Glossolalia or “speaking in tongues” is known primarily from charismatic Christian churches. In that setting it has been studied extensively with some remarkable findings. In Tower of Linguistic Babel, I examined one of those studies and noted some curious features of “tongues” or glossas:
They are always derivative of the speakers’ native language. In other words, [...]
Tags:charismatic Christianity·dissociative speech acts·ermeneglossia·glossolalia·linguistics·Pentecostals·Phonation Frustes·shamanic speech·speaking in tongues·supernatural languages·Tower of Babel·xenoglossia
Frank Schaeffer, son of famed evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer, connects the religious, cultural, and political knots in this spooky assessment of end times lunacy. As a former insider, his knowledge of such beliefs is considerable. There are few emotions more powerful — or easily played — than fear.
Tags:end times·evangelicals·fear·Francis Schaeffer·Frank Schaeffer·Hal Lindsey·Jerry Jenkins·Left Behind·paranoia·Pentecostals·Revelations·Tim LaHaye·victimization
Just the other day, I commented on the origin of ritual and noted that Jonathan Z. Smith sees “the thrill of coincidence” as at least a partial explanation. Before rationalists dismiss this thrill as mere superstition, Smith also notes that the same kind of coincidence resides at the heart of scholarship:
The discovery that two events, [...]
Tags:Africa·Assembly of God·Catholics·charismatics·charms·coincidence·evangelicals·exorcism·Foursquare Gospel·Geoffrey MacDonald·Glimpses of African Belief·indigenous beliefs·Johann Hari·Jonathan Z. Smith·Massachusetts·mediums·pagans·Pentecostals·possession·psychics·ritual·rituals·rosaries·saints·Salem·secret interconnection·spells·spiritual tourism·spiritualism·superstitition·The Gathering·The Masque of Africa·The Vault·transubstantiation·V.S. Naipaul·voodoo·Wicca·witchcraft
Evangelicals love their demons — which they claim to see or sense in just about everything bad that happens. All it takes is some exorcism or “casting out” and all will be well.
As I have mentioned in several previous posts, one of autism’s effects is a lack of “theory of mind.” This in turn renders [...]
Tags:autism·casting out demons·demons·evangelicals·exorcism·gay·homosexuality·Pentecostals·theory of mind
“Speaking in Tongues” or glossolalia is most often associated with Pentecostal worship. It is an interesting phenomenon that has attracted some scholarly interest. A recent post over at Brain Blogger discusses some of these studies:
Research performed in the 1980s at Denison University by the late anthropologist Felicitas Goodman led to a theory that glossolalia was [...]
