I wouldn't say "... at all like" or unlike ... but I think the ancients had a bit of a different approach to the matter and thus had a different experience, at least outwardly at times.
First of all, the events as described in
Acts 2 (KNOWN human languages) has never been reproduced in the 20th (and now 21st) Century outpouring. I know, I know... several of you will want to dispute that, but prove it first, okay?
Paul seems to have observed something other than the
Acts 2, type of phenomena when he mentions "the tongues of angels..." (
1 Corinthians 13:1). Of course, there are others who will insist that this was more of a literary use of hyperbole in that context and I honestly don't have a good argument against that.
It just "seems" to me that there were a lot of ancient "prophecies" and other "religious ecstasies" that were described in a way that makes it sound a lot like a "modern" Pentecostal experience. This is why I am inclined to see all of the "Shockamoo" and stuff as being an authentic and very ancient experience and not something that was just "invented" at Topeka or Azusa Street.
The ancient Christians, in all likelihood, had a rather broad spectrum of experiences - something akin to the "Charismatic Movement" that reaches across many denominations. We're probably a little too quick to demand that everybody fall out in a heap or to operate our altars as mosh pits.
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