Towards a Typification of Motivations in Pentecostal Ecstasy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pent.37166Keywords:
ecstasy, Pentecostalism, ideal types, mysticism, religious experience, trance, Max WeberAbstract
This article sketches out a typification of the motivations that lead Pentecostal Christians to seek experiences of religious ecstasy. To this end, it draws on the insights of interpretive sociology, particularly the construction of ideal types. To interpret the information, we draw on the categories set forward in Max Weber’s sociology of religion. The article proposes four pure types of motivation for ecstatic experience: ecstasy as a method of producing a miracle; ecstasy as a method of confirming the Pentecostal path of salvation; ecstasy as a method of sanctification directed towards the earthly realm; and ecstasy as a means of sanctification that allows escape from the earthly realm.
References
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Goodman, F. 1969. “Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 8(2): 227–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/1384336
Goodman, F. 1972. Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study of Glossolalia. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
Goodman, F. 1973. “Glossolalia and Hallucination in Pentecostal Congregations” Psyquiatria Clinica 6: 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1159/000283267
Goodman, F. 1992. Ecstasy, Ritual, and Alternate Reality: Religion in a Pluralistic World. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
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Huber, S. and O. Huber. 2010. “Psychology of Religion”. In A. Anderson (ed.), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods, 133–55. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Jennings, M. 2014. “Imagining Jesus Doing a Whole Lotta Shakin’: Pentecostal Worship, Popular Music and the Politics of Experience”. Culture and Religion 15(2): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2014.911195
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Martin, D. 1990. Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America. Oxford: Blackwell.
Miller, E. 1980. Harmony and Dissonance in Argentine Toba Society. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files.
Miller, M. and K. Strongman. 2002. “The Emotional Effects of Music on Religious Experience. A Study of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Style of Music and Worship”. Psychology of Music 30: 8–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735602301004
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Poloma, M. and L. Hoelter. 1998. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Holistic Model of Healing”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(2): 257–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/1387526
Richter, P. 1997. “The Toronto Blessing: Charismatic Evangelical Global Warming”. In S. Hunt, M. Hamilton and T. Walter (eds), Charismatic Christianity Sociological Perspectives, 97–119. London: Macmillan Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26024-9_6
Rockower, H. 2011. “A Psychological and Neurological Study of Glossolalia”. Annual Review of Undergraduate Research 10: 258–70.
Rodríguez, R. and M. P. Rodríguez. 2015. Mi mejor amigo. Lake Mary, FL: Casa Creación.
Rodríguez, R. and M. P. Rodríguez. 2018. Adictos a Su Presencia. Lake Mary, FL: Casa Creación.
Samarin, W. 1972. Tongues of Men and Angles: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan.
Spanos, N., W. Cross, M. Lepage and M. Coristine. 1986. “Glossolalia as Learned Behavior: An Experimental Demonstration”. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95: 21–3. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-843X.95.1.21
Stolz, J. 2011. “‘All Things are Possible’: Towards a Sociological Explanation of Pentecostal Miracles and Healings”. Sociology of Religion 72(4): 456–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srr019
Ulland, D. 2012. “Embodied Spirituality”. Archive for the Psychology of Religion 34: 83–104.
Weber, M. 1983. Ensayos Sobre La Sociología de La Religión, trans. J. Almaraz et al. Madrid: Taurus. https://doi.org/10.1163/157361212X645340
Weber, M. 2001. Ensayos sobre metodología sociológica, trans. J. L. Etcheverry. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu.
Weber, M. 2014. Economía y sociedad, trans. J. Roura Parella, E. Ímaz, E. García Maynez, J. Ferrater Mora and F. G. Villegas. Mexico: FCE.
Westmeier, K.-W. 1986. “The Enthusiastic Protestants of Bogotá Colombia: Reflections on the Growth of a Movement”. International Review of Mission 75 (297): 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1986.tb01447.x
Bastian, J.-P. 1997. La Mutación Religiosa de América Latina. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Berger, P. and T. Luckmann. 1995. Modernity, Pluralism and the Crisis of Meaning. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers.
Blumhofer, E. 1986. “Pentecost in My Soul”: Explorations Pentecostal Experience in the Early Assemblies of God. Springfield MO: Gospel Publishing House.
Boudon, R. 2004. “La racionalidad de lo Religioso según Max Weber”. Revista Colombiana de Sociología 22: 7–39.
Castelo, D. 2017. Pentecostalism as a Christian Mystical Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Collins, R. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400851744
Corten, A. 1995. Le pentecôtisme au Brésil. Paris: Karthala.
Cox, H. 1995. Fire from Heaven. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.
Csordas, T. 1997. Language, Charisma, and Creativity: The Ritual Life of a Religious Movement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
Durkheim, É. 1912. Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse: le système totémique en Australie. Paris: Felix Alcan.
Freston, P. 1998. “Pentecostalism in Latin America: Characteristics and Controversies”. Social Compass 45(3): 335–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776898045003002
Goodman, F. 1969. “Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 8(2): 227–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/1384336
Goodman, F. 1972. Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study of Glossolalia. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
Goodman, F. 1973. “Glossolalia and Hallucination in Pentecostal Congregations” Psyquiatria Clinica 6: 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1159/000283267
Goodman, F. 1992. Ecstasy, Ritual, and Alternate Reality: Religion in a Pluralistic World. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Goodman, F., J. Henney and E. Pressel. 1974. Trance, Healing and Hallucination: Three Field Studies in Religious Experience. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Hollenweger, W. J. 1997. Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
Huber, S. and O. Huber. 2010. “Psychology of Religion”. In A. Anderson (ed.), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods, 133–55. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Jennings, M. 2014. “Imagining Jesus Doing a Whole Lotta Shakin’: Pentecostal Worship, Popular Music and the Politics of Experience”. Culture and Religion 15(2): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2014.911195
Jennings, M. 2015. “An Extraordinary Degree of Exaltation: Durkheim, Effervescence and Pentecostalism’s Defeat of Secularization”. Social Compass 62(1): 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768614560959
Johnson, W. T. 1971. “‘The Religious Crusade Revival or Ritual?’” American Journal of Sociology 76: 873–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/225003
Kildahl, J. 1972. The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues. New York: Harper & Row.
Lalive d’Epinay, C. 1968. El refugio de las masas, un estudio del movimiento pentecostal en Chile. Santiago de Chile: Editorial del Pacífico.
Martin, D. 1990. Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America. Oxford: Blackwell.
Miller, E. 1980. Harmony and Dissonance in Argentine Toba Society. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files.
Miller, M. and K. Strongman. 2002. “The Emotional Effects of Music on Religious Experience. A Study of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Style of Music and Worship”. Psychology of Music 30: 8–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735602301004
Moulian, R. 2017. El sello del Espíritu derramado sobre la carne. Valdivia: Kultrún.
Pew Research Center. (2006). “Spirit and Power – A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals”. Retrieved from www.pewforum.org/2006/10/05/spirit-and-power (accessed 17 July 2019). https://doi.org/10.3200/SSPT.17.6.10-10
Poloma, M. 2003. Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviving Pentecostalism. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Poloma, M. and L. Hoelter. 1998. “The ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Holistic Model of Healing”. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(2): 257–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/1387526
Richter, P. 1997. “The Toronto Blessing: Charismatic Evangelical Global Warming”. In S. Hunt, M. Hamilton and T. Walter (eds), Charismatic Christianity Sociological Perspectives, 97–119. London: Macmillan Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26024-9_6
Rockower, H. 2011. “A Psychological and Neurological Study of Glossolalia”. Annual Review of Undergraduate Research 10: 258–70.
Rodríguez, R. and M. P. Rodríguez. 2015. Mi mejor amigo. Lake Mary, FL: Casa Creación.
Rodríguez, R. and M. P. Rodríguez. 2018. Adictos a Su Presencia. Lake Mary, FL: Casa Creación.
Samarin, W. 1972. Tongues of Men and Angles: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan.
Spanos, N., W. Cross, M. Lepage and M. Coristine. 1986. “Glossolalia as Learned Behavior: An Experimental Demonstration”. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95: 21–3. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-843X.95.1.21
Stolz, J. 2011. “‘All Things are Possible’: Towards a Sociological Explanation of Pentecostal Miracles and Healings”. Sociology of Religion 72(4): 456–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srr019
Ulland, D. 2012. “Embodied Spirituality”. Archive for the Psychology of Religion 34: 83–104.
Weber, M. 1983. Ensayos Sobre La Sociología de La Religión, trans. J. Almaraz et al. Madrid: Taurus. https://doi.org/10.1163/157361212X645340
Weber, M. 2001. Ensayos sobre metodología sociológica, trans. J. L. Etcheverry. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu.
Weber, M. 2014. Economía y sociedad, trans. J. Roura Parella, E. Ímaz, E. García Maynez, J. Ferrater Mora and F. G. Villegas. Mexico: FCE.
Westmeier, K.-W. 1986. “The Enthusiastic Protestants of Bogotá Colombia: Reflections on the Growth of a Movement”. International Review of Mission 75 (297): 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1986.tb01447.x
Published
2019-11-20
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Cely, J. E., & Beltrán, W. M. (2019). Towards a Typification of Motivations in Pentecostal Ecstasy. PentecoStudies, 18(2), 178-199. https://doi.org/10.1558/pent.37166
