In mid-20th century the so-called “charismatic” movement (“charis” in Greek means “grace”) appeared in the United States, having set itself the aim to revive in contemporary society the gifts of grace which the apostles had received on the day of the Pentecost, and in particular the “gift of tongues” – an unexpectedly acquired ability to speak in another language. This movement was joined by a series of Baptist and Methodist churches. The charismatic movement could readily be expected to emerge among the Protestants, since Protestantism, lacking the grace of apostolic succession, is deprived of the reviving power of the holy sacraments and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Graceless sectarian prayer meetings cannot bring genuine spiritual satisfaction to a Christian.

The charismatic movement, promising to infuse a fresh breath of spiritual air into the life of the Protestant churches, became quite popular, and soon groups of “Pentecostals” became to appear in various parts of the United States. This movement also impacted several of the churches oriented towards a more traditional Christianity. From time to time the Pentecostals gather in large numbers at their conferences, where people come from all parts of the United States and even from other countries. Due to the lack of a definite administrative structure among them, it is difficult to determine the exact number of Pentecostal sects. Pentecostal communities have fairly recently began to spring up also in Europe and in Russia.

What the Pentecostals have in common is a striving towards spiritual illumination and the manifestation of the “gift of tongues.” The majority of Pentecostals believes in the Holy Trinity, the existence of original sin, the divinity of the Saviour and His sacrifice of atonement. They believe in baptism through immersion in water, and in communion – a “mystic supper” which they unite with the rite of “washing of the feet.” However, in view of their Protestant origin, they reject apostolic succession, the priesthood and the other sacraments.

The very name of “Pentecostals” arose from their fixation on the event of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles on the day of the Pentecost (i.e. on the 50th day after Christ’s Resurrection). The Pentecostals teach that they, similarly to the apostles, receive at the moment of their baptism and common prayer the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the miraculous ability to speak unknown languages. In order to acquire the gifts of grace, the Pentecostals use various artificial means: at their meetings they stimulate themselves by singing prayers in unison, at the same time stomping their feet in tact, clapping their hands, and occasionally intoning the words “hallelujah” and “amen” in chorus. Their major aim is to produce good feelings in themselves and even ecstasy. Some of the more sensitive natures fall into hysteria and begin to laugh uncontrollably, gesticulate and mutter incomprehensibly.

Although the Pentecostals and similar contemporary “charismatics” attempt to summon within themselves the “gift of tongues” by means of artificial techniques, they end up with something totally unlike the miracle that occurred to the apostles on the day of the Pentecost. The genuine and miraculous gift of tongues that was received by the apostles on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them is described in the initial chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, while the nature and the purpose of the gift of tongues is described by Apostle Paul in chapters 12-14 of his epistle to the Corinthians. The gift of tongues was necessary to the apostles for a successful propagation of the Gospel among different peoples. Having received the gift of tongues, the apostles could preach to people of different nationalities in their native tongue, which resulted in the Church becoming widespread quickly. However, as we know from subsequent Church history, this gift was not fated to exist for long. As local Christian preachers, with excellent knowledge of their native language, began to appear in various countries, the need for a supernatural gift of tongues diminished accordingly. Thus, in the times of St. Ireneus of Lyons, i.e. in mid-3rd century, the gift of tongues is mentioned as a rare phenomenon.

Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians leads us to conclude that it was precisely in this church that the gift of tongues was more widespread than in other churches. At that time the gift of tongues was one of the spiritual gifts which some of the Christians received after being baptized and having the apostles place their hands upon their heads. However, not everyone knew how to handle the gift of tongues correctly. Apostle Paul warns the Christians of Corinth against abusing the gift of tongues. The fact is that during prayer meetings the Corinthian Christians began to speak in different tongues without there being any need for it. They did this apparently to show off in front of each other. Apostle Paul explains that the gift of tongues “is needed not for believers, but for unbelievers.” In other words, the gift of tongues is needed for preaching, for converting pagans to Christianity, and not for those who have already been baptized. Moreover, the gift of tongues had a negative effect on the meetings when it was used out of turn. For example, when during the Church service several people began to speak simultaneously in different languages that were unintelligible to the majority of those present, a lot of noise occurred and the mood for prayer was lost. In order to correct such untimely use of the miraculously received ability to speak new languages, Apostle Paul explains to the Corinthians that the gift of tongues is the very least gift in a series of other, more essential, spiritual gifts to man. The Corinthian Christians would do well if, in lieu of the gift of tongues, they would ask God to enrich them with faith, abstinence, patience, love, wisdom, and other such gifts.

Comparing the gift of tongues in apostolic times with the modern “tongue-gabbing,” one must admit to a significant difference between them. In apostolic times Christians received the ability to speak in a real human tongue. That was articulate human speech, required by the preacher for missionary purposes. In contrast to the genuine gift of tongues of apostolic times, the contemporary “speaking in languages” by the Pentecostals is simply a collection of incoherent and meaningless sounds, taking the form of either muttering or frenzied screaming. The Pentecostals themselves admit to this fact, explaining it, however, by supposedly being in possession of the language of the “denizens of paradise.” Nevertheless, it is impossible to consider frenzied or meaningless sounds as a miracle from God. They are rather the result of nervous agitation, a state of trance or hallucination, bordering at times on demonic possession. Therefore, the sectarians blaspheme when they ascribe their artificially-induced exaltation and inarticulate sounds to inspiration from God.

In general, the desire for all kinds of thrills is characteristic of modern society, which is attracted to violent music that evokes angry or erotic feelings in its listeners, encourages sexual licentiousness in society, abuses stimulatory chemical substances and drugs, and is devoted to films about crime and monsters. All these perversions are symptomatic of the sick human soul.

In a like manner, people’s search for rapture and ecstasy in prayer denotes a state of pride and passion. In this case a substitution occurs of artificially-induced emotional experiences for the genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Ignoring the spiritual experiences of God’s holy saints, rejecting the divinely-established priesthood and sacraments, modern sectarians attempt to attain grace by a variety of doubtful and dangerous means. They end up with the self-delusion which all the saints of the Orthodox Church warn against.

The Orthodox Christian must completely avoid such perversions of religious sentiment. He has access to the genuine treasures of grace in the Church sacraments, in its services, and in his sincere private prayers. One must not seek ecstasy and thrills in communion with God, but rather the renewal of one’s sinful soul. Such renewal comes from humility, penitence and self-correction. As the soul of a man becomes renewed, it will be filled with the true grace of God, which will bring with it celestial peace and pure joy, in comparison with which earthly rapture seems a cheap and pitiful imitation.