What Is Being "Slain" In The Spirit? Is It Real? Imagined? Hysterics?

One of the growing crazes in the church today is the phenomenon of being "slain in the spirit." It is something that needs to be discussed because of its continued growth in the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements. This occurrence is so closely connected with the "laughing revival" it is becoming quite commonplace.

Before I get into the actual discussion of this experience, I want to clarify a few things.

First, let me say that God is God, and He is sovereign. He can move and operate in His church in any fashion He deems necessary and appropriate. I would not, and cannot, limit the way God has, or will, deal with individual believers or sinners.

Secondly, I am not denying, nor will I try to show, that this phenomenon which we have come to call "slain in the spirit" cannot be real. Whatever manifestations may accompany this "falling out" (these will be discussed in detail later) there is no doubt that the experience can be real. (It also can be faked.) But there is equally no doubt that there is no scriptural precedent for this phenomenon as a sign of God's moving or blessing in the life of a believer.

NOT TO BE SOUGHT AFTER

While being "slain" has become a much sought-after experience, Scriptures would indicate that such a phenomenon is not a sign of spirituality. In fact, a study of incidences similar to this modern manifestation would indicate just the opposite. That is, it is more likely evidence of sin in the individual's life. But we mustn't make that broad accusation either.

I have many good friends, fellow preachers and relatives who will be disturbed by what I have to say because they have experienced this phenomenon themselves or have seen it occur in their services. I trust they will read this entire article before concluding that I have lost what little good sense I had.

Nothing said in this article is intended as an indictment of any individuals who have been "slain in the spirit" nor is there any veiled innuendo regarding their spirituality, nor their salvation.

In recent years, this phenomenon has become a sign of the spirituality (or anointing) of the minister or of the person being "slain." It is a much sought-after experience, particularly in Charismatic circles. Several current ministries have developed quite a reputation for such experiences happening during their services. These include Charles and Frances Hunter, John Jacobs and Kenneth Hagin. The most widely known today for this phenomenon is Benny Hinn. But Rodney Howard-Browne, the latest star on the Charismatic stage, is gaining ground.

SOME EXPLANATIONS

There are several explanations for the experience that are given by those who have studied phenomenon. The most common explanation is that the experience is merely human response to auto-suggestion or mental manipulation by the minister. Those who attend a rally sponsored by a ministry that specializes in this manifestation go prepared mentally and spiritually to experience this manifestation. When it happens, it may seems the participant had no control over what has occurred, but from the instant the individual began planning to attend the meeting, she has prepared herself (or himself) for the experience.

Another factor is "peer pressure." Spirit-filled believers in a service where many are being slain feel pressured to fall out themselves lest they be considered less spiritual.

It is also possible that the congregant "succumbs to the power" so as not to disappoint the minister. A blind woman in an Oral Roberts healing service claimed to have been healed during the service, but later admitted nothing had changed. "I didn't want to disappoint him (Oral)," she confessed to Oral's biographer.

There are other possibilities, like just wanting to experience the experience. One woman friend admitted in an open meeting at her church that she had faked the experience on occasions to "feel like part of the crowd."

And it would be a grave oversight not to mention the possibility of a demonic source for the phenomenon. At least two former occultists have told us that they believed "familiar spirits" were responsible for many of the manifestations in Benny Hinn services they had attended. Many scholars are comparing this Charismatic phenomenon with "trance possession" experienced by many false religions. Sociologists claim that the phenomenon is not peculiar to the Charismatic movement, nor even to Christianity in general.

OCCULT EXAMPLES

Ellis Stewart, research director for Bill Rudge Ministries, in an article titled "Hindu Occultism" wrote:

"The most feared and revered deity in Hinduism is the goddess Kali (Durga), the wife of Shiva the destroyer. She is also known as Shakti, which means force and represents the impersonal force that occultism teaches runs the universe. The divine power-touch of the guru is called Shakti pat. This is a term used for the touch (or near touch) of a guru's hand to the worshipper's forehead that produces supernatural effects.

Shakti literally means power (so they believe) underlying the universe. The supernatural effect of shakti through the guru's touch may knock the worshipper to the floor or he may see a bright light and receive an experience of enlightenment or inner illumination, or have some other mystical or psychic experience."

Similar explanations are given for similar phenomenon in Afro-Caribbean cults.

Alan Morrison, of Diakrisis Publications in England, discusses this phenomenon. Concerning the origin of the "slain in the spirit" manifestation, he writes:

"If there is no support for this experience as a bona fide Christian practice [as he clearly established and we will too later in our discussion] then how are we to identify it? What is its true origin? [The phenomenon] can be traced back even earlier than the beginnings of Pentecostalism at the turn of this century.

"One of the earliest and most notorious advocates of experience was an itinerant preacher in the so-called 'Holiness Movement,' Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844-1924), who also gained a reputation for falsely prophesying that San Francisco : would be destroyed by an earthquake in 1890. In her preaching in the 1880s, she advocated a religious experience which she called 'The Power,' and she would often go into a trance during the services, standing with her hands raised in the air for more than an hour. Nicknamed the 'trance-evangelist' and even the 'voodoo priestess,' she was often accused of hypnotizing people. And here we come to the very crux of the 'Slain in the Spirit' phenomenon."

Morrison goes on to say that what Woodworth-Etter had discovered was the ancient art of hypnotism, popularized almost a century earlier by Anton Mesmer, the father of hypnotism or mesmerism, as it was also known, and an occultic faith healer. Morrison quotes one researcher who says "the phenomena that are now defined as 'hypnotic' emerged from the faith healing activities of Mesmer at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth century."

One of Mesmer's famous healing \sessions is described in another book on the occult:

"Mesmer marched about majestically in a pale lilac robe, passing his hands over the patients' bodies or touching them with a long iron wand. The results varied. Some patients felt nothing at all, some felt as if insects were crawling over them, others were seized with hysterical laughter, convulsions or fits of hiccups. Some went into raving delirium, which was called 'The Crisis' and was considered extremely healthful."

The real significance of Mesmer's sessions was best understood by his contemporaries. The King of France in 1784 ordered two respected bodies, the Academy of Science and the Royal Society of Medicine, to examine Mesmer's claims.

Among the highlights of this most discerning review were the following remarks:

"That man can act upon man at any time, and almost at will, by striking his imagination; that the simplest gestures and signs can have the most powerful effects; and that the action of man upon the imagination may be reduced to an art, and conducted with method, upon subjects who have faith."

Morrison drew the following conclusion from his research:

"Just as the Western psychologists are proffering ancient shamanistic practices in a guise which is more palatable to the uninitiated Westerners, so the professing Christian churches which peddle 'religious fainting' have simply made the Possession-Trance state of shamanism more readily acceptable to the undiscerning sheep who attend their heated meetings. These are the true origins of the strange phenomena which are

being so widely reported today and which are bringing the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ into so much disrepute." __________________________________________

Written By: Rev. Larry Thomas

This article is a reprint from Larry Thomas's newsletter, The Inkhorn. Rev. Thomas was the president of Amazing Grace Ministries as well as the founding visionary for A.B.P. Br. Larry went to be with the Lord at the end of 1997.



DEBATE: IS BEING SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT A FORM OF HYSTERIA? IMAGINATION? GROUP HYPNOSIS? OR REAL?......AND IF IT IS REAL, HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM PSYCHIC MEDIUMSHIP (ie: receiving messages from Beings)

Why is it a relatively new experience & was it practiced by Jesus, or his followers?

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