Month: October 2008

Full disclosure: As it says on my “About Me” Page. I am, for all intents and purposes, an ex-Pentecostal Christian. I attended a Pentecostal Church in Southwest Detroit from 1984 till 1993 and then attended several Pentecostal Churches in the Detroit Area from 1997 till April of 2004. I left for several very personal reasons that would take several pages worth of writing to explain. Anyhow…just letting you know. I am now a Independent Fundamental Baptist. I was converted to Christianity in a Baptist Church as 9 year old boy. I left that Church after the Pastor, of whom, I am told; I idolized, ran off with another woman. My mother removed me from that Church’s school and put me in one ran by Pentecostals. Thus my tenure in Pentecostalism.

It seems that Time Magazine is doing a piece on Sarah Palin’s relationship to Pentecostalism. However, in their effort to explain Pentecostalism and Pentecostal Theology, they missed the boat just a bit. I will attempt to correct the errors that I see.

Let me also just say for the outset that I do realize the article is basically an attack piece of Palin’s Religion, seeing the Right is making a huge issue about Obama’s Pastor problems and his relationship to Bill Ayers. I wish not to argue those points.

Anyhow, here’s the places that Time made a few errors, I will underline and bold the places where Time blew it…:

What is Pentecostalism? Pentecostals are named for the feast of Pentecost described in the New Testament Book of Acts as taking place shortly after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. During the feast, his followers were said to have been "filled with the Holy Spirit" and gained the ability to speak in many different languages, or "tongues." The modern Pentecostal movement is relatively new — just over 100 years old — and is usually dated to the Azusa Street Revival that began in Los Angeles in 1906. (The revival was a nine-year series of near continuous worship services that popularized Pentecostal worship and practices.) Pentecostalism can be best understood as a branch within evangelical Protestantism, characterized by a focus on the Holy Spirit and a belief in spiritual gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues.

On it’s face, this is basically correct, but Pentecostalism can be traced back to a Cultish group of Christians in England that believed that the “Gifts” of the Spirit were for today, they existed around 1400’s, I believe. Also, the Quakers and the Newer Methodists tended to be more open to the “Gifts” of the Spirit as well. The Quakers were called just that, because of their strange way of worshiping. The Pentecostal movement can also trace it’s roots to the Holiness movement that swept through the south in the early 1900’s. Some of those meetings in the south became known as the old “Brush Arbor” Meetings.

Are Pentecostals the same as Charismatics? The Charismatic movement began around the 1960s when some Christians within mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches adopted certain Pentecostal beliefs, including the acceptance of gifts — or "charisms" — from the Holy Spirit, like speaking in tongues. While Pentecostals can be broadly described as Charismatic, what distinguishes Charismatics is their desire to remain within their original traditions.

Partially true, partially false. That was when the Pentecostal movement became very popular. The biggest difference between Pentecostals and the Charismatic’s of the 1960’s was the lack of the teaching of separation from the world. Anyone who has ever seen a historic picture of Kathryn Kuhlman knows this to be true. However, in this day of great evangelical compromise the words Charismatic and Pentecostal are nothing more than similar names to describe a particular group; albeit, very misguided group, of Christians.   

How are Pentecostal beliefs different from Evangelical theology? Almost all Pentecostals are also Evangelical, meaning they put great emphasis on the authority of the Bible, believe in spiritual conversion, conceive of a personal relationship with God and follow an imperative to "share the Good News." They also tend to share theological beliefs regarding the End Times with fundamentalists and more conservative Evangelicals. But they also believe in a separate baptism of the Holy Spirit that is subsequent to and distinct from conversion by accepting Christ as the savior and son of God. This baptism is the core doctrine that separates Pentecostals from other Evangelicals, and it is seen as manifested by physical evidence such as healing powers, speaking in tongues and even bodily inhabitation. (Some Pentecostals take "being filled with the Holy Spirit" to mean that the spirit is actually in them and moves their limbs.)

The part I underlined is utterly and totally false. Pentecostals believe that God is still speaking to mankind today and that the Bible is nothing more than a well written guide.  Despite what most Pentecostal Pastors say. Anyone who says that they believe that the “Signs and Wonders” gifts are for today, does not believe that the Bible is the FINAL Authority. The rest is correct factually. In fact, most Pentecostals believe that you can be filled more than once or “refilled”. There were some Pentecostals, like Rev. Finis Jennings Dake who rejected that teaching totally.

Anyhow, while Time magazine did a decent job on explaining Pentecostalism to their Liberal readers. They should have done much more research into the history. Then again, when you’re publishing a hatchet job on a Republican, thoroughness is not exactly on the list.

Some links and books on the subject:

The Strange history of the Pentecostal Church by David Cloud

The Roots of Pentecostalism by David Cloud

(Click the book to order)

 

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