Pentecostalism

"Pentecostal" redirects here. For other uses, see Pentecost (disambiguation).
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Pentecostalism
Tongues as of fire representing the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
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Christianity • Protestantism

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Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement[1][2][3] that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit.[1] The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).[4]

Like other forms of evangelical Protestantism,[5] Pentecostalism adheres to the inerrancy of the Bible and the necessity of the New Birth: an individual repenting of their sin and "accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior". It is distinguished by belief in both the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" and baptism by water, that enables a Christian to "live a Spirit-filled and empowered life". This empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts: such as speaking in tongues and divine healing.[1] Because of their commitment to biblical authority, spiritual gifts, and the miraculous, Pentecostals see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power and teachings that were found in the Apostolic Age of the Early Church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term "Apostolic" or "Full Gospel" to describe their movement.[1]

Holiness Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century among adherents of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, who were energized by Christian revivalism and expectation of the imminent Second Coming of Christ.[6] Believing that they were living in the end times, they expected God to spiritually renew the Christian Church and bring to pass the restoration of spiritual gifts and the evangelization of the world. In 1900, Charles Parham, an American evangelist and faith healer, began teaching that speaking in tongues was the Biblical evidence of Spirit baptism. Along with William J. Seymour, a Wesleyan-Holiness preacher, he taught that this was the third work of grace.[7] The three-year-long Azusa Street Revival, founded and led by Seymour in Los Angeles, California, resulted in the growth of Pentecostalism throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Visitors carried the Pentecostal experience back to their home churches or felt called to the mission field. While virtually all Pentecostal denominations trace their origins to Azusa Street, the movement has had several divisions and controversies. Early disputes centered on challenges to the doctrine of entire sanctification, and later on, the Holy Trinity. As a result, the Pentecostal movement is divided between Holiness Pentecostals who affirm three definite works of grace,[6] and Finished Work Pentecostals who are partitioned into trinitarian and non-trinitarian branches, the latter giving rise to Oneness Pentecostalism.[8][9]

Comprising over 700 denominations and many independent churches, Pentecostalism is highly decentralized.[10] No central authority exists, but many denominations are affiliated with the Pentecostal World Fellowship. With over 279 million classical Pentecostals worldwide, the movement is growing in many parts of the world, especially the Global South and Third World countries.[10][11][12][13][14] Since the 1960s, Pentecostalism has increasingly gained acceptance from other Christian traditions, and Pentecostal beliefs concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts have been embraced by non-Pentecostal Christians in Protestant and Catholic churches through their adherence to the Charismatic movement. Together, worldwide Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity numbers over 644 million adherents.[15] While the movement originally attracted mostly lower classes in the global South, there is a new appeal to middle classes.[16][17][18] Middle-class congregations tend to have fewer members.[19][20][21] Pentecostalism is believed to be the fastest-growing religious movement in the world.[22]

  1. ^ a b c d Vondey, Wolfgang (2017). "Part 1: Full Gospel Story – Healed: Manifesting Signs and Wonders". Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel. T&T Clark Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology (1st ed.). London and New York: T&T Clark. pp. 107–130. ISBN 978-0-567-38773-8.
  2. ^ "Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals". pewforum.org. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 5 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2019-01-31.
  3. ^ Livingstone 2013, p. 461.
  4. ^ Acts 2:1–31
  5. ^ Mohler 2011, pp. 106–108.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TWTHS2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999. p. 415. ISBN 978-90-04-11695-5. While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870–1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification, but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues.
  8. ^ Anderson, Allan (13 May 2004). An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-521-53280-8. Those who resisted Durham's teaching and remained in the 'three-stage' camp were Seymour, Crawford and Parham, and Bishops Charles H. Mason, A.J. Tomlinson and J.H. King, respectively leaders of the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God (Cleveland) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church.... a more fundamental and acrimonious split erupted in 1916 over the doctrine of the Trinity. ... The 'New Issue' was a schism in the ranks of the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals that began as a teaching that the correct formula for baptism is 'in the name of Jesus' and developed into a dispute about the Trinity. It confirmed for Holiness Pentecostals that they should have no further fellowship with the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals, who were in 'heresy'.
  9. ^ Levinson, David (1996). Religion: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-87436-865-9. The Finished Work Pentecostals believed that conversion and sanctification were a single act of grace. The Assemblies of God, created in 1914, became the first Finished Work denomination.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Schneider 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jenkins 2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Freston 2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Robbins 2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Robert 2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Zurlo, Gina A.; Johnson, Todd M.; Crossing, Peter F. (July 2019). "World Christianity and Mission 2020: Ongoing Shift to the Global South". International Bulletin of Mission Research. 44 (1): 16. doi:10.1177/2396939319880074. ISSN 2396-9393.
  16. ^ Jens, Koehrsen (January 2016). Middle class pentecostalism in Argentina: inappropriate spirits. Boston: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004310148_001. ISBN 978-90-04-31014-8. OCLC 932618793. Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  17. ^ Bastian, Jean-Pierre. 2008. "The New Religious Economy of Latin America". pp. 171–192, In Salvation Goods and Religious Markets: Theory and Applications, edited by J. Stolz: Peter Lang.
  18. ^ David, Martin (2002). Pentecostalism: the world their parish. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-23120-X. OCLC 46500201.
  19. ^ Koehrsen, Jens (2017-09-01). "When Sects Become Middle Class: Impression Management among Middle-Class Pentecostals in Argentina". Sociology of Religion. 78 (3): 318–339. doi:10.1093/socrel/srx030. ISSN 1069-4404.
  20. ^ Martin, Bernice. 2006. "The Aesthetics of Latin American Pentecostalism: the Sociology of Religion and the Problem of Taste". pp. 138–160, in Materialising Religion: Expression, Performance, and Ritual, edited by E. Arweck and W. J. F. Keenan. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate.
  21. ^ Hallum, Anne M. 2002. "Looking for Hope in Central America: the Pentecostal Movement". pp. 225–239, in Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many, edited by T. G. Jelen and C. Wilcox. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  22. ^ Miller, Donald E.; Sargeant, Kimon H.; Flory, Richard (15 August 2013). Spirit and Power: The Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-992057-0. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2022.