CTSJ 2:1 (Spring/Summer 1996) p.

1
The Toronto Phenomenon
(Part 1 of 2)

Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ph.D. *
Chafer Theological Seminary
[*Editors note: Arnold Fruchtenbaum received a B.A. degree from
Cedarville College, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary,
and a Ph.D. from New York University. He is the founder and co-
director of Ariel Ministries, Tustin, CA, a ministry to Jewish
people around the world. Arnold is also an adjunct professor at
Chafer Theological Seminary. He holds Bible conferences in most
English speaking countries around the globe. Dr. Fruchtenbaums
bi-annual five week study of Israel is highly recommended and
accepted for credit at CTS.]
Preface
This article is the first of a two-part series on the so-called Toronto
Phenomenon. We offer this article because it is an excellent example of applying
the Sufficiency of Scripturea distinctive of CTS to a modern religious
movement.
Introduction
I have been asked, both verbally in public as well as in many letters, if I
believe that the Toronto Phenomenon is truly a work of God. Frankly, that so
many believers even need to ask this question shows how far the evangelical
world has moved from the Word of God. How easily this departure has led to
being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. It has been my observation
that over the last 10-15 years, more and more believers are becoming biblically
illiterate; such illiteracy leads to seeking new spiritual experiences, no matter
where they may come from, and to a lack of knowledge of Scripture to evaluate
these experiences biblically. The church has, indeed, entered a sad state and one
authors book, Christianity in Crisis, is very aptly named.
Is This a Charismatic
Vs. Non-Charismatic Issue?
I know that there are those who will read this editorial and, as a result, will cut
off any and all support they have been giving to Ariel Ministries or Chafer
Theological Seminary. In this sense, then, it is neither to my, Ariels, nor CTSs,
advantage for me to write this article, and it would be more profitable either to
stay neutral or to stay silent. But I would disobey my calling as a teacher of the
Word, and would betray my gift of teaching, if I kept silent in the face of such a
terrible deception and delusion being pro-
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pounded upon the Christian world today.
Before dealing with the issue, I think another point must be clarified. When I
receive criticism to my criticisms of the Toronto Phenomenon by its supporters,
one common notion is that the only reason I must be opposed to it is because I am
not Spirit-filled, or Pentecostal, or Charismatic. True, I am neither
Pentecostal or Charismatic in the way these terms have been defined, though I
believe I am Spirit-filled in the way the Bible defines the term. However, I refuse
to allow this to become a Charismatic/Pentecostal vs. non-Pentecostals/non-
Charismatic issue. The fact is that this has divided far more
Pentecostal/Charismatic churches than it has divided other kinds. I have in my
possession a large file of criticisms of the Toronto Phenomenon. About half of the
criticisms come from non-Charismatic/non-Pentecostal sources, but at least half if
not more come from Pentecostal/Charismatic sources.
In fact, two acquaintances of mine who are Charismatic, and have been within
the Charismatic movement for many years, have written to me stating that they
had attended a Toronto-style meeting at a Southern California church, and the
guest speaker was the pastor of the Toronto Vineyard. They pointed out that the
many things they saw in these meetings--things that are now declared to be
evidences of being Spirit-filled and divine supernatural acts from God--were in
previous times considered demonic. And those doing these things, such as
laughing uncontrollably or making animal sounds, would have been considered
demonized; in fact, these two acquaintances formerly cast demons out of such
people. What was once considered demonic has now become normative in certain
circles.
Again, all of this shows that we are not dealing with the Pentecostal-
Charismatic and/or non-Pentecostal/non-Charismatic issue. This is an issue which
has divided the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in and of itself. I want to make
it clear that this is not an issue of difference between Pentecostal/Charismatics
and non-Pentecostals/non-Charismatics, as the issue of tongues might be (even
though that, too, may be questionable). Here, we deal with an issue that has
divided the Pentecostal/Charismatic church itself more than any other group
outside that circle. So, I refuse to allow anyone to excuse this with a simple wave
of the hand and You are only saying it because you are not Charismatic. The
documented criticisms of the Toronto Phenomenon clearly falsify that kind of
elementary dismissal.
As further evidence, while I was writing this very paper, the Association of
Vineyard Fellowships, founded by John Wimber, expelled the Airport Vineyard
Fellowship of Toronto from its association for going over the edge in
encouraging people to bark like dogs, swoon to the floor and laugh
uncontrollably during services. So now this movement has even caused a split
within the Vineyard Movement itself. While it is good to see that even the
Vineyard Movement has a boundary they will not cross, their own criticisms of
the phenomenon are based on a weak foundation. The Vineyard Movement has
based their own teachings and doctrine largely on experience and not on the
written Word of God. The question, then, is: On what grounds can the Vineyard
Movement claim authenticity based on experience while the Toronto
Phenomenon cannot? The Vineyard Fellowship itself is on very weak ground in
their expulsion of the Toronto Vineyard. After all, this is only one groups
experiences as over against anothers.
I have recently received reports from Jewish believers I know in Israel. The
leader and founder of the Toronto Vineyard, who has been promoting this
phenomenon, was invited by a group in Israel to come and promote this new
phenomenon in Israel. He arrived on the same day as Yitzak Rabin was
assassinated. Rather than doing the right thing and canceling the meetings, the
promoters chose to continue as planned. That created a tragic contradictory scene.
The whole country was literally in shock and in mourning for their slain leader.
And here were a group of believers spending their time in uncontrollable laughter.
Even if I allowed my experience to be a criteria for determining truth, this, alone,
would have finalized in my mind the tragic error and ungodly origins of this
phenomenon. It made some of my friends sick to have observed this. In my case,
it made me sick only to hear about it. This should show how far away from the
will of the Lord this whole experience is. But, again, the final criteria must be the
Word of God.
The proper way of determining truth is to go to the Word of God first and not
rely on other peoples experiences. Furthermore, the Bible must be our final and
only authority on all matters of both faith (what we believe) and practice (actions
and experiences, etc.). Unfortunately, what has happened in recent years is that a
new experience or phenomenon breaks out in some part of the church, and then
people simply try to find verses to justify the activity rather than being willing to
admit that the experience--no matter how wonderful or supernatural it felt--was
simply not of God. A good example of this tactic is seen in some of the events
surrounding the Toronto Phenomenon.
The Characteristics
of the Toronto Phenomenon
Uncontrollable laughter
What are some of the characteristics of this Toronto Phenomenon? It includes
uncontrollable laughter, referred to by its adherents as holy laughter, which is
often accompanied by falling backwards toward the ground. I have not seen
where the laughter is, itself, defended by Scripture, but the falling back is often
defended on the basis that when Jesus said, I am, those who came to arrest him
fell backward. They also make references to people like Daniel who, when faced
with the presence of something supernatural, would fall to the ground. However,
that is not quite in keeping with what is happening with the Toronto Phenomenon.
For example,
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in terms of people who were truly in Gods presence and were so overawed that
they fell to the ground, they always fell forward and not backward. As for the
Roman soldiers, that was not a blessing, but a judgment, and these were not
believers, but unbelievers; barely a few hours later, these soldiers who fell
backward were nailing Jesus to the cross. Clearly, they were not being blessed by
any slaying of the spirit phenomenon.
Animal noises
Another characteristic of the Toronto Phenomenon is people making animal
noises and acting like animals. The two most common such behaviors, so far,
have been barking like a dog and roaring like a lion. In one case, it has been
reported that someone was swimming in the spirit as he was lying on his belly
and making like a fish. What scriptural justification do people make for this?
Some pull verses out of context that speak of God roaring like a lion. There
are two problems with using verses of this nature: First of all, the Scriptures never
say that God will make His own people roar like lions and act like animals;
second, in those passages that view God as roaring like a lion, it is always in
preparation for judgment, and not blessing. The roaring is against unbelievers. It
is never said that He causes believers to roar like lions, or bark like dogs (I am
beginning to wonder if someday in a mixed congregation of Jewish and Gentile
believers, the Jews will be mooing like cows and the Gentiles will be oinking
like pigs?). Another passage I have seen defenders use to try to justify the animal
actions is Daniel four, where God made Nebuchadnezzar act like an ox. Here,
again, this was not a blessing for Nebuchadnezzar, but a judgment on an
unbeliever who saw himself as a god.
In other words, if you judge by way of Scripture, people acting like animals is
not a sign of any divine blessing from God; on the contrary, if God is involved at
all in such an event, it is a sign of judgment. The fact is that God is not involved
at all. Satan is probably involved to a great measure (he, too, is symbolized by a
lion in 1 Peter 5:89) and, for most people on the lay level who are involved, they
have become self-deceived and deceived by false teachers and have become
victims of mass hysteria and mesmerism.
Balaams donkey
The most relevant passage to all this is found in Numbers 22, where God
made Balaams donkey speak like a man. Now, this is a true work of God,
something Toronto will never be able to duplicate.
That is pretty well the extent of the biblical evidence people have tried to use
to defend the various practices, and anyone with even a small measure of biblical
literacy should already be able to see through the fallacy of it all.
Proponents Comments
Most proponents defend the practice not on the basis of Scripture, but on the
basis of their own experience. The most common evidence is that it makes them
feel happy and joyful, though this does not take into account that any kind of
emotional release of this nature will make one feel better. Even unbelievers can
have this same experience. Furthermore, Satan would not be a very good deceiver
if he made you feel bad, would he? Satan can give people joyful and happy
experiences, and doing so would be in his best interest if that--rather than the
Word of God--becomes the final authority for determining spiritual truth.
I read an article by a woman who had the experience of making animal
sounds. She tried to defend the practice, and her conclusion was that Gods
intention is to strip His ministers and His people of their dignity, just as Jesus
was stripped of His dignity on the cross. It may be true that man stripped Jesus of
His dignity on the cross, but that is hardly a base for deducing that God will strip
His people of their dignity. On the contrary, God will certainly do what He must
to strip people of their pride and humble them, but He will never strip them of
their dignity in light of the fact that man still has the image of God in him.
Another man wrote to me and said that what he sees is that God is now taking
back His church. How people making animal noises and uncontrolled laughter
could possibly be construed as evidence that God is taking back His church is
certainly a point beyond belief.
What should be noted, both in the womans defense (God is stripping His
people of their dignity) and the mans (God is taking back His church), is that
both are extremely subjective in their deductions. If you ask them a simple
question: On what basis do you say that this is what God is doing with all these
animal sounds and actions? they can only grow more subjective still. When I
answered the mans letter, I pointed out to him that after defending all this with so
many words, he never cited one Scripture to defend the practice. And that is the
way it is with virtually all the defenders, who continually and dangerously
prioritize experience over Gods Word.


The Holy Scriptures:
The Only Authority to
Validate Biblical and Spiritual Truth
Without going into any further detail about the phenomenon itself, we will
apply the real biblical test to non-biblical experiences and those who make strange
sounds.
Isaiah 8
Bind you up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples .
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have
familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto
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their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?
To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this
word, surely there is no morning for them (Isa. 8:16, 1920).
In this section of Isaiah, one of the motifs [or themes] of Isaiah is the contrast
between the Remnant (Jews who believe) and the non-remnant (Jews who do not
believe). In verse 16, one crucial difference between the two groups is the place
that the Scriptures have in their lives. The law is the Law of Moses, and the
testimony is the words of the Prophets. What distinguishes the Remnant is that
they believe that which Moses and the Prophets declared: this is the foundation of
their faith and this is also their authority. The non-remnant rejects the Scriptures
as the final authority and seeks to make God more real in their experience by
going towards idolatry and looking at gods and goddesses that they could see,
feel, and touch, creating a more visual picture while they worship.
In verse 19, Isaiah issues a warning that they are not to go after counterfeit
spirits and teachers that chirp and that mutter. In other words, Isaiah is warning
people not to pursue supernatural things that cause them to make the strange
sounds of chirping and muttering. Put into the context of the Toronto
Phenomenon, the warning would be: Do not pursue after those who will get you
to make strange sounds, whether it is uncontrollable laughter and giggles, barking
like a dog, roaring like a lion, etc. Why? For while these experiences might come
from the supernatural, not all that comes out of the supernatural is of God, as
verse 19 clearly shows. Indeed, those who went after those that chirp and that
mutter could well come out with great testimonies of experiencing the
supernatural and feeling joyful and great. But Isaiah would not accept any of that
as valid testimony.
The only valid testimony is what he declares in verse 20: To the law and to
the testimony! In other words, back to the Law and the Prophets, back to the
Scriptures, as the only final authority. And the closing phrase should not be
missed: if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for
them. Isaiah makes it quite clear: Regardless of the supernatural experiences
others may have, if it does not align with the written Word of God that was
already present in Isaiahs day, there is simply no morning light for them.
Isaiah 29
Tarry ye and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are
drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
For Jehovah has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and
has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, has
he covered. And all vision is become unto you as the words of a
book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned,
saying, Read this, I pray you; and he says, I cannot, for it is sealed:
and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read
this, I pray you; and he says, I am not learned. And the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth
and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far
from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has
been taught them; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a
marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a
wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men shall be hid (Isa. 29:914).
Isaiah introduces his comments by prophesying how people will become
spiritually blind and, therefore, will stagger in spiritual blindness (29:9). They will
certainly stagger as if they were drunken, but not with alcohol. People have
become spiritually blind and are groping in their spiritual darkness, having no
spiritual sight to see. Isaiah points out that this has all happened because of divine
judgment and is not merely accidental or coincidental (29:10). What has happened
is that because they refused to follow Isaiahs earlier admonition (Isa. 8:20), they
have now been confirmed in their spiritual darkness and, therefore, have fallen
into a spiritual sleep so that now they have no capacity to understand the
Prophets. As a result, all of the prophecies of Isaiah and the Prophets that came
before him have become to the populace as a book that is sealed (29:11). When
it is presented to someone who is learned, although he has had the capacity and
training to understand these things, because he chose to pursue that which chirp
and mutter, even for the learned one, the book has become like a sealed book
that he can no longer understand.
Insofar as understanding spiritual truth, he has become like the one who is not
trained or learned (29:12), and the trained and learned one has the same incapacity
and inability to understand the Word of God as the one who is untrained and
unlearned. However, it is then made clear that outwardly these people appear both
religious and spiritual (29:13). They do continue drawing unto God with their
mouths and they do honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far away from
God. What makes their hearts far away from God is that whatever fear they have
of the Lord is based upon man-made commandments and traditions, rather than
that which God Himself had said and taught in the Scriptures.
Isaiah and Toronto
Applying this to the Toronto Phenomenon, one defense I have heard many
times is, How could this not be of God when they focus so much on Jesus? But
how does one know that they focus so much on Jesus? It is based on what they
say verbally as you constantly hear them saying, Praise the Lord, or Praise
Jesus, or some similar-sounding phrase. It is constantly repeated and what the
Bible-based observer must realize is that this is merely a formula, much like those
who recite a mantra in eastern religions. There is nothing concrete there. Just
verbalizing the name of Jesus over and over again does not, by itself, prove
anything. In fact, it fits this verse quite well: and with their
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mouth and with their lips [they] do honor me, but have removed their heart far
from me (Isaiah 29:13b). Their heart is far from God in reality for the same
reason: they have learned to fear God on the basis of man-made experiences,
rather than on the basis of the Word of God (29:13c). They follow man-made
doctrines and repeat constant phrases someone trained them to repeat, believing
that this constant repetition is what makes them spiritual. As a result, more time is
spent seeking further experiences than on actual study of the Word of God in its
own context.
The result is even a further judgment where both wisdom and understanding
begin to perish (29:14). More and more, as people seek deeper and deeper
experiences, they spend less and less time actually in the discipline of studying
the Word of God, and they reach a point where they begin to lack total
understanding in the Word of God. While they constantly do God-talk and
Jesus-speak, when they begin to deal with the real concrete details of the Word
of God, they are at a total loss. My observations with many personal contacts of
people who get involved in these things is that the more experiential they become,
the less they understand of the Word of God. I have seen verse 14 verified many
times over.
--to be continued--