Does The Holy Spirit Have Favourites?
Whenever I get into a conversation about faith, I suggest that faith must, by definition, include an element of doubt. The writer of the Letter to The Hebrews says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb11:1). It is, therefore, possible to hold convictions (i.e. to passionately believe in something) whilst not knowing that it is true.
Faith is about believing in something despite a lack of evidence. Certainty, on the other hand, is about knowing something for which there is conclusive evidence and where there is no room for doubt or questioning. Religious faith is, therefore, a matter of trust. I am able to believe in God despite not knowing that God exists; and no matter how strong my religious convictions, my capacity to doubt or question (to whatever degree) authenticates my faith.
Where this faith mutates into supposed certainty, serious problems arise. As well as being an oxymoron, 'religious certainty' is a dangerous form of self-delusion. As with all false confidence, it actually arises from insecurity - the inability to trust, to question or to live with any degree of doubt. This results in an intolerance and fundamentalism which, as we all know, expresses itself all too readily in the bomb and the bullet or the more subtle wickedness of the current regime at the White House and the quasi-evangelicalism that sustains it.
Over the last few months this has become a 'live' issue for me personally. Having recently had what I believe to have been a profound experience of the Holy Spirit, and subsequently re-embracing a Charismatic spirituality that I abandoned over forty years ago, I find my faith both renewed and profoundly strengthened; but I must ask myself if there is a danger that the 'experiential' element of being a Charismatic is mistaken for 'evidence' and could therefore tip me over the edge into a false religious certainty. There are plenty of fundamentalist charismatics about, but I have no wish to join their ranks!
My dilemma was heightened further when a priest whom I hold in the highest possible regard recently asked me, "Does the Holy Spirit have favourites?" His question is a legitimate one. When some Christians claim to have had a particular experience of the Holy Spirit and when they exhibit the traditional 'gifts' of the holy spirit (speaking in tongues, prophesying etc) what does this say about those Christians who don't have these experiences or exhibit these gifts? To put it bluntly, are there two classes of Christian i.e. those gifted with the Holy Spirit and those who are not?
If I were to suggest that Christians who do not have 'Charismatic experiences' are somehow not 'proper' Christians, I would be denying my own Christian discipleship (flawed as it has been) for the last forty years. That would be absurd, not least because during this period there were times when I certainly received what I believe to be the guidance of the Holy Spirit and occasions when I felt the close presence of God. Worse, I would also be denying the efficacy of the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, through which all Christians receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
There is, therefore, a sense in which all Christians are Charismatics. In any event - as another priest friend reminded me recently - the most important Charismatic gift is the Eucharist. This gift, in which the Holy Spirit is invoked to transform both bread and wine and those gathered around the altar, is a gift to the entire Church.
St Paul is very clear that no-one can say, "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3b), so all who can make this affirmation are clearly gifted with the Holy Spirit. Of course Paul goes on to list the various spiritual gifts:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same Lord who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (1Corinthians 12:4-11)
These gifts are by no means restricted to those who would label themselves 'Charismatic'. My priest friend who posed the question that this blog addresses frequently utters words of profound wisdom, he is certainly gifted with a great faith, and he has exercised a ministry of healing in my life on at least one occasion, although humility would prevent him from acknowledging any of this, perhaps even to himself. As Paul says, the Holy Spirit gives all of us different gifts, and they are given not out of any sense of favouritism but 'for the common good'. For some, those gifts will amount to what we might describe as a Charismatic spirituality, for others, not.
My 'new' Charismatic spirituality differs from that which I embraced decades ago as a young man, because it is expressed within a firmly Catholic context. For me this is important, because the Charismatic brings a freedom, a joy and a degree of spontaneity to Catholic worship, and the Catholic brings order to Charismatic worship, focuses it firmly on the Eucharist and reminds us that all Spiritual gifts are for the whole church community and not any one individual.
As I have hinted in earlier blogs, I see the workings of the Holy Spirit as much less 'magical' than I used to. I do, of course, believe in a supernatural God - what would be the point of any other kind of God? - and I see Charismatic spirituality as a particular way of experiencing and understanding the encounter of Human Spirit with Holy Spirit. This 'supernatural' encounter results, I believe, in 'natural' physical and psychological responses. So the person who receives prayer ministry, far from being 'knocked out' (still less 'slayed') by the Holy Spirit, experiences a healing peace to which they gently surrender and in which they rest for a time. Likewise, the person praying in tongues (glossalalia) responds to a bubbling-up of inner joy and prays in a way that is free of the restrictions of known language. Leon-Joseph Cardinal Suenens (late Primate of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium and a leading authority of the Charismatic movement within Catholicism) once wrote:
This form of non-discursive prayer - a preconceptual expression of spontaneous prayer - is within the reach of everybody and remains always under control. It is a verbal expression independent of any specific linguistic structure. This manner of expression, known to other civilisations, is less a stranger to ourselves than is supposed. Think, in the Gregorian chant of the jubilation inherent in the prolonged 'A' sound at the end of the Alleluias. Think too, of how a little child, before having learned to speak coherently, adopts spontaneously these varied sounds and unintelligible syllables to express his joy. ('A New Pentecost?' Suenens)
Suenens stresses that praying in tongues is in itself neither miraculous nor pathological, but is one of a range of human responses to the Holy Spirit. This spiritual encounter of the human with the holy can be experienced in other ways that are equally wonderful - for example through silence and contemplation.
One oft quoted piece of advice given by retreat conductors and spiritual directors is "Pray as you can. not as you can't". I would add, "Worship as you can, not as you can't", because each of us must be true to the unique individual that God made us, and we must use the specific gifts and abilities that he gave us for the good of the whole community.
The Church is at its best when it is fully Catholic, fully Evangelical and fully Charismatic. As Christians we are at our best when we live by a faith that dares to question and to doubt and to live with diversity, and when we resist the temptation to adopt a false religious certainty that judges, excludes or diminishes others, for the Holy Spirit most certainly does NOT have favourites!
Faith is about believing in something despite a lack of evidence. Certainty, on the other hand, is about knowing something for which there is conclusive evidence and where there is no room for doubt or questioning. Religious faith is, therefore, a matter of trust. I am able to believe in God despite not knowing that God exists; and no matter how strong my religious convictions, my capacity to doubt or question (to whatever degree) authenticates my faith.
Where this faith mutates into supposed certainty, serious problems arise. As well as being an oxymoron, 'religious certainty' is a dangerous form of self-delusion. As with all false confidence, it actually arises from insecurity - the inability to trust, to question or to live with any degree of doubt. This results in an intolerance and fundamentalism which, as we all know, expresses itself all too readily in the bomb and the bullet or the more subtle wickedness of the current regime at the White House and the quasi-evangelicalism that sustains it.
Over the last few months this has become a 'live' issue for me personally. Having recently had what I believe to have been a profound experience of the Holy Spirit, and subsequently re-embracing a Charismatic spirituality that I abandoned over forty years ago, I find my faith both renewed and profoundly strengthened; but I must ask myself if there is a danger that the 'experiential' element of being a Charismatic is mistaken for 'evidence' and could therefore tip me over the edge into a false religious certainty. There are plenty of fundamentalist charismatics about, but I have no wish to join their ranks!
My dilemma was heightened further when a priest whom I hold in the highest possible regard recently asked me, "Does the Holy Spirit have favourites?" His question is a legitimate one. When some Christians claim to have had a particular experience of the Holy Spirit and when they exhibit the traditional 'gifts' of the holy spirit (speaking in tongues, prophesying etc) what does this say about those Christians who don't have these experiences or exhibit these gifts? To put it bluntly, are there two classes of Christian i.e. those gifted with the Holy Spirit and those who are not?
If I were to suggest that Christians who do not have 'Charismatic experiences' are somehow not 'proper' Christians, I would be denying my own Christian discipleship (flawed as it has been) for the last forty years. That would be absurd, not least because during this period there were times when I certainly received what I believe to be the guidance of the Holy Spirit and occasions when I felt the close presence of God. Worse, I would also be denying the efficacy of the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, through which all Christians receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
There is, therefore, a sense in which all Christians are Charismatics. In any event - as another priest friend reminded me recently - the most important Charismatic gift is the Eucharist. This gift, in which the Holy Spirit is invoked to transform both bread and wine and those gathered around the altar, is a gift to the entire Church.
St Paul is very clear that no-one can say, "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3b), so all who can make this affirmation are clearly gifted with the Holy Spirit. Of course Paul goes on to list the various spiritual gifts:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same Lord who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (1Corinthians 12:4-11)
These gifts are by no means restricted to those who would label themselves 'Charismatic'. My priest friend who posed the question that this blog addresses frequently utters words of profound wisdom, he is certainly gifted with a great faith, and he has exercised a ministry of healing in my life on at least one occasion, although humility would prevent him from acknowledging any of this, perhaps even to himself. As Paul says, the Holy Spirit gives all of us different gifts, and they are given not out of any sense of favouritism but 'for the common good'. For some, those gifts will amount to what we might describe as a Charismatic spirituality, for others, not.
My 'new' Charismatic spirituality differs from that which I embraced decades ago as a young man, because it is expressed within a firmly Catholic context. For me this is important, because the Charismatic brings a freedom, a joy and a degree of spontaneity to Catholic worship, and the Catholic brings order to Charismatic worship, focuses it firmly on the Eucharist and reminds us that all Spiritual gifts are for the whole church community and not any one individual.
As I have hinted in earlier blogs, I see the workings of the Holy Spirit as much less 'magical' than I used to. I do, of course, believe in a supernatural God - what would be the point of any other kind of God? - and I see Charismatic spirituality as a particular way of experiencing and understanding the encounter of Human Spirit with Holy Spirit. This 'supernatural' encounter results, I believe, in 'natural' physical and psychological responses. So the person who receives prayer ministry, far from being 'knocked out' (still less 'slayed') by the Holy Spirit, experiences a healing peace to which they gently surrender and in which they rest for a time. Likewise, the person praying in tongues (glossalalia) responds to a bubbling-up of inner joy and prays in a way that is free of the restrictions of known language. Leon-Joseph Cardinal Suenens (late Primate of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium and a leading authority of the Charismatic movement within Catholicism) once wrote:
This form of non-discursive prayer - a preconceptual expression of spontaneous prayer - is within the reach of everybody and remains always under control. It is a verbal expression independent of any specific linguistic structure. This manner of expression, known to other civilisations, is less a stranger to ourselves than is supposed. Think, in the Gregorian chant of the jubilation inherent in the prolonged 'A' sound at the end of the Alleluias. Think too, of how a little child, before having learned to speak coherently, adopts spontaneously these varied sounds and unintelligible syllables to express his joy. ('A New Pentecost?' Suenens)
Suenens stresses that praying in tongues is in itself neither miraculous nor pathological, but is one of a range of human responses to the Holy Spirit. This spiritual encounter of the human with the holy can be experienced in other ways that are equally wonderful - for example through silence and contemplation.
One oft quoted piece of advice given by retreat conductors and spiritual directors is "Pray as you can. not as you can't". I would add, "Worship as you can, not as you can't", because each of us must be true to the unique individual that God made us, and we must use the specific gifts and abilities that he gave us for the good of the whole community.
The Church is at its best when it is fully Catholic, fully Evangelical and fully Charismatic. As Christians we are at our best when we live by a faith that dares to question and to doubt and to live with diversity, and when we resist the temptation to adopt a false religious certainty that judges, excludes or diminishes others, for the Holy Spirit most certainly does NOT have favourites!
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