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{{Short description|Form of prostration in Pentecostal Christianity}}
Being '''slain in the Spirit''' desccribes a religious phenomenon where a person enters a state with loss of all motor control over their body and falls to the floor during an event perceived as a personal encounter with ]'s glory and power, usually associated with occasions of ] public prayer ministry when the ] is practiced.
] and Catholic priest ]]]


'''Slain in the Spirit''' or '''slaying in the Spirit''' are terms used by ] and ] to describe a form of ] in which an individual falls to the floor while experiencing ]. Believers attribute this behavior to the power of the ]. Other terms used to describe the experience include '''falling under the power''', '''overcome by the Spirit''', and '''resting in the Spirit'''.<ref name='NIDPCM "slain"'>{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Stanley M.|first2=Eduard M.|last2=van der Maas|title=The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements s.v. "Slain in the Spirit"|year=2002|publisher=]|isbn=0-310-22481-0}}</ref> The practice is associated with ] because individuals are often slain while seeking prayer for illness.
Being slain in the Spirit occurs in many contemporary ] or ] ] church meetings. It was also extremely common in early American (late eighteenth-century) ], particularly at camp meetings and love feasts. Many refer to the phenomenon as "falling under the Spirit's power", "falling before the Lord" or "resting in the Spirit".


==Description==
On occasions of public prayer ministry when the ] is practiced, church members or attendees come forward to the front of the church to receive a special work of the ] from the ] or service leader. Often a significant amount of time is spent singing and praying during the church service before this point. Attendees are then prayed over and touched by the service leader, they perceive the Spirit of God upon them, and they fall, usually onto their backs. In most cases, their fall is broken by ], catchers, ushers or orderlies behind them to prevent injury.
Sociologist ] has defined slaying in the Spirit as "the power of the Holy Spirit so filling a person with a heightened inner awareness that the body's energy fades away and the person collapses to the floor".<ref name=Crossroads>{{cite book|last=Poloma|first=Margaret|authorlink=Margaret Poloma|title=The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads: Charisma and Institutional Dilemmas|year=1989|publisher=The University of Tennessee Press|location=Knoxville}}</ref>{{rp|28}} Slaying in the Spirit may occur in a variety of settings, including while a person prays in solitude. However, it usually occurs in group settings, including small prayer groups, religious conferences or retreats, regular church services and large ]s.<ref name=Sacred/>{{rp|232}}


In church services or healing crusades, attendees may be invited to the front of the church or other venue to receive prayer from a ] or a team of ministers.<ref name=Chaos>{{cite book|last=MacArthur|first=John F.|authorlink=John F. MacArthur|title=Charismatic Chaos: Signs and Wonders; Speaking in Tongues; Health, Wealth and Prosperity|year=1993|publisher=Zondervan|location=Grand Rapids}}</ref>{{rp|91}} Often, the prayer is accompanied with the ] and ]. Those being prayed for perceive the Spirit of God upon them and they fall, usually onto their backs. In most cases, their fall is broken by ushers or "catchers". Once fallen, a person may lie on the floor face up and eyes closed for several seconds to several hours in some cases.<ref name=Sacred>{{cite book|last=Csordas|first=Thomas J.|title=The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing|year=1997|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley}}</ref>{{rp|232–233}}
Many ]s who experience this believe that they have been healed or given a special blessing by God. Others report seeing visions or hearing God's voice.


People who have experienced the phenomenon report different degrees of awareness ranging from total consciousness to complete unconsciousness. They also report feelings of peace and relaxation.<ref name=Sacred />{{rp|241}} While lying down, they may ], laugh, weep or speak praises to God.<ref name='NIDPCM "slain"' /> According to anthropologist Thomas Csordas:
Whether voluntary or involuntary, "falling before the Lord" as a human response to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is seen by many Pentecostals and Charismatics as a phenomenon that is in harmony with the Scriptures. In the ], falling while in the presence of God was at times also accompanied by manifestations of trembling, physical weakness and deep sleep.


{{quote|In Charismatic ritual life, resting in the Spirit can serve the purposes of demonstrating divine power; of exhibiting the faith of those who are "open" to such power; of allowing a person to be close to, "touched by," or "spoken to" by God (sometimes via embodied imagery); of preparing a person to receive and exercise a ]; or of healing.<ref name=Sacred />{{rp|247}}}}
Instances of voluntarily falling before the Lord to worship or pray may be found in ] 17:3 and ] 5:14. References to voluntarily falling as the result of feeling overwhelmed by a divine presence are found in ] 22:31, ] 13:20, ] 1:28, Ezekiel 3:23, Ezekiel 43:3, Ezekiel 44:4, ] 8:17 and ] 17:6.


Not all incidents of falling or swooning in Pentecostal and charismatic churches are attributed to the Holy Spirit. Besides the possibility of fraud, charismatics may also attribute the behavior to ]ic activity.<ref name=Sacred />{{rp|229}} Analyzing accounts of early Pentecostal religious ecstasy, historian ] concluded that communal cues helped religious communities determine whether specific incidents were instigated by the Holy Spirit or not.<ref name=HeavenBelow>{{cite book|last=Wacker|first=Grant|title=Heaven Below : Early Pentecostals and American Culture|year=2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{rp|56}} Other explanations of the phenomenon have also been proposed, such as ], peer pressure, or a desire to experience what others have experienced. In addition, sociologists note that similar phenomena, such as ] and ], can be found in other religions.<ref name='NIDPCM "slain"' />
Instances of involuntarily falling before the Lord as the result of feeling overwhelmed by a divine presence are found in ] 8:10-11, Daniel 8:27, Daniel 10:8-11 (possibly implied), ] 9:3-4 (also Acts 26:14) and ] 1:17.


], writing in the '']'', observed the use of slaying in the Spirit during a ] healing crusade in 2001. He compared the practice to ], writing that participants "merely engage in a form of role-playing that is prompted by their strong desire to receive divine power as well as by the influence of suggestion that they do so{{nbsp}} In short, they behave just as if 'hypnotized.{{' "}} According to Nickell, a professional hypnotist stated that "This is something we do every day".<ref name=CSI>{{cite journal | last = Nickell | first = Joe | author-link = Joe Nickell | title = Benny Hinn: Healer or Hypnotist? | journal = Skeptical Inquirer | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = | publisher = ] | date = May–June 2002| language = | url = http://www.csicop.org/si/show/benny_hinn_healer_or_hypnotist | access-date = June 15, 2017}}</ref>
Both voluntary and involuntary falling before the Lord can also occur as the result of a power encounter&mdash;a person feels that the power of God is overtaking the power of a ]ic force that has sought to control or oppress him or her. References to falling in the context of power encounters are found in ] 3:11, Mark 9:20 and ] 8:28.


==History==
Some Christians argue that the practice is neither described nor prescribed in the Bible, and that it is, at best, a psychological phenomenon or, at worst, of ] origin. Proponents of the practice consider that it cannot be ] as it occurs in services centered around Satan's enemy, Jesus Christ.
Beginning with the ] that impacted Protestant Europe as well as Britain's ] in the eighteenth century, bodily movements became a prominent and controversial part of Protestant ]. Supporters of the revivals within various denominations including ], ], ] and ] argued that trembling, groaning, screaming and falling to the ground "as dead" were signs of divine power in those who were becoming aware of their own ]fulness. This bodily agitation, as well as the problem of sin and guilt, was resolved through a conscious ], which was marked by peace and joy.<ref name=Jeffrey>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Jeffrey|title=Religion and Violence in Early American Methodism : Taking the Kingdom by Force|year=2010|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, Indiana}}</ref>{{rp|35}}


], the founder of Methodism, considered falling down and other bodily movements to be natural (not ]) human responses to the supernatural "testimony" or "witness" of the Holy Spirit in conversion. Occasionally, Wesley attributed bodily movements to ]'s attempt at disrupting the conversion process, but at other times, he described bodily movements as natural human responses to ].<ref name=Jeffrey/>{{rp|36}} Wesley, ] and ] all record instances of people falling during their ministries. During the ] of the early nineteenth century, ] and ] also recorded similar behavior.<ref name='NIDPCM "slain"'/>
A similar state with loss of external awareness and motor control occurs as the result of a variety of rituals and dances in various religious and cultural traditions; see the article on ], Many are of the opinion that these events can be explained by psychological antecedents.


In the twentieth century, "prostrate trance" became chiefly associated with Pentecostalism and its offshoots. The term "slain in the Spirit" was used in this context as early as 1920 by American healing evangelist ], whose ministry was often accompanied by this phenomenon. In her book ''The Holy Spirit'', published in 1920, she wrote:
Some see similarities in the manifestation of this phenomenon to a form of ], though there may be a similar, if not superior, psychological benefit as is found in ] seizure therapy.

{{quote|"It will come to pass in the last days," says the Lord, "that I will plead with all flesh, with the sword and fire, 'and the slain of the Lord shall be many.'" (See Isaiah 66:16.)

The sword is the Word of God. The fire is the Holy Spirit. The slain of the Lord are those who fall under conviction or who fall like dead men under the power of God.<ref name="Etter">{{cite book |last1=Woodworth-Etter |first1=Maria |title=The Holy Spirit |date=1920 |publisher=Whitaker House |isbn=9780883685488 |page=106 |chapter=Chapter 8}}</ref>}}

Historian Grant Wacker argues that early Pentecostals replaced the ] and ]s of traditional churches with the "disciplined use of ecstasy", including the regular occurrence of slaying in the Spirit. Regarding the sacramental undertones of slaying in the Spirit, Wacker writes:

{{quote|In those situations Christ's physical death and resurrection was re-embodied—not just reenacted but literally re-embodied—night after night, before the very eyes of believers and nonbelievers alike. In one account after another we read that prostrate worshipers covered the floor. The stories sometimes stated and often implied that no one was left standing, which suggests that prostration gained a ritualistic significance comparable, perhaps, to kneeling or genuflecting in liturgical church traditions.<ref name=HeavenBelow/>{{rp|108}}}}

The frequency of slaying in the Spirit and the importance that Pentecostals placed on it decreased over time as Pentecostals attempted to shed the stereotype of being "]" (a derogatory term derived from instances of people literally rolling in the aisles when ]).<ref name=Crossroads/>{{rp|84}} In 1989, Margaret Poloma noted that some pastors and even high ranking leaders within the ], a Pentecostal denomination, were critical of the practice.<ref name=Crossroads/>{{rp|272}}

Slaying in the Spirit saw a resurgence during the 1960s and 1970s due to the influence of the ], which disseminated Pentecostal beliefs and practices among ] and ]s. During the 1980s, it experienced another surge in visibility due to the influence of ], an ] pastor and founder of the ].<ref name=Sacred />{{rp|230–231}}

==Biblical basis==
Christians who support the practice cite biblical evidence for its authenticity and use.

] quotes a number of scriptures which he claims support the practice of being slain in the Spirit.<ref>Brown, Michael L. ''Let No One Deceive You.'' Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1997. ({{ISBN|1-5604-3693-X}})</ref> ] states that while the phrase "slaying in the Spirit" is not found in Scripture, there are a number of instances where people are described as falling to the ground or falling into a trance in the presence of God.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 640.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Claimed Biblical examples
|-
! Passage
! Description
|-
| Ezekiel 1:28
| Ezekiel saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord and fell face-down. Similar in 3:23
|-
| Daniel 10:5–18
| As Daniel saw and heard a vision, his strength left him and he became helpless, then he was unconscious face down, then later trembling on his hands and knees
|-
| Matthew 17:6
| Three disciples fell face-down to the ground, overwhelmed, on the mount of transfiguration.
|-
| Revelation 1:10–18
| The Apostle John heard a loud voice behind him, then he turned to see the voice and "fell at His feet as though dead". Also see 4:10
|-
| Genesis 15:12; Exodus 40:35; Daniel 8:27; John 18:6; Acts 9:4, 10:10;
| These are other passages that describe someone falling down but they are disputed because it is not clear if they involuntarily fell
|-
| Acts 19:12, 9:12, 28:8; Mark 5:30; James 5:14–15;
| These passages are examples of how the power of God can be transferred by touch or by laying on of hands
|}

==Criticisms==
Christians who oppose the practice dispute the interpretation of those ] passages, arguing that there is no biblical precedent and that the practice may be ]ic in origin. Those skeptical of the practice have explained it as being caused by ], ], or ]. Christians who lean toward ] tend to refute the claim that this practice is scriptural such as Calvinist pastor and author ] who argues that the practice is neither described nor prescribed specifically in the Bible and that it is, at best, of satanic origin.{{r|Chaos}} Some within ] critique the practice, such as ], a Bible teacher and charismatic Christian, who states the closest Biblical reference is the story of ], which has a quite different connotation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pawson |first1=David |title=Is the Blessing Biblical?: Thinking Through the Toronto Phenomenon |date=2 November 1995 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Religious |isbn=978-0-340-66147-5 |language=English}}</ref>

==References in culture==
⚫ The 1967 film '']'' by ] documented an ]n Pentecostal church service in which several people were slain in the Spirit.


==See also== ==See also==
] * ]
* ]


==References==
⚫ ''God Struck Me Dead, Voices of Ex-Slaves'' by Clifton H. Johnson ISBN 0-8298-0945-7 describes similar experiences in the accounts of nineteenth century African American spirituality.
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
⚫ The 1967 film '']'' by ] documented an ] ] church service in which several people are slain in the spirit.
⚫ * ''God Struck Me Dead, Voices of Ex-Slaves'' by Clifton H. Johnson {{ISBN|0-8298-0945-7}} – describes similar experiences in the accounts of nineteenth century African American spirituality.


==External links==
Similar experiences are also reported by those who experience a ] awakening.
* (] perspective)


] ]
] ]
]
]

Latest revision as of 22:45, 14 August 2024

Form of prostration in Pentecostal Christianity
People slain in the Spirit after receiving prayer from faith healer and Catholic priest Fernando Suarez

Slain in the Spirit or slaying in the Spirit are terms used by Pentecostal and charismatic Christians to describe a form of prostration in which an individual falls to the floor while experiencing religious ecstasy. Believers attribute this behavior to the power of the Holy Spirit. Other terms used to describe the experience include falling under the power, overcome by the Spirit, and resting in the Spirit. The practice is associated with faith healing because individuals are often slain while seeking prayer for illness.

Description

Sociologist Margaret Poloma has defined slaying in the Spirit as "the power of the Holy Spirit so filling a person with a heightened inner awareness that the body's energy fades away and the person collapses to the floor". Slaying in the Spirit may occur in a variety of settings, including while a person prays in solitude. However, it usually occurs in group settings, including small prayer groups, religious conferences or retreats, regular church services and large healing crusades.

In church services or healing crusades, attendees may be invited to the front of the church or other venue to receive prayer from a minister or a team of ministers. Often, the prayer is accompanied with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. Those being prayed for perceive the Spirit of God upon them and they fall, usually onto their backs. In most cases, their fall is broken by ushers or "catchers". Once fallen, a person may lie on the floor face up and eyes closed for several seconds to several hours in some cases.

People who have experienced the phenomenon report different degrees of awareness ranging from total consciousness to complete unconsciousness. They also report feelings of peace and relaxation. While lying down, they may speak in tongues, laugh, weep or speak praises to God. According to anthropologist Thomas Csordas:

In Charismatic ritual life, resting in the Spirit can serve the purposes of demonstrating divine power; of exhibiting the faith of those who are "open" to such power; of allowing a person to be close to, "touched by," or "spoken to" by God (sometimes via embodied imagery); of preparing a person to receive and exercise a spiritual gift; or of healing.

Not all incidents of falling or swooning in Pentecostal and charismatic churches are attributed to the Holy Spirit. Besides the possibility of fraud, charismatics may also attribute the behavior to demonic activity. Analyzing accounts of early Pentecostal religious ecstasy, historian Grant Wacker concluded that communal cues helped religious communities determine whether specific incidents were instigated by the Holy Spirit or not. Other explanations of the phenomenon have also been proposed, such as autosuggestion, peer pressure, or a desire to experience what others have experienced. In addition, sociologists note that similar phenomena, such as spirit possession and trance, can be found in other religions.

Joe Nickell, writing in the Skeptical Inquirer, observed the use of slaying in the Spirit during a Benny Hinn healing crusade in 2001. He compared the practice to hypnosis, writing that participants "merely engage in a form of role-playing that is prompted by their strong desire to receive divine power as well as by the influence of suggestion that they do so  In short, they behave just as if 'hypnotized.'" According to Nickell, a professional hypnotist stated that "This is something we do every day".

History

Beginning with the First Great Awakening that impacted Protestant Europe as well as Britain's American colonies in the eighteenth century, bodily movements became a prominent and controversial part of Protestant revivalism. Supporters of the revivals within various denominations including Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists argued that trembling, groaning, screaming and falling to the ground "as dead" were signs of divine power in those who were becoming aware of their own sinfulness. This bodily agitation, as well as the problem of sin and guilt, was resolved through a conscious conversion experience, which was marked by peace and joy.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, considered falling down and other bodily movements to be natural (not supernatural) human responses to the supernatural "testimony" or "witness" of the Holy Spirit in conversion. Occasionally, Wesley attributed bodily movements to Satan's attempt at disrupting the conversion process, but at other times, he described bodily movements as natural human responses to God's love. Wesley, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards all record instances of people falling during their ministries. During the Second Great Awakening of the early nineteenth century, Peter Cartwright and Charles G. Finney also recorded similar behavior.

In the twentieth century, "prostrate trance" became chiefly associated with Pentecostalism and its offshoots. The term "slain in the Spirit" was used in this context as early as 1920 by American healing evangelist Maria Woodworth-Etter, whose ministry was often accompanied by this phenomenon. In her book The Holy Spirit, published in 1920, she wrote:

"It will come to pass in the last days," says the Lord, "that I will plead with all flesh, with the sword and fire, 'and the slain of the Lord shall be many.'" (See Isaiah 66:16.) The sword is the Word of God. The fire is the Holy Spirit. The slain of the Lord are those who fall under conviction or who fall like dead men under the power of God.

Historian Grant Wacker argues that early Pentecostals replaced the liturgies and sacraments of traditional churches with the "disciplined use of ecstasy", including the regular occurrence of slaying in the Spirit. Regarding the sacramental undertones of slaying in the Spirit, Wacker writes:

In those situations Christ's physical death and resurrection was re-embodied—not just reenacted but literally re-embodied—night after night, before the very eyes of believers and nonbelievers alike. In one account after another we read that prostrate worshipers covered the floor. The stories sometimes stated and often implied that no one was left standing, which suggests that prostration gained a ritualistic significance comparable, perhaps, to kneeling or genuflecting in liturgical church traditions.

The frequency of slaying in the Spirit and the importance that Pentecostals placed on it decreased over time as Pentecostals attempted to shed the stereotype of being "Holy Rollers" (a derogatory term derived from instances of people literally rolling in the aisles when baptized in the Holy Spirit). In 1989, Margaret Poloma noted that some pastors and even high ranking leaders within the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal denomination, were critical of the practice.

Slaying in the Spirit saw a resurgence during the 1960s and 1970s due to the influence of the charismatic movement, which disseminated Pentecostal beliefs and practices among mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. During the 1980s, it experienced another surge in visibility due to the influence of John Wimber, an evangelical pastor and founder of the Vineyard Movement.

Biblical basis

Christians who support the practice cite biblical evidence for its authenticity and use.

Michael Brown quotes a number of scriptures which he claims support the practice of being slain in the Spirit. Wayne Grudem states that while the phrase "slaying in the Spirit" is not found in Scripture, there are a number of instances where people are described as falling to the ground or falling into a trance in the presence of God.

Claimed Biblical examples
Passage Description
Ezekiel 1:28 Ezekiel saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord and fell face-down. Similar in 3:23
Daniel 10:5–18 As Daniel saw and heard a vision, his strength left him and he became helpless, then he was unconscious face down, then later trembling on his hands and knees
Matthew 17:6 Three disciples fell face-down to the ground, overwhelmed, on the mount of transfiguration.
Revelation 1:10–18 The Apostle John heard a loud voice behind him, then he turned to see the voice and "fell at His feet as though dead". Also see 4:10
Genesis 15:12; Exodus 40:35; Daniel 8:27; John 18:6; Acts 9:4, 10:10; These are other passages that describe someone falling down but they are disputed because it is not clear if they involuntarily fell
Acts 19:12, 9:12, 28:8; Mark 5:30; James 5:14–15; These passages are examples of how the power of God can be transferred by touch or by laying on of hands

Criticisms

Christians who oppose the practice dispute the interpretation of those Bible passages, arguing that there is no biblical precedent and that the practice may be satanic in origin. Those skeptical of the practice have explained it as being caused by hypnosis, autosuggestion, or peer pressure. Christians who lean toward cessationism tend to refute the claim that this practice is scriptural such as Calvinist pastor and author John MacArthur who argues that the practice is neither described nor prescribed specifically in the Bible and that it is, at best, of satanic origin. Some within Charismatic Christianity critique the practice, such as David Pawson, a Bible teacher and charismatic Christian, who states the closest Biblical reference is the story of Ananias and Sapphira, which has a quite different connotation.

References in culture

The 1967 film Holy Ghost People by Peter Adair documented an Appalachian Pentecostal church service in which several people were slain in the Spirit.

See also

References

  1. ^ Burgess, Stanley M.; van der Maas, Eduard M. (2002). The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements s.v. "Slain in the Spirit". Zondervan. ISBN 0-310-22481-0.
  2. ^ Poloma, Margaret (1989). The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads: Charisma and Institutional Dilemmas. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press.
  3. ^ Csordas, Thomas J. (1997). The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  4. ^ MacArthur, John F. (1993). Charismatic Chaos: Signs and Wonders; Speaking in Tongues; Health, Wealth and Prosperity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
  5. ^ Wacker, Grant (2001). Heaven Below : Early Pentecostals and American Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  6. Nickell, Joe (May–June 2002). "Benny Hinn: Healer or Hypnotist?". Skeptical Inquirer. 26 (3). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Williams, Jeffrey (2010). Religion and Violence in Early American Methodism : Taking the Kingdom by Force. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
  8. Woodworth-Etter, Maria (1920). "Chapter 8". The Holy Spirit. Whitaker House. p. 106. ISBN 9780883685488.
  9. Brown, Michael L. Let No One Deceive You. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1997. (ISBN 1-5604-3693-X)
  10. Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 640.
  11. Pawson, David (2 November 1995). Is the Blessing Biblical?: Thinking Through the Toronto Phenomenon. Hodder & Stoughton Religious. ISBN 978-0-340-66147-5.

Further reading

  • God Struck Me Dead, Voices of Ex-Slaves by Clifton H. Johnson ISBN 0-8298-0945-7 – describes similar experiences in the accounts of nineteenth century African American spirituality.

External links

Categories: