Are healing crusades and slain in the spirit Biblical?

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Slain in the spirit (falling down physically when a pastor lay his hand on the person) and healing crusades are rampant in the Philippines. What does the Scripture say about this?

God can and does heal people, but the healing crusades of people like Benny Hinn are demonstrably fake - look no further than the fact that they don’t go into hospitals and heal people.

And Jesus tells us to look at the fruit of people who claim to be prophets and teachers, because “you will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt 7:20). The fruits of the prosperity gospel that fills the world with healing crusades and such things can be seen in the greed of its teachers, as well as the lack of the preaching of the true gospel (faith alone in Christ alone, followed by much suffering - see Acts 14:22).

And Scripture says nothing about being “slain in the Spirit” - absolutely nothing. But it does talk about the fruit of the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit he gives to members of Christ’s body. That is what we should be praying for, and demonstrating in our church services. The presence of the Spirit can be discerned by inward elements that are manifest outwardly (the presence of holiness, love, joy, peace, and so on) not on outward elements that seem fantastic and glitzy and miraculous (like the gold dust that supposedly fell in Bethel Church some time ago). Focus on such things is a sign of spiritual immaturity, if not the lack of the Spirit altogether. But focus on the gospel of Christ, on delight in Scripture and submission to it - those things aren’t flashy, but that is where the Spirit is.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Are healing crusades and slain in the spirit Biblical?:

Is Mac and Cheese biblical? Is driving in a motorized vehicle biblical? Is the computer I’m typing this on biblical? The answer is, well, no. That doesn’t deny the existence of those things or experiences. Nor does it make a judgment call on them being cool with the Lord or not.

Thanks for your comments, Ryan! And welcome to the forum community.

I want to push back on a few points. You clearly say that John 18:6 isn’t talking about being “slain in the spirit,” which I agree with. But you leave the door open to saying that it could add validity to the modern experience, since something powerful did knock the soldiers to the ground. But to say that Jesus did something in the past is not the same thing as saying that we should do that same thing. Perhaps you’re not saying that, and so I’m tilting at windmills here: but some people might say that, so I’ll continue for a minute talking about the foolishness that can result from interpretation like that.

For instance, last week I read a tweet by a hyper-fundamentalist pastor, who asked the question, “Should Christian men wear shorts?” He then quoted from John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation 1:13, which describes him as being “clothed with a garment down to the foot” (KJV). He then said he would follow Jesus’ example. (So if anyone reading this is wearing shorts right now, REPENT!) I think this is the same quality of interpretation - Jesus did X, therefore, we must do X. And the conclusions are equally wrong.

But you didn’t spend much time on that point - and forgive me, Ryan, if I read too much into your words there!

I want to challenge you on your two main points.

First on what being “biblical” is. Based on your use of the term, is having a WWE competition in the sanctuary biblical? Is having a pastor fly down from the balcony to the platform on a zipline biblical? No - because the Bible is absolutely silent on those matters!

But I hope everyone reading this would agree that those practices are unbiblical in a different way: God tells us what is acceptable, what we should prioritize, in worshipping him in public. If your logic is correct, Ryan, then having people bark like dogs, laugh like lunatics, fall all over the place in “holy” abandon, cannot be condemned at all! I don’t think you’re promoting those things, but your logic leads to them.

God has revealed how we must worship him: the Word must be preached, and read, prayer must be made, psalms and hymns and spiritual songs must be sung. Even if you interpret 1 Corinthians 14 as applying today to modern tongues speaking (which I do not, but many godly people do), God restricts how it is done (one speaker at a time, for example), and he doesn’t leave the door open for anything and everything man’s creativity can devise.

So I believe we should condemn such practices as Spirit-slaying precisely because the Bible is silent about them. We worship God in Spirit and in truth, according to his Word, his revelation about what such worship looks like. To do otherwise is to open the door to all manner of practices that distract us from true worship and true spirituality.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Are healing crusades and slain in the spirit Biblical?:

Do you think that God has told us everything that is or is not acceptable in worshipping Him in public? Or another way, the scriptures are exhaustive as to what is acceptable for worship?

Yes, I do believe that. You know, I think I’ll do a bracket on an important passage (or more than one) that talks about that, so we can discuss carefully what the Scriptures say about this.

I don’t have time right now, as I’m leaving on vacation and will be away for the next week-and-a-half! But instead of simply trying to defend my view, I’m going to wait until I can do it properly, seeking to discover and explain what the Scriptures say.

Maybe you could do the same? I think this would be a valuable discussion.

@Brent-Karding
Thank you so much for these brother. These teachings must be taught to the churches here.

I would call myself a card-carrying charismatic (however, I go to a Baptist church). However, I agree with Brent that the bible is silent on the experience of “being slain in the spirit.” The closest you could get is John 18:6:

When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

I certainly wouldn’t argue for this being what is popularly known today as being slain in the spirit. However, something powerful did happen in that passage to cause them to fall to the ground (I have heard people argue that it was face first versus backward…I mean, we just don’t know).

A couple more things.

The first will make most people uncomfortable, but I think it’s valid: Is Mac and Cheese biblical? Is driving in a motorized vehicle biblical? Is the computer I’m typing this on biblical? The answer is, well, no. That doesn’t deny the existence of those things or experiences. Nor does it make a judgment call on them being cool with the Lord or not. Some get afraid of someone saying this as if it undermines scripture. No. Not at all. I have an extremely high view of scripture. I also know when scripture is silent on something, and we have to be humble enough to admit when it is instead of creating our ideas and placing them on the Lord’s mind.

Second, and this doesn’t prove anything. However, it makes me comfortable with it: people I know who are extremely committed and devoted to Jesus (showing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, etc.), have experienced this.

So, again, I agree with Brent. The bible has nothing to say on this. But, neither does it say anything about me driving my car to work tomorrow. But, that will happen (and I’m very thankful for it).

@Brent-Karding I’ll have to let you initiate this one because our answers are different.

I’ll be interested in seeing the scriptures you believe establish this.

I’ve been wrong many a time before.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Are healing crusades and slain in the spirit Biblical?:

I’ll be interested in seeing the scriptures you believe establish this.

Hey @Ryan-Robinson, it has been a long time since we discussed this, but I’m almost ready (after a vacation and some study) to post on this! Starting today or tomorrow, I’m going to add posts to the Passage Discussion section of the forum, under the texts Matthew 15;1-9, Romans 15:1-6, 1 Corinthians 9:3-14, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, 2 Timothy 3:10-17, Colossians 2:20-23, and Romans 14:13-23.

Then I’m going to write a summarizing post in Theological Topics with a title on the “regulative principle of worship,” so we can hopefully have a good discussion there! Looking forward to it.

@Ryan-Robinson I’ve just posted my first of several Scripture studies on worship, specifically about the regulative principle. It’s on Matthew 15:1-9 in Passage Discussions. I’m interested to hear your thoughts, even though I still have more clarifications to make in my next arcs.

Blessings!

Mark 16:15 says that believers are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation… and these signs will accompany them… they will lay their hands on sick and they will be healed. So healing is a sign that Jesus is with us. Also, Jesus healed the sick when he was on earth, and Jesus is the exact image and representation of God. If we want to know what God was like in the bible, one way we can do that is by looking at Jesus. Because Jesus healed the sick, it was God’s will to heal the sick. If you want a more in depth theological response, try the link below. I personally disagree sightly with his conclusion but nevertheless its very thorough in its analysis.
https://thinktheology.co.uk/pdf/A_Healthy_Theology_of_Healing_(Phil_Moore)1.pdf

@Brent-Karding
I think this question might get to the root of things:

Do you think that God has told us everything that is or is not acceptable in worshipping Him in public? Or another way, the scriptures are exhaustive as to what is acceptable for worship?