Comment: I appreciate our need for discernment and why some of our members (and ministers) seem to be interested in fringe areas of Christianity. Most of us aren't able to understand or deal with much of what is out there.
For instance, I went to a meeting featuring John Arnot, who promotes the Toronto blessing. He gives a good talk on why we should be careful not to condemn "manifestations."
Then he walked through the crowd praying and touching people, and I saw some serious "manifesting." After I realized that he was working his way toward me, I quietly slid out the back door.
I've thought a lot about what Arnot had to say. Something didn't ring quite right.
It reinforced for me that we need discernment as we interact with the diversity that is in Christianity--and our history shows that discernment is not our strong suit. We have much to learn, as well as much to teach.
Response from Mr. Albrecht: Some are concerned that we are pointing out errors in the Word of Faith movement ("Faith in Faith," January-February issue).
Some have said we are reverting to the very thing we used to do--bashing other Christians.
We do not want to bash other Christians. We recognize that there are true Christians in many churches. But the church is charged with teaching and believing truth, and holding to "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3).
As we do so, we are bound to ruffle feathers. We are reminded of the maxim, "the gospel comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comfortable."
We also believe we have a duty to point out the pitfalls into which we fell in the past. In that way, others can benefit from the lessons we have learned. Why should people die, thinking that going to a doctor is a lack of faith? Should we not point out theological and biblical errors that cause pain and anguish?
The Word of Faith movement departs from the historic Christian faith. Several prominent leaders of this movement teach that man can become God, that Christ had to go to hell to atone for our sins (the cross wasn't enough).
These and other unbiblical teachings lead to misery, heartache and disillusionment. Therefore, we have a duty to point out the truth.
As part of our pastoral responsibility, we cannot idly watch as sheep jump over the cliff following a pied piper who seduces them with false promises. We must point out that feelings and experience are not the ultimate test of truth.
We must also be big enough to realize our own weaknesses. Most of us are not well-grounded in the historic Christian faith, and our theological training is incomplete, which means that we might be misled by those who mix truth with error.
While we study to shore up this weakness, we must at the same time guard against abuses that can occur because of this weakness.
Comment: My wife and I visit a charismatic Baptist fellowship. I know from personal experience that the charismatic movement involves all three spirits: the Holy, the satanic and the human. Satan comes to church--he always has--in rationalism as well as in counterfeit religious ecstasy.
But my experience with charismatics is generally positive. I find Hank Hanegraaff's approach to be one-sided and lacking in credibility. He emphasizes the role of reason, but reason is only part of our relationship with God.
Response from Joe Tkach: I would like to comment on the Toronto Blessing (which occurred in the Vineyard denomination, which split into two denominations over this issue) and the Pensacola Blessing (which occurred in the Assemblies of God).
I offer four points:
1) Few of the manifestations that occur at these events have biblical precedence. Slaying in the spirit, laughing in the spirit, getting drunk in the spirit and making animal sounds are not in Scripture.
I believe that speaking in tongues is a valid gift of the Spirit, but not a gift for everyone, and most certainly not a test of fellowship (as some Pentecostals practice it).
This is one reason I appreciate the Four Square Gospel (FSG) denomination, for they do not use tongues as a test of fellowship. While a few FSG pastors are involved in other manifestations, most of their leading ministers distance themselves from it while not speaking against it.
2) God sometimes does miraculous work through people and events even in ways that are not normative or do not fall under generally accepted orthodoxy.
Healings have occurred at Lourdes in France, for example, and even though some people credit Mary for such miracles, I do not believe that Mary is the one who healed them.
Not all who go to Lourdes are healed. Some who feel that they were healed were actually suffering from a psychosomatic problem and they feel healed simply because they were never really ill in the first place.
3) I believe the same is true for speaking in tongues. Some have a gift. Others have learned a behavior that mimics the genuine manifestation.
An altered state of consciousness can be achieved in several ways. These include physical or verbal acts that cause a psychophysiological phenomenon.
Many are familiar with yoga (long periods of silence accompanied by certain postures), transcendental meditation and hypnosis. Other ways an altered state of consciousness can be achieved are through group-think and hypnosis.
Some biological/physiological phenomena occur through sensory overstimulation or sensory deprivation.
For example, when a person enters a room with a particular odor, he or she will gradually cease to be aware of the smell after a while. Unless the odor is unusually intense, 15 minutes is usually enough time for the olfactory sense to desensitize to the odor. The more intense the odor, the more time it takes to desensitize.
Another example is the repetition of a word until it is meaningless. If you were to repeat a word over and over until you lose touch with the objective meaning of the word, it is possible to render the brain incapable of distinguishing the relationship between the meaning of the word and a nonsensical sound.
This is how transcendental meditation induces a tranced-out state of altered consciousness. Just as the sense of smell can be desensitized, so can the cognitive facility of our brain. However, when it happens with our minds, we achieve an altered state of consciousness.
People usually experience a sense of well-being when in an altered state of consciousness. After all, one is not thinking about any problems or difficulties and is in a level in which pleasant dreams can occur.
Many who practiced transcendental meditation in the '60s and '70s described the experience as one of meeting God, an angel, spirit guide or a spiritual avatar.
I believe a similar phenomenon occurs with being slain in the spirit or laughing in the spirit. People are induced into an altered state of consciousness. It is not necessarily harmful, nor is it necessarily edifying.
It can be interpreted as edifying when someone is persuading you to believe that it is a special gift of the Holy Spirit. But the truth is that the individual has been manipulated into an altered state of consciousness just like people who are hypnotized. It is unlike a gift of the Holy Spirit, which you can control.
4) After a person has had such an experience in a Christian environment, the person may or may not be brought to a relationship with Christ.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the person has been taught to reason from experience to logic, rather than the other way around.
This tends to usurp the authority of Scripture, and the truth of 2 Timothy 3:14-16 is violated. It says: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
When Christians look more to such experiences rather than to Scripture, they have adopted error. And there is another danger. Some do not begin a relationship with Christ and have merely become converted to an experience. For these reasons, I would not promote the "blessings" of Toronto or Pensacola.
I try to be cautious and gracious in offering these facts to others without disparaging them. Merely having experienced an altered state of consciousness is not a sin. An obvious concern would be that people can be easily manipulated afterward.
This gift caused such a problem in the Corinthian church, Paul had to write an entire chapter (1 Corinthians 14) of guidelines.
1. It is for personal edification, not for the whole church. "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who preaches edifies the church." (1 Corinthians 14:4)
2. We are to focus on building up others, not ourselves. "Unless you speak intelligible words ... you will just be speaking into the air.... Try to excel in the gifts that build up the church." (1 Corinthians 14:9, 12)
3. It confuses unbelievers in the service. "If some unbelievers come in, will they not say you are out of your mind?" (1 Corinthians 14:23)
4. Ideally, it is not meant to be used in the worship service. "In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thou- sand words in a tongue. Brothers, stop thinking like children!" (1 Corinthians 14:19-20)
"The gift of speaking God's message should be under the speaker's control, because God does not want us to be in disorder, but in harmony and peace." (1 Corinthians 14:32-33). Rick Warren, Discovering My Ministry, page 25.
The Prosperity Gospel, by Charles E. Hummel, a 32-page pamphlet available from PTM. Members can receive it free by ordering it through the PTM catalog.
Christianity in Crisis and Counterfeit Revival, both by Hank Hanegraaff. We hope to include this in a future PTM catalog.
A Different Gospel, by D.R. McConnell. McConnell's book points out that the Word of Faith movement has roots in metaphysics, mysticism, Christian Science (Mary Baker Eddy) and what is called New Thought. The Word of Faith movement is thus not part of orthodoxy.
In contrast, the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements have different roots. Most Charismatics and Pentecostals subscribe to an orthodox statement of faith.
McConnell points out that charismatic churches tend to be fertile ground for the subjective and experiential promises of the Word of Faith movement, but the two are not synonymous.
Satisfied by the Promise of the Spirit, by Thomas R. Edgar, which can be ordered from Personal Freedom Outreach, P.O. Box 26062, St. Louis, Missouri, 63136; phone 1-314-388-2684. This book deals with the root issues in confronting the charismania that is sweeping some churches.
June 24, 1997, WN, page 4
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