Happy Pentecost!

Today is considered the birthday of the Church as the promised Holy Spirit descends on the first disciples and sends them out to change the world as we know it.

So a blessed day to everyone and may the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, fill you with faith, hope, and love today and send you out to help others!

Quote: FrGamble

Today is considered the birthday of the Church as the promised Holy Spirit descends on the first disciples and sends them out to change the world as we know it.

So a blessed day to everyone and may the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, fill you with faith, hope, and love today and send you out to help others!

Thank you for reminding me...and all of the same blessings back to you, sir!!

Quote: FrGamble

Today is considered the birthday of the Church as the promised Holy Spirit descends on the first disciples and sends them out to change the world as we know it.

Gee, was this Holy Spirit in short supply? Only enough for twelve? Or only powerful enough fro twelve? I thought you religious types claimed omnipotence? So it was God's selfishness that misguided and unnecessary suffering persist in all but twelve?

Quote: FrGamble

So a blessed day to everyone and may the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, fill you with faith, hope, and love today and send you out to help others!

Methinks a pint of Guinness is much more likely to do that. Breath of God? H'mm. Looking around at the world today, I he must have really bad case of halitosis.

I don't know much about this religion stuff, seems a con to me. Sort of a protection racket, but instead of buying protection from actual hoodlums we are supposed to by protection from the nonexistent Devil in some nonexistent Afterlife that the Priests have been Prattling about and we are supposed to believe them due to their being educated in the selected ancient ramblings known as the Bible. However, I've not seen FrGamble do anything but get young kids to sing about the only bear mentioned in the Bible, Gladly. You know, Gladly, the cross-eyed bear.

Quote: Fleastiff

I don't know much about this religion stuff, seems a con to me. Sort of a protection racket, .

Are you a heretic? In the 'old days' the Church
dealt very harshly with people like you. Heresy
was a capital crime, you didn't even whisper
opinions like yours. God's Church ruled with
an iron fist.

Let's take a moment to read about what happened at the original Pentcost.

Quote: Acts chapter 2: 1-12

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

My question for the believers on the forum is, 2000 years later, is receiving the Holy Spirit still evidenced by speaking in tongues?

Quote: Wizard

My question for the believers on the forum is, 2000 years later, is receiving the Holy Spirit still evidenced by speaking in tongues?

Well, indeed, there are Protestant Denominations whose distinction practically revolves around this Speaking in Tongues.

For my own non-Pentecostalist upbringing, the teaching seemed to give this a wide berth. If you asked the Preacher about it I think he would have said that it was something that happened then, but Believers today do not usually speak in tongues from divine inspiration. Sort of like someone being raised from the dead, that ain't happening, but it was a special Miracle of the day. If pressed he might say to be given the ability to speak an unknown language *could* happen to someone today on a rare basis.

Interestingly, if you read Paul's letters, he was already faced with the problem of people in the Church disrupting church service by being overcome by a religious experience [or faking one for attention] and speaking in tongues, only having it come out as complete gibberish. Reading between the lines I swear you can what Paul really thinks of this ; he's pondering "wow, the power of suggestion!". But he does not forbid it, only says it is pointless unless someone can translate it, and to have someone do so.

I have heard of services today where someone in a trance-like state will often speak apparent gibberish; then some Elder in the congregation interprets it! They are indeed still handling it exactly like Paul says to do!

Quote: odiousgambit

I have heard of services today where someone in a trance-like state will often speak apparent gibberish; then some Elder in the congregation interprets it!

It's all attention getting bunk. Who's going
to argue with the translation, they make it
up as they go along. And it's always the
same small group doing it.

Quote: rxwine

LOL! Proves whatever they want it to prove.

Quote: Evenbob

Heresy was a capital crime, you didn't even whisper opinions like yours. God's Church ruled with an iron fist.

Of course, those in power maintain it usually by keeping the people ignorant and afraid. What else is new?