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The “spirit filled” believer was changed from his old way of life to a
new life that even changed the way he talked. “Speaking in tongues”
(glossolalia), miracles of healing, visions, prophecies, boisterous
worship with emotional music and, yes, even rolling on the floor
(where do you think “holy roller” came from?) were the marks of the
Pentecostal movement.
But weak theology on the doctrine of the Trinity is not the only
“strange fire” that burns in the fields of Pentecostalism. The so-called
“Prosperity Gospel,” the hyper-individualism that seems to reign
within the movement and all its offshoots, the emotionalism that
leads to nothing more than religious sentimentalism, and even the
weakness of dependence on ecstatic experiences all feed a notion of
faith as an addiction rather than a sober lifestyle of peace.
But the only remedy for the spiritual sicknesses that pervades
Pentecostalism is a return to, or perhaps a discovery for the first time,
of the wisdom of the undivided Church. This must include rigorous
theological work that takes seriously the truth that we cannot truly
understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to His Church today unless
we are willing to hear what He has said to His Church in the past. The
foolish behavior of making final choices about deep theological truths
before we have gathered all the relevant theological evidence has
produced too many spiritual casualties to be allowed to continue. And
the “embarrassment of riches” that Orthodoxy possesses only means
we Orthodox will be without excuse when we are asked by Jesus,
“Why didn’t you feed these hungry people?”