Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that, according to adherents, can stimulate a divine presence and power. Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on empirical evidence of an evidence-based outcome achieved via faith healing. Virtually all scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience.
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific laws and accordingly gets attributed to some supernatural or praeternatural cause. Various religions often attribute a phenomenon characterized as miraculous to the actions of a supernatural being, (especially) a deity, a miracle worker, a saint, or a religious leader.
A spiritual gift or charism is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit. These are believed by followers to be supernatural graces that individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the Church. In the narrowest sense, it is a theological term for the extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others and is distinguished from the graces given for personal sanctification, such as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). It has affected most denominations in the US, and has spread widely across the world.
The Toronto Blessing, a term coined by British newspapers, refers to the Christian revival and associated phenomena that began in January 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church (TAV), which was renamed in 1996 to Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) and then later in 2010 renamed to Catch the Fire Toronto. It is categorized as a neo-charismatic Evangelical Christian church and is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The revival impacted charismatic Christian culture through an increase in popularity and international reach and intensified criticism and denominational disputes. Criticism primarily centered around disagreements about charismatic doctrine, the Latter Rain Movement, and whether or not the physical manifestations people experienced were in line with biblical doctrine or were actually heretical practices.
Signs and wonders refers to experiences that are perceived to be miraculous as being normative in the modern Christian experience, and is a phrase associated with groups that are a part of modern charismatic movements and Pentecostalism. This phrase is seen multiple times throughout the Bible to describe the activities of the early church, and is historically recorded as continuing, at least in practice, since the time of Christ. The phrase is primarily derived from Old and New Testament references and is now used in the Christian and mainstream press and in scholarly religious discourse to communicate a strong emphasis on recognizing perceived manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the contemporary lives of Christian believers. It also communicates a focus on the expectation that divine action would be experienced in the individual and corporate life of the modern Christian church, and a further insistence that followers actively seek the "gifts of the Spirit".
Peter Derek Vaughan Prince was a Bible teacher whose daily radio programme, Derek Prince Legacy Radio, is broadcast around the world in various languages.
Andrew "Anne" van der Bijl, known in English-speaking countries as Brother Andrew, was a Dutch Christian missionary and founder of the Christian organization Open Doors. He was known for smuggling Bibles and other Christian literature into communist countries during the Cold War and, because of his activities, he was nicknamed "God's Smuggler".
Norman Leo Geisler was an American Christian systematic theologian, philosopher, and apologist. He was the co-founder of two non-denominational evangelical seminaries.
Practical charismatic theology is a subset of Christian theology that teaches how to practically apply charismatic Christian theology in the everyday life of a believer. Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious beliefs. Practical charismatic theology takes this a step further through the incorporation of these beliefs into an individual believer's lifestyle. Practical charismatic theology specifically focuses on incorporating charismatic Christian beliefs into an individual lifestyle with the goal of achieving what Jesus instructed his followers to pray for; "on earth as it is in heaven." Applying theology in this way has been reported as bringing about transformative changes in people's lives, faith healing as a result of prayer, and dramatic changes in entire communities.
Todd David Bentley is a Canadian Christian evangelist. He was a key figure of the Lakeland Revival and was in leadership of Fresh Fire Ministries Canada until stepping down in August 2008 following accusations of immoral behavior.
Harold Armstrong Baker (1881–1971), known as H.A. Baker, was an American author and Pentecostal missionary to Tibet from 1911 to 1919, to China from 1919 to 1950, when forced to leave the mainland, and then in Taiwan from 1955 until his death in 1971.
Cessationism versus continuationism involves a Christian theological dispute as to whether spiritual gifts remain available to the church, or whether their operation ceased with the Apostolic Age of the church. The cessationist doctrine arose in the Reformed theology: initially in response to claims of Roman Catholic miracles. Modern discussions focus more on the use of spiritual gifts in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, though this emphasis has been taught in traditions that arose earlier, such as Methodism.
Charles Peter Wagner was an American missionary, writer, teacher and founder of several Christian organizations. In his earlier years, Wagner was known as a key leader of the Church Growth Movement and later for his writings on spiritual warfare.
A revivalist is a person who holds, promotes, or presides over religious revivals. A secondary definition for revivalist is a person who revives customs, institutions, or ideas. The definition has become more robust in recent decades, and has been revised and adapted by American Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians to be someone who "recognizes that God's manifest presence transforms lives and cultures." A revivalist can also include someone that either presides over, or actively pursues, a religious re-awakening or restoration to spiritual ideas, orthodoxy, religious or personal experiences, and/or communal pursuit of divine occurrences.
Begum Bilquis Sheikh was a Pakistani author and Christian missionary. She was a prominent member of a Muslim family of Wah in Attock and known throughout the country for her political and social work. She is known for her high-profile conversion from Islam to Christianity, following a series of visions and prophetic dreams. She told her life story in the book, I Dared To Call Him Father. Published in 1978, the book is a classic in Christian literature and evangelism. Worldwide sales exceeding 300,000. Her autobiography was one of the most popular Muslim-to-Christianity conversion books of the 20th century. It has been printed numerous times, in several different languages around the world. A 25th Anniversary edition was released by Baker Publishing Group in 2003.
Iris Global, previously Iris Ministries, is a Christian interdenominational, missionary organization that provides humanitarian aid in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Members of Iris seek to spread the gospel while performing humanitarian activities.
Bill Johnson is the senior leader of Bethel Church, a charismatic megachurch in Redding, California. The congregation has grown in membership from 2,000 when he joined in 1996, to over 11,000 in 2019. Johnson has taken public conservative positions on same-sex marriage, abortion, open borders, and many other topics. He is an author, functions as an itinerant speaker and has been featured in various media.
Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer's life. It has a global presence in the Christian community. Practitioners are often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and the Neo-charismatic movement.
William Dutch Sheets is an American author and pastor. Sheets has written over 20 books.
