Why are Hebrew words so popular in Charismatic circles?

[MoreCoffee]

Our parish has a charismatic prayer group that is called "El Shaddai prayer group" and in my city there are numerous Pentecostal and Charismatic buildings named after Hebrew places and Hebrew words like Bethel, Bethshan, Bethany, and so forth. The most recent buildings have other names like "Passion Church", "New Life Christian Centre", "Riverview Church" and so on. Perhaps it is older Charismatic groups that chose the Hebrew words, maybe groups from before the 1970s and up to the 1990s. Is it similar in your city? Do you know why the Hebrew words were chosen?

 

[Josiah]

News to me....


In MY experience, Pentecostal preachers are usually poorly educated and have not studied either Hebrew or Greek (and certainly not history or theology), so why they would use Hebrew words is beyond me. My primary experience with what some would call modern American "Evangelicalism" is a mega Baptist Church (it actually CALLED itself "Evangelical" rather than Baptist). They had several pastors - I'd guess a dozen. Only one had any seminary training, the rest did some "Bible College" stuff.

When we look at mainstream denominations - Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Reformed, Methodist - we find pastors/teachers who typically have 4 years of college and at least 4 years of seminary. They are very adept at Hebrew and Greek. They have taken 4 years of church history, they have taken 4 years of graduate level theology classes, they know about the Fathers, the Councils, the heresies. For the pastors I experienced at that mega "Evangelical Church" the lead pastor (who fortunately did most of the preaching), this probably applied (he went to Fuller Seminary in Los Angeles), but the rest of the pastors .... well..... I'd consider you, Coffee, better educated, more knowledgable.

My own pastor not only has the 4 years of college and 4 years of graduate seminary.... solid Hebrew and Greek..... 4 years of church history, 4 years of theology.... but he knows Latin too because I've seen a couple of books he has on the Fathers that are mostly Latin. He also has a doctorate degree which he got in theology. In MY experience, you just don't get this in Pentecostal and modern American "Evangelicalism" much. In fact, who is that popular TV guy who never took a single course in this stuff? Frankly..... as I've chatted with "Evangelicals" for the past dozen years or so.... this lack of education by their teachers shows. Far more often, when I'm conversing with a Catholic or Orthodox or Reformed - I may disagree with them, but I can tell they have been well educated by a learned teacher.


Sorry. I didn't contribute much to your thread, Coffee.



A blessed Lenten season to you and yours....


- Josiah

 

[Brighten04]

It is no different than catholic churches naming their churches after the saints. There are even some evangelical churches that name their churches after the saints. Some name them after mountains named in the Bible.

 

[MoreCoffee]

It is no different than catholic churches naming their churches after the saints. There are even some evangelical churches that name their churches after the saints. Some name them after mountains named in the Bible.

You are welcome to address the topic of the original post. Please refrain from attempts to derail the thread by addressing the original poster without addressing the topic.

 

[Brighten04]

You are welcome to address the topic of the original post. Please refrain from attempts to derail the thread by addressing the original poster without addressing the topic.

What are you talking about? I did address the topic of the original post. I did not address you personally.

 

[visionary]

It is probably like naming your baby after biblical characters. The more you like the name the higher the chances it will be chosen.

 

[Alithis]

Our parish has a charismatic prayer group that is called "El Shaddai prayer group" and in my city there are numerous Pentecostal and Charismatic buildings named after Hebrew places and Hebrew words like Bethel, Bethshan, Bethany, and so forth. The most recent buildings have other names like "Passion Church", "New Life Christian Centre", "Riverview Church" and so on. Perhaps it is older Charismatic groups that chose the Hebrew words, maybe groups from before the 1970s and up to the 1990s. Is it similar in your city? Do you know why the Hebrew words were chosen?

i would assume ..if they are more popular then with any other professing to be christian group , that it is because the old testament is written Hebrew and they like to identify with the meanings being the words .-mixed with a desire to come up with something new in title that reflects their purpose and goals ...
upon which far to much emphasis is placed- imo .

i like the names they used in the book of acts ..ie .. the church at Ephesus .. or the one at Pricilla and Aquilla's house .. haha .

 

[psalms 91]

Personally I like the Hebrew names although I wonder since Bethel is a place, wondeer how many more might be as well

 

[tango]

Our parish has a charismatic prayer group that is called "El Shaddai prayer group" and in my city there are numerous Pentecostal and Charismatic buildings named after Hebrew places and Hebrew words like Bethel, Bethshan, Bethany, and so forth. The most recent buildings have other names like "Passion Church", "New Life Christian Centre", "Riverview Church" and so on. Perhaps it is older Charismatic groups that chose the Hebrew words, maybe groups from before the 1970s and up to the 1990s. Is it similar in your city? Do you know why the Hebrew words were chosen?

I suspect sometimes it's an attempt to sound super-spiritual, other times it's just because the name sounds good.

In many ways I don't see a name like "New Life" to be any more or less significant than "St Stephens". Sometimes a name is just a name.

 

[tango]

News to me....


In MY experience, Pentecostal preachers are usually poorly educated and have not studied either Hebrew or Greek (and certainly not history or theology), so why they would use Hebrew words is beyond me. My primary experience with what some would call modern American "Evangelicalism" is a mega Baptist Church (it actually CALLED itself "Evangelical" rather than Baptist). They had several pastors - I'd guess a dozen. Only one had any seminary training, the rest did some "Bible College" stuff.

When we look at mainstream denominations - Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Reformed, Methodist - we find pastors/teachers who typically have 4 years of college and at least 4 years of seminary. They are very adept at Hebrew and Greek. They have taken 4 years of church history, they have taken 4 years of graduate level theology classes, they know about the Fathers, the Councils, the heresies. For the pastors I experienced at that mega "Evangelical Church" the lead pastor (who fortunately did most of the preaching), this probably applied (he went to Fuller Seminary in Los Angeles), but the rest of the pastors .... well..... I'd consider you, Coffee, better educated, more knowledgable.

My own pastor not only has the 4 years of college and 4 years of graduate seminary.... solid Hebrew and Greek..... 4 years of church history, 4 years of theology.... but he knows Latin too because I've seen a couple of books he has on the Fathers that are mostly Latin. He also has a doctorate degree which he got in theology. In MY experience, you just don't get this in Pentecostal and modern American "Evangelicalism" much. In fact, who is that popular TV guy who never took a single course in this stuff? Frankly..... as I've chatted with "Evangelicals" for the past dozen years or so.... this lack of education by their teachers shows. Far more often, when I'm conversing with a Catholic or Orthodox or Reformed - I may disagree with them, but I can tell they have been well educated by a learned teacher.

Sorry. I didn't contribute much to your thread, Coffee.

A blessed Lenten season to you and yours....

- Josiah

At risk of following a bit of a derail (this can split into another thread if needs be), I think somewhere there's a balance between acknowledging that the early church was led by a bunch of people who didn't have graduate degrees, and recognising the benefits of formal education. Sometimes a lack of formal education can be a bad thing, other times it's not so bad if the formal education tends to be little more than an organised sausage machine that turns out identikit graduates.

I wouldn't go as far as to talk of Pentecostal preachers in general, but my experience is that people within the more charismatic and pentecostal movements have tended to be less inclined to turn to Scripture to determine matters of truth. But the tendency to quote a single verse of Scripture as if it was the beginning and ending of a matter isn't confined to any one denomination, in my experience at least.

 

[Lamb]

It is probably like naming your baby after biblical characters. The more you like the name the higher the chances it will be chosen.

If I had a son he would have been named David Of course it's a combo between David in the OT and Davey Jones from the Monkees :birgits_giggle:

 

[Alithis]

News to me....


In MY experience, Pentecostal preachers are usually poorly educated and have not studied either Hebrew or Greek (and certainly not history or theology), so why they would use Hebrew words is beyond me. My primary experience with what some would call modern American "Evangelicalism" is a mega Baptist Church (it actually CALLED itself "Evangelical" rather than Baptist). They had several pastors - I'd guess a dozen. Only one had any seminary training, the rest did some "Bible College" stuff.

When we look at mainstream denominations - Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Reformed, Methodist - we find pastors/teachers who typically have 4 years of college and at least 4 years of seminary. They are very adept at Hebrew and Greek. They have taken 4 years of church history, they have taken 4 years of graduate level theology classes, they know about the Fathers, the Councils, the heresies. For the pastors I experienced at that mega "Evangelical Church" the lead pastor (who fortunately did most of the preaching), this probably applied (he went to Fuller Seminary in Los Angeles), but the rest of the pastors .... well..... I'd consider you, Coffee, better educated, more knowledgable.

My own pastor not only has the 4 years of college and 4 years of graduate seminary.... solid Hebrew and Greek..... 4 years of church history, 4 years of theology.... but he knows Latin too because I've seen a couple of books he has on the Fathers that are mostly Latin. He also has a doctorate degree which he got in theology. In MY experience, you just don't get this in Pentecostal and modern American "Evangelicalism" much. In fact, who is that popular TV guy who never took a single course in this stuff? Frankly..... as I've chatted with "Evangelicals" for the past dozen years or so.... this lack of education by their teachers shows. Far more often, when I'm conversing with a Catholic or Orthodox or Reformed - I may disagree with them, but I can tell they have been well educated by a learned teacher.


Sorry. I didn't contribute much to your thread, Coffee.



A blessed Lenten season to you and yours....


- Josiah

you know many pentecostal pastors do you ?

 

[MoreCoffee]

News to me....

- Josiah

Maybe it is a UK and Oz and South African thing ... perhaps the USA missed out.