Drunk in the "spirit"...?

“Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.” Isaiah 29:9

Many Christians may have heard of being drunk in the “Spirit” before, especially those who are familiar with the beliefs of certain branches of Pentecostal churches. Before I say much more, I have been a member of an Assembly of God church for a couple of years, though I recently left it (not because of anything they preached, it was just time). I am glad that our pastor did not really support such things as being drunk in the “Spirit” because if he did my friend and I would have left much sooner.

Now, the idea with being drunk in the “Spirit” is that you are so filled with the Holy Spirit that you act as though you are drunk, and display all of the sings of being drunk. Many who support such activity will reference a passage from the New Testament when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and everyone mocked them saying that they must be drunk:

“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.” Acts 2:13

They say “See, they were drunk in the Spirit!” but is this really the case? Let’s look at a couple of videos of a man who is an abnormally large proponent of being drunk in the “Spirit.” His name is John Crowder and is supported (or at the very least was) by such organizations as The International House of Prayer, or IHOP, in Kansas City:



John Crowder and others who support being drunk in the “Spirit” also seem to support being “High on the Holy Ghost” as being another form of “drunk in the Spirit”:



Obviously this man is a blasphemous and irreverent moron, and many people who support “Holy Drunkenness” would say that he is a little over the top, but it they still claim to get drunk and high on the “Spirit” just like him. So…do they have any form of biblical support for such things?

As stated earlier, many proponents will say that Acts 2 is evidence of the people being drunk in the “Spirit.” When the Holy Spirit came down and filled them, they all heard each other in their own languages. These people have just been filled with the very Spirit of God, and were seeing amazing things happening. I would imagine they were quite happy, and thrilled. Imagine how they must have looked, how amazed they must have been, how they all would have reacted to hearing everyone from different nations speak in their own language. Does that mean they were drunk? No. I can imagine people mocking them and saying that they were. Sure. But look at what Peter says in response to these insults:

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

“For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;” Acts 2:14-16

Look at those above videos. Look up videos yourself. These people can barely form coherent sentences. Peter stood up and said “Hey, we’re not drunk!” and quoted Scripture for the next 20+ verses. If he was drunk could he speak so well? The Bible then says:

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37

I don’t think they were touched by the inane drunken babbling of someone who was acting like John Crowder. (Peter goes on with his speech for several more verses). John Crowder can barely speak when he is behind a podium.

Here is a biblical description of being drunk:

“who hath contentions? who hath babbling?... Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

“They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.” Proverbs 23:39, 34-35

The Bible frequently talks about drunkards as stumbling about and losing control of themselves.

God says that He has given us a spirit of discipline and a sound mind. Why would His presence take that away from us? Proponents of being drunk in the “Spirit” can describe it in as many favorable terms as they like, but they do not have any biblical evidence for it. The Bible says:

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” 1 Corinthians 14:33

What does the Bible say about the conduct inside the churches of the saints (specifically when it comes to spiritual things)?

“Let all things be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40

Those videos display nothing but loss of self control and confusion; nothing is peaceful about those people. One more video:



God is the author of peace, not drunkenness and confusion.

The next question is whether or not people involved with this are demon possessed. I would have to say no. I don’t believe that a Christian can actually become possessed by a demon, and I know that there are real Christians that have experienced being drunk in the “Spirit.” Maybe not possessed, but definitely influenced. Demonic possession is different than demonic influence.

Possession is when a demon takes over a person’s body and causes them to do things, such as inflict harm, or uses the person’s vocal cords to speak, sometimes without even moving their mouth.

Demonic influence can be anything from sinful thoughts, to keeping one in bondage, and addictions, and…”holy laughter” and “holy drunkenness” as well. Based on the Bible and other evidence, we know that demons cause many diseases, such as epilepsy and cancer. Christians can have cancer. I think this is similar

Therefore, because God is the author of peace, not confusion, and that God gave us a spirit of discipline and a sound mind, that church is supposed to be orderly, and that there is absolutely no evidence that being drunk in the “Spirit” is biblical but much evidence that drunkenness is sin and goes against the aforementioned biblical points, I conclude that “holy highs” and “holy drunkenness” are false experiences perpetrated by the devil and his demons.

Stay in His True Spirit, and God bless.

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