Pentecostalism: definition and characteristics

Pentecostalism, together with Neo-Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement are labels for a huge section of the conservative Christian world that believe in the experienced presence of the third person of the trinity -- the Holy Spirit (Pentecostalism1 pp). The sect of Christianity subscribes to the active involvement of the Holy Spirit in everyday life, which includes prophecy, speaking in tongues, divine healing, and other manifestations of the Spirit's presence (Pentecostalism1 pp). Membership in Pentecostal denominations are growing at a rapid pace throughout the world (Pentecostalism1 pp). In fact, Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century, and is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity, with more than 30 million American members and more than 430 million worldwide (Stephen pp).

Most Pentecostals believe that their tradition began with Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas and/or at the Azusa revival led by William J. Seymour, however these two episodes have become glamorized through the years, and most scholars agree that as early as 1831, Edward Erving, pastor of the Church of Scotland at Regent Square in London, England led his parishioners in a prayer that ultimately resulted in them receiving the gift of tongues and prophecy (Pentecostalism pp).

Pentecostalism grew out of the Holiness revival during the second half of the nineteenth century as an expression of social and theological discontent among the lower and middle-class groups (Stephens pp). Holiness advocates not only disapproved of the impiety in mainline denominations, but felt alienated by the growing wealth of many churches, thus they began to form new religious communities that were based on the theological doctrine of perfectionism (Stephens pp). Randall J. Stephens writes in Assessing the Roots of Pentecostalism that these former "Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists believed they were experiencing a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit much like the early church experienced in the book of Acts" (Stephens pp). From this revival grew zeal for "Spirit Baptism, considered a divine empowerment of believers, and for other gifts of the New Testament church such as healing and prophecy (Stephens pp). Leaders, such as Charles Cullis, John Alexander Dowie, and Albert B. Simpson, founded healing missions all across the United States, and like other holiness advocates, believed a "new, miraculous era of the spirit was occurring which would end in the second coming of Christ" (Stephens pp).

In January 1901, Charles Fox Parham asked the students at his Topeka Bible school to study scriptures and find evidence that might be given in reference to Spirit baptism (Stephens pp). By referring to the pentecost account in Acts, Chapter 2, the students concluded that speaking in tongues was confirmation of Holy Spirit baptism, thus this wave of Pentecostalism spread throughout the region, moving into Kansas, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas (Stephens pp). The Azusa street revival in 1906 in Los Angeles marked the second phase of Pentecostalism, when William Seymour, who had studied under Parham in Houston, Texas, began a revival in one of the poorer sections of the city (Stephens pp). This street revival gathered the "ethnic minority groups of Los Angeles" who discovered a "sense of dignity and community denied them in the larger urban culture" (Stephens pp). From here, the revival spread throughout the United States as leaders from various states who were present, carried the message back to their own churches (Stephens pp). Stephens notes that "diversity characterized their beliefs and theology, Pentecostals ranged from Wesleyan-holiness, to Reformed, and Unitarian" (Stephens pp).

The historiography of Pentecostalism is multifaceted and the initial historical works came from within the movement itself (Stephens pp). Stephens notes that Pentecostal historians wrote within a providential framework that focused on the role of God rather than human and natural causation, and these histories were apologetic and largely "ahistorical" (Stephens pp). They more or less depicted the Pentecostal revival as "dropping from heaven like a sacred meteor," as evident in the titles of early works such as the 1916 The Apostolic Faith Restored, and the 1961 Suddenly From Heaven: A History of the Assemblies of God (Stephens pp).

Prior to 1970, there were few historians, outside of Pentecostalism, who were interested in the movement, since most academics were unfamiliar with the world of ecstatic religion or simply thought Pentecostalism was regressive and crude (Stephens pp). During the late 1960's, historian William G. McLoughlin argued that Pentecostalism was not a new force in American Religion and that like other reactionary religious movements would eventually fade with time (Stephens pp). According to David Edwin Harrell, prior to the 1970's, "scholars limited their study to articulate religious bodies and to groups that were pertinent to scholars' own academic interests" (Stephens pp). Since the 1970's, interests have sparked among historians both outside of and within the movement have critically engaged Pentecostalism due to the rapid expansion of the movement in the United States and abroad (Stephens pp). Moreover, scholarship on Pentecostalism has grown, as evidenced by the increase in university and seminary-trained Pentecostal historians, and the establishment of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (Stephens pp).