Charismatic Movement

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term eunsa (恩賜) means a gift that God bestows by grace; it translates the New Testament Greek word charisma. The charismatic movement holds that the gifts of the Holy Spirit did not cease after the early church. Accordingly, it actively seeks tongues, prophecy, divine healing, and other gifts in personal faith and in worship. In the narrow sense, the term refers to a movement that emphasized experience of the Spirit while remaining within established denominations, as distinguished from Pentecostalism, which formed its own denominations in the early twentieth century. In a broader sense, the term is sometimes used for both streams together.

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents of the charismatic movement cite 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, Romans 12:6-8, Acts 2, and other passages in support of their position. The beginning of the charismatic movement within mainline Protestant denominations is commonly traced to 1960, when Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest in the United States, publicly announced his experience of speaking in tongues. In the late 1960s, a charismatic renewal movement also arose within the Catholic Church. In the 1980s, the so-called "Third Wave" emerged, emphasizing signs and wonders across denominational lines.

In the Korean Church

In Korea, a movement emphasizing experience of the Holy Spirit is reported to have spread across denominational lines during the 1970s and 1980s. Revival meetings, gatherings at prayer houses, and the growth of Yoido Full Gospel Church under Pastor David Yonggi Cho are cited as factors behind it. Tongsung kido (simultaneous audible prayer), praying in tongues, healing services, and praise and worship led by worship teams are often mentioned as practices influenced by this movement.

Understandings differ by denomination.

• Full Gospel churches (such as the Korea Assemblies of God) stand in the Pentecostal tradition. They emphasize as doctrine baptism in the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues as its evidence.
• Methodist and Holiness churches, influenced by Wesleyan theology, have a tradition of valuing experiential faith. The Holiness Church in particular includes divine healing in its Fourfold Gospel (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming).
• Views within Presbyterianism vary widely. Some hold to cessationism, the view that the gifts ceased with the apostolic age, while others hold that the gifts continue today but require order and discernment (cessationism and continuationism).

Critics point to two dangers: that experience may take precedence over Scripture, and that the movement may drift toward claims of new revelation or new offices, as in the New Apostolic Reformation. Supporters hold that the work of the Holy Spirit must not be restricted and regard the charismatic movement as a force for renewing the church.