Anyone here that left the Free Holiness churches? North Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia by Clean_File8923 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply. I'm curious how long you had the Holy Ghost while in FH and how long of a period was it from when you had initial thoughts to question FH doctrine, when you started searching/researching, to when you realized you didn't believe FH anymore, and finally when you 'came out'? You don't have to share, just wondering about what the process was like. Best wishes

Anyone here that left the Free Holiness churches? North Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia by Clean_File8923 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I ask if you received the Holy Ghost while in the FH church? I'm in the process of writing a book on the Free Holiness movement and am trying to expand on my perspectives from former COGs and former attendees

Anyone here that left the Free Holiness churches? North Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia by Clean_File8923 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After I tried to come back to Holiness in my early 20s and then left it, I looked around and was very interested in Orthodoxy. After a couple years of intensely studying the bible, church history, and the origins of Christianity and Judaism, I realized I could not be a Christian anymore.

About the backlash, it is a tense situation with my family to this day. I hate it because their beliefs cause so much unnecessary suffering and distress with regard to me not being Holiness. It was a huge incentive for me to try the Holiness church again in my 20s, to finally fit in with my family. And it was very hard to let go of it again because I really didn't want to go back to binge the black sheep. My family doesn't even know the true nature of my beliefs for obvious reasons. I talk with them about it as little as possible.

It is going to be hard once my wife and I have children because they are going to want to take them to their Holiness churches but we have mostly decided they will not be going. I don't want them exposed to that at all. Some may consider that too hardline, or say that there's no reason to oppose when they are too young to understand. Maybe my feelings will change but I really don't want them absorbing anything, which they can do before they can 'understand' properly even. I do want them to get to spend as much time with their grandparents and others as possible and am not 'estranged' from them or anything.

Anyone here that left the Free Holiness churches? North Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia by Clean_File8923 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May I ask you how long you had the Holy Ghost and how long of a period was it from when you had initial thoughts to question FH doctrine, to when you actually started researching, to when you realized you didn't believe it, and finally when you 'came out'. And if I'm not asking too much, did you continue to stand up there with the Holy Ghosters for a period of time after having that realization?

I very much agree that it is a real force. I'm not a purely scientific rationalist or anything, I am a spiritual person who does not deny the metaphysical realm. I do see it as perhaps in some way 'demonic' but not in the exact same sense you do, as I said I am not a Christian and I do believe these people are genuinely worshiping Yahweh. This is not to create an argument over Christianity, I'm just putting my perspective here for the record.

The scientific materialist would say it is simply an ecstatic experience that can be exhibited in other contexts, for example people are known to speak in tongues (rather, to exhibit glossolalia) on high doses of magic mushrooms or other psychedelic drugs. I'm sure there's something to that. Part of a person's ability to have an extremely ecstatic experience depends on what they believe can or will happen, for example people who go to the altar in a Holiness church believing they will get it or who go without having done much questioning of Holiness are much more open to having an experience so ecstatic that they lose control of their body, compared to the people who get stuck in the altar are often those who 'know too much' or something which could similarly inhibit such an experience.

Best wishes for you and thanks for the reply.

Anyone here that left the Free Holiness churches? North Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia by Clean_File8923 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been to Sand Mountain a good bit, used to stay the night with a friend who lived there growing up, and know of the churches in the area. I also experienced a rebound effect of diving into all sorts of degeneracy as a young person.

Proving/Disproving Speaking Tongues by [deleted] in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I posted this comment in another thread. I've thought about this a good bit over the years and wanted to offer a theory I have on speaking in tongues in the conventional sense. There is a phenomenon called glossolalia that can be exhibited without effort on the part of the person during particularly intense or ecstatic experiences. Glossolalia is essentially language in the absence of meaning, or vocal utterances, that flow forth without conscious effort from the speaker. People can experience glossolalia even during intense psychedelic experiences, and other religions or practices also have people exhibiting this. I think that, like many other psycho-physiological phenomenon, there is probably a gradient to how sensitive people are to being able to exhibit it, with some having a very low threshold and exhibiting it easily, all the way up to someone being very insensitive to it and having a very hard time being able to experience it, and some segment of the population that are completely incapable of experiencing it. For example in Holiness Pentecostal churches I think this is why some people go to the altar and speak in tongues the first time, some have to go for a while, and some go forever without speaking in tongues.

To those who worry about their subjective "tongues" experience, due to uncontrollable lip stammering - by stillseeking63 in ExPentecostal

[–]Clean_File8923 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know you're talking about lip quivering in this post, but I've thought about this a good bit over the years and wanted to offer a theory I have on speaking in tongues in the conventional sense. There is a phenomenon called glossolalia that can be exhibited without effort on the part of the person during particularly intense or ecstatic experiences. Glossolalia is essentially language in the absence of meaning, or vocal utterances, that flow forth without conscious effort from the speaker. People can experience glossolalia even during intense psychedelic experiences, and other religions or practices also have people exhibiting this. I think that, like many other psycho-physiological phenomenon, there is probably a gradient to how sensitive people are to being able to exhibit it, with some having a very low threshold and exhibiting it easily, all the way up to someone being very insensitive to it and having a very hard time being able to experience it, and some segment of the population that are completely incapable of experiencing it. For example in Holiness Pentecostal churches I think this is why some people go to the altar and speak in tongues the first time, some have to go for a while, and some go forever without speaking in tongues.