My purpose in this paper is to examine the so-called “slaying in the spirit” in the light of the Scripture. There are a lot of cultural, social and historical considerations in explaining this phenomenon. But I will not delve in those.
My intention is just to focus on what the bible says or does not say about “slaying in the spirit.”
What is “slaying in the spirit”? Due to lack of resources (Dictionary of Penntecostal Theology,
etc.) I will try to describe this phenomenon as I observe it done by some pastors like Benny Hinn, etc.
“Slaying in the spirit” is a phenomenon wherein a Christian supposedly places his/her hand on another person and the latter will fall down usually backward (I have seen some people fall down to a sitting position) and be in a some sort of “altered state of consciousness”. Some people who experienced it describe their feelings as somewhat being “weakened in the knees” that causes them to fall down. Some say they are still conscious but just feel weak. This
phenomenon usually occurs during pray over.
Now, there are two elements that are important to call an occurrence “slaying in the spirit”. They are:
1.Someone prays and lays his/her hand over another individual.
2.That individual falls down as a result of first element.
These two elements should be present in a given situation in order to be called “slaying in thee spirit”. These two are inseparable. If one of the elements is missing that situation cannot be called “slaying in the spirit”.
There are two words that neopentecostalists use in supporting their doctrine of “slaying in the spirit.” They associate it with “falling down” (or fall down) and “prostrate” in support of their belief. Though, the word “slain” has been used in the Old Testament, that word is associated with killing as in when King Saul and David slain their soliders (I Samuel 18:7, 21:11, 29:5).
Thus, I will focus on these two words (fall-down and prostrate) and examine if these words can be used to support the doctrine of “slaying in the spirit”. ThecScripture in which these two words were used are:
Deutoronomy 9:18 “And I fell down before the Lord, as the first, forty days and forty nights: I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all yourt sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.”
This cannot be the “slaying in the spirit” since it did not have the two elements discussed above. Falling down means praying to God. In Contemporary English version, the words “bow down” was used.. Thus, this does not support the theology of ”slaying in the spirit”.
I King18:38 “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
Fell on their faces means they bowed down before God in reverence. This is actually a response to Godf when we see God’s greatness and not when we are “supposedly taken over by the Spirit”. In fact, as they bow before God they praise Him by saying, “The Lord, He is God!” This is very much different with today’s “slaying in the spirit”.
I Samule 4:18 “Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell of the seat backward by the side of the gate: and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy.”
I guess even people who support “slaying in the spirit” don’t want to use this verse because this has a “negative” result. Eli died!
Daniel 2:46 “Then King Nebucahddnezar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.”
This cannot be used to support “slaying in the spirit” because in this passage the king worshipped Daniel and not God. In CEV, it states, “…bowed low to the ground and worshipped Daniel.”
Daniel 8:17-18 “So he came near where I stood and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face to the ground; but he touched me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end. While he was speaking, I fell face dwn in a deep sleep…”
In this passage, Daniel fell on the ground when the angel Gabriel came. He fell down because of fear. That fear is not clear whether fear from God or fear because naturally when a man sees a supernatural or experiences a different thing, he is anxious and feel a kind of fear. That may be the fear of “unknown”. It is a natural response to the “unknown’. But is this slaying in the spirit”? Did someone lay his hand and pray over Daniel? Did he fall face down or as what I
observe in “slaying in the spirit” backward or in a siting position.
Acts 9:3-4 “as Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flasked around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”
In this situation, God himself is talking to Paul. We all know how glorious God is and so when He appeared to Moses in Sinai and when Moses went down the mountain his face was still radiating with God’s glory. This Damascus occurrence may be attributed to that fact. God is so holy and glorious and Paul was so sinful that when he saw God’s glory, his natural response was to fall to the ground. But this cannot be used to support the doctrine of “slaying in the spirit” since we cannot see the two elements we discussed earlier. Again, did someone prayed and put his hand over Saul? It was stated in the passage that he “fell down; but can we attribute it to the phenomenon wherein the “spirit took” him?
Revelations 1:10 “On the Lord’s day the Spirit took control of me. And I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me”.
All of us need to be controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit not only during pray over but it should be moment by moment. This is what we call infilling of the Holy Spirit. When John narrated this incident, did he fall? All it said was that the Spirit took control of him. Did someone lay his hand over John?
Revelations 1:17 “And when I saw Him, I fell at his feet as dead. But He laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid; i am the First and the Last.”
In all the the scriptural references i read this is the passage which is nearest to today’s ’slaying in the spirit”. “I fell at His feet as dead” is somewhat similar to what I observe with people who were “slain in the spirit.” But in this revelation incident God appeared to John directly and personally. We know that the glory of God may even cause blindness and death (as when the Levites entered the ark of the covenant and if they have unconfessed sins they will die and Jews have to pull out that dead Levite using a rope). So, this is a unique experience and cannot be experienced by anyone. Unless until God physically appeared to someone and he was ’slain in the spirit” I cannot connect Revelation 1:17 experience with today’s “slaying in the spirit”.
In conclusion, I’ve learned that we cannot establish a doctrine thru only one passage in the Bible. That doctrine should be supported systematically by passages in the Scriptures (example is the doctrine of trinity wherein the whole Scriptures, from Genesis to
Revelation, states that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is one God in three persons). Any position should be based upon an in-depth study of the total teachings of Christ.
I will try to answer here the questions people might ask. Some questions were asked to me by friend and some questions are hypothetical questions.
Q: Are saying that “slaying in the spirit” is of the devil?
A: In my life, I’ve learned and I am trying not to judge people. What I am saying here is that “slaying in the spirit’ cannot be supported in the biblical scrutiny. Thus, my personal decision is not to believe it. If some Christians (in fact, my best friend believes in some pentecostal practices) do it, my response is that I have to respect them. I will never, never judge anyone.
Q:The word “trinity” is not in the Bible. Why do you believe it and not “slaying in the spirit.”
A: The trinity is in the Bible. The Bilbe says that Jesus is God, our Father is God, and the Paraclete is God.
Q: There is no record in the Bible that a person cried when he was prayed for. Should we then stop people from crying when we pray for them because it is not in the Bible following your exegesis?
A: We cannot equate “crying:” and “slaying in the spirit” since the former does not require the element of laying of hands while the latter has it. Moreover, “crying’ is not a theological stand of some groups today while “slaying in the spirit’ is. Another thing, “slaying in the spirit” entails a somewhat structured occurrence. As I observe it, it happens when the minister prays and lays his hand to members (usually individually) while crying (as of now) has not been made a theological belief and this is not yet a structured occurrence. We can only compare one theological stand with another theological stand. As I see it, “crying” and “slaying in the spirit” are in two different planes.
Q: Yes, the “slaying in the spirit” is not in the Bible. But everything is not in the Bible.
A: A thorough study of the Scriptures is essential for validating any religious principle, action or conduct. The Bible is the “true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human, conduct, creeds and religious opinions should be tried.”(Article 2, Baptist Statement of Faith)Moreover, the Bible is the full and final revelation of God.
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