Slain....

Not Biblical, with the one exception, in John 18:6, ". . . As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. . . ." [Note , Exodus 3:14.]

 

Oh man. I have a long history with it. 1976 Uniontown, PA, "Jesus 76" It was run by the CBN crowd. Much of the teaching was good. I was under conviction. But then they started this weird thing in the prayer tent where people were laying hands on other people and flopping around on the ground. They laid hands on my 10 year old sister, who then "spoke in tongues." She was nota believer. I was not then either. They tried laying hands on me but for some reason it didn't work.

So, move forward 8 years, I came to Christ. This young woman I worked with showed up at a meeting on campus at Penn State for prayer and bible study. She had never once shown any kind of faith leanings in my years of working with her. All of a sudden her and her boyfriend were confronting me on being baptized in the Spirit and speaking in tongues and getting "slain in the Spirit." I asked them what slain in the Spirit was. They brought the main bible study leader over. He said that I had to close my eyes, start repeating the name of Jesus and wait for him to touch my forehead, or something like that. It was a long time ago. I said, something like, "Can you show me something in the Bible that tells me what this is?"

They ended the conversation by praying for me to have my eyes opened to the spirit world. The girl said she'd be praying for me. I said "J***, why did you never talk to me about Jesus before this?" We had partied heavy a few times, drinking to inebriation. She stumbled and mumbled something.

Anyway, forward 13 years. I am leading a bible study on a secular campus and a young guy comes regularly, meets a young woman who invites him to the local pentecostal church. He loves the worship music, but asks me "Why, at the end of every service, do they harangue and beg people for a half hour to come to the altar and get slain in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues?" I did not have a good answer. I suggested that he ask them "Can you show me slain in the Spirit happening in the bible?" He did. See, he thought he was in love with this girl, so he was trying to assimilate. They pressured him to kneel, empty his mind, and "wait on the spirit." He said, it was total emotional manipulation.

Anyway, there is nothing in the Bible about it.