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Signs and wonders


Signs and Wonders is a phrase referring to the idea that experiences historically perceived as miraculous can be normative in modern Christian experience, and is a phrase associated with groups that are a part of modern charismatic movements, especially ones whose practices derive directly and indirectly from the teaching and writing of the late John Wimber. Derived from old and new testament allusions, and originally appearing in Wimber writings, the phrase is now used in the Christian and mainstream press, and in scholarly religious discourse to communicate a strong emphasis on recognizing perceived manifestations of the Holy Spirit—the third person (hypostasis), with God the Father and God the Son, of the Christian Trinity—in the contemporary lives of Christian believers; as well, it communicates a focus on the expectation that divine action would be experienced in the individual and corporate life of the modern Christian church, and a further insistence that followers actively seek the "gifts of the Spirit". Other attributes of congregations dedicated to signs and wonders and arising from these origins emphasize contemporary, participatory styles of worship, and include an understanding that the impact of the church's message and effort is manifest in church growth. A further major emphasis of belief in signs and wonders is that the message of the Christian "good news" is communicated more effectively to those who do not believe it if accompanied by such supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit, including such signs and wonders as miraculous healings and modern prophetic proclamations.

The origin of the title phrase is said to be in Deuteronomy 26:8, which describes the commandment to tithe (offer a gift or contribution of) the first fruits of ones resources, linkig the command to God's having brought the Israelites out of Egypt "with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with signs and wonders [emphasis added]." This passage is read in the Passover Haggadah, and in the Seder.


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