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charismatic prophesying and divination stacey Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Question:

After leaving the charismatic movement for good a few months ago I find that I'm still having questions about some of their practices. In a way I feel like I'm in the process of deprogramming my mind as I've gradually come to realize just how controlling the church I attended was.

One big question I have concerned the gift of "prophecy" that so many of them claimed to have. I feel like this is an area that is heavily abused in the movement. Several members of the church were always doing this and towards the end this made me very uncomfortable.

One lady I was friends with was constantly trying to get in peoples heads to discern what kind of spiritual problems people had. I can remember getting uncomfortable during a group meeting and leaving. She later told me she sensed that I had a "spirit of condemnation." There always was some "spirit" behind my every action and behavior.

When I would eat with her in a restaurant she would try to discern things about the patrons. For example, she saw one girl walk in and claimed this girl had some sort of blood disease. I used to go visit her often but one day when I was going to her house I sensed something telling me to stop going over there and I never went back. The next Sunday when I went to church I felt nothing but coldness from this woman who used to always be so warm and friendly towards me. I never did or said anything to cause her to act that way all of the sudden.

It's just strange how all the sudden she started to act very uncomfortable around me after I came to the realization that what she was doing was not really good.

Having been involved in the occult for years I began to see that some of the things they were doing were not so much different from say someone like John Edwards or Sylvia Brown. It's funny how it suddenly seems okay if it occurs in the church and has the name of the holy spirit tacked onto it.

I'm not putting down the Charismatic Church as a whole nor am I denying the reality and validity of the spiritual gifts if done in the proper way. I guess I just need a reality check to see if my gut feelings about the abuse of some of these gifts is correct. It's kind of like coming out of a bad relationship and you have all these questions about why they do these things and why you got involved in the first place.



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

Thank you for your testimony about your experiences with the Charismatic movement.

Your "gut" feelings are correct.

The gift of prophecy is the gift of inspired preaching. The word "prophecy" means to "forth-tell", "to proclaim". The gift has nothing to do with a pseudo-mediumistic ability that your friend was practicing.

It is not uncommon for people in the Charismatic movement to practice what amounts to occult abilities -- such as what your friend does.

I might add that even if your friend had a legitimate gift, she was abusing it. To think there is a "spirit" of something for everything actually plays right into the devil's schemes. He would love us to think that he is around every corner. That way he can hide amongst our hysteria.

One time I had a charismatic tell me that I had a "spirit of the common cold". I looked at this person as if she was an idiot and said, "no, I have a virus that is causing the cold".

One of the other things you mentioned is also a common experience. When anyone chooses to be appropriately skeptical about the charismatic experience, or about some particular gift, all of a sudden the charismatic person (who is suppose to be so filled with the Spirit) becomes hostile (oftentimes very subtlety) and tends to ostracize the questioning person and refuses to listen to reason. This is a good sign of a person NOT filled with the Spirit.

That there are so many instances of this among the Charismatic people is a sign that there is something deeply wrong. The movement attracts too many immature Christians and it does not help them to mature.

The Charismatic Renewal has helped many people to return to the Church and to their faith. It has helped them to fire in flame the gift within them. But, many of the people I know, once they were inspired by the Renewal, grew in maturity and then either gravitated to the periphery of the Renewal or left the Renewal.

The Charismatic Renewal can be like a support group. It is great at first when the support is needed, but once one heals and grows he no longer needs the support group and moves on.

All this is mostly a problem of leadership. The Charismatic Renewal is a wonderful thing in itself, but as the Catholic Bishop Edward P. Cullen of Allentown observed:

I don’t see any weaknesses intrinsic to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. In its actual practice, however, (dys)function can and has arisen. I found that such dysfunctions flowed from some flaw in those who carry leadership responsibility in the movement.

Your "guts" are correct which tells me that you are listening to the Holy Spirit.

You may be interested in a comprehensive analysis of the benefits and problems of the Charismatic Renewal. This document is from a Catholic point-of-view, but you may find it helpful. The document is Charism Gifts Building Up the Church.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary


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