Discerning Of Spirits

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1 Corinthians 12:10 , a miraculous gift of the Holy Ghost to certain of the early church, empowering them to judge of the real character of those who professed to love Christ, and to be inspired to teach in his name, 1 John 4:1 2 John 1:7 . Compare Acts 5:1-10 13:6-12 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1 Corinthians 12:10. Discerning between the operation of God's Spirit and that of the evil spirit, or unaided human spirit claiming to utter the dictates of God's Spirit. Acts 5:1-11; Acts 8:28; 1 Corinthians 14:23,37: "if any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." It is this which assures us of the inspiration of the New Testament The books were accepted as inspired, by churches having men possessing" the discerning of spirits" (1 John 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:1).

Holman Bible Dictionary

1 Corinthians 12:10

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This was one of the gifts in the early church, needful for 'testing the spirits,' because even then many false prophets had gone forth into the world. 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 John 4:1-3 . This gift was especially necessary at the time when the word of God was not fully written.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

This is now usually understood to mean a high faculty, enjoyed by certain persons in the apostolic age, of diving into the heart and discerning the secret dispositions of men. It appears to have been one of the gifts peculiar to that age, and was especially necessary at a time when the standards of doctrine were not well established or generally understood, and when many deceivers were abroad . This faculty seems to have been exercised chiefly upon those who came forward as teachers of others, and with whose real character and designs it was important that the infant churches should be acquainted.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(διάκρισις πνευμάτων, discrimination of spirits, 1 Corinthians 12:10). This expression is now usually understood to mean a high faculty, enjoyed by certain persons in the apostolic age, of intuitively probing the heart and distinguishing the secret dispositions of men (compare 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 John 5:1). It appears to have been one of the gifts peculiar to that age, and was especially necessary at a time when the standards of doctrine were not well established or generally understood, and when many deceivers were abroad (2 John 1:7). This faculty of supernatural insight seems to have been exercised chiefly upon those who came forward as teachers of others, and whose real designs it was important that the infant churches should know. Authentic instances, however, do not appear to show the method of its exercise, although the cases of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3; Acts 5:9), of Simon Magus (Acts 8:21), and of Elymas (Acts 13:9), are cases in point. (See Spiritual Gifts).