ABSTRACT
Pentecostals likewise stress experiential knowledge of the divine, conceptualize their faith as a “relationship” with Jesus and profess discernible communion with God. This chapter examines the experiences that Pentecostals interpret as messages from God and examine the process by which they give meaning to these experiences. The retroactive interpretation was documented in the interviews: Samantha Barbaro and Tammy had used terminology they were taught, at Fellowship to retroactively interpret earlier experiences at a Baptist and Catholic church, respectively, as spiritual. Emotional experiences were most frequently interpreted using three phrases available as packages within the stock of knowledge at Fellowship, namely, “God speaking,” “sensing God’s presence,” and “the anointing of the Holy Spirit.” None of the participants were willing to categorically exclude the spiritual interpretations of goosebumps, and each agreed that God could manifest himself through such sensations for others if not themselves.
