Supernatural Theology 38: The Role of Catholic Theology in Wesleyanism and Pentecostalism

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. –Romans 1:7 (KJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.  –Hebrews 11:1-2 (KJV)

As touching the honouring of saints, we will, that all bishops and preachers shall instruct and teach our people committed by us unto their spiritual charges, that saints, now being with Christ in heaven, are to be honoured of Christian people in earth, but not with that confidence and honour which are only due unto God, trusting to attain at their hands that which must be had only of God. But, that they be thus to be honoured, because they be known the elect persons of Christ, because they be passed in godly life out of this transitory world; because they already do reign in glory with Christ; and, most specially to laud and praise Christ in them for their excellent virtues, which he planted in them, for example of and by them to such as yet are in this world, to live in virtue and goodness; and also not to fear to die for Christ and his cause, as some of them did. –VII “Of honouring of Saints” in The Ten Articles of 1536

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.  –XXII “Of Purgatory” in The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571

Herbert Thurston, ed. Butler’s Lives of the Saints (Christian Classics, 4 vols, 1956).

Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition. (rf. to Catholic charismatics).

Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, trans. William Ryan (Princeton, 2 vols, 1993).

Leonard Ravenhill, Sodom Had No Bible. (Has a chapter on St. Francis of Assisi).

Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis (trans Ewert Cousins).

Gregory the Great, Life and Miracles of St. Benedict.

Admonan of Iona, Life of St. Columba.

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer.

Robert Tuttle, Mysticism in the Wesleyan Tradition.

Gordon Lindsay, Men Who Changed the World, Vol. 1: Francis, the Poor Man of Assisi (CFNI, 1990). (Pentecostal minister who hosted the “Voice of Healing” revival).

Martin Luther (film, 1953).

John Wesley (film, 1954).

John Wycliffe: The Morning Star (film, 1984).

Jeff Doles, Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church.

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Supernatural Theology 37: Spiritual Experiences 3: Mystical Union and Spirit-Filled Worship

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. –Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. –Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. –John 14:26 (KJV)

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. –Isaiah 11:2 (KJV)

The love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost. –2 Corinthians 13:14 (KJV)

When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of Me. –Jesus in John 15:26 (KJV)

He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. –1 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV)

G. B. Scaramelli, A Handbook of Mystical Theology.

Tommy Tenney, The God Chasers, 1999. (this book might have popularized the expression “seeking God’s face” in Pentecostal and charismatic churches, in reference to contemplation or concentrating on the face of Jesus in worship and prayer. There’s at least 15 references to that expression.)

Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle.

The Cloud of Unknowing (Image Books, 1973: about contemplation of the Holy Spirit).

Arthur Devine, A Manual of Mystical Theology.

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer.

Adolphe Tanqueray, The Spiritual Life.

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life.

Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology.

Tony Richie, Essentials of Pentecostal Theology, p. 94ff.  (a good section that synthesizes several books on charismatic worship).

Lee Roy Martin, ed., Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Worship.  (Church of God)

Cecil Knight, ed., Pentecostal Worship (Pathway Press, 1974). (Church of God).

Don Williams, “Charismatic Worship,” Exploring the Worship Spectrum. (Vineyard)

Paul Walker, The Ministry of Worship (Pathway Press, 1981). (Church of God)

Robert Fisher, ed., In Spirit and In Truth: A Study of the Concepts of Biblical Worship (Pathway Press, 1985). (Church of God)

Timothy Laurito, Pentecostal Perspectives, ch. 7: “Perspectives on Worship.”

Keith Warrington, Pentecostal Theology, p. 219ff.

Graham Kendrick, Learning to Worship as a Way of Life. (Bethany House)


LaMar Boschman, A Passion for His Presence.

D. L. Alford, “Worship,” The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements.

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You Need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – David Wilkerson

42:00ff – David Wilkerson shares his testimony of getting baptized in the Holy Spirit at a Pentecostal camp meeting at the age of eight.

47:03 – “When the Holy Ghost comes upon you, he leaves his mark. Oh! There’s no words in any language to describe the glory of Jesus that he brings. The ecstasy and love of Christ. Beloved, the baptism of the Holy Ghost is all about enabling us not only to edify ourselves through Jesus Christ, but to make us the witnesses we should be to the whole world, that they’ll see a change in us. They’ll see something different in us. And it won’t be just your preaching, it’ll be your life that’s transformed by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

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Supernatural Theology 36: Spiritual Experiences 2

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. –1 Timothy 2:8 (KJV)

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. –Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. –Acts 17:27 (KJV)

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. –John 14:26 (KJV)

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. –Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)

The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the Cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. –2 Chronicles 5:14 (KJV)

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. –Acts 8:17 (KJV)

Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. –Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)

The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful. –Mark 4:19 (NIV)

The Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. –Romans 8:26 (GNT)

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. –Acts 3:19 (KJV)

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt.  –1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 (NIV)

Covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.   –1 Corinthians 14:39 (KJV)




Guy Chevreau, Catch the Fire. (Jonathan Edwards on slain in the Spirit).

Tom Schwanda, Soul Recreation. (Closest thing to Puritan mystical theology).

G. B. Scaramelli, A Handbook of Mystical Theology.

Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God, ch. 17: “Confessions of a Bible Deist.”

Margaret Poloma, The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads. (anti-charismatic attitude).

Jonathan Edwards, The Wrath of Almighty God (ed. Don Kistler).

John Bunyan, Sighs from Hell (ed. Don Kistler).

W. G. T. Shedd, The Doctrine of Endless Punishment.

Don Williams, ed. “Charismatic Worship,” Exploring the Worship Spectrum.

The Cloud of Unknowing. (imageless contemplation).

Stanley Gundry, ed., Five Views on Sanctification, chs. 1-3.


Tommy Tenney, The God Chasers.

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.

Robert Tuttle, Mysticism in the Wesleyan Tradition.

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley.

Thomas Dubay, Fire Within. (addresses “aridity” and lots of mystical themes).



Pentecostal experiences, as Jack Deere has pointed out, are at the polar opposite of the Bible based deism that you get in baptistic Christianity. Acts 19:2: “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit
.”

BIBLE BASED: contained in or relating to the Bible.

DEISM: the belief that God made the world, but there’s no such thing as miracles.

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Supernatural Theology 35: Don’t Fight Against the Ecstasy of the Holy Spirit

You stiff-necked people!…You always resist the Holy Spirit! –Acts 7:51

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” –Acts 2:4, 13

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding. –Philippians 4:7

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. –John 14:26

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. –Acts 10:9-10

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. –Revelation 1:10, 17

Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!  –Mark 9:24 (KJV)   (Baptistic deism)

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.   –Job 42:5-6  (Pentecostal Spirit baptism)

The inward witness, son, the inward witness, that is the proof, the strongest proof of Christianity.  –Samuel Wesley on his deathbed

Jonathan Edwards has got to be the top guy in the world of conservative Protestant theology who supported Spirit baptisms with the result of ecstasies, trances, and being slain in the Spirit.

Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Edwards on Revival (Banner of Truth Trust, 1984).

—. The Religious Affections (Banner of Truth Trust, 1961).

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit (Crossway, 2007). (explains Religious Affections).

Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience (cf. Lloyd-Jones, Revival, p. 140).


Ann Taves, Fits, Trances, and Visions. (Edwards and Wesley on ecstasy, etc).

Guy Chevreau, Catch the Fire (like Storms, an interpretation of Edwards on ecstasy).

William DeArteaga, Quenching the Spirit (resistance to Edwards; cessationists).


Maria Woodworth-Etter, Signs and Wonders (Whitaker House, 1997).

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley, ch. 4.

—. The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney, ch. 5.

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Supernatural Theology 34: Holy Spirit Baptism Is Resisted In Many Churches

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. –Acts 2:4

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. –Acts 10:44-46

When Paul placed his hands on themthe Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues. –Acts 19:6

You do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  –Matthew 22:29


You stiff-necked people!…You always resist the Holy Spirit! –Acts 7:51*

*Baptistic resistance to Pentecostal Spirit baptism proves the Arminian view of synergism. It is a matter of personal choice to eagerly desire or stubbornly resist the presence and gracious activity of the Spirit of God. And it might be argued that any so-called faith in the cross without the testimony of the Spirit is false, naturalistic, carnal, fleshly, ideological, deistic, and even counterfeit, because it lacks the supernatural (Romans 8:16).



Definitions of Deism and Deist

Belief in a God who created the universe but does not govern worldly events, does not answer prayers, and has no direct involvement in human affairs. –Oxford Reference

A religious belief holding that God created the universe and established rationally comprehensible moral and natural laws but does not intervene in human affairs through miracles or supernatural revelation. –The Free Dictionary



Chad Owen Brand, ed., Perspectives on Spirit Baptism: Five Views, ch. 2-4.

Don Basham, A Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism.

—. Spiritual Power: How to Get It–How to Give It!

John Piper, “Is the Holy Spirit Underemphasized in Evangelical Circles?

—. “What Is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God, ch. 17: “Confessions of a Bible Deist.”

General Presbytery of Assemblies of God. “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”


Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable.

Guy Chevreau, Catch the Fire.

Jonathan Edwards, Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. (in On Revival).

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Supernatural Theology 33: Slain in the Spirit

When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. –John 18:6

The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud. –2 Chronicles 5:14

Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. –Acts 8:17

Peter went up on the roof to prayhe fell into a trance. –Acts 10:9-10

All the menshall shake at my presence.  –Ezekiel 38:20


SECONDARY SOURCES

Ezra Coppin, Slain in the Spirit (1980).

John White, When the Spirit Comes with Power. (1988, Vineyard psychiatrist).

Francis MacNutt, Overcome by the Spirit (1990).

Rodney Howard-Browne, Manifesting the Holy Ghost (1991).

Guy Chevreau, Catch the Fire. (1995, slain in the Spirit with J. Edwards, etc).

Michael L. Brown, High-Voltage Christianity (1995).

PRIMARY SOURCES

Jonathan Edwards, Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. (in On Revival).

Maria Woodworth-Etter, Signs and Wonders.


Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley, ch. 4.

—. The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney, ch. 5.

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Supernatural Theology 32: Normal and Paranormal

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. –Romans 12:2

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.  –Ecclesiastes 1:2 (KJV)


Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. –Colossians 3:5

According to your faith let it be done to you. –Jesus in Matthew 9:29



Carol Wimber, John Wimber: The Way It Was.

Finger of God (DVD documentary).

James Goll, The Beginner’s Guide to Signs, Wonders, and the Supernatural Life.

Julia Loren, Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power, p. 29.

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Supernatural Theology 31: UFOs and Aliens Are Probably the Devil

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  –Ephesians 6:12



Kurt Koch, Occult ABC.

John Weldon and Clifford Wilson, Occult Shock and Psychic Forces.

Gary Bates, Alien Intrusion (book and DVD): the most thorough Christian response.

Erich von Däniken, Chariots of the Gods.

Unsolved Mysteries: UFOs (DVD set).

Unidentified (Christian movie, 2006).

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Supernatural Theology 29: Starting to Speak in Tongues for the First Time

EAGERLY DESIRE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT! –1 Corinthians 14:1

Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves. –1 Corinthians 14:4

If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays. –1 Corinthians 14:14

DRAW NEAR TO GOD and He will draw near to you. –James 4:8 (NKJV)

That THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, if haply THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. –Acts 17:27 (KJV)

I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but STAY IN THE CITY UNTIL you have been clothed with power from on high.  –Luke 24:49


All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. –Acts 2:4



Don Basham, A Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism.

—. A Handbook on Tongues, Interpretation, and Prophecy.


—. Spiritual Power: How to Get It–How to Give It!

John Sherrill, They Speak with Other Tongues.

Roger Olson, Arminian Theology, p. 250.

At 2:00 here is an example of Louis Armstrong scatting at the end of a song. I believe that speaking in tongues is a lot like scatting while praying, and then Spirit-filled tongues eventually will come to fruition, if this is done in concentrated, contemplative Pentecostal and charismatic worship.

J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, p. 168.

UPDATE: 1/18/23

If I was in any way wrong, in the way that I taught how to receive Spirit baptism with speaking in tongues, then Carl Brumback’s What Meaneth This? (Gospel Publishing House, 1947) should make up for my deficiency. This was and probably still is, the authoritative book published by Assemblies of God, about the baptism in the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. Its 352 pages.

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