Holy laughter
Holy laughter is a term used within
Third Wave of the Holy Spirit. Many people claimed to experience this phenomenon at a large revival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada known as the Toronto Blessing
.
History
Practices similar to holy laughter were observed in the 1800s in
Holiness Christian meetings on the American West.[1] John Wesley
encountered uncontrollable laughter in his
Signs and Wonders meetings run by John Wimber in the 1980s.[3] The practice came to prominence in meetings led by the South African evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne in 1993 at the Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland, Florida and was often accompanied by the "Slain in the Spirit" phenomena.[4] The laughter ranges from very quiet to loud convulsive hysterics, which are said to be accompanied by temporary dissociation.[5] It was also observed in meetings held at Oral Roberts University.[6] The phenomena was then popularized by Charisma and the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and became controversial within charismatic Christianity.[4]
Though primarily found in Protestant churches, it was observed in some parts of the
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994. Religious revival meetings at the church became very popular, drawing 75,000 visitors that year.[8] Many attendees at the meetings spent time laughing loudly while lying on the floor.[4]
Analysis
Leaders who have promoted holy laughter said the laughter was a result of joy that was supernaturally being given to people in the meetings.STETS has drawn a parallel between holy laughter and laughter yoga.[12]
Reception
Many of the activities at these meetings, particularly the laughter, were controversial within
See also
References
- ^ Yung, Hwa (2003). "Endued with Power: The Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal and the Asian Church in the Twenty-First Century" (PDF). Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies. 6 (1): 63–82.
- ^ Porter 1996, p. 108
- ^ Porter 1996, p. 106
- ^ a b c Diamond 2000, p. 208
- ^ Porter 1996, p. 102
- ^ Poloma 2003, p. 155
- ^ Cimino 2001, p. 33
- ^ a b c Diamond 2000, p. 209
- ^ Poloma 2003, p. 4
- ^ Poloma 2003, p. 5
- ^ Poloma 2003, p. 108
- ^ Porter 1996, p. 119
- ^ Queen, Prothero & Shattuck 2009, p. 245
- ^ Diamond 2000, p. 210
- ^ Blair, Phillip Andrew (April 4, 2019). "Exposing kundalini spirits and the New Apostolic Reformation in the church". Torch of Christ Ministries. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
Bibliography
- Cimino, Richard P. (2001), Trusting the spirit: renewal and reform in American religion, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-7879-5160-3
- Diamond, Sara (2000), Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right, Guilford Press, ISBN 978-1-57230-494-9
- Poloma, Margaret M. (2003), Main street mystics: the Toronto blessing and reviving Pentecostalism, Rowman Altamira, ISBN 978-0-7591-0354-2
- Richter, Philip (1996), Stanley E. Porter (ed.), The nature of religious language: a colloquium, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-1-85075-580-7
- Queen, Edward L.; Prothero, Stephen R.; Shattuck, Gardiner H. (2009), Encyclopedia of American religious history, Infobase Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8160-6660-5