Tongues of Fire
How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Inspires Spirit-Filled Activism
Seiten
2026
Bloomsbury Academic (Verlag)
979-8-8818-0498-5 (ISBN)
Bloomsbury Academic (Verlag)
979-8-8818-0498-5 (ISBN)
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Shows how speaking in tongues fuses spiritual ecstasy with political energy, reshaping faith, identity, and public life.
In Tongues of Fire, anthropologist Joshua Brahinsky embarks on an 18-year journey into the mind-body practices of charismatic evangelicals—Christians known for their exuberant worship and the enigmatic practice of speaking in tongues. With nearly half a billion followers worldwide, this movement has profoundly shaped both spiritual and political landscapes.
What compels believers to return to this practice, moving from despair to ecstasy? How does an act of surrender that fosters a powerful sense of divine presence simultaneously drive political engagement? Through immersive fieldwork—including attending revivals, missionary training schools, and church services—Brahinsky investigates the deep pull of tongues prayer through conducting extensive interviews, participating in worship, and even scanning practitioners’ brains in MRI machines, capturing the interplay of mind, body, and faith in real-time.
Tongues on Fire examines a high-energy practice that blends spiritual release with empowerment. Speaking in tongues generates a suggestive certainty—fueling not only personal transformation but also large-scale social activism. Charismatic leaders like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Paula White-Cain have harnessed this fervor to reshape U.S. politics, merging faith with ideological movements.
This interdisciplinary study—spanning anthropology, neuroscience, and religious studies—offers the most extensive exploration of tongues prayer to date. Tongues on Fire reveals how this practice cultivates both submission and power, creating a force that inspires hope while also driving some of the most polarizing political movements of our time. From revivalist gatherings to the depths of the MRI machine, this book uncovers the hidden mechanics of faith, transformation, and influence—illuminating the far-reaching impact of an ancient practice in today’s world.
In Tongues of Fire, anthropologist Joshua Brahinsky embarks on an 18-year journey into the mind-body practices of charismatic evangelicals—Christians known for their exuberant worship and the enigmatic practice of speaking in tongues. With nearly half a billion followers worldwide, this movement has profoundly shaped both spiritual and political landscapes.
What compels believers to return to this practice, moving from despair to ecstasy? How does an act of surrender that fosters a powerful sense of divine presence simultaneously drive political engagement? Through immersive fieldwork—including attending revivals, missionary training schools, and church services—Brahinsky investigates the deep pull of tongues prayer through conducting extensive interviews, participating in worship, and even scanning practitioners’ brains in MRI machines, capturing the interplay of mind, body, and faith in real-time.
Tongues on Fire examines a high-energy practice that blends spiritual release with empowerment. Speaking in tongues generates a suggestive certainty—fueling not only personal transformation but also large-scale social activism. Charismatic leaders like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Paula White-Cain have harnessed this fervor to reshape U.S. politics, merging faith with ideological movements.
This interdisciplinary study—spanning anthropology, neuroscience, and religious studies—offers the most extensive exploration of tongues prayer to date. Tongues on Fire reveals how this practice cultivates both submission and power, creating a force that inspires hope while also driving some of the most polarizing political movements of our time. From revivalist gatherings to the depths of the MRI machine, this book uncovers the hidden mechanics of faith, transformation, and influence—illuminating the far-reaching impact of an ancient practice in today’s world.
Josh Brahinsky is a researcher at Stanford University in Religious Studies, McGill University in Transcultural Psychiatry, and a Teaching Faculty at UC Santa Cruz. He links anthropological, psychological and neuroscientific methods to explore the ways people self-induce powerful changes in our brains, minds and behavior. He studies prayer and meditation, with the last 20 years focused especially on the worship practices of charismatic evangelicals.
Prologue
1. Letting Go
2. Training
3. Attention Arousal Release
4. Feel and Say
5. MRI
6. Loosen the Mind
7. Certainty
8. Agency
9. Activism
Bibliographic Essays
Bibliography
Notes from chapters
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 14.5.2026 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | London |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie | |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-8818-0498-5 / 9798881804985 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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