Pentecostals

Pentecostalism is one of the late Protestant movements of Christianity that arose in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century . Its ideological origins lie in the religious and philosophical movement of Rivevelism (eng. Revival - “revival, awakening”), which arose in the 18th century among the followers of a number of Protestant churches in the USA, England and other countries, and in the “ Holiness Movement ” that developed in its framework . Holiness Movement ).

Pentecostals attach particular importance to the baptism of the Holy Spirit , understanding it as a special spiritual experience, often accompanied by various emotions, at which moment the power of the Holy Spirit descends on the regenerated believer. Pentecostals consider this experience identical with that experienced by the apostles on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ. And since that day is called Pentecost , hence the name Pentecost .

Pentecostals are convinced that the power that a believer receives as a result of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is externally manifested by speaking in other languages ​​( Acts 2: 4 , Acts 10: 44–46 , Acts 19: 6 ). A specific understanding of the “speaking in other languages” phenomenon ( glossolalia ) is a distinctive feature of Pentecostals. Pentecostals believe that there is the gift of speaking in other languages, which manifests itself in involuntary speaking in foreign languages ​​during evangelism, as well as the gift of prophecy, but there is also the prayer of the Holy Spirit, which is speaking in the languages ​​of “angelic” ( Rom. 8: 26 , Ephesians 6:18 ).

Pentecostal denominational Christians believe that the Holy Spirit also gives gifts words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing , miracles, prophecies, discerning of spirits, interpretation of languages, according to 1 Cor. 12: 8-10 .

Among Pentecostals, the sacraments have a special place - water baptism and the Lord's Supper (communion, or bread-breaking). The following rites are also recognized: marriage , blessing of children , prayer for the healing of the sick , ordination , sometimes washing of the feet (during the sacrament).

Throughout its existence, an important aspect of Pentecostal theology has been the “doctrine of piety,” calling upon followers to live a righteous life based on the Holy Scriptures: to give up alcohol, smoking, drugs, gambling, slander, morality in matters of family and marriage, hard work .

Traditional conservative Pentecostals do not use weapons against humans. Some Pentecostals adhere to the doctrine of “non-resistance to evil” (according to Matthew 5: 38-40 ) and do not take up arms under any circumstances (as they believe, like Christ and the apostles who died a martyrdom without using any force protection methods).

In recent years, there has been an increase in Pentecostal churches around the world.

Charles Finney

The next stage in the history of the movement is associated with the name of the preacher of the 19th century Charles Finney ( Eng. Charles Grandison Finney ). He believed at the age of 21 and became known as a preacher of repentance and awakening. Preaching for 50 years in the USA , England and Scotland , he attracted thousands of souls to Christ. Speaking about the need for baptism with the Holy Spirit, Finney cited his personal experience as an example, using the term “ baptism in the Holy Spirit ” for the first time. Here is how he describes it:

“Clearly and distinctly, surrounded by a wonderful radiance, the image of Jesus Christ appeared clearly before my soul, so that I think that we met face to face. He did not say a word, but looked at me with such a look that I fell to him in the dust as if broken, I fell at His feet, and cried like a child. How long, bowing, I stood in admiration, I do not know, but as soon as I set out to take a chair near the fireplace and sit down, the Spirit of God was poured out on me and pierced me all; "I was overwhelmed with spirit, soul and body, although I had never heard of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and all the more so I did not expect this, nor prayed for anything like that." ^[one]

Dwight Moody (Moody)

Another person who played a very important role was Dwight L. Moody . He lived in the second half of the XIX century. At 38, he began his first evangelistic campaign. He founded the Chicago Moody Bible Institute and appointed a director named Ruben Archer Torrey , who in his sermons paid much attention to this subject and constantly preached about it.

Holiness Movement and Keswick Movement

The Keswick Movement , which has become widespread thanks to several American preachers of the “movement of saints” (H.V. Smith and V.E. Boardman). Speaking of a “second blessing,” they shifted the emphasis from Wesley’s “purity of heart” to “endowing with spiritual strength for service,” and they also talked a lot about divine healing as one of the most essential gifts of the church.

The Keswickian way of thinking is characterized by the separation of believers into “carnal” and “spiritual”, as is done in the Bible with the comments of S. Scofield ( ). “Carnal” or average, the Christian does not abide in the power of the Spirit and therefore, living according to the flesh, is constantly defeated in following God's commandments and moral life. Some supporters of the Keswick movement portray the carnal believer as “partly Christian.” The “spiritual,” or normal, Christian, however, lives in the power of the Spirit, constantly winning. Reputable Keswick sources claim that they become “spiritual Christians” when, after conversion, the decisive moment of unconditional surrender comes, when believers surrender to the power of Christ without a trace.

Healing Move

Charles Fox Parham

The immediate beginning of the Pentecostal movement is connected with Charles Fox Parham . He was a priest and, reading the Bible book of Acts of the Holy Apostles , he came to the conclusion that Christians in the past had a secret that they had lost. Parham knew perfectly well that one could not find a solution, and no individual could solve this problem. ^{[ which one? ] is} also impossible. He decided to organize a Bible school, where he should become a director and her student in order to seek this good in such a composition. In Topeka , Kansas , he bought the Stone Fad home, and wrote a letter of invitation; and 40 students responded to it.

In December, Parham was due to leave for the conference and gave assignments to his students. Upon his return, he found that the students of the school, independently reading the book of Acts, came to the same conclusion: in the five cases described in Acts, when they received the baptism for the first time, the following languages ​​were recorded:

• 1. At Pentecost
• 2. In Samaria
• 3. In Damascus
• 4. In Caesarea
• 5. In Ephesus

Parham suggested praying for such a baptism from God with the sign of other languages. The next day, they prayed all morning in the meeting until noon, and all day in the mansion there was an atmosphere of expectation. At 19 o'clock on New Year's Eve 1901, a student of Agness Ozman recalled that in some cases described in Acts , those who laid hands on those who received baptism laid hands.

The date of January 1, 1901 became, therefore, one of the dates that Pentecostals see as one of the key in the history of the emergence of their movement ^[2] . They point to this day as the first one, from the time of the early church , when the baptism of the Holy Spirit was exacted and when speaking in tongues was expected as the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On the night of January 1, 1901, a world-famous ministry was held at the Topek Bible School in Kansas. In this service, the student of the school, Angessa Ozman , believed in her missionary calling and wished to receive spiritual strength, approached the teacher Charles Parham and asked to lay hands on her so that she could receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit with the sign of other languages. Parham hesitated, telling her that he himself did not speak other languages. Ozman insisted, and he had no choice but to lay hands on her head in humility. He later described this incident as follows: “As soon as I uttered three dozen phrases, the fame came upon her, the radiance seemed to surround her head and face, and she began to speak Chinese and could not speak English for three days” .

Awakening on Azusa Street

In 1903, Parham moved to Eldorado Spenes, and a turning point occurred in his ministry. Rumor spread about him as a disinterested person. According to Pentecostals, when he began to preach and pray for the sick, many of them were truly healed. For example, at one of the meetings, a woman named Mary Arthur, who lost her eyesight as a result of two operations, began to see after Parham's prayer.

After 5 years in the city of Houston , Kansas, Parham announced the opening of a second school. William J. Seymour , an ordained black minister, came to this school. At the beginning of 1906, Seymour went to Los Angeles, where he met preacher Frank Bartleman , who managed to set the stage for the coming awakening. On April 9, 1906, during one of Seymour’s sermons, listeners began to experience a condition called “the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” Seymour opens the Mission of the Apostolic Faith on Azuza Street, 312. This place has for some time become the center of the Pentecostal movement. Awakening on Azusa Street lasted 3 years (1000 days) .

Thomas Boll Barratt , a Norwegian clergyman of the Episcopal Methodist Church, became acquainted with the Pentecostal teaching in the United States and was baptized with the Holy Spirit. He brought the news of Pentecostalism to Europe , Scandinavia and the Baltic states . Pentecostalism was most strongly opposed in Germany. What happened at the meetings of Pentecostal preachers was seen as the actions of Satan, and as a reaction, members of a number of evangelical churches in 1910 drew up the Berlin Declaration, which stated that the Pentecostal movement did not originate from God, but from the devil. It was equated with occultism. Germany has long been closed to the Pentecostal movement.

In the 1930s, David Du Plessis (known among like-minded people as “Mr. Pentecost”) met one famous Pentecostal preacher, Smith Wigglesworth , who told him that a powerful revival associated with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would soon visit traditional churches and he would to participate in it. In 1948, when Du Plessis was preparing one Pentecostal conference , his car hit a train. He ended up in the hospital, where, according to him, he heard the voice of God: “The time I spoke of has come. I want you to go to other traditional churches. ” .

So the first step was made to the emergence of a charismatic movement .

Sole Pentecostals

Among Christians of various directions, there are often followers of the doctrine of the uniqueness of God (Briefly: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit - there are not three different persons, but one God who appeared in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. [ Matt. 1:20 , 1 Tim. 3:16 ]). In the history of Pentecostalism in Russia there are also believers who agree with this teaching, the so-called “currants” (from the name of the head of the community, Smorodin). Other names: "evangelical Christians in the spirit of the apostles", "the only ones."

• Assembly of god
• Glossolalia in Christianity
• Evangelical christians
• United Church of Christians of the Gospel Faith
• Awakening on Azusa Street
• Protestantism
• Pentecostal Movement in the USA
• Pentecost in Russia
• United Church of Christians of the Gospel Faith
• Russian Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith
• Russian United Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith
• Pentecostal Denomination List
• Tallinn Awakening

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• Lunkin R. N. Charismatics and Conservatives: Enemy Friends in One Union // Russian-Russian Information and Analytical Bulletin, July-August 2005 ( copy )
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• Library of Christian OTsHVE. Archive of newspapers and magazines fraternity