humble in his approach in this book. He does not present himself as an expert on the subject, he admits that he is still learning and still growing in discernment (page xiii). The author also says that most people will probably disagree with some of his conclusions (page xiii). What King does in this book is offer principles which will help the believer to determine if a teaching, practice, or manifestation is from God. That being said King believes that corporate discernment plays an important part in the discernment process (page 21). Some believers might like to say if the Bible mentions something then it is of God and if it doesn’t mention it then it is not of God. While this is the safest test, the author shows us that discernment is not always that simple. He sets forth other principles that we can turn to when the Bible does not give us a clear-cut example of the teaching, practice, or manifestation that we are dealing with. These additional principles include the harmony of the teaching, practice, or manifestation with Scripture (pages 30-31), insight given through the gift of the discerning of spirits (pages 34-35), and the fruit that is borne by the item being examined (page 34).

Because of the scope of this book, readers may find themselves being drawn to or ministered to by particular sections of the text. That is to say, everyone will have favorite portions of the book. This may be due to one’s historical interests, theological background, or church experiences. I found chapter 3 “Basic Biblical Principles of Discernment” to be very helpful. Another section that I found especially interesting was in chapter 8, where the author discussed balanced discernment. He notes that a person’s theological starting point will determine what he or she considers to be a middle, or balanced, position regarding a teaching, practice, or manifestation. He shows that a cessationist and a continuationist are going to consider different things to be balanced because of their theological starting points (he demonstrates this truth in the book using charts). I also particularly enjoyed Chapter 12 in which he supports the continuationist viewpoint of spiritual gifts. He marshals scriptural support for this position and includes texts beyond those that are usually cited to support this position.

This book has a lot to offer, written by a man who is both well-read and very experienced in the practical matters of discernment. This current volume may be especially helpful to Pentecostal and Charismatic church leaders and Christians who are having to deal with manifestations that are taking place in their church meetings. Is It Of God? gives us much to think about. It is a timely book because in these last days the church needs discernment. The Bible tells us that there will be “all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (2 Thess. 2:9 NIV). However, we know that there are genuine ones as well, and we need to be able to distinguish one from the other. I believe that this book will be helpful in this regard, I highly recommend it. Hopefully theological schools, especially those that are Pentecostal or Charismatic, will consider using it as a text in one of their course offerings. I look forward to the release of the second volume of this book.

Reviewed by John Lathrop