Pentecostalism had its humble beginning in Topeka Kansas. In 1900, Charles Fox Parham started Bethel Bible School, of which he was the only teacher. A few years earlier, both Parham and his son had fallen ill. He refused all medical treatment and placed his faith in the Holy Spirit’s power of divine healing. At Bethel, he further developed his views on the work of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, Parham taught that sometime after a person is initially saved, they can experience a “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” When this happens, the power of the Holy Spirit becomes much more active within a believer’s life. Parham believed that Baptism of the Holy Spirit was similar to what happened when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus during His baptism (Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 1:29-34). More importantly, Baptism of the Holy Spirit was what specifically happened to the apostles at Pentecost. The Book of Acts reads:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.” (Acts 2:1-4)
Soon after starting Bethel, a student name Agnes Ozman felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. It was not long afterwards when other students and Parham himself had the same experience. In 1905, Parham moved to Houston and started a Bible school that focused on Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
William Seymour (1870–1922) was the son of an emancipated slave. At age 31, Seymour moved to Cincinnati where he addended God’s Bible School and Training Home. This school taught premillennialism and had both black and white students. While in Cincinnati, Seymour contracted smallpox and became blind in his left eye.
In 1903, after two years in Cincinnati, Seymour moved to Houston. Here, he met a variety of local holiness leaders including Parham. Parham had recruited African American holiness leader Lucy Farrow to be on his evangelistic team, resulting in Farrow hiring Seymour to be the replacement pastor at her church. Seymour joined Parham’s Bible school in 1906 and came to believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Seymour had not yet experienced this himself.
Soon after beginning his studies at Parham’s Bible school, Seymour received an invitation to preach at a holiness mission in Los Angeles. He traveled there and began to preach about Baptism in the Holy Spirit, still seeking this for himself. After several months of preaching, multiple people began speaking in tongues. Three days later, Seymour experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit himself and also spoke in tongues.
Attendance at the mission quickly grew and a larger meeting space was needed. The mission therefore moved into an old African Methodist Episcopal church building on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. The legal name was the Apostolic Faith Mission, but it was commonly called the Azusa Street Mission. Activities surrounding this mission were called the Azusa Street Revival, which is understood as the beginning of Pentecostalism.
Since its beginnings, Pentecostalism has been closely associated with Baptism of the Holy Spirit resulting in the speaking of tongues. Speaking in tongues is also called glossolalia (Greek: γλωσσολαλία). This Greek word is the combination of glossa (tongue or language) and laleō (to speak). Some believe that the sounds uttered during glossolalia do not corresponding to any actual language. Others believe that these sounds corresponding to an actual but unlearned language. Those believing the latter often use the term xenolalia instead of glossolalia.
From its humble beginnings on Azusa street, Pentecostalism has become, by far, the fastest growing Christian denomination. A Pew research study in 2011 estimated the number of Pentecostals at 279 million, comprising 12.8% of all Christians. In addition, another 304 million Christians identify as charismatic.[i] Charismatics believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and in the speaking of tongues but remain members of non-Pentecostal churches. Together, Pentecostals and charismatics comprised over a quarter of all Christians in 2011. They continue to grow both in absolute size and as percentages of worldwide Christianity.
Pentecostal worship is characterized by spontaneity and exuberance. Services typically include the raising of hands in praise, shouting out in praise, dancing, clapping, and people spontaneously speaking in tongues. Services can also include faith healings and even exorcisms. These Pentecostal worship-style influences can often be seen in other denominational services as charismatic members raise their hands in the air while singing and spontaneously vocalize praise during sermons and prayers.
There are many Pentecostal organizations. In addition, many Pentecostal churches are independent and do not belong to any of these organizations. But the largest Pentecostal organization by far is the World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), consisting of Assemblies of God denominations and churches. According to its website, the WAGF has more than 170 denominational members consisting of more than 442,000 Churches and over 85 million people.[ii]
Although different Pentecostal denominations may have doctrinal differences, the beliefs of the U.S. Assemblies of God (USAG) is fairly typical and will now be examined. The USAG core beliefs are summarized in its “Sixteen Fundamental Truths.” Many of these align with standard orthodox Christian theology. Summaries of the truths that are more distinctive to Pentecostalism are (numbers correspond to the corresponding numbers used in the USAG document):
- The Scriptures, are verbally inspired, infallible, and the authoritative rule of faith and conduct;
6a. Baptism by immersion is commanded in the Scriptures. Those being baptized declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life;
6b. The elements of the Lord’s Supper are symbols expressing the sharing of the divine nature of Jesus Christ. They are a memorial of His suffering and death and a prophecy of His second coming;
7. All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Holy Spirit was the normal experience of all members of the early Christian Church;
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking in tongues;
10. Baptism in the Holy Spirit enables a believer to: (a) evangelize with accompanying supernatural signs, (b) have a closer relationship with God, and (c) better utilize the fruits of the Spirit for edifying the body of Christ;
12. Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers; and
14. The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on the earth for one thousand years. This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel and the establishment of universal peace.
As can be seen, the Sixteen Fundamental Truths essentially describe dispensationalism with the added elements of Baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, supernatural signs, and divine healing. Unlike dispensationalism, the Bible is described as infallible and authoritative in areas of faith and conduct but not necessarily in all historical and scientific details (although many Pentecostals believe these things as well).
Neocharismatics and the Third Wave
The Pentecostal/charismatic movement is often viewed as a renewal with three waves. The First Wave started with the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 and led to Pentecostalism as a new denomination. The Second Wave is associated with the rapid growth in the 1960s of charismatic participation in traditional denominations. These people were also referred to as neopentecostal, but charismatic eventually became the preferred term. [iii]
The Third Wave of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement began in the late 1970s and emphasizes the power of the Holy Spirit that can express itself in miracles, signs, and wonders. This includes traditional Pentecostal aspects such as speaking in tongues, prophesy, and healing. But there is also a strong emphasis on spiritual warfare and the exorcising of evil spirits. A precursor to this Third Wave was the growth of Pentecostalism in indigenous cultures, especially in Africa, where there is a strong recognition of evil spirits and the harm that they can do to both individuals and communities.
The theological basis of the Third Wave was formally developed by John Wimber (1934–1997). Wimber converted to Christianity in 1963 at age 29 after a career as a prominent rock-and-roll musician. He enrolled in Azusa Pacific College, majored in Biblical Studies, and was therefore well schooled in First Wave Pentecostalism. Upon graduating, Wimber was ordained as a Quaker minister. He eventually left the Quaker denomination due its discomfort with Pentecostal beliefs and practices.
Wimber believed in Kingdom Theology, where Satan and his demons rule the earth. In Kingdom Theology, the Kingdom of God on earth was inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Christ but will not be consummated until Christ returns and defeats Satan for good. In the meantime, the earth is a place of spiritual warfare between the forces of evil and the forces of good. The power of the Holy Spirit channeled through spiritual gifts can be used to combat evil in this spiritual warfare.
Wimber believed in Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. But he did not believe that Baptism of the Holy Spirit necessarily resulted in the speaking of tongues, although it might. Rather, Baptism of the Holy Spirit could result in a range of bestowed spiritual gifts such as those listed in 1 Cor 12 (wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophesy, distinguishing spirits, interpretation of tongues) and Rom 12:6-8 (faith, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy). Lessening the importance of speaking in tongues made many people much more open to the Third Wave as compared to the first two waves.
Wimber called his revival the Vineyard Movement and formed a church called the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship. There were soon many other neocharismatic churches, some of whom formed the Association of Vineyard Churches in 1982. Today, this association has more than 2,500 churches in nearly 100 countries.
The US Vineyard organization is called Vineyard USA. It has a statement of faith document called Core Values and Beliefs. This document surprisingly has almost no traces of traditional Pentecostal theology. It does not mention Baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing, or the rapture of the Church. This statement of faith does have much to say about Satan’s presence on earth. Some representative excerpts from the Vineyard USA statement of faith include:
- We believe that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against God, taking a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence and, as a usurper of God’s rule, established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth;
- Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God’s good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam’s original sin. Human beings are born in sin, subject to God’s judgment of death, and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness;
- By [Jesus’s] death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers; and
- The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church, gifting us for ministry, and driving back the kingdom of Satan by the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus.
These statements recognize Satan’s presence on earth but tend to minimize the aspect of spiritual warfare that is so central to many neocharismatic churches. Demonic powers are said to have been disarmed and the kingdom of Satan is combated through spreading the gospel rather than through exorcisms and demonic banishment. Nevertheless, active spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons remains central to many neocharismatic churches, especially in Africa. An article from the Journal of Religion in Africa explains:
“Conversion to Christianity [in Southern Africa] is not taken lightly. It is a bold decision to fight against the devil and his spiritual agents. Pentecostal Charismatic movements’ interest in combating poverty and illnesses is grounded in the spiritual warfare doctrine. Due to the spiritual nature of the battle, Satan often works through traditional spirit mediums, relatives, and supernatural forces to burden believers with poverty and ill-health. Concomitantly, Pentecostal Charismatic movements invest in rituals of exorcism, prayers, and casting out of demons. All these rituals form strategies and technologies for spiritual welfare in which a competent fighter-prophet is required.”[iv]
The theology and practice of spiritual warfare is sometimes referred to as Deliverance Ministry. The focus of Deliverance Ministry is to deliver believers from evil influences such as demonic possession and generational curses. From a biblical perspective, Christians should certainly be prepared for spiritual warfare. Paul writes, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6: 11-12). However, some African churches go beyond Scripture and believe that salvation is incomplete without deliverance. Mookgo Kgatle writes, “The reason a complete salvation comes only after deliverance is the argument that even if one is born again, the person can still carry generational curses.”[v]
In summary, neocharismatics have retained the Pentecostal and charismatic focus on the Holy Spirit, lessened the emphasis of Baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues, and added a strong element of spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons.
[i] Pew Research Center, “Global Christianity–A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population,” Dec. 19, 2011.
[ii] worldagfellowship.org
[iii] The term charismatic is derived from the Greek word charisma (χάρισμα), which means gift. In Christianity, this term typically refers to divine gifts.
[iv] Simbarashe Gukurume and Josiah Taru, “We Are Soldiers in God’s Army: Spiritual Warfare and Adoption of Military trope in Pentecostal Charismatic Churches in Southern Africa,” Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. 50, no. 3, 2020: 288.
[v] Mookgo Kgatle, “Go Deeper Papa, Prophesy, Do Something: The Popularity and Commercialisation of Prophetic Deliverance in African Pentecostalism,” Verbum et Ecclesia, vol. 43, no. 1, 2022: 2.
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