A Land More Kind than Home

The church that Carson Chambliss leads is a charismatic Christian church. Charismatic sects exist in several denominations of Christianity. The most widely known charismatic movement, cited as the first charismatic belief system, is Pentecostalism (“The New Face of Global Christianity: The Emergence of ‘Progressive Pentecostalism.’” Pew Research Center, 12 Apr. 2006). This movement contends that the Holy Spirit (one of the three persons of God, in Christian theology) gifts abilities to church members that are described in the Bible by the apostle Paul. They contend that a person can experience one or more of these gifts when they experience a state called “baptism with the Holy Spirit.”

Pentecostalism began in 1901 in Topeka, Kansas, at Bethel Bible College. The college’s founder, Charles Fox Parham, sought to reverse what he and other members of the “Holiness Movement” deemed a shift toward indifference in Christian spiritual beliefs. He argued for a more immersive, consuming experience of the Holy Spirit. When one of Parham’s students began speaking in tongues, he interpreted it as the beginning of the spiritual revival he had longed for. Parham was able to grow the movement through his practice of faith healing, and Pentecostalism and other forms of charismatic Christianity quickly grew in popularity, particularly in the American South. 

A Land More Kind Than Home features several of the most common gifts associated with the Holy Spirit by Pentecostal and other charismatic churches, including the ability to speak in tongues, or “Glossolalia.” Glossolalia occurs when a congregant suddenly speaks in an unknown language. A similar occurrence—“xenoglossy”—involves a person speaking in a recognized language that the individual themselves does not have the ability to speak. Other gifts include the ability to heal ailments, the ability to cause miracles to occur, the ability to cast out demons, the ability to receive dreams and prophecies, and the ability to interpret words spoken in tongues. Among the practices unique to Pentecostalism is the use of venomous snakes in church services. This stems from a literal interpretation of a biblical passage that instructs followers of Christ to “take up serpents” (Duin, Julia. “Appalachian Snake Handlers Put Their Faith in God—and Increasingly, Doctors.” National Geographic, 1 Feb. 2021). While some charismatic churches continue to use snakes in their worship, the practice is no longer supported by most Pentecostal churches and has been made illegal in several states.

Since its conception, several splinter groups have formed from Pentecostalism, including The Church of God and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Though charismatic Christianity is Protestant in its roots, charismatic practices have also developed within some Roman Catholic churches.

The charismatic movement has been criticized by some Christian sects as biblically unfounded. Its literal interpretation of biblical passages has also proven controversial, and it is sometimes likened to a cult due to its tendency toward outspoken leaders who are revered by their congregants. This critique underpins the novel’s depiction of The Influence of Religious Fervor, as many of Chambliss’s congregants fail to recognize the danger he poses.