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144 | 7 Law of Love and Love of Law Beliefs, Mores, and Faces of Love Charisma opposes the lifestyle of transgressiveness, not in the infinite, but in the finite. It is for this reason that the true charismatic is always an interdictory figure, closing down the openness of possibility, narrowing the human passion for the infinite into a particular culture or way of life. (Rieff 2007, 228) In a posthumously published work that is painstakingly difficult to read, sociologist Philip Rieff (2007) critiques aspects of the Weberian theory of charisma as he writes a treatise on “the gift of grace, and how it has been taken away from us.” At times reading like the work of a scholar with a mind far beyond most mortals, while in other sections sounding like the ranting of a curmudgeon about the loss of a world that never was, Rieff’s (2007) Charisma can be mined for golden nuggets to enrich sociological comprehension of a poorly understood and often misused concept. Of particular relevance for our understandingoftherelationshipbetweencharismaandbenevolenceisRieff ’sdiscussion of interdicts—that is, divinely given cultural mores. We use some of Rieff’s insights to explore the relationship between Jesus’s Great Commandment—an interdict that can be referred to as the “law of love”—and the “love of law,” interdicts that contextualize the norms and practices of Godly Love. Paradoxically, loving the law and its interdicts can both enliven and distort the law of love. There is no question that Rieff believed that charisma has been taken away from us. What he calls the hegemonic “therapeutic culture”—for him, “synonymous with unbelief”—is a destroyer of genuine charisma.1 To mix Rieff’s descriptors, what passes for charisma today is merely “‘sprayedon ’/‘publicity’,” devoid of both faith and guilt. Some of the examples Rieff posits of the therapeutic culture’s role in the destruction of charisma would apply to sectors and practices of the pentecostal movement; but were he alive to respond to us, he probably would take us to task for marrying his insights Law of Love and Love of Law | 145 with our theoretical discussion and empirical observations of Godly Love. We believe, however, that our use of charisma in relation to Godly Love aligns with this Jewish scholar’s observations—or, at the least, through them Rieff has provided a heuristic tool complementing concepts already used to assess the dynamic nature of charisma in the AG. For Rieff (2007, 4) “there is no charisma without creed.” “Fresh interdicts” break through the existing order to proclaim “something to be true and important,” providing prescriptions and prohibitions to guard faith. In Pentecostalism (with no single charismatic leader but rather a charismatic message and experience that immediately drew disciples) the charismata brought to life the creed of the Holy Spirit found in all orthodox Christian proclamations . The Bible is the source of Pentecostalism’s interdicts and named transgressions , and repentance (and accepting divine forgiveness) is at the core of being “born again.” Furthermore, although charisma is not uniformly distributed among believers, it is not regarded as the property of a single leader or leaders in the movement. As we have seen, however, according to Pentecostal tenets charisma requires a second experience of grace (available to all believers) known as the baptism of the Spirit to open the channels through which the charismatic gifts of the Spirit are released. Although Pentecostals would be slow to admit any debt to Catholicism, similarities can be found between pre–Vatican II Catholicism and the charisma of Pentecostalism.2 Rieff (2007, 193) acknowledges that although charisma in Catholicism has been structured, its sophisticated structure allows for charisma to emerge in nonstructural form. What he says about Catholicism could just as easily be used to describe early Pentecostalism, as well as the movement’s contemporary struggles to be “sophisticated enough to allow the interdicts to freshly communicate themselves,” essentially making a way for “nonstructural forms” to emerge within denominational practices: Non-structural charisma is a term which describes the activity of the free and autonomous Spirit operating through other than structured channels. In every age, the Spirit raises up saints, founders of orders or movement, members of both hierarchy and laity who speak to their age by virtue of a divine mandate personally received through revelations or vision and effectively legitimized through miracles and works of wonder. For Catholics still aware of the richness of their tradition in this matter, the results of non-structured charisms may be seen in...

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