Can any of us prove or disprove personal/individual claims of Holy Spirit baptisms? Should such claims hold any weight in this forum?
Please note: I am speaking of personal or individual claims, not the biblical existence of Holy Spirit baptism.
I would offer a few thoughts on this...
"Proof" that is absolutely undeniable is only possible in the realm of mathematics. In every other realm, there is some degree of subjectivity. Even what the legal system calls "proof" is not proof in the strictest logical sense, but "compelling evidence".
Compelling evidence is inherently subjective, and when it comes to matters of faith, there is also an element of choice to believe... or not. Can I "prove" that Jesus rose from the dead so that no-one can gainsay it? No; only Jesus Himself can do that. All I could do is provide the evidence available that I found (and continue to find) compelling. Others may not find it compelling.
So it is with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Certainly there are different interpretations of Scripture on this matter, as a read through the previous posts will show. I believe that Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit fills the believer at the moment of salvation, and that He is the seal, the promise of redemption. I further believe that from that point forward, He is at work in the believer conforming him or her to Christ. A big part of this is manifesting the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace etc.). I believe that these things are normative; they are to be expected (eventually) of every believer in Christ.
The "gifts of the Spirit" are, I believe, in a different category, and are not all given to (manifested through) every believer. Rather, they are given to the Church through particular people, and that as an aggregate, the Church will manifest all the gifts as needed. Traditionally, these are the "manifestations" associated with the so-called "baptism of the Spirit". This is unfortunate, because it sets up an artificial distinction that is unsupported by Scripture. I will state that I don't believe that manifestation of these gifts (any of them, in particular) is normative for all believers, but that their manifestation in the Church
is normative.
Back to proof... There is debate over how and when the infilling/empowering of the Holy Spirit happened in the lives of biblical believers. That it happened is not debatable, for Scripture plainly teaches that it did. There is nothing in Scripture suggesting that it would stop. In Scripture, there is a close association between "baptism" and a certain manifestation, but the manifestation is not presented as "proof". It does seem to have been evident to those around though.
My conclusion is that a personal experience of Holy Spirit baptism is not "provable" in the sense of objective compelling evidence. Rather, it is a subjective experience of empowerment which should be accompanied by the testimony of faith (critical) and the increasing presence of fruit of the Spirit (eventual). Gifts
may accompany the experience, or they may come later, or not at all (though we should eagerly desire them). Also, our faith must not rest on having had this experience (or be questioned for its absence), but on the revealed truth of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.
Regarding claims to the experience, I don't see any reason why we should automatically accept or reject them, any more than we do for other claims. As to this forum, it's for discussion, and as such I think such claims are fair game, and that those who are skeptical of them do well to remember that their own disbelief doesn't (and shouldn't) invalidate such claims.