The word Charismatic comes from the Greek word charisma, which is usually translated in the KJV as "gift." Paul uses charisma in I
Corinthians 12 to designate the supernatural gifts made available to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit. The term Charismatic, when applied to
religious groups, teachers, or customs usually implies that the participants believe that the spiritual gifts described in the New Testament are all available to Christians in modern times.
And each Christian should expect to experience one or more on a regular basis This would include the more supernatural gifts, such as healing and
speaking in
tongues.
Since the word charismatic is used in secular settings to indicate a non-spiritual quality of strong personal appeal and powers of persuasion (such as a
"charismatic politician"), this
Field Guide uses the capitalized form Charismatic exclusively when referring to the religious connotation of the word. See:
Pentecostal definition.
