Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity
PENTECOSTAL AND CHARISMATIC CHRISTIANITY. This form of Christianity centers on the emotional, mystical, and supernatural: miracles, signs, wonders, and "the gifts of the Spirit" (charismata), especially "speaking in tongues" (glossolalia), faith healing, and "casting out demons" (exorcism). Supreme importance is attached to the subjective religious experience of being filled with or possessed by the Holy Spirit.
The name Pentecostal derives from the account of the day of Pentecost as described in chapters 1 and 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the first Christians: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1–4). Charismatic derives from the Greek charism, meaning supernatural gifts of the Spirit, which are most often considered those listed in 1 Corinthians 12–14.
Biblical and Historical Bases
Pentecostals trace the beginnings of their movement to the day of Pentecost described in Acts. They believe that the experience of Spirit Baptism and the practice of the gifts of the Spirit that occurred on that day were meant to be normative in the life of the church and of each believer. They maintain that although the charismata ceased in the main body of the church soon after the apostolic age, one can trace an intermittent history of charismatic practices among sectarians like the Montanists, Anabaptists, Camisards, Shakers, Irvingites, Mormons, and various nineteenth-century Holiness groups.
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