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Particulars
of Christianity:
310
Pentecostalism, the Charismatic
and Faith Movements
The Origins
of the Modern Charismatic Movement
Our
Background and Objectivity
Comparing Modern Tongues to Biblical
Tongues
Basic Introduction to the Charismatic
Movement
Opening Remarks and Introduction
to the Gifts
Survey 1 - Continuity of the
Gifts in the First Few Centuries
Survey 2 - Decline of Orthodox
Gifts and Rise of Counterfeit Gifts
Survey 3 - A Change in Tune Regarding
the Gifts
Survey 4 - From the Renaissance
to the Modern Era
An Introduction to the Gifts
in Modern Times
The Origins of the Modern Charismatic
Movement
Section 1 | Section
2 | Section 3 | Section
4
| Section 5
As
we turn our attention to the Wesleyan Holiness Movement and
the rise of the modern Charismatic Movement, it should be
said that our point here is not to malign either John Wesley
or the Methodist or Wesleyan denominations. To the contrary,
as freewill proponents, we have some admiration for the work
John Wesley has done as an apologist against Calvinist doctrines.
In fact, an article citing a large excerpt from Wesley in
which he defines the distinction between Calvinists and Arminians
(Freewill) appears on our home website under our section on
Calvinism. And additionally, it should be stated that there
is no evidence or documentation that John Wesley or any of
the other early Methodists ever spoke in tongues or practiced
the charismatic gifts. Our point in this section is simply
to display the origins of the modern Charismatic Movement
as an outgrowth of the Wesleyan Holiness Movement.
For this portion of our study, we will start with the basics
and move our way up.
1.) John Wesley founded the Methodist denominations.
"Wesley, John - Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and
founder, with his brother Charles, of the Methodist movement
in the Church of England." (Britannica.com, "Wesley, John.")
"Methodism...the doctrines, polity, and worship of those Protestant
Christian denominations that have developed from the movement
started in England by the teaching of John Wesley." (Bartleby.com,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001. "Methodism.")
2.) Wesleyan Churches are a branch of the Methodist
denomination.
"Branches of the Methodist Church - In 1791, after
Wesley's death, the English Methodists were formally separated
from the Church of England and established the Wesleyan
Methodist Church... Then followed the Primitive Methodists,
the Bible Christians, the Protestant Methodists, the Wesleyan
Methodist Association, and the Wesleyan Reformers." (Bartleby.com,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001. "Methodism.")
"In 1784, Wesley executed the deed of declaration by
which the Methodist societies became legally constituted;
it was in essence the charter of the Wesleyan Methodists."
(Bartleby.com, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"Methodism.")
3.) The Holiness Movement traces back to the teachings
of John Wesley and primarily originated in Methodist and Wesleyan
Churches.
"The Wesleyan Church is considered one of the Holiness
Churches. It stresses entire sanctification, a postconversion
experience that allows the person to live a sinless life."
(Britannica.com, "Wesleyan Church.")
"Holiness movement - a fundamentalist religious movement
that arose in the 19th century among Protestant churches in
the United States, characterized by a doctrine of sanctification
centring on a postconversion experience. The numerous Holiness
churches that arose during this period vary from quasi-Methodist
sects to groups that are similar to Pentecostal churches."
(Britannica.com, "Holiness Movement.")
"The movement traces back to John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, who issued a call to Christian "perfection."
Perfection was to be the goal of all those who desired to
be altogether Christian; it implied that the God who is good
enough to forgive sin (justify) is obviously great enough
to transform the sinner into a saint (sanctify), thus enabling
him to be free from outward sin as well as from Ôevil thoughts
and tempers,' in short, to attain to a measure of holiness."
(Britannica.com, "Holiness Movement.")
"In 1843 about two dozen Holiness ministers withdrew
from the Methodist Episcopal Church to found the Wesleyan
Methodist Church of America, establishing a pattern of
defections or looser ties. In particular, sizable numbers
of Protestants from the rural areas of the Midwest and
South were joining the Holiness movement." (Britannica.com,
"Holiness Movement.")
"Among these are the "older" denominations-the Wesleyan Methodist
Church and the Free Methodist Church of North America (founded
1860)-as well as the newer ones: the Church of God (Anderson,
Ind.), the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Salvation
Army, and the Church of the Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene,
whose members constitute nearly a third of the total membership
of the Holiness movement, is generally recognized as
being its most influential representative." (Britannica.com,
"Holiness Movement.")
"Having been affected by 19th-century pietism and revivalism,
contemporary Holiness churches tend to stand closer,
doctrinally speaking, to fundamentalism than to their Methodist
antecedents." (Britannica.com, "Holiness Movement.")
From the five excerpts above we can see that the Holiness
Movement began as a subset of the Wesleyan Methodist denomination,
which as it gained steam began to pull other Protestants in
as well. And new denominations were also spinning off along
the way, which did not carry the title Methodist or Wesleyan.
However, we must take note that up until this point the Holiness
Movement was only characterized by its emphasis on the Wesleyan
doctrine of "perfection" or "sanctification" as a second work
of the Holy Spirit after salvation. In other words, these
Holiness movements were not at this point Charismatic.
"In the doctrinal statements of a few churches-Church of the
Nazarene and Christian and Missionary Alliance-brief allusions
to divine healing and a Pentecostal experience do appear.
However, these must not be construed as constituting sufficient
grounds for their being identified with the Pentecostal movement,
the so-called left wing of perfectionism, against which,
in fact, many right-wing Holiness groups have inveighed."
(Britannica.com, "Holiness Movement.")
As we will see in our next section, the Pentecostal Movement
did begin inside the Holiness Churches. Nonetheless, as stated
in the excerpt above, we must distinguish between Holiness
Churches and the Pentecostal Churches that arose out of the
Holiness Movement. The two are not the same. Not all Holiness
Churches are Pentecostal. However, as even the above quote
demonstrates, the first hints at divine healing and other
charismatic experiences did start in the Holiness Churches.
4.) The Pentecostal Movement emerges out of the Holiness
Movement.
"Although Pentecostals trace their origin to the Apostles,
the modern-day Pentecostal movement has its roots in the late
19th century, a time of mounting indifference to traditional
religion." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"Protestant denomination organized in Falcon, N.C., in 1911
by the merger of the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church
(organized in 1898 by several Pentecostal associations) and
the Pentecostal Holiness Church (organized in 1900)."
(Britannica.com, "Pentecostal Holiness Church, Inc.")
"Reflecting the Methodist Episcopal heritage of its Holiness
constituents, the denomination is divided into conferences:
general, annual, district, and missionary." (Britannica.com,
"Pentecostal Holiness Church, Inc.")
"What is sometimes called classical Pentecostalism grew
out of the late 19th-century Holiness Movement in the United
States." (Bartleby.com, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth
Edition. 2001. "Pentecostalism.")
"Pentecostalism, like its precursor, the Holiness movement
(based on the belief that a second work of grace following
conversion would Ôsanctify' Christians and remove the
desire to sin), fulfilled these needs for churchgoers and
nonchurchgoers alike." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"The college's director, Charles Fox Parham, one of many
ministers who was influenced by the Holiness movement..."
(Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
5.) The dramatic reemergence of the charismatic gifts
began in the Pentecostal Holiness Movement.
"The Holiness preacher Charles Fox Parham began preaching
(1901) to his Topeka congregation that speaking in tongues
was objective evidence of baptism in the Spirit. After
Parham's Los Angeles-based Apostolic Faith mission became
the center of a great revival (1906), the movement quickly
spread around the world." (Bartleby.com, The Columbia Encyclopedia,
Sixth Edition. 2001. "Pentecostalism.")
"The college's director, Charles Fox Parham, one of many
ministers who was influenced by the Holiness movement,
believed that the complacent, worldly, and coldly formalistic
church needed to be revived by another outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. He instructed his students-many of whom already were
ministers-to pray, fast, study the Scriptures, and, like the
Apostles, await the blessings of the Holy Spirit." (Britannica.com,
"Pentecostalism.")
"The college's director, Charles Fox Parham, one of many
ministers who was influenced by the Holiness movement,
believed that the complacent, worldly, and coldly formalistic
church needed to be revived by another outpouring of the
Holy Spirit. He instructed his students-many of whom already
were ministers-to pray, fast, study the Scriptures, and, like
the Apostles, await the blessings of the Holy Spirit."
(Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"Borrowed from several Holiness churches, notably the
Christian and Missionary Alliance, faith healing became
a hallmark of Pentecostalism." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"Wider national and international expansion, however, resulted
from the Azusa Street revival that began in 1906 at the
Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission at 312 Azusa Street in Los
Angeles. Its leader, William Seymour, a one-eyed Holiness
church pastor and former member of the African Methodist Episcopal
church, had been exposed to Parham's teachings
at a Bible school in Houston, Texas." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"Parham, Seymour, and other early Pentecostals came from
the Holiness tradition that taught Christians to seek
"sanctification." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
6.) The rest of the Charismatic Movement arose out
of the Pentecostal Movement.
"Parham was the first in a long line of Pentecostal evangelists
(Mary B. Woodworth-Etter, Charles Price, Aimee Semple McPherson,
and, more recently Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhman, and
Benny Hinn) who taught that Christ's atonement provides
deliverance from sickness and is, therefore, the privilege
of all who have the requisite faith." (Britannica.com, "Pentecostalism.")
"The Charismatic Movement - A second form of Pentecostalism
arose in the 1960s after many non-Pentecostals became aware
of Pentecostalism through an earlier Pentecostal revival
organized by faith-healing evangelists (notably Oral Roberts)."
(Bartleby.com, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"Pentecostalism.")
"...And Southwestern Pentecostal Holiness College in
Oklahoma City, Okla., which Oral Roberts, a faith healer
and evangelist, helped to establish." (Britannica.com,
"Pentecostal Holiness Church, Inc.")
Oral Roberts and Benny Hinn came from the Pentecostal Movement
and out of the tradition of Pentecostal evangelists.
"The Holiness Pentecostal belief is represented by such groups
as the International Pentecostal Holiness Church; among the
groups that emerged from a Baptist background are the Christian
Church of North America and the International Church of
the Foursquare Gospel...The Assemblies of God, an organization
of independent Trinitarian Pentecostals, was founded in Hot
Springs, Arkansas, in 1914 in response to the need for better
relations between the churches and the government." (Britannica.com,
"Pentecostal Holiness Church, Inc.")
The Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Gospel denomination
(founded by Aimee Semple McPherson, a Pentecostal evangelist)
also grew out of the Holiness and Pentecostal Movements.
From this survey of excerpts defined in the six points above,
we can see how the modern Charismatic Movement evolved out
of the Wesleyan Churches and the Wesleyan doctrine regarding
"perfection" or "sanctification" by a second work of the Holy
Spirit. And now that we know where the modern Charismatic
Movement came from, we can move on to evaluate its legitimacy.
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