Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism is a spiritual Christian revivalist movement that began within Protestantism and was also accepted by the Roman Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council. Pentecostalism is generally not regarded as Protestant, however. The movement consists of a focus on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles as described in the Acts of the Apostles and embrace that same spirituality on a weekly or daily basis today. In sum, Pentecostalism consists of becoming a messenger for the Holy Spirit in modern times. Adherents seek gifts of prophecy and healing, and sometimes speak in different or unrecognized tongues.

Supporters of the movement cite as an obstacle to participation a distrust or diffidence towards the Holy Spirit's ability to achieve today what was accomplished in the first century A.D. Like Methodists, Pentecostals emphisize the neccesity of revival in the church. Their theology is strongly influenced by Arminianism.

The main denomination is the Assemblies of God

History

Baer (2001) explores the significance of ideas of divine healing to the emergence of Pentecostalism from the radical holiness movement in the late 19th century. The careers and ministries of Maria B. Woodworth-Etter, John A. Dowie, and Charles F. Partham all demonstrate a commitment to notions of divine healing, where faith and belief in Christ and his atoning sacrifice on the cross could bring about a complete healing of the body and the soul. Pentecostalists participated in a broader evangelical culture in which divine healing was a key element in a program that could include ecstatic religiosity and a belief in Christ's imminent return. Newspapers reported the purported healings of these three ministers in revival meetings during the 1880s-1900s.

Aimee Semple McPherson, leader of the Azusa Street Revival, was an important factor in the spread of Pentecostalism in the first half of the 20th century. Although she always identified herself as Canadian, she built her temple in Los Angeles, from which she hoped to evangelize the world. Before settling down in 1923, however, she experienced unnerving success as a faith healer. Never comfortable with the role, not least of all because she was committed to saving souls, not bodies, McPherson attempted during her secluded final decade to devise a theory of faith healing. Although still celebrated by her followers as a prophet and a healer, she expressed discomfort with both these roles. Physically exhausted, she died in 1944 at the age of 54 from a drug overdose.

Further reading

• Baer, Jonathan R. "Redeemed Bodies: The Functions Of Divine Healing In Incipient Pentecostalism." Church History 2001 70(4): 735-771. in JSTOR
• Blumhofer, Edith L. Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture. U. of Illinois Press, 1993. 281 pp. A major schiolarly study.
• Crowe, Terrence Robert. Pentecostal Unity: Recurring Frustration and Enduring Hopes. Chicago: Loyola U. Press, 1993. 282 pp.
• McGee, Gary B. 'This Gospel . . . Shall Be Preached': A History and Theology of Assemblies of God Foreign Missions since 1959. Springfield, Mo.: Gospel, 1990. 358 pp.
• Poloma, Margaret M. The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads: Charisma and Institutional Dilemmas. U. of Tennessee Pr., 1989. 309 pp. scholarly study