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THE FUNCTION OF “MODELS” IN THE INTERPRETATION OF PENTECOSTAL THOUGHT
By
D. William
Faupel
Introduction
When a student of medicine seeks to learn about the human anatomy,
he studies not
only
the individual
organs
of the
body,
but also the
way
those
organs
are fit
together
to function as an
organic
whole. When the
linguist begins
to
learn
a new
language,
she studies the individual
components
such as phonemes, morphemes,
etc.,
but she also seeks to discover the
overarching
structure into which these
components are built. So too, I believe, that the
budding
historian in
seeking
to understand and
interpret
a movement, should
try
not
only
to discover the structural units of the movement but should also
attempt
to grasp the framework into which those units are built.
One
way
to discover such structure is
by analogy through
model construction. For
example,
in the field of physics, the model of an atom was constructed from an
analogy
to the solar
system.
From this
analogy certain theories about the nature of the universe could be devised and tested.
D. William Faupel is a doctoral candidate at the University of
He serves as librarian at
Birmingham, England.
Asbury.Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky. Mr. Faupel is an ordained
Episcopalian minister.
– 51-
1
discipline
for that matter, contradictory.
The
development though helpful,
is
usually partial. pretation
is often
gross
reductionism.
The
problem
in
seeking
to
identify
structures in
history,
or in any
is that the data are
complex
data. “Particle” interpret
“complementary
areas of Pentecostal
thought
and often of a model to account for the
data,
The result of
subsequent
inter-
models”
has
even
though
certain
aspects
of of
argues
that the
theory
of
studies,
I have identified five
can be
theology.
In the
physical
sciences a
theory of “complementary
emerged.
This
theory suggests
that no one model can account for all the
and “wave” models, for
example,
are laid side
by
side to
the behavior of electrons,
photons
and the other inhabitants the atomic world.1 Both are
accepted
these models are at variance with each other.
Ian
Barbour,
a phyicist turned
theologian,
models” can be
applied
with
profit
to the field of theological inquiry through
the
analysis
of religious
language.`’
In seeking to test this thesis in the field of Pentecostal
from
which,
I
believe, models constructed that will reveal the structure of early Pentecostal
In this
paper
I shall first
identify
the five motifs from which the models are drawn, and then
proceed
to sketch them
briefly. Secondly
I shall endeavor to demonstrate that these models can be useful tools to: a. discover the focus of the
early message,
in the movement and c.
provide
the basis for the
reflection.
quent developments
on-going process
of
theological
I.
Complementary
The
early
Pentecostals identify
their movement.
b. understand the subse-
Model
Construction
to use four titles to
Movement
found it
necessary
In addition
they
used two names
interchang- ably by which they
labeled their
message.
The titles
they assigned
to the
were: 1. The Full
Gospel;
2. The Latter
Apostolic Faith;
and 4. Pentecostal. The two names that
they assigned
Rain;
3. The
1 Ian G. Barbour, Myths, Models, and Paradigms: The Nature
of Scientific and Religious Language. (London: SCM Press, 1974), pp. 6, 7.
2lbid. p. 8.
52
2
.
»
to their
message
were: 1. This
Gospel
of the
Kingdom
and 2. The Everlasting Gospel.
I suggest that an
analysis
of logic inherent in these names
provides
the basis for
constructing
the
five “complementary models.” .
A. The Full
Gospel
Movement: The Doctrinal Model
The doctrinal content of the Pentecostal
Message
was called the Full-GospeL
Donald
Dayton
has
correctly
identified five cardinal themes which repeatedly
recur in the
early
Pentecostal
message.
These themes are: Justification
by
faith in Christ, 2. Sanctification as a second definite work of grace, 3. Healing of the body through the atoning work of Christ, 4. The
pre-millennial
return of Christ, and 5. The
baptism
in the
Holy Spirit
evidenced
by speaking
in unknown
tongues.2
Later,
when William H. Durham’s
message concerning
the “Finish- ed work of Christ ”
split
the movement, his followers
adopted
a four-fold pattern
which is expressed in the chorus: “Jesus The Only Saviour, The Great
Baptizer,
The
Mighty Healer,
and The Soon
Coming King.”
lDonald W. Dayton, The Roots of Pentecostalism, Chapter 1. “Toward a Theological Analysis
of Pentecostalism” (First draft of an unpublished dissertation University of Chicago, 1978), pp.
1-5.
2 Documentation for the recurrence of this five-fold pattern could be endless. The two examples
cited below are illustrations: Sarah E. Parham referring to the instruction given at the Bethel Healing Home in 1898 stated “We taught Salvation, Healing, Sanctification, the Second Coming of Christ and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, although we had not received the evidence of speaking in tongues.” Sarah E. Parham. The Life of Charles F. Parham, Founder of the Apostolic Faith Movement, (Joplin, MO: Press of Hunter Printing Company, 1930), p.
39. The Apostolic Faith Mission, founded by Florence L. Crawford, an early
leader at Azusa Street, also holds this pattern. “This church… places special emphasis
on the need of having three definite, separate, spiritual experiences wrought out in the heart and life: Justification, Sanctification, The Baptism of the Holy Ghost… These doctrines concerning spiritual experience, together with the teachings on Divine Healing, and the Imminent Second Coming of Jesus-pre-millenial … provide the solid, scriptural foundation on which the church stands.” A Historical Account of the Apostlic Faith, A Trinitarian-Fundamental
Evangelistic Organization (Portland,
OR: Apostolic Faith Mission Headquarters, 1965), pp. 20-21.
.
– 53-
3
Santification cardinal doctrines
as a second definite work of grace
dropped
from the list of
of this Keswick
wing
of the movement.
B. The Latter Rain Movement:
The World-view Model
Early
Pentecostal doctrine thinking.
Rather
they interpreted their
understanding
did not stand alone in the adherents’
these cardinal doctrines in
light
of
upon
which the whole of
history movement’s
undergirding
foundation.
of history. Their world-view was constructed the “Latter Rain Covenant.” Since this motif
provided
the framework in
could be
understood,
land of Palestine
it served
as the
which occurs in the
11:10-15,
God covenanted
The covenant is based on a natural
phenomenon
each
year.
the
coming
of the
early
and the latter rain. The former rain enabled the
crops
to take root each
spring. Following
a long
hot summer, the latter rains would fall,
giving
a final
quick growth
to ripen
the
grain
for harvest. In
Deuteromony
with His
people
Israel that if they were obedient to His commands He would
“give
the rain to
your land,
the
early
and latter rain.”
Within this framework the whole of history, both human and
divine, was understood. The
understanding begins
with traditional
Christian doctrine of the creation consequent
of a
perfect
Judeo- world,
the fall and
enslavement of man. Then,
through
a series of
dispensa- tions, God acted
to
bring
about man’s reconciliation with
Himself, by setting
aside a
people,
both to reveal His intention to mankind and
through
whom He would
accomplish
a
given
adherent
His
purpose.
of the Stone
The Latter Rain covenant
concept
was
applied
to each
dispensation
saw in
history.
William
Piper, pastor
Church in
Chicago,
for
example
stated:
God’s …
sovereignty operates
at
special
times and in
special
cases,
but
always
in the
closing
and
opening
of
dispensations.
… After the new
dispensation
part
God
operates along
well-established
God’s
grace.1
is ushered in, then for the most
principles-this
is
1 William H.
Piper,
“The Lord
Reigneth!
He is Clothed with
Majesty: God’s Sovereignty Displayed in the Latter Rain,” The Latter Rain Evange4 (December, 1909, p.
– 54-
4
to the
con-
pattern
is transformed
The classic Pentecostal
exposition motif is a series of lectures
presented convention
Myland’s
hermeneutical
principle Testament
Scriptures
for this Covenant
Piper
did not
deny
that God works
sovereignly during
other times in history
but rather states that transitions from one
dispensation next were the
primary
times His
supernatural power
was
displayed.
He cited the time of Noah, Moses, and John the
Baptist
as
examples.
The second
point Piper made,
and to which most adherents curred,
was that God’s
sovereign
acts at the close of an
age duplicated the
pattern
demonstrated at the
opening
of that
age.
In the
process
the
opening
the
way
for the
age
that followed.
1
of this Latter Rain Covenant by
D.
Wesley Myland during
a
1909.2
of the Old
and the
held in the Stone Church in
Chicago
in May-June,
for the
interpretation
enabled him to set forth three levels of fulfillment
of Promise: the
literal,
the
typological,
prophetic.3
The “literal”
applied
to the nation of Israel.
Myland suggests that as
long
as the nation was faithful to the conditions of the covenant, God
promised
sufficient rainfall for the
planting
and the
ripening
of the grain
for harvest. He
applied
the
“typological”
to God’s New Covenant Myland
follows the lead of his
and the
it was the
“prophetic”
.
equating
the
early
rain to
justification
life.4 However,
which revealed “God’s
plan
in the
ages,
and
bringing
in the eternal
kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ” that fascinated
Myland
most.
People,
the Church. In this
interpretation, Perfectionist forbears,
latter rain to the
Spirit-filled interpretation
He was convinced that the
dispensational
1 Ibid., pp. 7-9.
fulfillment would occur when
2 These lectures were printed in The Latter Rain Evangel (Chicago) I. (June-October, 1909), and later published in a book form under the title The Latter Rain Covenant and Pentecostal Power
in 1973 and is available from (Chicago: Evangel Publishing
House, 1910). The book was privately reprinted
A. N. Trotter, P. 0. Drawer S, MO 65738.
Republic,
3Myland, The Latter Rain Covenant, pp. 6, 23, 32.
4G. F. Taylor, The Spirit and the Bride: A Scriptural Presentation of the Operations, Manifestations, Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit in Relation to the Bride with Special Reference to the “Latter Rain” ReuivaL (Dunn, NC: n.p., 1907), p. 91.
– 55-
5
He saw
the literal and
typological
fulfillments
happened this
taking place
in Zionism and in the Pentecostal
In addition to the
Deuteronomy
most
significant twentieth
simultaneously. I
revival.’
passage,
the Latter Rain
concept
appears
in seven other
passages
of Scripture.2 Of these Joel 2:23 was the
for the
early
adherents to tie this covenant to the
century.
This
passage
is part of the content of Peter’s text on the
day
of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:16-21: This is what was
spoken by
the
prophet
Joel:
.
will
prophecy
And in the last
days
it shall
be,
God
declares,
that I will
pour
out
my Spirit upon
all flesh
and
your
sons and
your daughters
and
your young
men shall see visions
and
your
old men shall dream dreams.
Yea,
on
my
menservants and
my
maidservants in those
days I will
pour
out
my Spirit;
and
they
shall
prophesy.
and I will show wonders in the heaven above
and
signs
on the earth
beneath,
blood and
fire,
and
vapor
of
smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon turned to blood
before the
Day
of the Lord
comes,
the
great
and
manifest day.
The
early
adherents “This is That”‘ Pentecost
that in one sense the
readily acknowledged
sermon
suggests
that the Church
age
is the time of the latter
rain,
but
they
also insisted that it equally
applied
within the Church
Age.
The
early rain,
in this
sense,
was the
day
of Pentecost and the events that flowed from that to establish the church. The
latter
rain would fall to ripen the
harvest just example,
G. F.
Taylor
claimed:
… most of Old Testament
before the
day
of
Judgment.
For
prophecy
prophecy quoted by Peter (Joel 2:28-32
1 Confidence (February, 1909), p. 35.
is
two-fold,
re. Joel’s and Acts
2:17-20)
was
2Burton H. Hall, The Promise of the Father, or, This is
Author,
That, (McKinney, TX; The
1927), p. 7
– 56-
6
.
partially
fulfilled on the
day
of
Pentecost,
fulfillment is still future
appears
but that its
greater from Joel 2:30-32.1
A Brother
Kelting
was even more
egplicit.
“The blood and fire did
not come on the first
day
of Pentecost,
periods: Church,
1. The Establishment 3. The Reformation
but … the Lord will come in our
Model
of this
2. The
Apostasy
of the
own time and then
(we)
will see these
signs.2
C. The
Apostolic
Faith Movement: The Restoration
If the Latter Rain Covenant enabled the Pentecostals to construct a world-view
by which they
were able to interpret the whole of history, then “The
Apostolic Faith,”
like a piece of puzzle, fit into its context
bringing into
sharper focus,
one
segment
of that
history.
The
parameters model are confined to the church
age.
This
age
was divided into four
of the
Church,
of the
Church,
and 4. The Restoration of the Church. After a glorious
beginning,
the Church
gradually
fell into a state of apostasy, beginning shortly after the end of the first
century
and culminating by
the time of Constantine.3 For centuries it drifted in
hopelessly corrupt. Beginning
tempts
was made to
bring
reform. Each effort caused
great
conflict but met with the restoration of another cardinal doctrine. These were seen as showers which would
precede
the latter rain
deluge
of God’s
sovereign
darkness,
activity
at the end of the
age.
Litanies
with
Luther,
a series of at-
of the restoration
of the five
cardinal doctrines are universal in the
early
literature. G. F.
Taylor
is.
typical:
llbid, p. 7..
”
2 We have a literal Israel returning to their land at the same time that the literal latter rain* is coming to its normal fall upon that land. This together with the spiritual rain
God’s
falling upon Spiritual Israel today, betokens in a remarkably way that the are
us. 106. *Not did Zionism interest
closing days of the Dispensation upon Ibid, p. only Myland, the actual rainfall in Palestine did as welL His
study of the rainfall pattern in that land from 1861- 1907 revealed a
significant increase when averaged in ten-year periods. See “Chart.” Ibid, p. 178-179.
3 The other references are: Job 29:23; Proverbs 16:15; Jeremiah 3:3, 5:24; Hosea Joel
6:3,
2:23; Zechariah 10:1; and James 5:7.
– 57-
7
opposed
in
preaching
and how he was truth. How he did stir
.
A few centuries
ago
God raised
up
Martin Luther to lay the foundation of the
gospel
which is justification by faith; and
you remember what a revolution it
produced,
this wonderful
Europe
and shake the world!
Why
so? Because he
brought
new light
on God’s truth, and God’s
Spirit
was behind it.
After this truth was
accepted, to turn on more
light by presenting sanctification
world received another firming
the truth
proclaimed
powers
of darkness. Sanctification,
God raised
up
John
Wesley the
great
doctrine of entire
but the
of Justification,
the evidence of Pentecost. to a head.l I
by
faith. He like
Luther, was opposed,
great shaking,
the
Holy Spirit
con-
in
signs
and wonders.
Then came the truths of Divine
healing
and the
pre- millenial
coming
of the Lord. Each of these were
fought by
the
Now since the truths
Divine
Healing,
and the
pre-millenial coming
of the Lord have been
accepted by many,
God is turning on more light
and the
fight
is now on the
Baptism
of the
Holy Spirit
and
All things are
culminating-coming
as it were” of
The
early
church was seen as a pattern, “a
photograph
the Latter Rain era.2 The Acts of the
Apostles
was the textbook to serve
as a
pattern restoration.
of their
expectation.
and wonders” to authenticate Apostolic authority
Apostolic power
was to be restored
The theme of the model was
as the restored
full-gospel.
by mighty “signs
to a
disbelieving
world. through
the “Ascension Gift
Pastors, and Teachers,
not be a reformation
The five-fold work of Christ as Savior,
Sanctifier, Baptizer, Healer,
and
Coming King
was
proclaimed
These claims to Christ’s work were to be
accompanied
the
message
was to be restored
Ministries” of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
through
the exercise of the nine-fold gifts
of the
spirit
in body ministry. The
consequence
church itself would be restored to her former
glory.
This church would
of the
old,
but rather a
saved, sanctified,
1 G. F. Taylor, op. cit., p. 98.
of this was that the
filled
2Susan A. Duncan, “What is It?” Word and Work (August, 1910), p. 239.
– 58-
8
Judaism. The restored church
would become
visible, united,
people,
called out from
Babylon
in the same manner as the
early
church had arisen from the ashes of an
apostate
set in order with Christ as the
head, directed
by the Spirit,
and
empowered
to proclaim the last
great message
of the
Age. D. The Pentecostal
Movement: The
Experiential
The name which
ultimately
inauguration
glory.
Thus the covenant
God’s
presence
Model
over the others was
as the
Sinai was
accompanied by
of
gained ascendency
the Pentecostal Movement. Pentecost was seen
by the adherents
of a new era
accompanied by
a display of God’s
power
and
given
at Mount
clouds, darkness, fire, smoke, glory, and the personal manifestation
and Israel was constituted as a nation under the Old Testament law. The
Upper
Room
experience
by wind, fire,
and
speaking
languages,
and marked the establishment of the
early
church. The
early Pentecostals believed that the Latter Rain Revival would be
inaugu- rated
by
a second Pentecost which would
wrap up
the church
age
and
Apostles
was
accompanied
usher in the
age
to come.
recorded in the Acts of the
in
foreign
In addition to this
dispensational aspect,
the Pentecostal model also
was
applied
to the
experiential
believed that Pentecost was not
only
an event’which
era,
but a pattern to be
1
repeated history.
life in Christ. The
early
adherents
inaugurated
a new in the lives of Christians
throughout
stems from an attempt to
remnant in
every generation
A second
litany appearing
in the literature
demonstrate that this
pattern
was
normative,
and that God had a faithful
who
experience
E. “This
Gospel
of the
Kingdom”
Eschatological
Models
this kind of
Christianity.
and “The
Everlasting
Gospel”:
The
The
eschatological hope
which dominated the movement found its clearest formulation Gospel
of the
Kingdom”
and “The
Everlasting Gospel”:
the formative
stages
of in two
expressions,
“This
terms that were
1MYland, op. cit., p. 2. “This movement is also called Pentecostal… Pentecost is simply the spiritual aspect of this Covenant and means the fulness of the spirit
– 59-
9
used
interchangeably.
“And I saw another everlasting
language,
and
people. ‘Fear the ‘ timehas
14:6,7, the
heavens, carrying the
every nation, tribe,
extol his
greatness
for
The first is taken from Matthew 24:14 “This gospel
of the
kingdom
shall be
preached
in all the world for a witness and then shall the end come.” The second is taken from Revelation
angel flying through
gospel
to
preach
to those on earth-to
God,’ he shouted, ‘and ”
come when he will sit as
Judge.’
While “The
Apostolic
Faith” model enabled the adherents to com-
with that of the
early church,
the es- chatological
model enabled them to state “This
Gospel
of the
Kingdom” of the “Latter Rain” in
sharp
contrast to “The
Gospel
of Grace” of the
pare
the Pentecost
Message
“Early
Rain.”
1901, Pronouncing Age,”
he declared:
Frank W. Sandford, Parham’s mentor from Shiloh, Maine,
using
the second
phrase,
made this contrast
explicit
when he
changed
the title of his
periodical
from
Tongues of Fire
to The Everlasting Gospel in January,
his
gospel
to be “the Last Solemn
Message
of the
by
an
angel-
The First
gospel message
was
proclaimed
“good tidings
of
great joy
to all
people,
for
unto
you
is born a Saviour.”
The last
gospel message
will be likewise
proclaimed-
I saw another
angel having
the
everlasting gospel
to
preach
unto them that dwell on the earth …
to
every
nation.”
The first
represented
‘
The first was a message of
peace
and
good
will. The
latter is to be a
message
of warning and
judgment.
“the
acceptable
The
latter,
“the
day
of
vengeance
The first
brought joy unspeakable
Savior. The
latter,
“the last solemn
message
of
the
age,”
before
judgment
year
of the Lord.”
of our God!” at the birth of a
by
a King.
,
The former
brought
the
glad tidings
to a world lost in
sin,
the “whosoever believeth in Him
might
be
justified freely through
the
redemption
Christ Jesus.”
that is in
The latter warns that same world that it is to
speedily
give
an account for the use or abuse of its
privi-
– 60-
10
lege,
and
prepares
The former
prepared
on
The first
represents
.
the
way
for the time when “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
in
flaming
fire
taking vengeance them that
obey
not the
gospel.”
the
way
for One known as “a Man of sorrows.” The latter for the
King
of
kings.
the voice of
song singing joyfully over the hills of Bethlehem,
Highest!”
“Glory
to God in the
The second, the voice of divine
authority crying
aloud
to all lands, “Fear God and
give glory
to Him!” The first heralded One
coming
meek and
lowly, riding
on an ass into Jerusalem
to die for men.
The latter heralds One
coming
in
“great power
and
glory”
to the
City
of the
King
to
reign
“from the river to
the ends of the earth.” All hail the
power
of
1
the
everlasting gospel.
to the nations,
message
to twin foci: for
example, expressed
interests of the
preparation
These two models directed the Pentecostal
and to the church. Sandford,
concern for both these themes. His new
periodical
was
published
“in the
of the Bride to meet the
Bridegroom power
and
great glory,
and the
speedy evangelization
Apostolic Principles.”2 1. This
Gospel
of the
Kingdom
in of the world on
as a Witness
to the Nations.
return of Christ
proved
to and mission. One
early
be the
primary
motivation writer
expressed
The belief in the imminent
pre-millennial
for
evangelization
the
urgency
of the
majority
when he wrote:
1 Frank W. Sandford, The Everlasting Gospel (Shiloh, Maine), I. (January 1, 1901), p. 1.
Spirit,
.
thizer of the new 2lbid,
p. 2. John Pike, editor of The also held the view: “The two-fold Way of Faith and longtime sympa-
movement,
work of the Holy
through the Gospel, in the present dispensation, is the selection and preparation of a people for his name, and the conviction of the world of sin, of righteousness and
“Missions and the Second
Faith
judgment.” Coming,” The XXX Way of
(May 20, 1920), p. 1.
– 61-
11
With almost a billion of souls
yet
unreached
by the gospel,
and the sound of His
footstep warning
us of His near
approach,
0 how we
ought
to haste to the ends of the earth with the
1
glad news of salvation before it is too late.l
Despite
this
expressed concern,
the Pentecostals did not under- stand their task to be
converting
the world to ” Christ. Elizabeth Baker expressed
the
prevailing
view:
It (The
Gospel
of the
Kingdom)
does not
say
that it will save all
nations … God meant a witness should be . given to all the
people
of the
earth,
that Jesus Christ has come and is
coming
again,
as the
King
of the
earth,
and He Himself cannot come
until that is
preached.2
The
message
to the nations of pending judgment was to be authen- ticated
by mighty signs
and wonders. Furthermore the
message
was to be proclaimed
in the
language
of the
people by supernatural
means. The first issue of The Apostolic Faith asserted: “The
gift
of language is given with the commission ‘Go into all the world and the to every
creature.’
“3
ye preach Gospel
A month
later,
the editor
confidently
declared: “Missionaries for the
foreign fields, equipped
with several
languages,
are now on their
way
and others are
waiting
for the
way
to
open
and for the Lord to
say
`Go’ “.4
The reason for this conviction was
simple,
Christ could not come until the nations had received a final
warning, yet
all signs pointed to His imminent return. As one
early
writer
put
it:
.
.
1″The Latter Days” Word and Work (September, 1907), p. 231.
2 Elizabeth V.
of
Baker, op. cit., p. 3. John Pike makes the same point: “A careful study
Scripture indicates that God’s method for man does not move along the line of the world’s
regeneration …
It the world’s the Gospel of the Kingdom as a witness
proclaims to all evangelization … by
nations,’
‘preaching
by giving all an opportunity to receive or reject the message at will.” Pike, op. cit., p. 1. _
3The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), I. (September, 1906), p. 1.
4Ibid (October, 1906), p. 1.
-62-
12
If Jesus tarries until we have to learn all the
languages
of the world in colleges, He will not come soon, for not one hundredth part
of the
languages
of the world is known or
taught
in our
high
1
schools and
colleges
…
She went on to conclude that this was
why
the
Holy Spirit
was
supplying
the
gift
of
languages.
2. “The
Everlasting
While the
early
Pentecostals mission and
evangelism,
nonetheless
Gospel”
as the
Preparation
‘
Unlike revival movements
of the Bride of Christ. devoted a
great
deal of effort to
it is doubtful that this was their
but to
‘
primary
concern. J. Roswell Flower recalled:
of other
days,
the
appeal
of the
movement,
in its beginnings, was not to the unconverted,
earnest Christian believers in Christ who had already received
called the new birth.
2
a crisis
experience
“Behold, the
fanned around the
of the
church,
in order to
The
early
records show that as the adherents
world
they
went to
existing
missions to
proclaim
their
gospel. They
set forth as their
primary
task to herald a midnight
cry
to a sleeping church.
Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him.” Drawing
their message
from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 and the Revelation of
John,
the leaders
taught
that members
become the Bride of
Christ,
must receive His seal: the
Baptism
of the Holy Spirit
evidenced
by speaking
in
tongues.
Some insisted that
only those so sealed would constitute the true
church,
but most concurred with G. T.
Taylor
who
argued
that the Bride would be a select
company called out of the church.
LTsing
the
parable
that the foolish maidens had been
justified,
the
wise,
had
but
only
those sealed with the
Spirit
would constitute
maintained been
sanctified, 3 the Bride.”
of the Ten
Virgins,
he
lColleges vs. Gifts of the Spirit.” The Bridegroom’s Messenger I (October 1,1907), p. 1.
2J. Roswell Flower, “Forward” in Klaude Kendrick, The Promise Fulfilled : A of the
History
Modern Pentecostal Movement (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House,1961), p. v.
3 G. F. Taylor, The Spirit and the Bride, pp. 112-130.
– 63-
13
The
appeal
to the church then was to announce that the Bride
(i.e. The Pentecostal Movement) was putting on her
garments,
in preparation for the
marriage supper
of the Lamb. If other Christians wished to become
part
of the Bride
they
must receive the
wedding ring,
the Seal of the
Holy Spirit.
Summary
These then, I believe are the motifs which
provided
the framework by
which the
early message
was moulded. The four names of the move- ment
supplied:
1. The Doctrinal content; 2. The
World-view;
3. A Restoration theme; and 4. The
Experiential application.
The names assigned
to the
message
rooted all the motifs in an
eschatological perspective.
Thus The Word and Witness could
correctly
declare in 1914:
‘This
Gospel
of the
Kingdom
shall be
preached
in all the world
for a witness, and then shall the end coe.’ We believe under God
this is the
great message
for these
days. Baptized
saints are
agreed
and
confidently
assured that we are on the threshold of
the
greatest
event in the
history
of the
world,
viz: the imminent
appearing
of Jesus Christ to catch
away
his
waiting
Bride.
1
II.
“Complementary
Models:”
Interpretive
Tools
Having
looked at the five
major
motifs which
supplied
the structure for
early
Pentecostal
thought,
I now wish to
suggest
that construction of models from these themes can be
helpful
for at least three tasks: 1. To provide
the framework to reconstruct the
early message;
2. To
provide insight
into the
subsequent developments
which have
occurred; and 3. To
provide
the basis for the
ongoing
task of
theological
reflection. A. Reconstruction of the
Early Message.
By
this
point
it should be clear that I feel the
early message
was
lC. W. Doney, “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” Word and Witness
X
(inlelvern, Arkansas), [March 20, 1914), p. 2.
‘
– 64-
14
rooted in eschatology. With the construction of models drawn from the major motifs,
it is relatively
easy
to demonstrate that the soon
coming
of Christ was the focal
point.
Charles Parham’s stated
purpose
for his Bible
College,
was to “fit men and women to
go to
the ends of the earth to
preach, ‘This Gospel
of the
Kingdom’ (of) Matt. 24,
as a witness to all the world before the end of the
age.2
The first issue of The
Apostolic
Faith
(Los Angeles)
relates a vision in which an
angel
told Anna Hall:
… I have come to tell
you
that Jesus is
coming.
Go forward in
my name, preach
the
Gospel
of the
Kingdom
for the
King’s
business demands haste.
My people
have
only
time to
get
on
the beautiful
garments,
and
prepare
for the
wedding supper
in
the heavens.3
Wherever the revival
spread,
the
message
was the same. In February, 1908,
Mrs. Sexton of Atlanta editoralized in The Bride- groom’s Messenger:
Jesus is Coming! Jesus is Coming! These sweet notes have been
sounding
in our ears for more than a year, and the sound has .
gone
out to the whole earth. Wherever this Pentecostal revival
has reached and
people
have received the
baptism
of the
Holy
Ghost,
this
message
of His
coming
is
usually given
in a “new
tongue”
under the
power
of the
Spirit.4
4
.
David McDowell
placed
the “Full
Gospel”
motif in this
perspective when he wrote:
1 Robert Mapes Anderson, “The Pentecostal Message” in Vision of The Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism, (New York Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 79-97, is the first Pentecostal theme. This excellent well-documented published record I have found stating that the second coming was the major history will undoubtedly affect all future
scholarship in Pentecostal Theology.
2 Sarah E. Parham, op. cit., p. 51.
3″Jesus is Coming” The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles) I. (September 1906), p. 4.
4The Bridegroom’s Messenger (Atlanta), L (February 1, 1908), p. 1.
– 65-
15
… Salvation, the
Baptism the Ministrations
program….
not a feature of a program …
in the
Holy Spirit,
Divine
Healing,
of the
Holy Spirit among us,
are features of a The Second
Coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ is
it is the Program. The …
(others)
fulfillment.l
are features of this
program leading up
to its
grand
and
l
glorious
.
ologically.
Illustrative
eschat-
Likewise the Restoration motif was
initially interpreted
of this is Elizabeth Sisson who stated that God was …
raising up
a sign
people
in whom to demonstrate the won- drous
glories
of the latter rain and the restoration of the fulness of the
Spirit,
and those
gifts
of the
Spirit
which he
gave
at the
What does it signify …
birth of the church … hand.2
that
they
had witnessed marked the
inauguration of the
movement,
described
that the end is at
the
early
adherents understood
It is
quite
clear from the literature
a
display
of God’s
sovereign power
which
of the
eschatoligical age.
H. A. Ironside, a critic
their conviction in a
stirring
account.
In the month of April, 1906, a little band
composed chiefly of colored
people
were
praying together
Azusa street in Los
Angeles,
California. Some of them had heard of a recent
peculiar happening
in Kansas where a strange
power
had taken
possession ,
apparently
sign
of a second Pentecost, manifestation,
taken
possession
in a mission-hall on
of a
man,
and he had been
in this a
energy
that made them at
made to
speak in ‘tongues’. Day
after
day
and
night after
night
these
people,
who
thought they recognized
cried
earnestly
to God for a similar
and at last
the ‘power’
felL One
by one they
were
of by a superhuman
times insensible to all around, and caused them to pour forth in a torrent of strange sounds, often
monosyllabic
gibberish;
and
lDavid H. McDowell “The
Purpose of the Coming of the Lord” The Pentecostal Euangel (May 2, 1925), p. 2.
2 Elizabeth Sisson, A Sign People (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House (1918), pp. 10-11.
66
16
again
somewhat connected strange languages.
that seemed to be in
Rain’
dispensation-the age.l
I
expression
Their
joy
knew no bounds. To them had been committed, so they believed, the
ushering
in of the ‘Latter
final Pentecost to close
up
the
present
what
happened
and St. Louis
newspapers them
“professors
speaking
in the
languages
modern Pentecostal completion Frank Bartleman
typology,
roughly
to the
“Upper
Room”
Movements.” As he tells
120
people
were
present, seeing tongues
of fire
sitting
bringing
with and
government interpre-
in
in Pentecostal
understanding.
The events at
Topeka corresponded
experience
on the
day
of Pentecost. Charles Parham offers his account of
in an article entitled “The Latter Rain: The
Story
of the Origin
of the
Original Apostolic
Or Pentecostal
it, they
were in an upper room;
approximately
12 of which were
miiaisters;
some
reported
above the heads of those who were
speaking
in tongues. Finally, when the news of this was
spread abroad, reporters
from the
Topeka,
Kansas
City
came to
investigate reportedly
of
languages, foreigners
ters.” All
agreed,
Parham
wrote,
“that the students of the
college
were
of the world.”2
If the events at
Topeka
served
as the “Upper
Room”
experience
the Azusa Street revival marked the
of the “Second Pentecost”
writing
in the
Apostolic Light
in October, 1906, echoed the
thoughts
of most if not all
early
adherents:
The fullness of time seems to have come for the church’s
complete
restoration. God has
spoken
to His servants in all
parts
of the world, and has sent
many
of them to Los
Angeles,
every
nation under Heaven once
more,
as of old,
to
go out again
into all the world with
the
glad message
of salvation. The base of operations
representing
come
up
for
‘Pentecost,’
has been
iH_ A. Ironside, Apostolic Faith Missions and the So-Called Second Pentecost York: Loizeaux
(New
Brothers, Inc., n.d.), p. 1.
2Charles F. Parham, “The Latter Rain: The Story of The Origin of the Original Apostolic or Pentecostal;Movements” in Sarah E. Parham, The Life of Charles F. Parham, pp. 51-56.
67
17
shifted, from old Jerusalem, Angeles.1
The San Francisco
earthquake
When Pentecost
ing
in San Francisco.
The
single
most
important
for the latter
‘Pentecost,’
to Los
occurring
10
days
after the out-
by
the Pente-
stated:
these
early and that the
break of the Azusa Street revival did not
go
unnoticed
costals.-It
signified
to them God’s hand
moving
in nature to authenticate their claim that the world had moved into a new era of God’s
dealing
with mankind. Frank Ewart
reflecting upon
this
experience
rocked the
religious
world with a worldwide
spiritual awakening
that struck Los
Angeles
in
1906,
an earth-
quake
of frightful dimensions rocked the
physical
world center-
In all God’s
great
moves nature
sym-
pathizes
with Him. She understands whether man does or not:
At Sinai, when God
spoke,
the earth went into convulsions.
At
Calvary
the bosom of the earth rocked
violently,
the sun
withdrew his face and all nature went into
eclipse.2
2
element which convinced
Pentecostals that the Second Pentecost had occurred
Latter Rain era had
begun
was that the revival was
accompanied by glossolalia.
Susan Duncan asked
rhetorically: .”Why
that
speaking
in tongues
distinguished revival from all others in church
history
and linked it directly to the
early rain. While
signs
and wonders had occurred before and after Pentecost,
was the
only sign “unique”
century,
to
them,
could
only signify
the
Latter Rain?” She
responded
speaking
in
tongues reappearance
in the twentieth coming
of the Latter Rain.3
As the movement
do I know this is the
this
to Pentecost. Its
to the utter-
November
spread
from this “New Jerusalem”
most
part
of the
earth,
the “Pentecostal” model became
complete. By
1908,
A. H.
Argue
was able to write:
1 The Apostolic Light, October, 1906, reprinted in Frank Bartleman, How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles: As It Was in the Beginning, Old Azusa Mission-From
My Diary, (Los Angeles: The Author, 1925), p. 89.
2Frank J. Ewart, The Phenomenon of Pentecost (.4 history of the ‘Latter Louis: Pentecostal
Rain’), (St.
Publishing House, 1947), p. 18.
3Susan A. Duncan, “What Is It?” Word and Word XXVII (August, 1910), p. 239.
– 68-
18
many
in Scotland …
Ireland, Wales, Sweden, Germany,
Wouth;
San
Marcial, Torino, Italy;
and in
Japan.l
Our hearts
rejoice
to hear of
many
faithful
witnesses, precious
souls from
nearly every part
of the
globe, receiving
the Holy
Ghost
according
to Acts
1:8, in Jerusalem, Syria, Arabia, Persia and
Armenia,
and a number of
places
in China … In India it has broken out in many
quarters
and … in forty
places
Also
many
have been
baptized
Norway,
Australia, Russia, and Tibet. In Africa West and
New
I
Mexico; Jeruca,
Though
embellished elements of the Second Pentecost anticipated
in
England, Switzerland, Holland,
Cuba; Egypt;
through
the countless
retelling
of the
story,
the
were locked
firmly
in place. The
long
latter rain had come. God’s time
table, suspended the church
age,
was
again
set in motion to
produce
would
wrap up
the end of the
age.
The twin
expressions
and “The
Everlasting Gospel”
the
Kingdom”
form this
early
Pentecostal
message.
B.
Analyzing Subsequent
Developments
Reconstruction
“Complementary
ological
focus of the formative subsequent developments
emphases
through
the events which
“This
Gospel
of summarized in
capsule
in Pentecostal
Thought
message through
the use of
of the
early
Pentecostal
Models” not
only
is
helpful
to discover the eschat-
years,
it also
provides insight
into the
of the movement as well. Because the motifs from which the models are constructed were
dynamic
and
diverse,
new
were able to
emerge
to meet the
changing
needs of the movement. Because the motifs contained certain inherent
incongruen-
divisions which rent the movement
interpreted
were “discredited.” As a consequence,
work of the
early message gradually collapsed,
New Order of the Latter Rain” revived the
construction
cies,
the
theological
inevitable. Because adherents expectations
were abandoned. When “the motifs in a
slightly
different
were
probably the motifs
literally, many
the
dynamic
frame-
and
many
of the motifs
.
in the late
1940’s,
that
1 The-Pentecostal Testimony (Toronto), Many, 1956, Citing The
November, 1908.
Apostolic Messenger,
– 69-
19
movement was
rejected
even
though,
in my
opinion,
the revival demon- strated the same concerns as the earlier movement. What has remained
of a
“distinctively
Pentecostal” “Pentecost” is a repeatable
message,
spiritual experience Christian believer, and that this
experience
an unknown
tongue.
C.
A Basis for
Theological
Reflection
it seems to
me, is that
to be
enjoyed by every is evidenced
by speaking
in
Pentecostal Studies suggest
three areas:
The third function which model construction
is to create a basis for
theological
First,
it should be
recognized
can
provide
for
reflection. I
that models are not literal
pictures
of
of aspects of
to us. Motifs have been
reality
that are not directly abandoned
These still can be recovered seriously.
reality. Rather,
I suggest they are
symbolic representations
observable
because when taken
literally they
have been discredited.
through reinterpretation
and then taken
ways
of repre-
Second,
I suggest models are
partial
and
provisional
senting reality. Therefore, they
can
produce
a helpful climate in which to
dialogue.
On the one hand
they
can
provide
the
engage
in ecumenical
Pentecostal a basis of
articulating contribution
she knows her
understanding
matic” or “Evangelical” understanding dialectic,
constructed
her conviction
that she has a
of reality. On
“Charis-
Models” are often
until new models are the
incongruencies.
to make, a deeper, more whole
understanding
the other hand she can come to dialogue not
simply
to persuade, because
is
partiaL
She can therefore learn from others. Pentecostal models laid side
by
side with
“Holiness,”
models,
for
example,
can well
provide
a deeper
of reality. Because
“Complementary
they
can hold variant data in tension
which
might
better
interpret
Finally,
I suggest that model construction can enable the movement to recover its roots.
Although
some of the
early eschatological
have had no further function once the movement was launched, I believe that the
on-going history
of any movement must
always
be
critiqued
in light
of its
origins
in the same manner that the Protestant
the whole church must be
judged
maintains
-70-
motifs-may
principle in
light
of the
Scriptures.
20
Conclusion
While
attending
a Pentecostal Bible
college,
I was
taught
that the
Baptism
of the
Holy Spirit,
evidenced “distinctively
Pentecostal”
by speaking
in tongues is the
only
the movement has made to the
However, this
My study
reductionism of the Pentecostal of the
origins
of Pentecostalism
contribution
church.
Today,
this doctrine is
being seriously challenged by
charis- matics from without and
by many
Biblical
exegetes
from within. The force of this
challenge
I suspect, will continue to
grow.
To Pentecostals who have
placed
the
identity
and
integrity
of the movement
upon
this doctrine, such
a challenge is understandably threatening.
message
is most
regrettable.
leads me to concur with the editor of Word and Work when he wrote in 1910.
We are not as
many suppose, wholly
taken
up
with the mere
experience, solely
with reference to the
matter of individual baptism
of the
Holy Spirit …
.
this is but one
phase
of a many
sided and
mightily
divine movement toward the restoration of the church to her lost estate. This revival is much in the nature of a Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was
only partial … now the
Spirit
is
stirring up
the church to a
great
and forward movement for the full
recovery
delivered to the saints.1
of the “faith once
IMorton W. Plummer “The Latter Rain Reformation-Revival” Word and Work XXX II (February, 1910), pp. 36-37; reprinted in The Bridegroom’s Messenger V (June 1, 1912), p. 3; and as a tract.
– 71-
21
