Holy Laughter and the Toronto Blessing: An Investigative Report

by James A. Beverley

Book Overview

This powerful study of the "Toronto Blessing" phenomenon presents the facts in the light of Scripture.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310204976
• ISBN13: 9780310204978
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A great book

Even though Beverley is not a cessationist and makes that fairly clear in this book and I am very strongly cessationist, I thought that this was a wonderful book. This is, in fact, one of the best, fairest, and most balanced books I have read so far on Toronto. He speaks as an "outsider" without a strong interest in either proving or disproving it, and makes a strong effort to represent both sides of the issue as fairly as possible. This is a refreshing change to so much of the literature out there, almost all of which seems to be pro-Toronto rhetoric crying "Pharisee" at anyone who dares question Toronto in any way, or anti-Toronto rhetoric that is too quick to cry "cultist." Well, I certainly don't approve of Toronto and am a cessationist, but I also think that labelling it a cult is unwarrented. Nor should anyone "buy into" the rubbish that anyone who questions Toronto is a "Pharisee" or guilty of "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit." Toronto has certainly given enough reason to question them, and it would be irresponsible and dishonest not to. In addition, it would be unBiblical. 1 John 4:1 tells us, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (NIV) In any case, though, Beverley does a good job, in my opinion, of being balanced towards Toronto and of balancing criticism of the bad and praise of the good, which not many authors have done. There were some minor flaws though. For example: - His analysis of Hank Hanegraaff's and John MacArthur's objections to the "Toronto Blessing" was not entirely fair to either author. His analysis of their objections was not that thorough, but he gives the impression that it was much more thorough than it actually is. In fact, he gives the impression that he addresses ALL of their concerns about Toronto, even though that isn't really the case. In addition, he is a little too dismissive of John MacArthur's "Charismatic Chaos" in my opinion, although in all fairness he does say many positive things about that as well. - He seems very willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Toronto and other groups that have been criticized, but a little less willing to do so for the critics of Toronto. This isn't all that purvasive of a problem in this book though. - Towards the very end of the book, he brings up several MAJOR issues regarding Toronto that really should have been addressed in much more depth than they are and have been raised sooner in the book. Specifically: 1. Toronto does not emphasize Jesus enough. One study, which he refers to, statistically tracked Toronto's emphasis based on how frequently certain things were referred to. The study found, among other things, that prophecy was referred to more THAN 2.5 TIMES more than Jesus was! He doesn't dwell much on that, but I think that he should have made a MUCH bigger deal of that. The fact that their emphasis is that skewed should suggest SIGNIFICANT is

Balanced, fair, and helpful

Dr. Beverley has written a thoughtful and thorough evaluation and critique of the movement known as "The Toronto Blessing". He avoids the sensationalism and hysteria of Hannegraaf's "Counterfeit Revival" or MacArthur's "Charismatic Chaos", and presents instead some carefully researched evaluations, and offers even-handed encouragement, admonishment, and suggested corrections.Probably nobody, charismatic or not, will agree with everything Dr. Beverley has written, but it was refreshing to read a book that is thoughtful, respectful, and seeks to be truthful to the Word of God, and to reporting factually on the teachings and practices associated with this controversial topic.A must-read.