Fits, Trances, and Visions

Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James, by Ann Taves. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

Ann Taves, author of Fits, Trances, and Visions, holds a Ph.D. in History of Christianity and American Religion from the University of Chicago. In her book she discusses the religious experiences of fits, trances, visions, etc. in the church from the Enlightenment to the beginning of the twentieth century. Taves discusses these religious experiences using psychology, religion and popular public opinion of the time.

Fits, Trances, and Visions examines the differing views that the church and the scientific community had on the religious experiences that were rising out of the religious revivals of the Enlightenment and later periods. Examples outlining biblical support and opposition as well as scientific support and opposition for these extraordinary experiences are given to the reader for a broad understanding of why some church denominations supported these out-of-body experiences and why some did not.

One example of a conflict that the church was going through, and a major subject of Taves’ book, is enthusiasm versus formalism Many religious leaders of this time were caught in the middle of a debate as to the validity of these religious experiences; leaders included Chauncy, Edwards, and Hume (p. 46). Enthusiasm and formalism were the two extremes of thought that separated the ones who firmly believed in the reality of these supernatural experiences and those who did not. A few specific examples of these experiences would include speaking in tongues, having dreams, seeing visions, and hearing audible voices (p. 18). Some opponents to these religious experiences attributed these manifestations as being the result of scare tactics by preachers, a general excitement of congregations, and even nervous system diseases (p. 121).

Ann Taves brings together the religious views on these experiences as well as the psychological explanations for these experiences in a way that gives the reader an understanding of the cultural view of these experiences and the influence that both science and the church had on their acceptance or disapproval. This work can be used today as a guide to modern questions about religious views of supernatural experiences, their histories, and how they came to be accepted among some religious groups and rejected by others.

Reviewed by Virginia Dyer, Evangel University student

Paperback, 449 pages. $34.95 list price. Order from amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com

Ivan Q. Spencer on the Faith Life

Faith: Living the Crucified Life, by Ivan Q. Spencer, selected and edited by Edie Mourey. Big Flats, NY: Furrow Press, 2008.

When Ivan Quay Spencer was healed of typhoid fever in 1909, this event set him on a trajectory to become a leader within the emerging Pentecostal movement. He soon identified with Elim Tabernacle (Rochester, NY), the influential Pentecostal congregation led by the Duncan sisters. In 1911 he matriculated at Rochester Bible Training School, which was affiliated with the church. Following several years of pastoral ministry with the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Assemblies of God, Spencer launched out on his own and started Elim Bible Institute at Endwell, NY in 1924. Spencer intended his school to carry on the mantle of the Duncan sisters’ school, which had closed. He began editing the Elim Pentecostal Herald (now called Elim Herald) in January 1931. The following year, Elim Ministerial Fellowship (renamed Elim Missionary Assemblies in 1947, then Elim Fellowship in 1972) was formed to commission and credential graduates of the school.

Spencer charted a course marked by interdenominational cooperation and openness to new revival movements. He attended the constitutional convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1943 and served on the board of administration for the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America at its inception in 1948. Spencer also led the school and denomination to accept the New Order of the Latter Rain, a revival movement beginning in 1948 that was rejected by most other Pentecostal denominations. Elim later became a prominent supporter of the charismatic movement. Spencer’s son, Ivan Carlton Spencer, succeeded him as president of the school in 1949 and as chairman of the fellowship in 1954. Elim, while maintaining a strong base in the northeastern states, has made a broad impact through its graduates who have ministered across the globe.

The important story of Ivan Q. Spencer’s life and ministry was told by Marion Meloon in the book, Ivan Spencer: Willow in the Wind (Logos, 1974). Now Spencer’s granddaughter, Edie Mourey, has assembled a book of his writings on the faith life. Mourey’s compilation, Faith: Living the Crucified Life, is important for a number of reasons. First, Spencer’s influence on the Pentecostal movement outstripped the size of his own organization. Many independent Pentecostal ministries drew upon his spiritual leadership. Spencer’s insights into the faith life – culled from his writings published from the 1930s through the 1950s – illustrate theological themes important to a whole segment within Pentecostalism. Second, Spencer’s reflective devotional musings challenge the assumption, held by certain critics, that early Pentecostals lacked theological substance. Third, Faith: Living the Crucified Life could be considered a companion volume of primary source essays to accompany the biography by Meloon.

Encountering God at the Altar

Encountering God at the Altar: The Sacraments in Pentecostal Worship, by Daniel Tomberlin. Cleveland, TN: Center for Pentecostal Leadership and Care, 2006.

 

Since the beginning of the Pentecostal movement, experiencing the Spirit of God has been central to Pentecostals in both private and corporate worship. When it comes to congregational worship, Pentecostals have critiqued what they deem to be dead ritualism devoid of a personal experience of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Pentecostals have questioned many traditional practices relating to the sacraments (often viewed as theologically or historically suspect because of their relation to the Roman Catholic Church) and have opted for the term “ordinances” instead. The latter is often seen to be more of a faith-based means rather then a works-based means of experiencing the Spirit.

 

Daniel Tomberlin, pastor of Bainbridge Church of God (Bainbridge, GA) and chairman of Ministerial Development for the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) in South Georgia, has authored a book that will raise some eyebrows. In it, Tomberlin claims that Pentecostalism and sacramental worship are not mutually exclusive. Rather, he provides a stimulating discussion of how he believes Pentecostal worship is sacramental. This volume, which aims to provide an introduction to the subject for Pentecostal church leaders, is possibly one of the first educational resources of its kind published by a classical Pentecostal denomination.

 

Encountering God at the Altar touches on topics such as Pentecostal worship and spirituality. Tomberlin develops a Pentecostal theology of the sacraments and also explores the practice of the sacraments in Pentecostal worship. In following Church of God theologian Kenneth Archer, Tomberlin argues for the retrieval of the term sacrament over the term ordinance, claiming that the ordinances are sacramental — a “means of grace” where one encounters the Holy Spirit (p. 24). The author rightly points out that Pentecostal spirituality is centered on encountering the Holy Spirit. “Therefore,” Tomberlin states, “the center and focus of Pentecostal worship is the altar” (p. 19).

 

When addressing whether life in the church and the sacraments are essential to salvation, Tomberlin identifies the church and sacraments as “secondary salvific gifts,” compared to the Son and Spirit as “primary salvific gifts” from the Father. At the same time he ultimately admits “that participation in the sacramental life of the church may not be absolutely essential to salvation due to God’s prevenient grace” (p. 27).