Charisma, Ecstasy, Mysticism, Trance

Charisma. Ecstasy. Mysticism. Trance. Words like these send up a red flag in the minds of many Bible believers. The words sound weird and occultic to the ears of modern-day Fundamentalist Christians. Many Jews are also wary of such experiences. According to an article in the Forward, there is an on-going debate between the scholastic, study-oriented Jews and the somewhat ecstatic, prayer-oriented Jews.1 Charisma, ecstasy, mysticism, and trance are often associated with things such as spiritism, séances, voodoo, Transcendental Meditation, Eastern religions, and New Age ideas. The Bible surely doesn’t condone anything involving charisma, ecstasy, mysticism, and trance, does it? Actually, it does.

The Bible does not condone such experiences when they are induced by demonic spirits or by people’s overactive carnal imaginations. But there are Biblical examples of charisma, ecstasy, mysticism, and trance which are induced by the Holy Spirit. When such experiences are induced by things demonic or carnal, we should condemn them; but we need not fear Holy Spirit-induced experiences of this nature.

The fanaticism and foolishness of some Christians in the charismatic movement has given the word charisma a bad reputation. The Holy Spirit has been blamed for a lot of nonsense that has been done in the name of Jesus. (And sometimes even in the name of Yeshua!) In our desire to distance ourselves from the crazy circus antics of the charismatic movement, let’s not go to the opposite extreme of totally rejecting all charisma. After all, the word is in the Bible. By my count, the word charisma (χάρισµα) appears fifteen times in the New Testament. It is translated “gift” and usually refers to the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are bestowed upon believers for the building up of the Body. “Now there are diversities of gifts [charismaton], but the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:4). “Having then gifts [charismata] differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching” (Rom. 12:6f).

Webster’s defines charisma as “an extraordinary power (as of healing) given a Christian by the Holy Spirit for the good of the church.” Now what in the world is wrong with that, my anti-charismatic friends? Yes, we must reject all counterfeit charisma, but let’s not reject the genuine charisma given by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:31 to “covet earnestly [or, zealously strive after] the best gifts [charismata].” So let’s do that!

What about ecstasy and trance? Are those words in the Bible? Yes, they are. Peter “fell into a trance” and saw a vision (Acts 10:10 & 11:5). Paul was “in a trance” during prayer and saw the Lord (Acts 22:17). In all three of these verses, the word translated “trance” is ekstasis (ἔκστασις), the source of our English word ecstasy.

People experienced ekstasis three other places in the New Testament: when the daughter of Jairus was raised from the dead; when the angel was seen in the Lord’s empty tomb; when the lame man was healed by Peter and John (Mark 5:42 & 16:8; Acts 3:10).

Biblical ecstasy is not to be confused with ancient pagan forms of ecstasy like the Dionysiac frenzy. Pagan ecstasy put people into a state of wild, disorderly frenzy called µανία (mania - the source of our English word maniac). This seems to be the primary reason that the second century ecstatic Montanus was rejected by most Church leaders. Second-century Church leaders did not reject all ecstasy, though. On the contrary, “Ecstasy was the accepted form of prophecy in the Church of the second century,” wrote Abraham Joshua Heschel.2 According to Heschel, Montanus was rejected because “he spoke while he was actually in a state of ecstasy, whereas the true prophets received their message in ecstasy, but did not deliver it until they had regained their normal faculties.”3

The word ekstasis is defined as “displacement of the mind.” A Holy Spirit-induced trance does not cause a person to lose his mind, nor does it necessarily make the person totally unaware of his physical surroundings. The mind simply “shifts gears” as it were, and the invisible becomes visible to the mind’s eye. It could be compared to what happens when a person looks at a picture with a dual or hidden image. At first glance the picture looks like one thing, but if the viewer stares at it long enough, he sees the hidden image. This is a purely physical phenomenon, but it illustrates how spiritual trance sometimes works. Just as the physical eye “shifts gears” and sees the previously unseen image in a picture, so the mind’s eye shifts gears and sees the previously unseen reality which exists in the spiritual realm. When this happens, the person normally experiences a dream-like state called ekstasis, some degree of ecstasy.

Webster’s defines ecstasy as “a state of overwhelming emotion” or “a mystic or prophetic trance.” There’s that red-flag-raising word mystic, along with its relatives mystical and mysticism. A few of the definitions that Webster’s gives for these words are indeed related to occult magic. However, most of the definitions have nothing to do with occult magic. For example, “inducing a feeling of wonder.” This sort of Holy Spirit-inspired mystical experience should be the norm for every disciple of Yeshua. If the Lord never induces feelings of awe and wonder in you, you are missing out on precious communion which would deepen your love and appreciation for Him.

The definition of mystical is “having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence.” If that sounds weird to you, I suggest that you read and consider 1 Corinthians 2:14. There you will see that spiritual realities are indeed neither apparent to the natural senses nor obvious to the intelligence. Spiritual realities are spiritually discerned. They are mystical.

Webster’s defines mysticism as “the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (as intuition or insight).” If you do not hold this belief for yourself, you must at least hold it for others, because the men who penned the Holy Scriptures attained their inspiration from their own subjective experience with the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures which they penned are the final authority, and all subsequent mystical experiences must be judged by the Scriptures. If a mystical experience - some dream or revelation or vision - contradicts the Scriptures, it must be rejected as counterfeit. But if mystical experiences line up with the Scriptures and are confirmed by the Scriptures, there is no need to fear Holy Spirit-inspired mysticism.

The Apostle Paul said, “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” Then he went on to tell about being caught up into the third heaven, into Paradise, where he heard “unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:1-4). When the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2, the people spoke in tongues, and Peter told his listeners to expect dreams, visions, and prophesying. Mystical experiences like these should be the norm. In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, historian Edward Gibbon described the life of the Early Church this way: “The primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground... They felt that on every side they were incessantly assaulted by demons, comforted by visions, instructed by prophecy, and surprisingly delivered from danger, sickness, and from death itself, by supplications of the church.”4

Richard Wurmbrand was a Jewish believer and a pastor who suffered under both the Nazis and the Communists. In his book Christ on the Jewish Road, Wurmbrand tells about his congregation’s first encounter with English books of modern theology. Wurmbrand was “profoundly shocked” by modernism’s so-called “higher criticism” that casts doubt on the reliability and inspiration of the Scriptures. Wurmbrand said that modernists “stimulate others to seek the truth elsewhere.” Then he added, “We sought it in Christian mysticism.” Wurmbrand describes the Christian mysticism that he and his Hebrew-Christian congregation experienced:

“Up till now, the Scriptures had been windows through which we could see the reality of God; now we had opened the windows, so that we could look on the God of reality.

“Some of us called the new experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit; others called it the second blessing, or any other name. Suddenly our eyes were opened, and we saw the nature of things, instead of knowing merely by logic and intelligent conception. We now saw many of the things which normally are invisible...

“From now on a fire burned within us, as it did in the disciples on the road to Emmaus. ‘Snowflakes cannot fall on a hot stove,’ says an Indian proverb. The coldness of this world could no longer harm us, although we had to pass through bitter times.”5

Most of us will have to pass through some bitter times in this cold world. Mere academic knowledge of cold facts - even spiritual facts - will not sustain us during difficult times. Knowledge of spiritual truth is important, but spiritual truth must be spiritually discerned and assimilated into our being. The natural man, even if he is a genius, cannot appropriate the things of the Spirit of God with his five senses. As 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, the things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned. This requires the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a disciplined disciple.

If you have never experienced what Wurmbrand called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I urge you to seek the Lord. “Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). Draw nearer and nearer to Him in prayer until you are immersed (baptized) in the Holy Spirit. And don’t be surprised - or afraid - if the moving of the Holy Spirit in your heart induces charisma, ecstasy, mysticism, or trance. Or maybe all four at once.

| DB

NOTES

1 Jay Michaelson, “Renewing Ecstatic Spirituality to the Beat of a Drum,” Forward, 29 Dec. 2006, p. 1.

2 Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), 341.

3 Ibid., 342.

4 Edward Gibbon, and D.M. Low, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1st American ed., vol. 1 (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1960), 15. (Quoted by Dr. Robert D. Heidle in The Messianic Church Arising!, p. 23f.)

5 Richard Wurmbrand, Christ on the Jewish Road (Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice Book Co., 1970), 107-116.

Image: Psalm 125 by Daniel Botkin. Visit DanielBotkin.com to see all his art pieces.