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mean, do we do rock-n-roll worship, get slain in the spirit, or have
laughing revivals? No - but that's probably not what you meant. We
believe that the Holy Spirit has never left the Church, and
that He's still doing miracles as He always has. The presence of God
and the miraculous are part of Christian experience in every
generation. It's worthwhile to read about modern saints like Saint
Seraphim of Sarov or Saint
John of San Francisco and see some of the
powerful and miraculous ways God moves today.
What
about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?
We're all
for it! When we baptize someone, they are immediately prayed for
and anointed with oil to receive the seal of the gift of the
Holy Spirit. Orthodoxy didn't wait for the modern American Charismatic
movement; we've done it this way for 2,000 years.
How
do the Orthodox view the Charismatic movement?
As a
rule Orthodoxy is suspicious of movements in general. Anything new
needs a few centuries to bear fruit, and often enough the saying is
proved, that "what's true is not new; what's new is not
true". Regarding charismatic experience, here's a
thoughtful look at Charismatic spirituality
by Bishop Kallistos Ware.
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