Drunk Religion: The Toronto Blessing
July 16, 2009 by natalina
Filed under Extraordinary Videos, Spirituality, The Unexplained
This stuff just blows my mind. Have you ever heard of the Toronto Blessing?
In 1994, the Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship (now known as the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship) held a revival where a strange phenomena occurred. The pastor and the congregation began to act as though they were drunk, and it was considered a blessing and a miracle.
This type of charismatic evangelical experience became well known in fundamentalist circles, and reports of healings, transformations, and conversions have taken place during such incidents.
The Toronto Airport Church is now notorious for these types of religious manifestations, and has become the center of much debate and controversy. The question in many religious circles is, Why would God’s Blessing come in the form of literal intoxication? Is this mass hysteria? Is the Pastor a Con Man? These services end up like rowdy drunken parties…people laughing, shaking, slurring, screaming…it’s wild! And the pastor, John Scotland, is the craziest of the bunch!
The Toronto Airport is just one of many churches that preaches intoxication in the Lord.
It has to be seen to be believed, so I’ll simply let the videos do the talking.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWArnaPf2b8
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af82HUus3UA&feature=related
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSyj2pZisG0
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEuTvaZJlWI
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCeVZ6e2T0E
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRMZ8JJQ3cU
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMKP63umPuE
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHhZZ0tNvBw&feature=related
The church I used to go to did pretty similar things. Not quite so bad, but we had the uncontrollable laughing, the shrieking, the whooping, the inability to walk straight. They often mentioned the Toronto Blessing as a good example of God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit and as something they would like to see happen in their church. So none of this seems that weird to me at all.
It’s quite normal and everyday compared to something else I saw today. My favourite actor is John Malkovich. My favourite female singer is Sarah Brightman. And on a post today, on some blogging network that I’m no longer commenting on, but that I took a quick peek at – don’t tell anybody
– I saw both of them mentioned. That person obviously has very good taste.
But to find someone else who likes both Sarah Brightman and John Malkovich is much, much stranger than the Toronto Blessing.
Amazing what a little Nitrous Oxide in the air-conditioning ducts can do. Mass morons more like it. I guess it beats going to the dentist for your fill of laughing gas
Hiya Liz! How fascinating that you’ve been a part of such a scene. I appreciate your perspective. Is this something that you participated with? How did you feel? Was it something you felt compelled to join, or did you feel like a force outside of yourself was affecting your actions? I’m really interested.
Now, as for the little mystery of John Malkovich and Sarah Brightman…that is an unsolved mystery! All I can say is that you and this “blogger” must have something in common…supreme awesomeness!
Cheryl, you know…I wondered about the idea of Nitrous Oxide as well. People in the congregation would have no idea that they were being manipulated. Interesting theory!
It was something I was never that comfortable with actually. It certainly wasn’t something that happened to me. I never even had the experience of being slain in the spirit, which is when they touch you or pray for you and you fall down. I got into one argument with my pastor because he asked us all to speak in tongues – on demand – and I didn’t. I probably really wasn’t suited for a pentecostal church.
But I did see lots of friends do these kind of things. And they were normal, sometimes pretty quiet, conservative people. Whether it was God or not, I don’t know. There is a kind of infectiousness about it all when it happens.
I think it could possibly the Holy Spirit. And it didn’t happen to me because I wasn’t open to it. But it could be just that, when people are told this is what should happen, the power of mental suggestion makes it happen. Especially if you’re told that this is what God wants for you and this is a sign of God’s blessing. And if it doesn’t happen, it’s because you’re not opening yourself up to God.
Liz, that’s so interesting. I can see why you’d be upset by being requested to take part in something that is supposed to be a divine manifestation, and I applaud you for not taking part as it made you uncomfortable.
It truly is a fascinating topic. I really thank you for the insight.
wow, i must say i’m impressed by the non-argumentative of these comments considering the normal ramifications of this topic being discussed in most circles. i myself have experienced Holy Spirit manifestations and the “intoxication” associated with that. in the book of acts, something is said in defense of believers who have just received the Holy Spirit: “it is only 10 in the morning, these are not drunk as you suppose.” im paraphrasing of course, but this is the reality of something above our reality colliding with the natural.
now this being said, there are definite obsessions with these things and unhealthy, wrong ways of looking at them within the Christian community. Jesus must be the only pursuit, not a manifestation. knowing God is number one, not experiencing a feeling.