is pentecostalism a replacement for mysticism?

Question

pentecostalists tend to be protestants, whereas the Catholic and Orthodox churches never lost their mystical roots to the same extent as Calvinism.

i'm all for it by the way.

rachel, what do you mean? mysticism is actually a fundamental part of christianity. it's not an insult to call it mystical

Answer 1

I think so, I feel a kinship with Pentecostals and I am all into the mystical...we both believe we can commune directly with the Divine...

My ancestors were all Calvinists and so staid and cut off from any real feeling of how wonderful 'God' can be...

Answer 2

yes...its mysticism under a mask of Christianity. The same core elements are involved...going into trances for the sake of going into trances..saying that if u can do it then u are saved...having someone throw u tp the ground from a remote distance and saying that the Holy Spirit has filled u...there is nothing like that in the BIble...so where did the Charismatics and Pentecostals get it from...i wonder...The Bible talks abt spiritual gifts that are not learned but are given by the Holy Spirit...instead Charismatics tell those who can't 'speak in tongues' that they need to PRACTISE!!...its not a gift anymore then...Pentecostals are specifically told...and tell everyone else not to think abt what they are doing or saying as they say it interferes with the work of the Spirit...whats the point of believing in something if it does not stand up to scrutiny and common sense...They actually emphasise that experiences...whatever they may be...are more important than knowledge gained from reading the Bible and applying God's standards to our lives

Born Again Christian

Answer 3

Pentecostals are a totally seperate denomination to Catholic and Protestant. They hold with Jesus words in the New Testament regarding being 'Born again' in John 3v3 but more importantly John 3v5 which is about being Spirit filled and ENTERING rather than SEEING the Kingdom of God. It is also their belief that when Spirit filled, they are immediately able to speak in tongues...this is a sign of the indwelling Spirit of God. If you attend a Pentecostal Church and hear people speaking in tongues, it is not the babble that the sceptics and critics on here describe but an almost angelic sound..especially 'singing in tongues'.
Hope that helps your understanding.
Best wishes, Mike.

Answer 4

I am a born again Christian and my beliefs are Pentecostal / Charismatic. A replacement for mysticism? Pentecostals just rely on the Holy Spirit. Its that simple.

Answer 5

pentacostalism, a replacement for mysticism???? The reality check for today is a re-sounding...NO! There is nothing mystical about anything Christian...that is to say nothing that truthfully or rightly belongs to them. The christians murdered, maimed and stole to achieve their ends....nothing to be proud of.

Answer 6

Hello chavmassacre.. :)

I have great respect for other beliefs..

It was a "Catholic Monk", being filled with the Holy Ghost, that laid hands on me and I was slain in the spirit..that is why I attend a Pentecostal Church now.. :)


In Jesus Most Precious Name..
With Love..your sister..In Christ.. :)

Answer 7

Maybe we should stop seeking for answers in a religion and just start talking directly to the Lord.

Answer 8

I agree with heavnbound

Answer 9

Each one of us will have to give an account of ourselves before God and it is not our place to judge how others practice their faith as long as it does not go against what the Bible teaches. However, there are interesting parallels between some forms of Pentecostalism and what went on in the early days of the church.

Montanism was an early Christian sectarian movement of the mid-2nd century A.D., named after its founder Montanus. It flourished mostly in and around the region of Phrygia, where early on its followers were called Cataphrygians; although it spread rapidly to other regions in the Roman Empire, and at a time before Christianity was generally tolerated or legal. Although the orthodox mainstream Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, labeling it a heresy, the sect persisted in some isolated places into the 8th century. Some people have drawn parallels between Montanism and Pentecostalism (which some call Neo-Montanism). The most widely known Montanist was undoubtedly Tertullian, who was the foremost Latin church writer before he converted to Montanism.

History
Montanus travelled among the rural settlements of Asia Minor after his conversion, and preached and testified what he purported to be the Word of God; however, his teachings were regarded as heresy by the orthodox Church for a number of reasons. He claimed not only to have received a series of direct revelations from the Holy Ghost, but personally to be the incarnation of the paraclete mentioned in the Gospel of John 14:16. Montanus was accompanied by two women, Prisca, sometimes called Priscilla, and Maximilla, who likewise claimed to be the embodiments of the Holy Spirit that moved and inspired them. As they went, "the Three" as they were called, spoke in ecstatic visions and urged their followers to fast and pray, so that they might share these personal revelations. His preachings spread from his native Phrygia (where he proclaimed the village of Pepuza as the site of the New Jerusalem) across the contemporary Christian world, to Africa and Gaul.

It is generally agreed that the movement was inspired by Montanus' reading of the Gospel of John— "I will send you the advocate [paraclete], the spirit of truth" (Heine 1987, 1989; Groh 1985). The response to this continuing revelation split the Christian communities, and the more orthodox clergy mostly fought to suppress it. Bishop Apollinarius found the church at Ancyra torn in two, and he opposed the "false prophesy" (quoted by Eusebius 5.16.5). But there was real doubt at Rome, and Pope Eleutherus even wrote letters in support of Montanism, although he later recalled them (Tertullian, "Adversus Praxean" c.1, Trevett 58-59).

Prisca claimed that Christ had appeared to her in female form. When she was excommunicated, she exclaimed "I am driven away like the wolf from the sheep. I am no wolf: I am word and spirit and power."

The most widely known defender of Montanists was undoubtedly Tertullian, onetime champion of orthodox belief, who believed that the new prophecy was genuine and began to fall out of step with what he began to call "the church of a lot of bishops" (On Modesty).

Although the orthodox Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, inscriptions in the Tembris valley of northern Phrygia, dated between 249 and 279, openly proclaim their allegiance to Montanism.

A letter of Jerome to Marcella, written in 385, refutes the claims of Montanists that had been troubling her (letter 41) [1].

A group of "Tertullianists" continued to exist at Carthage. The anonymous author of Praedestinatus records that a preacher came to Rome in 388 where he made many converts and obtained the use of a church for his congregation on the grounds that the martyrs to whom it was dedicated had been Montanists.[1] He was obliged to flee after the victory of Theodosius I. Augustine records that the Tertullianist group dwindled to almost nothing in his own time, and finally was reconciled to the church and handed over their basilica.[2] It is not certain whether the Tertullianists were Montanist or not.

In the sixth century, at the orders of the emperor Justinian, John of Ephesus led an expedition to Pepuza to destroy the Montanist shrine there, which was based around the tombs of Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla.

The sect persisted into the eighth century. The Columbia Encyclopedia claims that “in isolated areas of Phrygia, where it [Montanism] continued to the 7th cent.”

Some modern writers have suggested that some of its emphasis on direct, ecstatic personal presence of the Holy Spirit bears resemblance to all forms of Pentecostalism. “It [Montanism] claimed to be a religion of the Holy Spirit and was marked by ecstatic outbursts which it regarded as the only true form of Christianity”, [3] While there may be some similarities between Montanism and modern Pentecostalism, there does not appear to be any historical link between the two, as most Pentecostals claim authenticity based on the New Testament Book of Acts(chapter 2).


[edit] Differences between Montanism and orthodox Christianity
The beliefs of Montanism contrasted with orthodox Christianity in the following ways:

The belief that the prophecies of the Montanists superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles.
The encouragement of ecstatic prophesying, contrasting with the more sober and disciplined approach to theology dominant in orthodox Christianity at the time and since.
The view that Christians who fell from grace could not be redeemed, also in contrast to the orthodox Christian view that contrition could lead to a sinner's restoration to the church.
The prophets of Montanism did not speak as messengers of God: "Thus saith the Lord," but rather described themselves as possessed by God, and spoke in his person. "I am the Father, the Word, and the Paraclete," said Montanus (Didymus, De Trinitate, III, xli); This possession by a spirit, which spoke while the prophet was incapable of resisting, is described by the spirit of Montanus: "Behold the man is like a lyre, and I dart like the plectrum. The man sleeps, and I am awake" (Epiphanius, "Panarion", xlviii, 4).
A stronger emphasis on the avoidance of sin and church discipline than in orthodox Christianity. They emphasized chastity, including forbidding remarriage.

Some of the Montanists were also "Quartodeciman" ("fourteeners"), preferring to celebrate Easter on the Hebrew calendar date of 14 Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it landed on. The orthodoxy held that Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following 14 Nisan. (Trevett 1996:202)