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According to Christian theology, the spiritual gifts (or charismata) are gifts that were supernaturally bestowed on the early Christians, each having his or her own proper gift (or gifts) to strengthen the Church.
The gifts were given by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, as described in the Bible in Acts of the Apostles. According to 1 Corinthians 12, the manifestation gifts include speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, prophecy, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, the ability to distinguish between spirits, faith, the working of miracles and gifts of healing. While the ability to cast out demons may also be considered a spiritual gift, some Pentecostals and Charismatics would prefer to classify that ability as one of the gifts of healing. In the New Testament, apparently these gifts were often transmitted by the laying on of hands.
According to some Protestant dispensationalist sects, the spiritual gifts were enjoyed only for a short time and were suited to the Church's infancy, not to modern (or even medieval) times. Pentecostalism takes an opposing view, believing that the spiritual gifts are still given by the Holy Spirit today, and Pentecostal meetings often involve ordinary parishioners displaying the use of these gifts (1 Cor 14). Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and many other Protestant sects also continue to believe in and allegedly make use of spiritual gifts, though typically in a much less sensationalist manner than Pentecostals.
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