Blogotional: “‘Charismatic’ is a very loaded term. In my thinking it refers not to those that believe the Holy Spirit is active in revealing God in the present day, but rather, it refers to those that believe either Pentecostal theology concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or those with an unhealthy focus on the more miraculous manifestations of the Spirit, often to the exclusion or dismissal of those with less spectacular gifting.
As Adrian is using the word, I would qualify as a charismatic, and so, at least as far as I have read would he. I, for one would prefer a different label. I am not a cessationist, but I am not what I commonly think of as a charismatic. ”
The trouble is with theological words is they seem to mean something different depending on whether they are being used by an adherrant to a system or almost a term of abuse by someone looking in from the outside.
For me a charismatic is someone who believes the biblical charismata are available today as opposed to having ceased like a cessationist. There are too many different theologies of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to make one of them desctiptive. But I for one am quite happy to own the label “charismatic”as well as the “reformed” one also.
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