“The Heresy of Charismatics' Beliefs and Practices” By: Fr. Scott Gardner

By: Fr. Scott Gardner (Sspx)

Published originally in the March 1998 issue of The Angelus magazine and Sspx.org 

Brief history of the movement

Protestant Roots

However much the Charismatics try to trace their overt manifestations of "the Spirit" to an unbroken Apostolic tradition, they are bound to fail. Some concede that the early phenomena ceased because of the "stifling" attitude of the hierarchy. Nonetheless, the fact that the charismata were not known to exist after the Apostolic Age is demonstrated by this statement of St. Augustine’s, made in the fourth century:

Who in our day expects that those on whom hands are laid so that they may receive the Holy Spirit should forthwith speak with tongues....These signs were adapted to the times. For there behooved to be that betokening of the Spirit in all tongues to show that the Gospel of God was to run through all the tongues over the earth. But that thing was done for the betokening, and it has passed away.5

Catholic "Transplant"

In 1967, during the early post-Vatican II turmoil of ecumenical frenzy and widespread apostasy, students at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University began exposing themselves to Pentecostal influences because of spiritual aridity; they were envious of the "changed lives" among many Protestant friends and decided to pray for similar "graces." A weekend "retreat" —of sorts —proved to be the key to their answer. Various people approached various Protestant ministers, laity, and prayer groups; all received "Baptism in the Spirit" after having heretical hands laid on them in prayer.

The importance of this action cannot be overestimated. These Catholics submitted themselves to a non-Catholic quasi-sacramental rite —obviously a mockery of the sacrament of Confirmation —and the emotional thrill brought about by this sin (objectively speaking, of course) convinced them of the holiness of the entire experience. They came away as "Catholic" Charismatics, and their influence spread like wildfire all over the country —first on college campuses and then to the world at large.

If ever there were an argument for listening to the Church, this is it. The Church has warned her children to stay away from heretical "worship" for almost 2000 years because she knows what the consequences will be, both for the individuals involved and for the Mystical Body at large. Yet the CCR (Catholic Charismatic Renewal) unabashedly admits —even praises —its ecumenical, PROTESTANT roots!

Today, practically every diocese has an official Charismatic liaison office. There are Charismatic prayer groups, seminars, conventions, retreats, etc., all across the country and the world. No level of the hierarchy is without its contingent, and Charismatics are numerous among the clergy —especially the Regulars [i.e.,the monastic clergy; webmaster’s note]. As will be shown, even Rome is not immune to their influence.

Protestantism

Given the CCR’s  (Catholic Charismatic Renewal's) ecumenical Protestant roots, it should surprise no one that the Charismatics’ thinking is slanted markedly towards Protestantism. One of the hallmarks of Protestantism is the proposition sola scriptura (scripture alone), e.g., personal interpretation of scripture based on the "inspiration of the Holy Spirit." At the root of this problem lies the Charismatics’ typically Protestant rejection of Tradition as a source of Revelation. As the following quotations demonstrate, Charismatics share wholeheartedly in this dangerous teaching:

...The foundation of the Charismatic Renewal movement...is scripture. Short scripture readings are part and parcel of the action at prayer meetings....In my experience a thirst for the Scriptures is one of the great blessings of these times....Yet it strikes me as self evident that those who desire a personal relationship with God ought at least make themselves familiar with this book....Holy Spirit, inspirer of the Scriptures, inspire us with a love of your word. Lead us to the passages which will be of most effacacy [sic] in our livesand to an ever greater knowledge of the Father and the Son. [emphasis added]33

Through the centuries, the saints have agreed that relating to God intimately in prayer enables God to relate intimately to us by sharing the divine wisdom with us....As we commune with God, He communes with us. But the opposite is also true: if we open our hearts to His holy Word, an exhilarating prayerful experience of faith, hope, and love will burst forth in our souls....As one becomes more and more aware that "the letter kills but the Spirit gives life" (II Cor. 3:6), eventually the Holy Spirit leads the devout soul to grasp the inner core of any given passage. Even if one doesn’t know the "exactly correct" interpretation of a passage, the devout reader should depend on the Spirit to provide insight as to the right application of it....Perhaps our problem is that we read God’s Word too much and experience it too little. There’s a great difference between memorizing passages and thinking biblically with the "thoughts of God" (I Cor. 2:11). There’s a difference between having the Scriptures lodged dry as dust in your head, and having them throbbing with soul-stirring inspiration in your heart. [emphasis added]34

Of course, Catholics know that the interpretation of Sacred Scripture belongs exclusively to the Church —which is truly led by the Holy Ghost —and not to the individual reader. The following excerpt from the proceedings of the Council of Trent explains this principle clearly, and the punishment promised to those sharing in this heretical belief and practice should give Charismatics pause, to say the least:

Furthermore, in order to curb impudent clever persons, the synod decrees that no one who relies on his own judgment in matters of faith and morals, which pertain to the building up of Christian doctrine, and that no one who distorts the Sacred Scripture according to his own opinions shall dare to interpret the said Sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which is held by Holy Mother Church, whose duty it is to judge regarding the true sense and interpretation of holy Scriptures, or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers, even though interpretations of this kind were never intended to be brought to light. Let those who shall oppose this be reported by their ordinaries and be punished with the penalties prescribed by law.35

This teaching was reaffirmed by the profession of Faith of the Council of Trent and by the Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith of the First Vatican Council.36

Undeniable Contradiction

Given these comparisons of Charismatic ideas and Catholic doctrine, it should be clear that, whatever the individual adherent’s dispositions toward the Church and the Faith might be, the CCR as a whole is not a Catholic movement at all but a deception of the Devil. The average Charismatic may well deny that he holds errors concerning grace, the Holy Ghost, the external missions of the Blessed Trinity, etc., but his deliberate renunciation of intellect and will renders his implicit errors explicit.

Charismatic thinking closely parallels errors from the earlier days of the Church and frankly admires the heresies of Protestantism. Charismatics’ evolutionary idea of the Church’s magisterium guarantees that they will defend themselves against all such allegations as have been raised here by scoffing at such "pre-Conciliar" thinking. Their nearly-Protestant disregard for Tradition will lead them to an entirely Biblically-based defense of their so-called charismata, which they received, of course, after scandalously submitting themselves to a non-Catholic quasi-sacramental rite performed by heretics.

The fact that the Churchmen have not condemned the CCR will go down in history as a blight on the 20th century’s record of similar proportions to the failure of Vatican II to condemn Communism. Indeed, one may legitimately wonder whether the "Spirit" the Charismatics claim adherence to is the same as the "spirit of Vatican II," i.e., the spirit of the world.

The Catholic response: apologetics

Since the Charismatics’ beliefs and practices are undeniably based in heresy, one may be allowed a legitimate doubt concerning the orthodoxy of those who profess affiliation to the movement. Of course, only God can judge souls, but one cannot, out of motives of so-called charity, call someone orthodox whose actions and words reek of heresy. To do so would be an injustice as well as a lie equal to that of those who maintain an attitude of religious indifferentism.

"By their fruits ye shall know them," said Our Lord to His Apostles (Mt. 7:20). From the poisonous fruits of the Charismatic movement, anyone can see its inherent incompatibility with Catholicism and the grave danger it poses to the Faith. The ignorance or complicity of high-ranking Churchmen notwithstanding, one must be truthful about the movement and the danger it represents to countless souls.

Obviously, unless there is a miraculous shift in the prevailing ecclesiastical winds, the duty of fighting the blight of the CCR must remain at the level of the orthodox clergy and laity. The apologetic offense must be three-fold:

• Catholics must study to know their Faith better, especially in the areas attacked by the Charismatics, and develop a strong, objective, liturgical piety based on this Faith —not on the experience of consolations.
• Catholics must politely refuse to accept any discussion of the so-called charismata present in today’s Church as orthodox. True argument can only be carried out based on shared principles, and deception or prevarication on this major point will not lead to genuine advances for the truth, as today’s Catholic-Protestant "dialogues" so plainly demonstrate.

• Catholics must know and be able to present, in simple terms, the true teachings of the Church on the sacraments, grace, the will, the nature and mission of the Church, and the charismata. Those Charismatics who consider themselves orthodox and really desire to know the truth will listen. As for those who refuse to listen, the words of St. Augustine seem most appropriate at this point:

Why does truth call forth hatred? Why is Your servant treated as an enemy by those to whom he preaches the truth, if happiness is loved, which is simply joy in the truth? Simply because truth is loved in such a way that those who love some other thing want it to be the truth and, precisely because they do not wish to be deceived, are unwilling to be convinced that they are deceived.55

Summary

The Catholic Charismatic Movement is a blighted tree bearing poisonous fruit, sown by the Devil among Protestants and transplanted into the Church after Vatican II. The delirium of contemporary Churchmen has watered it, and the lack of an adequate Catholic formation among priests and laity has cleared and tilled the fertile soil in which it has grown. More people eat of its deadly fruit yearly, and the vulnerable young, so eager for the profound knowledge of God and the sense of the supernatural denied them by the Conciliar Church, are especially at risk. A generation of children is growing up thinking of Charismatics as perfectly normal (or even superior) Catholics.

This fruit is truly a seed of destruction and one of the most perilous fruits offered to man since the first fruit offered to the first Eve by the same serpent. May the new Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom it has been given to crush the serpent’s head, intercede for the Church and free the world from the peril in which it now lies as a result of the Catholic Charismatic Movement!

5 As quoted in William Whalen, Minority Religions in America (Staten Island: Alba House, 1971), p.179.33 Andy O’Neill, The Power of Charismatic Healing: A Personal Account by Andy O’Neill. (Cork, Ireland, 1985): Mercier, extracted by Eoin Ó Riain as "The Charism of Scripture."
34 Hampsch, (Rev. Fr. John Hampsch, C.M.F., "Getting excited about the Bible,"SCRC Vision, (Los Angeles, 1993).)
35 As quoted in Denziger, op. cit., †786.
36 Ibid., †995 and 1788.
55 St. Augustine, Confessions, Book 10, Section 23.
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