| The Shaker Precedent | Today's Extremist Counterpart | The New Testament Example |
| "In the best part of their worship every one acts for himself. . .one will stand with his arms extended, acting over odd postures, which they call signs, another will be dancing, and some times hopping. . .another will be prostrate on the floor. . .nor was their public prayer or preaching." Page 28 The People Called Shakers | In both Toronto & Pensacola services end with people doing their own "thing" i.e. dancing, being slain in the spirit, laughing, etc. . .Also the primacy of preaching God's Word has been severely reduced and in many cases done away with altogether. | God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). Acts 13:44 the people came together to hear the Word of the Lord, not to dance, hop, or be slain in the spirit. |
| ". . .the power will take their hand, stretch it up, pull the other down, they interpret it - the hand up, is a sign of mercy, the hand down of judgment:" Ibid. pg. 30 | These seemingly new manifestations have also begun to be subjectively interpreted to mean various "Biblical" signs. Barking - one is a watchdog of the sheep, roaring - one is bold as the Lion of Judah - groaning - one is an intercessor, etc. | No Biblical examples |
| "A Concise Statement Of the Principles of the Only True Church according to The Gospel of the Present Appearance of Christ, Oct. 9th, 1785. Ibid. pg. 65 | Great emphasis on being "Present Day Truth" Christians. | 2 Peter 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. (Peter was referring to the doctrine of the Apostles, he did not mean truth changes over the generations) |
| At Cane Ridge, near Paris, Elder Stone welcomed them (the Shakers) warmly and invited them to attend his next camp meeting." Ibid. pg. 74 | Like to trace their manifestations back to early revivals including Cane Ridge. The Shakers may have influenced the Cane Ridge meetings with their spurious manifestations. | |
| "The revivalists had been foretelling the second coming of Christ; but He had already come to lead the Believers (Shakers), 'step by step in a spiritual travel, and separating farther and farther from the course of a corrupt and fallen nature,' until they should arrive at 'the perfect stature and measure of the sons of God.' Ibid. pg. 76 | The New Order of the
Latter Rain and their descendants (Prophetic, Apostolic,
and Signs & Wonders movements) have all set aside the
belief in the rapture. Latter Rain teaching stressed a coming of "Joel's Army" or "Manchild Company" who would become the Manifest Sons of God. (The Shakers had that heresy first) |
Romans
8:19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God. This time will come when we have been glorified. The new heaven and new earth come at the end of the age and is not accomplished before the return of Christ Jesus.
|
| "Divine revelations were known as "gifts of God." Ibid. pg 142 | Revelation knowledge concept is held. New insights, prophecies, and prophets seen as "gifts of God." | The canon of Scripture is closed. Prophecy has ceased (1 Cor. 13:8)as have the prophets & apostles. |
| The Shakers used analogies and an analogous method of Bible interpretation. Ibid. pg. 98 | "Kingdom" teachers, Paulk, Joyner, Monroe, etc. all use farfetched analogies to attempt to prove their doctrines. | The Bible is not interpreted analogously. It is properly interpreted by using the historical, grammatical method. A Scripture text can never mean what it never meant. |
| "Quaffing spiritual wine from 'bottles' fetched by instruments, they felt quite merry, and one medium struck up what was known as the 'fool-song,' during the singing of which, 'fool' was gathered, thrown, and caught, and all acted foolishly,' the Shaker scribe wrote of this incident, 'so that old stiff self conceit was pretty well worked up. . ." Ibid. pg. 165 | Today it is very common
to observe believers 'drunk in the spirit.' The
following song (sung to the tune of when the roll is
called up yonder) is written by Richard Riss's wife:
"Now I laugh like an idiot and bark like a dog, If I don't sober up, I'll likely hop like a frog! And I'll crow like a rooster 'till the break of day, 'cause the Holy Ghost is moving, and I can't stay away. . ." |
No Biblical precedent for what is being manifested as 'drunk in the spirit.' |
| "It was rumored that each Believer thought himself a Christ, that the Shakers consequently saw no need for Bibles, that they boasted they would never die." Ibid. pg. 90 | WOF teaches we are
"little gods" and "little Christ's, little
anointed ones." Latter Rain/Manifest Sons doctrine preaches (to this day) victory over physical death before Christ's return. The Word of God is being downplayed in many services. |
Nowhere does the Bible teach we are little gods or little Christ's. No believer ever took that name upon themselves or referred to themselves as little Christ's in the New Testament. It is appointed unto to man once to die. |
| "Perhaps the entrance of Indian spirits, and later those of Eskimos, Negroes, Chinese, Abyssinians, Hottentots et cetera, into the bodies of the instruments reflected an eagerness, on the part of the believers, to share their light with those primitive peoples. . ." Ibid. pg. 169 | C. Peter Wagner and other prophetic ministries are 'redeeming' pagan cultural practices, dances, songs. Wagner has stated other pagan contact with the spirit world is valid! | 2 Cor. 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. |
The Shakers manifested:
 | •Holy Laughter |
| •Being Drunk in the spirit |
| •Being Slain in the spirit |
| •New revelations |
| •Prophetic utterances |
| •Physical immortality |
| •A type of present day truth |
| •Jerking, spasms, hopping, rolling on the ground |
| •Dancing in the spirit |
| •Getting songs while in trances |
| •Cultural redemption |
| •Belief they were becoming the manifest sons of God |
| •Belief in their establishing the Kingdom of God |
| •Low Biblical emphasis |
| •High experiential and emotional emphasis |
| •Equality of women in the ministry |
All of these aspects I have cited find their EXACT counterpart in today's Signs & Wonders Movement. Towards the back of the July Charisma there is a large advertisement from a church in the thralls of revival and they boldly state their downplay of preaching!
Today Howard-Rodney Browne, Toronto, and Brownsville Assembly of God all cite past revivals and their manifestations to justify what they are experiencing in their midst today. However, history proves other things as well. To being with, Jonathan Edwards was a cessationist and did not endorse the manifestations as a true sign of God's blessing. It is also a fact that the Cane Ridge revival was visited by the Shakers. It is my belief after researching the Shakers that they probably influenced those meetings with the manifestations. Also, another logical consideration regarding the past revivals is overlooked, that being the distinct probability that the past manifestations were as spurious as those today.
The Signs & Wonders movement has no contextual Biblical support of their crop of manifestations, so they attempt to appeal to past revival history. But the past manifestations lack as much Biblical support as do the current ones, so why should those of 100+ years ago be readily accepted as being of God?
What cannot be denied is this fact: There is an EXACT correlation between the Serpent Power of the Awakening Kundalini and the occultic manifestations of the Shakers. This we can prove by comparing apples-to-apples. To this fact the Signs & Wonders movement is silent.
Copyright © 1997 Rev. Robert S. Liichow
