* Reader discretion advised: The following books have been selected because of positive insights they contain. Some of them, however, contain various material that certain readers may find offensive. Some are by traditional Catholics whose perspective on certain issues may offend mainstream Catholics. Others are by Protestants whose erroneous characterizations of Catholic practices may offend many Catholics, and whose ‘Cessationist’ belief that miraculous gifts ceased after the apostolic age will be found objectionable by most. The inclusion of perspectives of these authors on the charismatic movement should not be construed as support for all their views on other matters. Still other books are by non-academic authors whose focus on personal experiences and speculations may be off-putting to certain readers, just as others are by academic writers whose detached, clinical approaches may be off-putting to other readers. Yet all contain insights worthy of thoughtful consideration. Please read with due discretion.

	Close Ups of the Charismatic Movement by John Vennari, former editor of Catholic Family News (Los Angeles: Tradition in Action, 2002). The Charismatic Movement is being presented as a “new Springtime” that brings conversions and priestly vocations to the Catholic Church. Many Catholics are taking part in Charismatic meetings. However, we need to ask: Is this movement really Catholic? Or is it something strange infiltrating into the Holy Church?  John Vennari gives us an answer to these questions.He attended several important Charismatic encounters, and now offers reports to the public of what he witnessed. They are vibrantly written close-ups of what he saw. In a jovial, intelligent, and appealing style, the book is at the same time a very serious document.
	Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion by Msrg. Ronald A. Knox, Oxford convert, priest, and theologian (Oxford University Press, 1950; University of Notre Dame Press, 1994). Enthusiasm (1950) is the product of thirty years of research and inspiration. Knox presents the personalities and religious philosophies of various enthusiasts of the 17th and 18th centuries: monatists, donatists, anabaptists, Quakers, Jansenists, quietists, methodists, and other movements.  He cites examples of speaking in “tongues” among Huguenot “French prophets” (Camisards), Jansenist convulsionaries (one of whom barked like a dog for two hours daily), Irvingites, Ann Lee and the Shakers, and Mormons, warning of symptoms of diabolical possession. *** Key Source ***
	The Catholic Cult of the Paraclete by Joseph Henry Fichter (London: Sheed & Ward, 1975). “Fichter quite properly observes that the development of a vigorous pentecostal movement inside Catholicism has caught sociologists of religion by surprise—although Ann Parsons pointed out long ago that transitional circumstances create the matrix in which pentecostalism can emerge. But in an era of ‘modernization,’ the appearance of a highly emotional, authoritarian, conservative, and sexist group within Catholicism—without any official support or approval [this was written before the Vatican’s later cautious support]—is still an astonishing phenomenon. Fichter’s research will bring little comfort to those Catholics who see the movement as a benign phenomenon.” –Andrew M. Greeley, National Opinion Research Center.
	Charismatic Chaos by Dr. John MacArthur, Calvinist pastor and theologian [1993 edition of the 1960 classic]. The charismatic movement of the past quarter-century has made an impact on the church unparalleled in history. But one legacy of the movement is confusion and mushy thinking. In Charismatic Chaos, John F. MacArthur calls for biblical evaluation and analyzes the doctrinal differences between charismatics and non-charismatics in the light of Scripture… To tough questions that seem to divide, Charismatic Chaos provides tougher answers that strive to unite. This book tackles such questions as – Is experience a valid test of truth? – Does God still give revelation? – Prophets, fanatics, or heretics? – Does God still heal? – What should we think of the Signs and Wonders movement? – Does the Bible promise health and wealth? (A series of parallel video presentations may be found here: part 1 of 7.)
	Strange Fire: the Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship by Dr. John F. MacAurthur, Calvinist pastor and theologian (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2013) MacArthor’s central thesis is that charismatics, in the name of the Holy Spirit, ironically succumb to the danger of offending the Holy Spirit with counterfeit worship. Here he is concerned primarily with various Protestant charismatic groups like Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation, which misrepresent the Holy Spirit, exchange true worship for mindless ecstasy, vain illusions of health and wealth, and claim to prophesy in God’s name yet speak errors, selling false hope to desperate people. He concludes with an ‘Open Letter’ to his charismatic friends in which he warns them against the dangers of ‘strange fire.’
	Miraculous Healings: Why Does God Heal Some And Not Others? Henry Frost (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1939; rpt., Christian Heritage, 2008). This classic, described by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones as the best he had ever read on the subject, was first published in 1931 based on the life-long ministry of the author in the China Inland Mission. The strength of the book lies in its balance, which reflects the transparent humility and piety of the author. Frost begins and ends with cases of sickness and healing with his own family, but he also scrutinizes the claim that the wholeness of salvation includes physical as well as spiritual healing for all, showing where its advocates appear to err in their interpretation of Scripture.
	An Evaluation of the Claims of the Charismatic Gifts by Douglas Judisch (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978; rpr. Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN) Professor Judisch (Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana) assesses the charismatic gifts that are being claimed today by many Christians in mainline denominations, as well as traditional Pentecostal groups, carefully analyzing biblical texts. ‘Tongues,’ he says, are often a sign of judgment and punishment in Scripture. Nobody before our own era thought ‘tongues’ meant anything but earthly languages; and the Reformers considered them nothing more than the normal practice of retaining foreign language (Hebrew) in liturgy.
	The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing by Thomas J. Csordas (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997). How does religious healing work, if indeed it does? In this study of the contemporary North American movement known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Thomas Csordas investigates the healing practices of a modern religious movement to provide a rich cultural analysis of the healing experience, the mind-body relationship, ritual, demonic possession, religious experience, the rhetoric and semiotics of religious language, psychiatry, and mental and physical illness.
	Language, Charisma, and Creativity: The ritual Life of a Religious Movement by Thomas J. Csordas (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997; 2002 edition). Csordas has observed and studied charismatic groups throughout the United States. He begins with an introduction to the Charismatic Renewal and a history of its development during the roughly thirty years of its existence. He describes the movement’s internal diversity as well as its international extent, emphasizing charismatic identity and the transformation of space and time in charismatic daily life. This story, unlike an ethnography of a little-known tribal society, is about people who are quite like everybody else but at the same time inhabit a substantially different phenomenological world.
	Body/Meaning/Healing (Contemporary Anthropology of Religion) by Thomas J. Csordas (Balgrave Macmillan, 2002). Exactly where is the common ground between religion and medicine in phenomena described as “religious healing”? In what sense is the body a cultural phenomenon and not merely a biological entity? Drawing on over twenty years of research ranging from Navajo and Catholic charismatic ritual healing to the cultural and religious implications of virtual reality in biomedical technology, Body/Meaning/Healing sensitively examines these questions about human experience and the meaning of being human. In recognizing the way that the meaningfulness of existence as bodily beings is sometimes created in the encounter between suffering and the sacred, these … studies elaborate an experiential understanding of the therapeutic process ….
	Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion by Marc Galanter (Oxford University Press, 1999). “Anyone wishing to understand the psychodynamics of [charismatic groups] should pick up Cults….[Galanter] has been a student of cult-like activity for the better part of two decades; this book represents a thoughtful and provocative summation of what he has learned.” –Mark Silk, The New York Times Book Review. Marc Balanter is Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, many books on cults and addiction, and editor of the American Psychiatric Association’s official report on cults and new religious movements.
	Sociology of Exorcism in Late Modernity by Giuseppe Giordan and Adam Possamai (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) This book provides a sociological understanding of exorcism and its re-emergence today, arguing that exorcism has become a religious commodity that can strengthen a religion’s attraction to adherents. It shows how religious groups now compete for authority over the supernatural by ‘branding’ their particular type of exorcism ritual in order to validate the strength of their own belief system. Despite similarities (and influences on Catholic Charismatic groups), Roman Catholic priests working as exorcists tend to emphasize the difference between rituals of blessing and liberation and Pentecostal rituals of deliverance; they are also critical of aspects they see as closer to theatrical performances.
	The Tongues of Satan by The Publican (Richard Salbato) (JMJ Publications, 1983) – The Catholic author, a former charismatic who experienced “speaking in tongues,” outlines the chilling thesis that Satan is using the charismatic movement, and even some of its genuinely positive effects, to thwart God’s redemptive plan and mislead Christians. Kevin J. Symonds’s recollection of “Richard Salbato,” the author, sheds light on his knowledge, credibility, and concern for truth, despite his “gruff personality” and “off-putting” style. This is not a scholarly book, but an engaging personal testament with provocative spiritual insights and wrenching questions, especially in Part 2 of the book.
	Counterfeit Miracles by Benjamin B. Warfield – prominent Presbyterian professor at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1886 to 1902 (New York, C. Scribner’s, 1918; Grand Rapids, MI: Banner of Truth, 1972) Cessationist classic with chapters on the “Cessation of the Charismata,” “Patristic & Medieval Marvels,” “Catholic Miracles,” “Irvingite Gifts,” “Faith-Healing,” and the “Mind-Cure.” Catholics will rightly reject Warfield’s cessationism and overly skeptical account of post-apostolic miracles, but his treatment of Edward Irving (1792–1834) & Irvingite non-linguistic ‘tongues’ and ‘faith-healings’ is a welcome caution against gullibility in the face of seductive (and potentially diabolical) supernatural claims abroad in contemporary movements.