Toronto blessings

In the parlance of the neo-charismatic movement, the Toronto blessing describes the awakening and the resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 in what was then the "Toronto Airport Vineyard" congregation, a free church near the airport in the Canadian city ​​of Toronto . The phenomena have been referred to in the neo-charismatic movement as the "new wave" of the Holy Spirit . These were unusual ecstatic reactions from the participants to the prayer or the blessing received personally by the laying on of hands .

Origin and Distribution

The name "Toronto blessing" derives from the location of the Vineyard community near Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, where the phenomena began to increase in 1994. The starting point is a service on January 20, 1994, held by the St. Louis Vineyard Christian Fellowship Pastor Randy Clark. By September 1995 around 600,000 visitors had attended the TACF events. During the same period, the number of members of the community increased from 360 to over 1000.

The phenomena quickly spread worldwide in the neo-charismatic movement after many charismatics had traveled to Toronto and the "Toronto blessing" then appeared in other communities.

In the following years the extreme "manifestations" slowly subsided. They were either a normal part of special events or - depending on how the congregations dealt with the "blessing" - prevented by foregoing personal blessings in church services.

In December 1995, the Vineyard congregation at Toronto Airport ended their membership of the Vineyard network. The community has been called the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) since 1996 . Since 2010, the congregation has appeared as Catch The Fire Toronto and is part of the Catch The Fire network of congregations led by John and Carol Arnott .

Observed reactions

The following phenomena, among others, have occurred more intensely with the Toronto blessing:

• Fall over what is considered resting in the Spirit is interpreted
• Laughing or crying attributed to the Holy Spirit; euphoric states
• Speaking in tongues
• Tremors, shaking
• extraordinary movements and sounds of various kinds, e.g. B. Animal sounds
• loud screaming, which is interpreted as the emergence of evil spirits
• Passed out
• Paralysis-like phenomena
• histrionic behavior.

Based on the Bible (e.g. Acts 2.13  EU ), some of these states are also referred to by the followers as drunkenness in the spirit (e.g. laughter). They can occur spontaneously, but are also often triggered and intensified in a targeted manner by laying hands on participants in a blessing, fanning them with air or blowing air at them with the mouth, since wind and breath are symbols for the Holy Spirit.

When resting in the mind one tries to avoid injuries: if it is foreseeable that someone will fall over, people stand behind him as catchers to catch him and gently lay him on the ground.

The common tremor (shaking) and other phenomena have been observed earlier elsewhere, for example among the Quakers , who got their name from similar phenomena. Even John Wimber , founder of the Vineyard Movement, noted that similar both in its own community in Anaheim was observed as well as other revivals around the world.

Religious studies classification

In religious studies, the Toronto blessing corresponds to the phenomenon that is called Shaktipat in Hinduism . The shape of the Toronto blessing is also very similar to a Shaktipat initiation.

reviews

The Toronto blessing is valued differently.

Proponents see the work of the Holy Spirit in the Toronto blessing. They point out that the Spirit is God's power and that those involved find the “manifestations” mostly liberating, refreshing and relaxing. They therefore ascribe processes of healing and liberation to the blessing.

The Toronto blessing was also criticized in part within the charismatic movement . Religious critics see the phenomena more as demonic and either negatively as a sign of possession or, conversely, as a sign of liberation from dark forces.

Finally, skeptics explain the phenomena as typical hysterical reactions that could be observed in many comparable situations (in a religious and non-religious context). According to them, the physical and psychological reaction of those affected is based solely on the expectation that they will have the experience.

Single receipts

1. ↑ For what has been described so far, cf. John Bowker: Toronto Blessing. In: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
2. ^ Randall Herbert Balmer: Toronto Blessing . In: Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism . Baylor University Press, Waco 2004, ISBN 1-932792-04-X , pp. 690 .
3. ↑ See History ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from catchthefire.com, the official website of the former Toronto Airport Community, accessed October 8, 2012. 
4. ↑ Cf. Benjamin Jackson: Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship Name Change ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on revivalmag.com (Revival Magazine), May 13, 2010. 
5. ↑ See About on catchthefire.com, accessed October 8, 2012.
6. ↑ See Joe Maxwell: PLUS: Seminary Women 'Rewrite Their Stories'. In: Christianity Today. October 24, 1994. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
7. ↑ Alexander Seibel: Falling on the back
8. ↑ Kurt E. Koch : Christ or Satan?
9. ↑ Joachim Reinelt: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Kundalini. The cosmic power within man ) (PDF; 580 kB).
10. ↑ Seraphim Rose : Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future. Straelen 2010, ISBN 978-3-937129-60-0 , Rn. 463, p. 260.
11. Jump up ↑ Toronto Blessings. Evangelical Information Center Sects - Churches - Religions, 2000, accessed on May 30, 2016 (Section 5.1 “Normal” revival? ). 
12. Jump up ↑ Toronto Blessings. Evangelical Information Center Sects - Churches - Religions, 2000, accessed on May 30, 2016 (Section 5.4 End-time seduction? ). 
13. Jump up ↑ Toronto Blessings. Evangelical Information Center Sects - Churches - Religions, 2000, accessed on May 30, 2016 (Section 5.6 Psychological Phenomena? ). 

literature

• Guy Chevreau: The Toronto Blessing. 1994, ISBN 3-89490-056-3 .
• Guy Chevreau: The Toronto Blessing 2. Prayer with Consequences. 1995, ISBN 978-3-89490-103-5 .
• Guy Chevreau: Catch the Fire: The Toronto Blessing an Experience of Renewal and Revival. 1995, ISBN 978-0-00-638043-6 .
• Guy Chevreau: Share the Fire: Toronto Blessing and Grace Based Evangelism. 1997, ISBN 978-0-551-03083-1 .
• Guy Chevreau: Share the Fire: The Toronto Blessing and Grace - Based Evangelism. 1997, ISBN 978-1-56043-688-1 .
• Dave Roberts: You will recognize them by their fruits. Toronto blessings harbingers of revival? 1995, ISBN 978-3-925968-76-1 .
• John Peters: The Story of Toronto. 2006, ISBN 978-1-85078-647-4 .
• James Arnott, John Arnott: Father's Blessing. 1996, ISBN 978-0-88419-404-0 .
• John Arnott: Manifestations and prophetic Symbolism in a Move of the Spirit. 2008, ISBN 978-1-905991-27-3 .
• Guy Chevreau, John Arnott: Catch the Fire: Toronto Blessing - An Experience of Renewal and Revival. 1994, ISBN 978-0-551-02923-1 .
• James A. Beverly: Holy Laughter and the Toronto Blessing: An Investigative Report. 1995, ISBN 978-0-310-20497-8 .

Web links

• Catch the fire. Internetpresence of the community network that emergedfrom the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
• Toronto blessing on relinfo.ch
• What is the blessing of Toronto? critical consideration