| This term has two usages:
A term (derived from the Greek) denoting a special gift from the divine. In the New Testament, the Pauline epistles discuss a variety of gifts. Examples: wisdom, discernment, healing, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues. "Charisma" in this sense has been used in the historical study of religion and culture in a way that is quite different from the informal current usage.
In "The Sociology of Religion" Max Weber uses the term to distinguish leadership and power based on personal traits from traditional or bureaucratic leadership. In ancient civilizations, political and religious power were often closely intertwined, and a leader whose authority was not inherited or derived from an entrenched organization often claimed instead to have been singled out by divine forces. | 
