Book Notes: 'Toronto' in Perpective, David Holborn (ed)

I've just finished reading this collection of essays and short history of the so-called "Toronto" phenomena, the wave of extreme religious experience that swept through UK churches in the mid-1990s. The movement was controversial at the time, and it remains deeply so today. This book contains essays from a variety of perspectives, from those who unashamedly contest that this was a great blessing from God, to those who believe that it was a purely human experience, to those who would suggest that a more malign spiritual power underlay the events.

I remember the events of this era well. I was a student, and many of my Christian friends were reporting strange phenomena occurring at their church meetings, most noticeably waves of laughter and people descending into 'altered states of consciousness' during which profound spiritual impressions are made upon them. It didn't happen at my church. The book is more significant than this though because it emerges as case-study for theological method, assessing the principles by which the church must weigh and critique everything she does.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book, (published under the auspices of the theological study department of the evangelical alliance) was the way that church history was used by both proponents and detractors of the movement to bolster their case (because it was clear that there was no clear biblical precedent to justify some of the more extreme practices). Jonathan Edwards' works were especially rummaged through for fragments of evidence in this regard.

Physical and psychological manifestations of spiritual occurrences are nothing new. Church history is full of countless instances where people being profoundly changed (either converted or renewed) have exhibited unusual behaviour. Historically though these have always thought to have been extraneous to the genuine work of the Holy Spirit in the soul, and even classic revivalists like Wesley and Whitefield sought to stop them in meetings as mere distractions from the message. The Toronto movement however seemed to make such unusual manifestations the centre of the experience, not seeking to control but to facilitate them. This is disturbing.

Outright dismissal of the whole movement seems to create other problems though. Things are never that simple. For instance there were many proponents of the 'blessing' who were also troubled by the way in which it was being handled, people who were seeking to be both spiritually open and critically aware, against the minority for whom 'don't question, just receive' seemed to be the modus operandi. There were many who sought constant refinement of some of the practices involved in a conscious effort to hold onto the benefits of the spiritual experiences people were having, without some of the distortions which had come with it. It was this tension that caused a rift between the different streams within the movement itself.

As in response to enlightenment rationalism Christians sometimes tried to develop an overly 'systematic' faith in a way which took the faith into the thought forms of its time; so the term "messy spirituality" has come to fore in these post-modern times. The question is the degree to which the message of Christ can be 'incarnated' within a culture or should stand in contrast to it.

Ten years later, it the legacy of the movement is mixed. Many people report that it was a time in which their lives were immeasurably enriched, many people came to faith, and look back with thanks to this movement. Others remain implacably opposed to what they see as the excesses of the movement and it's failure to reflect theologically and curb its extremes. Still others look back with disappointment at something which they thought would profoundly change the church and the country but which has done neither.

This mish-mash of genuine spirituality, psychology, some manipulation and possibly even the demonic, certainly qualifies as "messy spirituality". The problem is that it's ultimately just too messy. The problem for the non-Charismatic/Pentecostal churches remains that the presence of God traditionally encountered in word and sacrament seems invisible to our contemporaries. The problem for our Charismatic/Pentecostal friends is that the demonstrations of His presence which they profess are sometimes so divorced from the Bible and theological reflection that they can be content-less and vacuous, like the experience the Daily Telegraph reporter had at Toronto during which he felt the presence of an irresistible force and had a profound experience - but didn't connect this experience with the message of Jesus. The fissure between this and the likes of Jonathan Edwards could not be more apparent.