fullness. Whereas many of the older Pentecostal denominations (e.g. in particular, the Assemblies
of God) taught that the gift of glossolalia was the sole and complete evidence of Spirit baptism,
most of the neo-Charismatics would not be so dogmatic, which seems wise in view of both the
Acts evidence-- or lack of it! (e.g. 2:17ff; 8:17; 9:17-19; 19:6), and passages like Ephesians 5:18-
20. At the same time as expecting manifestations of the charismata to follow such baptism, they
wisely refrain from identifying the Spirit with any one of his manifestations of the charismata to
follow such baptism, they wisely refrain from identifying the Spirit with any one of his
manifestations or gifts, and look in addition to any of these, for a powerful awareness of the
presence of Jesus, a great desire to praise and love and serve him with the whole of one's being,
and, an experience of being filled with his power, in ways which may be relatively quiet and
peaceful, but at times could be described as overwhelming. (Other things that commonly follow
are a renewed peace and joy, a new and greatly deepened love for Christ, for his word and for
others, and a new reality in prayer and worship)" (Baker, 1976).
In the Charismatic movement tongues is not seen as the only sign of the Baptism of the Spirit, but some
supernatural manifestation is expected. The emphasis on the praise aspect of the gift of tongues as the
special ability to speak to the heart of God in worship give high value to this experience and the core
value of the corporate worship experience as something similar.
"The occurrence of 'speaking with tongues' which so often accompanies this spiritual baptism is
ordinarily experienced as one of transcendent praise. Many persons coming into this dimension of
fullness find their ordinary speech transcended by a kind of spiritual utterance in which the Holy
Spirit provides a new language of jubilation and praise. Here there is a moving past the highest
forms of conceptual expression into the spiritual, wherein there is indeed meaning and content but
on the level of transcendent communication. This communication is directed not to man but to
God, whose glory and deeds are extraordinarily magnified.
This language of praise not only occurs frequently at the initial moment of 'baptism with the Spirit'
but also continues as a prayer language in the life of faith." (Williams, 1971, p. 10)
Larry Christenson writes, “Speaking in tongues is speaking in a language; a language which
expresses the deep feelings and thoughts of the speaker, a language which God understands.”
Conclusion
There are a number of other unique characteristics of the neo-Pentecostal movement that vary from
place to place. Some of these different practices include “slaying in the Spirit” with the blowing of a
speaker’s breath on the audience (or waving the speaker’s tie at the audience) as the power that Jesus
demonstrated when He responded to the crowd in Gethsemane, levitating or floating in air, fillings in
teeth, laughing uncontrollably, jerking, going unconscious in a trance for long periods of time, extended
jumping up and down for hours or holding up your arms without getting tired, dancing for hours without
rest, reading of people’s minds or foretelling their future (as a prophecy), and many more bazaar
practices unique to their movement. “However, the Neo-Pentecostal’s serious flaw is its existential
authority base (dynamic inspiration) and its uncritical stress on the continuative gifts with deep
implication in the realms of canonicity and revelation (elitist prophets, etc.). A premium is placed on
feeling, the hermeneutic of our age, with the complimentary neglect of propositional truth. The
individual becomes the source of authority in the leap to truth” Dr. John D. Hannah, 1998, p. 24.13).
Despite their humble beginnings in relatively small revival meetings, denominational Pentecostals
have grown to what accounts for the largest Protestant group on the world scene in the 21st century.
Major Christian publishers have given their primary attention to noncessationists since their numbers are
the preponderance of evangelicals today. The interpretations presented in these abundant publications