Spirit baptism: a phenomenological study of religious experience

Abstract

Pentecostalism and glossolalia have received much attention from the social sciences in recent decades. Although much has been learned from research, little attention has been given to initial Spirit baptism (SB) from a descriptive point of view, and none has been given from a phenomenologically oriented approach – which was the concern of this study. To investigate the experience of SB, we conducted phenomenological interviews with eight participants who were residents in a 12-month drug rehabilitation program sponsored by an independent Pentecostal-oriented congregation in the southeastern USA. A hermeneutic and thematic analysis found six major themes to emerge consistently across all eight transcribed protocols that described the meaning of the experience of SB: (1) “Connection with God”; (2) Physical Sensations; (3) Magnified Feelings; (4) “Prayer Language”; (5) Certain Knowing; and (6) “Hard to Describe.” The findings are discussed in relation to existential grounds of experience and spiritual transformation.

Keywords:

• spirit baptism
• glossolalia
• Holy Spirit
• Pentecostalism
• drug rehabilitation
• spiritual transformation
• phenomenology

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Denver, CO, 2009.

Funding for this study was provided by the Ellis College of Arts and Sciences, Henderson State University.

Notes

1. The Lazarus Project is a ministry of the Carpenter's House, an independent congregation that separated from the Church of God of Prophecy, a Pentecostal denomination that is headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee. Since the break, however, the Carpenter's House pastors tend to reject the label “Pentecostal” because of association with its former denomination, although its pneumatological doctrine and praxes are clearly in line with the classical Pentecostal tradition. We identify the Lazarus Project as Pentecostal solely because of its emphasis on SB and the practice of tongue-speaking and other gifts of the Spirit. To protect the identity of the eight participants in this study, we have assigned to each one a code to differentiate among them, instead of using their names. For example: S1, S2, S3, etc.

2. All biblical quotations and references are from the King James Version Bible.

3. The mystical aspect of Certain Knowing is further supported by the work of Dein and Littlewood (2007). Although not particularly concerned with glossolalia, they studied English Pentecostals to understand the phenomenology of prayer, which often includes prayer language. Their analysis found that 25 of their 40 participants reported instances of certitude in having heard the voice of God through perceptions such as new illumination of scripture, divine dreams, religious impressions, intuitive convictions, spiritual visions, and sometimes even audible expressions coming from outside the person. Knowledge received from hearing God's voice offered to participants the perception of supernatural guidance in resolving various life issues and did not necessarily indicate psychopathology. We make this point to illustrate how that the persuasion of Certain Knowing that comes from Pentecostal experience – in this case, the hearing of God's voice – may involve a state other than normal consciousness.