A Ramble About Charismata

I was recently re-reading the introduction to the writings of St. Peter of Damascus in the Philokalia when something stuck out to me and lodged itself in my mind. Writing around 1000AD, he said this:

“Nevertheless the Lord, being beyond perfection and being wisdom itself, strikes at the root; for He urges those who would follow Him through the imitation of supreme virtue to renounce not only material goods or possessions, but even their own soul, that is to say, their own thoughts and will. Because they knew this, the fathers fled from the world as a hindrance to perfection; and not only from the world but also from their own will for the same reason. No one of them ever did what he himself wanted. Some lived in bodily obedience, so that in the place of Christ they would have a spiritual father guiding their every thought. Others, … lived in the desert and had God Himself as their teacher,... Others pursued the 'royal way', leading a life of silence with one or two companions: these had one another as counselors in doing God's will. … Nowadays, however, whether we are under obedience or in authority, we are not willing to abandon our own will, and so none of us makes any progress.” (St. Peter of Damascus, “A Treasury of Divine Knowledge.” The Philokalia, vol iii. Palmer, G.E.H, Philip Sherrand, and Kallistos Ware, editors and translators. London: Faber and Faber, 1984. Pgs. 87-88. Emphasis mine)

This brings to mind something Origen said as he wrote around 248AD. He says:

“Traces of those signs and wonders are still preserved among those who regulate their lives by the teachings of the Gospel.” And he also says, “There are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit that appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, perform many cures, and foresee certain events.”

Less than a hundred years prior, St. Irenaeus, writing around 180AD says this:

“Those who are truly His disciples, receiving grace from Him,... perform works in His name, in order to promote the welfare of others, according to the gift that each one has received from Him. Some truly and certainly cast out devils. … Others have certain foreknowledge of things to come. … Still others heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and the sick are made whole. What is more, as I have said, even the dead have been raised up and remained among us for many years. … The name of our Lord Jesus Christ even now confers benefits. It cures thoroughly and effectively all who anywhere believe on Him.”

There are things to be learned from the writings of the Church fathers, as well as the epistles of St. Paul in the Scriptures, as they progress over the centuries, especially where the charismata, or “spiritual gifts” are concerned. In the Scriptures, we find the charismata active and thriving and being written about as though common, undeniable occurences. We see this state of affairs unchanged for nearly two centuries. But as time carries on, the writers talk about “traces” of the charismata still being seen performed by those “who regulate their lives by the teachings of the Gospel,” as though it is no longer as regular an occurrence as it had been. But the farther on you go, you only get snippets of word about the charismata; this particular Bishop, that particular Saint. The miracles associated with St. Patrick of Ireland (c. 400AD), or St. Nicholas of Myra (c. 300AD), for example. And it becomes something attributed to mere myths and legends because the people aren't seeing them in their own lives or with anyone they know.

Today, most churches act as if they no longer truly exist. Many teach this openly. There are some churches that claim to have them, but when you hold up observations of these “modern charismata” to the biblical and historical descriptions most of the time either they simply don't match, or they are proven to be outright charletanism. Many churches now try and discover what your “spiritual gift” is by a personality test. “Do you have the gift of administration or teaching? Let's find out.” And the mistake here is the inability to make the distinction between the charismata and natural gifts of personality.

The charismata are displays of power which are themselves powered by the uncreated energies of God Himself. According to the writings of the Church, including Scripture, you didn't have to guess what your gift was, and you certainly didn't take a written test to discover it. When these displays of power happened, they were obvious and inexplicable other than God to everyone within view.

So why don't we see them as widespread as they were in the first few centuries? Why do they seem to have been relegated to particular Saints and no one else? St. Peter of Damascus in his talking about the fervor of the fathers to abandon everything to follow Christ answers this question for us when he says, “Nowadays, however, whether we are under obedience or in authority, we are not willing to abandon our own will, and so none of us makes any progress.”

There is a reason why the charismata become so rare over the progress of centuries. It is because there come to be so few people who abandon everything to follow Christ. In the first few centuries of the Church, they knew and understood what the Gospel was. The Christians then knew and understood what Jesus taught and they regulated their lives by it, drawing closer and closer to God through Jesus Christ, and moving farther and farther from the devil, the world, and from their own fleshly desires and the charismata were energized and activated in a powerful way. They knew and understood that there was no middle ground. You were either moving towards God or away from Him, but you couldn't stand still. And they chose to move towards Him regardless of what it cost them in this world.

The charismata aren't dead in this world. They're dormant within Christians who refuse to abandon their own wills. They lie disused, like a power tool that's never been plugged in, within people who profess Christ with their lips but refuse to obey Him because of what it will cost them in this world. They sit within a people that are told by their shepherds that they no longer exist and all they have to do to be saved is to believe. And all the while they are missing the fundamental truth that true and genuine belief requires that you act on that belief. If you believe in Jesus Christ, did you not hear Him when He said to let go of everything and follow Him? Did you not hear Him when He said to crucify your own wills and desires so that He could live through you? Did you not hear Him when He commanded to love and expect nothing in return? Did you not hear Him when He said “forgive and you will be forgiven”? It is true that to be saved you must believe in Jesus Christ. Understand what that word “believe” means.

When you draw closer to Him, letting go of all the things that hold you away from Him, then Grace flows through you like power to electrical circuits. It becomes the energy of your salvation, and it powers the charismata otherwise lying dormant. The closer you draw to Him, the more His Grace flows through you. The more His Grace flows through you, the closer you are able to draw to Him.

The ancient Saints understood this principle, and they understood where it must begin. It must begin with the renunciation of everything to which you are attached which keeps you from drawing closer to Him. It must also begin with the choice to care about others regardless of yourself. Love is the opposite of self, and where love exists, self cannot be. The opposite is also true. Where Self is, love isn't. This is how you know what is of your self, and what is of God, because God is love. Renouncing all those things which held you back, and reaching forward in love towards God through Jesus Christ Grace will begin to flow.

It is our refusal to give up our own wills, our own desires and attachments, our own grievances and injuries which prevent us from making any progress along the Path, progress which is clearly marked by the appearance of the charismata in some way. And it is fear which is most often the cause of this refusal. St. John says that perfect love casts out all fear.

The charismata aren't gone. The “mechanism” which transforms sinners into Saints is still active and powerful, it only needs to be utilized. The only things which separates us from them are our choices here and now.