The document discusses the rise and spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century, beginning with Charles Parham's teachings on spiritual gifts in the 1890s and the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, which sparked the global Pentecostal movement, resulting in over 500 million Pentecostal and Charismatic believers by 2000 as the movement continued its rapid worldwide growth.

1. Rise & Spread of Pentecostalism
Further Turning Points (20th Century)
Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
Brian M. Sandifer 1

2. Turning Points
in Christian History
1. Fall of Jerusalem (70)  English Act of Supremacy
2. Council of Nicaea (325) (1534)
3. Council of Chalcedon (451)  Founding of Jesuits (1540)
4. Benedict’s Rule (530)  Conversion of Wesleys
5. Coronation of Charlemagne (1738)
(800)  French Revolution (1789)
6. Great Schism (1054)  Edinburgh Missionary
Conference (1910)
7. Diet of Worms (1521)
 Further Turning Points
(1900s)
2

3. Majority Christianity at the Dawn of
20th Century*
* Joke alert
3

4. Majority Christianity at the Dawn of
21st Century*
* Joke alert
4

5. Emergence of
Pentecostalism in the
20th Century
 Worldwide Christianity in 1900
 (At most) a handful of Christians experiencing
special gifts of the Holy Spirit alleged to be
similar to those recorded in NT.
 Worldwide Christianity in 2000
 (As many as) 500 million believers who could
be identified as pentecostal or charismatic.
 Pentecostal/charismatic believers numbered a
fourth of all Christians worldwide!
 Pentecostal movement continues its rapid
worldwide growth. 5

6. The Beginning of
Pentecostalism
 Roots: longing for revival, sanctification, outpouring of
spirit
 19th century American revival movements
 American “Holiness” Movement around the turn of the 20th
century; Methodism chasing Christian perfection and holiness
 Scottish preacher Edward Irving (1792-1834) and others
encouraged special spiritual gifts
 Kindling: Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929), founder of
Bethel Bible College in Topeka, KS.
 Parham studied Paul’s epistles and became convinced that
apostolic gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to believers today.
 Spark: Azusa Street Revival 6

7. Roots: Longing for Revival
 Worldwide Revival tour of Reuben A.
Torrey (1856-1928)
 Beginning of 20th century
 Linked together many who would later
participate in the Pentecostal movement
 Torrey would not become a pentecostal
 Revival in Wales (1903-1904)
 Well-reported
 Fanned further hope for a special outpouring
of the Holy Spirit 7

8. Kindling: Charles Parham
 Raised in Methodist and Holiness churches
 Instructed his students that a baptism of “the
Holy Ghost and fire” should be expected among
believers who were going onward to perfect
sanctification that Holiness advocates
proclaimed.
 Particularly interested in “speaking in tongues”,
which occurred for the first time in 1901 at
Bethel Bible College. 8

9. What is “Speaking in Tongues”
Pentecostal Style?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omy24KC3LzU
9

10. Spark: 1906 Azusa
Street Revival,
Los Angeles, CA
 Preacher: African-American William J. Seymour
(1870-1922), a student of Parham, began a lengthy
series of nightly “revival” meetings which lasted for
months.
 Message: the living presence of the Holy Spirit could be
experienced as a reality in our age.
 What happened: participants were “baptized in the Holy
Ghost,” healed of illnesses, some spoke in tongues
 Hence the name “pentecostal” referring to Pentecost and the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.
 Result: thousands of believers from across the U.S.
traveled to Azusa Street to carry the message and the 10

11. Contemporary Reports
of Azusa Street Revival
 “Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a
creed which it would seem no sane mortal could
understand, the newest religious sect has
started in Los Angeles.” *
 “Meetings are held in a tumble-down shack on
Azusa Street, and the devotees of the weird
doctrines practice the most fanatical rites,
preach the wildest theories, and work
themselves into a state of mad excitement in
their particular zeal.” *
* Los Angeles Times, April 18, 1906 11

12. 12

13. Pentecostal vs. Charismatic
 Pentecostal
 Those Christians who are organized in churches/denominations
with a distinct emphasis on the “sign” gifts of the Holy Spirit.
 Charismatic
 Those Christians who practice these “sign” gifts within churches
that do not formally endorse this understanding of the Holy
Spirit’s work.
 Agreements and Differences
 P’s & C’s generally united on their doctrine of the Holy Spirit and
spiritual gifts.
 P’s & C’s are both “evangelical” Christians (emphasize spiritual
conversion, traditional orthodox beliefs).
 P’s are generally more united in their doctrine, whereas C’s are
as diverse as the rest of evangelical Christian traditions.
13

14. Do Pentecostals Resent
Charismatics?
14

15. Where are the Pentecostals?
 North American Denominations/Churches
 Assemblies of God
 Church of God in Christ
 Church of God of Prophecy
 Foursquare Gospel Church
 Pentecostal Church of Christ
 Pentecostal Free Will Baptist
Church
 Vineyard Churches
 Many, many other denominations
 Independent “pentecostal” congregations
 Nearly every country worldwide
15

16. 16

17. 17

18. Where are the
Charismatics?
 North American “Charismatic” church movements
 Church on the Rock International
 International House of Prayer
 Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
 Sovereign Grace Ministries
 New Life Fellowship Association
 Worldwide within traditional “non-charismatic” churches
 Protestant
 Anglican Communion (including Episcopalians)
 Lutherans
 Reformed
 Roman Catholic
18
 Eastern Orthodox

19. Pentecostal &
Charismatic Theologians
 Gordon Fee (Pentecostal)
 Stanley Horton (Pentecostal)
 Wayne Grudem (Reformed)
 J. Rodman Williams (Presbyterian)
 Paul Fiddes (Baptist)
 Kevin Ranaghan (Roman Catholic)
19

20. Worldwide Expansion of
Pentecostalism
 Rapid spread of Christianity since 1950
 P’s and C’s have been central to the spread of
Christianity outside the global West to the Two-Thirds
World
 Most rapid growth in Brazil, Nigeria, Korea, Russia,
China
 If trends continue then global Christianity will
look very Pentecostal by the end of the 21st
century 20

21. 21

22. Typical Beliefs of P&C
Christians
 Theologically and socially conservative
 Evangelical and Arminian in tradition (some exceptions)
 Holy Spirit continues to act in accord with the “first”
Pentecost.
 Christians today can receive the same spiritual gifts that
the apostles did.
 Emphasize supernatural power of God to defeat disease
and to provide other miraculous interventions in ordinary
life
 Seeking and receiving the gift of tongues is a sign of the
baptism of the Holy Spirit (sometimes this is a
requirement for full Christian discipleship)
22

23. Typical Beliefs of P&C
Christians (cont’d)
 Less bound to traditional forms of worship, opting for
contemporary music and seeker-friendly forms for
evangelistic purposes
 Simultaneously adapts to and confronts indigenous
beliefs and practices
 Americans: fundamentalism, dispensationalism, prosperity
gospel
 Latin Americans: Roman Catholic syncretism, Christian
liberationism
 Africans: spiritism, paganism, patriarchalism, anti-colonialism
 Neo-Pentecostals: embrace charismatic practices but not
the Holiness tradition of the older Pentecostal churches 23

24. Questions for Discussion
 What are some of the positive/negative
developments that resulted from the
Pentecostal movement?
 Do you have any experience with
pentecostal/charismatic teaching and/or
practice? What is your understanding of
this experience? How do you interpret it?
24

25. Modern Charismatic
Renewal
 Beginning in 1960: Story of Rector Dennis
Bennett of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van
Nuys, CA.
 A couple, who were friends of Bennet, received baptism of
the Holy Spirit
 Bennett met with them; he experienced the same
 The baptism spread through the area and Bennett’s church
 Although charismatic activity was not permitted in the formal
worship service, news got around and people began to ask
questions
 Church split but Bennett remained an Episcopal priest
 Later moved to Seattle to pastor a struggling church, which
took on new life
 Charismatic movement spread; Bennett became a national
figure
25

26. Charismatic Movement
Spreads
 Center of movement remained in Van Nuys, CA.
 Jean Stone, member of St. Mark’s Episcopal, founded
the Blessed Trinity Society in 1961 to provide
fellowship and information about the growing
charismatic movement
 Adherents, despite being reviled and misunderstood,
found places of minority status within non-charismatic
churches
 Duquesne University in Pittsburgh
 Group of RC scholars studied the charismatic
experience—and ended up experiencing it
themselves!
 After a weekend retreat there were 30 adherents
which led to a new charismatic community. 26

27. First Charismatic
Adherents
 Began as an upper and middle class movement
 Episcopal and Presbyterian churches affected first.
 In RCC, began at the university level, not the parish.
 Quickly spread to all levels of society
 Movement was not formally connected to
Pentecostal churches
 But the friends of Bennett were Pentecostal.
 This informal connectional pattern continued
elsewhere.
27

28. Why the Charismatic
Movement Spread
So Quickly
 Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International
 Formed after a 1951 Oral Roberts campaign
 Pulled together pentecostal laymen for fellowship
 Immediately gave Pentecostalism some respect in the non-
Pentecostal world
 Decline of “healing movement” in the late 1950s allowed
Pentecostals to return to focused evangelism
 In 1968 popular Pentecostal preacher Oral Roberts
became a Methodist.
 Patient work and testimony of Pentecostal leader David
du Plessis
 Unofficial ambassador of charismatic teaching to mainline
churches, scholars, non-Pentecostal leaders.
 Du Plessis’s warm piety and personal dignity gained him a
hearing that led to a new level of understanding and trust of 28
charismatic Christians.

29. Charismatic Practice
 Enthusiastic expressions of worship
 Optimism in God’s providential placement
of them in their communities of worship
 Open to new methods of evangelism
 Have experienced outstanding success in
Two-Thirds world countries.
29

30. Questions for Discussion
 What are some of the positive/negative
developments that resulted from the Charismatic
movement?
 Are there any charismatic worship emphases
that are valid expressions of public/private
devotion?
 Dynamic expressions such as lifting hands, bowing
down, dancing, laying on hands for prayer, anointing
oil, “slain in the Spirit,” “drunk in the Spirit,” etc)
 If so, are they necessary expressions of
worship? Why or why not? 30

31. Application for Today’s Church
 Should we prohibit speaking in tongues in public
worship (by worship leaders or congregants)?
Why or why not? What is the appropriate
response to “charismatic” expressions of
worship?
 What are the theological ramifications of
classifying Christians as those who have received
a second baptism of the Holy Spirit, and those
who have not? What are the practical
ramifications?
 Are there any similar classifications of
lower/higher Christians in your thinking? In your
Christian tradition? 31

32. Possible or Not?
32