Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante
As a student of religious sociology I have been considering how far in terms of ritualism that modern Christianity is as an institution. What I mean is that we do things without giving thought to what we are doing. We have become acclimated to the ritual of being faithful attendants to church, and even speaking in tongues (to some degree) is ritualized.
Pentecostals in particular are a communal faith, and we often do things in an effort to conform to the community as a whole. For example, when one person speaks in tongues it often sets off a chain reaction of others speaking in tongues. But is it really the Holy Spirit in action, or is it a social demand for conformity within the group? That's just a tiny example. I could highlight others, but that will do.
To what degree is modern Christianity "institutionalized" and to what degree do we do things out of ritual instead of genuine reaction to the presence of the Holy Spirit?
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Yes. This is why when you are in a large congregation such a conference or camp service, "moves of the spirit" moving like waves. The people react to those
around them talking in tongues and getting jiggy with it. In fact, the dynamic is exactly LIKE the classic "wave" you see moving around a stadium at a football game.
Every true move of God I've seen (and Yes, I've seen many) effect the whole congregation -large or small, at the
exact same time, and there was/is no doubt of its origin, even for a natural skeptic like me.