What IS this? Obviously, this isn’t the Sacrament of Baptism… or the Sacrament of Confirmation! This isn’t a sacrament at all. Yet charismatics seriously believe that this is an essential step for the release of the Holy Spirit. The implication of course is that the actual Sacrament of Confirmation is somehow inferior or at the very least incomplete without this so called “baptism in the spirit”. Now how is that possible that this non-sacrament is able to complete what the actual sacrament failed to accomplish? And if that were so, why has this not been a normative component of the Catholic Church for two thousand years? Was the Church incomplete with what it offered in way of sanctification before the charismatics introduced this Protestant novelty? How is it that the Church raised so many saints over the centuries without the “anointing” called “baptism in the spirit”? And how is it that forty years of Charismatic Renewal has yet to produce a single saint for the Church? But opps... every charismatic is a "saint"!
Another curious thing is there is no need for apostolic succession or priest or bishop for this “baptism in the spirit”, as just about every Tom Dick or Harriett can anoint over and over and over and over again and God supposedly refills everybody prayed over each time to OVER FLOWING again and again and again..."Hum de yah hay dah sham a lum yada ..."Wooohoo!!!! Wouldn’t you say that this whole thing is a bit over the top?
