Pentecostalism

Pentecostal can also mean "pertaining to Pentecost".

Pentecostalism is a religious movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

Pentecostalism is the fastest growing movement in Christianity today and has become the largest segment of protestant Christianity.

Pentecostalism is similar to the Charismatic movement, but developed earlier and separated from other denominations. Charismatic Christians, at least in the early days of the movement, tended to remain in their respective denominations.

There are two major groups of Pentecostals: Trinitarian Pentecostals and Oneness Pentecostals. Many Pentecostals are also Evangelicals, and many consider themselves Protestants, though some are Restorationists. Examples of some trinitarian Pentecostal denominations include the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the Assemblies of God, Assemblies of Christian Churches(AIC) and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Examples of Oneness Pentecostal groups include the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) and most churches that call themselves "apostolic."

Salvation beliefs

The majority of Pentecostals believe, along with most evangelicals, that in order to be saved one must repent of sin, believe in Jesus as Savior, and accept His Lordship. Likewise Pentecostals typically believe that the Bible has definitive authority in matters of faith. There are two large streams into which the majority of Pentecostal churches fall.

To the first group, speaking in tongues is the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but is not necessary for salvation. In these churches, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is viewed as a second work of grace in the believer's life, which occurs subsequent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which occurs at the moment of salvation. In these denominations, it is widely assumed that a person who has not spoken in tongues can be saved.

The second group emphasizes a salvation message based on Acts 2:38 which says that a person needs to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and receive the Holy Spirit. To these Pentecostals, receiving the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation and is accompanied by speaking in tongues. In these denominations, it is widely assumed that a person who has not spoken in tongues is unsaved.

Within these two groups are two sets of beliefs in the water baptismal formula. One set of belief, mainly involves Trinitarian Pentecostals who water baptize according to Matthew 28:19 (i.e. "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit") which was commanded by Christ. The other set of belief, mainly involves the Oneness Pentecostal, teaches that the Trinitarian baptismal formula is invalid. This is because they hold firmly to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration by baptizing in Jesus name only. And so that a person who has been baptized with the Trinitarian formula according to Matthew 28:19 is considered unsaved. However, there are many pentecostal groups who no longer make these issues divisive and reconciling the term "name" as singular in both Acts 2:38 and Matthew 28:19 and is in the context of authority, character, fame and renown. They also refer to John 13:20 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." as receiving all three by the Holy Spirit experience. So water baptism is a commandment ordered by Jesus as a good conscience (Greek-perception) towards God by believing (Greek-put in trust with) the resurrection of Jesus as a recipient of the Holy Spirit.

Other beliefs

Most Pentecostals believe that tongues served two main functions. Firstly, an unknown tongue is a prayer language in which the speaker do not understand what they are saying. This is also the initial evidence that someone has the Holy Spirit baptism and is used as personal worship speaking not to man but to God in mysteries as explained in Corinthians 14. Secondly, an unknown tongue is also used to give forth a message to the church (i.e. during a meeting) from God that someone then interprets. This is done as part of the operation of the spiritual gifts by the church as instructed also in Corinthians 14. There is a third function, which is seemly rare and highly speculative, in which the speaker uses tongues to talk to a foreigner in their native language as part of international preaching despite that the speaker does understand what is said. This function is not practiced as part of personal worship nor operating spiritual gifts in the church but is more than likely to be an fortunate situation in which the speaker's prayer language which was also happens to be the foreigners native language. Adding weight to the passage in Corinthians 14 that tongues is an language of men and of angels.

Pentecostals only believe there must be an interpreter present when a tongue is given to the entire church as a message from God so the listeners will understand when a different language, or tongue, is spoken unto them. One's personal prayer language is not needed to be interpreted because it is being spoken to God.

There are two views of the spiritual gifts held by Pentecostals which are dependent on the degree of adhering to the two different doctrine of tongues in the above two groups. The first view, mainly held by the first group that believes that the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not necessary for salvation, considers that each church members receives different gifts of the Holy Spirit from each other. For an example, the ability to speak in tongues and the ability to interpret tongues are considered to separate gifts given to separate people. So the one may be able to speak in a tongues (unknown language) but will lack the ability to interpret another tongue as they have not been gifted with the understanding to interpret. The second view, which is mainly held by the second group, which believes that receiving the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation and is accompanied by speaking in tongues, considers that everyone who receives the gift of the Holy Spirit also receives all the different spirituals gifts at the same time as part and parcel of the born again experience. Therefore it is considered that the only difference in operating any of the gifts comes down to desire, willingness and group encouragement of the person.

While speaking in tongues frequently receives emphasis in Pentecostalism, most Pentecostals also acknowledge other supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Most acknowledge that not all Christians receive all of these gifts. A frequently cited list includes words of wisdom (the ability to provide supernatural guidance in decisions) , words of knowledge (impartation of factual information from the Spirit), faith, healing, miracle-working, prophecy (the pronouncement of a message from God, not necessarily involving knowledge of the future), distinguishing of spirits (the ability to tell evil from good spirits), tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Pentecostals believe that the gift of tongues is different than tongues as a prayer language (the unknown tongue). The gift of tongues is the ability to speak in a foreign language that the speaker does not speak.

Because many Pentecostal denominations are descended from Methodism and the Methodist Holiness Movement, Pentecostal soteriology is generally Arminian rather than Calvinist.

Beginnings

Pentecostals relates to their beliefs as starting about two thousand years ago on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. They believe to be the modern day church version of the early church in the book of Acts. Although the modern Pentecostal movement can trace their continuity growth from its historic roots in the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, USA from 1904 to 1906, the first newsworthy outpouring of the Holy Spirit in North America was at the Red River Church, Kentucky in 1799 and then two years later at Cain Ridge Revival in Cain Ridge, Kentucky in the 1801. This could be considered as an early charismatic movement in North America but it was noted that a number of small groups become independent from Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists denominational control and that later became more associated with the Pentecostal movement due to the observation of speaking in tongues. However generally it is one of the landmark events of the Second Great Awakening and the formalization of what became known in the future as the Restoration Movement upon which were the origins of the Disciples of Christ, the Church of Christ, and several other, smaller groups.

However the Azusa Street Revival is considered the beginnings of the majority of the Pentecostal assemblies around the world today because of the close attention by the Los Angeles Press and the proliferation of the number of new groups that were inspired by it and the relevance existence today. Over a couple of years before Azusa Street, in 1901, Bible college students at a school founded by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas prayed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues (other languages). Parham moved to Houston, Texas, where in spite of segregation, William J. Seymour, a (literally) one-eyed African-American preacher was allowed to listen in to the Bible classes. Seymore travelled to Los Angeles, where his preaching helped spark the fires of the Azusa Street revival. Most Pentecostal denominations can trace their roots to the Azusa Street revival or were strongly influenced by it. This teaching was soon brought to Hong Kong in 1907, and to Shanghai in 1910.

Oneness Pentecostalism traces its roots to the World-Wide Apostolic Camp Meeting in April 1913 where one of the preachers started teaching Oneness doctrine.

Acceptance by mainline churches

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Christians from mainline churches in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world began to accept the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available for Christians today. Charismatic movements began to grow in mainline denominations. There were Charismatic Episcopalians, Lutherans, Catholics, and Methodists. During that time period, 'Charismatic' was used to refer to these movements that existed within mainline denominations. Pentecostal was used to refer to those who were a part of the churches and denominations that grew out of the earlier Azusa Street revival. However, in recent decades, many independent Charismatic churches and ministries have formed or have developed their own denominations and church associations. In the 1960s, many Pentecostal churches were still strict with dress codes and forbidding certain forms of entertainment, creating a cultural distinction between Charismatics and Pentecostals. Nowadays, many Pentecostal churches put little emphases on dress and entertainment issues. There is a great deal of overlap now between the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements.

Theology

Theologically, most Pentecostal denominations are aligned with Evangelicalism in that they emphasize the reliability of the Bible and the need for the transformation of an individual's life with faith in Jesus. Pentecostals also adhere to the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. Pentecostals differ from fundamentalists by placing less emphasis on personal spiritual experience and more emphasis on the Holy Spirit's work within a person than other Protestants.

One of the most prominent distinguishing characteristics of Pentecostalism from the rest of Evangelicalism is its emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. Most Pentecostals believe that everyone who is genuinely saved has the Holy Spirit. But unlike most other Christians they believe that there is a second work of the Holy Spirit called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, in which the Holy Spirit dwells more fully in them, and which opens a believer up to a closer fellowship with God and empowers them for Christian service. Some Pentecostals have modified the view teaching that Spirit baptism is not considered a second chronological work of grace, but a second aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry. His first ministry is to save and sanctify the believer by working in them; His second ministry is to empower the believer for service by working through them. Most Pentecostals cite speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, as the normative proof, and evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism. Some Pentecostals have adopted a more liberal view claiming that there are other evidences of Holy Spirit baptism. The doctrine of tongues as the initial evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit is uniquely Pentecostal and is one of the few differences from Charismatic theology which generally claims diverse evidences.

Pentecostals believe it is essential to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior in order to obtain salvation, and in the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Many believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an additional gift that is bestowed on believers, generally subsequent to an intermediate step termed sanctification, Santification refers to a work of grace wherein the effects of past sins are ameliorated and the natural tendency toward a sinful nature is likewise set aside through the working of the Holy Spirit. Other Pentecostals believe that Holy Spirit Baptism is a necessary step in God's plan of salvation citing Peter's answer to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. The crowd asked Peter what they must do to be saved, and Peter told them to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecostals vary in their beliefs of the types of speaking in tongues. Following are some possible distinctions. First, there is the evidence at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is when a believer speaks in tongues when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. This may or may not be the only time an individual ever speaks in tongues. Secondly, there is the gift of tongues. This is when a person is moved by God to speak in tongues at any time. The gift of tongues may be exercised anywhere; but many denominations believe that it must only be exercised with a person who has the gift of "interpretation of tongues" present (whether that be another person or the one who gives the tongue). The interpreter may interpret the tongue into the language of the gathered Christians so that they can understand the message.

Many Pentecostals, particularly after the growth and influence of the charismatic movement believe that speaking in tongues can be used as a prayer language at anytime one chooses, provided he has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Certain groups of Pentecostals emphasize the idea of speaking in tongues only when the Holy Spirit comes upon an individual, and have a problem with the idea of speaking in tongues 'at will.' God gives a wide variety of spiritual gifts. It may be that these doctrinal differences resulted from certain church leaders taking their own experiences and making doctrines out of them.

Early part the twentieth century, the majority of the Pentecostal missionaries along with prominent Pentecostal leaders maintained that speaking in tongues was a form of xenoglossia in which the Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in other languages. As continued investigations repeatedly concluded that speaking in tongues was a form of ecstatic utterance that lacked all syntactical structure and almost always consisted of syllables taken from the speaker's native language, Pentecostal theologians started to redefine their beliefs. Most now preach that speaking in tongues is a personal prayer language, glossolalia, and is not xenoglossia. Numerous churches draw a distinction between "speaking in tongues," which is an ecstatic utterance granted by God for prayer, and "the gift of tongues," which is a rare miracle in which God enables a Christian to speak in a foreign language he has not previously studied in order to proclaim the Gospel.

However, other pentecostal churches don't believe that the purpose of tongues is for preaching in another country but is a common misconception of Act 2 in which the account only indicates that some words were recognized from some languages but may still not have fully understood in it's entirely by the hearers. They still believe it is for personal prayer and as a sign of a believer to unbelievers in the operation of the spiritual gifts in a meeting. However they still maintain that a person who "speaks in tongues" is also as having "the gift of tongues" and that when a person "speaks in tongues" the language is not specific to one language but a combination of different words from different languages of which some are mankind and others are angelic. They point mainly to the biblical scripture of "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, . . . ." which indirectly refers to Apostle Peter's ability to speak in "tongues" been written in plural and not singular as well as indicating the diverse nature of the tongues as being from different languages including angelic languages.

Justin Martyr (100-165), in his Dialogue with Trypho, argues with a non-Christian Jew that the church had prophets, while the Jews no longer had them. The Second Century document The Shepherd of Hermas recounts visions and revelations and affirms the role of the gift of prophecy in the church. The popularity of this book in churches of the second century is strong evidence that the gift of prophecy was still widely accepted as being legitimate.

Some critics of spiritual gifts argue that these spiritual gifts died out and were only claimed by heretical groups. Usually they mention the 'new prophecy' of the Montanists around the turn of the second century to prove their claims. A careful study of history, however, shows that the gift of prophecy was generally accepted by the church in that day. Criticism of the Montanists had initially to deal with the ecstatic manner in which Montanus, Priscilla, Maximilla and others prophesied. After these three had died and prophecy had apparently ceased among the Montanists, Eusebius records a debate between an Orthodox believer and a Montanist. The Orthodox believer pointed out that the Montanists no longer had prophecy, though the apostle (Paul) affirmed that the gift would continue until the Lord returned. It is clear that the church accepted the continuing of the gift of prophecy.

The Church of God (Cleveland TN) is second largest denomination in the world. The movement's origins can be traced back to 1886 with a small meeting of Christians at the Barney Creek Meeting House on the Tennessee/North Carolina border, making it the oldest Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States. The largest denomination is the Assemblies of God, holds to the belief in Trinitarian theology in accordance with mainstream Protestantism as does the Elim Pentecostal Church, Church of God, the Church of God in Christ, The Apostolic Church, and the Foursquare Church.

Most Pentecostal churches hold the belief that preaching the Gospel to unbelievers is extremely important. The Great Commission to spread the "Good News of the Kingdom of God", spoken by Jesus directly before his Ascension, is perceived as one of the most important commands that Jesus gave.

According to a recent study, 40% of pentecostals or more did not speak or pray in tongues, in 6 out of 10 counties surveyed.

Trinitarian theology

Trinitarian Pentecostals typically believe in water baptism as an outward sign of conversion and that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a distinct spiritual experience that all who have belief in Jesus should receive. Most classical Pentecostals believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is always companied initially by the outward evidence of speaking in tongues according to the biblical passage in Mark 16:17 and in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is considered a liberalizing tendency to teach contrary to this historic position. This is another major difference between Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, who believe that a Christian baptized in the Holy Spirit may exhibit certain supernatural biblical signs, including speaking in tongues, prophecy (i.e., a vision or a word of God, spoken or felt in the spirit), miraculous healings, miraculous signs, etc.

Oneness theology

Some Pentecostal churches, however, hold to Oneness theology, which decries the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Oneness doctrine holds that God is absolutely and indivisibly one and that Jesus was the one God manifested in the flesh, the division of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as some of God's titles or manifestations rather than persons. Oneness believers view the Godhead as comprising of One Person whose name is Jesus, in contrast to the "three persons in one" trinitarian teaching.

Therefore, Oneness Pentecostals baptize believers "in Jesus' name" rather than what they refer to as the titles: "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The largest Oneness Pentecostal denominations are the United Pentecostal Church International, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus, and the Apostolic Church of the Faith in Christ Jesus but there are many smaller Oneness Pentecostal organizations and independent churches such as the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, the True Jesus Church, the Pentecostal Followers of Jesus Christ International Ministries, Iglesia del Dios Vivo, the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith, Bible Way, and independent or nondenominational churches. The majority, if not all, of Oneness Pentecostals also refer to themselves as Apostolics. The major Trinitarian Pentecostal organizations including the Pentecostal World Conference and the Fellowship of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America, have condemned Oneness theology as a heresy and refuse membership to churches holding this belief. This same holds true for some Oneness Pentecostals towards Trinitarian churches.

Behaviors

Some Pentecostal and Charismatic assemblies believe that they have spiritual experiences (outside of speaking in tongues) with the following described physical behaviors; hysterical laughter (or “holy laughter”), physical spasms or jerks, Dancing around (also known as 'shouting'), Jumping, running, excessive crying/weeping, falling to the floor under the Holy Spirit's power (aka “slain in the Spirit”) and sometimes rolling across the floor (Holy Roller).

Some Pentecostals explain that when one is slain in the spirit, or falls out, their body is under the power of God and that someone can only withstand so much before their body goes limp. As a result, some Pentecostals have sometimes been labeled as "holy rollers" because they fall to the ground and have been known to also roll across the floor. There are some instances in the bible where one falls to the ground because of the power of God, like the infilling of the temple in the Old Testament and when Saul was on the road to Damascus in the New Testament. There were many occasions when people would come into God's presence and their initial response was to fall to the ground, such as in Daniel 10, Matthew 17 and Revelation 1. Holy laughter and other strange manifestations of the Holy Spirit are explained simply as wonders of God. They believe this because of the prophecy in Joel 2:28 of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit where God said "...I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth..."

Other Pentecostals disagree that this scripture specifically relates to such behavior as part of the church service and uses the warning in 1 Timothy 4, "...some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; ... But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise (Greek-gumnasia) profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, ... This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." which explains that it is giving heed to seducing spirits and that outward body movement does very little in terms of godly acceptance. They also refer to 1 Corinthian 14 "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." which explains that church members have full subjective control of themselves and that the all churches must be in the state of peace and not in a state of confusion. They believe that any biblical accounts of people falling down to God's power, it was out of fear and respect from a sudden recognition of divine authority and relates to a significant biblical event. Typical examples were in 2 King 1:10-13 (when the third captain of the fifty fell to the ground to Elijah to spare his life and his men's lives from the heavenly fire that slain the other captains and their men) and John 18:4-6 (when Judas and the soliders came to get Jesus, they drew back and fell to the ground when Jesus said "I am He,")

Other Pentecostal services may not chose to do the physical behavior but still are observed to be very lively. Their behavior is characterized by spontaneous expressions of praise, either in the vernacular or in tongues. Pentecostal worshipers are also known for raising their hands in the orant style common in classical artistic impressions of the early church. Some Pentecostal services have been known to run for long periods of excitement, which is viewed as the Holy Spirit is "moving." (as opposed to people that are physically moved by the spirit)

Some Pentecostals believe they can be "drunk in the spirit" because of Ephesians 5:18 where it says "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (debauchery); but be filled with the Spirit" and in Acts 2:14-15 "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day..." Some Pentecostals believe that the 120 in the upper room had to appear drunk for Peter to denied that they were drunk but spirit filled to the rest of the 3,000 Jews that gathered at the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem,

Other Pentecostals believe that it was more to do with the actions of the "stammering lips" part of speaking in tongues that appears similar to a drunkard speaking and not the behavior of a drunkard itself. They believed that the context of Ephesians 5:18 was referring to being filled with the spirit as explained in the next two verses in "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;. . ." which is believed as nothing to do with being spiritually drunk or physically rolling on the ground or even raising their hands.

Each individual Pentecostal church's behaviors vary. Some churches may be more lively, to where others may seem more reserved. For an example, Pentecostal churches in the Southern United States or churches with a southern influence tend to be livelier, to where the rest tend to be more reserved or laid back (no physical action). Hispanic and African-American Pentecostal churches tend to be one of the most lively with dancing and hand waving. Whereas Revival Centres International in Australia avoids dancing and hand waving behavior but moderates the extent of their liveliness to clapping hands (labeled as "happy clappers" by some) occasionally during their singing and keeping the operation of the spiritual gifts in it's purity.

Some Pentecostals explain these behaviors simply as signs and wonders of God. Some others have suggested that such behavior as being an optional spiritual extra outside of the Bible that allows the spirit to be unquenched, while others criticize such physical behaviors are excessive and detracts from the purity (i.e. decent and orderly fashion) of the operation of the spiritual gifts as outlined in 1 Corinthians 14 and therefore becomes counterproductive and potentially offensive. Hence the majority of the Pentecostal churches do not fundamentally prescribe this as being part of their church doctrine because of the lack of biblical references depth to justify the behaviors.

The Pentecostal justification of the decent and orderly behavior of the operation of the spiritual gifts expected in a church meeting are outlined by Apostle Paul in following biblical reference. "How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. . . .Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order."

History of revival movements

Pentecostal Christians trace the history of the movement to the day of Pentecost when a week after Jesus ascended into Heaven, there were 120 believers waiting for the promise of the Father, that is the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:4, when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers they all spoke in tongues (other languages). The practice of speaking in tongues has been reported and documented throughout Christian history. Dr. Curtis Ward proposes the existence of an unbroken Pentecostal lineage from the early church to the present, with glossololia and gifts following, which can be chronologically charted, though his view is not shared by all Pentecostals. Most Pentecostals do not feel church perpetuity is a necessity and acknowledge various bursts of revival throughout history in which glossololia was present.

Europe

One such revival began with a Prussian Guards officer, Gustav von Below, in 1817. He and his brothers started holding charismatic meetings on his estates in Pomerania. A Lutheran commission sent to investigate was at first suspicious but found the phenomenon to be "of God." This led to a growth in charismatic meetings across Germany which quickly crossed the Atlantic during the great German migrations of the nineteenth century. The Pentecostal movement also became prominent in the Holiness movement, which was the first to begin making numerous references to the term "Pentecostal", such as in 1867 when the movement established The National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Christian Holiness with a notice that said: [We are summoning,] irrespective of denominational tie...those who feel themselves comparatively isolated in their profession of holiness…that all would realize together a Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost....

England and parts of Europe experienced another Charismatic- or Pentecostal-type movement before the Pentecostal movement started in the United States. In the 1830s, in England, a church under the leadership of Edward Irving began to experience manifestations of tongues and prophecy. Through prophecy, certain men were appointed as apostles. Certain apostles were appointed by these apostles until the number reached 12. Irving passed away, but the movement developed into what would be called the Catholic Apostolic Church, taken from the Nicene Creed. Henry Drummond was, perhaps, the most influential man in the movement at its beginnings. He was quite fond of the writings of the early church fathers, and the movement took on a highly liturgical flair, including influences from Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy. The movement grew to several hundredthousand in England, Germany, and some other parts of Europe. Though a splinter group in Germany did appoint new apostles and continue on, the English group did not. The last 'apostle', Francis Woodhouse, of the Catholic Apostolic Church died in 1901, just a few months after Agnes Ozman spoke in tongues in the United States.

In the United Kingdom, the first Pentecostal church to be formed was the Apostolic Church. This was later followed by the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, later to be known as the Elim Pentecostal Church, founded in 1914 by George Jeffreys.

In Sweden, the first Pentecostal church was the Filadelfia Church in Stockholm. Pastored by Lewi Pethrus, this congregation, originally Baptist, was expelled from the Baptist Union of Sweden in 1913 for doctrinal differences. Today this congregation has about 7000 members and is the biggest Pentecostal congregation in northern Europe. As of 2005, the Swedish pentecostal movement has approximately 90,000 members in nearly 500 congregations. These congregations are all independent but cooperate on a large scale. Swedish Pentecostals have been very missionary-minded and have established churches in many countries. In Brazil, for example, churches founded by the Swedish Pentecostal mission claim several million members.

The history of Pentecostalism in Australia has been documented by Dr Barry Chant in Heart of Fire (1984, Adelaide: Tabor).

In East-Europe, mainly, post-soviet territory the gospel was brought by Ukraine. The roots of Pentecostalism here was in the shtundist, molokan and dukhobor movements on their basis faith made stronger by Ivan Voronaev (a Baptist preacher than was a missionary from Ukraine to Siberia and emigrated to USA who was influenced by Kathryn Kuhlman, than he came back to Ukraine 20th years of XX century, where his church in some years growth to 25000, but he was arrested by soviet powers) in east Ukraine, the same time also there was a nee 20000 church in west Ukraine that also went to underground in soviet time. From Ukraine the gospel and Pentecostalism was brought to all Russia and other Soviet Union, many believers where killed by totalitarism power but now their gospel gave over 3 million. Believers in post-soviet countries and this church is extremely growing.

North America

The some of the oldest and rarest lineage of the modern Pentecostal movement in North America date back no earlier than the the summer of 1799. When in the church of Red River (near the Tennessee-Kentucky border) in connection with the Gasper and Muddy river congregations of the Methodist and Presbyterians backgrounds had an overpowering charged meeting. Every settlement along the Green river and the Cumberland was full of religious fervor. The first regular general camp meeting was held at the Gasper River Church, in July, 1800. Spread of the revival began in Christian and Logan Co., Kentucky and in the Spring of 1801, had reached Mason Co., Kentucky. Beginning at Flemingsburgh in April, moving to Cabin Creek, where a camp meeting was held, then Concord, in Bourbon County, by the last of May and Eagle Creek in Adams Co., Ohio in the beginning of June. There were meetings in quick succession at Pleasant Point, Kentucky; Indian Creek, in Harrison county (July); Cane Ridge, near Paris, Bourbon county (August).When there was a huge manifestation and outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky back in the 1801. It was observed by military personnel that a range of 20,000 to 30,000 of people of different ages from mainly Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists denominations gathered in the Cane Ridge area to experience this outpouring.

As early as the 1870s, there were Christians known as Gift People or Gift Adventists numbering in the thousands who were known for spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues. One preacher from the Gift People was influential on A.J. Tomlinson, an early leader in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), which would become a Pentecostal denomination after the Azusa Street revival.

Although the 1896 Shearer Schoolhouse Revival in Cherokee County, North Carolina may rightfully be regarded as the literal beginning of the modern Pentecostal movement, the remoteness of this religion very likely played a role in this event remaining localized for so long. Around 1901, however, Pentecostalism was to stand on a larger stage, as that was when Agnes Ozman began speaking in tongues (glossolalia) during a prayer meeting at Charles Fox Parham's Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Parham, a minister of Methodist background, formulated the doctrine that tongues was the "Bible evidence" of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Further, Pentecostals point to the "upper room" experience of the gathered disciples of Jesus as described in Acts 2:1 and Peter's instructions in Acts 2:38 as justification for their practices.

Parham left Topeka and began a revival meeting ministry. The most significant and controversial is his link to the Azusa Street Revival conducted by his student, the African-American, William J. Seymour. Parham taught W.J. Seymour in his school in Houston, Texas. Since W.J. Seymour was African-American, he was only allowed to sit outside the room to listen to Parham.

Although many instances of glossolalia occurred prior to 1906, The Azusa Street Revival led by William J. Seymour is the watershed of the Pentecostal movement in the U.S. and worldwide. It began on April 9, 1906, in Los Angeles, California, at the home of Edward Lee, who claimed the infilling of the Holy Spirit. William J. Seymour claimed that he was overcome with the Holy Spirit on April 12, 1906. On April 18, 1906, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on the revival, "Weird Babel of Tongues, New Sect of fanatics is breaking loose, Wild scene last night on Azusa Street, gurgle of wordless talk by a sister". By the third week in April, 1906, the small but growing congregation rented an abandoned African Methodist Episcopal Church at 312 Azusa Street and subsequently became organized as the Apostolic Faith Mission. Almost all mainline Pentecostal denominations today trace their historical roots to the Azusa Street Revival.

Pentecostalism, like any other major movement, has given birth to a large number of organizations, denominations, churches, sects, para-churches, separatists and even cults with political, social or theological differences. The movement's inception was counter-cultural to the social and political norms of society. Record numbers of African-American men and women, both Black and white were initial leaders. As the Azusa Revival began to wane, doctrinal differences began to surface as well as the pressure from social, cultural and political events of the time. As a result, major divisions, separation, isolationism, sectarianism and even the increase of extremism were apparent. Not wishing to affiliate with the Assemblies of God, formed in 1914, a group of ministers from predominantly white churches formed the Pentecostal Church of God in Chicago, Illinois in 1919. George Went Hensley, a preacher who had left the Church of God, Cleveland Tennessee (the oldest Pentecostal denomination in America) when it finally stopped embracing snake handling, is credited with creating the first church dedicated to this extreme practice in the 1920s. This became widely practiced in poor, rural areas of the Appalachians. In urban African-American communities of the 1940s, there were Father Divine with his Peace Mission and Daddy Grace, both claiming divinity, encouraging their followers to practice the estaticism of Pentecostalism.

African-Americans

African-Americans played an important role in the early Pentecostal movement. The first decade of Pentecostalism was marked by interracial assemblies, "…Whites and blacks mix in a religious frenzy, …" according to a local newspaper account, at a time when government facilities were racially separate, and the Jim Crow laws about to be codified. The forward interracial, gender equality and enthusiasm of the Azusa Revival lasted until 1924, when divisions occurred along racial, gender and doctrinal lines. Interracial services continued for many years, even in parts of the segregated Southern United States, although after the waning years of the Azusa Revival, the practice of interracial services were nearly non-existent in many white Pentecostal churches. The Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee, prior to the split in 1923, made significant inroads across racial divides, with missionary ministry to the Bahamas and elsewhere. After the 1923 divide, the bulk of the black membership followed Overseer A.J. Tomlinson into the Church of God of Prophecy.

Mary Lena Lewis Tate (1871-1930), also known as Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate and Mother Tate, an African-American female, is recognized as the Mother of the doctrine of True Holiness and Sanctification. Tate pioneered in the gender-rights movement in ecclesiology. She founded (or "revived" pursuant to the Pauline statement found in 1 Timothy 3:15) the religious organization known as The Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inc. in Dickson, Tennessee in 1903. The religious body, formally organized in 1908 at Greenville, Alabama, from its beginning ordained women preachers as reverends, elders, and bishops in formal General Assembly actions with input from both men and women. Tate was ordained to the bishopric and seated as the first Chief Overseer of the body in 1908. The organization, beset with a plethora of internal schisms subsequent to Tate’s death in 1930, has nonetheless grown to international proportions and maintains churches throughout the United States.

Charismatic movement

From the late 1950s onwards, the Modern Charismatic movement, which was to a large extent inspired and influenced by Pentecostalism, began to flourish in the mainline Protestant denominations, as well as the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, fostered in Britain by organizations such as the Fountain Trust, founded by Michael Harper in 1964. Unlike "Classical Pentecostals," who formed strictly Pentecostal congregations or denominations, Charismatics adopted as their motto, "Bloom where God planted you."

Some leaders who chose not to participate in the early 20th Century Pentecostal Movement remained highly respected by Pentecostal leaders of the 20th Century. Albert Benjamin Simpson became closely involved with the growing Pentecostal movement. It was common for Pentecostal pastors and missionaries to receive their training at the Missionary Training Institute that Simpson founded. Because of this, Simpson and the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) (an evangelistic movement that Simpson founded) had a great influence on Pentecostalism, in particular the Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church. This influence included evangelistic emphasis, C&MA doctrine, Simpson's hymns and books, and the use of the term 'Gospel Tabernacle,' which evolved into Pentecostal churches being known as 'Full Gospel Tabernacles.' Charles Price Jones, the African-American Holiness leader and founder of the Church of Christ is another example. His hymns are widely sung at National Coventions of the Church of God in Christ and many other Pentecostal churches.

Denominations and adherents

Main article: List of Christian denominations § Pentecostalism

The largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States are the Church of God in Christ. The largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, the Assemblies of God, has over 12,311 churches in the U.S. and 283,413 churches and outstations in over 200 countries, and approximately 57 million adherents worldwide. , New Testament Church, Church of God (Cleveland), Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, the United Pentecostal Church, and the United Gospel Tabernacles. According to a Spring 1998 article in Christian History, there are about 11,000 different Pentecostal or charismatic denominations worldwide.

The size of Pentecostalism in the U.S. is estimated to be more than 20 million including approximately 918,000 (4%) of the Hispanic-American population, counting all unaffiliated congregations, although the numbers are uncertain, in part because some tenets of Pentecostalism are held by members of non-Pentecostal denominations in what has been called the charismatic movement. Toronto, Canada, has a large Pentecostal population. The influence of immigrants from Jamaica, Africa, Latin America, Korea and elsewhere have created diverse churches throughout the city.

In Australia, Hillsong (led by Pastor Brian Houston) is the largest church with a membership exceeding 19,000. Many of their songs are sung across the Pentecostal churches (and other denominations). They are a member of Assemblies of God, which is one of the largest Pentecostal organizations in the world.

Inside Hillsong Church (a Pentecostal Church).

Pentecostalism was estimated to number around 115 million followers worldwide in 2000; The great majority of Pentecostals are to be found in Developing Countries (see #Church Growth), although much of their international leadership is still North America. Pentecostalism is sometimes referred to as the "third force of Christianity." The largest Pentecostal Christian church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea. Founded and led by David Yonggi Cho since 1958, it had 780,000 members in 2003.

According to Christianity Today, Pentecostalism is "a vibrant faith among the poor; it reaches into the daily lives of believers, offering not only hope but a new way of living." In addition, according to a 1999 U.N. report, "Pentecostal churches have been the most successful at recruiting its members from the poorest of the poor." Brazilian Pentecostals talk of Jesus as someone real and close to them and doing things for them including providing food and shelter. - Krishneel Maharaj from India.

Church growth

Pentecostal and charismatic church growth is rapid in many parts of the world. Jeffrey K. Hadden at the Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia collected statistics from the various large pentecostal organizations and from the work by David Stoll (David Stoll, "Is Latin American Turning Protestant?" published Berkeley: University of California Press. 1990) demonstrating that the Pentecostals are experiencing very rapid growth as can be seen on his website. In Myanmar, the Assemblies of God of Myanmar is one of the largest Christian denominations. The pentecostal churches Igreja do Evangelho Completo de Deus, Assembleias de Deus, Igrejas de Cristo and the Assembleias Evangelicas de Deus Pentecostales are among the largest denominations of Mozambique.

According to the last census in Brazil, 25% of Brazilians are Protestants, many being Pentecostals or Charismatics (e.g., Assemblies of God, Christian Congregation of Brazil, Foursquare Gospel, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Charismatics Baptists). The biggest denomination is the Assemblies of God (Assembléia de Deus), which has about 10 million members.

Among the Indian charismatic denominations are the Apostolic Church of Pentecost, Apostolic Pentecostal Church, Assemblies of Christ Church, Assemblies of God, Bible Pattern Church, Church of God (Full Gospel) in India, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of the Apostolic Faith, Elim Church, Nagaland Christian Revival Church, ICOF India, New Life Fellowship, The Pentecostal Mission, Open Bible Church of God, Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Pentecostal Mission, United Pentecostal Church in India, India Pentecostal Church of God, Sharon Fellowship Church, Kerala, India (Founded by Pr. Thomachayan) has planted numerous Churches throughout the world.

Geographical distribution

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Leaders

Main page: Category:Pentecostals

Forerunners

• William Boardman
• John Alexander Dowie (1848-1907)
• Edward Irving
• Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919)

Early history

• Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844 - 1924)
• Smith Wigglesworth (1859 - 1947)
• Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate (1879 - 1930) - Mother of Holiness. Founder of the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inc. and its dominion churches.
• Charles Fox Parham (1873 - 1929) Father of Modern Pentecostalism
• William J. Seymour (1870 - 1922) Azusa Street Mission Founder (Azusa Street Revival)
• Bishop R.A.R. Johnson (1876 -1940) Founder of the House of God, Holy Church of the Living God, The Pillar and the Ground of the Truth, The House of Prayer for All People. A Commandment (Sabbath) keeping Pentecostal organization.
• George Jeffreys (1889 - 1972) Founder of the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance and the Bible-Pattern Church Fellowship in Britain
• Aimee Semple McPherson (1890 - 1944) American Female Evangelist and organizer of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
• Joseph Ayo Babalola (1904 - 1959) Oke - Ooye, Ilesa revivalist in 1930. Also, spiritual founder of Christ Apostolic Church
• David du Plessis (1905 - 1987) South-African Pentecostal church leader, one of the founders of the Charismatic movement
• Kathryn Kuhlman (1907 - 1976) American female evangelist who brought Pentecostalism into the mainstream denominations
• William M. Branham (1909 - 1965) Healing Evangelists of the mid 20th century
• Jack Coe (1918 - 1956) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s
• Charles Harrison Mason (1866 - 1961) The Founder of the Church of God In Christ
• A. A. Allen (1911 - 1970) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s and 1960s
• Oral Roberts (b.1918) Healing Tent Evangelist who made the transition to televangelism
• Rex Humbard (1919 – 2007) The first successful TV evangelist of the mid 1950s, 1960s, and the 1970s and at one time had the largest television audience of any televangelist in the U.S.

Theologians

Pentecostal theologians are listed in the article Renewal Theologians.

See also

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Further reading

• Paul Alexander, (2000), "An Analysis of the Emergence and Decline of Pacifism in the History of the Assemblies of God", PhD Dissertation, Baylor University.
• Grant Wacker, (2001), Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA - An academic history of early Pentecostalism.
• Walter Hollenweger, (1972), The Pentecostals: the charismatic movement in the churches, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, ISBN 0-8066-1210-X
• Walter Hollenweger, , (1997), Pentecostalism : origins and developments worldwide, Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, ISBN 0-943575-36-2
• Clifton, S. J., (2005), An Analysis of the Developing Ecclesiology of the Assemblies of God in Australia, PhD thesis Australian Catholic University
• Matthew Steel, (2005), Pentecostalism in Zambia : Power, Authority and the Overcomers, MSc Dissertation - an examination of the growth and effects of Pentecostalism on development, University of Wales
• "A Church's Challenge: Holding On to Its Young". The New York Times. 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
• Meharry H. Lewis, (2005), Mary Lena Lewis Tate: Vision!, A Biography of the Founder and History of the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inc., Nashville, Tenn.: The New and Living Way Publishing Company, ISBN 0-910003-08-4.
• Kelly Willis Mendiola, (2002) The hand of a woman: four holiness-pentecostal evangelists and American culture, 1840-1930, Thesis (Ph. D.)—University of Texas at Austin, 2002, OCLC 56818195.

External links

• Map showing Percentage of Pentecostal Population in USA by county from Valparaiso University
• Apostolic Herald Online newsletter sharing Pentecostal and Apostolic concepts written primarily by pentecostal authors.
• Pentecostal Conference of the North American Keralites
• Australasian Pentecostal Studies journal
• Pew Religious Forum Pentecostal Hub

Academic centres and journals

• Journal of Pentecostal Theology is published by SAGE publications. The editorial board is comprised of members of the Church of God Theological Seminary faculty.
• The REFLEKS journal is published by REFLEKS-Publishing in Oslo, Norway and contains scholarly Scandinavian and English articles on Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism.
• Encounter: Journal for Pentecostal Ministry is a published by the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS)
• The European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism (GloPent) is an initiative by three leading European Universities in Pentecostal studies networking academic research on Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.
• Hollenweger Center for the interdisciplinary study of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements at the Free University of Amsterdam
• Cyberjournal for Pentecostal Charismatic Research
• Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (Assemblies of God archives), one of the largest collections of materials documenting the global Pentecostal movement; website contains free research tools, including over 200,000 digitized pages of periodicals and online catalog with over 55,000 entries.