Charismata

“Charismata” is the former usage of the new word charisma. Today it means two phenomena:

• 1. Spiritual gifts which come with charismatic endowments. These endowments include wise words, special knowledge, faith, miracles, prophecy, power to rule, healings, connection with divine grace, discerning of spirits, and diverse kinds of tongues as in religious leaders.

• 2. Nonreligious, non-supernatural, and secular applications as have been elaborated by Max Weber (1864–1920 CE). In both usages, charisma is the special quality some people posses that tends them “to be attractive to others, to be influential and inspirational, and to be characterized as brilliant and effective communicators.” Despite its wide applications in humanities, it seems to be very difficult to define it. Hence, as Conger has rightly pointed out, “there is no generally agreed-on definition of charisma” (Conger 2004, p. 158).

As an adjective, charismatic characteristics or charismatic authority can be used to mean having a supernatural origin. In the New Testament, Paul writes of spiritual gifts/endowments or charismata, which is the first-known illustration of charismata. In this religious context, the term denotes any good gift that flows from God’s benevolent love (charis) unto humans, any divine grace or favor originating in the Holy Spirit to distribute it for the good of others according to his discernment (1 Cor 12–14). In the same context, all such charismata are attributed not only to the chosen ones but to every Christian to be qualified to perform his task in the church (1 Cor 7:7).

This separation between general and special meaning of charismata also occurs in Romans. This word is used in Romans in the singular six times and refers to God’s grace given by faith in Christ (Rom 5:15–16). Although the sinner should be sentenced to death, by faith in Christ, he is bestowed eternal life (Rom 6:23). In Romans (11:26) when talking about Israel, the term in its plural form refers to certain privileges – such as forgiveness and redemption designated by God to Israel. “Charisma,” which is the newer form of the term “charismata,” derives from the Greek word charis meaning “grace, kindness, and favor.”

The German sociologist and economist Max Weber developed the term “charisma” and it became a central theme in his writings. In his book Economy and Society, “charisma” is a certain attractive quality of an individual personality, either with a divine spirit or an extraordinary nonreligious secular quality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men (Holton and Turner 1989, pp. 454–455 [1384H, the year following the Hijrah, when Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina]). Weber’s original idea was to apply the term in a nonreligious meaning. In sociological analysis, “charisma” is a power of leadership or a certain type of authority that may have supernatural, superhuman, or any other kind of extraordinary origin. In this usage, “charisma” found its new place in the process of leadership and institution building in modern society. This definition of “charisma” is secular and asserts “denial of the validity of the sacred, and of what is accepted in any given society as sacred” (Eisenstadt 1968, p. xix).

In the Weberian sense of the word, “charisma” has also two opposite tendencies: to create and to destroy. This dichotomy between two different situations is the very potential of charismatic activities (Eisenstadt, xx). In Christianity, we perceive many concepts of charisma such as charisma of office (Amtcharisma), charisma of kinship (Geltilcharisma), and hereditary charisma (Erbcharisma) or contact charisma. All of these concepts, “especially that of the charisma of office, have been used by Weber to denote the process through which the charismatic characteristics are transferred from unique personality or the unstructured group to orderly institutional reality” (Eisenstadt 1968, p. xxi).

There are two differences between religious, divinely usage of charisma and that of the secular. (1) In the religious context, charisma is mostly an inherited or inborn quality, whereas in the secular context, it is believed to be a constellation of personal characteristics. (2) Charisma in the Weberian usage more likely emerges during times of crisis and social upheaval; so it is situational. But in the former application, it is mostly individual. Contrasted to religious meaning, in the sociological context “charisma” is not regarded as a gift, but an attractive influential force belonging to irrational, exhilarating aspect of life that appears to answer to the question of meaning.

Similar charismatic virtues are honored in other religious traditions. Some observers have perceived a model of leadership and authority in Shiite Islam as a charismatic leadership. In this sense, Shi’ism is regarded as a millenarian movement founded on the basis of the right of prophet Muhammad’s male descendants for leadership. Every descendant, who is called “Imam,” inherits leadership from the former one up to the twelfth Imam who entered on occultation at 842H. (“Occultation” in Shiite Islam refers to a belief that the twelfth Imam who is the messianic figure was born but disappeared and will one day return and fill the world with justice.) Imams are recognized as charismatic leaders possessing this quality as inborn and should have it by their office too. Such beliefs have served to unite the faithful community over history. In this sense “charisma is considered the result of contact with a supernatural being from which the individual receives revelation and power enabling him to mediate spiritual grace to other people” (Parrindeh 1987, p. 218).

One can also find this tendency in Judaism. In this cultural context, the notion of Barakah among Muslims and of its Jewish counterpart zechut avot (ancestral merit) “connote a strong sense of inherited blessedness and ascribes virtue” and regarded as a source of legitimation and charismatization (Bilu and Ben-Ari 1995, pp. 226–229).

In Islamic philosophy, the term “feyz” literally means “grace” in the same sense as charismata in Christianity. Feyz is the first practice of God: everything emanates from Allah, since he is the Prime Agent. Therefore, the Prime Agent or Fayyaz – the one who emanates feyz or grace – is the very self-existent (Arab 2007, p. 424). In this sense, feyz means kindness. Some Islamic philosophers such as those who believe in the School of Illumination also use the term “light” (noor) instead of feyz to refer to the act of emanation. God is called light or “light of lights” (noor al anvar). Allah’s flow of emanation, or the rise of the sunlight over everything, would not be cut off. His eternity necessitates the everlasting process of emanation flowing from him onto beings (Suhrevardi 1976, p. 186).

“In this sense,” as Hossein Nasr says, “the mind of a human being is continuously illuminated by the light of the Divine Intellect and revelation and protected from error by the grace provided by God” (Nasr 2006, p. 32). In fact, this interpretation of feyz or grace as light has its origin in Zoroastrianism (Nasr 2006, p. 229). In the religious application of the term, charisma is an extraordinary gift that mostly refers to kings and prophets. This godly gift is called xvarnah or xvarah. In the two ancient languages of Pahlavi and Avestai, the term means that the light or shining emanates from God onto Persian emperors in supporting them to govern, defeating their enemies, organizing society, constructing civilizations, discovery and contrivance, prophecy, intuition, and so on. Here again the original source of the term is religious (Nafisi 2002, p. 31). But in some cases, God chooses a certain individual – not necessarily a prophet or a king – who himself owns a personal capability requesting Farrah from God and through hard trainings become worthy to receive it (Dehghan 2002, p. 163). So, it seems that in this context, the separation between the secular and the religious, as it is predominant in Christianity, is confusing. The charisma of the kings could not be regarded clearly as religious as opposed to nonreligious and secular charisma. It is both a constellation of personal characteristics and divine gifts and endowments.

“Farrah,” the newer form of the old words xvarnah or xvarah, has different meanings such as glory, greatness, light, force, and special authority of kings and prophets (Tabatabae’i 1996, p. 134). In narrower meanings resembling Christian usages, Farrah refers to some qualifications such as to think, to speak, and to act according to the “Just Religion” which is Zoroastrianism (Avesta, Zamiad yasht, 1:9). These modes are Zoroastrian styles of thinking, speaking, and acting (Avesta, Zamiad yasht, 1:79).

Farrah has two aspects: the first aspect enforces its human owner to do his or her social, spiritual, and moral responsibilities; authority; guardianship; and rule. The second aspect refers to the charismatic’s insight into God and relation to Him (Dehghan 2002, pp. 27, 37, 163).

In modern usage, we also find charismatic movements founded by charismatic individuals possessing a human quality, which is mostly a leadership quality, without reference to the supernatural or divine grace. For example, despite the dissimilarity in their political aims, when we speak of Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution he headed, Gandhi’s India, or Adolf Hitler, we do not intend some charismatic characteristics such as healing and revelation, but rather admiration and respect (Hajarian 2001, p. 170). In this sense, there is usually an elating unity between leader and followers. This relationship is precarious and the state of charismatic authority is transitory and “problems of political continuity necessarily accompany such a phenomenon” (Kruger and Silvert 1995, p. 296).

The concept of charisma has evolved over the years, progressively shifting from its religious usage, in which a certain individual is granted spiritual gifts of divine revelation, prophecy, special knowledge, faith, and leadership. The sociological usage is predominantly leader centered, situational, and secular. This nonreligious use was begun when Max Weber examined varieties of charismatic authority. For Weber, although charismatic individuals posses an extraordinary quality, the relationship between the leader’s qualities as a charismatic individual on one hand and the followers’ devotion to the leader on the other hand is of more importance.

Charisma is also found in other religious traditions such as Islam and Judaism, which is labeled under Barakah and zechut avot, respectively. Currently, one can observe that “charisma” is used as synonymous with popular appeals in magnetic or alluring movements, religious or not.

See Also

Hero

Miraj

Muhammad

Persona

Possession

Projection

Prophets

Sacred King

Transference