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Originally Posted by Pergamum  Much of the growth of Charismatic theology worldwide occurs in places that have a long history of animism.
THis is not surprising since much Pentecostalism is animistic itself.
As the West frees itself from Enlightenment ideas (i.e. no supernaturalism) it will be increasingly interested in the supernatural and open to wild religious beleifs. Pentecostalism will only continue to rise for at least a decade or two I beleive. |
You're totally right. I lived in Malaysia for two years (1998-2000) and was shocked to see how strong the charismatic movement was over there. For instance, almost all Hindus and Tribal people converting to Christianity would become Pentecostals. Almost all of them would practise tongue-speaking (glossolalia) and try to impose it on others. One time, one guy told me tongue-speaking was very important because it prevented the devil from understanding our prayers. Try to find Scriptural support for that. Overall, I think that Pentecostalism is a lot like Quakerism; a mixture of Christianity and mysticism or Animism, just like Roman Catholicism is a syncretism of Paganism with Christianity. The modern phenomenon of tongue-speaking appears to be an influence from the New Age stuff that is so common to Eastern Religions like Yoga. If you read about it on Wikipedia, glossolalia has also been observed in Voodoo religion:
"Glossolalia has also been observed in shamanism and the Voodoo religion of Haiti."
Glossolalia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia