ABSTRACT
The way in which we come to use the word “charismatic” is itself instructive within a consideration of our topic. The term “charism” (from kharisma in Greek) refers simply to a gift or a favor bestowed; the word derives from kharis, the favor or grace which gives such a gift. Within the New Testament, of course, “grace” is a coordinated benefit: all kharismata (the plural of kharisma, “charism”) come from God.1 They are endowments of divine spirit. Once that equation was made in the cultures of the West, it was straightforward to think of the “charism” as a “spiritual gift.”
