# Holy laughter

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Holy_laughter
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Holy_laughter.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_laughter
> Source revision: 1310240142
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Religious behaviour}}
'''Holy laughter''' is a term used within [charismatic Christianity](/source/charismatic_Christianity) that describes a religious behaviour in which individuals spontaneously laugh during church meetings. It has occurred in many revivals throughout church history, but it became normative in the early 1990s in [Neo-charismatic churches](/source/Neo-charismatic_churches) and the [Third Wave of the Holy Spirit](/source/Third_Wave_of_the_Holy_Spirit). Many people claimed to experience this phenomenon at a large revival in [Toronto, Ontario](/source/Toronto), [Canada](/source/Canada) known as the [Toronto Blessing](/source/Toronto_Blessing).

==History==
Practices similar to holy laughter were observed in the 1800s in [Holiness Christian](/source/Holiness_Christian) meetings on the American West.<ref name=ajps>{{cite journal|last=Yung|first=Hwa|title=Endued with Power: The Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal and the Asian Church in the Twenty-First Century|journal=Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies|year=2003|volume=6|issue=1|pages=63–82|url=http://apts.edu/aeimages/File/AJPS_PDF/03-1-HwaYung.pdf|access-date=2011-11-24|archive-date=2012-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503005252/http://apts.edu/aeimages/File/AJPS_PDF/03-1-HwaYung.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [John Wesley](/source/John_Wesley) encountered uncontrollable laughter in his 
[Methodist](/source/Methodist) meetings, and viewed it as an act of God.<ref name=por108>Porter 1996, p. 108</ref> It also occurred in [Signs and Wonders](/source/Signs_and_Wonders) meetings run by [John Wimber](/source/John_Wimber) in the 1980s.<ref name=por106>Porter 1996, p. 106</ref> The practice came to prominence in meetings led by the South African evangelist [Rodney Howard-Browne](/source/Rodney_Howard-Browne) in 1993 at the [Carpenter's Home Church](/source/Carpenter's_Home_Church) in [Lakeland, Florida](/source/Lakeland%2C_Florida) and was often accompanied by the "[Slain in the Spirit](/source/Slain_in_the_Spirit)" phenomena.<ref name=d208/> The laughter ranges from very quiet to loud convulsive hysterics, which are said to be accompanied by temporary dissociation.<ref name=por102>Porter 1996, p. 102</ref> It was also observed in meetings held at [Oral Roberts University](/source/Oral_Roberts_University).<ref name=p155>Poloma 2003, p. 155</ref> The phenomena was then popularized by ''[Charisma](/source/Charisma_(magazine))'' and the [Trinity Broadcasting Network](/source/Trinity_Broadcasting_Network), and became controversial within charismatic Christianity.<ref name=d208>Diamond 2000, p. 208</ref>

Though primarily found in Protestant churches, it was observed in some parts of the [Catholic Charismatic Renewal](/source/Catholic_Charismatic_Renewal), as well.<ref name=c33>Cimino 2001, p. 33</ref> The practice spread to the [Association of Vineyard Churches](/source/Association_of_Vineyard_Churches), most notably to the [Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship](/source/Toronto_Airport_Christian_Fellowship) in 1994. Religious revival meetings at the church became very popular, drawing 75,000 visitors that year.<ref name=d209/> Many attendees at the meetings spent time laughing loudly while lying on the floor.<ref name=d208/>

==Analysis==
Leaders who have promoted holy laughter said the laughter was a result of joy that was supernaturally being given to people in the meetings.<ref name=p4>Poloma 2003, p. 4</ref> They said the joy was often accompanied by [miraculous healing](/source/miraculous_healing) and the cessation of depression.<ref name=p5>Poloma 2003, p. 5</ref> [Margaret Poloma](/source/Margaret_Poloma) of the [University of Akron](/source/University_of_Akron) has described the events of the services as a ritual facilitation of [catharsis](/source/catharsis).<ref name=p108>Poloma 2003, p. 108</ref> Philip Richter of [STETS](/source/STETS) has drawn a parallel between holy laughter and [laughter yoga](/source/laughter_yoga).<ref name=por119>Porter 1996, p. 119</ref>

==Reception==
Many of the activities at these meetings, particularly the laughter, were controversial within [evangelical Christianity](/source/evangelical_Christianity). Though some religious leaders such as [Pat Robertson](/source/Pat_Robertson) embraced the movement, groups including the [Christian Research Institute](/source/Christian_Research_Institute)<ref name=d209/> and the [Southern Baptist Convention](/source/Southern_Baptist_Convention) condemned what was occurring.<ref name=encyc>Queen, Prothero & Shattuck 2009, p. 245</ref> Critics charge that the practice is the result of [psychological manipulation](/source/psychological_manipulation),<ref name=d209>Diamond 2000, p. 209</ref> or [demonic possession](/source/demonic_possession).<ref name=d210>Diamond 2000, p. 210</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyVXHWDV3mI|title=Exposing kundalini spirits and the New Apostolic Reformation in the church|work=Torch of Christ Ministries|last=Blair|first=Phillip Andrew|access-date=August 28, 2019|date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Gelotology](/source/Gelotology)
* [Slain in the Spirit](/source/Slain_in_the_Spirit)
* [Theories of humor](/source/Theories_of_humor)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{citation|last=Cimino|first=Richard P.|title=Trusting the spirit: renewal and reform in American religion|year=2001|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-7879-5160-3}}
*{{citation|last=Diamond|first=Sara|title=Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right|year=2000|publisher=Guilford Press|isbn=978-1-57230-494-9}}
*{{citation|last=Poloma|first=Margaret M.|title=Main street mystics: the Toronto blessing and reviving Pentecostalism|year=2003|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7591-0354-2}}
*{{citation|last=Richter|first=Philip|editor=Stanley E. Porter|title=The nature of religious language: a colloquium|year=1996|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-85075-580-7}}
*{{citation|last1=Queen|first1=Edward L.|last2=Prothero|first2=Stephen R.|last3=Shattuck|first3=Gardiner H.|title=Encyclopedia of American religious history|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6660-5}}

Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal worship
Category:Laughter

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Holy laughter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_laughter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_laughter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.