Hollenweger, Walter J-The Pentecostals - The Charismatic Movement in The Churches-Augsburg Pub. House (1972) PDF
Hollenweger, Walter J-The Pentecostals - The Charismatic Movement in The Churches-Augsburg Pub. House (1972) PDF
The Pentecostals
The Pentecostals
The Charismatic Movement in the Churches
W. J. Hollenweger
THE PENTECOSTALS
First United States Edition 1972
Copyright SCM Press Ltd. 1972
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 70-176103
International Standard Book No. 0-8066-1210-x
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical
articles and reviews. For information address Augsburg
Publishing House, 426 South Fifth Street, Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55415.
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
Abbreviations
Preface
PART ONE - H I S T O R Y
T H E U N I T E D STATES OF AMERICA
BRAZIL
6 A Worker Founds the Largest Protestant Church in Latin America:
Daniel Berg and the Assembleias de Deus in Brazil 75
1. Origin
2. Social Work
3. Relationships with Other Churches
(a) With the Roman Catholic church
(b) With the Ecumenical movement
(c) With the North American Assemblies of God
4. Doctrine
SOUTH AFRICA
9 'The Full Blessing of Pentecost': Andrew Murray, John Alexander
Dowie and the Early Days of the Pentecostal Movement
in South Africa 111
1. Andrew Murray
(a) His life
(b) Murray's doctrine of the baptism of the Spirit
(c) Murray's doctrine of healing through prayer
2. John Alexander Dowie
(a) Outline of his life
(b) Worship and doctrine
(c) Dowie's 'Christian Catholic Church in Zion' in South Africa
3. The Beginnings of the Pentecostal Movement in South Africa
(a) The Apostolic Faith Mission
(b) Assemblies of God
10 Nicholas B. H. Bhengu: A Charismatic African Prophet 126
1. His Significance and his Life
2. His Teaching
(a) The proof of God through the healing of the sick
(b) The preaching of Jesus as redeemer
(c) The struggle against ancestor worship
(d) Baptism
3. Worship and Devotion
4. Is Bhengu a Pentecostal ?
5. Bhengu's Concern for Social Ethics
(a) Brotherhood between 'red people' and 'school people'
(b) The fight against crime amongst the Africans
(c) The struggle against the independent African Pentecostal
churches
(d) Strengthening the self-confidence of the Africans towards the
Whites
(e) Communal village settlements
6. Bhengu in the Crossfire of Politics
Vlll Contents
II 'Back to Pentecost': the Latter Rain Assemblies as a Protest
Movement against the Decline of Enthusiasm in the Older
Pentecostal Churches 140
1. Origin and Faith Homes
2. Doctrine
(a) 'Praying through' and 'full confession'
(b) Baptism
(c) The 'blood of Jesus'
(d) Absolute claims
(e) Ethical rigorism
( / ) Demonology - illustrated from prayers
3. Criticism of the Latter Rain Movement by the Rest of the
Pentecostal Movement
4. The Characteristic Features of the Latter Rain Movement
EUROPE
13 A Blending of Aristocratic Anglicanism and Welsh Revivalism:
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain 176
1. The Revival in Wales
(a) Origin
(b) Characteristics of the revival
(c) Opponents and supporters
(d) Bois' description of the evangelist Evan Roberts
(e) A considered criticism
( / ) The origin of the Pentecostal movement in the revival in Wales
Contents IX
Bibliography 523
Index
ABBREVIATIONS
History
T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S OF AMERICA
The most prominent people in this group of Catholic intellectuals were the
Ranaghans, a married couple with academic theological training. At the end of
1966 they read the story of the Pentecostal evangelist David Wilkerson, who
had proved prayer and the gifts of the Spirit to be the most effective means of
fighting against the teenage drug problem.37 John SherrilPs account of the
charismatic revival38 within the Protestant churches made them curious to
make its acquaintance at first hand. Through William Lewis, an Anglican rector,
they came into contact with an ecumenical charismatic prayer group. Soon they
received the gift of speaking with tongues. The revival spread from Duquesne
via Notre Dame University all over America. The movement is said already to
include 10,000 Catholics.39 St John's Abbey, Collegeville (Minnesota) com-
missioned the Benedictine Kilian McDonnell to investigate the revival and its
roots, and this has led to a series of noteworthy publications both about the
Pentecostal denominations and about the Roman Catholic Pentecostals.40
The prayer meetings of the Catholic Pentecostals 'shattered the "economic-
deprivation" theory that had routinely been set forth as an "explanation" of the
older, classical Pentecostalism'.41 It was not the uneducated but the intellectuals,
not the uncritical but the critical exegetes, not frustrated Puritans but quite
normal Christians who took part in these meetings. There is not only speaking
in tongues but critical discussion of theological and social problems; not only
the singing of hymns but the composition of new hymns, not only praying, but
eating, drinking and smoking.
The Catholics concede that this revival movement has its roots outside the
Catholic church. Although Edward O'Connor tolerates no doubt about the
sound Catholic theology behind it, he asks the question,
Is it conceivable that the Holy Spirit should be more operative in certain
other Churches (viz. the Pentecostal) than in that Church which alone is
held to be fully authentic, and that the latter could receive from the former
a new influx of the gifts of the Spirit ?
Speaking with Tongues in the Traditional Churches of America 9
His answer is:
This may be God's way of demonstrating to members of the Church that he
alone is sovereign Lord, and that all institutions and hierarchs on earth, even
in the Church, are nothing but instruments and ministers . . . We need to
have it demonstrated for us that God's action transcends the action of the
Church as well as all human calculation.42
Although the Pentecostal Evangel of the Assemblies of God is of the opinion
that the Vatican Council 'produced so little worthy of note',43 it must be realized
that a charismatic movement like that described above could hardly have laid
claim to so much freedom as it enjoys at present without the decrees of the
Council. As the Decree on the apostolate of the laity lays stress on the necessity
of charismata for the whole people of God,44 the movement has so far aroused
no fundamental criticism even among the American bishops. In the 'Report
of the Committee on Doctrine of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops'
on 'The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church in the U.S.A.' they
merely asserted:
1. The movement appeared to be theologically sound;
2. There were dangers involved in it;
3. They wished that more priests would get involved in it.45
The theology of this movement, which is only just beginning to develop, is
substantially different from that of the Pentecostal denominations, as it is from
that of the charismatic movement within the Protestant church. It is closest
to the theology of the charismatic movement within the German churches46
and the free church Mulheim Association of Christian Fellowships.47 The
Pentecostals who hitherto have seen the Catholic church simply as a prefigure-
ment of the 'great whore'48 are puzzled by the combination of spirituality and
freedom (smoking and drinking), prayer and critical exegesis, which is so un-
characteristic of their own denominations. It is no coincidence that apart from
some notes49 there had been no mention of the Pentecostal revival in the
Catholic church in the Pentecostal Evangel up to the end of 1969.
Mrs Stiles remarks that this same person will experience the same regression
again in a few weeks, and that after a few repetitions of the cycle of heavenly
joy and barren desolation will perhaps lose all interest in these camp meetings,
in prayer and in the Bible. This she sees as a principal problem of Pentecostal
pastoral care.
Speakine with Tongues in the Traditional Churches of America 13
Her suggestion for a solution to the problem is unusual. Instead of saying,
like Luther 'Baptizatus sum', instead of relying, like the Catholics, on the
sacrament or trusting, like the Reformed, on the word of preaching, the Pente-
costal is to say: 'There, in that baptism of the Spirit and speaking with tongues,
God's Spirit has come to me objectively. Quite independently of what I know
feel or experience: this one fact remains unshakable.' This position might be
called a kind of sacramentalism of speaking with tongues.
Mrs Stiles rightly describes the tragedies that arise from the Pentecostal
doctrine that the Holy Spirit can only come into purified hearts:
1. The most upright Christians never receive the baptism of the Spirit,
because they know themselves well enough to be aware that they can
never regard themselves as purified.
2. Those who receive the baptism of the Spirit automatically rise to a
higher class of Christians, whereas
3. those who have not received the baptism of the Spirit seem to be Christians
of an inferior quality.
4. This often results in the arrogance of those who have received the baptism
of the Spirit.
5. Therefore it must now be said of the Pentecostal preachers that those
baptized with the Spirit who later have an excessive opinion of themselves
have not really been baptized by the Spirit of God, even if they have
already spoken in tongues: they have only been anointed by the Spirit,
and this will be followed later by a true filling with the Holy Spirit.
6. A recognition of this will discourage the best Pentecostal preachers from
ever preaching about the baptism of the Spirit.
7. Baptism of the Spirit wrongly becomes a goal, instead of a means.
In contrast to the Protestant charismatic movement within the church,
the parallel Catholic movement rejects the 'methodology of fundamentalism'.
To quote Ranaghan again:
Too often in the past Christians experiencing baptism in the Holy Spirit
have adopted not only the cultural environment of denominational Pente-
costalism but also the thought categories of the fundamentalist milieu.
The denominational Pentecostals are not of course to be criticized for their
fundamentalism. Presumably it is part of their social milieu.70 Nevertheless, it
seems necessary to Ranaghan that, in so far as Pentecost is really an experience
of the whole church and not the doctrine of a particular group within the church,
the charismatic element should be approached in theological discussion from
different standpoints, including that of critical exegesis.71
It follows from this that the charismata must not be regarded as something
supernatural. As in the charismatic movement within the German church,72
community casework, journalism73 and run-of-the-mill administration74 can
therefore also be regarded as charismata.
14 The Pentecostah: United States of America
It is only logical that the concept of 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' should be
used with restraint. This concept has been borrowed from fundamentalist
Pentecostals 'who don't have the sacramental theology needed to relate it to the
whole context of water baptism'.75 Catholic charismatic theology must therefore
speak of a renewal of the receiving of the Spirit rather than of an initiation into
the life of the Spirit.76
(c) Ethics
The Protestant wing of the charismatic revival has so far made no contri-
bution to the theme of ethical rigorism in Pentecostal circles, to the opening up
of the all too narrow personalistic horizon of the Pentecostal movement. This is
disappointing.79 We shall wait expectantly for R. R. Rice's book Charismatic
Revival, which is to contain a chapter on the relationship between charisma and
ethics. Meanwhile one can only be amazed that e.g. in the writings of the wife
of the great industrialist Mr Stone, the ethical consequences of this revival,
'turning the world upside down', are restricted to abstention from cocktails and
smoking.80 I have not been able to find any contribution to the race question in
any of the publications of the Trinity Group. It is astounding that in a revival
brought about by the Spirit of God, God seems completely to have forgotten
the most important problems with which the churches of America are struggling
at present. The Anglican Wilbur O. Fogg writes with disconcerting super-
ficiality:
Speaking with Tongues in the Traditional Churches of America 15
I do not believe that it is a question of'speaking the language of the twentieth
century' (though that certainly has its value), but of returning ourselves to a
simple and solid experience of the spiritual facts that empowered the Apostles
and early Christians to turn the world upside down. So far as I can tell, they
did not try to 'meet the world where it was', but as a matter of fact, they
challenged the position of the world. They called upon the world to 'move
out' from where it was, and affirmed very strongly that they would stand
on the Rock of Jesus Christ whether the world came with them or not. They
could do this, not because they had learned to 'communicate in contemporary
terms' but because they had experienced the grace and power and presence
of the Risen Christ.81
NOTES
1. J. L. Sherrill, They Speak, pp. 89X; cf. also J. Robins, Full Gospel Men's Voice
8/6-7, July-Aug. i960, pp. oX
2. Cf. ch. 24.5, pp. 342fF.
3. Evidence, documents, literature: 02a.02.2o6-i6. Main periodicals: Trinity, Testi-
mony, Voice in the Wilderness, Faith Conquest, Acts, Charisma Digest. Cf. also the series
by J. Jensen (bibliography) and the books published by Logos, Plainfield, New Jersey
(e.g. D. G. Lillie, Tongues', D. J. Bennett, Nine 0'Clock).
4. For this concept cf. ch. 24.4, pp. 33off.
5. Living Church 164, 10.7.i960, p. 5.
6. A revival group within the church from the last century. Cf. F. S. Mead, Hand-
book, p. 62.
7. A. Bittlinger, letter to W.H., 18.11.1963.
8. Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. 5, 48; Time 78, 15.8.1960, p. 55; 81, 29.3.1963, p. 52;
Nationalzeitung, Basel, 30/31.5.1964; many articles in American newspapers and
periodicals. Cf. also J. T. Nichol, Pentecostalism, pp. 240 -4. For the latest development
see R. Chandler, Christianity Today 12/4, 24.11.1967, pp. 39f.
9. Trinity 1/2, 1962, p. 30. J. Stone, Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. 8-11; Christian Life,
Nov. 1961, pp. 38-41.
10. Instances: J. E. Hadley, Trinity 1/4, 1962, pp. 24f; N. G. Scovell, Trinity 1/3,
1962, pp. 2-4.
11. J. Weddle, Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. i9f.
12. J. Stone, Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. iof.
13. D. J. Bennett, Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. 6f. (farewell speech).
14. Cf. the writings of A. Bittlinger, M. Harper and R. F. Edel.
15. Instances: E. B. Stube, P. E. Hughes, J. H. Hanson.
16. E. Newman, Trinity 1/2, 1961, pp. 18, 20.
17. Quoted in J. L. Sherrill, They Speak, p. 140.
18. Evidence, documents, literature: 02a.02.205.
19. D. R. Wilkerson, Cross.
20. On this cf. ch. 3.2(0), p. 34.
21. On this cf. ch. 25, pp. 353ff.
22. The International Order of Saint Luke, San Diego, California, is a fellowship
of doctors and ministers who want to bring new life to prayer for the sick in churches.
The order is closely related to Pentecostal healing evangelists and occasionally takes
over their theses, cf. 02a.02.209. Journal: Sharing.
23. In detail, 02a.02.177; cf. ch. 25.2(b), pp. 363ft0.
24. Internationale Vereinigung Christlicher Geschaftsleute (IVCG), located in
Zurich; there is co-operation from Hans Bruns, various European pastors, intellectuals
and businessmen. Periodicals: Actes - Geschdftsmann und Christ.
25. A banquet is described in detail by J. L. Sherrill, They Speak, pp. 117-23.
26. D. Gee, MD 21, 1958, p. 131.
27. E. Braselton, Full Gospel Men's Voice 6/2, March 1968, p. 15.
i8 The Pentecostah: United States of America
28. Cf. ch. 9.3(0), pp. i2off.
29. Cf. 02a.02.208.
30. H. Bredesen, Trinity 2/2,1963, pp. 3-5, gives an account of baptisms of the Spirit
at Yale university.
31. D. J. Du Plessis, Pentecost outside ^Pentecost* and The Spirit Bade Me Go.
32. L. Pethrus, Dagen, 2.3.1963; but cf. more recently Dagen 24/131, 9.7.1968;
24/135, 13.7.1968 - Dagens Nyheter, 13.7.1968.
33. Cf. ch. 3.4, pp. 42f.
34. D. Gee, P 21, 1952, p. 12; P 24, 1953, p. 17.
35. F. J. Schulgen, Testimony 4/1, First Quarter of 1965, pp. 1-7; L. O'Docharty,
ibid., p. 8.
36. K. and D. Ranaghan, Catholic P, p. 6; J. Connelly in Ranaghan, Spirit, pp. 211-
232.
37. D. Wilkerson, Cross.
38. J. Sherrill, They Speak, cf. pp. 3f.
39. The most important account and most balanced assessment is given by K. Mc-
Donnell, Dialog (Winter 1970), pp. 35-54. Further literature (cf. also the following
footnotes and the literature on ch. 30.3, pp. 437n\): T. Barbarie, Triumph 4 (April
1969), pp. 20-2; J. Cavnar, Prayer Meetings (typescript); id., Acts 1/5,1968, pp. 14/19;
id., Scholastic 109, 21.4.1967, p. 14; St B. Clark, Confirmation and ''The Baptism of the
Spirit* (typescript); Baptized in the Spirit', Spiritual Gifts', P. Damboriena, Tongues,
pp. 63f.; J. M. Ford, Jubilee 16/2, June 1968, pp. 13-17; D. Francis, Twin Circle 2/29,
21.7.1968, p. 6; B. Ghezzi, Acts 1/2, Sept.-Oct. 1967, p. 34; M. Killian, The Priest 25
(Nov. 1969), pp. 611-16; A. Molina, Voice 17 (Oct. 1969), pp. 30-3; D. Murray,
Scholastic 109,14.4.1967, pp. 18-20; E. O'Connor, Ave Maria 105, 3.6.1967, pp. 7-10;
106, 19.8.1967, pp. 11-14; id., The Ecumenist 6/5, July-August 1968, pp. 161-4 (all
three reprinted in revised form in: O'Connor, Pentecost in the Catholic Church); American
Ecclesiastical Review, Sept. 1969, pp. 145-59; Synan, P Movement; M. Papa, National
Catholic Reporter 3/29, 17.5.1967; 4 (5.6.1967), pp. 1, 2; K. Peters, Ave Maria 108
(17.8.1968), pp. 8-12; J. F. Powers, America 119/2, 20.7.1968, pp. 43f.; K. Ranaghan,
National Catholic Reporter 3 (26.4.1967), p. 4; Charisma Digest 2,1969, pp. 14-18,22-4;
Religious News Service, 25.10.1969, 'Report on The Leader's Workshop', Lansing,
Mich. (12.3.1968); M. Sandoval, National Catholic Reporter, 12.6.1968; St Mary's
Chapel (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 4.2.1968, pp. 1-3; P. A. Thibodeau, A Study of the
Catholic Pentecostal Movement in Ann Arbor, Michigan (unpublished sociological
report); Time, 14.6.1968, p. 64; K. Wullenweber, St Anthony Messenger 76, Jan. 1969,
pp. 18-27; dcts 1/2, Sept.-Oct. 1967, pp. 25-30.
40. K. McDonnell, Worship 40/10, December 1966, pp. 608-29; id., America 118/13,
30.3.1968; id., Journal of Ecumenical Studies 1967/8, pp. 105-26; id., Continuum,
Winter 1967/68, pp. 673-85; id., Sisters Today 40 (May 1969), pp. 497-506; id.,
Commonweal 89, 8.11.1968, pp. 198-204; H. J. M. Nouwen, Scholastic 109, 21.4.1967,
pp. 15-17, 32; id., Ave Maria 105,3.6.1967, pp. n - 1 3 , 30; N. L. Gerrard, Transaction,
May 1968, pp. 22-30.
41. Religious News Service, 25.10.1969.
42. E. O'Connor, Ecumenist 6/5, July/August 1968, pp. 161-4; cf. also Ranaghan,
Catholic P, p. 153.
43. C. A. Bolten, PE 2703, 27.2.1966, pp. 6f.
44. Quoted in Ranaghan, op. cit., p. 184.
45. Cf. C. Rigby, Ecumenist 7/5, July/August 1969, pp. 73-6; the report was pre-
sented by Bishop A. Zaleski of Lansing, Mich., to the Bishops in their meeting in
Washington, D.C., 14 Nov. 1969. Compare the battle the charismatics had to fight in
the United Presbyterian Church of the USA (Acts 1/5, 1968, pp. I3f.).
Speaking with Tongues in the Traditional Churches of America 19
46. Cf. ch. 18, pp. 244fF.
47. Cf. ch. 17, pp. 23iff.
48. Cf. ch. 30.3, pp. 436ff.
49. PE 2860, 2.3.1969, p. 10. PE 2785, 24.9.1967, pp. 6-7, 13; but cf. Ranaghan,
Spirit, pp. *HU I41-
50. Cf. ch. 24.4, PP. 33off.
51. Trinity 1/1, 1961, p. 51; cf. ch. 24.5, pp. 342fF.
52. J. Stone, Trinity 1/3, 1962, p. 22; similarly, T. W. Ewald, Trinity 1/4, 1962, pp.
6f. and E. B. Stube, Trinity 1/3, 1962, pp. 39-46.
53. Blessed Trinity Society, Why Tongues?, p. 1.
54. Ibid., p. 2. This is word for word the teaching of the Assemblies of God (cf. ch.
3iW> PP- 32^-) anc^ o t n e r American Pentecostal circles. It is disputed by British,
Chilean, Swiss and German classical Pentecostal denominations (cf. ch. 14.2, p. 200)
and by A. Bittlinger and recently by Catholic Pentecostals (cf. p. 14).
55. D. J. Bennett, Pentecostal Testimony', special ed. (Pentecostalism in the Church
Today).
56. Trinity 1/4, i9X PP- 2~4-
57. J. A. Pike, Pastoral Letter 1963.
58. L. Christenson, Speaking in Tongues: A Gift, pp. 11, 27.
59. L. Christenson, Speaking in Tongues and its Significance', p. 130.
60. L. Christenson, Speaking in Tongues: A Gift, p. 30.
61. 'Christians who believe that they have experienced the phenomenon of speaking
with tongues or other ecstatic utterances should not be forbidden to practise these gifts.
But they should be reminded in Christian love to observe the admonition of the apostle
Paul in I Cor. 14.' Quoted by A. Bittlinger, Deutsches Pfarrerblatt 1963, pp. 333f.
62. L. Christenson, Speaking in Tongues: A Gift, p. 36.
63. L. Christenson, Gabe des Zungenredens, p. 28 (only in the German edition).
64. W. O. Swann, Trinity 1/3, 1962, p. 16.
65. W. O. Fogg, Trinity 1/4, 1962, p. 41.
66. J. E. Stiles, Gift, pp. 97, 129.
67. For terminology see ch. 2.4, pp. 24f.
68. J. E. Stiles, op. cit., p. 143.
69. Ibid., pp. 24f.
70. Ranaghan, Catholic P, p. 261; K. McDonnell, Dialog, Winter 1970, p. 41.
71. Ranaghan, op. cit., p. 260; D. L. Gelpi, Pentecostalism.
72. Cf. ch. 18, pp. 344ff.
73. Ranaghan, op. cit., p. 159.
74. Ibid., p. 249.
75. C. Rigby, Ecumenist 7/5, July/August 1969, pp. 73-6.
76. St B. Clark, Confirmation and 'The Baptism of the Holy Spirit' (typescript).
77. R. M. Harvey, Trinity 1/3, 1962, pp. 6-7, 10.
78. Ranaghan, op. cit., p. 150; Spirit, p. 8.
79. All that can be said for the moment about the ethics of the Catholic wing is that
(a) they are not rigorist and (b) the ecumenical contacts of the Catholic charismatics
have the political aspects of a Christian spirituality.
80. J. Stone, Trinity 1/2, 1962, p. 10.
81. W. O. Fogg, Trinity 1/4, 1962, p. 38.
82. R. Chandler, Christianity Today 12/4, 24.11.1967, pp. 39-40.
83. E.g. A. Muller, who asserts that Graham has a negative relationship to the
Pentecostal movement (Das missionarische Wort 13/5, May 1959, pp. 135-47).
84. C. Brumback, Suddenly, pp. 31 if.
85. See the writings by Graham in the bibliography.
20 The Pentecostals: United States of America
86. D. Gee, P 58, 1962, p. 17.
87. F. Farrel, Christianity Today 7/24, 13.9.1962, pp. 3-7.
88. A. Bittlinger, letter to W.H., 18.11.1963.
89. M. T. Kelsey, Tongue Speaking.
90. D. Gee, P 70, 1965, p. 3.
2
4. W. H. Durham: Chicago
Until about 1908 the whole Pentecostal movement in America taught the
doctrine of a three-stage way of salvation. Like the Church of the Nazarene
and other non-Pentecostal Holiness churches it was held that sanctification was a
sudden and distinct second work of God's grace, which followed conversion and
could be distinguished from it. To these two stages (conversion and sancti-
fication) they added the baptism of the Spirit, which wras characterized by
speaking in tongues. W. H. Durham, a respected and successful evangelist in
Los Angeles and Chicago, who had received the baptism of the Spirit in 1907
in Los Angeles, reduced this three-stage pattern to a two-stage one. Under the
influence of the Baptists he regarded conversion and sanctification as simultan-
eous, and sanctification as 'a self-abandonment to God's promise':
I began to write against the doctrine that it takes two works of grace to save
and cleanse a man. I denied and still deny that God does not deal with the
nature of sin at conversion. I deny that a man who is converted or born again
is outwardly washed and cleansed but that his heart is left unclean with
enmity against God in it . . . This would not be salvation. Salvation is an
inward work. It means a change of heart. It means a change of nature. It
means that old things pass away and that all things become new. It means
that all condemnation and guilt is removed. It means that all the old man,
or old nature, which was sinful and depraved and which was the very thing
in us that was condemned is crucified with Christ.34
Durham was expelled by Seymour from the Apostolic Faith Church although
Seymour had earlier prophesied that 'wherever this man preaches, the Holy
Spirit will come down on the people'.35
Since the difference between Seymour and Durham came in the years that
m
The Rise of the American Pentecostal Movement 25
followed to be the substance of the disagreement between the Pentecostals
who teach a three-stage way of salvation and those who teach a two-stage way,
we set it out here in tabular form:
There was much opposition to Durham in his time, although he has remained
up to the present day the one original theologian of the American Pentecostal
movement. Indeed, the first Pentecostals believed that the Devil had led Durham
to his theory. A certain Sister Rubley had a vision: The demons were discussing
what to do, now that the Holy Spirit had come to the world again. But when at
last a 'very distorted demon said, " I have it, give them a Baptism on an unsancti-
fied life", all the demons clapped and roared in approval'. 36 T o this day the
disagreement between the Pentecostals who teach a two-stage way of salvation
and those who teach a three-stage way has not been resolved. Together with the
20 The Pentecostals: United States of America
unsolved questions of the doctrine of the Trinity, it represents the most difficult
theological problem facing the American Pentecostal movement.
NOTES
1927
1945
1929
1925
CD
1947
1943
1949
1959
1935
1961
1963
1933
1937
1969
1957
1953
1941
1965
1955
1967
1951
1931
ro
CD
625,660]
576,058
555,992i^^
^514,532
jA ouo,bu<:
< 505,552 1
/ 1 '
^^400,047 11,459
II.I68J
^370,118
/ l 1
- ^r 1 10,237
318,478
275,000 9,872
P243 515 1,428
- 241,785 >l ^ " "
J>
9,273 '
8,8781
>*"? 26,70 5 /8550-f 1
^^209,54 9
84,022 ',641
""""r '5,36: > i
1^166,118
36,705
y/y,i!IO 8,570
noi,c
91,98 8,452,
r*"*7 2,143 ,74<
50,38 6 },094 8,233
/ ^4,159
4,66'
'5,016
^7^929f
7,320
<^P,592 6.400
^^3,086
)50 >,854
^P8b
2,606
,K)6S
Sfl 548 5
,851
!T> >4I
1,348
/', 55
300
1,457
^3473
^^
3,496
,149
<-^2.562 / -
^^4,030
,612
would serve the whole church.7 The names given to the brotherhood were
temporary and unofficial. Two titles occur frequently:
Church of God f for a short time there was co-operation with the Church of
God in Christ* a Negro body. In general, the influence of the Negroes on the
Pentecostal movement must not be underestimated.10
Apostolic Faith Movements;11 the name originated in a Los Angeles re-
vival. Many journals were called Apostolic Faith. Naturally, the bodies still
known by that name believe that they have remained most faithful to the
original vision.12
The question of the relationship between conversion and baptism in the Spirit
cannot be answered either from the Gospels (for the Spirit is only promised
there) or from the New Testament epistles (which deal only with practical, not
fundamental, questions concerning the reception of the Spirit). The only source
Organization of the Assemblies of God into a Church 33
that must be allowed in answer to this problem is the narrative account of the
normative baptisms in the Spirit, the Acts of the Apostles:
Where the results are described there is always an immediate supernatural
outward expression convincing not only the receiver but the people listening
to him, that a divine power is controlling the person; and in every case there
is an ecstatic speaking in a language that the person has never learned.28
The literature of the Assemblies of God is full of testimonies concerning
baptism in the Spirit. J. Roswell Flower, originally a lawyer, and later a leading
figure in the Assemblies of God, confirms in his description of his own baptism
in the Spirit that at first the Assemblies of God also taught the three-stage way
to salvation.29 When he received the baptism of the Spirit,
It seemed as though my very flesh was laughing within me. I was almost
beside myself, but too timid to let it out, so I decided to slip out of the church
and go home as fast as I could.30
Billie Davies, who was of gypsy origin, and is active in the Sunday school
work of the Assemblies of God, records:
Suddenly I seemed to relax. The hollow, empty frustration melted away and
I was filled with love for the Lord, so that I raised my hands spontaneously
toward heaven and praised him with complete abandon. Where before I had
always been a little uncertain of God's love for me, I now began to realize
that He was indeed a loving Father, and He was right there with me. . . . 31
It is well known that there are today many members of the Assemblies of God
who have not experienced the baptism of the Spirit. These members are under a
constant mental pressure. A possible alternative exists for them in those tradi-
tional churches which are open to charismatic revival.32 A change in the
dogmatic position of the Assemblies of God can hardly be expected, as they
have invested too much energy, zeal and prestige in their Pentecostal theory.
One must look in vain in the New Testament to find a layman in final places
of authority, either over one congregation or a group of congregations.42
This was the degree to which the Assemblies of God had, in forty years,
adopted the formal organization of a church. The abrupt rejection of non-
pastors in the highest decision-making body has led, amongst other things, to
the setting up of a lay organization, in which ministers are not allowed to hold
any directing office.43
The building up of a church organization can also be seen in the increasing
value placed on legal forms. In the minutes of the General Assembly for 1961
explicitly parliamentary rules for sessions and regulations are laid down.44
Organization of the Assemblies of God into a Church 35
A precisely defined terminology is laid down for the procedure whereby a
minister is struck off the list. If he withdraws of his own volition, he must appear
in the minutes as 'withdrawn'. If he appears in the minutes as 'removed' he has
been struck off for a less serious offence (authoritarian behaviour, incapacity or
unwillingness to preach the Pentecostal gospel). If he is noted as 'dropped', he
has been struck off for a grave moral offence.45
The development of written liturgies,46 the printed programme issued for
each Sunday service in the style of other American churches, the gowns for the
members of the choir, all point in the same direction. It is clear why some are
asking: 'Are we becoming too formal?'47
- a three-year program for future pastors and other officials of the Assemblies
of God;
- a four-year program (undergraduate collegiate course in religion). This
includes a 'general course' with religion and 'theology'. If the course is com-
pleted successfully, a 'baccalaureate degree' is awarded. The subjects are:
Bible, 'theology', religious education, missions, English and speech, languages,
social science, and music.
Applicants to the college must be at least 19 years old. A high school or academy
education was most desirable up to 1930. But applicants of more advanced
years were admitted, if they proved themselves able in other ways. From 1931
all those who had not been to high school had to take an entrance examination.
From 1948, only those who had secondary education were accepted. Further
conditions are: Approved Christian character, willingness to do hard work and
to submit cheerfully to the discipline of the school. A clear vocation to be a pastor
is very desirable, but those who have no calling are also accepted, if they fulfil
the other conditions. The students are under strict control with regard to their
way of life, especially dress, attitude to the opposite sex, absence from the
campus, abstinence from tobacco and alcohol, and leisure time activities.
The educational aims of the Central Bible Institute and the other Bible
schools have from the very beginning of their history been that of a fortress of
fundamentalism.
This school will stand for the Bible as the inspired word of God, against all
destructive criticism of the blessed old Book; for the atoning blood of the
Lamb as the only way of salvation; for a never-changing and wonder-working
God; for a Divine Saviour with all power in heaven and in earth; for a path
to look for the same wonders, signs and gifts of the Holy Ghost as promised
in the New Testament.73
These aims were reiterated thirty years later. The motto is still 'Our School -
Our Bulwark':74 The schools must cling firmly to fundamentalist teaching.
Their education claims not to be naturalistic and man-centred, like that of other,
non-fundamentalist, schools, but supernaturalist and God-centred. Thus even
today attacks are still made on prehistoric archaeology and the theory of
evolution, in favour of the biblical creation stories, on the grounds that these
are more plausible and more satisfying than the theory of a natural evolution.75
40 The Pentecostals: United States of America
The Situation as a Whole All schools of the Assemblies of God are members
of the 'Accrediting Association for Bible Institutes and Colleges'. Up to i960
they have graduated in all 13,332 students.
From 1914 to 1949 the schools provided 36% of all pastors and 74% of all
missionaries. From 1949 to 1953 t m s proportion increased to 60% of pastors
an
d 93% of missionaries;76 that is: almost all missionaries and a majority of
pastors were trained at schools belonging to the Assemblies of God.
At the same time, a remarkable shift towards secular subjects took place.
In 1956 86.i%of the students were Bible students or theology students and
13-9% were 'liberal arts students'. But by i960 only 60% were Bible students
and theology students. Since then the proportion of 'liberal arts students' has
increased even more.
A further tendency is that more and more students belonging to the Assem-
blies of God are studying at liberal arts and other colleges which do not belong
to the Assemblies of God. There were 950 by 1962, but as many as 2,350 in
1963.
These three tendencies together mean that most pastors and missionaries
of the Assembly of God are trained in their own Bible schools. Although the
students are specializing more and more in courses that do not lead to the pro-
fession of pastor, an increasing number of students from the Assemblies of God
are attending non-Pentecostal colleges. There is no doubt that this is one of the
observations that led Oral Roberts to found his university.77
Take the Baptists for instance - and I was saved among the Baptists - look
at their colleges . . . Every one of them is honeycombed with bastard Modern-
ism.87
The author of the above tract then tells the story of a Baptist girl student, who
burned her Bible because she could no longer trust a book of lies. The weaker
the arguments for a fundamentalist understanding of the Bible, the stronger the
attack on the unbelieving ministers of the 'modernist' churches. Thus Bishop
James A. Pike's rejection of a narrow Christianity based on conversion88 is
attacked:
It is indeed a pity that men with such doubts choose to remain in the ministry.
The Lord Jesus said that religious leaders who lack the light of truth are
blind leaders of the blind. The trouble is that if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch (Matt. 15.14). If a man wishes to take to the ditch,
why does he not jump alone without dragging others with him ?89
We can say like Paul, ' l a m a fundamentalist, of the strictest sect of the
fundamentalists am I one.' But that is not enough. Paul was more than a
Pharisee. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection; they believed in angels;
they believed in the supernatural - but it was all in the past. Paul believed
in it - the past and in the present also. We are fundamentalists, but we are
more than that.90
NOTES
Additional Note This chapter was unfortunately completed before the publication of
W. W. Menzies, Appointed to Serve. Menzies is Chairman of the Department of
Biblical Studies and Philosophy in the Evangel College, Springfield, Mo. He presents
the history and development of the Assemblies of God from the point of view of an
AoG official, using valuable and otherwise almost inaccessible source material, par-
ticularly from AoG archives.
4
'If I Gained the World...':
Holiness in the Church of God
(Cleveland)
The minutes accurately reproduce the feeling of the founders when they note:
After considering the ripened fields and open doors for evangelism this year,
strong men wept and . aid they were not only willing but anxious to go.11
In 1907 the headquarters of the Church was moved to Cleveland, Tennessee,
Holiness in the Church of God (Cleveland) 49
and the name altered to Church of God. Amongst the themes dealt with in the
early annual assemblies, the debates on smoking and divorce should be em-
phasized. Smoking was declared incompatible with membership of the Church
of God, while up to the present day the Church of God has not taken an un-
ambiguous position against divorce.12 Divorce 'only because of fornication'
(Matt. 5.31-32)13 and remarriage of the innocent party are allowed.14
In 1909 a revival took place in Cleveland. A circus setting up its tent near
the mission tent of the Church of God would have been envious of the masses
that moved past its own tent to that of the Church of God.15 Under A. J.
Tomlinson's leadership, the church continued to increase. The minutes of the
Assembly of 1915 contain a passage in which in solemn legal language the
title 'Holy Roller' is repudiated.16
In 1920 there was another crisis, when the Assembly accepted the proposal
of A. J. Tomlinson, who had been elected General Overseer for life, to pay all
tithes in the future direct to him; he would then pay them back to each pastor.
This practice almost led to the financial and religious ruin of the organization.
Whether the cause was Tomlinson's inability to administer large sums, or
improper motives on his part, is difficult for an outsider to judge. What is
certain is that from the first Tomlinson greatly overestimated himself. His self-
adulation took on increasingly blatant forms. He was simultaneously General
Overseer, manager of the publishing department, editor-in-chief of the monthly
journal and head of the orphanage and the Bible school, and he automatically
controlled all salaries (between $70,000 and $80,000 a year). The pastors of the
Church of God tried to limit the completely unrestricted power of their General
Overseer by various organizational changes, but Tomlinson declared these
steps unbiblical. The struggles lasted for years, and towards the end even came
before the public courts, but they concluded with the expulsion of Tomlinson,
who thereupon formed with his own supporters a new Church of God, known
as the Church of God of Prophecy.17
Under the new General Overseer, F. J. Lee, the church recovered relatively
quickly, increased in numbers, began missionary work in new areas, and
restricted the powers of its leading officials through organizational safeguards.
In 1951 it amalgamated - through the mediation of David J. Du Plessis -
with the Full Gospel Church, South Africa, which from then on became known
as the Full Gospel Church of God.
Since dozens of churches in the USA are called 'Church of God' it has
become usual to add a distinguishing name in brackets. There are Churches of
God which belong to the Holiness movement.18 The churches listed in the note
below19 have presumably separated themselves from the Church of God
(Cleveland). But the table which follows shows only those Churches of God
which can actually be shown to have come into being by separating from the
Church of God (Cleveland). There are a large number of other Churches of God
which originated independently of the Church of God (Cleveland).20
50 The Pentecostah: United States of America
Churches of God which can be shown to go back to the
Church of God (Cleveland) (02a.02.06y).
ChoG
(Cleveland)
02a.02.067
1 1
ChoG
of Prophecy (Original) ChoG
02a.02.077 02a.02.104
J L
ChoG
ChoG Evangelistic
ChoG (Pulaski) (Huntsville,
of All Nations ChoG
02a.02.071 Alabama) 02a.02.076 02a.02.087
02a.02.072
3. Assessment
The pastors of the Church of God ascribe the growth of their church to the zeal
of their adherents. Inspired by their fiery preaching, all members become
missionaries and sacrifice unimaginable sums from their small incomes. 'People
are gettin' disgusted with professional religion and demandin' to get results
in their religion.' The typical pastor of the Church of God explains in part the
rapid growth of the Church of God, but not why it came into being. In Gastonia,
it is notable that the textile workers' pastors were factory workers themselves
and preached part-time, or had been factory workers and were called by a
congregation to be its pastor. They had had little education, often no more than
a few years in primary school (fourth grade in the public schools) with a few
weeks at the Bible School, and were content with the low salary of a factory
worker.
One must not underestimate the enormous increase in self-esteem which a
working man gains by being accepted into the Church of God. He sees a
spiritual career in front of him which leads not only far beyond what is possible
for a working man, but also gives him the chance to do better than members of
the Methodist Church, who in other respects are richer than he to a degree he
cannot hope to attain. As a member of the Church of God he is certain of being
truly and finally saved. But in addition he can also be sanctified and receive
the baptism of the Spirit, and perhaps even become a pastor. What does it
matter that a Methodist has more money, but is only saved at best, and certainly
not sanctified or baptized in the Spirit ?
If I gained the world but lost the Savior,
Were my life worth living for a day ?
Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort
In the things that soon must pass away ?65
Holiness in the Church of God {Cleveland) 59
Christians who belong to the traditional churches may let their wives use
jewelry and make-up. But this is not necessary for a member of the Church of
God, for his wife is adorned with spiritual gifts. All the deprivations he has to
suffer he can turn into witness and spiritual gifts. And finally, he rejoices in
heaven, where nobody can push him about any more:
Had I wealth and love in fullest measure,
And a name revered both far and near,
Yet no hope beyond, no harbour waiting,
Where my stormtossed vessel I could steer.66
Thus he pities other Christians, who are still in the forecourt of the sanctuary.
'By the thousands and scores of thousands, the lower economic classes aban-
doned Protestantism which had first abandoned them.'67
The introduction of emotional outbursts and erotic undertones into worship
need not be absolutely condemned by a psychological observer. With a strict
liturgical guidance it could be seen as a substitute for the lack of moral direction
to which the members of the Church of God were exposed, according to their
own testimony, before their conversion. The services would then have a sublim-
atory function and would be a help in integrating the emotional into the whole
personality. It would be desirable for an expert psychologist at some time to
examine this phenomenon from his own point of view.
The picture of the Church of God given by Pope and Curran was true up
to the second world war. Since then, a steady rise on the social scale has altered
the sociological position of the Church of God. Other Pentecostal groups,
particularly of Negro Pentecostals, have taken over its functions. Liberation
from psychological stress situations is still, however one of the most important
functions of the Church of God, but it is now the stress situations of the middle
class, of supervisors and managers.
The Church of* God has rapidly developed into a middle-class church. Its
rigorist understanding of salvation has been modified,68 and it has adopted the
patriotic values of the American middle class.69 The more the churches of the
Reformation and the Catholic church reject the values of the American middle
class, the more they protest for the Negroes and against the war in Vietnam, the
greater is the potential membership of the Church of God and other similar Pen-
tecostal groups. A remarkable change of side has taken place. The church of
the poor, which protested against the way in which the New Testament was
overlaid by the values of church and bourgeosie, is in the process itself of
becoming a conservative middle-class force, while former traditional churches
suddenly appear revolutionary.
6o The Pentecostah: United States of America
NOTES
i. Cf. above, ch. 2.4, pp. 24ff.
2. 02a.02.no.
3. Records, documents, literature: 02a.02.067. Statistics: 253,434 members, 4,388
congregations (letter of Ray H. Hughes, Assistant General Overseer ChoG [Cleveland]
to W.H., 4.2.1970). Main periodical Church of God Evangel (ChoGE).
4. C. Conn, Army, p. 3.
5. L. H. Juillerat, Brief History, quoted in C. Conn, op. cit., pp. 6f.
6. See n. 20 below.
7. L. H. Juillerat, op. cit., quoted in C. Conn, Army, p. 14.
8. Ibid.
9. At least this is how Conn describes the affair in his very careful and accurately
documented history of the ChoG.
10. ChoG, Minutes {First Assembly, 1906), 1; quoted Conn, Army, p. 65. The claim
that the Church of God was organized as the 'Christian Union' in 1886 is contested by
H. V. Synan. According to him, the 'Christian Union' 'completely disbanded before
1892 and there is no evidence of direct connection with the revival of 1896. The first
continuous organization of the present ChoG (Cleveland) was the "Holiness Church at
Camp Creek" which was organized in 1902. The claim that the ChoG (Cleveland) is
"America's oldest Pentecostal church" is not based on contemporary documentary
evidence and seems to be a much later interpolation' (P Movement, p. 98).
11. ChoG, Minutes (First Assembly, 1906), p. 16: quoted Conn, op. cit., p. 68.
12. V. D. Hargreave, letter to W.H., 19.12.1963; E. P. Paulk, Neighbour, pp. 202-4.
13. ChoGE 50/50, 15.2.1960, p. 13.
14. ChoGE 53/5, 1.4.1963, P- 14-
15. The Journal and the Banner, 17.9.1908; quoted Conn, Army, p. 87.
16. 'Be it known to all men everywhere and unto all nations that we, the Church of
God . . . do hereby and hereafter disclaim and repudiate the title "Holy Rollers" in
reference to the Church of God.' ChoG, Minutes (Eleventh Assembly, 1915), p. 200;
quoted C. Conn, Army, p. 131.
17. 02a.02.077.
18. Church of God (Anderson) (02a.02.017); Church of God (Apostolic) (02a.02.018);
Church of God (Holiness) (02a.02.018A).
19. Church of God (Bishop Poteat) (?) (02a.02.070): Church of God, Inc. (Pulaski)
(02a.02.071); Church of God (formerly Queen's Village, now Huntsville, Alabama)
(02a.02.072) (this and other information on Churches of God from A. C. Piepkorn);
Church of God of All Nations (02a.02.076); Church of God of Prophecy (02a.02.077);
Church of God of the Mountain Assembly (?) (02a.02.068); Evangelistic Church of God
(02a.02.087); (Original) Church of God (02a.02.104).
20. Church of God (East Harlem) (02a.02.068); Church of God (Holiness) (Negroes)
(02a.02.068A); Church of God (Holiness) USA (Negroes) (02a.02.068B); Church of
God (Mother Horn) (Negroes) (02a.02.069); Church of God (Mother Robinson)
(Negroes) (02a.02.073): Church of God in Christ (Negroes) (02a.02.075); Church of
God of the Bible (USA) (02a.02.079); Church of the Living God (Christian Workers
for Fellowship) (Negroes) (02a.02.082); Church of the Living God, The Pillar and
Ground of Truth (Negroes) (02a.02.083); Churches of God (Holiness) (Negroes)
(02a.02.084); Free Church of God in Christ (02a.02.090); Glorified Church of God
(02a.02.092); Holiness Church of God, Inc. (Negroes) (02a.02.093); Interracial Church
of God (Negroes and Whites) (o2a.o2.100); Justified Church of God (02a.02.101); Non-
Holiness in the Church of God {Cleveland) 61
Digressive Church of God (USA) (02a.02.103); Pentecostal Church of God of America
(02a.02.127). Some of the churches listed in n. 20 probably belong to n. 19. Those
marked (?) in n. 19 cannot be said with absolute certainty to derive from the ChoG
(Cleveland) (02a.02.067).
21. T. O. Dennis, ChoGE 53/41, 7.10.1963, pp. 8f.; P. H. Walker, ChoGE 52/24,
21.8.1961; F. W. Lemons, ChoGE S2I2S^ 28.8.1961, p. 5.
22. Cf. ch. 23.3, pp. 265ff., where experiences of sanctification are described.
23. P. H. Walker, ChoGE 52/19, 9.7.1962, pp. 4f.
24. W. H. Horton, et al., ChoGE 51/3, 7.3.1960, pp. 28f.
25. L. Ward attacks a 'sex-laden Ingmar Bergman production' and deplores the fact
that King of Kings did not get an Oscar {ChoGE 51/42, 1.1.1962, pp. 4f.).
26. P. Lockhart, Lighted Pathway 33/12, Dec. 1962, p. 18.
27. P 70, 1964, p. 10.
28. ChoG, Minutes (Third Assembly, 1908); Conn, Army, p. 82.
29. C. Conn, Army, p. xx (quoted from A. Hyma, World History, p. 335).
30. ChoGE 52/4, 14.1.1963.
31. J. J. Chinn, Christianity Today 5, 1961, p. 880.
32. E. P. Paulk, Neighbour, p. 20.
33. Ibid., p. 24.
34. Ibid., p. 25.
35. Ibid., pp. 42f.
36. Ibid., p. 71.
37. 'Zwingli, and perhaps Calvin, supported the idea that God chose some to be
saved and some to be damned even before the creation or fall of Adam' (ibid., p. 77).
38. Ibid., p. 89.
39. Washing the Saints' Feet 'is a commandment of the Word of God and it is to be
done even as the Lord's Supper' (ibid., p. 166).
40. Ibid., p. 194.
41. Ibid., p. 195.
42. Ibid., pp. 2ioff.
43. Ibid., pp. 222ff.
44. ChoGE 52/24, 20.8.1962, p. 14.
45. C. C. Cox, ChoGE 51/24, 22.8.1960, pp. 8f.
46. M. Gaines, ChoGE 53/8, 22.4.1963, p. 19.
47. 15 Park Row, New York 38. Listed in B. Y. Landis, Yearbook 1963, p. 8, with the
remark: 'Information declined'.
48. H. Lindsell, Park Street Prophet, pp. 118-20; quoted in Conn, Army, p. 259.
49. H. R. Gause, ChoGE 51/33, 23.10.1961, pp. 8-10; 52/34, 29.10.1962, pp. 3f.
50. J. D. Bright, ChoGE 51/25, 28.8.1961, pp. 6f.
51. G. L. Ford, PE 2408, 3-7-I96o, pp. 4f-> 21-3; ChoGE 51/23, 15.8.1960, pp. 3-5,
iof.; M. Gaston, PE 2421, 2.10.1960, pp. 6f., 28f.; PE 2422, 9.10.1960, p. 10.
52. ChoGE 51/11, 16.5.1960, pp. 3-5, 11; 51/24, 22.8.1960, p. 5; G. L. Britt,
ChoGE 51/12, 23.5.1960, pp. 7, 10; C. W. Fisher, ChoGE 51/32, 17.10.1960, pp. 5f.
53. ChoGE 51/48, 12.2.1962, p. 15; 51/50, 26.2.1962, p. 15; 51/2, 5.3.1962, p. 14;
52/39> 3-12.1962, p. 12.
54. L. Pope, Millhands, pp. i3of.
55. Minutes of the Gaston Ministers Association, 1932-1939, ms., quoted by Pope,
Millhands, pp. i66f.
56. Gastonia Gazette, 4.6.1938, quoted in L. Pope, op. cit., p. 172.
57. Ibid., p. 170.
58. Ibid., p. 115.
59. E. R. Hartz, Social Problems, pp. 132, 136.
62 The Pentecostah: United States of America
60. L. Pope, Millhands, p. 133.
61. Ibid.
62. Information given by Pope on the basis of interviews with three pastors of the
ChoG in Gastonia, 27.7.1939; L. Pope, op. cit., p. 134.
63. A. T. Boisen, Social Action, 15.3.1939.
64. L. Pope, op. cit., pp. I34f.
65. A. Olander, in N. J. Clayton, Melodies of Life, 9.1.
66. Ibid., 9.2.
67. F. X. Curran, Major Traits; quoted in J. Campbell, PHCh, p. 93.
68. J. A. Cross, ChoGE 51/28, 19.9.1960, pp. 13-15.
69. R. E. Day, ChoGE, 51/26, 5.9.1960, pp. 4-5, 13; ChoGE 53/24, 19.8.1963, p. 23.
Cf. above, pp. 52f. and nn. 43-6.
5
'Unto the end of the World':
The Spread of Pentecostalism
T H E Pentecostal movement spread like wildfire over the whole world. I believe
that the statistics are mostly too low, not because they accord to individual
denominations too few members - there are a few cases of exaggeration - but
because there are large Pentecostal bodies which are unknown to the Pente-
costals themselves, and about the size of which they have no information.
i. Europe
During a fund-raising journey in America, T. B. Barratt, a Norwegian Metho-
dist minister, a talented pupil of Grieg, and of Celtic British origin, was attracted
by the Los Angeles revival.1 He wrote enthusiastic letters from America back to
Norway, and after his return to Oslo held great Pentecostal meetings. 'Many
were filled with the Spirit, and many souls sought God'.2 Barratt himself
declared that he had spoken in eight different tongues3 including French and
Italian. He was so beside himself with joy that he began to dance in the Spirit.4
The press began to notice what was happening and printed headlines about the
'idiot factory',5 thus involuntarily providing publicity for the revival.
From Oslo the Pentecostal movement spread into the other Scandinavian
countries - in Finland and Norway it is the largest Free Church, and in Sweden
the second largest - and also into Germany,6 Switzerland7 and Great Britain.8
In the established churches of the Swiss cantons and German provinces, a
massive criticism of the theological work of the universities had been accom-
panied by a longing for revival that had reached boiling point. 'We need the
March storms to make way for the latter rain.'9
At provincial church assemblies, there were sermons about the Pentecostal
fullness, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, which the
believing church can experience if only she earnestly desires it.10 In 1905 the
German pastor Modersohn was baptized with 'power from above'. 'The children
64 The Pentecostah: United States of America
of God prayed fervently for the onrush of power, and it came.'11 Prayer in
concert, that is, prayer in which the whole congregation utters prayers together
and in spontaneous confusion, was designated as a 'divine ordinance'.12 Criti-
cism of the suggestive method of evangelization was firmly rejected.
The Reformation teaching that as long as we are alive there is no complete
deliverance from sin was dismissed as 'blasphemy'.13 Scholarly theological
study was condemned as 'the work of Satan'. The 'cry of rage of the Jews in
the liberal journals' - a contemptuous reference to specialist theological journals
- was seen as being a compliment to the revival rather than a condemnation of
it.14 Anyone who would not define a miracle as an intervention which upset
the normal course of nature was 'no longer a Christian theologian', according to
the journal Reichgottesarbeiter ('Worker for the kingdom of God').15 Thus there
was rejoicing at the rise of the Pentecostal movement on the part of other
evangelical Christians. This made it all the more difficult for Conservative
Evangelicals in Germany and Switzerland to understand why the leaders of
the Evangelical movement should suddenly turn against the Pentecostal move-
ment. In the 'Berlin Declaration' of 1909, the bill of divorcement of the Evan-
gelical movement', the leaders of the Conservative Evangelical movement con-
demned as the work of the devil the revival that they had first praised.16 The
Berlin Declaration has kept the Evangelical movement and the Pentecostal
movement apart to this day, and was of great importance not merely in Germany
but also in Switzerland and in Slavonic countries.17
In Italy the Pentecostal movement had more adherents than all the other
Protestant groups together, and exercises a social influence which is respected
by communists, liberals and sympathetic Catholics after suffering for many
years severe persecutions by the Fascists and the Catholic Church.18 In France,
it is the second largest Protestant Church, the Reformed Church being the
largest. Most of its members came from Catholicism, as the Catholic scholar
H. C. Chery has established.19
2. Latin America
In many countries in Latin America the Pentecostal movement is the largest
Protestant Church. In Chile 14% of the population belong to it, while only 1%
belong to other Protestant churches. There is no doubt that there is a con-
nection between the influence of Pentecostal pastors on the workers and peons
of Chile, and the fact that politics are no longer wrongly seen to present a simple
choice between communism and feudalism. In its turn the relatively calm
political climate in Chile has favoured the growth of the Pentecostal movement.20
In Mexico the Pentecostal movement has not very many members, but has
had to brave severe persecutions, in the course of which one of Obregon's
police chiefs, who was directing the operation, was converted - the Pentecostals
always seem to be involved in such dramatic stories. In the Bahamas, to choose
The Spread of Pentecostalism 65
one example from the islands of the West Indies, 10% of the population and
20% of the Protestants are Pentecostals, half being members of the Iglesia de
Dios (Cleveland).21 In Haiti the Pentecostals demythologize the heathen
Voodoo cult and have set up many schools. They were persecuted in most
South American countries, but most violently in Colombia, where one of their
pastors was posted to the members of his congregation in pieces; 'Here is a
part of your pastor, whom you loved.'22 Pentecostalism in Brazil is the most
numerous Protestant body in any country having a Latin language. There are
approximately four million Pentecostals in Brazil (about 70% of all Protestants
in Brazil) and by contrast with the Catholic Church and many Protestant
churches, they have succeeded in becoming a 'Brazilian' Church, that is, one
which integrates the latent Brazilian illuminism into Christian worship.23
The Brazilian Assembleias de Deus (with almost two million members) is
recognized by the Brazilian government, and indeed highly placed government
officials insist on being present in person at the consecration of Pentecostal
churches. Similarly, at the World Pentecostal Conference in Helsinki in 1964,
an official reception was given for the Brazilian ambassador in Finland.24
3. Africa
The Pentecostal movement also established a foothold in Africa. It has tried
to make the mission churches as quickly as possible independent practically,
organizationally and spiritually, of the mother church conducting the mission.
Some of these African mission churches, however, have become independent
too quickly. I believe I have shown that the Zionist wing of the South African
independent churches (almost 400 groups) goes back to missionaries led by
John Alexander Dowie. Dowie's Black followers were taken over by the Apostolic
Faith Mission25 and ordained as evangelists, before they could read or write;
far less had they received even the slightest theological training. If the Black
South Africans had received the 'power from on high', this was sufficient grounds
for the Pentecostal missionaries to institute them as preachers and missionaries.
All the important Zionist leaders of the first generation go back to this missionary
activity by the Pentecostal movement. Today the Pentecostal movement rejects
the Zionists as extremists. There is no question that some have combined
paganism with Christianity, but many of them have simply remained faithful
to the enthusiastic practices of the first Pentecostal missionaries. It is easy,
particularly in the present situation in South Africa, to understand the psycho-
logical reasons why the Pentecostal missionaries reject these disciples of Pente-
costalism, most of whom were baptized before the present missionaries came to
Africa. And if a Pentecostal preacher has not himself experienced something
within the Pentecostal movement he cannot be persuaded that it is an historical
fact. How can a church historian in Switzerland, it might be said, understand
the history of the Pentecostal movement in South Africa better than a
66 The Pentecostah: United States of America
Pentecostal missionary who has worked there for thirty years ? But one cannot
dispute the historical fact that the Zionists of South Africa, who have a million
followers, came into being from an impulse given by the Pentecostal mission.26
Besides these independent churches there are large missionary churches in
South Africa. One of their main leaders is Nicholas Bhengu, originally a
Lutheran, but for whom simul Justus - simul peccator is incomprehensible, as for
the European Pentecostals. On the contrary, anyone who has been baptized
no longer sins; he is not an udlalani, no longer a Don Juan. Bhengu's sermons
must be overwhelming.
Do not always ask the white people to do anything and everything. For you
are not even satisfied today for them to build you free houses, but also expect
them to furnish them for you (loud laughter from all the congregation, who
know he has touched them on a weak point). It is a scandal that you saddle
27
others with everything. You yourselves have willpower and human reason
God, who created these young people, this athletic young man and this
shapely girl, plump and fat, intended thereby to show his glory and thought of
you instead of himself. But the Tempter, the Evil One, took this model of
God's creation and spoiled it by sin and disease. This marvellous vessel
became the devil's horse, which he rode on, whose beauty he spoiled and
whose strength he undermined. He filled it with filthy sins, with crime and
disease... . 28
You, you strong young men, must become politicians with a constructive
policy.29
The Pentecostal movement has also provided the starting point for the growth
of large independent African churches in Nigeria and Ghana, but not in the
Congo.30 Some of these churches were represented at the World Pentecostal
Conference in Helsinki in 1964.31
NOTES
1. Cf. ch. 2.3, pp. 22fF.
2. Byposten, 12.1.1902, p. 2; quoted in Bloch-Hoell I, p. 141.
3. Verdens Gang, 4.1.1967, pp. if.; quoted in Bloch-Hoell I, p. 142.
4. Byposten, 12.1.1907, p. 2; quoted in Bloch-Hoell I, p. 142.
5. Social-Demokraten, 4.1.1907, p. 1; quoted in Bloch-Hoell I, p. 145.
6. Cf. chs. 16-18, pp. 2i8fF.
7. Cf. PGG, pp. 252E
8. Cf. the biography of A. A. Boddy (07.150.001) and chs. 13-15, pp. i76fF.
9. J. Lohmann, Sabbathklange, 21.7.1906, p. 46; quoted in A. Goetz, Mehr Licht,
28/19-20, 1954, p. 7.
10. Allianzblatt 1903/4, n. 18; quoted in Fleisch, I, p. 447.
n . Aufder Warte 2/33, 13.8.1905, pp. 7f.
12. Reichgottesarbeiter 3, 1906, p. 138.
13. Regehly, Aufder Warte'3/31, 29.7.1906, pp. 4f.
14. Busch, Licht und Leben; quoted by Jansen, Zeitschrift fur Religionspsychologie 1,
1907, p. 329.
15. Reichgottesarbeiter 2, 1905, p. 189: answers to correspondents.
The Spread of Pentecostalism 73
16. For the legend of the diabolic origin of the Pentecostal movement cf. ch. 16,
pp. 2i8ff.
17. E.g. A. B. (A. Adolf?), Nove hnuti.
18. Cf. ch. 19.2, pp. 254ff.
19. H.-Ch. Chery, Offensive, p. 329.
20. 02b.28.
21. A missionary church of the ChoG (Cleveland), cf. ch. 4, pp. 47fF.
22. Sources for this event: 02b.20.001.
23. Cf. chs. 6-8, pp. 75ff.
24. C. Lemke, Leuchter 15/8, Aug. 1964, pp. 3-6.
25. The evidence for this dependence is given in full in 01.36.038, and in shorter
form in chs. 9 and 12.
26. Cf. ch. 12, pp. i49ff.
27. K. Schlosser, Eingeborenenkirchen, p. 29.
28. Ibid., p. 30.
29. August Kast, a missionary of the Swiss Pentecostal Mission, who has corrected
this section, deleted the last sentence. But it was printed by Bhengu in Back to God,
July 1955 (Schlosser, op. cit., p. 34). For a full account see ch. 10, pp. i26ff.
30. For the Congo cf. 01.18 and the French edition of this book.
31. D. Gee, P 68, 1964, p. 2; 67, 1964, p. 16.
32. M. Calley, Aboriginal Pentecostalism.
33. W. J. Hollenweger, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, Nov.-Dec. 1965.
34. D. J. Du Plessis, History.
35. 03.12.032.
36. 02a.02.137B.
37. 03.12.B II.
38. Formulation and justification of the question in Forlaget Filadelfia, Europeiska,
1939, PP- 50-7.
39. This passage does not appear in the official Swedish report of the conference, but
in Steiner's own account (L. Steiner, VdV 33/2, Feb. 1940, p. 11). Cf. below n. 46.
40. L. F. Sumrall, PE 1725, 31.5.1947, pp. 6, 10-12; 1726, 7.6.1947, pp. 6f.;
L. Steiner, PE 1728, 21.6.1947, p. 7.
41. PE 1833, 25.6.1949, pp. 8-11. Duplicated statutes for a World Pentecostal
Fellowship in the possession of the author.
42. D. Gee, Wind and Flame, p. 247; P 21, 1952, pp. 1, 3-5; PE 1995, 3.8.1952, pp.
1 if. The souvenir brochure (H. W. Greenway, D. Gee, I. Macpherson, eds., World
Conference 1952) was published before the conference and does not contain any reports
of discussion.
43. Forlaget Filadelfia, Varldpingstkonferensen, 1955.
44. D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, 1958.
45. L. Steiner in D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, 1938, pp. 139-48. This speech by
Steiner follows in its essentials his earlier statements, e.g. L. Steiner, VdV 50/4, April
l
951, PP- 7-8, iof.; 50/5, May 1957, pp. 2-7.
46. Letter from L. Steiner to W.H., 14.4.i960. The suppression of displeasing or
controversial statements in what purports to be an official record gives an odd impres-
sion.
47. Cf. ch. 3.2(), p. 35, and ch. 25, pp. 353^
48. Letter from L. Steiner to W.H., 14.4.1960.
49. J. A. Synan, 'Purpose', in D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, 1958, pp. 27-36.
50. D. Gee, 'The Pentecostal Experience', ibid., pp. 43-52.
51. Cf. bibliography.
52. Cf. ch. 15.2^), pp. 2o8ff.
74 The Pentecostak: United States of America
1
53. D. Gee (ed.), Sixth Conference, ig6i.
54. G. E. Valdivia, letter to W.H., 10.12.1970.
55. Revista Bibliographic a, quoted in P 55, 1961, p. 3.
56. 02a.01.no.
57. Cf. ch. 3.i(), pp. 3iff.
58. 02a.02.140.
59. W. J. HoUenweger, in Nieuwe creative vormen van christen-zijn (in preparation).
60. PGG, pp. 252-75.
61. 02a.02.D.V.
62. 05.07.034, 05.07.035, 05.07.036, 05.07.037.
63. 05.13.022.
BRAZIL
6
A Worker Founds the Largest Protestant
Church in Latin America:
Daniel Berg and the Assembleias de Deus in Brazil1
i. Origin
T H E ORIGIN of the Assembleias de Deus in Brazil is indissolubly bound
up with the life of the simple Swedish workers Daniel Berg and Gunnar
Vingren.
Berg was born in Southern Sweden in 1885 o r 1884, baptized in a Swedish
Baptist community in 1899, and emigrated to the USA in 1902. In 1909 he was
on a visit to Sweden where a friend, who meanwhile had become a preacher,
told him about the baptism of the Spirit which he experienced in the same
year. On his return to the United States he joined W. H. Durham's congregation
in Chicago.2 His friend Vingren was shown in a dream that the two of them were
to go as missionaries to Para.3 They did not know where Para was, but they
discovered from the City Library in Chicago that it was a state in Brazil. They
saved $90 for their fare, but had to give it to a Pentecostal newspaper as the
result of a revelation. Shortly afterwards, however, they again got enough
money for their fares.
They came to Belem in 1910. Berg earned his living as a foundryman in a
steel works and while doing so learned Portuguese. Originally they had little
success with their missionary work within the Baptist congregation of Belem.
They held prayer meetings in the cellar of the Baptist chapel and waited for a
revival in Brazil. When some of the Baptists began to speak in tongues, exper-
ienced the baptism of the Spirit and soon carried out missionary work with fiery
zeal in their neighbourhood, the Baptist preacher of Belem found himself
compelled to intervene.
In what follows I shall compare Berg's account with that of the Baptist
preacher of Belem:
76 The Pentecostals: Brazil
One evening the local preacher appeared in our simple premises. When he
opened the door, a wave of song and prayers struck him. We got up and
invited him to take part in our improvised service. He refused and declared
that it was now time to make a decision. He said that a short time before he
had discovered that people had dared to engage in a discussion of doctrine,4
something that had never happened before. He accused us of sowing doubt
and unrest and of being separatists.
Gunnar Vingren got up and declared that we did not desire any division.
On the contrary, we wanted unity among everyone. If only everyone had the
experience of the baptism of the Spirit, we would never be divided. On the
contrary, we would then be more than brothers, like a family.
The local preacher spoke again. The discussion was open. He said that the
Bible did indeed speak about the baptism of the Spirit and also said that
Jesus healed the sick. But that was in those days. He said that it would be
absurd if educated people of our time believed that such things could happen
today. We had to be realistic - he continued - and not waste time with
dreams5 and false prophecies. Nowadays we had knowledge to know what
to do with it. 'If you do not mend your ways and recognize your error, it is
my duty to inform all the Baptist congregations and to warn them about your
false doctrine.'
Vingren listened to these words very quietly and then replied: 'Brothers,
we should not allow themes as important as those we have discussed to be
lost in a personal dispute. We are both servants of God and so we both want
to stand in the truth, for he to whom we pray is the truth. In my view we are
colleagues and not competitors.6 Who brings souls to God is a matter of
secondary importance. What is important is the fact that more and more
souls are saved. I would not want to say that the brother does not stand in the
truth but that he has not found the whole truth. [He does not have] the truth
of the baptism of the Spirit and the healing of the sick by Jesus, as we can
experience them today.'
When Vingren had finished, the preacher looked round at all those present
in the hope that someone would support him. But no one did so. Then he
looked pointedly at a deacon and waited for his judgment on the question.
This deacon, one of the oldest pillars in the church, stood up after he had
been looked at in this way and remarked in the name of all those present: 'I
can understand your feelings very well, pastor. You say that you have come
into a group of traitors who have departed from your teaching. You think
that we are not following the way you have shown us. But that is not true.
We have never been so certain our of cause as we are now. We have never
had as much faith as we have now. We have found even more: faith and
power of the Holy Spirit.
'We do not hold it against you that you did not say these things to us, for
you did not know them yourself and so you could not teach them. But we
very much want you also to receive these blessings from God. Then we shall
understand each other better and feel the same unity with the brothers who
have come to us from abroad.
'AH the members of this church, pastor, are now on "higher ground" and
Berg and the Assembleias de Deus 77
nearer to heaven. You yourself said that you wanted to be a realist. Very good,
I will give you some instances of realities of the healing power of Jesus in our
days: these sisters, who have belonged to our congregation for years, used to
have to walk on crutches (perhaps you never even noticed). Now they no
longer need them. The crutches hang on the wall of their house, visible to
everyone, so that all can see the wonderful way in which Jesus has healed
them. And Jesus has healed not only them, but also a tumour on the throat.
'Dear preacher', the deacon continued, 'we cannot and will not accuse you.
You have worked to win souls for Jesus. You have asked Jesus for strength
to stand fast in sickness. But you have not prayed for healing from sickness,
because you did not believe in that. Now you have seen with your own eyes
the instances which I have mentioned.'
Hoping for an expression in his support, the preacher let his eyes sweep
round the room. In vain. He turned to me and brother Vingren and said,
'I have come to a decision. From now on you may not meet here any longer.
Look for another place. After what has happened here we no longer want you.'
Then he turned to the small group of people and asked, 'How many of you
are in agreement with the false teaching ?' Eighteen people resolutely raised
their hands.7 They knew that that meant their expulsion from the church.
We thanked the preacher for the common life (that lay behind us) and
hoped that he would soon receive the blessing of the baptism of the Spirit.
He did not reply, but turned his back on us and walked out . . .
(The account then goes on to tell of the move into the house of one of the
group, where 'the first Pentecostal service in Brazil was officially celebrated'.)8
The Baptist author de Mesquita reports the matter as follows:
In April 1911, two Swedish missionaries, Gunnar Vingren and Daniel Berg,
landed in Belem. They called themselves Baptists . . . They immediately
went to Nelson,9 their fellow-countryman, to find shelter with him. They
were offered the cellar of the church; they put up there and learnt the
language in order to be able to help10 Nelson in the work of evangelization.
The good missionary [Nelson] then made one of his numerous journeys into
the state of Piaui and left these two behind in the church, in the sweet hope
that even though they could not speak [Portuguese], they would be able to
continue the work.11 After a short while, however, these (so-called) Baptists
began to quiver and shriek in a meeting. Soon Brazilians imitated them.
What had happened ? What kind of a new religion was this, people asked.
They replied that it was the baptism of the Spirit. The speaking with tongues
and the cackling made the services frightful. Nelson was away, and the work
of the congregation was under the supervision of a young man without any
experience.... The whole church was infected, because so many people were
already talking in this so-called speaking with tongues, with the exception of
the deacons, whom this development did not escape. The evangelist called a
meeting of the congregation with the help of the organist, declared the Pente-
costals, who were already in the majority, to be outside the order and with the
help (of the minority who had remained Baptists) excommunicated those who
78 The Pentecostals: Brazil
had falsified sound doctrine. The latter attempted to assert their rights as
the majority, but they were excluded. In this way the congregation was deci-
mated . . . That was the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in Brazil.12
1.400.000
1.300.000
1.200.000
1.100.000
1.000.000
900.000
800.000
700.000
600.000
500.000
400.000
300.000
200.000
100.000
I +
From Belem, the Pentecostals did missionary work in the Amazon region;
in the twenties they pressed south into the industrial and coffee growing areas
and founded large communities in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Porto
Alegre etc. In 1930, a number of preachers from the Igreja de Cristo (Mata
Grande, Alagoas), an American evangelical church, joined forces with the
Assembleias de Deus. From that year they moved also into the interior. At a
very early stage (from 1913), missionaries were sent to Portugal,13 and later
also to Madagascar and France.14
Many of their churches have several thousand members, the largest in Recife
comprising about 7,000. In Rio they have 6,500 communicants, hold 180
services a week, run 15 Sunday schools, 3 grammar schools, a Bible class and a
trade school.15 In Sao Paulo they baptized 10,000 converts in a year.
Workers have gone where the people are. Churches have been established
first in the metropolitan areas; then branches have been established later in the
interior. As a result about 80% of the Assembleias de Deus membership is
concentrated in strategic centres where 93% of Brazil's population lives.16
Today the Assembleias de Deus are by far the largest evangelical church in
Brazil. Along with the Catholics they are the only ones to be represented in all the
Berg and the Assembleias de Deus 79
states of Brazil. As William R. Read rightly remarks, 'Singer sewing machines,
Coca-Cola, Lucky Strike and the Assemblies are there.'17 And they have done
all this through their own resources, unlike the other evangelical churches,
which are generously supported with money and personnel from USA.
Quite apart from the difficult problems of obtaining accurate statistics,18
which will not be discussed here, the growth of the Assembleias de Deus is
unparalleled in recent church history and its significance for theology and the
ecumenical movement is not to be underestimated.
Although Emilio Conde believes that only faith can rightly record the history
of the Assembleias de Deus,19 his Histdria das Assembleias de Deus is a remark-
ably dry enumeration of names, places and dates, like a chronicle or even an
annal. The book is based on reliable reports, personal interviews, letters, news-
paper articles (but all without documentation), and can be regarded as a good
source. But it is difficult to read. One cannot yet expect a historical treatment
from the Brazilian Pentecostal movement.
The conversion of Jose Gomes Moreno, later a preacher and broadcaster,
may be typical of their kind of evangelistic work. Moreno was originally a
player in the 'Corinth' football team in Sao Paulo. One day he kicked the ball
into the crowd instead of the goal, and a woman was so badly hurt that she
had to be taken to hospital. Tormented by conscience, he visited her. She
heaped insults on him: 'You useless man! Watch out that you do not become a
murderer. Some "crentes", members of the Assembleias de Deus, who visited
me here, told me that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and to all eternity, and
that useless people like you can again be set on the right way.' The sick woman,
Dona Amelia, regarded herself as a good Catholic, and did not need the help
of these ccrentes\
Moreno obediently went to the meeting, as he was bidden, and thought to
himself, 'I have seen Jesus in the circus, the theatre and the cinema, but never
in a church. I wonder what he looks like ?' He thought Jesus was a famous actor.
The preacher made hell hot for Moreno, by describing the latter's dissolute
life. 'You'll end up killing your own father,' he shouted. At the end of the
sermon he pointed to him and said, 'This young man is to come forward and
give his heart to Jesus.' Moreno came forward and was converted. After three
days he returned and asked to be prayed for. He thought that he was not
normal any more, because for three days he had not been able to smoke, but
he was told that non-smoking was normal for a Christian. After several months
he visited Dona Amelia again and prayed for her health. She was immediately
cured and converted.20
2. Social Work
The Assembleias de Deus recruit their members from the great mass of the
Brazilian people, i.e. from the lower strata, including those of mixed race and
t
8o The Pentecostals: Brazil
Indians.21 They have a very high opinion of Martin Luther King.22 Political
and social engagement goes hand in hand with evangelization.
Christ attached an extraordinary value to man. So much so, that he died on
the cross. That is sufficient reason for the Christian leader to attach con-
siderable importance to human problems. In one sense Jesus was a humanist
par excellence.2*
Communism does not arise - as is so often said - by alien infiltration, but in the
'trough of misery'. It 'is nourished by poverty and injustice'. 'Communism
denies God, but laissez faire (comodhmo) denies one's neighbour. Both are
equally unjust.'24 However one cannot deny that in recent years members of
the middle class have joined them.25 They carry on an aggressive programme
of education among their members, teach those who are still illiterate, print and
distribute an incredible amount of literature,26 build community libraries, day
nurseries27 and carry on Portuguese courses. They have established a provident
fund for expectant mothers, the sick and the orphaned, which is supported by
public means because, as Conde proudly remarks, 'it does valuable service
to the public'.28
Church organization is a remarkable mixture of free Congregationalism and
the takeover of certain functions by the central authorities. Thus the 'ministerio'
(as the united community is called) of Ipirange (Sao Paulo) was originally
independent; in 1942 it became part of the 'ministerio' of Belenzinho; in 1952
it again gained its independence. In Sao Paulo and surroundings it has six
preachers, nine elders, an evangelist and thirty communities with a total of three
thousand members. It runs a tile factory. In its community centre there is a
polyclinic and a dental clinic (with reduced prices), schools for Portuguese,
typewriting, sawing, music and a primary school. The secretary of the 'min-
isterio' remarked to Key Yuasa: 'God cares for our souls, so we have to care
for bodies.' A hospital, an old people's home, a secondary school and a Bible
school are in process of construction. The different 'ministerios' overlap geo-
graphically. But they have the same newspapers, the same radio programme,
and the same regional and general conferences. One can often hear the expression:
'Many "ministerios" but one "assembly of God".' This, then is a type of
church which for the first time realizes community on a large scale in non-
parochial structures.29
So far, no hostility to education can be detected. On the contrary, the journal
A Seara reports:
We are delighted to note a further victory for our church. Thanks to state
grants, Alcidio Donato, a young member of the church born in humble
circumstances, has been able to complete his medical studies.30
When high officers of the General Staff, the Governor, members of Congress or
even the Vice-President of Brazil take part in the consecration of a new church,
Berg and the Assembleias de Deus 81
31
the fact is noted with satisfaction. Perhaps there have been some changes here
in the last twenty years, since Emilio Conde wrote in 1944 that the call for
educated preachers would be a return to Egypt.32
i
82 The Pentecostals: Brazil
(c) With the North American Assemblies of God
In the mission statistics of the North American Assemblies of God, the
Assembleias de Deus figure as their mission church. In contrast, the Brazilian
Pentecostals regard themselves as an independent church. Certainly, there are
some North American 'fraternal workers' among the several thousand Brazilian
Pentecostal preachers who are principally involved in directing Bible schools
and radio programmes.40 They are regarded by the Brazilians as technical
specialists, but not acknowledged as superiors, unless the recent visit of the
Assemblies of God Chaplain John A. Lindvall (who as chaplain of the American
paratroopers in the Dominican Republic in 1965 met Brazilian troops)41 had
political connotations.
4. Doctrine
The Assembleias de Deus have published a summary of their doctrine for
brothers from other denominations:
We, the believers of the Assembleias de Deus, believe, like you, that Jesus
is the unique and sole sufficient Saviour, that salvation is entirely by grace, by
means of faith in Jesus Christ. We believe in all the doctrines taught by
Jesus and by the apostles, and we also believe that 'Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today and eternally'. For that reason, and for that reason alone,
we believe that he still baptizes with the Holy Spirit, since he is still the same.
'For indeed, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit.'
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not received at the hour of salvation nor
at the hour of baptism with water. The believers of Samaria were saved and
baptized in water, but they had not yet received the baptism of the Holy
Spirit (Acts 8.i5f). Those who believed at the house of Cornelius were saved
and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit before receiving baptism with
water (Acts 10.44).
The sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in foreign tongues.
That is what happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2.4); in the house of
Cornelius (10.46); at Ephesus (19.6). At Samaria, the same sign occurred
after Simon had offered money to the apostles: at that time a sign came on
those who were baptized with the Holy Spirit (7.19).
. . . The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not salvation. Salvation comes by faith;
but the baptism of the Spirit is a blessing that derives from salvation. To
accept the salvation that God offers and to reject or neglect the baptism of the
Spirit that he has equally offered cannot but be a grave sin against the honour
of the heavenly Father. Brothers of the denominations, all you who are saved,
rediscover the baptism of the Holy Spirit.42
For their domestic use they took over the confession of the North American
Assemblies of God.43
Berg and the Assembleias de Deus 83
NOTES
French
Venezuela , Guinea
Rio de Janeiro
, T S . Paulo
/ Curitiba ""^
/ >w to Portugal
v
/ and Italy
Porto Alegre
1909 from
Chicago
Pinheiros
1 Elder
1 Co-worker
0 3 3 Million Cr.
Elders
A Francisco Romano Guilherme
B Miguel Spina
[el Luciano Carbone
D Joab Biazin
( D Manoel Vieira de Souza
(All details follow the Relatorio e Balanco for 1958, ed. 1959, after notes by Yuasa; in each case
the lowest line gives the value of the church building in millions of cruzeiros.)
Schematic plan
Functions of the elders in different communities
88 The Pentecostah: Brazil
Income for 1958 was 36,559,753-50 cr., of which 5,768,850 cr. (i.e. a sixth) was
set aside for the 'obra de piedade' (see p. 90 below).
The focal point of the church is in and around Sao Paulo. The reason for this
is the concentration of Italian immigrants in this city. Indeed, in the first
decades Italian was spoken in the services of the Congregacao. It was a real
'Italian popular movement' (Read). When the 'Glorias' - as members of the
church are familiarly called - meet on Wednesday and Sunday evenings at
their central church, which holds 7,000, there are regular traffic jams in the Rua
Visconde de Parnaiba in Bras. While for example the Presbyterian church has
only 8,000 members in the city of Sao Paulo, the Glorias number 110,000 in
this city alone!.3 A classification of the communities by individual states in
Brazil,4 and baptismal statistics from the year 1962,5 clearly show the pre-
dominance of the church in Sao Paulo. The Congregacao can even stand com-
parison with the Roman Catholic church:
Obviously a community of the Congregacao Crista does not have the social
weight and the size of a Roman Catholic parish. But if, on the other hand, only
the numbers of members are compared, an equally false picture arises, because
the Roman Catholic church counts all nominal Christians, including infants
and those who rarely come to church, if at all, whereas the Congregacao Crista,
like all free churches, counts only adult members. The significance of the small
but vigorous communities is greater than might be expected from their num-
erical strength. The fact that the communities have their focal point in the
industrial centre of Sorocaba shows immediately the influence of this worker-
church. This does not prevent the church from alsofindinga way to farmworkers
and peasants in the interior of the country. Among them are a number of
members of the professions, but cit has not yet pleased the Lord to make them
elders'.8
The women dress carefully for worship, and wear imitation jewellery and
bright hair bands. Make-up and nail varnish are not forbidden, but they are
Francescon and the 'Congregagdo Christa do BrasiP 89
not used. The community passionately rejects any kind of legalistic ethic,
explicitly dissociates itself from the Anglo-Saxon observance of Sunday (a
position which is regarded as heretical by the other evangelical churches) and
even rejects the regulation tithe which is practised so widely among the Pente-
costals.9
The time of persecution was endured with silent suffering, without retaliation
by informing the police. The young community regarded the persecution not
primarily as a question of 'religious freedom', but as 'testing sent by God',
who had told them: 'If this flock remains true to my word, I will increase it by
those who are called to be saved.'10 The church regards its own history as a
fulfilment of the promises given to Luigi Francescon.11
Leonard, too, has discerned that hymns and choruses are the liturgical
elements in their services by the aid of which the leader of the assembly pilots
the community safely through the strongest storms of feeling. Many hymns
have a definite function. Every member knows, for example, that general
intercessions rather than personal prayers and testimonies are made after the
chorus 'Praise, Honour and Glory', that the notices come after 'Under the
Blood ...', etc. This happens in most Pentecostal communities, but the different
choruses do not always have the same function in the different communities.
Davis and Read have given vivid descriptions of the prayers repeated by the
whole community in shouts and whispered words and of the enthusiastic
singing, often accompanied by great orchestras.12
Leonard givesj many instances of conversions. For instance, there is the
Negro elder of Piracicaba, Bento. A 'Gloria' gave a testimony on the basis of the
Bible to Bento who at that time had not yet been converted. Bento got his
Bible so as to be able to contradict the 'Gloria'. But - alas - he was forced to
make the discovery that his Bible was a history of the saints. Now he began to
compare the sermons of his favourite priest with the Bible, which he read night-
long, and in 1937 this led to his conversion.13
Another instance: Lucas A. and his wife had become alcoholics. Lucas was a
bully. He always carried a weapon. He took part passionately in the 'cururu', a
singing competition in which each competitor had to continue the theme or the
story of the previous singer as skilfully and dramatically as possible. The themes
of the 'cururu' singers were often taken from the Bible, so Lucas A. also owned a
Bible and read it. When he contracted tuberculosis, he sought relief among the
fetishists and the Macumbas. A 'Gloria' visited him and wanted to teach him
about the Bible. At that point, however, the 'cururu' singer proudly showed
off his knowledge of the Bible. The 'Gloria' built on this foundation and
showed him the way to conversion and to liberation from his alcoholism.14
A girl student, Celisah Ulhoa Tenoria, gives the following description of a
meeting of the 'Glorias':
They kneel down. They all pray individually in louder or softer voices.
Beside me, someone is praying: 'O Jesus, your name is holy! Glory be to your
9o The Pentecostals: Brazil
holy name!' Another prays: 'The Lord have mercy on our souls! May he
have mercy on our sins!' Another says, 'Have pity on those who do not know
you, glorious Father! Holy one, your name is holy!'
The sounds of praise increase; the murmur of voices grows louder. Some
women pray in foreign languages . . . In the midst of this tumult the Holy
Spirit gives the word to one of the faithful who begins to speak, uttering loud
cries. The murmuring of the brothers increases and all pay attention. He
asks for help for young children, that they may not learn what is bad; for
widows and widowers: some women weep. Waves of prayer come and go;
there are sounds of approval for the words of the one who is thus inspired.
These waves of fervour now increase, now diminish in intensity; some-
times they reach a real paroxysm of religious exaltation. The man speaks
louder and louder. He appeals to God for the work and the power of the
Lord to continue. In the midst of this exaltation many people weep. All the
men simultaneously make a backwards and forwards movement. The man
continues, 'Send your word, Lord, so that we may go from here filled with
your wisdom. Come, Lord of glory, bless us all.' During all this time he
speaks in good, fluent Portuguese. The contrast between the man's unculti-
vated exterior and what he says is remarkable.15
NOTES
His friends from the Presbyterian mission could not understand his struggles
in prayer and described them as 'moral or intellectual aberrations'.3 Yet da
Conceicao had opened up the way for the Protestant mission in many places.
Another Brazilian illuminist was Miguel Vieira Ferreira^ who sought out the
worship of the Presbyterian church of his own accord. After a sermon he
discovered that he was incapable of moving from his place.
Assessment of the Brazilian Pentecostal Movement 95
His body was not rigid, but he remained in the position in which he was or
in which anyone put him. He stayed this way for almost half an hour, and
during this time he only opened his eyes once, and then only for a moment.
However, when he came to himself, he knew perfectly well what had been
done or said around him. Among his first words were, 'Now I accept the
Bible as the word of God, true and inspired, and Christ as a divine saviour,
and I wish to profess the faith in this Presbyterian church.'5
Ferreira became an elder and lay preacher in the Presbyterian church. The
church was proud of its convert, as he was a skilled engineer and mathematician,
and had access to the leading levels of Brazilian society. He was so attracted by
the gospel that he refused a professorship at the Polytechnic so that it would
not hinder him in his unpaid lay preaching. While the Presbyterians had accepted
his conversion with joy, they repudiated the effect of his testimony, because
they feared that as a result of his conversion experience there would be similar
illuminist experiences among their churchgoers. As he did not want to keep
silent about his conversion experience, which for him had been the way to the
gospel, he was deprived of his office as elder. Ferreira attempted to stay in the
church that he loved with all his strength. But in vain; he had to write a farewell
letter:
I have spoken with God face to face. If God had spoken with you, you would
know that I am speaking the truth. But you say that God has never spoken
to you, and that is true, and that you do not believe that he ever speaks to
you as he has spoken to me! Truly, I tell you, you will judge me, but you can
never be my judges.6
figure and harsh voice is one of the most popular figures in Brazil and surely
the best-known evangelist in the country, admired by some, attacked and
criticized by others. When he founded his own movement, a large number of
his adherents from the Cruzada Nacional de Evangeliza9ao followed him. His
own estimate of the annual rate of growth is about 80,000. Of course, it is
impossible to confirm that for the moment. Nevertheless, his church may be
the fastest growing in Brazil. His own verdict goes even further: 'This work
grows faster than any other in the whole world.'28
It is the reality of Brazil itself that draws people to Pentecostal meetings, for
in a country that has a great lack of hospitals, in which medicine is too costly
for the majority, one logically expects that the promise of divine healing,
which happens through faith in God alone, attracts the masses not so much
because of their desire to attend worship as because of their need to be freed
from suffering and sickness.34
Thus the prayer of the Pentecostal preacher is the first step in accepting the
bodily reality of the poor in Brazil. But prayer for the sick does not exclude
medical care.35
Political evangelization was stressed by Levy Tavares, Geraldino dos Santos36
and Manoel de Melo. For these Pentecostals, active engagement in politics is
the logical consequence of their understanding of evangelization.37
The Roman Catholic speaker at the symposium, Francisco Lepargneur,
Professor at the Dominican Theological Seminary in Sao Paulo, began his
paper by stating that he did not want to give 'an apologetic refutation of the
Pentecostal movement'. On the contrary, the Pentecostals had adopted into
their churches a number of Catholic truths which had sometimes been for-
gotten by the Catholics themselves.38 He gave a good account of the practice
of glossolalic prayer in the writings of the Church Fathers, and stressed the
fact that the distinction between two kinds of believers, 'semi-believers' and
charismatically equipped born-again believers, is well known in patristic
literature.39 In contrast, however, he stressed that according to Paul the super-
Assessment of the Brazilian Pentecostal Movement 103
natural quality is not the criterion which distinguishes the charismatic from the
psychical or natural, as Paul includes a list of ordinary and natural gifts among
the gifts of the Spirit.40 According to Lepargneur, a characteristic of pagan
religions is to identify the extraordinary or the supernatural with a divine gift.
Therefore the characteristic of spiritual gifts should be their 'service to the
whole community'.41
This paper was received with a mixture of joy and scepticism by the Pente-
costals. Although Lepargneur had backed his statements with massive quotations
from the Church Fathers and the Second Vatican Council, Manoel de Melo
asked whether Lepargneur's progressive opinion was just his own, or whether it
could be taken as the expression of a change in the attitude of the Roman Cath-
olic church to the 'sectarians'.
3. Lepargneur's characterization of the gifts of the Spirit as an expression
of 'service for the whole community', and the Pentecostals' second point42 lead
directly to the statement of Geraldino dos Santos: 'in the era of ecumenism, we
are sure that the unity of Christians is imperative for the salvation of the world.'43
The astonishing thing about this statement is not only the reference to the 'era
of ecumenism' but the direction of Christian unity towards service in and to the
world, i.e., for dos Santos, in and to Brazilian society.
One aspect of this Pentecostal ecumenism is the hope of 'Pentecostalizing'
the whole church, i.e. passing on their specific gifts to all the existing denom-
inations. Theoretically, the traditional churches agree with this. Could any
church refuse to be Pentecostal in the widest sense ? But as soon as some of their
pastors and congregations begin to exercise the charismatic gifts which are
common in Pentecostal churches (above all, glossolalia and divine healing),
tensions arise which often, though not always, lead to splits within churches.44
In evaluating the consultation of October 1965, the Pentecostals agreed with
the traditional churches that they need help in establishing their Pentecostal
seminaries.45 The traditional churches, on the other hand, believe that they
could do with a bit more Pentecostal zeal. Harding Meyer,46 who was present at
the consultation, does not agree with such an interpretation. He thinks that the
very practice of Pentecostal evangelism is a theological contribution and,
although the Pentecostals may not be able to describe their method in theological
terms, their evangelism in Brazil should be reflected upon at a theological level.
By beginning where the people are, with their sickness (healing of the sick
through prayer), with their irrational articulation of joy and fear (glossolalia),
with their emphasis on archetypal means of communication (music and singing),
they exemplify the phrase of a WCC study, 'The world provides the agenda'.47
The Brazilian situation determines the themes and means of communication
of the Pentecostal worship. That does not, of course, mean that the Pentecostals
merely repeat what Brazilians are thinking and saying, but that they set out to
bring the gospel to the points of tension in Brazilian society.48
This is a hermeneutical approach which is well-known to traditional churches
104 The Pentecostah: Brazil
as a principle for New Testament exegesis. They know that the New Testament
documents have to be understood in their social and literary context. Traditional
churches have also learned that communication today involves first of all an
enquiry about the actual context of their times. But the traditional churches
have so far developed no instrument by which they could perceive the her-
meneutical context in a largely non-bourgeois, inarticulate stratum of society,
where there is a need for 'atmospheric' means of communication which is not
afraid of emotional and intuitive channels. Furthermore, recent observations
have shown that these channels of communication seem to be relevant even for
those who do not belong to the usual Pentecostal constituency. They would,
in fact, apply to Paul himself, who thanked God that he spoke in tongues more
than the Corinthians (I Cor. 14.18). We find here a parallel to the Negro spir-
ituals and the jazz which emerged in the rationally inarticulate milieu of the
American Negro communities, but which overflowed their original social
context.
A dramatic turn in the relationship between the Ecumenical movement and
the Pentecostal movement came about when Manuel de Melo, in an interview
given to the Methodist newspaper Expositor Cristdof* announced that his
church would join the World Council of Churches. This intention was realized
at the meeting of the Central Committee in Canterbury in 1969.50 He had not
been impressed by the services which he had attended as an observer in Uppsala.
He felt like 'Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones'. In his view, as far as worship
was concerned the World Council was pedalling a bicycle in the age of jet
aeroplanes. But, de Melo continued, it is not enough to arrange nice services,
to sing and to pray, important though that may be. 'While we convert a million,
the devil de-converts ten millions through hunger, misery, militarism, dictator-
ship.' De Melo mentioned the Roman Catholic bishop Helder Camara as the
model of a true evangelist. The church in Brazil had to have the help of the
World Council to be able to fulfil its function as a prophet and a reviver of
social and political conscience. De Melo also made practical suggestions as to
how this might come about.
Why not transform the hundreds of church buildings into schools during
week days, and even into trade unions and associations in order to train the
people ?
In this way, the Igreja Evangelica Pentecostal 'Brasil para Cristo' became the
largest member church of the World Council in Latin America. Manoel de
Melo has resolved to break down prejudice against the World Council in Latin
America by a series of 'ecumenical revival meetings'. In this way, he hopes to
obtain the help of traditional member churches of the World Council in Brazil.
It is to be hoped that they will not leave him in the lurch.
The world-wide Pentecostal movement has received the entry of de Melo
into the World Council with mixed feelings, where it has not passed over the
Assessment of the Brazilian Pentecostal Movement 105
matter in silence. To begin with, an attempt was made to say that his church
did not really belong to the Pentecostal movement. Where this was not pos-
sible, 'serious anxiety' was expressed. While it was conceded that the Pente-
costal movement had no solution to offer for the social and political problems
of Latin America, it was 'surely a very serious question whether social concerns,
desperate though they might be, permitted entry into the ecumenical move-
ment.'51
(c) The importance of the Pentecostal movement for the Catholic church
Since the Second Vatican Council, feelings towards the Pentecostals in the
Catholic church of Brazil have changed radically. Abdalazis de Moura from
Recife, Regional (secretary) of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops,
stresses the importance of the Pentecostal movement for the Catholic church in
an excellent analysis.52 He begins by asking, 'What are the possibilities and
difficulties with which an ecumenical dialogue with the Pentecostals must come
to grips ?' He defines the Pentecostal movement as a 'conscious or unconscious
protest against existing political, social, economic or religious forms'. Despite its
supreme theological importance, so far no theological works have appeared - de
Moura does not count polemic as theological works.53
As the theologians have so far ignored the Pentecostals, the Pentecostals are
not interested, understandably enough, in theology. In any case, Pentecostal
theology is not carried on in rational categories, but in categories of intuition
and experience. The theologians, and not the Pentecostals, are to blame for
this segregation, because they have developed a false understanding of what
academic theology is. Furthermore, a false interpretation of the maxim 'No
salvation outside the church' on the Catholic side has made dialogue almost
impossible. 'Salvation which is exclusively bound up with the confessional
formulation of one church hinders the recognition of the sovereignty of Christ.'54
Even the various Catholic and Protestant attempts at social revolution do not
reach those for whom they are intended. 'They are the monopoly of a privileged
elite which has access to a particular jargon.'55 As a result, among the mass of
Brazilian people the symptoms of poverty are taken as its cause. It is not sur-
prising that the Pentecostals are not informed any better or any worse than the
other churches here, as the historic churches have not given any reasonable
teaching for centuries. For the Pentecostals, however, the tragedy is that there
is no 'popular organization' worth mentioning outside the Pentecostal denom-
inations in Chile and Brazil.56
Granted, the Catholic church is attempting to bring worship nearer to
ordinary people by liturgical reform. But this is quite inadequate patchwork.
What has so far been lacking in all the historical churches is a 'criativadade no
culto liturgico', the possibility of a liturgy in which the people play a spon-
taneous part, as demonstrated by the Pentecostals. As long as the Catholic
church means to keep the alterations under strict control, no spontaneous new
io6 The Pentecostals: Brazil
57
creations will arise. Even the prayer groups and Bible groups which have arisen
in slum areas are quite inadequate. The bourgeois who go to the poor and
instruct them allow themselves to be 'wondered at and reverenced by the poor',
so that the presence of social superiors is a psychological hindrance to the poor
in the development of their specific gifts.58 The Pentecostals have overcome
this difficulty by having as teachers neither priests nor intellectuals nor the
middle class, but poor workers like themselves.
In his criticism of the Pentecostal movement, de Moura points to its obvious
limitations: biblicist fundamentalism, devaluation of history ('A faith which is
lived outside history will not find any significance in the actual situation')59 and
an individualism which as a result of its disengagement from politics acts as an
upholder of the status quo.
De Moura sees the greatest danger for the future in the possible alienation
of the poor, once these no longer accept the comfort of their preachers, as when
a worker is consoled over the death of his child with the words, 'One more
angel in heaven'. On the other hand, according to de Moura an accommodation
with classical academic theology would be 'the death of the Pentecostal move-
ment' and 'a betrayal of its own important insights'.60 Unfortunately, however,
this development is precisely the one that the historic churches want to force
on the Pentecostal movement.
What other possibilities does de Moura see ? Like H. Meyer,61 he calls for a
theology that does not begin with theory but with Pentecostal practice. The
Pentecostals have brought about this practice without an ecclesiology to corre-
spond with it. How did it come about that the Pentecostals 'developed a practice
which matches the thought of the best of our theologians without their pro-
found considerations ?'62 Without our theoretical insights into group processes
they have recognized the natural leaders of the poor community as key figures
in their net of communication.63 That means that we who have developed these
good theories but have not put them into practice have a great deal to learn
from their method of theology, which begins with experiment.64
Consequently, dialogue with them must begin with the 'bases populares',
with 'experiencia e do fato concreto'. Arguments will never convince a Pente-
costal that he must take political or industrial action. But if among those en-
gaged in politics and industrial work he meets Christians with an authentic
Christian witness instead of atheists and agnostics, he will be made to think.
Arguments will never convince a Pentecostal that the return of Christ has some-
thing to do with the building of a better world. But if he comes across a mis-
sionary and warm-hearted community of Christians whose concern is the
building of a better society, that will carry conviction. Arguments will never
convince a Pentecostal that he must build up solid exegetical insights. But if he
meets popular evangelists who can communicate with the people and who at the
same time have a positive attitude towards critical exegesis, they will lead him
to re-examine his own fundamentalist position.65
Assessment of the Brazilian Pentecostal Movement 107
As a result, dialogue with Pentecostals does not depend so much on our
arguments as on our style of religious practice and communication. The question
is whether the Pentecostal can recognize them as authentic and therefore as
appropriate to their subject-matter.
4. Political Influence
Among the participants in the symposium mentioned above were two active
Pentecostal politicians.66 After initial resistance against political careers for
'preachers baptized with the Spirit'67 and some disappointments in co-operation
with existing political parties, Manoel de Melo decided to intervene actively in
politics. In the present suspension of Parliament in Brazil his hope of having an
evangelical Vice-President for Brazil is, however, more than questionable.
This development, which is still hard to assess, must be seen in connection
with the rise of a political Pentecostal party in Sweden68 and the active inter-
vention of Pentecostals in the politics of Chile,69 Russia70 and Switzerland.71
Clumsy though individual attempts may seem, it is at least clear to these
Pentecostal preachers that the gospel and politics are not two realities that can
be separated from each other. We can understand their dismay at the dominant
regime when they read in the newspaper that two thousand and forty children
die of hunger in Brazil every day, while tremendous Brazilian resources are
hoarded in Swiss banks.72 On the lines of James 5.4, the alternative to Com-
munism that is required is voluntary renunciation of excess income. This fine
theory, which however lacks political persuasiveness, will soon put the Pente-
costal movement either on the wing of the conservative forces which defend the
status quo or compel them to develop a social and economic programme that
can actually be put into practice. Here the Brazilian Protestants need to look
for the help of the best Western traditions. The first beginnings of such a
development can be seen in the contributions from Latin America made at the
World Council of Churches Conference on Church and Society at Geneva in
1966.
To sum up, it may be said that because of its extent - it has more than four
million adherents, i.e. seventy per cent of Brazilian Protestantism - its growth
and its access to hitherto neglected but increasingly important strata of the
population, the Brazilian Pentecostal movement occupies a key position not only
in Latin American Protestantism but also in Brazilian politics. We cannot be
indifferent to the question of the kind of theological and philosophical know-
ledge (or ignorance) with which it approaches this task. One of the most urgent
tasks of 'inter-church aid' is therefore an intensive contact with these Pente-
costal churches.
This view was shared by the Latin American Pentecostal 'observers' at the
Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala (1968). They
told me: The people here seem to be like the wise men from the East. They
io8 The Pentecostals: Brazil
have seen the star and are on the way to the manger with their treasures. But
they have not yet knelt down. They are under-developed religiously and in this
respect can learn something from us. But we must learn from their insight into
the social and political situation. 73
NOTES
i. E. G. Leonard, Uilluministne, pp. 14-19; id., Rev. de VEv. 7/38, July-August 1952,
pp. 214-17.
2. B. Ribeiro, Padre Protestante, p. 120 (quotation from da Conceicao's unpublished
'Confession of evangelical faith').
3. Ibid., p. 146.
4. Leonard, Uilluminisme, pp. 19-58; id., Rev. de VEv. 7/38, July-August 1952,
p. 217; id., Revista de Histdria 3, 1952, no. 12, pp. 428-32.
5. Leonard, Uilluminisme, p. 22 (report by Blackford, a missionary, to his American
committee, 24.4.1874). The source question is complicated. The best and most literal
sources are in Leonard, Uilluminisme, and in his church history of Brazil, which ap-
peared in Revista de Histdria. But the new impression of these articles published in 1963
suppresses the quotations that are most interesting to us in this context.
6. Parting words of Ferreira in the church register of the Presbyterian church,
quoted by E. G. Leonard, Uilluminisme, p. 25. The words contain the most important
and effective motto of the churches: 'Deus pode sempre falar diretamente aos homens,
mas le nada mais revela' (God can always speak directly to men, but he does not reveal
anything [new]). Following Leonard, Revista de Histdria 3, 1952, no. 12, p. 430.
7. Leonard, Protestantismo brasileiro, p. 33.
8. Ibid., p. 338.
9. Ibid.
10. Leonard, Rev. de VEv. 7/38, July-August 1952, p. 222.
n . 2,000 out of 3,419.
12. According to La Razdn, S. Paulo, ca. 20.6.1962: Hay mas Protestantes.
13. H.K., Orientierung 19/1, 15.1.1955, pp. 9-11.
14. K. Yuasa, notes.
15. R. Bastide, Les religions, p. 515.
16. E. Willems, Kolner Zeitschrift fur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 12, i960,
pp. 652-71.
17. E. Willems, Followers, pp. 169-73.
18. C. Procopio F. de Camargo, in: J. V. Freitas Marcondes, Osmar Pimentel,
Sao Paulo, p. 377.
19. Beatriz Muniz de Souza, Experiencia, p. 163: German summary in W. J. Hollen-
weger (ed.), Die Pfingstkirchen, pp. 294-300.
20. Beatriz Muniz de Souza, op. cit., p. 127.
21. 2,340 kilometres by railway, 1,102 by bus, 53 on horseback, 24 by lorry, 19 on
foot, 18 by car, 13 by ox-cart.
22. 'transfuges'; Leonard means those who have gone over from the traditional
churches to the Pentecostal movement. No complaints should be made about this
'falling away'. 'Those who have fallen away' have an important function in the Pente-
costal movement.
23. Leonard; Rev. de VEv. 7/38, July-August 1952, p. 235; cf. also Uillumnismie,
p. 113.
Assessment of the Brazilian Pentecostal Movement 109
24. A. Sapsezian, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, Oct.-Dec. 1968.
25. A characteristic of each new Pentecostal denomination, cf. ch. 12.2, p. 153.
26. 02b.05.037. Estimated membership between 110,000 (W. R. Read, New Patterns,
p. 154) and 900,000 (M. de Melo, quoted in H. Meyer, 'Pfingstbewegung').
27. A new group in Brazil (02b.05.028) originally dependent on the International
Church of the Foursquare Gospel (02a.02.124).
28. H. Meyer, 'Pfingstbewegung', pp. 43f.
29. ASTE, 0 Espirito Santo.
30. A. Sapsezian, in ASTE, op. cit., p. 4.
31. One example is the new Manoel de Melo church. It is said to be the biggest
church in the world: 25,000 square metres, 25,000 seats and room for 15,000 standing,
46 different halls and rooms, a great library, a bookshop, a restaurant, a hairdresser's,
a tower 300 m. high at the top of which 300 people can stand, seven illuminated foun-
tains, an artificial lake, etc. Total cost was one million dollars (W. R. Read, New Patterns,
pp. i52f; de Souza, Experiencia, pp. 43f).
32. H. Meyer, Pfingstbewegung, p. 50.
33. K. Yuasa in ASTE, op. cit., pp. 68-70. Yuasa is a pastor in the Igreja Evangelica
Holiness (02b.05.004).
34. L. Tavares in ASTE, op. cit., p. 36. Tavares was originally a Methodist preacher.
Today he belongs to Melo's church. He is a deputy in the federal parliament. See his
speeches there on 'Wasting money on armaments', 'Humanizing the money market',
'Suppression of religious freedom in South Vietnam', 'Nobel prize for a Negro preacher'
(L. Tavares, Minha patria).
35. Cf. ch. 6.2, p. 80.
36. G. dos Santos, originally a Methodist preacher, today co-operating with Melo
and a deputy in the Parliament of the state of Sao Paulo.
37. See p. 104.
38. This is not an isolated remark by Lepargneur, cf. ch. 83(^) p. 104, A. Gaete,
SJ, 'Un cas d'adaption', and the literature in ch. 30.3, pp. 4376.
39. For the connection between Catholic and Pentecostal piety cf. 05.28.004a: PGG,
pp. 256f. Also H. V. Synan (P Movement, p. 266) stresses the Roman Catholic elements
within Pentecostalism: 'As a product of Methodism, the Pentecostal-holiness movement
traces its lineage through the Wesleys to Anglicanism and from thence to Roman
Catholicism. This theological heritage places the Pentecostals outside the Calvinistic,
reformed tradition which culminated in the Baptist and Presbyterian movements in the
United States.' Similarly E. O'Connor, P Movement, p. 23.
40. On this see ch. 25.4, p. 372.
41. F. Lepargneur in ASTE, op. cit., p. 55.
42. Evangelism refers to the total reality of man, physical, social, political and
psychological, see above, p. 10iff.
43. G. dos Santos, ASTE, op. cit., p. 32.
44. Cf. e.g. the battle waged by E. Tognini, leader of the Pentecostal-like Baptist
Movimento de Renovacao Espiritual (ASTE, op. cit., pp. 76-82: E. Tognini, 'Batismo').
There are similar groups among German and French Baptists (05.09.001) and in all
the traditional churches of the USA (ch. 1, pp. 3f), Great Britain (ch. 13.2, pp. 1846.)
and Germany (ch. 18, pp. 2346.).
45. A. Sapsezian, in ASTE, op. cit., p. 6.
46. Dr Harding Meyer, Research Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, in an
interview with the author.
47. See the WCC report, The Church for Others, Geneva 1967.
48. See section II of the 'Drafts for Sections', p. 31, for the Fourth Assembly of the
World Council of Churches, Uppsala (Geneva 1968).
i io The Pentecostals: Brazil
49. M. de Melo, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, Feb.-March 1969.
50. Ecumenical Press Service 36/30, 21.8.1969, pp. 3-5; O. Brekke, Voort Land
25/232, 7.10.1969, p. 6.
51. J. Zopfi, Wort und Geist 1/7, July 1969, p. 8.
52. A. de Moura, A importdncia das Igrejas Pentecostais para a Igreja Catdlica.
53. De Moura, op. cit., p. 3.
54. Ibid., p. 20.
55. Ibid., p. 24.
56. Ibid., p. 35.
57. Ibid., p. 25.
58. Ibid., p. 27.
59. Ibid., p. 31 (quotation from A. Dumas, Ideologia efe, pp. i5f.).
60. Ibid., p. 34.
61. Cf. p. 103.
62. Ibid., p. 26.
63. Ibid., p. 28.
64. Ibid., p. 38.
65. Ibid., p. 37; cf. also de Moura, Revista Eclesidstica Brasileira 31/121, March 1971,
pp. 78fF.
66. See notes 34 and 36 above. Similarly Luz do Mundo 6/49, Oct. 1966, p. 5; on the
Movimento de Redencao Nacional, cf. 02b.05.039.
67. S. O. E. Martins, Luz do Mundo 2/10, Nov.-Dec. 1962, p. 6.
68. Cf. B. Wirmark, 'Politikinder schwedischenPfingstbewegung',in: W. J. Hollen-
weger (ed.), Pfingstkirchen, pp. 256-64.
69. 02.08.001.
70. Ch. 20.3^), pp. 279fF.
71. PGG, p. 283.
72. Diario da Noite, 18.8.1963; quoted in S. O. E. Martins, Luz do Mundo 2/15,
Aug.-Sept. 1963, pp. if.; at length in 02b.05.025.
73. The Swedish press reported on the conversations between Pentecostals, Pro-
testants and Catholics in Uppsala: Dagens Nyheter, 13.7.1968, p. 7; E. S., Dagen 24/138,
18.7.1968, pp. 1, 8; Uppsala 68/7, 19.7.1968, p. 20; Dagen 24/131, 9.7.1968; 24/135,
13.7.1968, pp. 1, 8.
SOUTH AFRICA
9
'The Full Blessing of Pentecost':
Andrew Murray, John Alexander Dowie
and the Early Days of the Pentecostal Movement
in South Africa
i. Andrew Murray
(a) His life
MURRAY (1828-1917) was descended from a family of Scottish sheep farmers
in Aberdeenshire. Murray's father, Andrew Murray (died 1866) was minister
of the Dutch Reformed Church in Graf Reinet, South Africa, and has almost a
thousand descendants of the same name in South Africa. The African explorers
Livingstone and Moffat were regular visitors to his house. His sons sometimes
heard him in his study 'praying aloud and fervently for the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit'.1
Andrew Murray was sent in 1838 with his brother John to continue his studies
in Aberdeen, where they lived with their uncle, John Andrew. 'It is said that
the boys never gave their hosts any cause for reproach or punishment, which
can be ascribed to the constant prayer offered for them back at home.'2 In 1845
they both passed their M.A. examinations, and were sent to Utrecht to study
theology and learn Dutch, with which they were still so unfamiliar that prayers,
discussions and the exposition of Scripture had to be carried on in Latin on
their account. They kept away from social life, from tobacco and from alcohol.
'Resist both these abominable habits', their father wrote. As a result they became
known as the 'Cocoa Club' or the 'Prayer Club'.3 In 1845 Andrew wrote home
to tell of his rebirth: 'Your son has been born anew.'4 From Holland, the brothers
travelled on foot to visit Pastor Johannes Christoph Blumhardt. In 1848 they
were ordained as ministers of the Dutch Church in the Hague.
Andrew was thereafter a minister in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Wellington and
Cape Town. The people respected him, even though the Boers regarded clergy
paid by the British crown with hostility.
ii2 The Pentecostah: South Africa
In Worcester in i860 there was a revival:
On a certain Sunday evening there were gathered in a little hall some sixty
young people. I was leader of the meeting, which commenced with a hymn
and a lesson from God's Word, after which I engaged in prayer. After three
or four others had (as was customary) given out a verse of a hymn and offered
prayer, a coloured girl of about fifteen years of age, in service with a farmer
from Hex River, rose at the back of the room and asked if she too might
propose a hymn. At first I hesitated, not knowing what the meeting would
think, but better thoughts prevailed, and I replied, 'Yes'. She gave out her
hymn-verse and prayed in moving tones. While she was praying, we heard
as it were a sound in the distance, which came nearer and nearer, until the
hall seemed to be shaken, and with one or two exceptions, the whole meeting
began to pray, the majority in audible voice, but some in whispers. Never-
theless, the noise made by the concourse was deafening. . . . [Mr Murray] had
preached that evening in the English language. When service was over an
elder passed the door of the hall, heard the noise, peeped in, and then hastened
to call Mr Murray, returning presently with him. Mr Murray came forward
to the table where I knelt, touched me, and made me understand that he
wanted me to rise. He then asked me what had happened. I related everything
to him. He then walked down the hall for some distance, and called out, as
loudly as he could, 'People, silence'. But the praying continued. In the mean-
time I too kneeled down again. It seemed to me that if the Lord was coming
to bless us, I should not be upon my feet but on my knees. Mr Murray then
called again aloud, 'People, I am your minister, sent from God, silence!'
But there was no stopping the noise. No one heard him, but all continued
praying and calling on God for mercy and pardon. Mr Murray then returned
to me and told me to start the hymn-verse ['Aid the soul that helpless cries'].
I did so, b u t . . . the meeting went on praying. . . . 5
Now prayer meetings took place every day, led by Murray. He tried without
success to lead them along a more peaceful path; but his father was enthusiastic
and said to him: 'Andrew, my son, for how many years have I longed like these
people.'6 His wife also supported the revival, in the course of which there was
not only much excitement, with people sometimes fainting, but also fifty young
men offered themselves for the ministry. Professor Hofmeyr, an eyewitness,
made the following comment:
We cannot conceal our fear that not a few mistake the natural, sympathetic
influence of one mind upon another for the immediate action of the Spirit of
God. . . . We are greatly grieved at the self-deceit to which emotional people
such as these are subject; but in the present condition of human nature we
can expect no revival which does not stand to this danger. However this may
be we thank the Lord that we have good reason to affirm that since the
revival began many have been added to the Lord's flock. Some of them
lived in open sin. . . . 7
Early Days of the Pentecostal Movement "3
In order to provide a guide for the many converts from the revival movement,
Murray wrote his book Abide in Christ.
In his last ministry, in Wellington, he had a similar experience. One of his
daughters describes it:
The first Whit Sunday after father's return from England [from the great Holi-
ness Conference of 1871] brought him a great harvest of souls in Welling-
ton. The elders asked him to preach about hell. During his sermon many men
and women began to shudder, but soon found peace under the tender breath-
ing of God's love in Jesus Christ.8
In 1862 Murray was made Moderator of the Reformed Church in South
Africa. During the Boer War he took the side of the Boers and fought for the
removal of the concentration camps set up for the Boer prisoners. He opposed
slavery and advocated total abstinence. In his doctrine of holiness and in his
practical Christianity he was decisively influenced by Moody, Boardman,
Smith, Stockmayer and Miss A. von Wattenwyl; he knew most of them person-
ally. He testified to his own baptism of the Spirit in Keswick in 1895:
I remember in my little room in Bloemfontein how I used to sit and think
'What is the matter ? Here I am knowing that God has justified me in the blood
of Christ, but I have no power for service.' . . . Perhaps if I were to talk of
consecration I might tell you of an evening there in my own study in Cape
Town. Yet I cannot say that that was my deliverance, for I was still struggling.
I would say that what we need is complete obedience. . . . Later on my mind
was much exercised about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I gave myself
to God as perfectly as I could, to receive this baptism of the Spirit. Yet there
was failure . . . I can help you more, perhaps, by speaking not of any marked
9
experience, but by telling very simply what I think God has given me now
This remarkably colourless account may be due to the revision that the
writings of the ancestors of the Pentecostal movement have undergone since
the Pentecostal movement proper started. This process can be observed in the
case of Stockmayer, Markus Hauser and the American Holiness evangelists
But it may be due to Murray's own reticence. If the latter is true it would
distinguish him from most of the Holiness preachers of his time.
He remained in constant contact with the Holiness movement. 'I constantly
followed what was happening in Oxford and Brighton, and they all helped
me. . . .'10 For twenty years he was president of the Holiness movement in
South Africa.
His biographer, Alfred Stucki, describes Murray as one of those 'from whom,
as the Scriptures say, streams of living water flow'.11 His sincerity, devotion,
coupled with humour, intelligence, good taste and culture cannot in my view
be doubted. Because of his inadequate theological training (he was ten years
old when he went to Scotland, and a minister by the time he was twenty), he
also introduced the two-stage way of salvation and the doctrine of the baptism
ii4 The Pentecostals: South Africa
of the Spirit to South Africa, as well as a doctrine concerning the healing of the
sick by prayer which was in many respects one-sided.
There are similar passages on homoeopathy. He rejected the idea that sick-
ness was a 'chastisement' or 'pedagogy from God'. Who would ask the teacher,
in the interests of a child's education, to put out his eye in the first term, to
T ^f
120 The Pentecostals: South Africa
break his leg in the second term, and in the third term to give him a suitable
dose of diphtheria ?58
In the Republic of South Africa Dowie's teaching and example has become
typical of the important independent African churches. 'And that was the kind
of Church which was to attempt to save the Africans lingering in utter dark-
ness.'59
Mission, can be seen not only from the historical development which we set out
in full below, but also from the following characteristics:
i. The names of the churches include the words 'Zion', 'Apostolic' or
Tentecost'.
2. Like Dowie and the Apostolic Faith Mission, they almost all practise
baptism with threefold immersion.
3. The food taboos are almost without exception the same as Dowie's.71
4. The theocratic leaders of these churches have the same titles (overseer,
Elijah, King, etc.) as Dowie in the Christian Catholic Church and are
honoured by the same liturgical terminology.
5. Medicine is rejected and there is absolute reliance on the healing of the
sick through prayer.
6. The parallels between the Pentecostal concept of the Spirit and the
concept of uMoya (the Spirit) in the Bantu churches, the function of
women and prophets, the phenomena of possession and speaking in tongues
in both groups are described in detail below72
7. The Christian Catholic Church and the independent Bantu churches both
delight in uniforms, theatrical processions, and a complicated hierarchy.
Many of the African churches surround their leader with a bodyguard,
such as accompanied Dowie.
The important similarities between the independent African churches, the
Pentecostal movement and the Christian Catholic Church are not surprising.
The African churches constantly receive fresh stimulus from the Pentecostal
movement, and back numbers of Dowie's Leaves of Healing are still read and
revered.73
The first meetings of the Apostolic Faith Mission were held in Doornfontein
(Johannesburg). The Pentecostal missionaries gained entry not only into the
Christian Catholic Church, but also into the Reformed Churches of South
Africa. Non-Christians, including the son of a rabbi, were also converted. The
Apostolic Faith Mission spread principally amongst the Afrikaans-speaking
Boers. This fact, together with their Reformed background (geen gelijkstelling -
'no equality') has made it easy for the Apostolic Faith Mission to support the
apartheid policy of the South African Government.74 For this reason F. P.
MoUer has severely criticized my account of the South African Pentecostal
movement.
The Republic of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia are the only countries
on the continent of Africa where you still have religious liberty.75
The members of the Apostolic Faith Mission seem to be well integrated in the
white ruling class of South Africa. A cabinet minister, B. Schoeman, was the
brother of a high official of the Apostolic Faith Mission (Abilenes J. Schoeman).
Another leading member of the church, G. Wessels, was a member of the Senate
in 1964.76
It is also interesting that a member of the Apostolic Faith Mission, E. M.
122 The Pentecostah: South Africa
van Vivier, wrote the first psychological study of speaking in tongues by a
Pentecostal.77 There is not space here for a full account of the doctrine and
history of the Apostolic Faith Mission, which is of interest and of some im-
portance in South African society. We shall mention only what is necessary to
understand the Pentecostal African churches (or Zionists).78
NOTES
1. A. Stucki, Andrew Murray, p. 10.
2. Ibid., p. 12.
3. J. Du Plessis, Andrew Murray, p. 59; Stucki, op. cit., p. 16.
4. Du Plessis, op. cit., p. 64; Stucki, op. cit., p. 17.
5. Du Plessis, op. cit., pp. i94f., quoting the Rev. J. C. de Vries; cf. Stucki, op. cit.,
pp. 27f.; D. G. Molenaar, De doop, pp. 236-8.
6. Stucki, op. cit., p. 29.
Early Days of the Pentecostal Movement 123
7. Du Plessis, op. cit., p. 197; Stucki, op. cit., pp. 3of.
8. Stucki, op. cit., p. 38.
9. Douglas, Andrew Murray, pp. 166,168; Stucki, op. cit., pp. 56-8; D. G. Molenaar,
De doop, pp. 233-5.
10. Stucki, op. cit., p. 58.
11. Ibid., p. 5.
12. A. Murray, Spirit of Christ, pp. 14-16.
13. Ibid., p. 22.
14. Murray, School of Prayer; in his doctrine of prayer Murray prefers texts from
St Luke, e.g. Luke 18.1-8 (cf. Ministry of Intercession, pp. 43-54; Key to the Missionary
Problem, pp. i27ff.).
15. Cf. ch. 24.4, pp. 336ff.
16. Murray, Spirit of Christ, pp. 5 if.
17. A. Murray, Full Blessing, p. 12.
18. Ibid., pp. 12, 14.
19. Ibid., pp. i6f.
20. Ibid., p. 115.
21. Murray, Key, p. 132.
22. Ibid., p. 119.
23. Cf. p. 120.
24. Cf. p. 120.
25. A. Murray, Divine Healing, pp. 7of; full bibliography on Murray, 01.36.003.
26. G. Lindsay, Life of Dome, pp. i2f.
27. It is not known where he received his doctorate (cf. G. P. Gardiner, Bread of Life,
March 1957, pp. 3ff.).
28. The whole correspondence is given in G. Lindsay, op. cit.
29. Semaine Religieuse de Geneve, 30.1.1886, p. 19. According to Guerison et Sanctifi-
cation par la Foi, 1886, pp. 112 ff. (Conference report) the following spoke at this
conference: Mr and Mrs Boardman, Elias Schrenk, A. B. Simpson (founder of the
Christian and Missionary Alliance, 02a.02.013).
30. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 15.1.1900, pp. 512-16; H. Besson, Mouvement
de Sanctification, 1914, p. 79; Le Dieu qui te guerit, Feb. 1887, p. 7.
31. An expression which later became a standard concept in the Pentecostal move-
ment.
32. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 15.12.1899, PP- I - 6 ; cf. Democrat, Clinton,
8.3.1894.
33. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 15.12.1899, p. 2.
34. E. S. Bates, art. 'J- A. Dowie', Dictionary of American Biography, 1930, p. 413.
35. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 15.12.1899, PP- I _ 6 .
36. This naturally did not prevent him from making violent attacks on the theolo-
gians, especially German theologians (J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 19.7.1902,
pp. 424 f.).
37. Leaves of Healing, 15.1.1900, pp. 9i7f.
38. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 15.6.1900, p. 298.
39. W. S. Peckham, Leaves of Healing, 15.11.1909, p. 1.
40. Verbal communication from former members of the Zionsgemeinde ('Church of
Zion'), Zurich. The reason for subscription to Zion shares was often the hope of
emigrating.
41. Minutes of the conferences quoted in G. Lindsay, op. cit., pp. 152-6.
42. G. Lindsay, op. cit., p. 203; J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 1902, p. 419.
43. Perhaps Dowie was born out of wedlock or from an adulterous union. His
mother's name was in fact Ann McFarlane-McHardie (Lindsay).
124 The Pentecostah: South Africa
44. Blatter der Heilung, 1904, p. 236; W. Lotze, 'Dowie', in E. Kalb, Kirchen und
Sekten, 1905, p. 491.
45. Blatter der Heilung, 1902, p. 136; W. Lotze, loc. cit.
46. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 1900, p. 760.
47. He is now referring to himself with the royal 'we'.
48. Blatter der Heilung, 1902, p. 177; W. Lotze, op. cit., p. 487.
49. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing, 23.8.1902, p. 591.
50. A.W.N., Leaves of Healing, 7.4.1906, pp. 437-9.
51. Full list, 02a.02.047, n. 203.
52. G. P. Gardiner, Bread of Life, March 1957, pp. 3fF.
53. W. Lotze, op. cit., p. 492.
54. Sources, documents, literature, 02a.02.047.
55. C. Kessler, Leaves of Healing, 55/2, March-April 1969, pp. 11-19.
56. Leaves of Healing, 23.2.1902, p. 593.
57. J. A. Dowie, Leaves of Healing 3/40, 41.7.1897, p. 636.
58. Blatter der Heilung, 15.7.1900, p. 185.
59. Sundkler, p. 48.
60. Sundkler, p. 48; first missionaries: Mordred Powell, F. M. Royall.
61. Documents, sources, literature: 01.36.011. Statistics: 250 congregations, 10,000
members (WChH 1962; WChH 1968: no entry).
62. Cf. ch. 12.4(e), pp. i59ff.
63. Documents, sources, literature: 01.36.017. The account above has had to be
considerably abbreviated. Statistics: 535 congregations, 100,000 members. Journal:
Trooster/Comforter.
64. The names of the Pentecostal missionaries of this early period, which can be
ascertained, are: W. J. Kerr, originally of the South African Interior Mission; J. O.
Lehman; John G. Lake, originally of the Christian Catholic Church; Verna G. Bar-
nard; Louis Schneiderman (Trooster, Aug./Sept. 1940; Sundkler, p. 224; F. P. Moller,
letter of 20.3.1962 to Atter, quoted in G. F. Atter, Third Force, pp. 20if.; J. R. Flower,
PE 2177, 29.1.1956, p. 30).
65. F. P. Moller, loc. cit.
66. Sundkler, p. 48.
67. F. P. Moller, loc. cit.
68. D. J. Du Plessis, PE 1264, 30.7.1938, pp. 2-4.
69. Sundkler, p. 48; P. L. le Roux, 'Pentecostal Signs', PE 1674, 8.6.1946, pp. 3, 8.
70. Cf. ch. 12.2, pp. isofF.
71. A Zionist local church leader told Sundkler that he had left the Anglican Church
'because they mix Christianity and heathenism by allowing tobacco, beer, and pork.'
One of the European leaders of the Christian Catholic Church told Sundkler: 'Zion
said, Zion does not allow beer, medicine, tobacco and pork. Dowie was against pork.
We felt sick if we ate it. And as you know it is forbidden in the Bible' (Sundkler,
pp. 2i6f.).
72. Cf. ch. 12.4(f), p. 157.
73. Sundkler, p. 243.
74. This is the slogan of the Dutch Reformed Churches of South Africa. The
English-speaking Anglicans and the Roman Catholics are in principle (unfortunately
not in practice) opposed to the Apartheid policy of the South African government.
(M.-L. Martin, Notes, p. 4.)
75. F. P. Moller, letter to W.H., 4.6.1964.
76. A. Kast, letter to W.H. 16.4.1964; D. Gee, Wind and Flame, p. 269.
77. L. M. Vivier-van Eetveldt, Glossolalia; id., 'Glossolalic', in T. Sporri, Ekstase,
PP- 153-75-
Early Days of the Pentecostal Movement 125
78. Full details: 01.36.017. Doctrine: F. P. Moller, De Apostoliese Leer.
79. Sources, documents, literature: 01.36.019. Statistics: 21,676 members, 225 con-
gregations. Journal: Fellowship.
80. Cf. ch. 3, pp. 29ff.
81. E. G. Wilson, Making Many Rich, p. 216.
82. E. F. Burke, Fellowship, 4/4-5, April/May 1963, pp. 11, 15; E. F. Burke, PE
2711,24.4.1966, p. 10; E. F. Burke, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, Dec. 1966/Jan. 1967,
Geneva: WCC (!).
83. Cf. ch. 10, pp. i26ff.
84. Cf. Appendix: 2, pp. 5i4fF.
85. Verbal communication from D. J. Du Plessis, 4.8.1968. C. Carmichael (PE 2386,
15.9.1968, pp. 19-26) describes the matter somewhat differently.
10
Nicholas B. H. Bhengu:
A Charismatic African Prophet
What is gone wrong with me ? A thought came - maybe this is the result of
salvation. I knelt down to pray for the first time from the heart and I said,
'Thank you God for Jesus your Son who died my death and now I am saved
and have eternal life. My name is in the Book of Life.'11
When he testified in his Lutheran church at home that God had set him free
from his sins, he was astonished to find himself condemned for teaching error,
on the grounds that this is something no one can know on this side of the grave.
He then tried to join the Salvation Army, after hearing their testimonies in
street meetings. But he had approached a group of whites, and was refused
128 The Pentecostals: South Africa
membership on grounds of racial separation. He thereupon set up his own free
assemblies in Kimberley. He gathered people together for common Bible study
and to testify in the streets. Following a vision in which Jesus showed him how
he could help black people from the most diverse language groups in Africa,
who were drowning in a great sea and calling for help, he intensified his Bible
study. From 1934-36 he attended the South Africa General Mission Bible
School in Dumia. In 1937 he returned to his earlier place of work as a court in-
terpreter.12 In 1938 he was ordained as an evangelist of the Assemblies of God.
Many missionaries regard Bhengu as having no denominational allegiance, which
is wrong. He certainly accepts invitations from all churches (Plymouth Brethren,
Lutherans, Church of the Nazarene,13 Free Methodists,14 etc.). But the church
he founded on 1 January 1945 belongs to the Assemblies of God. The consecra-
tion of the church, which had cost $28,000, took place within the framework of
the Annual Conference of the Assemblies of God; 3,000 Africans took part in
the consecration, which was concluded by a feast for which ten oxen were
slaughtered.
From 1945 on he undertook long journeys: to Portuguese East Africa, several
to Europe and America,15 to Kenya, to the World Pentecostal Conference in
London (1952), to Japan. He was a member of the Advisory Committee for the
Fifth World Pentecostal Conference in Toronto (1958). His great revival cam-
paigns in South Africa, and especially his fight against crime, gained him the
favour and support of the South African government. He cannot understand
why his Lutheran mother church did not accept his testimony. He quotes as
the examples he has followed Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, John Knox, John
Wesley, Evan Roberts,16 David Livingstone, Robert Moffat, Henry M. Stanley,
Charles G. Finney, Dwight L. Moody and Reuben A. Torrey.17
2. His Teaching
Bhengu's declaration of belief is given in the Appendix.18 Although Bhengu's
churches form 'part of a Pentecostal church of (White) American origin'19 and
Bhengu teaches Pentecostal doctrine in his sermons, it is notable that the declara-
tion of belief does not mention the typical Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism
of the Spirit. There are no doubt reasons why it is not included in the declara-
tion. His forms of worship, his pastoral practice and his views on the baptism
of the Spirit, believers' baptism and the healing of the sick through prayer, are
all in the best tradition of the Pentecostal movement, even though this is not
expressed in his declaration of belief and although, because of his above average
intelligence, he avoids the kind of statement made by white missionaries in
South Africa.
Katesa Schlosser, who has made a lengthy study of Bhengu in her outstanding
work Eingeborenenkirchen in Sud- und Siidwestafrika ('Indigenous Churches in
South and South-West Africa'), sums up his teaching under three headings: (a)
A Charismatic African Prophet 129
the proof of God through the healing of the sick, (b) the preaching of Jesus as
redeemer, (c) the struggle against ancestor worship. To these three points one
may add a fourth, the doctrine of baptism; while his doctrine of the Spirit will
be dealt with in the section on worship and devotion.
(d) Baptism
The Daily Dispatch of 15 April 1952 reports a mass baptism in East London,
in the course of which 1,300 converts were baptized under the direction of
Nicholas Bhengu and in the presence of white representatives of the Assemblies
of God. In his baptismal address Bhengu said:
For those who are baptized today, it does not mean that they are free to sin
again. They all know that. There is only one baptism.34 And if they were to
sin again afterwards, they would know that they would then become sinners
for ever.35
Thus Bhengu follows Heb. 6.4-6 in recognizing only one repentance and for-
giveness, preceding baptism. After baptism there is in principle no more sin.36
There is a tribe in South Africa . . . the Masutos. When a woman has a baby
she stays indoors for three months. She doesn't go out. This woman I am
talking about now, had a baby almost three months old. She was indoors,
and the tornado took place. She couldn't leave her baby and run away. She
decided to kneel and cover the baby with her body. The bricks passed over
her. The roofing iron scraped her body. You know what a tornado does. Her
back was ripped open. You could see lungs inside. Still she covered the baby,
and she died . . .
I drove 700 miles to go see the baby whose mother had done such a noble
act. Came to the hospital - I wanted to see the baby. I knelt and prayed and
thanked God. And this thought came to me - this is what Jesus has done for
us . . . Jesus died on the Cross that we should not die. Those who believe
in Jesus have passed from death unto life. I just preach this message. Some
people say that this is an old message. But this is the message that is saving
souls in Africa today. Jesus! We glorify Jesus! His death! . . .
And while we preach we get a cripple over there - he jumps up. He makes
a noise; he throws his crutches away; he walks; he runs about; he creates an
uproar. We didn't pray for him. Jesus healed him; and he shouts; and the
people know Jesus heals . . .
Now when the Lord started to baptize in East London it was on an Easter
Monday. We were outside in the open. There were over 7,000 people. There
were missionaries there from all denominations who had come to East London
on holiday. Everyone who came to East London wanted to see this revival.
Lutheran missionaries, Dutch Reformed missionaries - they all had their
umbrellas. And I said to God, 'I hope nothing will happen today.'
And while we were singing the chorus, 'There is power in the Blood of the
Lamb', He came down upon the whole crowd half past ten in the morning
until it was dark. The people didn't know where they were. Small boys
twelve years old talked in tongues and prophesied. We had a wonderful day.
And from that day on God was filling people with the Holy Spirit. It was
impossible to preach. The rain came down upon the people. And people
came from all over to see what this noise was - and they got converted - and
the numbers increased, and the Lord baptized.
Some of the things you may think we are exaggerating. We had to send for
buses - people couldn't walk - they were like dead . . . The bus drivers and
conductors picked the people up, put them in the buses. The same conductors
were under the power of the Holy Spirit when they touched these men! . . .
They said, 'As soon as we touch them this comes into us.'
In East London God saved all39 the bus conductors, and all the bus
drivers . . . In East London we closed down a theatre hall - a very big
theatre hall, very popular. We closed it down. No man could go there. It was
empty. Until the men came to us and begged us to rent it from them. We took
it over, and there were no shows in that city. We showed Christ. That is what
God has done for us . . . 40
132 The Pentecostah: South Africa
Jesus! That is what the apostles preached. You know why Missions have
failed ? They preach Jesus from the head - not filled with the Holy Ghost.
And you know why we fail ? We preach the Holy Ghost and leave Jesus -
and then we both fail. The purpose of the Holy Ghost is to bring Jesus to
u s . . . 41
4. Is Bhengu a Pentecostal?
Katesa Schlosser doubts whether Bhengu is capable of ecstasy. Moreover he
denied to her - after ascertaining that she was a Lutheran - that he had had any
ecstatic experiences, such as are frequent elsewhere in Pentecostal churches.
He explicitly denied dreams and visions, and any direct command from God.
But in his book Revival Fire and in his sermons he appeals not only to a direct
divine command, but also to visions. Katesa Schlosser considers that the ques-
tion cannot be resolved: did he make concessions to the Lutheran European or
to the Africans, of whose fondness for supernatural things he is only too well
aware ?
In addition Bhengu emphasizes that he is by no means invited to preach only
by Pentecostal churches, and that those whom he has converted could even join
the Anglican Church. He said several times to Katesa Schlosser: 'I am not a
simple Pentecostal man. I belong rather to the Plymouth Brethren and to the
Baptists.'42
On the other hand the following points must be noted:
(i) In all respects Bhengu's services are in the best tradition of the Pentecostal
movement.
(ii) Bhengu received his decisive conversion experience in a Pentecostal
congregation.
(iii) Bhengu's organizational link with the Assemblies of God of South Africa,
by which he was ordained in 1938 and whose certificate of baptism he uses in his
baptismal services, has remained unbroken for 25 years. It is also expressed in
his international links with the Pentecostal movement and in his acceptance of
the Presidency of the African section of the Assemblies of God of Southern
Africa.
(iv) His work with the sick, his view of baptism of the Spirit, his position
between Pentecostal missionary churches and independent African Pentecostal
churches are possible only within the framework of the religious outlook and
organization of the Assemblies of God. For in spite of the theological guidance
they lay down, they give wide scope in matters of worship and devotion; and
while a headquarters gives organizational support the local congregation is
guaranteed as much freedom and autonomy as possible. In what other organiza-
tion in South Africa could Bhengu give expression to as many aspects of his
ministry as in the Assemblies of God ?
That he should maintain his links with other evangelical bodies likewise
belongs to the best traditions of the Pentecostal movement, which sets out to
serve the whole church.43 On the other hand Bhengu's declaration of faith,44
A Charismatic African Prophet 133
which omits the definition of the baptism of the Spirit, so important to Pente-
costals, suggests he has certain reservations about the Pentecostal doctrine of
the baptism of the Spirit.
Bhengu's attitude to the World Council of Churches is unknown. But it is
possible that if he was approached the Ecumenical movement would find in him
a skilled and powerful, albeit independent spokesman for its cause. He does not
call himself a simple Pentecostal, and this expresses his criticism of the sectarian
narrow-mindedness of many Pentecostals, and of their indifference towards the
social and political questions which are of importance for him. It is also a mark
of his objection to the undiscriminating rejection of all medical assistance by
some Pentecostal groups. As far as the matter of ecstasy is concerned, no Pente-
costal would ever describe his spiritual experiences by the term ecstasy, which
is drawn from comparative religion. He rejects this word for describing his
religion, for the emotional outbursts experienced in Pentecostalism do not
normally lead to the elimination of the personality. If this nevertheless happens,
Pentecostals fear a demonic influence, for they say that the Holy Spirit does not
overpower us, he ennobles us. But paganism lives by and in ecstasy. His denial
of the revelatory function of dreams and visions comes from the same attitude.
It is quite clear as a matter of fact that Bhengu has had dreams and visions. But
even if they have been the experiences which have led him to decisions, they
could not have any theological standing as ultimate revelation. This is excluded
by the fundamentalist theology of the great majority of Pentecostals, whose final
authority is the Bible interpreted in a fundamentalist sense. In the theological
system of the Pentecostals dreams and visions have the function of interpretations
of the Bible which are subordinate to it. This may well be in contradiction to their
reality as experiences. In his testimony in Revival Fire Bhengu argues on the level
of experience, but to the European Lutheran he argues on the theological level.
Pentecostal theologians often do not keep the two separate.
In heaven the streets are shining gold and the dresses shining white. Let us,
as good Christians, be as clean and shining in our appearance as we can,
even here. . . . It is difficult for people to break away from their old customs.
Africans in the country like to relieve themselves in the bush, but here we
have lavatories. Use them. I shall not be pleased to hear that dirty paper is
lying about in them. I see that you are even too lazy to flush the lavatories.
That is being very dirty. This church, too, is cleaned every day, but look at
it just now, with all these papers lying around. It is this kind of thing that
makes the location streets unecessarily dirty too.54
The quotation shows not only the difficulty of the task that Bhengu has taken
on, but also that the necessary alternative to the apartheid policy of South
African government is not as simple as is imagined in Europe.
Dubb questioned the 767 persons present at a Sunday service about their
social origin. Twenty-nine per cent were of 'red' origin. Of these a third were
men, a high percentage for an African church in East London. The 'red people'
were half former 'farm people', who had been employed on a daily basis, and
half peasants from the reserves.55 But farm people and widows (Bhengu's church
has many widows) are amongst the deprived groups of 'red' village society. So
far Bhengu has not exercised any great influence on the 'red' immigrants who
still have firm roots in their village. The 'red' people whom one meets in
Bhengu's church tend to be those who have received more education than most
of the 'red people' who come to the town.56 Thus Bhengu has won over to
Christianity many pagans who have become unsure of their paganism through
their acquaintance with European civilization and decreasing contact with the
place where their traditional religion was practised. We should not underestimate
the value of this work of reintegration for a class pressing violently for improve-
ment. 'Here, it seemed, the demons of the town were being tamed by a higher
A Charismatic African Prophet 135
57
power.' There are also middle-class white people amongst Bhengu's congrega-
tions.
NOTES
1. American Lutheran Mission, Schreuder Mission.
2. Cf. ch. 12, pp. i49ff.
3. Of the many Pentecostal mission churches only the Apostolic Faith Mission
(ch. 9.3M) and the Assemblies of God (ch. 9.3^]) are discussed above.
4. D. Emmet, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 86, 1956, p. 21.
5. It is noteworthy that Bhengu does not mention the Catholic school in his auto-
biography, Revival Fire in South Africa.
6. N. Bhengu, Revival Fire, pp. 1-2.
7. N. Bhengu, ibid., p. 2. August Kast, a missionary of the Swiss Pentecostal Mission
in Basutoland (01.05.033) has kindly corrected and commented on the sections on
South Africa. The mention of Bhengu's Communist past was clearly embarrassing to
Kast, and he put the following interpretations on it: 'When he came to East London,
he spent whole nights reading about Communism, since so many of the blacks believed
in it, and he wanted to help them to leave Communism. He said to me that in East
London 30% of his large congregation of 4,000 members were former Communists.'
(A. Kast, letter to W.H., 16.4.1964, p. 2.) K. Schlosser makes what in my view is the
right comment: 'The Communists gave him [Bhengu] simply the chance to "let off
steam". At any rate the Communist influence on him was certainly not greater than
that of the Catholic mission schools, the Bible students, etc' (K. Schlosser, letter to
W.H., 3.3.1964.)
8. 01.36.013. At the present day the church is called the 'Full Gospel Church of God'
and has been amalgamated with the Church of God (Cleveland) (ch. 4).
9. N. Bhengu, Revival Fire, p. 5.
10. Cf. the conversion of Jose Gomes Moreno (above, ch. 6.7, p. 79).
11. N. Bhengu, Revival Fire, p. 5. The account is given in full in K. Schlosser,
Eingeborenenkirchen, pp. 22-4.
12. Cf. ch. 9.3(b), p. 122.
13. 01.36.004.
14. 01.36.005.
15. He studied for nine months at the Methodist Taylor University in Indiana.
16. A leading evangelist of the revival in Wales.
17. The last three are nineteenth-century American Holiness evangelists, cf. ch. 2.1,
pp. 2if.
18. Cf. Appendix: 5.
19. P. Mayer, Townsmen, p. 193.
20. K. Schlosser, Eingeborenenkirchen, p. 25. Katesa Schlosser's quotations are taken
either from sermons, from conversations with Bhengu, or from newspapers which are
not accessible to me.
21. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 26.
22. K. Schlosser, letter to W.H., 3.3.1964. She adds: 'When those who have organic
diseases come to him, it must be easy for Bhengu to convince them that one or another
doctor - who has the psychological understanding to make a proper approach to
Pentecostals - is a tool in God's hand, which a sick person should use.' Bhengu regards
all scientific progress as God's grace (K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 26). I cannot see here any
fundamental difference from the Pentecostals; cf. Oral Roberts (ch. 26.2(b), pp. 363ft0.)
and the Pentecostal psychologist L. M. Vivier-van Eetveldt mentioned above (p. 122).
23. P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 195.
24. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 26.
138 The Pentecostah: South Africa
25. Ibid.) p. 40.
26. P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 199.
27. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 28.
28. 'Red people' here are not Communists but heathen, and similarly 'ex-red' are
former heathen, so-called because among the Xhosa it is still customary to wear red
blankets. (K. Schlosser, letter to W.H., 3.3.1964.) 'School people' are Africans who
have adopted a European way of life.
29. P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 199.
30. Principally from the detribalized.
31. O. F. Raum, 'Von Stammespropheten', in E. Benz (ed.) Messianische Kirchen*
p. 66.
32. Communication by August Kast.
33. P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 194.
34. This is an attack on the repeated purification rites of the independent African
churches (Zionists, ch. 12), and also against the repetition of baptism by those Pente-
costal groups which do not recognize the baptism of another Pentecostal group.
35. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 45.
36. This passage was deleted by August Kast, But it is confirmed by Mayer's re-
searches, which are independent of those of Katesa Schlosser. Mayer quotes a member
of Bhengu's church, a former 'red' man: 'What I like very much about Bhengu's church
is that once your sins are forgiven you can no longer sin. You are holy, you have been
washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus, you have conquered the devil. . . . Other
churches preach that no man is perfect, that we sin and must pray for forgiveness all
our lives, but Bhengu's church says this is not true.' (P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 196.)
37. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 38.
38. Ibid., p. 52 (August Kast deletes the whole section).
39. August Kast corrects this to 'many'.
40. Bhengu rented the theatre for seven years for daily meetings. (Communication
from August Kast.)
41. N. Bhengu, 'Christ', in D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, igs8, pp. 92-5.
42. K. Schlosser, Eingeborenenkirchen, p. 47. August Kast deletes both sentences and
comments: 'Bhengu would strongly deny this!'. Mayer states: 'Ever since joining the
Assemblies of God some twenty years ago he has indicated that he belongs as much to
the Plymouth Brethren and the Baptists as to the Pentecostals proper' {Townsmen,
P. 193).
43. Cf. ch. 32.4, pp. 504ff.
44. Cf. Appendix: 5.
45. P. Mayer, Townsmen, pp. 192-205.
46. A. A. Dubb, Role.
47. Cf. n. 28.
48. He even approached a film renting company with the (vain) request to be allowed
to censor films. (August Kast deletes this sentence.)
49. Cf. ch. 12, pp. 1296.
50. This passage is deleted by August Kast.
51. P. Mayer, Townsmen, p. 200.
52. Ibid., pp. 197, 200.
53. Ibid., p. 204. Bhengu himself claimed that every member of his church was a
preacher ('Christ', in D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, i%8, p. 90).
54. Bhengu at a Convention of the Assemblies, quoted by Mayer, op. cit., p. 200.
55. Ibid., p. 194.
56. About half the men and a third of the women stated that they had attended
school.
A Charismatic African Prophet 139
57. P. Mayer, op. cit., p. 195.
58. K. Schlosser, Eingeborenenkirchen, p. 28.
59. Ibid., p. 29.
60. Deleted by August Kast. The whole sermon is given in K. Schlosser, op. cit., pp.
30-4, and in N. Bhengu's periodical Back to God (July 1955); cf. above ch. 5.3, p. 66.
61. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 34.
62. Ibid., p. 35. August Kast contradicts Bhengu: 'All bank robberies in South
Africa are done by blacks.' (Communication from August Kast.)
63. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 35. August Kast deletes the whole section. M. L. Martin
observes: 'I wonder if Bhengu is thinking of a kind of "Soviet kolchoz". It is a typical
phenomenon of the "sects" in South Africa that they form "church colonies", in order
to replace the former centre of the tribe, the "home", that has been lost. The stress
on this is even greater in the Republic of South Africa, where the land question is so
important...' (M. L. Martin, Notes, p. 2).
64. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 12. Cf. VdV 49/12, Dec. 1956, pp. i3f.: attack on the
evangelists Bhengu and Molefe. Tsotsi attempt to assassinate native evangelists.
65. K. Schlosser, op. cit., p. 56.
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid., p. 57.
68. Cf. ch. 24.6, pp. 345ff.
II
Back to Pentecost:
The Latter Rain Assemblies as a Protest
Movement against the decline of enthusiasm
in the Older Pentecostal Churches
that at that moment a man-child had been born, i.e. this Holy Spirit Move-
ment - a movement after the heart of God, in which the Holy Spirit would
bring into full operation all the nine gifts of the Spirit; where sin would be
revealed and exterminated; a movement where Christ as the Head would lead
and direct His people.10
The leaders of the Apostolic Faith Church now intervened and sent the
Benoni circle an ultimatum (the giving up of the 'uniform', the 'Spirit of judg-
ment', and the 'uncovering of sins'; the handing over of the key to the room;
and the ceasing of publication of the Spade Reens Boodskapper). When Maria
Fraser and her faithful followers would not agree, they were excommunicated;
with the help of the police they were ejected from the chapels which for the most
part they had built with their own money, and these were sold by public auction,
but with the reservation that on no account were they to be sold to members of
the new Latter Rain movement.
The Latter Rain congregation was by no means discouraged; it soon went on
to set up its first 'faith home' in Benoni. A faith home is a kind of monastery in
which married and unmarried people live together and share their goods. At four
in the morning the brothers hold the first prayer meeting; at six, ten and in the
evening general prayer meetings are held. In addition there is an uninterrupted
chain of prayer throughout the day and night. The prayer room must never be
empty.
142 The Pentecostals: South Africa
Thrice daily one or two inmates go through all the buildings and rooms, and
over the premises to plead the blood of Jesus against all spiritual evil in the
air, praying that everything be cleansed and that peace may reign.13
Silence has to be maintained; no one is allowed to speak loudly or shout
on the premises, or run; no idle talk and jesting is allowed whereby the holi-
ness and peace of the Holy Spirit can be disturbed. When there are special
needs for the house, the inmates sometimes pray day and night for this (this
does not include the usual chain-prayer which in any case goes on), or they
may praise the Lord round the buildings, just as the Lord may lead.14
Collections are not taken either in the meetings or for the faith home. The
various publications in French, German, Afrikaans, English and various African
languages are not sold, but given away. Each can give what he thinks proper.
In everything trust is placed in the help of God.
At the conferences, which hundreds attend, all who take part are fed.
Those who can afford to do so bring foodstuff, and those who cannot afford
anything do not bring a thing Nothing which is not in the Bible is allowed,
and nothing is done contrary to the Scriptures.15 Youngsters who are still at
school are also sent here by the parents with the consent of the Holy Spirit.
When they are here, they are out of the world and are able to serve the Lord.16
2. Doctrine
(a) 'Praying through* and full confession
The confession of all sins is obligatory.18 But since no person can remember
all his sins, he must from time to time be 'prayed through'. This is the name
given to the action in which
the Holy Spirit reveals the sins of the person who is being 'prayed through'.
He kneels in an empty room, while the prophet stands or lies behind him.
First there are all sorts of noise and whispering, and then come tongues and
prophecy. Through the prophecies sins going right back to youth are un-
covered.19
The result of the 'full confession' is a kind of state of perfection.20
(b) Baptism
Since the Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa is violently opposed to the
'Jesus Only' groups,21 it uses not only the trinitarian formula but also requires a
threefold immersion of the candidate.22 As a result, there has been tension for
many years in South Africa between the Apostolic Faith Churches and other
Pentecostals. Maria Fraser believes that she has helped to resolve this contro-
versy, since in her movement either type of baptism is possible according to the
wish of the candidate. But she believes that the church will recognize threefold
immersion as biblical.23
The Latter Rain Assemblies as a Protest Movement 143
NOTES
1. Documents, Sources, Literature: 01.36.034. Journal: Latter Rain Evangel/Spade
Reen Boodskapper. Missionaries in Germany, Holland and Switzerland!
2. Letter from the German Latter Rain Mission (05.07.034) to W.H., 17.5.1963.
3. Probably the Apostolic Faith Mission (ch. 9.3M). Cf. Maria Fraser's attitude to
baptism by threefold immersion (p. 42). The original Pentecostal mission she belonged
to is therefore given throughout as the Apostolic Faith Mission, although she herself
never gives the name of her original church in her writings.
4. Maria Fraser, Faith Life, p. 12; Afrikaans: Getuienis, 2nd ed. 1962, p. 14.
5. M. Fraser, Faith Life, p. 14. Afrikaans: 'op 'n hoogheilige plat van heiligmaking'
(Getuienis, 2nd ed., 1962, p. 14).
6. M. Fraser, Faith Life, p. 13; Getuienis, 2nd ed., p. 13.
7. 'Adam, Adam, you are busy biting an apple which will cause much pain. You are
in love with your brother's wife,' was the prophecy (M. Fraser, Faith Life, p. 16;
Getuienis, 2nd ed., p. 16).
8. The nine months are meant to be an explicit parallel to pregnancy, with respect
to the 'man child' who was to come into the world. Cf. the Afrikaans chapter heading
'6. Lydensworstelings tot Geboorte van Spade Reen\ a nuance of travail or birthpangs
which the English version, '6: The Birth of the Latter Rain Assemblies' does not
contain.
The Latter Rain Assemblies as a Protest Movement 147
9. See the commentary of M. Fraser: Deplorable State (no pagination): 'Scripture
tells us the reason why the dancing in the Spirit has stopped, "Woe to us, for we have
sinned" (Lam. 5-15-18).'
10. M. Fraser, Faith Life, pp. 21-2; Getuienis, 2nd ed., p. 23.
11. Ibid., p. 23 (pp. 24f).
12. The last sentence is missing from the English and Afrikaans text, but contained
in the German translation (M. Fraser, Personliche Erfahrungen, no date, p. 24).
13. M. Fraser, Faith Life, p. 38; Getuienis, 2nd ed., p. 40.
14. Ibid., p. 38 (41).
15. Ibid., p. 39 (PP- 4if-)-
16. Ibid., p. 40 (43)-
17. The Afrikaans technical term for 'praying through' is deurbid.
18. 'Although the Lord himself in the times of ignorance [i.e. before the birth of the
Latter Rain movement. W.H.] imparted to thousands of souls a glorious measure of
redemption and conviction, the reality now testifies through the Word and the Spirit
that the liberating effect is not complete as long as the soul has not admitted all its
sins by name before witnesses . . . ' (A. V. Krige, Rundbriefe der Deutschen Spdtregen-
mission 3/7, Sept. 1961, p. 12).
19. MD 24, 1961, pp. 184-92, 'Die Spatregenbewegung' (cited from offprint, p. 9).
(All kinds of ridiculous gesticulations are described.)
20. 'The mystery of the new covenant is: these laws are now written in our hearts . . .
We now no longer swear or steal and also no longer kill, not because the law forbids it,
but because grace has given us a life that cannot steal or swear or kill.' (A. V. Krige,
Rundbriefe .. . 3/6, Aug. 1961, p. 3; italics original).
21. Cf. ch. 3.i(), pp. 3if.
22. Taken over from Dowie's Christian Catholic Church, cf. ch. 9.2(c), p. 120.
23. A. V. Krige, Rundbriefe . . . 3/10, Dec. 1961, p. 15.
24. Cf. p. 142.
25. Latter Rain Assemblies of S.A., The Blood ofjfesus.
26. 'The Lord also taught us and warned us not to get into a motor-vehicle with
hearts that have not been cleansed by confession. In addition we must be careful to
plead the Blood of Jesus around and over and through the vehicle before we depart. . .
The fact is, moreover, that all types of evil spirits wherever they find opportunity creep
in and tuck away or adhere to whatever they can to await their chance to overcome the
unwary. By now pleading the Blood of Jesus as instructed, such are then driven out of
their hiding-places. Where this has been done then the journey will prove pleasant and
successful, because we are thereby protected against dangers and accidents, and even
against punctures and other adversities.' Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. K. Born, Wahrheit, p. 4.
29. M. Fraser, Faith Life, p. 69; Getuienis, 2nd ed., p. 70.
30. MD 24, 1961, pp. 184-92, 'Die Spatregenbewegung' (offprint, p. 9); (Rund-
briefe 1/7, Sept. i960).
31. P. C. de Jager, Signposts, pp. 4of.
32. P. C. de Jager, Zeichen (German version of Signposts', the passage is lacking in the
English and Afrikaans versions).
33. Cf. II Kings 9.30.
34. M. Fraser, Deplorable State.
35. This is the same kind of argument as was advanced by the traditional Pentecostal
movement against the other churches fifty years ago.
36. MD 24, 1961, pp. 184-92, 'Die Spatregenbewegung' (offprint, p. 10). Cf. also
Dowie's Christian Catholic Church, ch. 9.2(c), p. 120.
148 The Pentecostals: South Africa
37. The following most instructive prayers are taken from L. EisenlofFeFs duplicated
work, Spatregenbewegung, pp. 25-6.
38. Calling voices are powers which constantly call upon other powers to help,
because the former powers have already been bound.
39. Key powers are used by spiritist powers as keys with which to open the minds
of the saints in order to know their plans, and so to organize resistance to them in the
realm of darkness.
40. Hostile persons spin undermining threads of thought over the saints, in both
directions, until eventually a complete network is formed over them, and their prayers
can scarcely reach the throne of grace.
41. Many powers work through a person who has blasphemed the Holy Spirit. They
form a well or source of blasphemy and defile all who are associated with them.
42. Trooster, 34/8, Aug. 1962, pp. 14-15.
43. 05.07.015. (German title: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christengemeinden in
Deutschland.)
44. L. Eisenloffel, SpdtregenbeiPegung, pp. 1, 5.
45. Quoted from a letter from South Africa by L. EisenlofFel, op. cit., p. 8.
46. A. Kast, letter to W.H., 16.4.1964, p. 3.
47. F. P. Moller, letter to W.H., 4.6.1964.
12
2. Origins
The historical dependence of the Zionist churches upon Dowie's missionaries
and the early Pentecostal movement can no longer be disputed. The Zionists of
South Africa say, 'We do just as in Zion City, Illinois.'7
As early as 1909 the Pentecostal missionaries accepted the consequences of
their doctrine that the most important qualification for the office of pastor is the
baptism of the Spirit - a qualification acquired with extraordinary speed by the
black converts8 - and gave certificates to preach to the Africans:
This is to certify that we recognize Brother E.M.L. of Pretoria has been called
by the Holy Ghost as an evangelist in connexion with the (Apostolic Faith)
Mission of Johannesburg for the year 1909 and as long thereafter as he shall
maintain the unity of the Spirit with us, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To lay hands on the sick, To perform Native marriages. To baptize disciples
by triune immersion, To administer the Lord's Supper, To concrete [should
read 'to consecrate'] children.9
Sundkler finds the assertion that the Pentecostals were the first to bring the
glorious fire of the Holy Spirit to South Africa10 tragi-comic: 'One nowadays
wades through the ashes resulting from such fires.'11
Since then the development of the Zionists has in part led them far from their
original Pentecostal fathers; although this development was already contained
in the missionary policy of the Pentecostals, when they said that the baptism
of the Spirit was more important for the Negro evangelists than theological
training. Today this fact is embarrassing to the Pentecostal missionaries. They
prefer to deny the connection between the Pentecostal movement and the
Zionists.12
A different solution is sought by Fred Burke, a missionary of the Assemblies of
God in South Africa. He feels a responsibility for these independent churches
and has set up a Bible correspondence school for their 'bishops'. He claims to
have thousands of participants. In spite of its fundamentalist theology this Bible
School can be regarded as an important bridge between traditional Christianity
uMoya - the Spirit in the Independent African Churches 151
(in this case in the form of the Assemblies of God) and the independent
churches.13 B. A. Pauw, who has made a study of the independent churches in
a limited area in which the Pentecostals also have congregations, has come to the
conclusion that of all the missionary churches the Pentecostals still at the present
day have the greatest influence on the independent churches.14 Thirty-seven
per cent (756 out of 2,070) of all the independent churches belong to Pentecostal
or Seventh Day Adventist types.15
But what is the deep reason for the rise of these many16 independent African
Pentecostal churches ? In South Africa and in other countries with black popula-
tions the Pentecostal movement was in fact no more than the safety valve which
released a pressure that existed already. According to Sundkler, racial discrimin-
ation is the reason for the coming into being of these churches; and in the situa-
tion in South Africa he no longer asks why there are so many independent
churches, but 'How is it that this or that African minister still continues in the
mission?'17
Other reasons are the numerous ecclesiastical divisions in South Africa, the
tensions between different African tribes (Zulu - Sotho; Zulu - Swazi) and the
bid for power which individual prophets make everywhere in the world.
The most recent and most probable theory - which applies to the whole of
Africa - is that put forward by David B. Barrett. He gives a list of eighteen
measurable and quantifiable conditions,18 and specifies how many of these con-
ditions must be fulfilled before an independent church is formed. Since most of
these conditions will occur to an increasing degree in the future, one must
anticipate an accelerated growth of independent groups of all kinds (and not
only Pentecostal and Zionist groups). Barrett discusses at length the limits and
margin of error of his schema.19
The names of the first black colleagues of the Apostolic Faith Mission are
known,20 as are the names of the churches they founded (see diagram). After
the African Pentecostals separated from the Apostolic Faith Mission between
1914 and 1917 (or were allowed to drift away), most of the churches subdivided
at an increasing rate. Because all the emphasis was laid on the prophetic quality
of the leader, each personal struggle for power led to the foundation of new
churches. Besides this, the development of a tribal church is a natural one for
Africans. Each clan develops its own particular form of tribal religion, a 'cultic
unity with its own ancestors', but the high god, if there is one, remains the same,
and the way in which he is worshipped is the same.21 The divisions are seen as
similar to the kraal divisions (ukukhipa ikhanda) of the Zulu, that is, to the
custom that when a son reaches adult years, he leaves his father's kraal and
founds his own.22 Some of the constitutions of the African churches formally
anticipate a division in the future and make legislative provision for it.23
Since the African Pentecostal churches see the history of the Reformation
through the eyes of their Pentecostal teachers, it is not surprising that they
sometimes appeal to Luther: 'We do as Luther did on 31 October 1517.'24
Christian Catholic Church (01.36.on) John G. Lake, P. L. Je Roux,
I
1910
Apostolic Faith Mission (01.j6.01/) W. J. Kerr, J. C. Lehman, John G. Lake, P. L. le Roux
1914 Verna G. Barnard, Tom Hezmalhalch, J. H. Greeff
T Jr
Apo- Apo- African Christian
Zion Zion Zion Jeru- stolic stolic Christian Apostolic Zion Zion
Christian Christian Apo- salem Apostolic Apostolic
Church (I) Church (II) stolic in
Reve-
lation
Church
in
Apostolic
Church
Church
in Zion Church Church 3
01.36.463 01.36.464 Church Zion in Zion in Zion 01.36.188 01.36.444 ofS. A. Hi
01.36 Zion 01.36.066 01.36.449
Joseph 01.36 IP
Edward 317 01.36 Jonathan Paulo
Lekganyane Lekganyane 115
152 Nzama Mabilitsa
Zion Co
Christian 5t
Church (III)
01.36.465
%
Petrus
Lekganyane
uMoya - the Spirit in the Independent African Churches 153
On the other hand there are also movements towards reunion. Not all the
leaders of independent African churches define the church in the way that some
are caricatured as doing by Sundkler: 'I belong to that universal and invisible
church, of which I actually am the only member.'25 'It is not unfair to say that
any Zulu leader who breaks away from his parent Church is immediately ready
to become a champiou of Church union.'26 Many such attempts at reunion have
failed.27 Since 1965 the Ethiopian 28 and Zionist29 churches seem to have formed
themselves into two main groupings.30
This legislation (Natives Land Act 1913) prohibited the natives, simply because
they were natives, from buying or renting land, except in precisely defined areas.
This meant, for example, that in Natal 132,000 Europeans had at their disposal
a stock of 25,000 square miles of land, while a million Zulu were restricted to
4,000 square miles (1921). In the whole of South Africa, a million Whites had
more land than five million Africans. It was natural for the natives to say in
bitter confusion; 'At first we had the land, and you had the Bible. Now we have
the Bible, and you have the land.' cSiyanghaphi? Where were we to go?' 33
Katesa Schlosser gives an objective account of this problem and tries to give a
fair hearing to the South African government in the face of international attacks.
While 87% of the land is in white hands, large parts of present day South Africa
have never belonged to the Bantu, but to the Hottentots and Bushmen, against
whom the Bantu fought fiercely when they advanced into the country. 47% of
the natives live in reserves, which comprise 13% of the land; but because the
rainfall there is higher than average they represent a higher value than the per-
centage suggests. Nevertheless the reserves are not enough to support the
natives, and therefore the men have to go into the towns. The reserves are at
present being enlarged.34
Marie-Louise Martin, who as a foreign missionary in South Africa had to be
careful about what she published, made special mention of the Natives Land
Act of 1913 as a reason for the springing up of the independent African churches.
[The Act] prevented the Africans from acquiring by purchase the land re-
served for Whites, . . . restricted them to relatively small territories, the
'reserves', and made them squatters on the farms of the Europeans or
proletarians in the towns.35
154 The Pentecostah: South Africa
Well-paid professional work for Whites only
The same rule, 'Whites only', also applies to well-paid professional work.
African trade unions were permitted, but were not recognized as negotiating
bodies. They were also forbidden to strike. 'Whites only' applied to the right
to strike. 'Hat in hand, the African is supposed to say "Yes, Sir" to anything that
a White man, simply because he is White, tells him to do.'36
And just as in North America a century ago, the Whites in South Africa to-
day will tell you, 'Look at the African in the street, how happy he is. He doesn't
want any more.'
(a) Fundamentalism
The translation of the Bible into the vernacular is an important condition for
the coming into being of the independent churches.48 Even for the independent
African Pentecostal preachers, who cannot read, the Bible plays an important
role as an object of veneration and bearer oimana. Churches which have pastors
who can read often abuse it in 'Bible ping-pong', that is, in disputes with the aid
of Bible quotations (ukushayana ngamavesi). 'The Bible is bought, but rarely
read continuously for personal edification . . . Its place is in the services, that is,
in the cult.'49 This is the background against which we must understand the
statement of a Zionist who said, 'I left (the mission church) because of the
Book.'50 And one church constitution reads: Our leader 'explains the Bible from
the following chapters Amen: Jer. 1.4-5, Proverbs 8.22-26. Amen.'51 Another
church offers the following hermeneutic key: We believe in the Old and New
Testaments 'by the interpretation of the river'.52 A third believes in the Old and
New Testaments and the doctrines of John Dawi (sic! i.e. Dowie).53
The missionary churches of the revival movement were slow to recognize that
careful theological training cannot be neglected with impunity. Their African
pastors are nowadays waking up to the realization that the Bible is not only
'dangerous' but actually a 'forest'.54 Theo Schneider, a Swiss missionary, strikes
the nail on the head when he writes:
Certainly the Bible is in the hands of all the Ethiopian bishops and all the
156 The Pentecostals: South Africa
Zionist prophets . . . But it is not enough to possess the Bible, one must also
know how to read i t . . . One must be able to interpret it in accordance with
its centre, Jesus Christ. What becomes of the Word when this centre is
whittled away?55
Purification rites
Many Zionist groups do not restrict themselves to a single baptism. Baptism
is repeated and becomes a purification rite as in African religions. It also has to
fulfil the function of the eucharist, since the Africans cannot get wine for the
celebration of the Lord's Supper. The devaluation of the one baptism through
the abuse of numerous rebaptisms, the disputes about baptism amongst the
white South African Pentecostals, and the non-recognition of baptism adminis-
tered by Lutherans, Reformed Churches, and even other Pentecostal groups,
has made it much easier for the one baptism to be changed into a repeatable rite
of purification. The purification rite is necessary to wash away the impurity
caused by a burial, childbirth, drunkenness or sickness.65
In spite of the phenomenological parallels between heathen and Christian
purification rites, the independent African Pentecostal churches make a con-
uMoya - the Spirit in the Independent African Churches 157
scious distinction in principle between them. This distinction is expressed in the
terminology. Christians do not call their purification rites ukophothula^ like the
pagan Zulu, but ukuhlambulula or ukusefa, an Afrikaans loan word.67
Her case history in the hospital was as follows: Age 32. Examined September
18, 1939. Had been ill for many months with abdominal troubles, and ulcer
on the right hip. Diagnosis: Syphilis and gonorrhoea. In hospital September
19 to November 8 1939. Was treated for syphilis. Developed pneumonia and
pleurisy, and the treatment for syphilis had to be postponed for a while,
but was later resumed. Further diagnosis showed also bilharzia, but not
treated for this, as it was felt that she should rest between treatments. Next
stay in hospital February 15 to March 11, 1940. She was then pregnant,
sixth to seventh month. Treated for threatening abortion, gonorrhoea and
bilharzia. Delivery May 1,1940, normal. Some time after birth the child came
out in a rash, Melika brought him regularly to the hospital for injections.
He recovered, but when some eight months old was brought to the hospital
with a big abscess on the arm. He had been cut by his father when trying to
cure the infant of some ailment. The mother now refused to stay at the
hospital, and the child was treated as an outpatient. The abcesss healed, but
a few days later the child got conjunctivitis. Treated at the hospital service,
with marked results. One day the father reported that they could not bring
the child, as it had got diarrhoea. He asked for medicine and was instructed
to bring the child to the hospital. It was too late, however, for it died the same
day. February 19-25, 1941, Melika was treated after abortion. After that she
disappeared from the hospital for a long time.
We discovered that while visiting the mission hospital Melika had also
sought the following treatments:
(1) She visited another European doctor living some twenty miles away, who
i6o The Pentecostals: South Africa
was believed to possess specially effective medicines; she procured a bottle
from him for 5s. 6d.
(2) She was treated by an inyanga for three weeks, and paid one beast and
one goat for this.
(3) She stayed two months at prophet Ntshangase's Bethesda, where she
went through an intense vomiting-cure, to get rid of demons and internal
snakes.
(4) She was being prayed for daily during that whole period by the Sangweni
Zionists, the method used being chiefly pummelling with holy sticks.80 And
all this over a period of seventeen months!81
The last word has not been said about the relationship between European and
indigenous medicine. The African view of the relationship between soul and
body is a naive one, but seems to retain important elements of an integral
understanding of man which medicine is at the present time taking seriously.82
( / ) Worship
Although the prophets do not use any written liturgies, like the white Pente-
costals they form in their churches oral 'liturgies' which are typical of each
particular group. A congregation may pray 'Thou Eagle of Judah', or 'Thou
God of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego', or 'Thou with the wounded side'.
The hymns used extend from Bach to Sankey. Sometimes hymns of their own
are written. Thus the A6antu 6aka Moya (People of the Spirit) sing on the
mountains:
Jesu, woza noyihlo Jesus, come with Thy Father,
A6antu 6ayafa People are dying,
lapha emhla6eni Here on earth.83
5. Assessment
(a) Theological criticism
Peter Beyerhaus follows Augustine in distinguishing between schismatics
(who have cut the bond of love) and heretics (who have cut the bond of faith).
He counts the Ethiopian churches as schismatics and the Zionists as heretics.
[The latter] can by no way be a partner for reunification, but only an object
of mission. We see that this is not clear to all ministers of our church
unfortunately. We observe sometimes that some of us show an irresponsible
attitude to toleration and even ecumenicity towards Zionists, as if they were
only partly erring but anyway brethren and valid ministers of the Word and
the Sacraments. Here we have to think of II John 9-11 . . , 88
Beyerhaus wrote the article from which this quotation is taken in 1961, and even
then he felt bound to admit that 'the religious concepts of Christians inside our
Churches are often hardly different from those already won by the sects'.
Beyerhaus admits that the independent Pentecostals were able to give to Africans
plagued by demons an answer which was more comprehensible and of more help
than that given by the Lutheran Missionary Church.
And because of our lack of an answer to these problems which to him are the
only important ones, he silently turns his back on us and consults the witch-
doctor, or leaves us completely and joins a syncretistic sect which gradually
brings him back to Heathenism.89 . . . These sects are South Africa's
attempt to escape the Cross.90
He consequently regards it as important in all contacts with these groups, for
example when one of their prophets is invited to give fraternal greetings in a
Lutheran congregation, 'that it be clear to the members of one's own church
that this is not an ecumenical but a missionary activity'.91 Even if their 'Bishops'
seek further theological training, while this should not be refused, the instruc-
tion 'will have something of the character of baptismal instruction, even if this
cannot be made clear for tactical reasons.'92 Nor is Beyerhaus convinced by
H. W. Turner's study of a number of sermons from independent Nigerian
Pentecostal churches (known as aladurd)?* in which he demonstrates a more or
less orthodox content in the prayers, hymns and sermons. For Beyerhaus argues
that just as important as what the preachers say is what their congregations
understand. This observation is true, but it applies just as much to European
as to African churches.94
At the conclusion of the article just quoted, Beyerhaus mentions a criticism
which seems to me very important. The church is not merely a society, but also
has the task of saving human society outside the church. Part of this task is
preparation for 'responsible citizenship' and a 'conscious acceptance of the
secularisation of many religious concepts of the past'.95
This theological criticism does not prevent Beyerhaus from seeing the positive
162 The Pentecostah: South Africa
sides of the Zionists' methods and practices, their joyful worship, and the inte-
gration in their worship of African means of expression.
I also feel that in his inaugural lecture in Tubingen he put his criticism in less
categorical terms and more in the form of questions, and in part admitted to
sharing the theological dilemma of the Zionists.
Behind the questions we have posed lie problems which have not yet been
solved by the sending churches of the West and their theology, partly because
our churches and their doctrinal structure are from an ecumenical point of
view only fragments, and partly because all theological knowledge is always
fragmentary.96
In his theological criticism Beyerhaus is supported by Griindler, though the
latter makes hardly any distinction between Zionist and Ethiopian churches and
clearly has little information about the spread of the Zionists. His comment,
that 'they mostly lead a miserable existence'97 is true of many individual groups,
but not of some of the larger groups or of the Zionists as a whole.
Hans Haselbarth,98 Marie-Louise Martin,99 B. A. Pauw and Jacqueline
Eberhardt all hold a similar view of the Zionists. In her article 'The Church
Facing Prophetic and Messianic Movements'100 Marie-Louise Martin gives a
general survey of the history and subdivisions of the independent churches,
and of the reasons why they came into being. Apart from the sociological and
political factors, to which she gives full weight (the destruction of the ancient
tribal structures, the South African government's land policy and racial policy,
the decline of the chief's authority), she pays particular attention to the theo-
logical reasons for the rise of independent churches and comes to the following
conclusion: The Whites removed the non-historical, cyclical understanding of
history which the African peoples had held. From then on it was possible for
them to think in historical terms.
Eschatology became possible and replaced a cyclical picture of history. But
African congregations turned this eschatology into a future expectation of their
unfulfilled longings and desires.101 This did not only take place in the sphere of
eschatology.
We missionaries or African ministers are speaking about the Saviour; non-
Christian Africans understand the word 'saviour' in their own way. We speak
about the kingdom of God - they interpret it against the background of their
own hopes. We speak about sin - they mean the old taboos. We speak about
the Spirit - they think of 'power' or ancestor-possession. We speak about
God - they coupled it with the conception of their own 'god'.102
The vocabulary in which the gospel is preached is taken over from paganism
and brings its associations with it. Revelation is understood in the context of
dreams and visions. They want a Messiah adapted to their desires and conse-
quently avoid the crisis of all real faith in the cross. But this is the very reason
why dialogue with them must be sought and sustained.
uMoya - the Spirit in the Independent African Churches 163
We have no illusions about converting them and their members to the Church
of Christ. They may resist not only our attempts, but the truth of the Gospel
itself. We are aware of the post-Christian character of these movements and
their 'anti-messianism',103 we realise that in the final analysis they try to
escape the skandalon of the cross.104
The same state of affairs is attested by Pauw. In an independent Pentecostal
congregation he had listened to a sermon on the law, and used the invitation to
speak
to point out that faith in Jesus Christ and forgiveness in his Name is the
essence of our salvation. The leader's wife, who was the next speaker, there-
upon explained that 'forgiveness is when we behave welP (tshwarelo ke ha re
itshwara sentle).105 The expression 'faith is work', which I heard in several
churches, is perhaps the most explicit expression of this tendency.106
Bodies in schism or
separate from the
Syncretistic historical churches
fringe
LATENT REACTION
Frontier between
Christianity and
syncretism
170 The Pentecostah: South Africa
In a very interesting subsection Barrett discusses the 'perils of prediction':133
The first possibility is that his prediction will prove to be a false or unfulfilled
prophecy; this would be due either to the analysis having assessed the situation
falsely, or to the emergence of some new and unexpected factor. The second
possibility is that the predicition will be approximately fulfilled. The third possi-
bility, and probably the most disastrous of the four, is that the prediction might
become a self-fulfilling prophecy; that is, an initially fallacious prediction based
on a false definition of the situation which evokes a new behaviour that makes the
originally false conception come true. The fourth possibility and doubtless the
most satisfactory of all, is that his prediction might prove to be a self-destroying
prophecy: that is, an initially accurate prediction based on a correct definition
of the situation which evokes a new behaviour that prevents fulfilment of what
would otherwise come to pass. Historical churches might realize the gravity of
the situation and attempt a full rapprochement once and for all.
One might consider that the different attempts at ecumenical fellowship on
the part of these independent churches are a step in the direction of a self-
destroying prophecy. It is true that many of these churches have tried to be
accepted in National Councils and the All Africa Conference of Churches as
well as in the WCC. Most of them have up to now been refused, and this forces
these groups to set up their own ecumenical groupings, a fact which might well
divide the ecumenical movement in the future into what I could call literary
Christianity (in the historical churches) and non-literary Christianity (in the
newer independent churches). What makes this problem even more difficult is
the fact that in Europe and America groups are arising which must be defined
as post-literary Christianity. Hence the attraction of Neo-Pentecostalism134 and
of the hippie movement.
One thing is certain; there is no justification either academic or pastoral and
missionary, for a description and assessment of the Ethiopian, Zionist-Pentecos-
tal and Messianic groups which makes no distinction between them. All who
have discussed them are agreed on this. At the very least a distinction must be
made between the Messianic sects and the other groups, although it must be
admitted that the limits are often indeterminate. Perhaps the Zionists will help
Christianity to survive its time of hibernation in Africa. A possible parallel may
be found in the categories of thought, many of them very strange, by which
Christianity was brought through the European Middle Ages.135 The existence
of the Zionist groups in which there is no longer any preaching, 'but only con-
fession and speaking in tongues', is based 'on needs for which psychotherapists
are nowadays available in Western civilizations'.136 It seems to be essential that
the missionary churches should not miss the opportunity for dialogue with the
Zionists, if they wish to become the Ecumenical movement in the full sense of the
word ecumenical. In this task they should be inspired by the guiding principles
of the World Council of Churches, taking into account the theological criticism
set out in the first part of this chapter.137 The problems presented by individual
uMoya - the Spirit in the Independent African Churches 171
phenomena (dreams, healing through prayer, prophecy, speaking in tongues)
are the same as are presented in white Pentecostal churches, and do not need
to be discussed separately here.
An independent Zulu pastor summed up his Christian witness as follows:
Umuntu ungumuntu ngomuntu138 (Man becomes man through Him who became
man.) This is a theologically and linguistically mature expression of the Chris-
tian heritage. A church which is capable of this cannot be ignored by the
missionary churches.
NOTES
J
3
A Blending of Aristocratic Anglicanism
and Welsh Revivalism:
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain
T H E following three chapters deal with parts of the history of the British Pente-
costal movement. Chapter 13 describes the origins of the British Pentecostal
movement in the revival in Wales. It took the form of a charismatic movement
within the existing churches. The rise of West Indian Pentecostal churches is
also discussed in this chapter. Then the three largest of the twenty or so Pente-
costal organizations in Great Britain are described in rather greater detail: the
Apostolic Church as an example of a Pentecostal group of the apostolic type
(ch. 13.4); the Elim Pentecostal Churches as an example of conflict between a
charismatic founder and the institution that came into being as a result of his
work (ch. 14); and the Assemblies of God as an example of a body originally
meant to be a revivalist association within the existing churches, but which
developed under the influence of the greatest teacher of the Pentecostal move-
ment, Donald Gee, into an independent church organization (ch. 15). It should
be stressed that there has been no room to provide an exhaustive account of
these three examples.
For thirteen years I prayed that I might receive the Spirit. I had been led to
pray by a remark of William Davies, one of the deacons: 'Be faithful! Sup-
posing the Spirit were to come down and you were not there. Remember
Thomas, and how much he lost from not being present on the evening of the
Resurrection.'
So I said to myself: 'I want to receive the Spirit at any price.' And I
continually went to meetings despite all difficulties. Often, as I saw the other
boys putting out to sea in their boats, I was tempted to turn round and join
them. But no. I said to myself, 'Remember your resolution to be faithful',
and I would go to the meeting. Prayer meeting on Monday evening at the
[Methodist] chapel, prayer meeting for the Sunday school on Tuesday
evening at 'Pisgah', meeting at the church [Church of Wales ?] on Wednesday
evening, Band of Hope meeting on Thursday evening. I supported all these
faithfully for years. For ten or eleven years I prayed for revival. I spent whole
nights reading accounts of revivals or talking about them. It was the Spirit
who in this way was driving me to think about revival.
One Friday evening that spring (1904), as I was praying at my bedside
before going to bed, I was taken up into a great expanse - without time or
space. It was communion with God. Up to that time I had only had a God
who was far off. That evening I was afraid, but that fear has never come back.
I trembled so violently that the bed shook, and my brother was awakened
and took hold of me, thinking I was ill.
After this experience I woke each night about one o'clock in the morning.
It was the more strange, as usually I slept like a log and no noise in my room
was enough to wake me. From one o'clock I was taken up into communion
i8o The Pentecostals: Europe
with God for about four hours. What it was I cannot tell you, except that it
was of God. About five o'clock I was again allowed to sleep until about nine
o'clock. I was then taken up again and carried away in the same experience
as in the early hours of the morning, until about midday or one o'clock.
At home they questioned me, and asked why I got up so late . . . But these
things are too holy to speak of. This experience went on for about three
months . . .
Bois comments: 'During that time Roberts was working for the entrance
examination for the school at Newcastle-Emlyn.'15 He speaks of an idee fixe
which Roberts had of receiving the baptism of the Spirit at any price. This
ideefixewas accompanied by the hope of a revival.
Evan Roberts's subconscious was continually and increasingly charged up
until the discharges took place: that is, the extraordinary experiences which
are reported at Loughor, Newcastle Emlyn, and Blaenannerch.16
Bois interprets these experiences as a 'taking up', a feeling of expanse, and the
loss of the sensation of space and time.
The experiences were repeated at the school, although there, probably for
external reasons, they were reduced to half an hour. During a period of illness
they once more grew longer. 'In the last four nights I was bathed in sweat (the
result of the cold and of communion with God).'17 Stead reports a conversation
with Roberts:
'For the space of four hours I was privileged to speak face to face with Him
as a man speaks face to face with a friend. At five o'clock it seemed to me as
if I again returned to earth. 'Were you not dreaming! I asked. 'No, I was
wide awake.' . . . May I ask,' I said, 'If He of whom you speak appeared
to you as Jesus Christ?' 'No,' said Mr Roberts, 'not so, it was the personal
God, not as Jesus.' 'As God the Father Almighty?' I said. 'Yes,' said Mr
Roberts, 'and the Holy Spirit.'18
Stead, who gave the most important report of the experiences, refers in his
account to similar phenomena in the history of the church (St Teresa, Jakob
Boehme, George Fox, Ignatius Loyola), and interprets these phenomena with
the aid of William James' Varieties of Religious Experience. But the psychological
digressions were omitted by the French translator Rochat, presumably because
he was afraid they would interfere with the edification of his readers. Bois says
of Stead, that this psychological excursus shows that 'it is perfectly possible to
be carried away by the revival, and yet to possess and retain in one's own mind
a proper concern with religious psychology'.19
Roberts himself called the experience described above the baptism of the
Spirit, and distinguished it sharply from conversion.20. Using detailed source
material, Bois describes Roberts's further visions and overwhelming experiences,
and also those of the young women who accompanied him and assisted him as
evangelists and especially in prayer.21
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain 181
Immediately after this, Roberts preached for six months without a break.
The Western Mail sent a reporter, Awstin, to follow him, and published every
month a tract with reports and sermons. The main Welsh papers gave regular
reports on him, as did the whole church press of Europe. There were mass
conversions in the mining communities of Wales.
He made all his journeys dependent upon the 'guidance of the Spirit', which
could lead him to call off obligations to speak which he had undertaken, with an
appeal to the Spirit, and to go to another meeting instead. One day he withdrew
without motive into silence. Only Annie Davies was allowed to look after him
and to communicate with him in writing. He kept an exact journal of the 'seven
days of silence'. The greater part of his notes have been published (in the Western
Mail) and are of great psychological value. He gives an exact date and time for
every entry. He writes:
I am pleased, because I have been moved by the eternal Spirit to write it.
I do not know what the notebook you bought for me cost, but I know today
that it is priceless. It has become very dear to me because of the precious
things it contains. It contains a large amount of our experience while we were
passing through that strange period.22
It almost seems, writes Henri Bois, that Evan Roberts is intending to set this
notebook beside the writings of the New Testament, when he sends it to a
certain Mr Jones with the words:
Dear Mr Jones, You can have this prayer. It will be a blessing to thousands,
for it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I want thousands of copies to be printed
without altering a word or a comma or a verse, and particularly want the
parts I have underlined to be preserved, for they give it life. The Holy
Spirit 'puts soul into it' and makes it a living prayer.23
Roberts was a prophetic type, hypersensitive, nervous, and not a particularly
good speaker. But he had an unusually acute sense of what was happening in
the audience he faced, its tensions, resistances, cares, fears and questions. There
is a connection between these perceptions and his visions and telepathic abilities.
They 'are not the cause but the effect' of his inner life,24 and are compared by
Bois with those of Pascal, Paul, Socrates, Descartes and the prophets of the
Old Testament. There is no reason to be suspicious either of the prophets of old
or of Roberts because of their visions. 'Nothing would be more wrong than to
regard them as unhinged.'25 According to Henri Bois, Roberts had the gift of
seeing what he thought, and could convey this in a dramatic form to his audi-
ence. For example, he once made all the men between thirty-three and thirty-
four years of age stand up. He then burst into tears and for some time could not
speak for weeping. 'What if these young men whom you see were crucified and
had to suffer the terrible pains of Christ ?' At this the meeting broke into the
passion hymn Dyma gariadfely moroedd (Streams of Love and Grace).26
In Liverpool he cried out:
l82 The Pentecostals: Europe
There are five people here who are stopping the revival. They must leave the
meeting. Three of them are preachers of the gospel, and are envious in their
hearts because of the many conversions. Pluga nhw, Dhuw! (humble them,
O God).'27
Another time he closed the meeting shortly after it had been opened and refused
to preach because of resistance on the part of certain of the congregation.28
There was once a rumour that he wanted to get engaged to Annie Davies.
This was denied by Annie Davies in the following words: 'People really don't
know how close Roberts is to God. If they knew, they wouldn't say such things.'
The Revival Number of the Western Mail observed:
It is reassuring to think that Evan Roberts and Miss Davies have decided
not to let themselves be disturbed by these stupid rumours. The best way
to put an end to this sort of story is to press on with one's work as if nothing
had happened.29
The rest of Roberts' life is obscure. It is said that from 1910 until his death
in 1947 he lived a retired life. He abandoned his rigorist ethics, went to football
matches and smoked a pipe.
There are very different opinions about him. Many Welsh people see in
Evan Roberts a true prophet who was the instrument of a miraculous revival.
Dr Walford Bodie, who was himself a hypnotist, regarded Roberts as a highly
talented hypnotist.30 Others saw in him an honest but misguided preacher of the
gospel. Every journal of the German Evangelical movement spoke of him
in terms of the highest enthusiasm. Peter Price spoke of a genuine and a false
revival in Wales. The latter, he claims, took place under the influence of Evan
Roberts. He accuses him in particular of an exaggerated opinion of himself, and
says that according to Roberts there was a fourth person of the Trinity, Roberts
himself. 'He does not conduct himself like one who is led by the Spirit, but as
one who leads the Spirit.'31 Price also disparages him on account of the depres-
sions, the frequent dark moods into which he lapsed when anything went wrong,
his habit of breaking obligations he had made by an appeal to the Spirit, and his
other habit of turning up during the course of a service and not at the beginning
of it. The Western Mail published the lengthy controversy between Price and
Roberts' followers in a pamphlet ('The Rev. Peter Price and Evan Roberts').
Roberts himself did not intervene in the dispute.
The considered judgment given by Bois is not only important for an assess-
ment of Roberts; it also forms a valuable guide for an assessment of the revival
in Wales and the Pentecostal movement. Bois observes:
Everything that comes from his subconscious is regarded by Roberts as the
guidance of the Spirit, while everything that comes from reason or from the
good advice of his friends is human counsel.
This is an attitude which Pentecostalism and the revival in Wales took over from
extreme right-wing Protestantism. In time Roberts seems to have become so
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain 183
unhinged and overstrained by his numerous meetings, mental upheavals and
telepathic experiences that he had to withdraw to recover. This explains his
later rejection of all 'super-spiritual things' and his polemic against the Pente-
costal movement.32 Bois cannot understand why the use of telepathic abilities
should be a sin, a view which led some to reject Henri Bois' judgment, and led
others to reject Evan Roberts. Bois acknowledged Roberts' devotion and love,
but criticized the unfortunate application of his telepathic abilities, which he
used to lay people bare in an impudent fashion in large meetings. Roberts'
identification of the spontaneous and the outpourings of the subconscious with
the Holy Spirit, and his suspicion of the rational, is highly questionable.
Donald Gee, who was brought to the Pentecostal movement by the revival in
Wales, compares Evan Roberts with the healing evangelists of Pentecostalism.
In his view, the revival in Wales
touched only a small thickly populated mining district in South Wales. It
never reached England and maintained its full intensity for only about a year.
At its highest point it carried everything before it like a spiritual torrent.
Many glorious and permanent results remain in the form of individual
conversions, and it is still possible to point to them at the present day . . .
However, the acknowledged leader of the movement, Evan Roberts, remained
an enigma right up to the time of his death a few years ago. By his own
decision he withdrew into silence and carried out no further public work for
the gospel. The revival disappeared, and has made those valleys in Wales
almost inaccessible to any further divine visitation. The faithful of Wales
have a nostalgia for the past, but unfortunately nothing else.
He regrets their national pride and their cult of leading personalities.33
(c) 'The second wind? ; 60 - 'Pentecosf in the Anglican church at the present day
Following contacts with the Pentecostal movement within the historic
churches in America, there have been similar phenomena within the Anglican
church in Britain. The Anglican priest Philip L. C. Smith describes three
services taken by a Pentecostal preacher (Richard Bolt) in his church, which
included speaking in tongues, exposition of Scripture, prayer for the sick and a
call to conversion.61 Through contacts with the Pentecostals or with American
Neo-Pentecostals, the baptism of the Spirit has also been experienced in other
churches.62 Prayer for healing of the sick, given a liturgical setting in public
services, has existed for some time.63
The literature published by the Fountain Trust (London) shows that these
churches have taken over not only the experience, but also the theological
interpretation placed upon it by Pentecostals, that is, the two-stage way of
salvation and speaking in tongues as a necessary sign of the baptism of the
Spirit.64
This has led to criticism. In spite of all his admiration for Pentecostal worship
'in the thrill of which it is extraordinarily easy to get caught up unless one is
being very deliberately detached and coldly critical',65 D. Webster draws atten-
tion to the familiar weaknesses of Pentecostal belief and practice. He points to
the almost complete absence of theological thinking; the ignorance of church
history, resulting in the idea that between the Acts of the Apostles and the
Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles nothing of importance took place in the
history of the church apart from sporadic revivals; the pietistic failing of not
seeing the world as God's world; the absence of any preaching which gives due
place to the prophetic Christian concern for social ethics; the readiness to form
schismatic groups. In Webster's view none of these failures are peculiar to
Pentecostals; they share them with most fundamentalists and certain groups
within the Anglican church.
His comment on speaking in tongues in the Anglican church is as follows:
It should not be permitted in public worship, nor encouraged in private prayer
meetings, but not forbidden in personal prayer. The history of the mystics shows
that in the course of church history the gift of speaking in tongues has been
'interiorized'. 'There is nothing wrong in ecstasy, provided it comes as a gift
from God and not as a self-induced state.'66 But Webster gives no indication
that an emotional outpouring, of which speaking in tongues may form part, can
easily have an important social and political function.
Lindsay Dewar has made an interesting contribution to this dialogue. In his
profound study of the Holy Spirit in the Bible and in church history the
Reformers, and in particular Luther, are sharply criticized. He ignores works of
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain i87
exegesis and church history produced outside Britain, which is a serious weak-
ness in the historical part of his book. But his psychological assessment is of
great value:
To the pscyhologist qua psychologist, the ravings of a maniac patient and the
utterings of a saint alike may come through the same mechanism - if the
phrase may be allowed. But to separate the precious from the vile is the work,
not of science, but of philosophy and religion. It may indeed be true that
there are certain types of individual in whom these lines of communication
are broader than is the case with the average person's. This is suggested by
the well-known saying that genius and madness are closely allied. But this
does not alter the fact that the Holy Spirit may, according to His own pur-
poses, make special use of persons with this kind of make-up. Indeed what
else should we expect Him to do ?67
Here he avoids the temptation of passing from the observation of phenomena
to a value judgment. According to Dewar this critical function is properly that
of the church - but not as an organization, nor as a commission of theological
experts or as the guardian of tradition, but as a group (in a sense in which the
word is used in psychology) which is ready and willing to bear and endure to the
very end the tensions that are present.
(a) The West Indian immigrants' drift away from the churches
From 1951 (the date of a catastrophic hurricane in Jamaica) to 1962 (Com-
monwealth Immigrants Act, 30.6.1962) a mass immigration of West Indians to
Great Britain took place. From 1955 to 1962 there were 260,000 West Indian
immigrants. No figures are available for the years 1952-55. Sixty-nine per cent
of these immigrants regularly attended church in the West Indies, a proportion
which grew rapidly smaller on their arrival in Great Britain. Hill explains this
drift away from the churches by the shock and confusion of the West Indians
at the discovery that England is not the Mecca of Christianity. 'It is like dis-
covering that one's mother is a liar and a hypocrite.' It made no difference,
according to Hill, that the British churches went to considerable trouble to make
the West Indians welcome. Hill regrets that the churches, which might have
188 The Pentecostah: Europe
been destined to become a place of integration for the West Indian immigrants,
are failing in spite of their good-will to take any effective measures against
racial prejudice. A minister could take it for granted that he would be well
received by the West Indians, for they bring with them from their home country
a love for the church and the clergy. But ministers should beware that they are
dealing with poor but proud people, who are ashamed of their difficulties. In
particular, he must have an understanding of their different marriage customs,
and bear in mind that until 150 years ago West Indian slaves were forbidden to
marry. 'It is a great mistake to try to deal with West Indian family problems
according to accepted English standards and practices.'73 It is not unusual for a
West Indian couple to marry after the birth of the children. They live together
and do not marry until they have saved the money to pay for the extravagant
wedding celebrations. Similarly, ministers ought to recognize and make allow-
ances for the unpunctuality of West Indians, for example at funerals.
(c) Assessment
Hill has a very low view of West Indian Pentecostal churches, because of their
exclusiveness and schismatic tendencies.
The very beliefs and teachings of the Pentecostals must lead to a 'separatist'
movement. Their mode of worship is far more likely to appeal to West Indians
than to English people. This in turn tends to a voluntary segregation and to
the formation of all-coloured churches.80
Where Anglicans or other churches let their church buildings to Pentecostal
churches, their churches simply become identified in the eyes of other West
Indians with the Pentecostals. West Indian Pentecostals have sufficient oppor-
tunities of joining British Pentecostal churches; separate West Indian churches
emphasize racial barriers. Consequently - still according to Hill - the coming
into being of West Indian Pentecostal churches is not in the interest of the
West Indians.
Calley's view is different:
As West Indians have come to England mainly as isolated individuals it was
perhaps inevitable that they should import with them the social group that
transplants most easily, the religious sect. At this stage it is difficult to say
whether, in the long run, their presence will inhibit or facilitate assimilation.
It is likely that, as time passes, the larger ones at least will change as native
English Pentecostal sects have changed, and come to terms with society,
becoming progressively less like the churches founded by the Apostles,
embattled against society, and more like other religious denominations that
exist in harmony with it. Most of the smaller groups must diasppear.81
In his fine work God's People Calley has given a summary of his analysis. He
again points out that the Pentecostal does not approach religion and life intellec-
tually, but rather ritually. If the West Indian Pentecostal does not understand
something, he does not look it up in a commentary or an encyclopedia; he rather
prays for enlightenment. Religion is not something to be understood, but rather
to be experienced, whence the importance of the taboos and also of the religious
rites. Calley's interpretation of speaking in tongues is that it allows the intellec-
tually weaker member to contribute on an equal basis with others to the worship
service, a point which has already been underlined by Bryan R. Wilson.82 A
successful leader 'is one who can stimulate his congregation to respond as a
group, who can make members lose their own individuality in an impassioned,
sometimes hysterical identification with the church'.83
Calley then goes on to ask: Why do nearly all West Indian immigrants join
190 The Pentecostals: Europe
their own Pentecostal churches rather than native English Pentecostal churches ?
One might be tempted to make the British Christian's race prejudices respon-
sible. But this is not usually the case. West Indian Pentecostal churches have
depended upon the goodwill of English clergy. They have allowed them the use
of Anglican and Baptist churches. Anglican ministers have performed their
marriage rites. A Unitarian minister gave them the use of a Unitarian meeting
hall for services.
The Unitarian minister used to attend some of the services and was prepared
to accept their manner of worship as a valid form of Christianity, even if
very different from his own.84
West Indian Pentecostal churches have sprung up because some West Indians
belonged to Pentecostal or Pentecostal-like Baptist churches in the West Indies,
and in cold, foggy England there is little opportunity to meet and chat with one's
neighbour on the street. The West Indian, therefore, wrongly thinks that he
meets a racial barrier when he is really discovering that human relations in
England, and Christian England itself, are very different from what he expected
them to be. The most radical separation from this world, the best protection
from these cold surroundings, is a warm West Indian Pentecostal service.
[West Indians] who lack characteristics (occupation, education, possessions)
carrying prestige in society at large, are persuaded that such things are
unimportant; were not Christ and his disciples equally lacking in the things
of the world ? The 'world' has not treated sect recruits with conspicuous gen-
erosity, and in its terms they are lacking in status, poor and powerless, but
these characteristics are precisely those which are pleasing to God. In their
devotion to him, members make a virtue out of a necessity, rejecting the
values of the world which anyway they could not hope to achieve.85 . . .
Perhaps in this frustration can be discerned the feeling of guilt and original
sin that is a doctrinal cornerstone of all Pentecostal sects. 8 6 ... Native English
Pentecostal sects [who have advanced sociologically] remain as a memorial
to such conditions in the past, but there have been no revivals for more than a
generation.87
Calley thinks this attitude will soon prove to be inadequate in England. In the
meantime West Indian Pentecostal sects are 'a buffer between the immigrant
group and society'; they make life easier 'by greasing the wheels of social change
in the long run'. 89
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain 191
(a) Origins
In the early years of the Pentecostal movement in Wales a dispute arose about
the understanding of prophecy.
By some the gift of prophecy was acknowledged, but the prophet with his
words of guidance was not accepted as scriptural. They believed that the
prophetic utterance was for exhortation, edification and comfort (I Cor. 14.3),
but they did not believe that the prophetic office was for guidance and for
leading the church.91
(b) Organization
Every variety of church constitution can be found within the Pentecostal
movement, ranging from the purely congregationalist,96 through a centralized
presbyterianism,97 to episcopal organization.98 These varieties of organization
derive from the nationality and denominational origin of the founders of each
particular group. In the case of the Apostolic Church organization and doctrine
are very closely linked. On the one hand, the church possesses a ministry
organized as a strict hierarchy (apostles, prophets, shepherds, teachers, evangel-
ists, elders, deacons, deaconesses). Originally, the members of this hierarchy
were without exception chosen by the word of prophecy; and it culminates
in the college of apostles. On the other hand, it gives greater play to the gifts
of the Spirit than Pentecostal groups which are congregationalist in their organ-
ization. In contrast to most other Pentecostal groups, it allows prophetic
utterances on concrete subjects of ethics, personal matters, and world and church
192 The Pentecostah: Europe
politics. This it can do because the church is protected by the authority of the
'ministries' from utterances which go too far. Other Pentecostals do not reject
'ministries' in the church, when they are understood in a functional way, but
prefer to institutionalize only those of shepherd (i.e. pastor) and evangelist."
In particular, there is controversy about the offices of apostle and prophet.
Apostles The Apostolic Church distinguishes between the 'apostles of the
Lamb' (Rev. 21.14), who consist only of the twelve apostles, including Matthias
who replaced Judas Iscariot (but not including Paul), and those others who are
also called apostles in the New Testament.100 There can no longer be 'apostles
of the Lamb' at the present day, for it is a condition of this apostolic office to
have been an eye-witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But the
church at the present day must have other apostles. The Apostolic Church
possesses such apostles. Their apostolate includes the laying on of hands to
impart the Holy Spirit, the ordination of elders and the government of the
church in other respects. They are distinguished by patience, humility and
divine wisdom.101
The constitution, a strictly juridical church order with a casuistic element,
explicitly accords ultimate authority to the apostles, whose office is for life.102
William Henry Lewis describes the ministry of the apostles as follows. Apostles
have 'authority to loose, authority to bind, authority to excommunicate, author-
ity to re-admit, authority to establish churches'. They are 'elective in their call-
ing, immutable in their setting, distinctive in their call, comprehensive in their
ministry, exemplary in their character'.103
Prophets In the Apostolic Church the office of prophet is more and more
subject to regulation. 'Present day prophets are not infallible.'104 They can call
others to some ministry, 'but the acceptance of these calls is still the responsi-
bility of the Apostleship'.105 Members who are undergoing church discipline
are not allowed to prophesy, and in general the exercise of the 'gift of prophecy'
is dependent upon the 'sanction of the presbytery'.106
NOTES
1. Henri Bois, Le Reveil dans le pays de Galles, p. 62; W. T. Stead, The Revival in
Wales, pp. 36f. This chapter is based on Bois' extensive work (613 pages), which in its
turn is based on his own observations and his knowledge of the literary evidence, much
of which is no longer extant. Bois was sympathetic to the revival, but as a professor of
theology and psychological analyser of religious phenomena, he had the necessary
equipment for a proper judgment. Cf. also J. Jenkins, South Wales Daily News,
16.11.1903. Full bibliography 05.13.001g.
2. M. Schmidt, Art. 'Wales', RGG 3rd ed., vol. VI, col. 1537.
3. Bois, op. cit., p. 312; Paxton Hood, Christmas Evans, p. 235.
4. Bois, op. cit., p. 304.
5. E. V. Hall, Annates des sciences psychologiques, May 1905, p. 300; quoted by Bois,
op. cit., p. 278.
6. P. Glage, Wittenberg oder Wales? ('Wittenberg or Wales ?') For the opposite view,
A. von BernstofF, Aufder Warte 3/2, 7.1.1906, pp. 3f.
7. Fleisch I, p. 447.
i94 The Pentecostals: Europe
8. E. Lohmann, Aufder Warte 2/44, 29.10.1905, pp. 71*.
9. E. Lohmann, Aufder Warte 2/48, 26.11.1905, pp. 3f.
10. J. Seitz, Aufder Warte 2/9, 25.2.1905, p.7.
11. J. Seitz, Aufder Warte 2/11, 12.3.1905, pp. 6f.
12. R. Mummsen, Wittenberg und Wales! ('Wittenberg and Wales').
13. L. Parker, UEvangeliste 53/2, 13.1.1905, p. 6.
14. H. Bois, op. cit., pp. 66fF.
15. Retranslated from Bois, op. cit., pp. 7off., as W. T. Stead, The Revival in Wales,
was not available; but cf. Stead, The Revival in the West, p. 43.
16. Bois, op. cit., p. 73.
17. Ibid., pp. 73f. The last phrase, 'the result of the cold and of communion with
God', was omitted by Mme Saillens in her French translation.
18. W. T. Stead, The Revival in the West, p. 43.
19. Bois, op. cit., p. 76.
20. Ibid., p. 78.
21. Cf. the biographies of Annie Davies (10.202.001), Marie Jones (10.413.001),
Joseph Jenkins (10.406.001), Evan Lloyd Jones (10.412.001), and Sidney Evans
(10.245.001).
22. Bois, op. cit., p. 460.
23. Ibid., p. 461.
24. Ibid., p. 408.
25. Ibid., p. 409.
26. Ibid., p. 413.
27. Ibid., p. 475.
28. Ibid., p. 501.
29. Ibid., p. 549.
30. Ibid., p. 484.
31. P. Price, Western Mail 31.1.1905.
32. Zeitschrift fur Religionspsychologie 1, 1907, p. 471; cf. E. Roberts and Mrs Penn-
Lewis, War on the Saints, 1912.
33. D. Gee, VdV 48/12, Dec. 1955, p. 5.
34. E. Ponsoye, review of Bois, op. cit., in Christianisme au XXe siicle, 4.10.1906,
P- 303.
35. E. Durand, Journal de Bruxelles; Chretien Beige 55, 1905, p. 109.
36. W. T. Stead, a brilliant journalist, editor of the Review of Reviews, advocate of the
poor, opponent of the Boer War; see M. Lelievre, UEvangeliste 53/4, 27.1.1905, p. 13;
53/5, 3.2.1905, P- 17; 53/ J 2, 24.3.1905, pp. 45f.; F. W. Whyte, art. 'William Thomas
Stead', Dictionary of National Biography, igi2-iQ2i, pp. 507^
37. Stead, The Revival in Wales, p. 26.
38. Ibid., pp. 35ff.
39. Ibid., p. 32.
40. Holthey, preface to German edition of Stead, op. cit. (Die Erweckung in Wales),
p. 3-
41. The legendary ideas in Wales which identify the Celts with Israel, and the power-
ful emphasis on Old Testament social laws in opposition to the English central govern-
ment, reappear in Jeffreys's teaching in the form of the British Israel theory (05.13.037).
The struggle between the spontaneous revivalist preacher Jeffreys and the efficient
secretary Phillips in the Elim Pentecostal Church (ch. 14.1M, pp. i98f. below) can be
seen as a repetition of the conflict between the emotional Celtic Welsh and the calculat-
ing English.
42. Cf. below, ch. 15.2(0), p. 208.
43. Cf. ch. 13.2(0), pp. i85f.
The Origin of Pentecostalism in Great Britain 195
44. The title is taken from M. Harper, As at the Beginning, p. 23.
45. The title is taken from M. Harper, op. cit., pp. i5fF.
46. A. A. Boddy describes his baptism of the Spirit as follows: 'Taking a nap in the
afternoon I awoke feeling my jaws working on their own account. My jaws and tongue
began to work, but there was no voice.' About midnight 'it seemed to me as if an iron
hand were laid over my jaws. Both jaws and tongue worked incessantly, speaking and
praying with very little intermission until four o'clock in the morning.' (Fleisch,
II/2,p.76.).
47. L. Steiner, Mit folgenden Zeichen, p. 41; M. Harper, op. cit., p. 41.
48. Pfingstgriisse 5/25, 23.2.1913, pp. io~jL
49. Cf. above, ch. 2.3, pp. 22ff.
50. Cf. below, ch. 15, pp. 2o6ff.
51. Cf. below, ch. 14, pp. i97ff.
52. Cf. ch. 13. 13.4, pp. i9iff.
53. Sir R. Anderson, Spirit Manifestations, 3rd ed., 1909; Tongues of Fire, April 1907,
p. 6; July 1907, p. 6; Sept. 1907, p. 9; Oct. 1907, p. 11; Jan. 1908, p. 7; quoted in
Bloch-Hoell II, pp. 8iff.; Cf. also M. Harper, As at the Beginning, pp. 23, 93; Third
Force, p. 28.
54. Jeremy Taylor, William Law. (Details: 05.28.004a.)
55. Horton Davies, Christian Deviations, pp. 83f.
56. Ibid., p. 96.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid., p. 95.
59. Cf. ch. 31.2, pp. 467ff.
60. The title is taken from M. Harper, As at the Beginning, pp. 5iff.
61. P. L. C. Smith, P 71, 1965, p. 7; cf. also W. H. Urch, Spiritual Gifts, pp. 6f.
62. D. Webster, Pentecostalism, p. 36; cf. the writings of M. Harper published by the
Fountain Trust.
63. Iona Community, Divine Healing; I. Cowie, Healing Christ; G. F. Macleod,
Place of Healing.
64. 'As our prayer is answered and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, so we should
begin to speak in tongues as the Spirit gives us utterance.' M. Harper, Power, p. 41;
I. Cockburn, Renewal 23, Oct.-Nov. 1969, pp. 23ff.; 24, Dec. 1969-Jan. 1970, pp. 21 ff.
65. Webster, op. cit., pp. i3f.
66. Ibid., p. 39.
67. L. Dewar, Holy Spirit, p. 191.
68. Documents, statistics, literature: 05.13.021. In addition to a number of indepen-
dent single congregations there are the New Testament Church of God (61 churches,
10,500 members, journal New Testament Church of God News Bulletin, 05.13.029);
Church of God in Christ (11 churches, 1,000 members, 05.13.030); Church of God of
Prophecy (16 churches, 1,000 members, 05.13.131); International Evangelistic Fellow-
ship (journal, International Evangelistic Fellowship News, 05.13.032); Kingston City
Mission (05.13.033); Victorious Church of God (05.13.035); Church of the Living God,
the Pillar and Ground of the Truth (journal, News and Gospel Messenger; a 'Jesus only'
church; 05.13.043). (This list is probably out of date by now.)
69. M. Harper, As at the Beginning, p. 17.
70. A. A. Boddy, Pfingstgriisse 5/8, 24.11.1912, p. 63; cf. above, ch. 2.3, pp. 22ff.
71. F. Bartleman, Azusa Street, p. 29.
72. C. S. Hill, Race and Religion, p. 9.
73. Hill, West Indian Migrants, pp. 1, 5f., 61.
74. E.g. New Testament Church of God (05.12.029).
75. Du Plessis, History.
196 The Pentecostals: Europe
76. Hill, Race and Religion, p. 8.
77. 'Sect members are distinguished from non-members not by their beliefs, but by
whether or not they attend Pentecostal meetings and perform Pentecostal rituals.
Membership must be defined in terms of ritual practice, not in terms of belief. West
Indian Pentecostals never ask: "Do you believe such and such?", but always, "Do you
do such and such?" ' (M. Calley, New Society, Aug. 1964, p. 17).
78. Calley, Race 3/2, May 1962, p. 57.
79. Ibid., p. 58.
80. Hill, West Indian Migrants, pp. 73f.
81. Calley, New Society, 6.8.1964, p. 18.
82. B. R. Wilson, Sects and Society. Cf. ch. 14.3, p. 203; ch. 24.5, pp. 342ff.
83. M. J. Calley, God's People, p. 74.
84. Ibid., p. 125.
85. Ibid., p. 134.
86. Ibid., p. 135.
87. Ibid., p. 136.
88. Ibid., p. 145.
89. Ibid.
90. Records, documents, literature; 05.13.022. Statistics: 230 churches, 300 pastors,
10,000 members, 60 missionaries. Journals, Apostolic Herald, Riches of Grace.
91. T. N. Turnbull, What God Hath Wrought, p. 16.
92. J. Highet, Scottish Churches, p. 41.
93. 01.28.009. H. W. Turner, 'Nigerien', in W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Die Pfingst-
kirchen, pp. 115-24; Turner, History of an African Independent Church.
94. 04.01.006; 04.08.003; 04.09.001; 04.11.003.
95. PGG, pp. 276rT.
96. E.g. Sweden (05.07.006).
97. E.g. Assemblies of God (ch. 15, pp. 2o6ff.)
98. E.g. PHCh (02a.02.no).
99. For the discussion between the Apostolic Church and the European Pentecostal
churches: 05.05.002, 05.07.011, 05.09.009, 05.28.024.
100. Apostolic Church, Fundamentals, p. 25.
101. W. H. Lewis, And He Gave Some Apostles.
102. Apostolic Church, Its Principles and Practices, pp. 41 ff.
103. Lewis, op. cit.
104. Ibid.
105. Apostolic Church, Its Principles, p. 95.
106. Ibid., p. 124.
107. Cf. Appendix: 6, p. 518.
108. Apostolic Church, Fundamentals, p. i6f.
109. Apostolic Church, Its Principles, pp. I45f.
n o . Ibid.
i n . Ibid., p. 160.
112. Ibid., p. 147.
113. J. Highet, Scottish Churches, p. 61.
114. 05.13.045.
115. D. Gee, Wind and Flame, p. 74.
116. A. Hitzer, Die (sogenannte) Apostolische Kirche, p. 7.
*4
Charisma and Institutional Organization:
The Elim Pentecostal Churches1
i. History
The comments of the Elim Four Square Alliance were at first evasive. They
wished to avoid an open controversy. They stated that Jeffreys had been
released from his administrative tasks in order to give more time for his spiritual
work, etc. But in spite of attempts at reconcilation, the break became final. In
spite of the great respect which he enjoyed in many circles both within and
outside the Pentecostal movement, Jeffreys henceforth became an outsider.
Bryan W. Wilson, a sociologist at the University of Oxford, has written an
illuminating sociological study of the Elim movement.9 His view is that the
breach with George Jeffreys became unavoidable the moment the Elim Pente-
costal Churches changed from a 'tribal community' drawn together by a single
leader into a denomination with a complete organizational structure, in which the
charismatic leader no longer felt at ease and had to give way to the master of
organizational routine, the Secretary of the movement. Wilson does not regard
Jeffreys's struggle simply as a struggle for power. In his view Jeffreys was pro-
foundly disturbed by the institutionalization that was taking place, once he
became aware of it.10 On the other hand, it was necessary for the movement, if
it was to survive in the struggle for existence between the denominations, to
introduce the impersonal machinery of routine administration. Wilson's account
has been welcomed by the present-day leaders of the Bible Pattern Church
Fellowship,11 but rejected by the leaders of the Elim Pentecostal Churches. The
latter assert that Wilson's sources12 are unreliable, and that Wilson sought his
information solely amongst the adherents of Jeffreys.13
The Elim Pentecostal Churches see the main reason for the breach in the
growing emphasis laid by Jeffreys on the British Israel theory.14
One of Stephen Jeffreys's sons, Edward Jeffreys, who was also a great evan-
gelist and a talented singer, founded another organization, the Bethel Evan-
gelistic Association,15 which no longer taught the baptism of the Spirit in the
Pentecostal sense (the second generation!),16 although Edward Jeffreys had
received this experience as a boy. The Jeffreys brothers possessed extraordinary
natural talents, such as the Pentecostal movement, in Europe at least, has
scarcely ever produced since. These talents did not consist of 'American gim-
mickry'. By simple, powerful and logically structured addresses they captured
the minds and hearts of audiences thousands strong.
200 The Pentecostals: Europe
(c) The transformation into an organized church
In the successive issues of the Elim Evangel one can observe two parallel
processes: the improvement of the social standing of Elim members and the
decreasing emphasis on the characteristic doctrines of Pentecostalism:
God does not bless us just because we have creeds and 'fundamentals'. We
are often in danger of being more concerned with verbal assent to a set of
fixed doctrines as the criterion of Tightness than a heart experience of Jesus
Christ. I feel that God meets a man not on how much he knows about 'truth'
but upon his reaching out after Himself. Cornelius is an example. The Holy
Spirit came on him and his family before they made any verbal 'confession
of faith'. It is rather shattering to read David Du Plessis saying that there is a
great outpouring of Pentecost today among the 'liberal' and 'ecclesiastical'
sections of Christendom, but none at all among the 'Fundamentalists'. Why ?
Is it because the latter are more taken up with the 'letter that killeth' than
the 'Spirit which giveth life' ?17
The confession of faith made by young Elim members does not include the
specific doctrines of Pentecostalism.18 Young Elim members are no longer
characterized by their refusal to use cosmetics.19 To this extent Wilson's
sociological study is already out of date.
2. Points of Doctrine
The confession of faith of the Elim Pentecostal churches20 shows that it is a
moderate Pentecostal group, but contains a number of notable contrasts with
American Pentecostals. It teaches the inspiration of the Bible,21 but not a
'mechanical inspiration, in which it is implied that the human writer was no
more than the passive amanuensis'.22 But the doctrine that speaking in tongues
is the 'initial sign of the Baptism' is rejected as 'not valid'.23 The gifts of the
Spirit are important, but they should be restricted in accordance with precisely
defined criteria.24 With regard to the healing of the sick through prayer, Elim
maintains the rational principles set forth by Jeffreys: 'There is no authority in
Scripture for the view that every saint who is suffering from sickness and disease
is out of line with the will of God.'25 However, the newspaper Mercury investi-
gated a number of cases of healing performed by Jeffreys and 'found no relapse
in cases of healing of curvature of the spine and blindness'.26
There was originally great emphasis on the expectation of the imminent
second coming of Jesus. In 1931 it was proclaimed that 'Bible students' had
recognized that the year 1932 would be a year of crisis,27 and it was announced
that the second coming of Christ would be 'the next great world event'. Al-
though apocalyptic theories were an important theme in evangelization at the
beginning of the Elim movement, to the extent that in their light even pacifism
was rejected and actually singled out as unbiblical,28 such theories no longer
The Elim Pentecostal Churches 201
seem to have any hold upon the members. In a commentary on a Pentecostal
hymn which expresses a longing for a world to come, the Elim Evangel can make
the statement that no one believes in it. We are all worldly, even those who do not
go to the cinema, for in its place we have built up an entertainment industry of
our own (choirs, film shows).29 In fact the Welsh origin of the Elim movement
has meant that music has always played a prominent part in it. The Elim
Crusader Choir, led by a talented musician, Douglas Gray, often sings on the
radio and in prisons. In a well-informed article Gray puts the case for the
recognition by the church of the value in its congregational services of musicians
who have had a proper musical training. He asks that organists, trumpeters,
clarinettists and singers, many of whom have had a first-class musical training,
should not suddenly have to abandon in the Elim meetings everything which at
their schools of music they have been taught to take for granted. This problem
is becoming an urgent one for a considerable number of professional musicians
who belong to the Elim movement.30 Perhaps in this observation Gray has in
mind his colleague J. H. Davies, who condemns jazz as an immature form of
music.31
In the encounter with the natural sciences most members of the Elim Churches
in fact accept that there is a long interval of time between Gen. 1.1 and Gen. 1.2.32
Similarly, the Elim movement allows the expression of different views about
the time taken for the creation of the world. The six days of creation can be
understood in a symbolic sense. But no concessions are made beyond this.
During the 1930s there were attacks on the theory of evolution in almost every
number of the Elim Evangel, For believers it was only a 'fairy tale'. The same
view was repeated in 1953, with the regretful comment:
The sad part about it is that this kind of nonsense is . . . taught from textbooks
of the tax-supported schools . . . broadcast over the wireless, and headlined
across the great dailies and the best magazines . . . Evolution is the greatest
farce ever foisted on an unsuspecting public.33
Recently Russel Evans34 attempted with the aid of the theory of relativity, the
introduction of the concept of the 'realms of non-physical reality', in which the
laws of causality are supposed not to hold, and by means of a new understanding
of the creatio continua, to establish a better relationship between natural science
and faith.
There is cause to believe that the ethical rigorism described by Wilson is no
longer in force at the present day. Originally there was a firm insistence on the
traditional English Sunday,35 the ten commandments,36 the prohibition of
illustrated magazines,37 the radio,38 and the cinema.39 But at the present day
these ordinances seemed to have lost their hold.
202 The Pentecostals: Europe
The churches have done their jobs so well that the average man now believes
that anything but Gothic, with music to match, would be wicked, and that
religion in modern dress would be sacrilege. He assumes it is not 'proper'
religion unless it is garbed in the fashion of the Middle Ages. The masses
like Pentecostal services, but their breeding makes them suspicious of a
service they can actually enjoy and appreciate.45
Today the Elim church itself has to struggle against 'chills' in its services -
otherwise it would not have to make appeals for greater warmth of feeling
towards newcomers.46
According to Wilson, the poverty of Elim members should not be over-
emphasized. It is true that the Elim movement grew great at a time of economic
depression, but the reasons why a distinctive religious group came into being
are not always the same as the reasons why it continues in existence.47 Wilson
describes the Elim church as a place in which individual neurosis can be drawn
up into the worship and utilized in this common liturgical activity. Admittedly,
it has developed its own methods for this, but there is much to be said for the
analogy of group therapy under the guidance of a minister of religion. The
frequent and emotionally intense services with their spontaneous testimonies
create a situation similar to that of the therapeutic dramatic encounters ex-
perienced in group therapy. The Elim member, afraid to express himself in
public, experiences a feeling of dramatic tension which is resolved when the
psychological blockage is overcome in speaking in tongues - which is analogous
to the practice of free association in the group-dynamic process. The Elim
congregation is carrying out an unconscious psycho-therapeutic function, helps
to overcome loneliness, anxiety and fear, releases emotional blockages in
cathartic sessions and makes it possible for the individual to integrate himself
into a community by passing through and leaving behind him a shared experi-
ence of guilt for the past (loneliness, misfortune, remorse, and everything else
associated with sin).
204 The Pentecostals: Europe
It is interesting that the Elim pastor H. W. Greenway gives a similar inter-
pretation of Elim services. He draws attention to the ways in which emotional
tension can be released in art and sport, and to the lack of these in the church.
But emotional stress situations, he points out, cannot be overcome by argument.
It is foolish in these cases to say: 'Pull yourself together.' That is exactly
what these folk are unable to do; the torment of unsatisfied desire is too
strong for that, and all attempts to repress natural urges only seem to com-
plicate the nervous tension. Nor does a pose of horror help. People with
nervous breakdowns resulting from sexual causes, are usually overwhelmed
with shame at having to confess defeat on this particular level. Virtue is their
objective, but impurity their experience; or at least, that is how they feel
about it. The thing must be faced for what it is; sexual difficulties are not
resolved by ignoring them.
NOTES
i. Origins
I N THE course of the years, the conferences organized in Kingsway Hall,
London, by Cecil Polhill2 took on more and more the character of an inter-
denominational evangelical conference and lost their specifically Pentecostal
note. Although prophecy and speaking in tongues were not suppressed, they
were no longer encouraged, 'more through fear of inability to deal with resultant
situations'3 than for any reason of principle. Donald Gee recounts an example
which seems to him typical:
A lady soloist was announced for a sacred song of the professional type. Just
as the accompanist was going to strike up the opening chords on the piano,
a Pentecostal Missionary Union4 missionary in the congregation, home on
furlough, began to speak in tongues. The Lord graciously gave the accom-
panist5 the interpretation, but the soloist had to stand waiting until it was
completed before she could proceed with the music. In a more truly Pente-
costal atmosphere such an informal interruption would have been charming;
but in this case the lady probably was considerably embarrassed. However,
we went through with the piece.6
Once the Apostolic Church7 and the Elim Pentecostal Churches8 had adopted
the formal characteristics of distinct organizations, many small congregations
came into existence throughout the country, which gave general support to the
Pentecostal Missionary Union and its missionaries through its Missionary
Committee, but otherwise had no organizational link. Many Pentecostals
still belonged to other churches, especially since up to the 1920s the counsel of
the Anglican clergyman A. A. Boddy was generally accepted: 'Receive the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but remain in your church, whatever the denom-
ination may be.'9 As the Pentecostal influence in Polhill's Kingsway Hall
conferences declined, the tendency towards an evangelical interdenominational
Donald Gee and the Assemblies of God 207
structure for the Pentecostal Missionary Union grew less. In spite of this
there was resistance to the formation of the Assemblies of God, for many of its
founders had experienced in their own persons the disadvantages of an organ-
ized church. But there was no longer any way to avoid organization. In the
founding assembly of 1 February 1924 it was resolved:
1. That we do not intend identifying ourselves as, or establishing ourselves
into, a sect, that is a human organization, with centralized legislative
power.
2. We do, however, recognize the need and recommend the adoption of
scriptural methods and order for worship, unity, fellowship, work and
business for God, disapproving of all unscriptural methods.10
By contrast with the centrally organized Elim congregations, most of which
had been founded by George Jeffreys, the Assemblies of God consisted of local
congregations which had come into being independently of each other, which
did not wish to abandon their congregational autonomy, and which could
therefore only join a federal organization of the congregationalist kind. In spite
of this, the step to organization as a separate and distinct church had been taken
under the pressure of circumstances. In 1925 the Pentecostal Missionary Union
was dissolved and the Assemblies of God took over its missionaries. As a result
the Anglicans Boddy and Polhill lost their influence in the British Pentecostal
movement.
Now followed a period of large evangelization and healing campaigns with
Stephen Jeffreys, Smith Wigglesworth,11 John Carter and others. The story is
told of Stephen Jeffreys, *a miracle in the hands of God', that in Sunderland
people were queueing outside the assembly hall as early as ten o'clock the night
before, to obtain admission the following afternoon: for often several thousand
people could not obtain admittance to his evangelization meetings.
In his assessment of the healing campaigns Donald Gee does not overlook
their questionable features: mechanical and auto-suggestive methods of healing,
the relatively small numbers healed, the considerable difference between those
who 'professed conversion in the campaigns' and those who later joined the
Assemblies. On the other hand the campaigns brought the concern of the
Pentecostal movement for evangelization to the public notice and into the press.
Nor should the fact be overlooked that the sound human understanding of the
British evangelists restrained them from too great extravagances.
In spite of these large evangelization campaigns the British Pentecostal
movement has remained a relatively small group (altogether just under 100,000).
Donald Gee has examined the reasons for this development, so different from
that in the Scandinavian, Italian and French Pentecostal movements. He comes
to the following conclusion. The leaders in the early years understood the
Pentecostal movement as a revival movement within the existing churches, and
therefore did not encourage the setting up of distinct Pentecostal congregations.
208 The Pentecostals: Europe
The first Pentecostal pastors were often men of good-will, but 'crude and
ungifted'. 'The baptism in the Spirit was construed as making its recipients
not only "witnesses", but competent preachers and leaders in the Assemblies.'12
In addition there were sometimes also 'crudities of behaviour', neglect of
external factors, and a disproportionate emphasis on foreign missions. In my
view the reason for the phenomenon seems to be one which Gee does not
mention. As long as the Pentecostal movement remained within the existing
churches, there was little room for the activity of capable non-theologians in the
service of the congregation. At that time there had not even been a theoretical
discovery of the laity in ecumenical discussions! Thus many of their pastors
preached part-time; the best people were - with a few exceptions - sent into
the mission field and to the continent. This is also a reason for the decisive
importance of the British Pentecostal movement for many European Pentecostal
bodies. We now go on to give a fuller account of the most important of its
teachers.
The doctrine that speaking with other tongues is the initial evidence of the
baptism in the Holy Spirit rests upon the accumulated evidence of the
recorded cases in the books of Acts where this experience is received. Any
doctrine on this point must necessarily be confined within these limits for its
basis, for the New Testament contains no plain, categorical statement any-
where as to what must be regarded as the sign.17
. . . . that speaking with tongues is the scriptural initial evidence of the baptism
in the Holy Spirit I hold . . . to be right. . . . The soul becomes intoxicated
with such a divine ecstasy that it is beyond all ordinary forms of speech... .
With all due respect we refuse to be satisfied that so-called 'Pentecostal'
experiences without a physical manifestation are valid according to the scrip-
tural pattern or even common logic.19
He had not changed his opinion in 1962.20 But it was always accompanied
by his untiring struggle for an understanding of the non-fundamentalist
churches, although he himself was a fundamentalist.21 He found this struggle
very hard, since he was opposed not only in Britain,22 but above all by the
American Assemblies of God.23 He made skilful use of the positive response
which Pentecostals had received in various circles within the existing churches,24
and could point to the experiences of the baptism of the Spirit in American
Protestant churches.25 But this did not prevent him from giving a friendly
210 The Pentecostals: Europe
warning to the Protestant and Anglican theologians who had experienced the
baptism of the Spirit:
Many of you are trained theologians with a good academic background. Do
not, now you have tasted spiritual gifts, become fanatical in your repudiation
of consecrated scholarship. Let the Spirit of truth set it all on fire and use it
for the glory of God. Some of us in our early folly set a premium upon
ignorance.26
From the time of the Full Assembly of the World Council of Churches in
Amsterdam he kept up a friendly commentary on the efforts of the World
Council. Gee's view of these efforts towards the unity of Christians, 'that they
all may be one', was
that it would be churlish, to say the least, not to welcome its progress.... It
is all very well to talk about the unity of the Spirit as transcending our
denominational and ideological differences, but that fact does not absolve us
from efforts at manifesting an outward fellowship also.27
He tried to give encouragement to his friend David J. Du Plessis, who because
of his open-minded attitude to the World Council of Churches had been expelled
('disfellowshipped') from the American Assemblies of God.28 Under pressure
from the same fundamentalist majority within the Pentecostal movement which
made life bitter for Du Plessis and claimed that the World Council of Churches
was 'miles apart from the Pentecostals', he had to turn down an invitation to the
Full Assembly of the World Council of Churches in New Delhi.29
Instead he presented his disputatious friends with a fiery article entitled
'Are We Fundamental Enough ?' In answer to the charge that at the present
day we are not living at a time in which we can compromise, he replied:
True . . . , but they are days for deep searchings of heart, and perhaps for
reassessment of some things we have cherished in easier days, when we could
afford the luxury of denominational strife and division. We are making our-
selves liable to become companions of John and excommunicate those who
have not signed on our dotted lines. We want all men to be 'with us' rather
than 'for' the Son of God. Heresy-hunting is often a mark, for the discerning,
of a receding fullness of the Spirit. We persecute, and we are persecuted, for
things that are only relatively important. Yet we pride ourselves, we are fight-
ing the battle of the Lord.30
His expression of approval of ancient liturgical forms in his dialogue with the
Pentecostal movement within the existing churches is a fine example of his lack
of prejudice:
There may be a deep wisdom in this new charismatic revival that is touching
so many in the older denominations if they can maintain their liturgies and
forms of public worship under a new touch of the Spirit. There is no funda-
mental reason why time-honoured orders of worship cannot be touched with
Donald Gee and the Assemblies of God 211
Pentecostal fire, unless they embody some unscriptural error.... The need
is for re-vitalizing, not destruction by an explosion of fanaticism. The last
error may be worse than the first. We believe that there is a beauty of holiness
that is not human but divine. . . . The 'open' type of meeting . . . can degener-
ate into something more wearisome and stereotyped than any devoutly used
liturgy.... Much needless anxiety would be spared the sincere disciple if it
was recognized that the normal is the will of God. It leads to a hopeless con-
tradiction of ideas if Revivalism insists upon making the abnormal the regular
pattern. The Christian life is walking with God . . ., not a system of jerks along
the upward way.31
The same is true of the pastor. Under the title 'Could this happen to us ?',
F. J. B. Sumner describes the tragic suicide of a Presbyterian minister. In
objective, sympathetic and accurate terms - in part by quoting Talmadge -
Sumner describes the senselessness of expecting all the work and all the in-
spiration to come from the pastor, something which clearly also seems to be
becoming usual in the Assemblies of God. Who would not agree with his
complaint:
It is not hard study that makes the minister look pale. It is the infinity of
interruptions and botherations to which they are subjected. If I die before
my time, it will be at the hand of committees that want an address or a lec-
ture.67
Sumner makes the sober observation:
It is sad to realise that many of our ministers have suffered nervous break-
Donald Gee and the Assemblies of God 215
downs - some more than one. Often distress over financial matters has been
a major contributing factor.68
An observant reader points out that pastors share the blame for this situation.
The first Christian congregations
were a body of men functioning as a body, and had it been left to the same
man each time, week after week, month after month, year in year out, he
would soon have felt the strain, and isn't this the position of many of our
pastors today, how many we hear of having to rest with nervous trouble.
But he wonders if the first Christians
sat in rows listening to one man all the evening.. . . We do not need to be fed
on the Word, we need to feed on the Word: a big difference. If I was still
feeding my children in their teens with a spoon, then something would be
drastically wrong. At this age they feed themselves . . ,69
NOTES
In spite of Blumhardt they did not hesitate to conduct a polemic against the
Social Democrats, who were spreading 'fanatical hatred against authority',
jealousy and envy towards others', and were 'pulling down the fences of moral
dignity'.23 The difficulties of Christian Socialist pastors in Switzerland were
remarked upon with satisfaction.24 The same journal, however, recommends
plays for the celebration of the Kaiser's birthday within the Evangelical fellow-
ships; these included C. Offermann's I am a Prussian and Karl Lorenz's In
Enemy Country. And in general, during the first world war, Evangelical Chris-
tians showed an enthusiasm for the war which seems extremely questionable to
a present-day reader.
After weary years spent reading the literature of the Evangelical movement
around the turn of the century, I have become convinced that by its polemic
against academic theology, its blindness to questions of social policy and its
exaggerated apocalyptic views, the Evangelical movement did not merely pre-
pare the way for the Pentecostal movement, but by neglecting scholarly exegesis
deprived itself of the only means of putting to rational use the fruitful impulses
that came from the Pentecostal movement, without becoming completely at their
mercy, and rendered itself incapable of making a pertinent criticism of the
Pentecostal movement without accusing it of being of diabolical origin.
(b) The propagation in the German Evangelical movement of the baptism of the
Spirit, later condemned as 'diabolicaV
In Germany in 1904 the expectation of a revival, under the influence of
events in Wales, 'had risen almost to boiling point'.25
There was preaching about the fullness of Pentecost, the fullness of the Holy
Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, which the believing congregation can experi-
ence if only it earnestly longs for it.26
After Dr Torrey . . . had set out the conditions laid down in the Bible for
baptism with the Holy Spirit... he made stand up all those who were ready
222 The Pentecostals: Europe
to give everything, even what was dearest and best, in order to receive every-
thing from God. Several hundred of the children of God stood up in the hall.
Torrey now prayed that the Holy Spirit might come down upon all who
desired him . . . I can only say of myself that a marvellous gentle stream of fire
came down over me from above, and it seemed to me that if I had opened my
eyes, which I had covered, I would have seen a flame of fire throughout the
whole hall.28
The cloud of blessing under which we stand comes lower and lower, and in
many and various places one can see how the streams of grace are pouring
down and bringing forth new life in the wilderness.42
From what we have said, no doubt remains that this case, to which Seitz and
the opponents of the Pentecostals have so often referred, had nothing to do
with true possession or with diabolically inspired spiritualism. Seitz and,
following him, the leaders of the Evangelical movement, allowed themselves
to be completely influenced by statements of a hysterical girl. This is all the
more striking, when we remember that the 'Berlin Declaration' explicitly
criticized the Pentecostal movement on the grounds that men, and their whole
work, were placed in slavish dependence upon the 'messages' of women and
young girls.69
M. Michaelis fell victim to a similar error to that of Seitz. Accepting a
hysterical girl as inspired by the Spirit, he accused a City Missionary of
being a fanatic. Krawielitzki wrote to one of the brethren: T do not believe
that the brethren of the Pentecostal movement have been possessed by demons,
and equally do not believe that the poor mentally ill girl [he refers to the case
The Origin of the Pentecostal Movement in Germany 227
described by Seitz] was really possessed. I am profoundly convinced from my
own experiences and tests that both the prophecies of the Pentecostal breth-
ren, and the alleged demonic utterances exploited by the opponents of the
Pentecostals, have one and the same origin - their own psyche, by which they
allowed themselves to be deceived, so coming to regard the tangle of thoughts
in the sub-conscious mind as divine prophecies or demonic possession.70
In my view it is incomprehensible that the leaders of the Evangelical move-
ment at the present day should maintain their former view, when an unpreju-
diced judgment of the eventsfiftyyears ago by a psychiatrist, and an objective
study of the present-day position, would lead to a completely different posi-
tion from that laid down in 1909. Consequently, the Berlin Declaration now
urgently requires serious revision and correction of its contents. It can no
longer be maintained in force, because it is based on numerous false assump-
tions about demonic possession.71
More cautious observers, particularly doctors, had already expressed similar
views more than fifty years ago. Jansen regarded the emotional outbursts in the
Pentecostal movement as 'epidemic' and asked, with reference to the theologians
who accused the Pentecostal movement of 'demonism', 'Has civilization with
all the achievements of laborious scientific investigation completely passed
them by?' 72
Another doctor, F. Mohr, who is clearly a Freudian, claims to find in Dall-
meyer an 'erotic impulse' which forms a sub-conscious part of the force under-
lying his religion.73 According to Mohr, 'the same spirit is at work in those who
speak in tongues and in the opponents within the Evangelical movement'.74 For
Mohr, however, there is no question
that with the whole movement of speaking in tongues we have an explicitly
pathological phenomenon. The whole enormous emotion which is to be found
there, the abdication of the critical faculty to the point of imbecility, the over-
emphasis placed on certain ideas derived from religious tradition and not
even rightly understood, and above all the phenomenon of over-excitation or
alternatively of paralysis of the motor nervous system, are all pathological.75
Mohr comments on Jonathan Paul: 'He is as it were a visible example of the way
in which sexual energy can be forcibly diverted into other directions.'76
For the moment I record this interpretation without comment. However,
important aspects of non-pathological speaking with tongues seem to me to be
ignored by it.77 One thing is certain, and that is that the categories of psychiatry
and psychology are wholly sufficient to explain the weaknesses of the Pentecostal
movement. The theologians of the Evangelical movement have no need to drag
in the devil!
In a study which is still of value today Mosimann affirms:
The speaking in tongues mentioned in the New Testament and that in the
Pentecostal movement are identical from the phenomenological point of view.
The speaking 'with other tongues' at Pentecost was essentially the same
228 The Pentecostah: Europe
phenomenon as the speaking with tongues at Corinth and that at the present
day, an incomprehensible ecstatic utterance. 78 But tradition magnified it into
a miraculous speaking in unknown foreign tongues, and the author of the Acts
of the Apostles then perpetuated this tradition. 79
All this, however, has not prevented widely published church journals from
hawking around up to the present day the untenable assertion that the Pente-
costal movement is of satanic origin. 80
The reason for this indiscriminate condemnation on the part of many German
theologians of the Evangelical movement is the fact that their links with the
Pentecostal movement are too close, with the result that the only remaining
difference is the labelling of the same phenomena as 'spiritual' in their own camp
and 'satanic' amongst the Pentecostals. In particular, they share with the Pente-
costals an unrelieved fundamentalism, while as early as 1910 critical biblical
scholars could have shown them the way to a judgment which was more just
and more in accord with the facts.
NOTES
i. Historical Background
{a) The failure of the theologians of the Evangelical movement and the movement's
'bill of divorcement"
O N 15 September 1909 the leaders of the Evangelical movement met in Berlin,
and in the absence of the Pentecostals passed sentence on the Pentecostal
movement. Many passages of the 'Berlin Declaration', which was drawn up
there and which represents the 'bill of divorcement' of the German Evangelicals,
are aimed not merely against the teachings of the Pentecostal movement, but
also against cherished ideas which had been defended for years within the
Evangelical movement itself.2 The reply of the Pentecostals3 and the attempts
at mediation by the 'neutrals'4 were without effect.
The Berlin Declaration soon proved to be a firm defence against further
enthusiastic excesses. And it also healed the rift in the Evangelical movement.
The period of revival and Holiness movements was over.5
Since an outstanding scholarly history of the Pentecostal movement up to
1945 exists in German,6 this period can be dealt with very briefly.
(b) Early organization
The Christlicher Gemeinschaftsverband GmbH Mulheim/Ruhr (Miilheim
Association of Christian Fellowships) regards itself not as a 'new church
organization' but as 'a "movement", the working of the Spirit in the life of
members of all churches'.7 Nevertheless a minimum of organization came into
existence. In particular the new Pentecostal movement had to make it clear what
constituted the leadership of the church, with power to install pastors:
This takes place according to the example of holy Scripture through men of
God who are divinely authenticated and also possess the full trust of the
fellowship.8
232 The Pentecostals: Europe
These 'men of God' included Edel, Paul, Humburg and Friemel. There were,
however, objections to the exercise of authority in the church by 'divinely
authenticated brethren', on the part of those who regarded any organization
which went beyond local congregations as a betrayal of the gospel. From amongst
them arose what became known as 'free Pentecostal Congregations'. These
later joined together to form the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christengemeinden
(Working Fellowship of Christian Churches),9 which itself was centrally organ-
ized on a national level.
(d) The tensions between the Miilheim movement and the rest of the Pentecostal
movement
The strength of the Miilheim movement lies in its criticism of the rest of the
Pentecostal movement. These criticisms, however, almost invariably fell upon
deaf ears. The observation was sometimes made that in spite of its relative
closeness to the churches of the Reformation, it was much more firmly rejected
by the latter than were, for example, the North and South American Pentecostal
groups with their much more radical theology.
The Miilheim movement rightly acknowledges that the fragmentation of the
Pentecostal movement does immense damage to its testimony. The total re-
jection of all established churches by the American Pentecostal churches, when
compared with the more qualified view of them held in the Miilheim movement
(although until recently it received very little genuine theological help from
them) makes it hard for American Pentecostals to understand what they see as
the 'lukewarm' Miilheim movement. For this reason, those who report to the
American Assemblies of God omit from their report about Germany the largest
Pentecostal group in Germany, the Miilheim movement.21 Instead they em-
phasize the 'ineffectiveness of state-supported churches'22 and make the false
assertion that in East Berlin 'only one meeting place is allowed for all Protestant
Christians'.23 At the Fifth World Pentecostal Conference in Toronto in 1958,
the Miilheim movement made an appeal to the Reformation principle of
Scripture alone', in a declaration which drew attention to the traditionalism of
Pentecostalism, which it was claimed, threatened to overshadow the testimony
of Scripture.24
2. On Doctrine
Krust's book, Was wir glauben, lehren und bekennen ('What we Believe, Teach
and Confess'), written with the co-operation of the Pastors' Council, is a con-
siderable theological achievement. By contrast to many Pentecostal publications,
it is very brief and concise, so that it is difficult to summarize. It also differs
from the usual run of Pentecostal works on dogmatic theology, in that on most
points there had to be a mention of the particular view of the Miilheim group.
This book is indispensable for a knowledge of the present-day theology of the
Miilheim group. It begins with the classical Christian creeds (the Apostolic,
the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds), and then deals with various points of
236 The Pentecostals: Europe
dogmatic theology. It gives a sentence summarizing the view put forward,
which is then interpreted by commentaries from Reformation writings, from
the work of modern academic theologians, and by the opinions of the author.
We shall summarize a few of the main points.
[We proclaim] on the basis of the vital and unique event in which is repre-
sented by Pentecost... the necessity and possibility of receiving power from
on high not only for a godly life, but also as an authoritative testimony to
Christ, and of being endowed with the gifts of the Spirit (according to I Cor.
12, Rom. 12 and Eph. 4) for effective service . . .
If anyone should say, 'This is the same as other denominations teach,'
we should reply: Thank God! We do not wish to preach any unique message
of our own; we desire to be unique only in proclaiming the central issue
effectively and with authority and in demonstrating it in our personal lives
and in our church life.30
The Mulheim Association of Christian Fellowships 237
Hermann Schopwinkel, one of the leaders of the Gnadauer Gemeinschafts-
verband (the Gnadau Evangelical Union - the association which unites the
evangelical fellowships within the established churches) has made the following
criticism of this summary:
Dear Brother Krust,
I found your second book no less disappointing than the first. In the first
you put abroad false historical accounts, and in the second you conceal the fact
that Mulheim has for many years taught quite differently, and as a result has
brought about much evil and confusion . . . So long as you remain associated
with the world-wide Pentecostal movement, and so long as you do not retract
your first book and withdraw it from sale, and do not admit in your second
book that for many long years Mulheim has spread a false doctrine, it is
impossible for me, and certainly impossible for Gnadau to offer you the hand
of fellowship. With deep sadness,
Your old friend,
Hermann Schopwinkel31
There is no doubt that Krust's hope represents an advance upon the earlier
teaching of the Mulheim movement. But Krust can appeal to a powerful
tradition within the history of his movement. In the teaching of Jonathan Paul
in particular, different views seem to exist in parallel with each other.
Paul's teaching has not been properly understood, either by his opponents38
or by his friends. Admittedly, Paul has been to some extent responsible for this
by reason of his obscure and contradictory accounts, which are the result of the
different pastoral situations in which they were made. If one attempts to reduce
to a clear formula the doctrine of sanctification, expressed, in a laborious, inflated
style, in his voluminous writings, it turns out to be a doctrine of perfection such
as had already been taught by Wesley.39 This can be clearly seen from his
concept of sin:
Only culpable failings are sin, not blameless ones . . . Where there is dis-
obedience there is sin; and where there is obedience, there is no sin, but
human shortsightedness and limitation . . . Consequently, a pure heart is a
heart purified of disobedience (Heb. 8.10). We see from this that what matters
is not the extent of the knowledge one possesses, but obedience... Thus what
matters is that according to one's knowledge one is obedient to the Spirit of
God and allows oneself to be led by him.40
3. Still Brethren
On 4 July 1959 a discussion took place in Hagen between the Mulheim move-
ment and the German Evangelical Alliance, which led to a union.49 But the
Gnadau Union remained as distrustful as before, although at a meeting on
30 October 1963 in Darmstadt H. Haarbeck affirmed that 'all the principal
objections which Gnadau has felt obliged to make against the Mulheim move-
ment on the basis of the holy Scripture have been settled in a clear doctrinal
fashion'.50 This attitude can only be explained by the fact that the Gnadau
movement regards its battle against the Pentecostal movement as its life work.51
Hutten's assessment of the situation is more positive. On 27 May 1964 he
wrote to Krust:
I have done my best to study as profoundly as possible the history of the
Mulheim Association, and can clearly see that its leaders, after the early period
of confusion, devoted themselves with great energy to ensuring that the
Association was guided by holy Scripture and rejected dangerous temptations
and developments with increasing clarity and decisiveness. As a result it has
come to have a unique position in the whole Pentecostal movement. In this
way it could and really must form a point of reference for the other Pente-
costal bodies in Germany and in the world. This would avert numerous
dangers. Unfortunately the others are too convinced that they are right and
follow their own way . . . 52
In the meantime the Arbeitsgemeinschaft christlicher Kirchen (Working
The Mulheim Association of Christian Fellowships 241
Association of Christian Churches, a kind of German Council of Churches) in
Frankfurt intervened. More discussions and contacts with the Mulheim move-
ment took place, but Gnadau continued to stand aside. The consultation in
June 1967 between the Mulheim movement and the Working Association was
particularly important.53
The second working party (November 1969), on the understanding of the
Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments,54 included not only representatives
of the established churches (Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic), the
Free Churches and the Mulheim movement, but also pastors from the Pente-
costal Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christengemeinden (Working Fellowship of
Christian Churches).55 The teaching and religious practice of the last group
is somewhat similar to that of the Assemblies of God. The discussions turned
out to be very valuable, although Ferdinand Hahn, the New Testament pro-
fessor in Heidelberg, stated quite frankly in his introductory paper that he
regarded critical and historical exegesis, if not as the only possible method of
Bible study, at least as one which was essential and valuable in the present
discussion. The future is likely to bring the Pentecostal movement and the
other churches in Germany closer together. This can also be seen from the
fact that the Mulheim movement sent its secretary, Christian Krust, as an
observer delegate to the Fourth Full Assembly of the World Council of Churches
in Uppsala (1968). It could well be that his paper in Uppsala on the subject
of the Pentecostal movement and ecumenism56 may be the beginning of a new
ecumenical phase in the history of the Mulheim movement.
It is even more important for the Mulheim Association to enter into dialogue
not only with the churches, but also with biblical scholars. This is the only way
in which it can maintain the Reformation position which it has come to adopt
and represent so emphatically within the rest of the Pentecostal movement.
With its congregations in mind, it may be hard for Mulheim to admit that it
has on occasion advanced teachings contrary to the spirit of the Reformation -
though the German Evangelical movement has done just the same. Because of
its numerous publications aimed against the Pentecostal movement, it will be
some time before Gnadau can finally renounce the 'Berlin Declaration'. To do
as Gnadau does, and demand that Mulheim should break with the world-wide
Pentecostal movement, is short-sighted parish pump politics. In Africa and
Latin America the Pentecostal congregations will one day form an essential part
of the Protestant churches there. It would be a real ecumenical aim for an open-
minded German Pentecostal movement, recognized by its fellow Protestant
churches, to show them the way towards a Reformation theology.
242 The Pentecostah: Europe
NOTES
i. First Steps
I N THE last few years the way has been prepared within the established Protes-
tant churches and the free churches in Germany for a new 'charismatic revival'.
According to Wilhard Becker1 three elements go to make up this process:
(a) The rediscovery of the laity in the church
This movement, which can be observed in every church in the world, received
a great impetus in Germany as a result of the war, when congregations grew
accustomed to existing without their ministers, who were at the front.
(b) The ecumenical element
In trenches, concentration camps and prisoner-of-war camps, or during
air raids, people of different denominations and groups were forced together
by external pressure and shared a common fate and life.
Confessional boundaries were of secondary importance. A common eucharist
was celebrated against all church regulations.
These experiences proved strong enough to lead to the formation of lasting
contacts after the disappearance of the external circumstances, and to lead to
the formation of new groups.2
(c) Eschatological character
The war was interpreted as a period of trial, preparation and sanctification.
Evangelistic movements, team missions, and associations resembling religious
orders3 sprang into life, and prophecy, speaking in tongues and the healing of
the sick through prayer occurred spontaneously in them.
Through the ecumenical church conferences of the Swiss Christian Service
Association, which has been held for many years in Riischlikon (Switzerland),
A New Chance ? 245
the first contacts were made with Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic
Christians, who have also undergone charismatic experiences. But these
fellowships and groups rarely discussed the gifts of the Spirit at work amongst
them, and published no 'news letters', so that the charismatic life present
amongst them exercised an effect only on those who came into direct contact
with such groups.4
NOTES
1. W. Becker, in R. F. Edel (ed.), Kirche und Charisma, pp. i6of.
2. W.-E. Failing, in W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Die Pfingstkirchen, p. 132.
3. E.g. 'Evangelische Marienschwestern' (Protestant Sisters of Mary), 'Vereinigung
vom gemeinsamen Leben' (Society of the Common Life).
4. W.-E. Failing, op. cit.
5. In the USA, see above, ch. 1, pp. 3ff.
6. A. Bittlinger, letter to W.H., 18.12.1963.
7. A. Bittlinger, 'Bedeutung der Charismen', pp. gf. For a discussion of the gifts of
the Spirit see below, ch. 25.4, p. 370; also Bittlinger, Gifts and Graces, pp. 7off.
8. A Bittlinger, 'Bedeutung der Charismen', p. 11.
250 The Pentecostah: Europe
9. A. Bittlinger, Das Sprachenreden, Preface.
10. See bibliography.
I I . W.-E. Failing, in W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Die Pfingstkirchen, pp. 131-45.
12. Cf. T. Wieser (ed.), Planning for Mission.
13. A. Bittlinger, Der fruchristliche Gottesdienst, p. 9.
14. E. Kasemann, Exegetische Versuche I, p. 119; ET: Essays on NT Themes, pp. 75f.:
'Paul's doctrine of the charismata is to be understood as the projection into ecclesiology
of the doctrine of justification by faith and as such makes it unmistakably clear that a
purely individualistic interpretation of justification cannot legitimately be constructed
from the Apostle's own teaching.'
15. 'A situation in which all Christians are regarded as endowed with charisma is a
situation which does not admit the possibility of sacred space, sacred time, the right of
representative action in the cult, of sacred persons,.. . persons thought of as specially
privileged . . . The fenced-off boundaries of "religion" are broken through when grace
invades the world and its everyday life.' (E. Kasemann, op. cit. I, pp. I2if.; Essays,
p. 78.)
16. Cf. A. Bittlinger, above p. 245 and Charisma und Amt, pp. I4ff.
17. W. Becker in R. F. Edel (ed.), Kirche und Charisma, p. 167. Kasemann writes:
'The charismata are validated not by the fascinosum of the preternatural but by the
edification of the community.. . No spiritual endowment has value, rights or privileges
on its own account' {pp. cit., p. 112; Essays, pp. 66f.).
18. E. Kasemann, op. cit., p. 121; Essays, p. 78.
19. E. Schweizer, Gemeinde und Gemeindeordnung, 2nd ed., i960, 27a; ET: Church
Order in the NT, 27a (p. 220).
20. E. Kasemann, op. cit., p. 134; Essays, p. 94.
21. Cf. the writings of H. Kung and N. A. Nissiotis on the 'charismatic structure of
the church'.
22. Quoted and abbreviated from W.-E. Failing, in W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Die
Pfingstkirchen, pp. 139-42. References taken from the original.
23. Emotional or sober, loud or quiet, etc.
24. 'I have not tried to pass any judgment. I have only sought to present and pre-
serve the material necessary for a thorough theological and psychological assessment.'
Fleisch II/2, p. 6.
25. A. Bittlinger emphasizes that he came across the phenomenon of charismatic
reality outside the Pentecostal movement. He discovered this revival in the American
Lutheran churches. But the connection between the charismatic revival in the American
Lutheran churches and the Pentecostal movement has been demonstrated. Cf. L. Chris-
tenson, Trinity 1/2, 1962, pp. 326.; PE 2493, 18.2.1962, p. 25.
*9
'The Religion of the Proud Poor':
The Pentecostal Movement in Italy
The history of these poor people, the peasants of Calabria who are still
condemned to silence, has not yet been written,66 by contrast to studies of the
philosophers and soldiers of Calabria. In her study Elena Cassin seeks to give a
sketch of this part of the history of Calabria. But her observations are true
not only of Calabria. The same story can be told of the rest of Southern Italy.
The Pentecostals in Southern Italy do not wait for permission from a church
ofEcial. Spontaneously and on their own intiative they evangelize the next
village:
Now in Italy everything is permitted and tolerated. But this phenomenon,
which is taking place today in the midst of the rural South, is something
which is intolerable to the ruling classes of Italy. For a working man in the
South to join the Reds is bad enough. But that can be overlooked. He will
still be voting for a lawyer or a teacher; he will still be under the control of
elements from the bourgeoisie. But for him to do something on his own
account, really on his own account, and thumb his nose at the lawyers and the
school-teachers, that is really something that goes beyond what can be toler-
ated in Italy.67
This explains both the protest and the attempt to maintain a shamed silence
about the rise of Pentecostalism in Southern Italy. The Pentecostal movement
made it possible for Pastor Gelsomino of Benevento in Campagna, who had
returned from Brazil, to improve his standards of literacy. He himself had learned
to read after a fashion in the two years he spent at school. But he then forgot
how to read. However, obligatory Bible reading succeeded in doing what the
Italian elementary school could not. Similarly, his position as leader of the con-
gregation obliged him to undertake a public debate about the faith with the
priest, an immense achievement and an enormous step forward in establishing
the rights of the individual as such, even though he was no match for the priest
262 The Pentecostals: Europe
in public debate. He describes how the priest brought his stick crashing down
on to the table with such force that everyone fell through into the cellar; no
one was hurt except the priest. The policeman ordered one of the Benevento
elders: 'Trembler, hold our your hand.' The policeman disappointed, had to
admit: 'Ma tu non tremi! (But you do not tremble).' Once again the policeman
and the priest, the representatives of hierarchial order, had shown themselves
helpless and ignorant. // Mondo adds that an engineer and a student belong to
the Assembly, and that the Pentecostals of Benevento vote mainly for the
Liberals, but also for the Social Democrats and the Monarchists. 'They possess
a critical discernment.'68
Nello Finnochiaro visited the Pentecostal congregation of RafFadali, on the
southern coast of Sicily. The houses of the village are wretched and poorly built,
with the exception of the church, which has recently been renovated. The average
income is 60,000 lire (about 35) a year, and bean soup the sole nourishment.
The village has 12,000 inhabitants, of whom 4,000 are Communist, 2,000
members of other parties, and 800 Pentecostals. There are 555 inhabitants per
sq. km. on average. There is one room to every four persons. Of the 4,761
houses, 1,048 are without water or wash-basin, 545 without water, 2,126 share
a toilet, only 11 have a bath, and only 2,161 have electric light.
Before any political protest took place, criticism of these miserable living
conditions expressed itself in a religious revolt.
In certain places the Pentecostals have obtained about a thousand adherents
and continue to increase their numbers. The propagandists, returned Sicilian
emigrants from distant America, have been joined in the missionary work by
young peasants . . . In deserted churches, the representatives of the secular
clergy rail at them in vain from their pulpits. In the simplicity of the new
religion there is something which profoundly touches and at the same time
educates the soul of the peasant. Usually the Protestant pastors do not carry
out any political activity, but many of their followers have joined the Com-
munist trade union and vote for the Communist Party.
But there is no organizational link between Pentecostals and Communists.
The same factors are responsible for the rise of both.
The peasant sees . . . in the priest an individual elector in whose hands is
placed the carrying out of the tasks required by those who govern him, and
therefore he considers him the person really responsible for his wretchedness.
If he has any political perception, the peasant reacts by becoming a Com-
munist; if on the other hand his inclinations tend more to religion, he becomes
a Pentecostal. But at the elections he still votes Communist.69
4. Summary
In the Pentecostal movement the despised and exploited Italian finds his
human dignity. As a child of God, alongside other children of God, he is taken
The Pentecostal Movement in Italy 263
seriously. He receives a task (the evangelization of his village) which he can only
carry out if he has the courage to see the centuries-old hierarchical structure
of his village in its proper perspective. Thus a process takes place in his social
psychology which is of vast importance. With a hymn he has learned by heart
and a guitar he goes into the next village and sings: 'Tell me the story of Jesus P70
and the rejection of Jesus, his insults, 'the years of His labour, the sorrows He
bore', His fear and loneliness are described in such a way that the listener can
recognize his own fear in the suffering of Jesus. In the glorification, resurrection
and kingdom of Christ he can see the way to the restoration of his own humanity
and his resurrection to a new life. Only one thing is necessary: the doors of the
human heart must be opened from within. There is no bolt on the outside.
'If you want Jesus to come to you, open the door from within!'71
For the Pentecostal, this decision is of great importance in his life and for his
social psychology. He has taken the first step in overcoming a hierarchical social
and ecclesiastical structure which has lasted for centuries. Whether this will
lead to the freedom of the gospel or to the uncertainty of the Western European
is an open question, and a risk which the Catholic Church in this part of the
world has not yet been willing to take.
Unlike Falconi, I regard Lener's criticism of the excesses of Pentecostal
propaganda as to some extent justified. The Pentecostals are unaware that their
criticism of Catholicism only applies to the forms of Catholic piety with which
they come into daily contact, that is, to fanatical and often superstitious misin-
terpretations of Catholicism. They are ignorant of the growing number of
Catholic works which take the Pentecostal movement seriously and try to learn
from it.72 If the Italian Pentecostal movement recognized that even in Italy
there exists a more evangelical Catholicism, it would show that from the
campaign of vilification conducted by the Catholic Church against Pentecostals
it had learnt to judge its own opponents with greater discrimination. But the
hostile attitude of the Catholic Church,73 often in defiance of the constitution,
does not help the Pentecostal movement to take this view of Catholicism. In
contrast to Lener I hold that 'these sectarians' should be treated as brothers in
Christ, because I believe that our Master has shown us to think, believe and
love the truth, but never to try to impose it by force. This ultimately shows the
difference between faith and unbelief. Because 'the gates of hell shall not prevail
against the church', the church can renounce the use of force. But if it uses the
secular arm, it shows that it has not taken seriously this promise to Peter.
The question remains open. How far is the Catholic Church in Italy ready,
in a concrete encounter in Italy itself, to make a reality of the documents of the
Second Vatican Council, and of the spirit of ecumenism ? And how far is the
Pentecostal movement ready to forgive the Catholic Church its past, and to see
that the real aims of Pentecostal religion are taken seriously by the Catholic
Church throughout the world and are carefully studied ? And how far can the
Waldensian Church act here as an interpreter, and how can all the churches of
264 The Pentecost ah: Europe
Italy help each other to be truly 'churches for others', that is, for the others for
whom the gospel means nothing ?
The Waldensian G. Peyrot, who was kind enough to make a thorough critique
of this chapter, regards the account given as 'one of the best studies of Pente-
costalism in Italy carried out up to the present day', but does not agree with
my conclusions. T h e Catholic Church, he says, still makes a distinction at the
moment between different kinds of Protestant. They are ready for dialogue
with the traditional churches, but the conditions for dialogue with the 'sectarians'
are not yet present on either side. A direct confrontation between Pentecostals
and Catholics could only lead to confusion. In his view it is necessary first for
Protestants to achieve more unity amongst themselves, and only then to make a
common approach to Catholicism. 74
NOTES
As they owe their origin to expediency alone and not to any deep conviction,
as they are supported by state assistance and not by the energy of the indivi-
duals concerned, they will disintegrate with the same rapidity, and even if they
continue to exist they will remain a great handicap for the State.30
In the regular creaking of the cart I heard the cry of the whole world, not only
of my own people. From every land, from the lips of millions, their cries rise
up, sometimes complaining, sometimes threatening. 'You know you possess
the secret of life, the secret of happiness! How can you keep silence ? Millions
of souls are struggling towards the light, and do not know where to find i t . . .
You cannot keep silent!' I knew the secret. Yes, I cannot deny it, I knew it!
I knew that happiness, joy, the secret of reconciliation with life, the secret of
enduring joy, the brotherhood of all men for all nations, all generations, all
classes is to be found - in Christ!33
But the Pentecostals point out that Christ today does the same miracles as
in the time of the apostles. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prayer with
the sick and speaking in tongues, have been given to the church even today.
3. A New Revival
(a) The rise of the Initiativniki
As early as 1945 some Pentecostals rejected the union with the AUCECB.53
According to the Russian author F. F. Fedorenko they set up a headquarters
of their own in Dneprozerzhinsk.54 In 1957 the 'Christians of the Evangelical
274 The Pentecostah: Europe
Faith (Pentecostals)' asked Khrushchev 'to grant them full religious freedom',
that is, to allow them to organize independent Pentecostal congregations. Since
the leadership of the AUCECB, he reports, does not allow the Pentecostal
services, a hundred thousand Pentecostals have already broken the law, that is,
they have organized themselves as so-called 'unregistered', illegal, Pentecostal
churches, which do not acknowledge the authority of the AUCECB.55 The
Soviet writer V. M. Kalugin confirms the existence of this underground Pente-
costal group.56 In 1963 a group of these illegal Pentecostals sought asylum in
the American Embassy in Moscow.57 The history of the Russian Pentecostal
movement contains repeated examples of large exodus movements. For example,
Harriet P. Wilson tells of the migration of a Pentecostal group two hundred
strong from the Ukraine to Mongolia, and on to China, in the 1920s. Later, on
the basis of promises by prophets, they continued their journey overseas.58
Many of these emigrants are working today in the Slav branches of the South
American, North American and Philippine Pentecostal movements.59
The growth of these Pentecostal groups has accelerated since about 1966.
Both those who remain within the Baptist Union (AUCECB) and also the
underground Pentecostals have organized themselves into 'initiative groups'
(Initiativniki). Many of the decisions of the Moscow leadership of the AUCECB
show that the AUCECB is prepared to some extent to accommodate them,
but considerable differences still exist. These are:
1. The Pentecostals demand that speaking in tongues should not be for-
bidden in public worship (cf. I Cor. 14.39: 'Do not forbid speaking in
tongues').
2. The Pentecostals wish to set up Sunday schools.
3. They have held informal meetings in public places - once even in front
of the Kremlin - and in public transport vehicles.
In spite of St Paul, the AUCECB rejected the first demand on theological
grounds, and the second and third requests under pressure from the Communist
Government. They rightly point out that the second and third demands are
not permitted by the constitution in Russia, to which the Pentecostals replied
that in this case the constitution is contrary to the Charter of Human Rights
and Christ's missionary command to the church.
Since in 1961 the AUCECB, together with the Russian Orthodox Church,
joined the World Council of Churches, the protest of the Pentecostals in Russia
is also directed against the World Council of Churches. They suspect that the
World Council is supporting the AUCECB in its cautious policy of maintaining
the status quo. In fact the AUCECB is afraid that to give way to the Pentecostals
would deprive them even of the small degree of freedom that their Union
enjoys in Russia at the present day.
There has been much discussion of the question whether agents of the state
Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults (CARC), or even of the Russian
The Pentecostal Movement in Russia 275
secret police, are active in the headquarters of the Baptist Union. An interview
with Mikhail Zhidkov60 suggests that the first at least is true. He asserts that
QVRC workers were 'planted' amongst the Initiativniki 'in order to stir up
hostility against the registered churches in an attempt to divide and disrupt the
work of unity'. It can at least be concluded from Zhidkov's statements - and
he is the son of the second most important person in the AUCECB - that in
Baptist circles the possibility of the intervention of CARC workers in the life
of the church is accepted. The latter question is answered by Steve Durasoff,
a minister of the Assemblies of God in the USA, who is now a Professor of
Oral Roberts University, and is the grandson of a Russian priest of the Old
Believers. He says that the investigation 'neither revealed any of the AUCECB
leaders to be KGB agents, nor did it exclude the possibility that one or more
could be included'.61
There are great difficulties in categorizing exactly the denominational
position of the Initiativniki, Steve DurasofF rightly points out that J. C.
Pollock overlooked the hidden Pentecostal element in the Initiativniki*2 The
same is true of Michael Bourdeaux. Certainly, not all the Initiativniki are Pente-
costals. It probably even includes strictly anti-Pentecostal fundamentalist
groups. The undercurrent of Pentecostalism, an atmosphere of Pentecostal
piety, and distinctive doctrines which are explicitly Pentecostal63 are all clearly
to be seen in their published documents.
It is equally difficult to ascertain their numbers. Estimates vary between
26,500 in 1966 and 3,000,000 in 1968.64 Although the latter figure seems to
be exaggerated, one must bear in mind Bourdeaux's argument that the de-
cline of the AUCECB, for which there are reliable statistics, has benefited the
Initiativniki and their successor organizations.
One thing that is certain is that neither the Baptist headquarters in Moscow
nor the state has succeeded in suppressing the Pentecostal movement, neither
that part of it which is illegal nor that part which has organizational links with
the AUCECB. This can be seen from information received by letter from
Russia, from various interviews, and the increasing abuse poured on the
Pentecostals in the Soviet press. Thus Komsomolskaya Pravda of 25 September
1962 contains an account by I. Voevodin, the chairman of the Atheist Association
of Krasnoyarsk, a town of 500,000 inhabitants in Siberia:
Recently, I attended a trial session in the criminal case against the leader of
the fanatical Pentecostal sects, Leonid Shevchenko. Every time I entered the
courtroom one particular contrast would strike me. The people of Krasnoy-
arsk are usually exceptionally healthy - physically and mentally. In the room,
all the faces are fresh, rosy - what we call 'blood and milk'. On the other hand,
on the benches and in the corners of the room, I saw black clothing, sallow
complexions, sunken eyes, cheerless young men with their heads shaven, girls
with their heads covered with scarves in the fashion of old women. Sectarians.
Like dead grass withered in the spring. This is not an accidental contrast and
276 The Pentecostah: Europe
not only an outward one. The tiredness of the sectarians is the result of their
nightly 'zealotry', unnatural rites and exhausting prayers.
It was not the first time that I met sectarians, when attempting to snatch
fellow citizens out of their claws. But, at this trial, the stink and dirt of this
little world opened to me with its full strength. When you look for a word
best suited to express the 'program' of the Pentecostals, you will find in it -
hostility. Hostility, reaction, hatred of humanity. The leaders of the sect
forbid their members everything 'secular', i.e. everything that is ours:
Soviet books, radio, the Pioneer scarf, participation in social activities. Even
the joining of a Labour Union is declared to be a godless thing. The sects are
hostile to everything that is bright and good in man. All talks about sympathy,
sharing and plenty of love which allegedly exist in their midst - are nothing
else but fairly tales. . . . Yet they have sufficient 'sympathy' to fawn on a
person in distress and to catch him in their spider web. Then the man-hating
zealotries follow.
Even if you know, very well, all the wild, immoral and inhuman character
of the sect, you have a hard time answering questions like this: 'Why is it that
the sectarians still find new partisans ? Where do they get their strength from ?'
An assembly of fanatical, half-illiterate old women . . . And, among them,
Lelia Bordysheva, a sickly, secretive girl, Nadezhda Davidova, a young woman
not yet deprived of her charm, who not long ago graduated from the Peda-
gogical Institute of Krasnoyarsk... What was it that attracted them to Leonid
Shevchenko, to Elena Puchinskaya? I do not hesitate to reply for myself:
it was the determination and activity of the soul catchers . . .
The witnesses told about broken families, about women who wound up in
mental institutions, about children with their souls crippled. People 'doped'
by Shevchenko and his assistants, refused to fulfil their citizen's duties, tore
off their Pioneer scarves, trampled the red flag with their shoes. How much
time and energy was used to create so much evil! And what was it that we, the
activists, the Komsomol members, did in opposition to this strategy of the
sectarians ?
Well, practically nothing. Judge for yourselves: in all Krasnoyarsk, a city
of half a million inhabitants, there is only one more or less active group of
Komsomol members - atheists, consisting of fifteen students. But even they
have little training in the art of convincing, the difficult job of dealing with
those gone astray. Now, what about those gone astray ? . . . We don't even
know how to help a man who entered on the pathway of co-operation with
religion. Her pious aunt told Valya N.: 'You are not going to enrol in the
Institute. The teacher is against God!' Valya did not follow the order. But this
is as far as she was able to go. In her aunt's home the sectarians would meet
as before. Now how did Valya's school-mates help her, the Komsomol
member ? How did they support the weakening will to fight ? In no way at all.
Gena Kulikov's mother forced him to pray, beat him, locked him up in the
store-room. The boy starved, suffered humiliation, but would not give in.
He escaped from home and started the life of a homeless wanderer. And we,
the atheists, to our shame, did not even know about this struggle . . .
Why this indifference, this inactivity among the Komosol leaders ? They
The Pentecostal Movement in Russia 277
ask persistently for waste paper, for scrap metal, for membership dues. They
even impose punishments. But it does not cause them any headache that
people get lost, that through sectarian channels, hostile ideology penetrates
into our midst, through the failure of other Komsomol members. We cannot
rely only on the essential influence of our basically very healthy Soviet
environment. Even the greenest meadow is not secure from rotten grass. We
should act in such a way that the forces of the healthy environment strengthen
the failing growth and kill the roots of malicious thistle.65
Voevodin does not mention any verdict by the court against Leonid Shev-
chenko, who is described as a skilled engineer, educated, strong-willed, dia-
bolically clever and politically reactionary.
If one looks carefully at this attack by Voevodin, two features can be noted.
First of all, the Pentecostal movement is a religious, economic and political
factor in the Soviet Union. Voevodin and his atheists are helpless when faced
with the phenomenon of the Pentecostal movement. As a result, they must use
the familiar method of Christian and non-Christian sects, and make moral
accusations against their opponents, whose beliefs they cannot refute.
I
The Pentecostal Movement in Russia 279
6. You are firmly resolved, as in past ages,
To make your name immortal,
And have forgotten the Tower of Babel
In your senseless struggle with God,
7. What of it that you can soar above the earth,
With transient glory on your mortal brow ?
You will take off into space again,
But you will still die here on earth.
8. The hosts of planets, in lofty majesty,
Follow their courses above you.
But it was decreed to mankind: No!
You will not reach a single one of them.
9. Oh, unfortunate, haughty, and earthly man!
Give glory to the Supreme God.
Only with him can you be truly happy,
With him you will reach the region beyond the clouds.
10. Without your space-ships and all your efforts,
The Lord will transform your body,
In the first Resurrection, he will give
An immortal body to the faithful saints.
11. God is spirit, and the eternal ruler of the stars,
And if you want to reach the starry sky
You must fall down before him, earthbound man,
And you must conquer yourself in this life.
Amen69
It is easy to understand the young members of the Komsomol who go over to the
Initiativniki because they are bored in the Komsomol.70 The reason for this
lies not merely in the new hymns, which are accompanied on the guitar,71 but
just as much in the fact that these hymns attempt to pose the question of the
meaning of life, technology and civilization;
What is the use of all this modern technical and scientific knowledge . . . We
are merely left wandering and erring at random by ourselves, only to end by
coming to the horror of emptiness and purposelessness.72
It must of course be admitted that the hymn quoted above presents a remarkable
mixture of existentialist and pietist interpretation, modern anthropological
questions and mythological images. But it is perhaps this very fact which makes
it so attractive.
All this is not happening in some underdeveloped colonial country, and not
under a fascist regime, but in a country where it has already been proclaimed
to all the world for fifty years that the most just, democratic and humanitarian
society has been built, and that there is equality of all people, irrespective of
race and creed.79
Their knowledge of the history of the Russian constitution had already been
shown in a petition made on 14 April 1965 to Comrade L. I. Brezhnev.80
Referring to Lenin81 and Bonch-Bruyevich, the Pentecostals of Soviet Russia
demand full religious freedom:
The Pentecostals are trying to hasten the arrival of the age of freedom promised
as long ago as 1904. For in this age - so they believe - the Russian Pentecostal
movement will evangelize not only Russia, but the whole world.
282 The Pentecostals: Europe
in which there is no longer any need for an absolute and profound gulf
between Marxism and Christianity, Marxism and religion, a pattern of
thought which could have some attraction for intellectuals who are beginning
to have doubts and are not so sure about their 'historical and dialectic material-
ism'.90
What role do the Initiativniki play in this coming conflict? Until recently
there was a tendency to class them as evangelical fundamentalists who could only
fight a rearguard action in this conflict. Against the orthodox Communism of the
Komsomol, the orthodox fundamentalism of the Christsomols (as one might call
the young Initiativniki) has an unquestionable advantage. The Initiativniki
(like the Baptists) offer their members in the secularized Russian state a warm-
hearted community and the mutual help of a brotherhood, which can be
attractive not only to peasants and workers, but also to engineers, officers of the
Red Army, students and secondary school teachers. But what attitude will the
Initiativniki adopt to a criticism of religion which has progressed in the direction
described above ? Will they be able to cling to their present untenable affirm-
ations, such as the defence of the biblical creation story against the theory of
evolution, and the affirmation of the infallibility of the Bible understood in an
historical and scientific sense, and persist their narrow cultural and ethical
attitudes ? Or will they develop a theology which takes man as its starting point
in the sense of the hymn quoted above?91
It seems at first sight that both the atheists, and also the Christians (both
Russian Orthodox, Baptists and Initiativniki) are afraid of modern theology.
For the atheists, this theology destroys the caricature which they have painted
of Christians. It shows that a Christian need not in every case be anti-Marxist
and ill-informed, and that the gospel has an essential contribution to make even
in a secularized and technical society; and that Christians are not automatically
defenders of the status quo (Bonhoeffer). The Christians are afraid, because the
'adulthood' of the churches demands humility and a readiness for dialogue from
ministers, and the venture of faith from believers, whereas the old-fashioned
creed of fundamentalism gives something firm to hold on to in the vicissitudes
of persecution.
The strength of the Initiativniki is their return to these sources. Their weak-
ness is that they are trying to give a present-day significance to the statements of
Lenin, like those of the Bible, by ignoring the intervening historical develop-
ment. But if in the midst of all the physical and mental pressure upon them
284 The Pentecostah: Europe
they can develop a method of interpretation that can abandon 'Christian prin-
ciples' which have long been untenable, they will not merely have made an
essential contribution to the interpretation of the gospel in Russia, but will also
have helped in overcoming the Communist form of fundamentalism, which can
be seen in the way in which Marx and Lenin are quoted.
NOTES
1. Komsomol is the name of the Soviet Communist youth organization. The sources
for this chapter were the dissertation by Steve DurasofF, both in its original form
(AUCECB, ig44~ig64, New York 1967, manuscript) and in its published form
(Russian Protestants, 1969), a selection made by Christian D. Schmidt from two recent
Russian books about sects in Russia (F. I. Fedorenko, Sekty, ikh vera i dela, Moscow
1965; A. I. Klibanov, Istoriya religioznogo sektantstva vRossii, Moscow 1965), a number
of interviews (names not given) and the report of a commission sent to Russia in 1969
by the WCC, together with the sources and reports quoted in the footnotes.
2. See below, p. 269.
3. Sources, documents, literature: 05.04.001.
4. Russian: Evangel''skie Khristiane, see below, pp. 269ff.
5. D. I. Ponomarchuk, Bratskiy Vestnik 5-6, i960, p. 74.
6. Russian: Soyuz Khristian EvangeVskoy Very.
7. F. F. Fedorenko, Sekty, p. 180.
8. D. Gee, Upon All Flesh, p. 31.
9. F. M. Putintsev, Politicheskaya roV sektantstva, p. 445.
10. F. I. Garkavenko, Chto takoe religioznoe sektantstvo, p. 83
11. Russian: tryasuny, another name for the Pentecostals.
12. I. E. Voronaev, Evangelist 1928/12, p. 23.
13. G. M. Livshits, Religiya i tserkov\ pp. I35f.
14. Nauka i religiya 5, i960, p. 28.
15. The above is an attempt to reconcile the somewhat conflicting accounts of
S. DurasofF and Pentecost 1961, p. 3: 'Release of Mrs Voronaev'. Both accounts are
largely based on statements by Mrs Voronaev. Since his last arrest nothing more has
been heard of Voronaev.
16. Baron von Uexkull, The New Acts 3/4, July-Aug. 1907.
17. Particularly reliable Finnish sources are the early numbers of Toivon Tahti and
Ristin Voitto.
18. H. Steiner, VdV 24/12, Dec. 1931; 25/1, Jan. 1932, pp. 3fF.; 25/2, Feb. 1932,
pp. 9fF.; 25/3, March 1932, pp. 10-12.
19. W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewegung, p. 86.
20. Evangelical Christians in the Apostolic Spirit (Russian: Obshchina evangeVskikh
kristian v dukhe apostoVskom): F. I. Federenko, Sekty, p. 178.
21. Ibid., n. 20. Russian: Isusovtsy (from Russian Iisus, Jesus). Cf. above, ch. 3.1,
pp. 3if.
22. Russian: Edinstvenniki (from Russian edinstvenny, only, sole).
23. P 58, 1962, p. 10.
24. J. H. Rushbrook, Baptist Movement, p. 80.
25. M. M. KorfF, Am Zarenhof, pp. 65fF.; quoted by R. Stupperich, Die Furche 20,
The Pentecostal Movement in Russia 285
1934, p. 141; S. Durasoff, Russian Protestants, pp. 446.; I. Motorin, Bratskiy Vestnik 2,
1946, pp. 24f.
26. N. S. Leskov, Velikosvetskiy raskol\ p. 59; S. Durasoff, op. cit., p. 43.
27. Dein Reich komme 9, 1930, p. 215.
28. I. S. Prokhanoff, In the Cauldron ofRussia, pp. 23 if.; Erfolge (German version),
P. 7-
29. KPSS v Rezolyutsiakh i Resheniakh S'ezdov I, 1953, p. 858; ET: W. Kolarz,
Religion, p. 293.
30. Letter of Tregubov, the follower of Tolstoy, to Stalin in: Putintsev, Kabalnoe,
p. 92; ET in: W. Kolarz, Religion, p. 293.
31. Pravda, 1924, n. 128; ET: W. Kolarz, Religion, p. 288.
32. Kracht van Omhoog 26/14, 15.1.1963.
33. Based on R. Stupperich, Die Furche 20, 1934, p. 145.
34. F. F. Fedorenko, Sekty, pp. 82, 83, 86; A. I. Klibanov, Istoriya, pp. i94f.
35. R. Stupperich, Die Furche 20, 1934, p. 149.
36. M. Artenjev, Orient und Occident, vol. 6, p. 36.
37. R. Stupperich, Die Furche 20, 1934, p. 143 n. 29.
38. Soyuz evangel"skikh kristian - baptistov.
39. A. Karev, in J. Meister (ed.), Bericht, 1959, p. 242.
40. I. Z. Zhidkov and A. V. Karev, Bratskiy Vestnik 1955, 1, p. 5; V.S., Bratskiy
Vestnik 1952, 3, p. 11; A. V. Karev, Bratskiy Vestnik i960, 3, p. 18.
41. A. I. Mitskevich, Bratskiy Vestnik 1959, 2, p. 49; 3, i960, pp. 96ff.
42. P. Kaushansky, Nauka i religiya 1961,12, pp. i8ff.; ET: S. Durasoff, AUCECB,
p. 186.
43. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, printed in Polish and German: 05.23 004.
44. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), op. cit., preface and ch. 6.
45. Ibid., ch. 4.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid., ch. 7. The phrase eph ho pantes hemarton (Rom. 5.12) is translated not
following the Latin Vulgate {in quo omnes peccaverunt) but correctly as 'because they have
all sinned' {poniewaz wszyscy zgrzeszyli).
48. Ibid., chs. 9 and 20.
49. Ibid., ch. 13.
50. Ibid., ch. 12.
51. Ibid., chs. 14, 16 and 18.
52. Ibid., ch. 9.
53. R. C. Torbet, History of the Baptists, p. 203, speaks of 700,000 Baptists, who later
split.
54. F. F. Fedorenko, Sekty, p. 183.
55. P 42, 1957, p. 16.
56. V. M. Kalugin, Sovremennoe, p. 19.
57. Times, 4 Jan. 1963, p. 8; M. Bourdeaux, Religious Ferment, pp. i6ff.
58. Their leaders were Sergei Shevchuk, Alexander Shevchenko, Joseph Lotkeff,
Dancheko.
59. H. P. Wilson, European Evangel 12/5, May 1963, pp. 6ff. Cf. also D. Shakarian,
ch. i.i{b), p. 8.
60. Interview by M. Zhidkov with S. Durasoff, 5.7.1965; S. Durasoff, Russian
Protestants, p. 202.
61. S. Durasoff, AUCECB, p. 324.
62. J. C. Pollock, Faith of the Russian Evangelicals. S. Durasoff, AUCECB, p. 16.
63. S. Durasoff, Russian Protestants, pp. i4off; Nauka i Religiya, 1966, 9, pp. 22f.
286 The Pentecostah: Europe
(M. Bourdeaux, Religious Ferment, pp. 8fF.); F. Garkavenko, Nauka i Religiya, 1966, 9
pp. 24f. (M. Bourdeaux, Religious Ferment, p. 25). Bratskiy Listok (journal of the
Initiativniki), quoted by M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., p. 26. Even the General Secretary of
the AUCECB, A. V. Karev, puts forward in a remarkable article a Pentecostal doctrine
of the baptism of the Spirit, although without the 'initial sign' of glossolalia postulated
by the American Pentecostals for the baptism of the Spirit: 'One must make a separa-
tion between being born of the Holy Spirit and being rilled with his power . . .' (A. V.
Karev, Bratskiy Vestnik i960, 3, p. 16; ET: S. DurasofF, AUCECB, pp. i72fF.
64. Novosti Press Agency, Oct. 1966; English in Religion in Communist Dominated
Areas 5/21, 15.11.1966; M. Bourdeaux, Religious Ferment, p. 3.
65. I. Voevodin, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 25.9.1962. English version based on that
in R. Wurmbrand (ed.), Soviet Saints, with corrections from the version by S. DurasofF,
AUCECB, pp. 2i4f. and the German version of Joachim Muller, Stuttgart: 'Wie Sie
ihres Glaubens Leben. Bericht von den evangelischen Christen in der Sowjet-Union'
(Ms., 1963). Wurmbrand gives the Russian name for 'Pentecostals', pyatidesyatniki,
which, for a reader unfamiliar with Russian, obscures the fact that Shevchenko is a
Pentecostal.
66. Sovetskaya Yustitsiya 9, 1964, p. 27; ET: M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., pp. 77f.
67. Duplicated letter by 120 brethren and sisters from Barnaul and Kulunda (Siberia),
16.2.1964; ET: Religion in Communist Dominated Areas 3/16, 30.9.1964, pp. i22ff.
68. Ibid.
69. Quoted in M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., pp. 64f.
70. S. Khudiakov, Molodoi Kommunist 3, 1957, pp. n8ff.
71. Sovetskaya Moldaviya 15.9.1966, p. 4.
72. Y. Kruzhilin and N. Shalamova, Pravda Vostoka (Tashkent), 22.10.1966, p. 4;
ET: M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., p. 137.
73. A. T. Ohrn (ed.), Eighth Baptist World Congress, 1950, p. 49.
74. Resolution by G. Ponurko and I. E. Voronaev at the second Ukrainian Pentecos-
tal Congress, 1927; F. F. Fedorenko, Sekty, pp. i8of.
75. Bratskiy Vestnik 1947, 4, p. 7; ET: S. DurasofF, Russian Protestants, p. 243.
76. Bratskiy Vestnik 1953, 1, pp. 4f.
77. In full and with great care in Religion in Communist Dominated Areas 7/4-5,
15-29 Feb. 1968, pp. n6ofF.
78. Bratskiy Vestnik 1967, 5.
79. Quoted in M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., p. 122.
80. Posev (Frankfurt am Main), 5.8.1966, pp. 4f.; ET: M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., pp.
io5fF.
81. 'The Social Democrats go on to demand that each individual should have the full
right to confess any creed whatever quite openly . . . In Russia . . . there still remain
disgraceful laws against people who do not hold the Orthodox creed, against schis-
matics, sectarians, Jews. These laws either forbid the existence of such a faith or forbid
its propagation . . . All these laws are most unjust and oppressive, they are imposed by
force alone. Everyone should have the right not only to believe what he likes but also
to propagate whatever faith he likes . . . No civil servant should even have the right to
ask anyone a single question about his beliefs: this is a matter of conscience and no one
has the right to interfere.' Quotation from V. I. Lenin (1903), Vol. 6, pp. 325fF.; ET:
M. Bourdeaux, op. cit., p. 108).
82. Bonch-Bruyevich, in Rassvet, Geneva, 1904, no. 1; quoted in V. D. Bonch-
Bruyevich, Izbrannie Sochineniya 1959, vol. I, pp. i97f.; ET: M. Bourdeaux, op. cit.,
p. 107. The passage is quoted in the petition.
83. Kampf des Glaubens. Dokumente aus der Sowjetunion, Berne, 1967. G. Simon,
The Pentecostal Movement in Russia 287
Die Kirchen in Russland. Cf. particularly the letter of A. E. Levitin-Krasnow to Pope
Paul VI, in: Religion in Communist-Dominated Areas 9/19-20, Oct. 1970, pp. 151-8.
84. Nauka i religiya 10, 1961, p. 92.
85. Mchedlov, in Kommunist, quoted in Information 14, 2nd ed. June 1965, pub.
by the Evangelische Zentralstelle fur Weltanschaungsfragen, Stuttgart.
86. Nauka i religiya 1964, 8, pp. 3fF.; ET: S. DurasofF, op. cit., p. 211.
87. H. Braker, 'Die religionsphilosophische Diskussion in der Sowjetunion' in
U. Duchrow, Marxismusstudien 6, series 1969 (Weltreligionen und Marxismus vor der
wissenschaftlich-technischen Welt), pp. 1156.
88. M. V. Vagabov, 'Bol'she vnimaniya sovetskomu islamovedeniya', in Voprosy
Filosofii 12, 1966, p. 174; quoted by H. Braker, op. cit., p. 126.
89. V. M. Boriskin, 'Krisis khristiantva i ego otrazhnie v evangelicheskoy teologii',
Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta 3 (VIII), 1965, p. 69; quoted by H. Braker, op. cit.,
p. 132.
90. H. Braker, op. cit., p. 148.
91. Cf. above pp. 278f.
PART TWO
Often the remarks are even more specific. We believe in 'the whole Bible',3
'Old and New Testament',4 'in verbal inspiration'5 or even 'in the supernatural
plenary inspiration of Scripture'.6 Others describe the operation of inspiration
as a Pentecostal 'experience of infusion':7
God the Holy Spirit gave the men who wrote the original autograph copies
of the Scripture His own thoughts, so that the words as well as the thoughts
are God's revelation to us.8
God preserve us from treating each other in this way in word and writing.
God preserve us from saying of a brother or sister in the faith that they do not
stand on the ground of the Word because they do not recognize all 'our views'
as being biblical.87
An account has been given above of the way in which the founder of the
German Pentecostal movement, Pastor Jonathan Paul, explicitly distinguished
his position from that of fundamentalism in the context of the dispute with
Lepsius.88 Today, however, there are many circles in the German-speaking
Pentecostal movement which deny the theological fundamentals of their
founder. But with what right ?
Even so, the Mulheim Association of Christian Fellowships which has been
most strongly influenced by Paul, never seems to have been strictly fundamen-
talist. One of its leaders, a doctor, P. Gericke, has carried on an outspoken
controversy with fundamentalism and has rejected it without qualification.89
3. Fundamentalism as a Ritual:
The Function of the Fundamentalist Understanding of the Bible
Any perceptive observer of fundamentalism will agree with Schian's judgment90
that fundamentalist belief in the Bible is more a matter of principle than of
practice. But in that case, what role does fundamentalism play in the Pente-
costal understanding of faith ? The answer to this question seems to me to lie in
the direction of a comment made by James Barr. James Barr feels 'the criticism
of fundamentalism which has become very customary to be faulty'.
As far as the author of II Samuel was concerned, the founding of the temple
was a divine ordinance of salvation. It could not therefore be derived from an
304 Belief and Practice
initiative on the part of Satan. Therefore - von Rad concludes - the driving
force behind history must come from Yahweh, even when it includes leading
David astray to transgress the divine will. Ernest S. Williams may want to
reject this picture of God, but that is his affair. He may not read into the
biblical text (of II Sam. 24) a meaning which he has drawn from a later text,
the book of Chronicles. It would now be the task of a further analysis to investi-
gate why the author of the book of Chronicles seeks to ascribe the initiative
in the story of the foundation of the temple to Satan. Was it, as von Rad supposes,
that he could 'no longer sustain the theological tension', or is the temple no
longer a divine ordinance for him, so that its foundation can be ascribed to
Satan? At this point I shall break off the analysis. The reader himself
may decide which of the two exegetes, the Pentecostal Ernest S. Williams
or the Old Testament professor, Gerhard von Rad, takes the text more
seriously.
'Critical interpretation of the Bible' does not mean an interpretation that
criticizes the Bible. In academic terminology the adjective 'critical' denotes an
appropriate method of relevant interpretation. Part of this method is the critical
investigation of one's own conceptions, one's own understanding of the Bible,
that e.g. in the case of Williams stood in the way of understanding the Bible.
'Critical interpretation of the Bible' means 'to learn to discriminate' (Greek
krinein = 'discriminate') between what is helpful for life and faith today and
what is less helpful. Therefore confessions of faith must continually be formu-
lated anew, and preaching must keep on changing.
Within Pentecostal circles this fact has been recognized by, for example, the
Russian and Polish Pentecostal movement.103 Other representatives of the
Pentecostal movement too, however, cannot get by without critical inter-
pretation of the Bible. They distinguish between essentials and inessentials:
for some foot-washing is important, whereas others reject it as historically
conditioned; for some speaking with tongues at the baptism of the Spirit is
obligatory, others regard it as unnecessary; some baptize 'in the name of Jesus'
and reject all other forms of baptism, others baptize 'in the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit', a third group baptizes in the name of the Trinity
but immerses three times and reject other forms of baptism as invalid. Donald
Gee accuses certain Pentecostal evangelists of taking Matt. 10.9-15 literally
because they take 'no bag on the way', 'nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff'.
Here Gee takes over the liberal tradition of interpretation and says, 'Obviously
in such passages a distinction needs to be made between abiding principles and
local circumstances.'104
All these Pentecostals distinguish between what seems essential to them and
what seems inessential. All claim to believe in the Bible as the inspired word of
God. How then does it come about that there is no point of Pentecostal doctrine
on which they are agreed ? These differences are so significant that no expense
or trouble is too much to introduce the forty-three varieties of Pentecostal faith
The Pentecostal Understanding of Scripture 305
to the Japanese, the Polynesians or the Yorubas. If they are so unco-ordinated
in their mission round the world, the differences must be important.
Why is this ? It comes about because people cannot be bothered to acquaint
themselves with the beliefs of their fellow-Pentecostals or with the inter-
pretations given by biblical criticism. They have no time for that. What others
have thought and believed, matters to which they have devoted a lifetime of
thought, are unimportant to them, for what good can come from an unen-
lightened human understanding ?
If the Pentecostal movement were to get to know the thought of theologians
other than through the caricatures of non-Pentecostal fundamentalists, they
would discover that Protestant theology is not concerned to choose between the
alternatives of a belief in the meaning of the Bible and a belief in the words
of the Bible. Protestant theology sets out to take the words of the Bible
quite seriously in their contemporary significance. It therefore pays careful
attention to the original language of the Bible and to history. That is why
it devotes so much trouble and labour to translating and interpreting the
Bible.
It is impossible to present an introduction to the Protestant understanding
of the doctrine of Scripture within this introduction to the Pentecostal move-
ment. Nor is it necessary, for the work has already been done. I would suggest
that my friends in the Pentecostal movement look, for example, at the small
booklet by the Methodist preacher Rolf Knierim, Bibelautoritat und Bibelkritik.
It contains an expert and well-arranged discussion with fundamentalism and an
excellent account of biblical criticism. The Baptists in Germany train their
preachers in accordance with the principles of historical-critical scholarship
without giving up their evangelical elan, their free-church understanding of
the Christian community and their allegiance to scripture. They regularly
publish contributions on this theme in their Zeitschrift fur Mitarbeiter in der
Verkundigung und der Gemeinde (Journal for fellow-workers in preaching and the
community).105 Anyone who would like to know how one can believe and preach
the gospel while accepting that the first chapters of the First Book of Moses were
not written by Moses but by various authors at various times on the basis of
old mythological material ought to consult the writing of, for example, Gerhard
von Rad or Alan Richardson, who - unlike many fundamentalist elaborators -
prove exciting and refreshing reading, like the Bible itself.106
Finally, it might be appropriate to make another reference to Martin Niemoller
whom the Pentecostals rightly regard as a friend who is well-disposed towards
them. The publishing house of the American Assemblies of God commended
Niemoller's biography with the words: 'We praise God for the grace and the
courage given Martin Niemoller for the stand he has taken for the Lord Jesus
Christ. His trust is in God.'107 It is all the more astonishing in that Niemoller
is not a fundamentalist. In a lecture which was unjustly described by the
Pentecostals as 'Niemoller's Confession of Unbelief',108, he said:
1
306 Belief and Practice
For me, a personal knowledge of Jesus has become decisive, and I am certain
that if that had not happened, I would be an atheist pure and simple.109
Niemoller than went on to tell how he came to believe. For Niemoller this
belief is 'a personal, loving relationship of trust':
I know that I am loved by God, the Father in heaven, and I love him in turn
as my Father; I know that I am loved by Jesus Christ, my Saviour and brother
- he became a man like me, and I love him in gratitude - and both of them,
the Father and the Saviour, live. I speak with them and bring my worries and
needs and questions to them in prayer.
After this lengthy introduction, Niemoller went on to the subject of 'modern
theology'. He did not fail to speak up on behalf of Rudolf Bultmann, the
professor of theology, who was under attack. He remarked: 'I have known this
professor for thirty years, and if even half the members of our church synod
were as real Christians as he, I would thank God.' Of the young theologians,
'who are atheists, because God, too, is a myth for them', Niemoller said:
Things will not be otherwise until Jesus meets up with them. Then the myth
will suddenly become reality. I am not at all surprised; anyone who does not
join company with Jesus must in all honesty become an atheist.
Niemoller then went into more details about the question of history and freely
acknowledged:
It is well known, and should no longer be disputed, that there are many
historical mistakes in the Bible. [But] we are paying a heavy price in church
preaching today for the fact that in our sermons for one hundred and fifty
years we have kept quiet in front of our congregations about theological
developments. The result is that people still believe in verbal inspiration.
We cannot hold out against the truth and against reality. The view of the
world accepted by those who wrote the Bible of the Old and New Testaments
no longer holds today . . . And all the statements in the Bible that are bound
up with this false picture of the world - such as the ascension of Christ -
cannot be allowed to stand. They certainly did not happen in this way. To
affirm the contrary today is simply ridiculous, whereas in the time of Luke the
evangelist no one took any offence. What is lost from the message that Jesus
has been exalted to God as the living Lord and shares in God's rule over the
world if we can no longer accept and present the external happening of the so-
called ascension as true reality ? Nothing at all! It does not affect my belief in
Jesus in the slightest.
These quotations from Niemoller make at least one thing clear. For the norma-
tive pioneer of the 'Confessing Church', who put his faith in Jesus Christ to
the test in a concentration camp, confession of Jesus Christ and confession of
the Bible as the word of God are not coupled, for better or worse, with the
confession of the historical infallibility of the Bible.110
The Pentecostal Understanding of Scripture 307
If Pentecostals asked me the straight question 'Is the Bible the Word of God
or does it only contain it ?', I would reply without hesitation, 'It is the Word of
God.' But this is not the end of the conversation. It is only the beginning. For
what does 'the Bible is the Word of God' mean ? First of all, which Bible is
the Word of God ? Obviously, the original text, is the reply. But I must go on
to ask, Which original text? Even today there is still dispute among the
Christian churches over which books belong in the Bible. The oldest of these
churches, the Abyssinian church, for example, accepts the Apocalypse of Enoch
as canonical. The Roman Catholic church includes the Apocrypha (as did the
first Spanish Protestant Bible of 1569). Furthermore, the various manuscripts
of the Bible differ from each other. For example, does the story of Jesus and the
woman taken in adultery, which is missing from most ancient manuscripts,
belong in the Bible ? What about the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer ? And
what if we have two competing texts, e.g. a very early text on the birth of Jesus,
which states: 'Jacob begot Joseph. Joseph, to whom was betrothed the Virgin
Mary, begot Jesus, who is called the Christ',111 or: 'Joseph, to whom Mary, a
virgin, was betrothed, was the father of Jesus' ?112 Every decision, even the
fundamentalist one, is an estimate in most passages; the Pentecostals would
say that it is a hypothesis, the result of human consideration. What is the use of
talking about the historical accuracy of the original text of the Bible if this
original text is lost for ever and we can only reconstruct it approximately ? The
reconstruction is quite enough for us to be able to believe in Jesus as the re-
deemer and lord of the world. But it is not enough for the historical accuracy
postulated by the fundamentalists and considered by Martin Niemoller to be
inessential.
NOTES
1. Schweiz. Pfingstmission, VdV cover.
2. K(ristova) P(entekostna) C(rkva), Temeljne, point 1; AoG, Early History, pp. 17-
19, cf. Appendix: 2, p. 514; AdD, Verites; cover Viens et Vols,
3. H. T. Spence, Pentecost, n.d., p. 4.
4. PChOG of America, This We Believe.
5. ChoG (Cleveland), Declaration, cover ChoGE, Appendix: 4; Int. P. Assemblies,
General Principles, pp. 1-5; A. A. Allen, Prospectus of the Bible School, pp. 3f.; M. A.
Daoud, M. A. Daoud's Miracles and Missions Digest.
6. N. Bhengu, Back to God, 1958/1, pp. 2, 6, 9; W. Diener, Medio Seglo; cited by
I. Vergara, El Protestantismo, pp. 75-7.
7. L. J. Willis, ChoGE 52/8, 23.4.1962, pp. 4f.
8. Apostolic Church, Fundamentals, p. 23.
9. Das Neue Testament in der Sprache der Gegenwart. Neue Miilheimer Ausgabe
(with notes and concordance), Altdorf bei Nurnberg, 1914, 7th ed., 1967.
10. MD 21, 1958, pp. i55f.
11. J. A. Synan, 'God's purpose in the Pentecostal Movement for this Hour', in:
D. Gee (ed.), Fifth Conference, 1958, p. 33.
308 Belief and Practice
12. G. G. Atkins, Religion, p. 86; cited by J. E. Campbell, PHCh, 1951, p. 8.
13. On this see pp. 305^; ch. 30.4(0, p. 443-
14. J. E. Campbell, PHCh, p. 16.
15. W. J. Hollenweger, Okutnenische Rundschau 17/1, Jan. 1968, p. 58.
16. G. F. Atter, Cults, pp. i8f; cf. also ch. 3.3. p. 40.
17. T. L. Osborn, Faith Digest 5/12, Dec. i960, p. 3.
18. R. Willenegger, Ich komme bald! 19, 1961, p. 146.
19. The Anchor Bay Bible Institute, Full Gospel Center.
20. C. W. R. Scott, PE 2472, 24.9.1961, pp. i2f.; cf. ch. 3.2(d), p. 39.
21. GPH, A Defence.
22. J. E. Campbell, PHCh, p. 104.
23. A. Hyma, World History, p. 355, cited by C. W. Conn, Army, p. XX.
24. G. Jeffreys (?), Elim Evangel 17/6, 7.2.1936, pp. 8if.
25. AoG Australia, United Constitution.
26. Union des figlises Evangeliques de Pentecote, 1962 yearbook, pp.4-6; Viens et
Vois, cover; Promesse du Pere, cover. Cf. PGG, p. 592.
27. J. v. Gijs, Hetfeest, p. 26.
28. J. J. Chinn, Christianity Today 5, 1961, p. 880, cf. ch. 4.2^), p. 51.
29. P. Mink, Maranatha 15/4, i960, pp. 423-7.
30. Ibid.
31. L. J. Willis, ChoGE 52/8, 23.4.62, pp. 4f.
32. H. G. Greenway, Labourers, p. 6.
33. Ibid., p. 14.
34. P. v. d. Woude, Pinksterboodschap 1/1, May i960, p. 3.
35. G. Jeffreys, in D. Gee (ed.), Phenomena, pp. 48f.; L. Steiner, VdV 29/5, May
1936, p. 19.
36. From the catechism of the Church of the Living God (Christian Workers for
Fellowship), cited by Clark, Small Sects, p. 121.
37. F. S. Mead, Handbook, 3rd ed., 1961, p. 84.
38. W. V. Grant, Men in the Flying Saucers Identified.
39. Cf. ch. 3.3, pp. 4of.
40. J. G. Sauer, Midnight Cry 24/1, Jan. 1963; 24/6, June 1963.
41. Redemption Tidings 43/29, 21.7.1967, pp. 12-15 (The Dawn).
42. Cf. ch. 12, pp. i49ff.
43. T. Schneider, Verbum Caro 6, 1952, p. 125.
44. Sundkler, p. 276.
45. Sundkler, p. 208.
46. I.e. John Dowie (cf. ch. 9.2, pp. n6ff.; so Sundkler, p. 55).
47. P. Newberry, Redemption Tidings 45/50, 11.12.1969, pp. 8f.; A. J. R. Sharp,
Redemption Tidings 43/5, 3.2.1967, pp. i2f.
48. E. C. Stevenson, review, P Testimony, July 1963, p. 32.
49. P. Mink, Maranatha 15/4, i960, pp. 428f.
50. Elim Evangel, 30, 1949, p. 513; cited by B. R. Wilson, Sects, p. 86.
51. Elim Evangel 11, 1930, pp. 129-31; cited by B. R. Wilson, loc. cit.
52. Elim Evangel 34, 1953, p. 28; cited by B. R. Wilson, loc. cit.
53. VdV58/1, Jan. 1965, pp. 8,19. Cf. PGG, p. 273; VdV'29/6, June 1936, pp. 17-19-
54. D. M. Panton, VdV 23/6, June 1930, pp. 13-16; cf. PGG, p. 273, n. 108.
55. B. Williams, PE 2471, 17.9.1961, pp. 4f.; cf. ch. 3.2(d), p. 39.
56. T. Rees, Unity (Tenets of the Apostolic Church 1), pp. iof.
57. H. H. Barber, Pentecostal Testimony, special ed. Cf. also J. Paul, Das Geheimnis.
58. J. Muller-Bohn, Dennoch 3/4, April 1962, 7; cf. PGG, p. 236.
59. Evangelischer Briiderbote 21, 1909, p. 162.
The Pentecostal Understanding of Scripture 309
60. C. A. Mueller, 'Science', Senior Bible Lessons 11/4, July-Sept. 1962, pp. 9-11.
61. E.g. R. A. Torrey, Talks to Men about the Bible.
62. Cf. ch. 16.1(0), pp. 2i8ff.
63. The Swiss Methodist Church is an exception. As early as 1906 it issued a warning
against the underestimation among conservative Evangelicals of theological work (in
detail 05.28.004b, bb, n. 174).
64. E. Lohmann, Aufder Warte 2/34, 22.00.1905, pp. 3f.
65. E.g. W. Malgo, Mitternachtsruf 3/10-11, Jan.-Feb. 1959.
66. G. Wasserzug-Traeder, Gottes Wort, 3rd ed., 1962, p. 9; similarly some of the
American Anglicans who have experienced baptism of the Spirit with speaking with
tongues, cf. ch. 1.1(0), p. 5.
67. See bibliography.
68. G. Lindsay, Evolution.
69. W. Goebel, Aufder Warte 2/12, 19.3.1905, pp. 3f.
70. M. L. Dye, The Murderous Communist Conspiracy.
71. T. Wyatt, March of Faith 15/11, Dec. i960, p. 10.
72. M. Schian, Zeitschrift fur Theologie und Kirche 17,1907, pp. 254f; cf. ch. 16.1(0),
p. 220.
73. Aufder Warte 2/24, 10.6.1905, p. 3 (Torrey). Cf. also ch. 16.1(0), p. 221.
74. D. Gee, P 57, 1961, p. 17; cf. ch. 15.2(b), p. 210.
75. Fleisch II/2, pp. 295-7.
76. Evans, Youth Challenge 2, 1963, pp. 6f.
77. W. O. Fogg, Trinity 1/3, 1962, p. 17.
78. Associated Brotherhood of Christians, Articles of Faith, pp. 6-8; cited by Moore,
pp. 283-6
79. P. Church of Christ (Los Angeles), By-lams, pp. 7-13; cited by Moore, pp. 230-4.
80. Full Salvation Union, Manual, p. 20, cited by Moore, p. 294.
81. Associated Brotherhood of Christians, Articles of Faith, p. 16; cited by Moore,
p. 188.
82. Congregacao Crista do Brasil, Estatutos.
83. Horton Davies, Christian Deviations, 1961, pp. 83f.
84. F. Lovsky, Reveil, Digeste Chretien 4, 15.4.1952, pp. 14-16.
85. A. M. Brazier, Christian Outlook 39/4, April 1962, p. 3; but cf. Brazier, Black
Self-Determination.
86. R. B(racco), Risveglio P 12/5, May 1957, pp. 6-9; G. Miegge, Risveglio P 12/7-8,
July-Aug. 1957, pp. 18-20.
87. V. Pfaler, Ristin Voima, 1931: 10-n, p. 79; cited by W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewe-
gung, p. 197.
88. Cf. ch. 16.1(0), p. 219.
89. Cf. ch. 17.2(c), pp. 239^
90. Cf. above, ch. 16.1(0), p. 220.
91. J. Barr, Old and New, pp. 203-5.
92. J. Verkuyl quotes the relevant passages from the confession of faith of the church
in his history of the church in Indonesia (J. Verkuyl, Geredja, p. 39; in detail,
03.08.015a).
93. K. and D. Ranaghan, Catholic P, pp. 154, 257; Spirit, pp. 1, 131; D. J. Grepi,
Pentecostalism, p. 123.
94. A. Robertson, That Old-time Religion, p. 176; cf. also A. Comba, Nuovi Tempi
4/23, 7.6.1970, p. 8.
95. The theme is developed further in W. J. Hollenweger, Ev. Missionsmagazin
112/1, 1968, pp. 7-16.
96. WCC, The Church for Others, 1967, p. 25.
3io Belief and Practice
97. WCC, The Church for Others; W. J. Hollenweger, T h e Church for Others:
A Discussion in Latin Europe', Study Encounter 3/2, 1967, pp. 84-96 (in the same
volume as a report on 'Adaptation to Minority Situations' and 'The Congregation for
Others: a DDR Report'); 'The Church for Others in the DDR', Study Encounter 5/1,
1969, pp. 26-36; W. J. Hollenweger, 'The Church for Others in Belgium: Can the
Church be pluralistic?', Study Encounter 4/3, 1968, pp. 162-4; see also the Monthly
Letter on Evangelism (WCC Geneva) for the period in question.
98. N. Goodall (ed.), Uppsala Report 1968, Section II, pp. 21-38; cf. also WCC,
Drafts for Sections, Section II, pp. 28-51.
99. Cf. PGG, pp. 577-83, and ch. 32.2, p. 500.
100. Cf. ch. 3.3, pp. 4of.
101. E. S. Williams, PE 2488, 14.1.1962, p. 7.
102. G. von Rad, Old Testament Theology I, pp. 3i7f.
103. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, Preface; cf. ch. 20.2, pp. 272f.
104. D. Gee, Ministry, p. 16.
105. E.g. M. Metzger, 'Historisch-kritische Forschung und Verkundigung', Wort
und Tat 21/9, Sept. 1967, pp. 309-15.
106. E.g. G. von Rad, Genesis; Alan Richardson, Genesis 1-11, SCM Press, 1953.
107. Review of Basil Miller, M. Niemoller, PE 1500, 6.2.1943, p. 8; PE 1639,
6.10.1945, p. 14.
108. VdV 57/10, Oct. 1964, p. 5; cf. E. Giese, VdV 58/2, Feb. 1965, p. 4; R. Joop,
Friede sei mit euch 11/12; W. Malgo, Mitternachtsruf 9/6, Sept. 1964, pp. i7f. cf.
ch. 21.2, p. 292; ch. 30.4(4 p. 443.
109. M. Niemoller, Zeichen der Zeit, 14/4, 1964, pp. 149-52.
n o . Only after I had finished the manuscript of this book did I discover the excellent
little book by the Neo-Pentecostal professor of theology, J. Rodman Williams, The Era
of the Spirit, in which he gives a positive evaluation of the theological work not only of
Barth and Brunner, but also of Tillich and Bultmann.
i n . Jerusalem Bible: notes on Matt. 1.16.
112. Nisi? note.
22
But the question is: 'What is the ruined inheritance?' It is certainly not the
churches destroyed by the war, but the destroyed truth of the gospel in Christ.
In our churches it is taught in the creed that Jesus Christ was conceived by
the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, while in our theological semin-
aries the divinity of Christ is denied. The gospel of Christ has been abandoned,
and we find ourselves drawing from the leaking cisterns of a church religion
of our own making.11
In spite of the traditional way in which the doctrine of the virgin birth is
formulated in the Pentecostal movement, the underlying motive is not faith-
fulness to an ancient dogma. While there is a commitment to the infancy nar-
ratives of Luke and Matthew, the main motive is an unconscious one, in which
sexual taboos are an important determining factor. It is Jesus 'conceived by the
Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary',12 'Mary's son and Mary's God'13
The Doctrine of the Trinity and Christology 313
who has shed his pure sinless blood for us. And faith in the 'death and shed
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of every sin of every sinner'14
is the central article of Pentecostal christology. This is obvious from the num-
erous hymns in Pentecostal hymn books which praise the blood of Jesus:
I see a crimson stream of blood,
It flows from Calvary,
Its waves which reach the throne of God,
Are sweeping over me.15
The author of the words and music of the hymn above - G. T. Haywood,
one of the Negro pioneers of the American Pentecostal movement - describes
in the verses of this hymn the power of the blood of Jesus:
When gloom and sadness whisper
You've sinn'd, no use to pray,
I look away to Jesus,
And He tells me to say:
I see a crimson stream of blood . . . 16
In hundreds and thousands of prayers the blood of Jesus is called down to
sprinkle the meeting room and purify the hearts and minds of those present.
The South African Latter Rain Assemblies have developed this theology of the
blood even further. There members must 'continually imbibe through faith this
blood, this life'.17 In a public round table discussion an elder of the Zurich
Pentecostal Mission referred to the many unbelieving pastors in the established
churches. I asked him, 'How can one recognize an unbelieving pastor?' The
answer was, 'An unbelieving pastor does not believe in the blood of Jesus.'
He was usually receptive to someone else's point of view, and I tried to explain
to him:
When I speak nowadays of 'blood', my unsuspecting hearer may be reminded
of a wound, a slaughterhouse, or perhaps a blood orange, and possibly of the
war, but certainly not of the atoning death of Jesus.
'But that's what it refers to,' interjected the Pentecostal. I replied:
Certainly, but in New Testament times streams of blood flowed from sacrifices
in Jerusalem, Rome, Corinth, and Alexandria, and indeed in Switzerland too
amongst the Celts and Alemanni. Anyone who said to people then, 'The blood
of Jesus has been shed for you, you no longer need to offer sacrifices,' was
talking in a language which they could understand. By the expression 'the
blood of Jesus' they were saying that the redemption in Christ was unique and
final. At the present day we have to express the same thing in other words.
But the Pentecostal was not content with this: 'If the Bible speaks of the blood
of Jesus, we must not be too proud to speak of the blood of Jesus as well.'
I cannot at this point give a general summary of Protestant christology and the
314 Belief and Practice
Protestant doctrine of God. Emil Brunner, described by the leader of the Apo-
stolic Church in Switzerland as 'a theologian close to the Bible'18 has written
an outstanding chapter on the question 'Is there a God?'; 19 in his Dogmatics
he sets out his disagreement with the doctrine of the virgin birth in terms any-
one can understand.20 Giinther Bornkamm gives a discussion in easily accessible
language of the event in world history represented by God's imperishable act
in Jesus of Nazareth.21
NOTES
1. AoG, Early History', cf. Appendix: 2.
2. E. Conde, Testemunho, 3rd ed., i960, pp. 183*1*.; cf. Appendix: 2.
3. Kristova Pentecostna Crkva, Temeljne, p. 6; cf. Appendix: 2.
4. W. Diener, Medio Sigh, quoted in I. Vergara, Protestantismo, pp. 75ff.
5. Quoted from J. L. Neve, Churches, pp. 364^
6. P. Church of Christ, By-laws, pp. jff.; quoted in Moore, pp. 23ofF.
7. Cf. ch. 3.1(b), pp. 3ifF.
8. For details: United Pentecostal Church: 02a.02.140.
9. Pinksterboodschap 3/3, i960, p. 3.
10. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, ch. 7.
11. Gemeinde Jesu Christi, Gemeinde.
12. From the Manual del Ministro of the Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile.
13. PAoW, Minute Book, pp. 44ff.
14. W. F. P. Burton, God Working With Them, p. v.
15. G. T. Haywood, Hymns of Glorious Praise, 1969, no. 99.
16. Ibid.
17. Latter Rain Assemblies of South Africa, The Blood of Jesus, no pag.
18. R. Willenegger, Ich komme bald! 19, 1961, p. 146.
19. E. Brunner, Our Faith, ch. 1.
20. E. Brunner, Dogmatics II, pp. 35off.; The Mediator, pp. 322fF.
21. G. Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth.
2
3
'Rolled away':
The Doctrine of Justification
NOTES
'Showers of Blessing':
The Doctrine of the Spirit
Opposite my house stood a large, ugly house. From the very top floor three
black women (perhaps they were only shapes, I did not know if they were
women) looked out, one of them masked like a devil. I was rather afraid and
shut the window at once. Shortly afterwards there was a knock at the door,
and the three women stood there. As I opened the door, they reached,55
came in and closed the door behind them. They said, 'You must not be afraid,
we shall do nothing to you if you do what we tell you.' Then they carried me
off with them. (I was obliged to go.) Then we were suddenly in a large house.
There was a large room there with many corridors, doors and staircases.
There was some talking going on, I did not know whether it was a real service,
but they were talking about God and everything was terribly holy. The
preacher was very conspicuous. He was a cross between God - the way you
think of him - the apostle of peace Datwyler56 and Pastor X.57 He had a beard
and wore long dark clothes (difficult to describe). I had only one idea all the
time, to get out of there as fast as I could. I was quite free to walk about any-
where and to go out of all the doors. But when I went to the big main door,
'God'58 was standing there again and said, 'You can't go out this way any
more.' And he took my arm and stopped me. My husband was waiting for me
outside.59
330 Belief and Practice
The interpretation of this dream could only be worked out together with the
woman who dreamt the dream, for the associations which the figures in it have
for her are clearly the most important factors in interpreting it. But certain
things seem clear. The woman felt herself under pressure from the three figures
(the three Maries ?). She was certainly free to go out of any door. But when
she came to do so, she found herself back in the hands of 'God' (personified
here by the pastor), who cut off her way to freedom - and to her husband!
Karel Hoekendijk speaks for the great majority of Pentecostals when he says
that many Christians reject speaking in tongues as evidence of the baptism of
the Spirit only because they do not possess this gift:
They have something against it, they find it 'uncanny' and 'weird'; conse-
quently they try to push speaking in tongues back to an earlier period, to the
time of the apostles, or if they cannot get away with this, they call it a speciality
of very 'emotionalized' Pentecostal groups, which make 'unrestrained' use of
it . . . and this is why the overcoming of demon-possession and sicknesses
caused by demons is so little in evidence among them.71
This Pentecostal dogma has been adopted by those Pentecostals within the
traditional churches in America whose mouthpiece is the journal Trinity - but
not by the charismatic movement within the established Protestant churches in
Germany:
332 Belief and Practice
The Holy Bible makes it very clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon the
disciples they spoke with other tongues.72
The Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa cannot treat speaking in
tongues as the sole sign of the baptism of the Spirit, because in South Africa
many independent African churches practise speaking in tongues. Speaking in
tongues is recognized as an initial sign of the baptism of the Spirit, but not as the
sole valid sign of it. All who are baptized in the Spirit must speak in tongues,
but not all who speak in tongues have been filled with the Holy Spirit. This
compromise is a dangerous one for Pentecostal pastoral care and teaching,
because it leads to the introduction of further criteria, while explanations have
to be sought for the speaking in tongues which is not brought about by the
Spirit of God.
A sharp distinction is made between regeneration and the baptism of the
Spirit:
Yes, a person can be born again without being filled with the Holy Spirit,
because the latter experience is not the same as regeneration.73
As early as 1915 the Assemblies of God rejected the identification of rebirth
and the baptism of the Spirit as a false doctrine.74
Most Pentecostals do not regard the baptism of the Spirit as necessary to
salvation.75 It is the arming of a person with power for missionary service. It is
meant for the church on earth, but it is of immeasurable worth, because without
it, as the history of the church shows, the church cannot be a missionary church.
Only a minority - mostly 'Jesus only' groups - maintain that the baptism of the
Spirit is necessary to salvation.76
The experience of the baptism of the Spirit has often been described.77
It must be understood as a liberating, disinhibiting experience, integrating
emotional and sometimes even erotic urges. For anyone who has experienced
it spontaneously and genuinely - in the setting of the psychological group
pressure of a Pentecostal meeting there are also baptisms of the Spirit which are
forced and strained - it is of fundamental importance for the course of their life.
For the Pentecostal pastor, the baptism of the Spirit is an indispensable
equipment for the exercise of his calling. In terms of the phenomenology of
religion, a Pentecostal pastor might be described as a modern shaman. Through
the baptism of the Spirit he learns to use levels of his soul and his body hitherto
unknown to him, as sense organs with which to apprehend a psychological
climate, a group dynamic situation. The descriptions of baptisms of the Spirit
which follow are examples of this extension of awareness:
On 28 January, at about half past eleven at night, Jesus fulfilled his promise
and baptized me with the Holy Spirit. This was the greatest experience of my
life . . . , when I suddenly felt my shoulder shaking, and there was immediately
a feeling like an electric shock from outside which went through my whole
body and my whole being. I understood that the holy God had drawn near to
The Doctrine of the Spirit 333
me. I felt every limb of the lower half of my body shaking, and I felt involun-
tary movements and extraordinary power streaming through me. Through
this power the shaking of my body grew continually, and at the same time the
devotion of my prayer increased, to an extent that I had never experienced . . .
My words dissolved in my mouth, and the quiet utterances of my prayer grew
louder and changed into a foreign language. I grew dizzy. My hands, which
I had folded in prayer, struck against the edge of the bed. I was no longer my-
self, although I was conscious the whole time of what was happening. My
tongue jerked so violently that I believed it would be torn out of my mouth,
yet I could not open my mouth of my own power. But suddenly I felt it
opening, and words streamed out of it in strange languages. At first they came
and went, with times of silence, but soon my voice grew louder and the words
came quite clearly; they came like a stream from my lips. The voice grew
louder and louder, at first sounding clear and bold, but suddenly changing
into a terrible cry of distress, and I noticed that I was weeping. I was like a
horn that someone was blowing. A great chasm was open before me, into which
I was shouting, and I understood immediately the meaning of what I was
uttering, even though the words were strange to me. According to the account
of people who were in a neighbouring room, this speaking and singing lasted
about ten minutes. When it ceased it became quite silent, and there followed
an almost silent prayer, which was also uttered in a strange language... When
it was over my soul was filled with an inexpressible feeling of happiness and
blessedness. I could do nothing but give thanks, give thanks aloud. The feeling
of the presence of God was so wonderful, as if heaven had come down to
earth. And indeed heaven was in my soul. . ,78
The baptism of the Spirit of the Presbyterian minister Dr Charles Price can
be understood in the same category. He was a minister in Santa Rosa, California,
and some of the members of his congregation attended a gospel meeting to
hear Aimee Semple McPherson. He intended to preach about 'this humbug'
and give a sermon on the theme 'Divine Healing Bubble Explodes', so that he
had to go to the meetings himself. When he arrived he found there was still
room in the places reserved for cripples. 'That is where I belonged, but I did
not know it at that time.'79 He was profoundly impressed by the people who came
foward during the call for conversion. The next evening he went again. His
modernistic theology was punctured by the evangelist until it looked like a sieve.
The following evening Price went forward and knelt at the penitents' bench:
Something burst within my breast. An ocean of love divine rolled across my
heart. This was out of the range of psychology and actions and reactions. This
was real! Throwing up both hands I shouted, 'Hallelujah!' I ran joyfully
through the whole tent, for through the corridors of my mind there marched
the heralds of Divine truth carrying their banners on which I could see
emblazoned: 'Jesus saves', 'Heaven is Real', 'Christ Lives To-day'. 80
He soon received the baptism of the Spirit, which he describes as an electrifying
feeling whichflowedfrom the ends of hisfingersthrough his arms and his body.
334 Belief and Practice
G. T. Lindsay also describes his baptism of the Spirit as 'like pulsating
electricity.'81 The South African geologist and tutor at the University of Stellen-
bosch, A. V. Krige, had to wrestle for a long time for the 'baptism of the Spirit
and power' because 'my brain, a part of the body over which the Holy Spirit
must also take control, was too active to yield unconditionally'.82 J. B. van
Kesteren, a Flemish Pentecostal pastor whose father was a Reformed pastor,
'received the fullness of the Holy Spirit, when the Lord wrote the strange
language for me in clear letters [as a text on a wall]'.83
In the case of the Norwegian Methodist minister and later pioneer of the
European Pentecostal movement, T. B. Barratt, flames of fire were actually
visible.84 The Danish opera singer Anna Larsen Bjorner describes her baptism
of the Spirit as follows:
My whole body shook; it was like waves of fire going through me, over and
over again, and my whole being was as bathed in light.
She took courage to invite her fellow actors and actresses to her villa and had
Barratt speak to them. Another singer, Anna Lewini, was also converted and
became a missionary in Ceylon. On Barratt's advice, Anna Larsen Bjorner gave
up her work at the Opera. She was taken into a mental hospital for observation,
because she was regarded as mentally ill. But the Director of the hospital said
of her:
If I was to give a certificate of your condition, it would be to say that you are
the only sane person in this hospital, and all the rest of us are mad.85
Innumerable writings give instructions how to prepare for the baptism of the
Spirit, and what conditions have to be fulfilled for it to be received. In the older
Pentecostal denominations, in which the majority of members have not re-
ceived the baptism of the Spirit, these writings are of increasing importance.86
The preparation usually advised is prayer, faith (that is, the expectation of the
baptism of the Spirit), and full repentance, with confession and reparation for
sins. The Jesus Church teaches that fasting, prayer and tithing are preconditions
for the baptism of the Spirit.87 In the Swiss Pentecostal Mission the baptism of
the Spirit tends to be received during Bible Weeks. On one such occasion I
observed a mighty outburst of emotion. Strong men roared like hungry lions and
beat with powerful blows of their fists on the seats - for in Pentecostal fashion
the whole assembly was kneeling facing the seats. A confusion of weeping and
laughter came from the women. The noise was so great that one of the Pente-
costal pastors who had not yet received the baptism of the Spirit with speaking
in tongues decided to withdraw into the kitchen and peel potatoes there, until
the noisy prayer-meeting was over. Sometimes what are called 'waiting meetings'
are held, where the baptism of the Spirit is awaited. But this practice is con-
demned by Harold Horton:
The Doctrine of the Spirit 335
There is absolutely nothing in the scripture one degree like what we call a
'waiting meeting' today; where, say, a dozen come to seek the Spirit and all
go away disappointed, to come again by invitation next week to wait and seek,
and go away again empty, and so on week after week, month after month,
year after year.88
At the first European Pentecostal Conference in Stockholm in 1939, the first
and most important subject of debate was a thesis formulated by Leonhard
Steiner, who was a young pastor at the time:
Is it right to base our conception of the baptism of the Spirit on the Acts of the
Apostles, and the experience of the twelve apostles ? Can this experience be
deduced from the epistles written by them ?89
Undeterred by the criticism implied in the above question, the leaders of the
European Pentecostal movement advanced the usual view. The one exception
was George Jeffreys, who demanded that any one of the 'supernatural gifts of
the Spirit' should be recognized as a sufficient sign of the baptism of the Spirit.90
This opinion by Jeffreys did not appear in the official Swedish report of the
conference,91 but it can be found in the monthly journal of the Swiss Pente-
costal Mission.92 JefFreys's view is held today by the Elim Pentecostal Churches,93
the Swiss Pentecostal Mission, the Chilean Pentecostal movement,94 and a
number of other denominations. Similarly, the German Pentecostal movement
has from the first resisted the theory that only one who speaks in tongues has
received the baptism of the Spirit.95 To regard speaking in tongues as in general
the sign of the baptism of the Spirit is regarded by Leonhard Steiner as 'a great
mistake':
In our day the testimony of the whole gospel is constantly disturbed and
deformed by movements of exaltation and of sectarianism within the Pente-
costal Movement. The false doctrine of the baptism of the Spirit has played
a large part in this . . . The number of those which it has not helped96 is
greater than is supposed . . . One of the most urgent necessities at the moment
is the correction of the doctrine of the baptism.97
In a memorandum address to the leaders of the Pentecostal movement,
Steiner completely rejects the Pentecostal theory of stages of salvation.98 In
i960, Leonhard Steiner wrote me a letter in which he sums up his studies of the
baptism of the Spirit:
My conclusion, then, is that one can no longer maintain the doctrine of stages
of salvation. This inevitably leads to the rejection of the distinctive doctrines
of Pentecostalism. This does not entail the rejection of the Pentecostal move-
ment, that is, the experience of the Spirit which is to be found in it. There are
numerous genuine examples of the experience of the Spirit, without there
being present a correct understanding of the Spirit.99
I agree with this view.
336 Belief and Practice
In my view Carl F. Henry summarizes the situation correctly:
What was extraordinary in the New Testament now becomes normal in the
Pentecostal movement; what was experienced as an overwhelming force from
outside becomes the fruit of an achievement; the personality and sovereignty
of the Holy Spirit becomes a supernatural power which one can use and call
upon, to raise the quality of one's state of salvation. Associated with this is a
lowering of the value of the church's sacrament of baptism.123
Not everyone will accept without question this basic principle of interpreta-
tion, that Paul is to be preferred to Luke. Some will ask instead of those who
claim that the age of the Apostles is past: 'Yes - the difference is quite consider-
able! But how do we know what we usually take for granted, that this is the will
of God ? What gives us the right to say that his promises no longer hold ?'124
This argument - quoted here from one who is himself a theologian of one of the
established churches - is that which will be put forward by someone who
340 Belief and Practice
regards the Acts of the Apostles as the normative document of the normative
church.
I shall now attempt to understand the relative justification of the views con-
tained in the Lucan writings. I understand 'relative' here not in a pejorative,
but in a literal sense. The statements of the evangelist Luke must be seen against
the connection or relation they have to the church of Theophilus to whom he
writes. In this sense the statements are not 'absolutely' true, that is, true in
isolation from the situation to which they belong. Just as the testimonies of
Pentecostal faith must be interpreted having regard to the place and time in
which they arose, so the biblical writings must be understood as primarily a
testimony for their own times. This is the reason why in Pentecostal and
Reformation churches the Bible is not simply read, but interpreted in its
meaning for our present situation. And this is also the reason why in different
churches and different places, the preaching must be different, as every Pente-
costal pastor knows from his own experience.
The Lucan writings must be understood as a pastoral document written by a
theologian concerned for his church, and composed in a time when to be a
Christian and be a missionary were not, as in the time of Paul, automatically
the same thing. But Luke knows that the Church will perish if it dispenses
Christians from their missionary task. Luke's approach to this defusing of
Christian existence is a pastoral and theological one. He attempts to reunite
the two elements, being a Christian and being a missionary, which have become
separated from each other, by means of his theory of two definite stages. He says
it is sufficient to believe in Christ. But one only believes in Christ if the result
of this faith is to become a witness to it. The church is not the church unless it
lives as a missionary church. If the church replies: We are not able to be a
missionary church, Luke says: That is true. That is why God sent his Holy
Spirit at Pentecost. And for the same reason he sends him again and again,
God will help you. All you have to do is pray earnestly for the gift of the Spirit.
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will the heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit if you ask him for
it. He will give you the Holy Spirit, who made those terrified disciples mission-
aries at Pentecost, who made the apostle Paul a missionary, and who turned that
wretched, timid, inward-looking group in Ephesus into a church which in two
years turned the city of Ephesus upside down (Acts 19).
In presenting this theological sketch Luke uses older testimonies. But he is
not a church historian in the modern sense. For example, Peter's sermon at
Pentecost is a composition by Luke. It is difficult to imagine a disciple who
spoke Aramaic not only preaching in the words that are used, but expressing
the main ideas of the sermon, for the scriptural proofs are based on mistrans-
lations of the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). This can be verified by a
comparison of the texts in an English version. Acts 2.20 quotes the prophet
Joel from the Greek New Testament: 'Before the day of the Lord comes, the
The Doctrine of the Spirit 341
great and manifest day.' But in the Hebrew original of the prophet Joel (2.31)
we read: 'Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.' Acts 2.27 quotes
Psalm 16.10. The psalm speaks only of protection from death. The Greek
translation which Luke quotes turns this into a liberation from corruption. It is
only the mistranslation into Greek which makes it possible to interpret this
text as referring to the resurrection of Jesus.125 We are not arguing that the Old
and the New Testaments are contradictory, but that it can be shown that the
author of the sermon in Acts 2 used a Greek Old Testament. Anyone who believes
that Peter gave this sermon must accept the unlikely thesis that a Galilean
fisherman who spoke Aramaic preached in Jerusalem on the basis of a Greek
mistranslation. This is not wholly impossible, but it is unlikely.126
Thus we cannot, on the basis of the text of the New Testament, refute Paul
with Luke, nor Luke with Paul. Nor must we attempt to harmonize them. We
have simply to ask which categories of presentation and thought are best
appropriate to our own situation and our own congregations. Luke and Paul
share a concern that the church should be sound in belief and full of missionary
zeal. Paul's language is more theological, more precise, but less concrete. Luke
separates into a temporal succession things that belong together. It is not
accident that the picture presented by Luke has been accepted as the true
biblical view by people who are not capable of dialectic thought.
Readers who are Pentecostals will have noticed that this attempt at an inter-
pretation of the Acts of the Apostles is based on the results of theological scholar-
ship. It is close to some of the interpretations which Pentecostals have put
forward themselves. Thus for example in the Mulheim Association of Christian
Fellowships the difference between natural and supernatural gifts is rejected.127
The confession of faith of this Association, edited and commented by C. Krust,
is wholly based on the Pauline witness in the New Testament.
The attempt to present the baptism of the Spirit as a second spiritual experi-
ence, to be fundamentally distinguished from regeneration, has no basis in
Scripture . . . 128
Here Krust has begun the process of leading his Association back to a Reforma-
tion and Pauline theology. On the other hand the Pentecostals who have re-
mained within the Reformation churches129 do not hold this Pauline doctrine
of the Spirit, as do Catholic Pentecostals, together with Christian Krust. 'Since
the incarnation of Christ there is no radical dichotomy between the supposedly
natural and the supposedly supernatural.'130
But there are many people for whom the Lucan testimony is more compre-
hensible and therefore more appropriate than that of Paul.
1
Then he began to tell him details of visions he had been seeing that morning
and which God had told him to share. It was all too fantastic. Even the Pente-
costal movement would become a mere joke compared with the revival which
God was bringing to the churches. Wigglesworth went on to specify that all
this would not happen until after Wigglesworth's death. Wigglesworth died in
the 1950s, shortly before his prophecies began to be fulfilled.165
The Pentecostal movement and the traditional churches, in consciousness
of their poverty, may co-operate in their search for present-day forms of pro-
phecy, both spontaneous and the fruit of thoughtful reflection. It is not so
important to establish that there are examples of foreknowledge which are
difficult or impossible to explain.166 Much more important would be the
experience of the guidance of the church brought about by thanksgiving and
thought, question and answer, a guidance which would not evade the problems
for which both the world and the church cannot find answers.167
A starting point can be found in the work of the Evangelical academies, the
Lay Training Centres, the Pope's various social encyclicals, and the conference
of the World Council of Churches, 'Church and Society', at Geneva in the
summer of 1966.168
I shall conclude this chapter by pointing to one or two examples of theologians
who have given attention to the prophetic task of the church, by way of intro-
ducing Pentecostal pastors to the important but somewhat complex literature
on the subject. An outstanding example in the German-speaking world is
Arthur Rich, the successor of Emil Brunner at the University of Zurich. He
was an apprentice mechanic before studying theology. His main work has
been concerned with the question of what it means to be a Christian in an
industrialized and technological world, a question which no Pentecostal pastor
can avoid, for he has to speak every day to people who are trying to be Christians
in this industrialized world.
In the English-speaking world, William Temple took up the Christian
socialist tradition from F. D. Maurice. Two years before his death he published
Christianity and Social Order in which he discussed the question whether 'Mid-
dle axioms' could be found halfway between general theological principles and
The Doctrine of the Spirit 347
particular policies.' 169 He was the chairman of the first national Christian
Conference on Politics, Economics and Citizenship (COPEC) in 1924. He was
greatly influenced by - and influenced in his turn - Reinhold Niebuhr, whose
works are also concerned with the Christian task in the modern world.
NOTES
Two years ago I came, suffering from a long-standing and severe bile and liver
complaint, to one of Brother Branham's evening meetings in Zurich. Although
I had not drawn the slightest attention to myself, his son gave me a little
card, but those who received them were not called up that evening - but
regardless of the cards, some of the sick people were called up, either directly
by Brother Branham, or by you yourself. To my unspeakable joy I was one of
those who was spoken to (although I was right at the back and out of sight
of Brother Branham). You had to call me three times (with an accurate diagno-
sis by Brother Branham), until I understood that it was actually I who was
meant. This word was given to me: 'Be comforted, my daughter, your faith has
helped you, you will be healed.'
The sick woman gave a detailed account of her further misfortunes, the wor-
sening of the pain, and the onset of new diseases and her increasing loneliness.
In her despair she wrote the above letter and begged me to tell Branham of her
sickness:
356 Belief and Practice
Please, my dear brother in the Lord, could you make my great desire your
own and say a single word to Brother Branham from these hands, stretched out
to you in distress ? Surely you will be seeing him ? This will be the greatest act
of love which you could ever show me.
Unfortunately, to avoid yet more disappointment, I had to decline. But I
considered it would be right, since the journals of the Swiss and foreign Pente-
costal movement had for years publicized the testimonies of those who had
been healed, to publish at least once a testimony from one of the majority who
had not been healed (such as the above letter). This suggestion was turned down
by the leaders of the Swiss Pentecostal Mission.
Branham became the inspiration and example of the healing evangelists who
imitated him, and whose mouthpiece was the journal Voice of Healing. For
many Pentecostal pastors, spurred on by his example, had taken new courage.
A great number of them underwent an experience of a call similar to that of
Branham.20 They travelled the world to heal the sick. Some of them, such as
T. L. Osborn and Hermann Zaiss,21 were welcomed into the traditional churches
in spite of, or perhaps even because of their extreme healing practices. They
made tentative contacts with the Anglican Order of Saint Luke, an association
of American doctors and theologians.
Gordon Lindsay was the literary and organizational manager of the healing
evangelists, and published their reports in the journal Voice of Healing, which he
edited. Later the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International22 took
over the financial and publicity organization of the healing evangelists. More
recently, evidently for financial reasons and because of dogmatic differences,
some of the healing evangelists have set up their own supporting organization,
while others have returned to ordinary pastoral work. One section has united
with groups from the New Order of the Latter Rain to form the Full Gospel
Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International.23 W. A. Raiford has been
chosen as the executive secretary of the new denomination. He was formerly a
detective, but is now an honorary doctor of theology. Velmer Gardner was very
disturbed at the feeble testimonies of healing in the Pentecostal congregations
with which he was acquainted, and the vast difference between the religion
of the Acts of the Apostles and that of the Pentecostal movement. He therefore
founded the Velmer Gardner Evangelistic Association. Jack Coe was revolted
by the cold, unemotional services in most Pentecostal churches, and at the
tendency to found colleges, make constitutions and draw up confessions of
faith, and to neglect the old-fashioned revival meetings. He wished to fight
against the 'tragedy of a powerless Pentecostal movement', and therefore set
up the Coe Foundation.
In afloodof literature the healing evanglists proclaim that it is the will of God
- with or without the help of doctors - to heal the sick. 'Expect a miracle and
you can have one.'24 Gordon Lindsay knows God's 'master key' to success and
prosperity.25 The healing evangelists live in a constant dialogue with angels and
Healing by Prayer and the Doctrine of Miracles 357
demons, the Holy Spirit and the spirits of diseases from the abyss; some ex-
perience electric currents through their hands when they pray with the sick,
others have a halo around their heads when they are photographed, and others
again have oil appearing on their hands when they pray. If the healing of a
sick person does not take place, this can be the result of one of ten, fifteen or
twenty reasons why prayers are not heard (unbelief, sin, etc., on the part of
the persons seeking healing).26
{c) Self-criticism
The attitude of individual Pentecostal groups to the healing of the sick by
prayer in general, and to the healing evangelists in particular, varies a great deal.
On the whole one can say that the more recent and more enthusiastic groups
look with favour on the healing evangelists.27 On the other hand, the older
Pentecostal groups have gone to some trouble to keep the healing evangelists
at a distance, for until recently they held and taught the view of the healing
evangelists which they now condemn as false: 'Anyone who believes is healed;
anyone who is not healed has not believed aright.'
Brumback accused the healing preachers of attacks upon local Pentecostal
pastors, moral lapses, egotism, arrogant behaviour and over-estimation of the
value of bodily healing, and the false teaching that prosperity is an irrefutable
sign of piety. This led the Pentecostal Evangel to refuse to publish any further
reports of the healing evangelists. But when Brumback expressed the view that
they had lost their following28 he was probably too optimistic. For if this is so,
how can they pay for their broadcasts, their massive missionary work in Europe,
and the tons of printed material they publish ? The older Pentecostal denomina-
tions are now paying the penalty for often lacking the courage to make an open
admission of their mistakes, for they spread and encouraged for many years the
practices of the healing evangelists, which they now condemn.29 It is possible
that it is not only this false teaching which makes the older Pentecostals look
unfavourably upon the healing evangelists, but also the fact that with the aid of
their organizations they divert money from local congregations to pay for
evangelistic radio broadcasts. This alarms the traditional Pentecostal churches.
The following observation gives support to this suspicion. At the World Pente-
costal Conference in Toronto in 1968, Leonhard Steiner gave a lecture on
'Divine Healing in God's Plan of Redemption'.30 In this lecture Steiner pointed
out that the healing evangelists wanted so to speak to make God their servant,
and in their prayers for healing had ignored the limitation that man must always
make: 'Thy will be done.' Consequently God has not confirmed their preaching
in the last ten years. It had to be stated with sadness that in the healing cam-
paigns, after the first rush of enthusiasm, those who remained healed were only
a very small percentage. 'The apostles practised divine healing without making
a special point of preaching it, whereas we preach it, but fail to practise it.'31
358 Belief and Practice
Like the critical remarks made by Jeffreys at the conference in Stockholm in
1939,32 the passage of the lecture referred to was suppressed in the conference
report, for besides a lively expression of agreement, it also provoked violent
objections.
(c) A. A. Allen
A. A. Allen has published a record72 which includes a healing service. He
opens the service with the words of the song he takes up later: 'I'm going to a
366 Belief and Practice
city, friends - are you ? - where the roses never fade, where there'll be no more
crutches, no more wheel chairs, no more stretchers.' Tonight, he continues,
there is in the invalid section 'a little woman laying on a stretcher. Helpless,
she can't walk. She has to take 25 pills every night, so she'll not be in agony.
She jumped out of an upper storey to window end it all. God's going to heal her
tonight.' There are interjections now and then from the audience. He breaks off.
The spotlights shine across his vast tent; loudspeakers carry his voice to every
one of his audience of thousands, and he sings:
I am going to a city, where the streets all with gold are laid,
Where the tree of life is blooming, I am going where the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season, soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city, I am going where the roses never fade.
He makes contact with his audience:
Loved ones gone to be with Jesus,
- 'How many have some gone ?' he interjects -
In their robes of white arrayed,
Now they're waiting for my coming,
They're waiting where the roses never fade.
- 'How many going with me ?' -
The last question makes Allen, a rather weak singer, the unquestioned master
of the audience. He calls for prayer, for the 'little woman'. 'Jumped out of a
window, upper storey window, 'cause life wasn't worth living. How many'U
pray that God'll make life worth living tonight ?' The audience join in the next
song, 'Leave it there'.
When your youthful days are gone, and old age is creeping on,
And your body bends beneath the load of care,
Jesus will never leave you then, he'll be with you to the end,
If you take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
He speaks to the woman of her suicide attempt: 'Are you sorry you did that,
lady ?' She is near to tears as she replies: 'Yes, yes . . .' (It may well be the
first time in her life that she has been addressed as 'lady' - and with maximum
publicity by someone who, in that situation, occupies a position of the highest
status.) Allen's voice breaks with emotion as well:
'You do want Jesus to hear you tonight ?'
'I want Jesus to hear me . . . I'm tired of suffering.'
'And you want him to heal you tonight ?'
'I want him to heal me tonight'.
'In the name of Jesus,' Allen cries, 'In the name of Jesus, my God, heal this
woman from the effects of this fall. . . Heal this spine, and heal, O Lord, this
nervous system, heal this spinal cord and this spinal column. Lord, from her
head down to the toes, put this spinal cord back in place.' His voice rises con-
Healing by Prayer and the Doctrine of Miracles 367
stantly and the words come faster. 'Take away this nervousness, and, let this
woman walk normally again as she used to walk. O God, in Jesus's name' -
his voice grows hoarse - 'give her something to live for.' He rebukes the demon.
'I rebuke this melancholy devil. In the name of Jesus I curse this melancholy,
suicide devil! Can then these tears be dried, this broken heart be bound up?'
The rest comes suddenly, like lightning:
Remember Peter stopped at a gate one time and said to the man who couldn't
walk, 'In Jesus's name rise up and walk' ? Well, I'm going to do more than
that, because God's doing a new thing today. I'm going to say, 'Jump up and
run.'
There is a pause, then, word by word, formally, solemnly, he pronounces:
'In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth - Jump!'
The audience bursts into shouting and enthusiasm, and a commentator
described to the radio audience how the woman has jumped up and is running
round the tent. At this point the recording seems to have been cut, and we hear
Allen saying 'Let's praise the Lord!' There is apparently another cut, and what
follows is a jam session with significantly fewer people, probably in a studio.
The conclusion is interesting for the way in which, against a background of a
dance-like rhythm ('There'll be a great day when we all gather round') another
blues-like melody is superimposed quite independently.
It is impossible to say on the basis of this record whether this healing in fact
took place. It can be thought of either as a transitory cure in the tense atmos-
phere of the tent meeting, or even as a permanent cure, if the woman 'found
something that made her life worth living' in the framework of a Pentecostal
assembly.
4. Assessment
Healing through prayer is sought by those who, through lack of time, money
or confidence, cannot or will not be treated medically.91 They are not to be
blamed if in the final instance - this at least is how they see it - they turn to God.
Purely as a phenomenon, healing through prayer can be seen to be an effective
form of support, and in some cases a substitute, for medical healing. The
healing powers of group-psychological and sociological factors - to which a
Pentecostal has access in the form of prayer - are more important than people
were prepared to concede a few years ago. But precisely because we are dealing
with forces which cannot be ignored, their application should not be left solely
to the intuition, still less to the craving for recognition and success of individual
star evangelists. I am not clear how a useful dialogue between medical science
and the Pentecostal practice of healing by prayer can be carried out. That it is
necessary and of great importance to certain classes of people and countries
seems to have been clear for some time.92
In a provocative sermon on Mark 5.1-43, Walter Vogt, a doctor himself, said:
Medicine has developed an unsuspected skill in restoring health without
healing . . . The encounter with mental illness can no longer take place in
freedom. Society avoids confrontation with what cannot be healed, because
it has itself become unhealthy.93
When we look for the religious theme in Pentecostal miracle stories, we find
an attempt to provide a proof of God appropriate to an age of empirical investi-
gation. It is easy to give a theological refutation of this proof of God, and to
denounce it as heretical, heathen, or at least as Catholic. But in my view this
Healing by Prayer and the Doctrine of Miracles 371
is to blur the problem concealed within this admittedly inadequate proof of the
existence of God. The problem should be formulated somewhat as follows. In
the age when all authorities are declining, the authority of preaching grows
weaker every day. When the Reformation churches reply that this is the scandal
of the cross, which is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, they
are forgetting that Paul, who said this, also spoke of the cross as a power of God,
and that he came to Corinth 'in demonstration of the Spirit and power' (I
Cor. 2.4).
The modern world asks such questions as: Is God alive? Is this God the
Father of Jesus Christ ? Is there any sense in praying to and trusting this God ?
Is the whole business of the church simply a vast and useless enterprise run at
public cost, like an elaborate religious version of one of Tinguely's mobiles,
or at best a 'necessary illusion' ? The answer the Pentecostal gives to all these
questions is that of the man who was born blind: 'Whether he is a sinner, I do
not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see' (John 9.25).
I conclude this chapter with a list of theses on the subject:
1. Miracles are ambiguous and not specifically Christian. There are many
modern and ancient miracle stories. The Bible itself tells of miracles performed
by enemies of God (Matt. 12.27; Ex. 7.1 if.; Acts 8.9-11). From the period
before, during and after the composition of the New Testament,98 and from our
own time, there is an extensive literature of miracle stories. These cannot be
described as nothing but fiction or deception. From the phenomenological point
of view they must be described as inexplicable events, though the question
must remain open whether they can ever receive an explanation.
2. This does not mean that miracles and signs are excluded as forms of
Christian witness. The biblical authors were not afraid to use even heathen
words and conceptions such as Logos, Saviour, Lord and son of God in their
works. In the New Testament period the emperor was known as 'Lord' and
'Saviour'. In direct competition with this 'Saviour' the Christians professed
belief in their 'Saviour'. Philosophers and miracle workers were venerated as
'sons of God', stories were told that a god had visited their mothers in the
absence of their husbands and seduced them. The 'Logos' was the slogan of
numerous sects. They understood by it a kind of world reason, which pervaded
the universe. If it was possible for the New Testament writers under certain
conditions to use these heathen conceptions, so human abilities which up to
now remain inexplicable, such as the healing of the sick by the laying on of
hands, or foreknowledge through intuition, can be used to serve the Christian
witness.
3. These signs are not qualified for this use simply by the fact that they are
remarkable. But neither does this fact disqualify them, any more than does the
possibility that in a short time it may be possible to 'explain' them. There are
times and places in which the 'remarkable sign' is properly shown more atten-
tion than what is ordinary and unremarkable.
37 2 Belief and Practice
4. Paul does not distinguish between natural and supernatural gifts. He
assesses them on the basis of the following criteria:
- they serve the common good [of the church] (I. Cor 12.7);
- they point to the fact that Jesus is Lord (I Cor. 12.1-3);
- they are not contrary to what has come about in the incarnate Word of God,
in Jesus (I Cor. 12.3).
5. The list of gifts of the Spirit in the New Testament is arbitrary in so far
as it is determined by the situation of those who received the epistles. Conse-
quently, it is neither complete, nor obligatory in the legal sense. That is, there
can be new gifts of the Spirit (which are not listed in the Bible). Other gifts can
die out or become less prominent. What is decisive is not what kind of gift it is,
but whether it fulfils the criteria given in para. 4 above.
6. This does not mean that speaking in tongues, healing through prayer,
visions, etc., which rarely occur in our traditional and established churches, are
without significance. Perhaps we underestimate their importance. Speaking in
tongues has an important psycho-hygienic function. Anyone who rejects it must
offer a substitute which has the same function and effect. The healing of the
sick through prayer must not be seen as an alternative to the practice of medicine.
Many people may learn that prayer is concerned with concrete matters from
prayers in accordance with James 5, more than from numerous sermons. For
people who have difficulty with abstract thought and live in the age of illustrated
papers and television, visions are an important means of communication.
7. The New Testament signs must be qualified by being integrated into the
process of preaching. This is true both of the 'remarkable' and the 'ordinary'
signs, sacramental {verbum visibile) and profane. When Christians buried both
Christian and heathen dead during the plague in Rome, at a time when the
Roman doctors had fled, they had to give a reason for this remarkable behaviour.
They said: We believe in the risen Christ who has taken away the power of
death. This gave a purpose to the sign (the burial of the dead) and power to
their profession of faith ('I believe in the risen Christ'). When they bought
slaves in the market and set them free, they had to give a reason for what in
Roman eyes was pathological behaviour: 'Christ has set us and all men free
from slavery and made us his fellow workers.'
8. It follows that signs (both 'remarkable' and 'ordinary') need the word
which accompanies them. But this does not mean that it must be possible to
draw a logical deduction from the sign to the existence of God. When at the
present day something is observed to happen which conflicts with the socio-
logical, psychological or physical norms of behaviour which are familiar to us, a
practised observer will not proceed straight to the 'hypothesis of God'. Rather,
he will formulate the description of the norms of behaviour in such a way as to
take in the exception that has been observed (e.g. the sacrificial courage of a
missionary, the raising of a person from the dead).
Healing by Prayer and the Doctrine of Miracles 373
With regard to the Pentecostal movement it must be affirmed:
(a) To define a miracle as a breaking of the laws of nature is inadmissible
both theologically and scientifically. It is theologically inadmissible, because
the Bible does not speak in terms of a sphere of nature, governed by natural laws,
and a sphere of the Spirit, governed by supernatural laws which take preference
over natural laws. It is scientifically inadmissible because the so-called laws of
nature are statistics based on experience. Consequently if new experience is
discovered, they must be changed. Thus they cannot be used to mark a boundary
between God and the world."
(Jb) We must look beyond the gifts of the Spirit which are manifested in the
Pentecostal movement to find modern gifts of the Spirit: the gifts of service
to society and science. That is, we need gifts that will help us to understand
better our sick world of politics, economics and science and to contribute to the
task of healing it.
NOTES
1. PE 1466, 13.6.1942, pp. 1, iof.
2. A. Murray, Divine Healing, p. 16; cf. also above, ch. 9.i(r), pp. ii5f.
3. Divine Healing, p. 71.
4. Pastor Wyss, Feierabend (a free supplement containing matter of religious interest
and edification, given with the Emmenthaler Nachrichten) 22/31, 5.8.1911, p. 248.
5. Pfingstgrusse 4/19, 4.2.1912, p. 151.
6. Blatter der Heilung, 15.12.1899, p. 15.
7. Cf. PGG, pp. 257ff.
8. Cf. above, ch. 9.2, pp. n6fF.
9. Details: 05.13.024.
10. G. Lindsay, W. Branham, p. 77.
11. Ibid., p. 93.
12. MD, 29,1966, pp. 1416.; 30, 1967, pp. 8ifF., io5fF., n8IF., i4of., 185.
13. MD 29, 1966, p. 46.
14. Verbal communication from David J. Du Plessis.
15. W. Branham, Seven Church Ages, quoted by Hutten, Seher, nth edition 1968,
P. 758.
16. E. Frank, Das Wort Gottes bleibt in Ewigkeit, Nr. 7.
17. P. Frehner, Tagesanzeiger, Zurich, 2.7.1955.
18. K. Koch, Deutsches Pfarrerblatt 56/13, p. 293.
19. L. Steiner, VdV 48/7, July 1955, pp. 8f. Cf. also D. Gee, P 36, 1956, p. 17.
20. Details, 02a.02.D.VII.
21. Cf. pp. 362fF.
22. Cf. above ch. 1.1(b), pp.
23. Documents: 02a.02.D.VI; 02a.02.159.
24. O. Roberts, God is a Good God, p. 180.
25. G. Lindsay, God's Master-Key to Success and Prosperity.
26. Cf. the study by R. P. Shuler, McPhersonism; quoted by A. J. Pollock, Modern
Pentecostalism, p. 49.
1
THAT our battle is not against 'flesh and blood' but against 'principalities and
powers',1 Pentecostals can testify from their own experience. Here they are in
agreement with the Conservative Evangelicals. There are demons of sickness,
of lies, of fornication, Hitler demons and divorce demons.2 Pentecostals say:
We believe in the personality of the Devil, who by his influence and power
brought about the downfall of man and now seeks to destroy the faith of every
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.3
We believe in the personal existence of the Devil and his angels, the evil
spirits.4
Satan is the chief of the fallen world of angels, the father of lies, the deceiver
of men and the prince of this world.5
We believe in the existence of the demons, who provoke evil amongst men.6
What is offered nowadays as theology is often nothing but Satanology.7
Critical exegetes are 'servants of the Devil' and 'disciples of Satan'.8
There are people possessed! Many are possessed. Here in the midst of what is
called Christianity.9
The Indian Pentecostal Lam Jeevaratnam has published a demonology in which
he describes the signs of demon possession; peculiar appearance, irritation,
bad temper, pains all over the body, bad dreams, irregular periods in women,
miscarriages.10 The healing evangelists are specialists at driving out demons,
particularly A. A. Allen, who has published a small illustrated book with
pictures of demons.11 He has put on sale a record which includes the expulsion
of the chief devil Lucifer from a woman.12 In the Glaubenhaus in Warngau
we experienced more than once the demons crying out so loud and uninter-
ruptedly that the police came. In one case the devil grinned and said: 'Now
37 Belief and Practice
I have set the police on you.' When we replied, 'That's right, now the public
will learn that devils are driven out here,' he cried: 'What an idiot I am!' and
the possessed woman beat her brow with her long pointed fingers.13
Full grown men were thrown by the devil through the air into the middle of
the room where prayers were being held. A man was pulled through an oven
door up to the shoulder. A boy possessed by a 'pig devil' can still only grunt.
Beer by the litre came out of a peasant woman whose father and grandfather
had been drunkards. For days from a woman in prayer there came down ser-
pents of saliva, sometimes with blood. When hands were laid on one man there
was the sound of the violent barking of dogs, and from another the sounds of
the hooves of a whole troop of horses. The devils 'cry out, they roar, they bellow,
they spit, they snarl, hiss and give cries of terror, and finally they stink so
strongly of sulphur when they come out that the meeting room has to be aired.'14
Johannes Widmer, one of the founders of the Apostolic Church in Switzer-
land (Gemeinde fiir Urchristentum) entitled his principal work, in three
volumes, 'In the Battle Against the Kingdom of Satan'.15 Widmer fights without
intermission against the devil and his accomplices, who try to do harm to the
children of God, their domestic animals, and even their cheeses - a serious
matter for a Berne cheesemaker.16 In the Apostolic Church they tell how
in our bedroom the spirits were piled up so high that there wasn't a cubic
centimetre of empty space left anywhere . . . The only way I could get
through was to take hold of the New Testament and beat back the hellish
disturbers of the peace in front of me step by step.17
'The devil does not even disdain to go into dogs and cocks!'18 Of course the
gospels record the same kind of thing (Mark 5.13).
According to Johannes Widmer there is often a connection between sickness
and possession:
And how the devil is pleased when he stays undiscovered for a long time in his
hiding place and can go with the sick person to visit a beautiful health resort
and take the waters! He laughs at all the chemicals that are swallowed and all
the solutions that are injected.19
The Latter Rain Assemblies report the existence of 'calling voices'. This term
refers to demonic powers who continually call up other powers, because the
first powers are already bound. They pray :
Father, I pray, send a mighty angel with a two-edged sword to hack away all
the undermining threads of thought20 and nets, so that my prayer can rise up
to Thy throne of grace.21
Lester Sumrall, an evangelist of the Assemblies of God, tells of a girl who was
bitten by a devil.22 E. Kopf expresses surprise that
those amongst our present official theologians who are supposed to believe
Demonology 379
most in the Bible admit that Jesus believed in a pure world of spirits, but say
that this does not stop us from abandoning this belief altogether.23
This question is of decisive importance for the African24 and Latin American25
churches. Anyone who approaches 'this superstition' with the superiority of
the European will get nowhere. For many Africans and Latin Americans the
demons are realities. In discussion with them the biblical writers provide a
useful starting point, for they do not teach us to 'believe in the personal existence
of the devil', but in the overpowering of Satan and his accomplices. Paul does
not believe in the demons, he believes that Christ has conquered them.
Neither Pentecostals nor Protestant Christians, then, are able to believe
strongly enough that demons have been so far overcome that they have to leave
the battlefield. In spite of the battles against demons described above, and in
spite of the detailed and reasonable account of spiritualist phenomena given
by Raphael Gasson, a former spiritualist,26 the phenomenon of possession is an
unsolved problem in Pentecostal belief and practice. The Working Association
of Christian Congregations in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christen-
gemeinden in Deutschland) makes two paradoxical statements:
Even the regenerate can remain under a curse or come under one through
sin . . .
The regenerate are made wholly free by redemption and need no further
redemption.27
The conference of Pentecostal pastors which discussed these theses made no
attempt to reconcile the contradiction, but dismissed the pastoral difficulties
with the statement that 'many of our members are not yet regenerate'.28
But this picture is rejected by Charles W. Conn of the Church of God (Cleve-
land). He maintains 'on the authority of God's holy Word that a demon cannot
possess a Christian spirit, soul or body', because this suggests that Christ 'will
share a Christian with the devil'.29
A demonology similar to that of the Working Fellowship of Christian
Churches in Germany has been developed by the 'Russian Orthodox Church
Outside Russia'. Both the Orthodox and the German Pentecostals are in
agreement that the immortal soul is made sick by sin.
If at the moment it takes its leave of the body
the soul is not saved or on the way to salvation . . . it remains for ever in the
condition of 'the death of the soul', an expression which must be understood
metaphorically and which signifies eternal torment.30
Sin sets up a 'diabolical circle' around the soul, which in certain cases is mani-
fested in hopeless depression. The thoughts of dejection
are insinuated by the demons into the soul which is being converted; in this
way they try to work against the conversion. The only proper attitude here is
that of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). The absolution of the priest, who acts here
38o Belief and Practice
as Christ's representative (Matt. 16.9 and 18.18), if repentance and resolution
to amend are honestly present, brings about something that can be compared
to the erasing of a magnetic tape.31
Further means which are suggested for the healing of a soul made sick by sin
and demons are the 'breathing' of the soul, that is, prayer; participation in the
eucharist; attendance at services; and active love.
If everything is brought into order, then all the fearful cares and states of
anxiety, all complexes, inhibitions, neuroses, depressions and such like sud-
denly disappear. They vanish like smoke in the wind. A person is once again
free, but this time truly free; once again he finds joy in his work, in life, in
nature, and in every little thing. In a word, he once again has courage and
takes pleasure in life. He does not give in.32
Although Pentecostal pastors are clever enough to recognize the limits of their
ministry and to tolerate with resignation, when there is no other alternative,
the work of the psychiatrist,33 to have recourse to a psychiatrist implies the
admission of a spiritual failure on the part of the pastor and the believer, and
this is done only with great reluctance. For example Wim Malgo advised a
mother who asked him whether in a difficult matter of upbringing she should
call in a psychiatrist:
Pray a great deal with the children and for the children. If you do this con-
sistently, looking earnestly to the Lord, you will have splendid children.34
Wim Malgo would have learned better from King David by taking to heart the
history of David's family in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, Malgo sticks to
his advice:
Your boy does not need a psychologist. He needs a mother who will pray more
for him, and more seriously . . . The psychologist can undoubtedly give tran-
sitory relief to the soul by certain psychological methods, but he does not go to
the root of the trouble, that is, unforgiven sin, a hard, disobedient heart.35
It is not surprising that Donald Gee has gone his own way here. In Study
Hour, a journal for Pentecostal pastors, he published an article which tried to
obtain understanding for the treatment of the mentally ill. He argued for an
appropriate psychiatric treatment for the depressed within the Pentecostal
movement, and commented sympathetically on the work of Werner Gruehn,
Freud and Jung.36
It is not possible for me to give a conclusive judgment on this subject, even
though I am certain that most phenomena of possession can be explained within
the framework of modern psychiatric knowledge, even if they cannot be healed.
But I agree with Albert Moll in believing that there is possibly an 'inexplicable
remnant'.37 This 'inexplicable remnant' points to the fact that our methods of
apprehending and describing reality are relatively accurate only in certain
spheres, for which the method used is particularly appropriate. Thus the
Detnonology 381
'inexplicable remnant' does not point to the existence of demons, but to the
inaccuracy (perhaps only temporary) of our explanation of reality. But it
prevents us from making statements in this field which go beyond our com-
petence, that is, statements which it is impossible for us to test. Anyone who
uses the devil as a stop-gap to explain the 'inexplicable' makes him a meaning-
less figure.
For a reader familiar with the literature of the driving out of demons, the
most impressive account is that by Blumhardt concerning his struggle to set
free the possessed girl Gottliebin Dittus.38 This girl, into whom, according to
Blumhardt, the devil had magically introduced nails, frogs and other substances,
was finally set free before witnesses by months of prayer on the part of Blum-
hardt. I am not able to conclude whether there were parapsychological pheno-
mena at work, or whether it was a phenomenon of psychiatric practice which
can be interpreted in terms of modern knowledge. But I quote Benedetti's
useful interpretation of this driving out of a demon 'in the light of modern
psychotherapeutic knowledge':
A modern psychiatrist who, in treating a psychosis, allowed so much of its
content to infect him as well, as Blumhardt did, would be bound to cause us
serious concern for his mental health. For the 'reality' in which we live today
has much less room for the possibility of such experiences than did the world
view that existed a hundred years ago. Nowadays, the occurrence of such
experiences implies a far greater departure from the outlook and mode of
experience of the healthy social environment in which they are situated. At
that time, the world was much more open to many of the experiences of
psychotic people than is our modern world, formed by science. And I wonder
whether this may not be the reason why patterns of symptoms like that of
Gottliebin Dittus hardly ever occur at the present day. In our age sufferings
of this kind have become a rarity.39 Extreme mental distress is expressed in
different forms today from those that expressed it in the past. We observe it
more in the autistic loneliness of schizophrenia or depression than in the
colourful images of a spreading and contagious hysteria, occasional occurrences
of which were still being studied at the beginning of this century by the early
psychoanalysts. Consequently I think that to diagnose hysteria in the modern
sense in the case of Gottliebin Dittus would be to fail to give a full account of
the nature of her affliction. Hysteria at the present day is something different
from what Blumhardt describes.40
In bringing the demons 'face to face' with him, Blumhardt became in part
subject to them. This is the meaning which we can perceive in the 'mytho-
logical' narrative that exists. Hallucinatory experience which he shared with
his patient show us how far he himself was affected by the stimulus of the
psychotic situation. But the effect was not like that upon people who com-
pletely shut themselves off from the affliction of the mentally ill person, and
yet fall victim to it themselves as a defence against it. The cruelty of the per-
secution of witches was an expression of the fact that the persecutors had
382 Belief and Practice
succumbed in this way. By entering into the situation of the psychosis,
Blumhardt finally overcame it.41
A theologian, Joachim Scharfenberg,42 has also studied the case of Gottliebin
Dittus in detail. He follows Benedetti in regarding Blumhardt's relationship
with the sick girl as a realization of, and pointer towards, 'the classical pattern of
psychotherapeutic dialogue'.43 According to Scharfenberg, the healing took
place because Blumhardt abandoned the attitude of pastoral care as instruction
and consolation, and entered into an open dialogue with the girl, 'setting the
faculties of experience free to receive a new experience. But it is the area of
consciousness which is enlarged in this way which is able to exercise a healing
effect, both on the mental situations and on the social conflict situations in
which the younger Blumhardt was trying to carry forward the line of develop-
ment begun by his father.'44 It is therefore not surprising that in the revival
movement sparked off by Blumhardt the sermon was replaced by an activity
in which 'as far as possible all members were involved in the dialogue'.45 In
these meetings - nowadays they would be called charismatic gatherings -
the fateful division between the profane and the sacred is really broken down,
here . . . , a style of life is realized in which dialogue can develop, in which all
who take part both give and receive. Here Blumhardt also learned to abandon
and leave behind his earlier 'sharp' style of preaching,46 and there was even
a visible replacement of pastoral concern for the individual by this group
dialogue as a form of life. The effect of these impulses and promptings will
spread far and wide, without setting up a situation of sectarian dependency
upon them. Here people find liberation and - as Blumhardt set out as his aim -
consciousness and 'knowledge of themselves'.47
W. Schulte, a doctor, had already given a similar reply, in a fine article written
twenty years ago, to the question: 'What can a doctor say to Johann Christoph
Blumhardt about illness and possession?'48 Schulte states 'It is not possible to
give a diagnosis which distinguishes between sickness and possession . . . They
represent two possible aspects of the same event.'49 From this Schulte concludes:
No discerning doctor will deny that the healing of a disease can only come
about with the help of God. But this should not mean abandoning all medical
activity in the sphere of psychological and mental illness and looking for help
from a miracle of prayer.50
As so often in our discussion we have come to a point where the historic
churches and the Pentecostal movement are faced with the same questions.
How can we get away from a form of pastoral care which provides only instruc-
tion, and find our way to open dialogue, even if demons appear in it ? Perhaps
there are even people at the present day who can best be helped by entering
into the 'situation of the psychosis', in Benedetti's words. And perhaps a Pente-
costal pastor, who because of his understanding of the Bible is more open to
this 'situation of psychosis', may be able to give more help than a psychiatrist.
Demonology 383
And is it not possible on the basis of Schulte's interpretation - that possession
and illness are two possible aspects of the same event - that a dialogue with
Pentecostalism might be both necessary and meaningful ?
NOTES
1. Eph. 6.12.
2. A. A. Allen, Divorce.
3. AoG, Australia, Doctrinal Basis.
A. Congregacao Crista do Brasil, Estatutos, 1946, art. 37, para. 6.
5. R. Willenegger, Ich komme bald! 9, 1951, pp. n8fF.
6. Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile, Manual, n.d., p. 6.
7. W. Malgo, Mitternachtsrufj/i, April 1962, pp. 9fF.
8. J. Vetter, Die Bibel, das Schwert des Geistes, quoted in Fleisch I, p. 443.
9. Christiansen, Aufder Warte 3/33, 12.8.1906, p. 3.
10. L. Jeevaratnam, Concerning Demons, 3rd ed., 1948, pp. 4f.
11. A. A. Allen, The Curse of Madness.
12. A. A. Allen, Miracle Revival Recordings, no. i n : 'I am Lucifer.' 'Actual
recording of demon possessed women, the demon declaring "I am Lucifer". Greatest
lesson in demonology ever heard! Convincing. Spiritual. Biblical.' Psychological com-
mentary on it in T. Sporri (ed.), Ekstase, pp. i39ff.
13. MD 22, 1959, p. 69.
14. K. Hutten, Seher, n t h ed., 1968, p. 538.
15. Joh. Widmer, Im Kampfgegen Satans Reich.
16. Joh. Widmer, Im Kampf"III, 2nd ed., 1952, pp. i42f.
17. O. Ellenberger, in Widmer, Im Kampf II, 2nd ed., 1949, pp. 99f.
18. Widmer, ibid. I, 3rd ed., 1948, p. 57.
19. Ibid., pp. 54f. Cf. PGG, ch, ig.2i(b), pp. 282fF.
20. A network of undermining threads of thoughts is woven above the saints by
evilly inclined persons, so that ultimately a complete network is made above them and
their prayers can hardly reach the throne of grace.
21. L. EisenlofFel, Die Spdtregenbewegung, pp. 25f.
22. L. Sumrall, The True Story ofClarita Villanueva.
23. E. Kopf, Nicht Worte, p. 5.
24. Cf. above ch. \2.^{c\ p. 157.
25. Cf. above ch. 8.2, p. 97.
26. R. Gasson, The Challenging Counterfeit, cf. ch. 15.3, pp. 215f.
27. Der Leuchter 14/4, April 1963, pp. 5ff.
28. Ibid.
29. C. W. Conn, ChoGE 51/27, 11.9.1961, pp. 3f.
30. O.S., Orthodoxe Stimmen, 12/47, 2nd and 3rd quarters, 1965, p. 8.
31. Ibid., p. 10.
32. Ibid., p. 11.
33. But exceptions are common: e.g. J. La Valley, PE 2450, 23.4.1961, p. 15.
34. W. Malgo, Mitternachtsruf6/j, Oct. 1961, p. 15.
35. W. Malgo, Mitternachtsruf 8/2, May 1963, p. 20
36. Study Hour 9, 1950, pp. 7fF., 33fF.
37. A. Moll, Zeitschrift fur Religionspsychologie 1, 1907, pp. 353f.
38. Blumhardt, Kampf, 8th ed., n.d.; cf. also E. Gordon, PE 1539, 6.11.1943, pp. 6f.
384 Belief and Practice
39. Here Benedetti seems to be wrong. For psychological and sociological reasons
such afflictions are hardly ever observed by psychiatrists. The 'possessed' do not go to
psychiatrists, but to Pentecostal pastors.
40. G. Benedetti, Reformatio 9, 1940, pp. 474ff., 531 ff.; quotation, p. 533, n. 1.
41. G. Benedetti, op. cit., p. 487.
42. J. Scharfenberg, Theologia Practica 4/2, April 1969, pp. i4off. (with biblio-
graphy).
43. J. Scharfenberg, op. cit., p. 150.
44. Op. cit., pp. i54ff.
45. Seehorgerliche Mitteilungen, Bad Boll, 1884, op. 47.
46. J. C. Blumhardt, Ausgewahlte Schriften, vol. I l l , p. 260.
47. J. Scharfenberg, op. cit., pp. I53f.
48. W. Schulte, Ev. Theologie 9, 1949-50, pp. 15iff.
49. Op. cit., p. 163.
50. Ibid., pp. i66f.
27
i. 'The Old Rugged Cross*: The hordes Supper - Belief and Practice
THERE is no fully developed eucharistic doctrine in the Pentecostal movement.
When statements are made about the Lord's Supper, it is interpreted on Zwing-
lian lines as a memorial of Jesus's death.1 But there is a clear and well-developed
pattern of eucharistic devotion and practice. One would not expect it of a free
church which lays emphasis on the Spirit, but the service of the Lord's Supper
is the central point of Pentecostal worship. It is as it were the holy of holies,
where those who have been 'bought by the blood', and who have Vashed their
garments clean in the blood of the Lamb', come together and celebrate the
Lord's Supper 'as a sign of the cruel death of our Lord Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and Master',2 so in the commemoration of his suffering and death,
'sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ',3 by 'eating and drinking,
to speak symbolically' his body and blood.4 In these services they sing with their
eyes closed, from memory, many of the mystical prayers with which the Pente-
costal liturgy is so rich:
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown.5
The Lord's Supper is
a solemn service . . . we consider the suffering and the great love which he
showed for us on the cross, and by faith, in that moment, feeling ourselves in
386 Belief and Practice
intimate communion with Him, it means for us that we have seen Him in
agony and dying, the Just One, pouring out his precious blood on the cross,
suffering for the unjust and sinners.6
When we receive the bread and the wine, we can have sweet communion with
the living Christ.7
The Italian Assemblee di Dio express their belief in Catholic terminology,
although their eucharistic worship is no different from that of other Pentecostal
groups: 'We believe that the Lord's Supper symbolizes the sacrifice of the Son
of God. . . .' 8 Pentecostals expect from this communion with the Son of God
the strengthening of their inner being, strength in everyday temptations, and
the healing of sickness:
For ev'ry contrite, wounded soul,
Calv'ry's stream is flowing,
Step in just now, and be made whole,
Calv'ry's stream is flowing.9
By taking part in the Lord's Supper
the believer expresses his love for Christ, his faith and hope in Him, and
pledges to Him perpetual fidelity.10
How matchless the grace, when I look'd in the face
Of this Jesus, my crucified Lord;
My redemption complete I then found at His feet,
And Calvary covers it all.11
Although the basic pattern is the same everywhere, there are great differences
within it. Children under twelve years of age are generally not allowed to take
part in the Lord's Supper (even when they have been baptized with water and
in the Spirit, which is an inconsistency in Pentecostal teaching), 'because they
have not the necessary understanding to discern the body of the Lord.'12 Some
churches use wafers but most use ordinary bread. The Congregacao Crista
requires that the Lord's Supper
should be celebrated with a single loaf..., which is broken by hand at the
moment when it is to be distributed, and with a single cup; in this way the
word of God is honoured.13
In Anglo-Saxon countries it is celebrated once a week, in many European
churches once a month, and in a few churches once a year.14 Pentecostal
churches of the Anglo-Saxon tradition (though not the European churches)
use non-alcoholic grape juice, fruit juice or water, and this in its turn has
provoked the protest of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, who regard
these as 'modern substitutes that have been invented by the formal church
today'.15 The few Quaker Pentecostals reject the literal eucharist altogether:
We hold then, that partaking of natural or literal elements is not essential to
The Sacraments 387
our salvation, and therefore refrain from partaking thereof; but with due
Christian courtesy we respect those who may hold an opposite view.16
A service of the Lord's Supper, in the course of which there is room for the
gifts of the Spirit in a Pentecostal assembly, faces the older Pentecostal denom-
inations with liturgical problems which are not easy to solve. Donald Gee
points out that liturgical forms controlled by the pastor do not satisfy those
Pcntecostals who long for the 'pure working of the Spirit':
Sometimes we hear it suggested that the Breaking of Bread service must be
left quite 'open': that in it there ought to be no set preaching by the pastor;
that there must be no intercession, but only what is called 'worship', etc.
The result of all this mere traditionalism is to produce meetings so stereotyped
that, for all their boasted freedom, they become more barren than the very
liturgical services they deprecate - and with less aesthetic appeal . . . In
Assemblies where this part of the service is regularly deadened by the same
one or two unanointed persons praying every time, it should be urged that the
remedy is not in their forcible suppression, but in quicker response by all the
others.17
What we need today, Klauser writes, is a liturgy 'of common action'. Thus
Klauser, following the second Vatican Council, calls for a prayer of inter-
cession which 'arouses the attention of the faithful at the service, because it
stresses concretely what they are concerned about at the moment'.25
If, like the Pentecostals, we take the worship of the early church as the norm
The
The Sacraments
Sac 389
for the church today, eucharistic services should be based on the following
criteria:
1. The eucharist should be a liturgy 'of common action'. This requirement is
fulfilled by many Pentecostal eucharistic services. They do not consist of a priest
or pastor celebrating for the congregation, but the whole congregation is res-
ponsible for the form and content of the service. For traditional churches in
present-day society this brings difficult but not insoluble problems in the pre-
paration and conduct of services.
2. The eucharistic service in which someone states at length and in detail
that something is now happening, but nothing visible does happen, is in obvious
contradiction to the tradition of the early church. The offertory procession of
the congregation was visible, as was the distribution of the 'one body and one
Bread' of Christ in the world, when the hungry mouths of Corinth were fed with
'the loaf broken for many'. This was a revolutionary act on the part of the early
Christians, for what other religious group would use its holy of holies to
appease ordinary bodily hunger ? A eucharist that has lost this visible dimension
of social criticism may well remain an impressive religious spectacle (and is not
without significance as such), but cannot stand up to the test of comparison
with the practice of the early church.
3. Naturally there is no question at the present day of simply reinstituting
simple forms developed by a world dependent on an agricultural economy; as
it were, to turn the eucharist into a permanent harvest festival, enshrining the
folk lore of the past. More important is to translate the dimension of social
criticism in the eucharist into the terms of our own society.
Examples of such a translation exist already. One example is the Catholic
'Shalom Group' in Holland. When the members of this fellowship, at their
eucharistic worship, drew up an aid programme for the black Christians in the
South of the United States, and carried it through in a co-ordinated way ('Delta
Ministry'),26 and resolved in the course of the eucharistic service to hand back
the tax reductions made by the Dutch Minister of Finance with the request that
these contributions should be used for increased aid to developing countries,
these were modern forms of bringing the one bread, broken for the world, to
the hungry of our own time.27 The social dimension of the eucharist was like-
wise made visible when at the official Swiss National Thanksgiving Day it was
not the pastor, as usual, but a group of Italian and Spanish immigrant workers
who distributed communion,28 or when the Bishop of Guernavaca (Mexico)
sent the labourers and mestizos after mass to the factory director with the
question: How is it that we are brothers at the table of the Lord, but not at the
conference table?;29 or when in theparoisse oecumenique desjeunes in Lausanne
the eucharistic celebration, the dialogue (which replaced the sermon) and the
help given to backward school children were felt and celebrated as a unity;30
or when during the disturbances of May 1968 in Paris, Catholics and Protestants
bore witness to their revolutionary solidarity around the table of the Lord.31
39 Belief and Practice
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son of the living God ? Have
you broken every ungodly link with the world, and with every known sin . . .
so that now, freed from a bad conscience through the sprinkling of your heart
with the precious blood of Christ, you now wish to come to the bodily clean-
sing with pure water ?
Will you also give yourself through baptism to be crucified to the world in
the death of Jesus, and to die to sin ? Will you . . . place the interests of the
kingdom of God in all circumstances and in every place above your own
earthly interests ?35
The Sacraments 391
They answer 'yes' to each question. One at a time they climb down into the
water, an elder calls out a verse of the Bible to each, and two pastors baptize
them, one of them saying: 'N., I baptize you in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, into the name of Jesus.'36 The congregation
sings, and sometimes there is speaking in tongues. The baptized are allowed to
to go into the changing hut. A few early morning boatmen row by on the lake,
pause and look from a respectful distance at the unusual service.37
Read describes a baptismal service in the Brazilian Congregacao Crista do
Brasil. Only one condition must be fulfilled for baptism - the personal acceptance
of Jesus Christ as Saviour. No application has to be made, and no baptismal
instruction is required. All one has to do is to come forward during the baptismal
service, put on the baptismal garments and be immersed, in the baptistry of the
church. At a service observed by W. R. Read 130 were baptized. In ten months
this congregation had baptized 3,801 people, which means that every second
Sunday was a baptismal Sunday. For the baptized the simple baptismal service
represents their acceptance into the church and the turning point of their lives.
It is as though the baptisms described in the Acts of the Apostles had returned.38
In the Musama Christo Disco Church the baptized are given 'heavenly
names' at their baptism;39 in the Church of the Twelve Apostles (Nackabah)
they are soaped and bathed before baptism.40 In the 'The King Comes' Brother-
hood prophetic sayings are called out over the candidates for baptism, instead
of Bible verses; e.g. 'The sound of your harp will be sweet!', 'The mouths that
have mocked you are dumb and will no longer be able to do so!' 41
In most cases 'water baptism takes place by immersion',42 for 'Jesus Christ
himself commanded that water baptism should be carried out by immersion,
because the Greek word baptisma itself means immersion.'43 But a not incon-
siderable minority of the Pentecostal movement practises baptism by sprinkling.
The Chilean Pentecostals
believe in water baptism by sprinkling as an outward sign and act of obedience
of an inner faith.44
Most other Pentecostals reject this baptism as invalid. Thus for example Lilly
Wreschner, who on her conversion from Judaism to Christianity received
baptism by sprinkling in a Reformed church, had to undergo another baptism
by immersion. A large minority in the Pentecostal movement practices not only
the baptism of believers but also infant baptism.45 This minority includes
almost the whole of the Chilean Pentecostal movement, the largest German
Pentecostal group,46 and a Yugoslav Pentecostal group.47 It also included the
Finnish and Norwegian Pentecostal movements in their early days, as well
as others. The bulk of the Pentecostal movement disagrees with infant baptism.
Armin Reichenbach suspects that behind the reasons given for infant baptism
lies the work of the 'old prince of lies, who from the very first has tempted men
with the question, "Did God say... ?" ' 48
392 Belief and Practice
Nor is it God who acts in baptism, as is often stated so finely, but wrongly.49
It is illogical and not in conformity with the word of God to baptize infants.50
The Australian Assemblies of God state:
Baptism is for believers only. While some churches practise infant baptism,
the Word of God shows clearly the error of this.51
Thus a large part of the Pentecostal movement rejects both infant baptism
and baptism by sprinkling.52 This has led, for example in Chile, to great
tension between the large indigenous Pentecostal churches and the American
Pentecostal missionary churches. Chavez, a Chilean Pentecostal leader, and a
member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, rightly
comments:
The Pentecostals who in Chile originate from the Methodist church main-
tain the baptism of infants and adults by sprinkling. Only when Pentecostal
missions came to Chile . . . did they introduce baptism by immersion.53
Jonathan Paul, the founder of the German Pentecostal movement, firmly
defended infant baptism,54 and the Quaker Pentecostals consider the dispute
about baptism altogether irrelevant. Their view is that the main question is not
whether the early Christians practised water baptism or not, but whether it was
intended to be a permanent institution in the church:
We believe that water baptism was not provided as a permanent requirement
and that any and all ceremony as insisted on by fixed rules and practices is
inconsistent with the leadership and control of the Holy Spirit.55
Besides the attitudes described - baptism by immersion for adults, baptism
by sprinkling for infants and adults, and the rejection of baptism altogether -
there is also a not inconsiderable group of Pentecostals for whom the only valid
baptism is that carried out 'in the name of Jesus'. The dispute about the correct
formula of baptism between Pentecostals who baptize in the name of the Trinity,
following Matt. 28.19, a n ^ those who follow Acts 2.38 and similar passages and
baptize 'in the name of Jesus', has not yet been resolved. It has such conse-
quences as the practice of the Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa of em-
phasizing trinitarian baptism by threefold immersion,56 while others have
proposed a compromise formula between the two baptismal formulae.57
As far as possible the 'Jesus only' groups are ignored by Pentecostals who
baptize in the name of the Trinity, although, for example, the largest Pentecostal
denomination in Colombia58 and the majority of Indonesian Pentecostals
belong to them. Baptism 'in the name of Jesus' is often regarded as necessary
to salvation.
It is important for us to know why we do whatever we do . . . Many of us have
been baptized once before [as adults].59
The Sacraments 393
The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles are the only inspired books that we
have which give an accurate account of how the apostles obeyed Matt. 28.19,
under the direction of the Holy Spirit.60
These books clearly show, it is claimed, that the apostles always baptized 'in the
name of Jesus' (Acts 2.38; 8.16; 10.48; 19.5) and so fulfilled the baptismal
commandment of Matt. 28.19. Which of us dares say that we know better than
they do? 61
S. C. Johnson of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith,
Inc. has discovered that a baptism 'in the name of Jesus' is not sufficient. Since
in the New Testament there are three people whose name is Jesus, it is necessary
to state precisely that 'Jesus Christ' is meant. Thus the correct baptismal
formula is 'in the name of Jesus Christ'.62 Other Pentecostals will only baptize
'in the name of the Father'.63
The disputes about baptism in the Pentecostal movement have led in certain
places to the loss of the original significance of baptism as a single unique act.
Apart from the fact that the Pentecostal view of baptism as a sign of a forgive-
ness of sin which has already taken place is irreconcilable with the Acts of the
Apostles ('Be baptized everyone of you . . . for the forgiveness of your sins.'
Acts 2.38), the repetition of baptisms practised by other churches - even Pente-
costal churches! - has led in South Africa, for example, to the transformation of
baptism into a rite of purification which is constantly repeated. Sundkler
describes such an act of purification in detail:
Ehhe-ehhe-ehhe-ehhe ee ee Ehhe
Ngiyamazi uBa6a I know my father
owangenzayo who made me
Ngiyalazi idlozi I know the spirit
elangenzayo who made me
Ehhe-ehhe-ehhe-ee ee Ehhe
It is dawn - there is still half an hour to go before the sun rises out of the
Indian Ocean. Near Ekukhanyeni the diviner Dlakude approaches with her
novices (amathwasa). The pupils dance around the leader as they come half-
running down the slope to the Ihlekazi stream, chanting songs to the ancestral
spirits.
They are not alone. On the opposite side of the stream another group
approaches, some of them clad in white robes with green or yellow sashes. It
is the prophet Elliot Butelezi of the Sabbath Zionist Church and his followers.
Half-running, dancing in circles around the prophet as they move along, they
sing with shrill voices:
Thixo, Ba6ay ngidukile, God Father, I have erred,
nasekhaya ngisukile. and have gone astray from home.
The diviner group arrives at the stream first. All the members of the group
have brought their calabashes and, when these have been filled with water,
394 Belief and Practice
u6ulawu-mcdicmc is added and the concoction is stirred until froth is formed.
The diviner gives each to drink from the frothy water, and they begin to vomit.
The Zionists look on silently for a while, but presently Elliot asks the
isangoma leader: 'When are you going to finish, preacher ?' This joke produces
laughter from the Zionists, whereas the diviner and her pupils remain silent,
intent on their vomiting rites. To conclude the ceremony, Dlakude finds some
white clay, which she smears upon herself and her followers. One of them
starts the spirit-song:
Ehhe ehhe
Ngiyamazi uBa6a . . .
The whole group leaves the stream, returning to Dlakude's kraal. The leader
dances round her group in joy, beating them with twigs as they run home-
wards.
Now comes the Zionists' turn. 'The water has been defiled, because the
diviners have entered it,' complains one in the group. But Elliot replies: 'Pay
no heed to that, for this is running water, and the impurity has been removed
by itsflow.'He intones a hymn. The older Zionists follow suit, but newcomers
to the congregation follow with 'Amen, Amen' to the same tune. There follows
blessing of the water. Elliot stirs in the stream with his indexfingerand looking
up to heaven says a short prayer to the Lord of the Living Waters (inkosi
yamanzi aphilayo) that the stream may be cleansed of vile things. One of the
group is brought to Elliot by a prayer-woman. With both hands he scoops
water into the mouth of the patient, at the same time shouting: 'In the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This blessed water will
take away illness from this sick person. Drink!'
Elliot then takes the patient with him in the middle of the stream and makes
the woman stoop until the water goes over her head. He places his hands upon
her head and in the same moment becomes filled with the Holy Spirit. His
whole body shakes, and he shouts, first slowly, but soon faster and faster:
'Hhayi, hhayiy hhayiy hhey hhe, hhe /' The patient drinks repeatedly from the
water, praying in the intervals: 'Descend, Spirit, descend like a dove!' Soon
she also gets the Spirit, begins to shake and to speak with tongues: 'Di-di-di
di-didi.' While this is happening, the faithful on the banks sing a hymn. The
sick woman comes up from the stream and begins to vomit on the rocks.
Other patients follow her into the water and go through the same process
ending with vomiting. One of Elliot's brothers, Philemon, an elder in the
Church, is suddenly possessed by the Spirit. He dashes round the group in his
long white gown, beating the air with a long white cross. He sings, shouts,
and speaks with tongues. After the 'water and vomiting' ceremony, Elliot
takes white ashes and mixes them with water. He smears the patients' faces
and shoulders with this mixture. To complete the cure, green sashes are tied
around their shoulders.64
That the baptismal practice of our existing established and Free Churches is
an ailing one is clear to everyone who shares in the agony of the existing churches.
The Sacraments 395
But the problem is not to be resolved simply by adopting adult baptism without
further consideration. This can be seen from the immense difficulties which
result from Pentecostal baptismal practice. The Chilean Pentecostals, who prac-
tise both kinds of baptism, and so express the two most important themes of
baptism, God's unconditional promise to man and man's profession of faith in
this promise of God, seem to me to point to a solution which is not merely
possible but indeed necessary for the existing churches, if we are not to go on
being a 'church without decision'. The retaining of the sprinkling of infants
together with believer's baptism would assure that the promise of God to man
was not made dependent upon man's response. Moreover, most of the church
orders of the traditional churches offer the possibility of such practice. The
baptism of adults takes place fairly frequently, but because of a false under-
standing of baptism on the part of congregations-and the opportunity to correct
this on the occasion of the baptism of an adult is regularly missed - it takes
place privately in the sacristy.
The Pentecostals who reject the washing of feet advance the following argu-
ments against the numerous 'foot-washers' amongst the Pentecostals.66 In New
Testament times the washing of feet was a practice which was adopted by the
early Christians, but need no longer be carried out at the present day. One might
ask of course, why the practice of immersion in water is necessary to salvation,
while that of the washing of feet is not, since according to the letter of the New
Testament both rites were explicitly commanded by Jesus, and Pentecostals
never weary of stressing that God gives his Holy Spirit 'to those who obey
him' (Acts 5.32). For Pentecostals, but also for many Christians from the
traditional churches, this question is unanswerable. Those who practise the
washing of feet have at least this to be said for them, that on this point they are
obedient to the whole Scripture - in the framework of the fundamentalist mis-
understanding of Scripture. They are only outbid by the Pentecostal seventh
day adventists who take the ten commandments more seriously than ordinary
Pentecostals.67
Within the framework of a fundamentalist understanding of the Bible, there
are no grounds for the disobedience of other Pentecostals to the command to
wash one another's feet. The only alternative is to be concerned, in patient and
detailed exegetical work, and in dialogue with the 'beginners' in other churches,
I
396 Belief and Practice
about the one thing which is necessary. But the question of what belongs to this
one thing, and whether it includes all the burdens which Pentecostals impose
upon their faithful, is a matter of dispute among Christian denominations.
The Bible points to the foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ. But what does it
mean for Jesus Christ to be the foundation of our faith ? All Christians, and all
sectarians, appeal to Jesus Christ as the foundation of their faith, not least
amongst them the Pentecostal foot-washers and seventh day adventists, the
former by pointing to Jesus's own example (John 13.14).
It would be useful to consider further here this sole foundation of faith. But
such a consideration must take into account not merely the washing of feet and
the commandment to keep the sabbath. These two issues are merely the magni-
fying glass which shows us in greatly enlarged form the weaknesses of a literalist
understanding of Scripture. If these weaknesses are recognized, then the whole
fundamentalist understanding of Scripture must come under scrutiny. We must
be able to give an account of why 'Jesus as the witness of faith',11 but not a
single provision in the New Testament, can be the foundation of our faith. The
theology of the Reformation will help us in this examination and scrutiny. For
its most important theme is: How can we let Jesus 'as the witness of faith, be
the basis of faith' ?69 What does it mean to have to do with him and to enter on
his way, and thus to participate in that which is promised to faith, namely, the
omnipotence of God ?70 This question is common both to the religious thought
and practice of Pentecostalism and to Reformation theology.
NOTES
1. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, ch. 16\Risveglio P 8/11, Nov. 1953, p. 2; Appendix: 9.
2. Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile, Manuel del Ministro, p. 13.
3. Kristova Pentekostna Crkva, Temeljne, art. 6; AoG, Early History, art. 6. Cf.
Appendix: 2.
4. F. P. Moller, Die Apostoliese Leer, p. 38.
5. G. Bennard, Hymns of Glorious Praise, 1969, no. 87.
6. Congregacao Crista do Brasil, Estatutos, 1946, art. 14.
7. Source no longer ascertainable.
8. Risveglio P 8/11, Nov. 1953, p. 2; cf. Appendix: 9.
9. L. H. Edmunds, Hymns of Glorious Praise, 1969, no. 98.
10. P. Free Will Baptists, Faith, 1961, pp. iff., art. 24.
11. W. G. Taylor, Hymns of Glorious Praise, 1969, no. 93.
12. Congregacao Crista do Brasil, Estatutos, 1946, art. 14.
13. Ibid.
14. The Jesus Church, Assembly Report, 1952-3, pp. nf.; quoted in Moore, p. 308.
15. PAoW, 1Q63 Minute Book ofPAoW, pp. 9f., art. 7.
16. Associated Brotherhood of Christians, Articles, n.d., pp. 6fF., art. 6; quoted by
Moore, pp. 283fF.
17. D. Gee, Study Hour 5/2, 15.2.1946, pp. 27fF.
The Sacraments 397
18. Evangelisations-Team Konigs-Quartett, BIEM 101: 'Komm heim zum Abend-
mahlV
10. T. Klauser, A Short History of the Western Liturgy, p. 109.
20. T. Klauser, ibid., p. 34.
21. A musical prelude with the entry of the pastor is not customary in many Pente-
costal churches.
22. T. Klauser, op. cit., p. 37.
23. Ibid., p. 97-
24. Ibid., p. 24.
25. Ibid., p. 59-
26. B. Hilton, ZWta Ministry, WCC, Church for Others, pp. u6ff.
27. H. J. Herbort, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, May-June 1967 (WCC, Geneva).
28. W. J. HoUenweger and A. v. d. Heuvel, 'Sylvester: Psalm 121', in: E. Lange (ed.),
Predigtstudien V/i, 1970/71* PP- 79~90-
29. W. J. HoUenweger, Neues Forum 126/192, December 1969, pp. 71 iff.
30. Jacques Nicole, Georges Kolb, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, Nov.-Dec. 1969.
31. Claudette Marquet, Monthly Letter on Evangelism, May-June 1970. On the whole
matter cf. W. Simpfendorfer, Offene Kirche, pp. i58ff. The texts mentioned in notes 27
to 31 have been published with many others in: W. J. HoUenweger (ed.), Kirche,
Benzin und Bohnensuppe, and in HoUenweger, Theologie (English translation for both
volumes in preparation).
32. T. Ryder, Redemption Hymnal 1958, no. 692 (baptismal hymn).
33. G. G. Kulbeck, What God hath Wrought, pp. 35ifF.
34. Kristova Pentekostna Crkva, Temeljne, art. 5; cf. also AoG, Early History, pp.
I7ff.; Appendix: 2.
35. Baptismal vows of the Swiss Pentecostal Mission.
36. A compromise formula between the Pentecostals who baptize in the name of the
Trinity and the 'Jesus only' groups, who baptize in the 'name of Jesus'.
37. I have taken part in many baptismal services myself.
38. W. R. Read, New Patterns, pp. 27f.
39. 01.12.020.
40. 01.12.014.
41. K. Hutten, Seher, 8th ed., 1962, p. 499.
42. Die Wahrheit 15/11, Nov. 1962, pp. 6, 10.
43. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, ch. 16.
44. Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile, Manuel, n.d., p. 16.
45. Baptism by sprinkling is practised by: Apostolowo Fe Dedefia Habobo (01.12.
018); Musama Christo Disco Church (10.12.020), other African churches, and the
groups mentioned in notes 46 and 47.
46. Mulheim Association of Christian Fellowships (ch. 17.2(b), pp. 237fF.) (both
forms of baptism). This led to severe tensions, not yet resolved, in the German Pente-
costal movement; the statement that 'baptism is much too holy for us to agree now in
our assembly on one formula' (Fleisch II/2, pp. 382f.) was not enough to settle the
difficulties.
47. Kristova Duhovna Crkva 'Malkrstenih' (05.16.005).
48. A. Reichenbach, VdV 55/10, Oct. 1962, p. 4.
49. Ibid.
50. C. Le Cossec, Le vrai bapteme (Verite a connaitre 2), p. 8.
51. AoG Australia, You Have Accepted Christ, pp. 2f.
52. Ibid.
53. E. Chavez, letter to W.H., 23.1.1963.
54. J. Paul, Taufe.
398 Belief and Practice
55. Full Salvation Union, Manual 1944, p. 27; quoted in Moore, p. 295.
56. Cf. ch. 9.3(0), pp. i2off.
57. Cf. SPM, above p. 391; O. Vouga, Our Gospel, pp. 156., rejects these mediating
formulae.
58. Iglesia Pentecostal Unida (02b.20.010).
59. F. L. Smith, What Every Saint Should Know, 3rd ed., n.d., p. 9.
60. O. Vouga, Our Gospel, pp. i5ff.
61. Ibid.
62. S. C. Johnson, Who is This, p. 6.
63. School of the Prophets (02a.02.141).
64. Sundkler, pp. 2386. Other examples: St Paul Apostolic Faith Morning Star
(01.36.412); Zion Apostolic Church of South Africa (01.36.449). Cf. above ch. 12.4(b),
pp. i56fF.
65. B. Lauster, Die Wahrheit 15/12, Feb. 1962, p. 6; also P. H. Walker, ChoGE 52/19,
9.7.1962, pp. 4f.
66. Most Pentecostals who believe in a three-stage way of salvation, and 'Jesus Only'
groups.
67. ' . . . for however much I look, I have never found in the New Testament the
words which lay down the first day of the week instead of the seventh.' P. Mikkonen,
He huusivat, quoted by W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewegung, p. 125. Pentecostal seventh
day adventists: 02b.08.066; 05.08.003e, cc; 05.28.042; a few African groups.
68. The whole sentence reads: 'Jesus as the witness of faith in the pregnant sense of
the author and finisher of faith' (G. Ebeling, Nature of Faith, p. 71). This book gives,
in concise modern language, 'an introduction to the understanding of Christian faith'.
69. Ibid.
70. The whole sentence reads: 'What does "faith in Jesus" mean? It means to let
him, as the witness of faith, be the basis of faith, and thus to have to do with him and
to enter upon his way, and thus to participate in that which is promised to faith,
namely, the omnipotence of God.' (Ibid.)
28
NOTES
Nothing shows how the life of Pentecostals is set upon the world to come as
clearly as their hymns. Unceasingly they sing of the day of death, when it will
be seen that they have not believed and fought in vain, the day in which the
derision of those who mock them will be changed into an embarrassed silence.
To a boogie-woogie tune Jimmie Davis sings of the 'Sunset of Life', when all
earthly hopes will fade and Jesus will take the child of God by the hand and
lead him through the cold river of death. 26 1 have heard Einar Ekberg, formerly
a baritone at the Stockholm theatre, singing in London's most modern theatre,
before an audience listening with bated breath: 'I am a pilgrim, I am a stranger',
but I am on the way to my home above.27 Before praying with the sick woman
whose healing is described above, A. A. Allen sings of the heavenly city of
Jerusalem28 and asks the obstinate sinners, constantly varying the questions:
What will happen to you once the last prayer has been spoken, the last sermon
given, the last hymn sung?29 Mahalia Jackson takes up the same theme.30
Presumably the author and performer of the above songs are expressing a
genuine experience of their own. It seems that they look forward to death and
greet it as redemption. These hymns are not quite so convincing when they are
sung by young girls or boys31 of the second or third generation. It is hard to
believe that their life is directed towards death the same way.
Many 'signs of the time' are related to the expectation of the end of the world.
Examples are the Common Market, the Labour Party victory in 1945,32 the
non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany,33 the journal New Christian,2*
the growing power of Russia,35 the growth of technology, the World Council
of Churches as a sign of Antichrist, and in some cases the British Common-
wealth (interpreted in terms of the British Israel theory, which asserts that the
Anglo-Saxon people are descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel), the 'spirit
Eschatology 4i7
of the air',36 that is, the increase in air traffic, and the footnotes to the Zurich
translation of the Bible.37 In 1939 the Pentecostal Evangel actually asserted that
Hitler would conquer Palestine together with the Arabs.38 Bulgarian Pente-
costals know from the Revelation of John39 that they are living in the final age.
They are therefore not afraid of going into public baths, stations and hospitals -
where ministers of the official churches are not allowed access - to 'catch souls'.40
A closer link with the dead members of the church is expressed in the con-
fessions of faith of the Russian, Polish41 and Greek42 Pentecostals - presumably
taken over from Orthodox belief.
The fact that the attention and concern of Pentecostal believers is directed
towards the event of Christ's second coming makes them indifferent to the
political and social problems of the world. It works as a palliative which pre-
vents them from despairing in the wretched circumstances in which they live.
One can hardly deny them this consolation as long as their conditions of life are
not improved. And so they sing:
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder I'll be there.43
As social conditions improve the fervent expectation of the imminent second
coming disappears. It is still taught in theory, but is no longer a matter of
experience. Pension funds are set up for pastors, and building and training
programmes which take years to complete are carried out. The Elim Evangel
laughs at the hymns which express a longing for the world to come and writes:
Nobody believes in them. We have all become worldly, even those amongst us
who do not go to the cinema, for we have built up our own entertainment
(i.e. film) industry.44
As the expectation of the second coming of Jesus declines in the older Pente-
costal denominations, new Pentecostal churches, which once again stress the
second coming, became necessary. The 'The King Comes' Brotherhood
confesses the truth of Jesus, in the light of the onset of his coming kingdom,
that 'the last' shall be 'the first'. It believes and prays fervently for the making
up of the full numbers of the members of Christ from the nations. It believes
that God is giving the promised latter rain, which is to fall upon all flesh, and
which can bring about the regeneration and incorporation into the body of
Christ even of the 'latecomers' amongst the members of Christ.45
Although Jeffreys believed that he could identify the crisis year 1932 as the
very end of time,46 in the older Pentecostal denominations at the present day
insurance policies are taken out as a matter of course. The younger Pentecostal
churches protest against this: a Christian 'does not go in for life insurance'.47
Heaven and hell are believed in in a literal sense. Hell is
4i 8 Belief and Practice
a real place, not an imaginary place, and not simply a state or condition... the
fire is literal and sinners will never have another chance to repent and accept
the salvation which God has so wonderfully offered.48
After the re-awakening of their body the unbelievers will come into the pit of
eternal, despairing pain.49
All those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life shall be cast
into the Lake of Fire, burning with brimstone, which God hath prepared for
the devil and his angels.50
Only the Quaker Pentecostals are not in agreement with this picture. Ac-
cording to the Full Salvation Union there are three different doctrines concern-
ing the second coming of Christ:
belief in his bodily return to this earth
belief in his spiritual coming to each individual
belief in his second coming without specifying exactly what this means.
To insist that Christians believe exactly this or that concerning future events
is a waste of time. Our spiritual welfare depends on historical facts and present
realities, but not on future contingencies.51
In my view we are now paying for the high-handed suppression of the book
of Revelation by the Reformers. What they suppressed is now producing
subconscious repercussions in the traditional churches and amongst the Pente-
costals. The Protestant Church is paying for its failure to provide fundamental-
ists and sectarians within and outside the established churches with any insight
into exegetical work on the apocalytic passages in the New Testament. It is
not enough to assert that the New Testament does not give a timetable for the
final age. The book of Revelation should be applied, with the aid of the most
modern exegetical methods, to the interpretation of that dimension of faith
which is concerned with world history and cosmology.
The book of Revelation was written in a situation of persecution. Outwardly
the church was a tiny sect with nothing to say to the world. That this church
did not turn into a religion of the inner life, quietism, individual ethics, moral-
ism, speculation about the origin of evil, and a longing for the spiritual world
(as many religions of that time did) is due in part to the author of Revelation.
This church could believe in heaven; it could adopt from the ideas of the time
the conception of the city paved with gold and the gates of pearl, and draw
comfort from the hope of the day when all tears will be wiped away, and death,
disease and the devil will be conquered; it took over the conception of the
millennium from the Apocalypse of Enoch, without abandoning this world.
The book of Revelation helped the church not to give up this world as an
unsatisfactory first attempt on the part of God, as a first version full of mistakes,
shortly to be followed by a second corrected edition. It did not regard the
redemption through Christ as afiasco.It was convinced that Christ would bring
Eschatology 419
the history of mankind to the consummation he had established, with or without
the consent of the authorities of Rome, and in the same way would guide the
history of the church to its conclusion, with or without the co-operation of its
members. This faith gave the church the power neither to despise nor to
sacralize the world. With the eyes of faith it saw in this world the theatre where
God's drama was being acted out, and did not exclude from this the arena
where Christians were persecuted. In its confident prayer for the victory of the
righteousness of God, it recognized the world as a creation which was not
autonomous, and which had not fallen prey to demons.
At the present day we can take courage from the book of Revelation in two
ways.
1. It can give us the courage to interpret the apocalyptic images which oppress
the men of the present day as they did those of New Testament times. The
author of Revelation took these images from his own time and his own environ-
ment. He made them comprehensible against the background of the act of God
in Jesus Christ. Films, television and the modern theatre overwhelm us at the
present day with apocalyptic images. Men who are called to bear witness by
him whose 'eyes were like a flame of fire' (Rev. 1.14) can and must interpret
these images.
2. It gives us the courage to testify that this world is proceeding towards the
goal laid down by God. Nothing can change this. The question is whether at the
consummation of the creation we will be present, looking on in wonderment,
or whether it will take place against our will.
In recent years theologians have rediscovered the significance of eschatology.
This rediscovery began with Albert Schweitzer's work on the New Testament.
But it took effective form above all in the preaching and pastoral care of the two
Blumhardts,52 and the preaching of the Kingdom of God by Hermann Kutter
and Leonhard Ragaz,53 and was continued by Emil Brunner and Karl Barth.
More recently Jurgen Moltmann has written his work The Theology of Hope,
which takes as its starting point Karl Barth's famous statement: 'If Christianity
be not altogether and unreservedly eschatology, there remains in it no relation-
ship whatever to Christ.'54 But Moltmann goes on to ask: 'Yet what is the
meaning of eschatology here ?'55 This is the basic question for Moltmann, for
as he sees it:
The eschatological is not one element ^/Christianity, but it is the medium of
Christian faith as such, the key in which everything in it is set, the glow that
suffuses everything here in the dawn of an expected new day.56
Consequently the concept of the 'doctrine of the last things' (eschato-logy) is
in Moltmann's view a false one.
There can be no 'doctrine' of the last things, if by 'doctrine' we mean a
collection of theses.57
In his search for this 'key in which everything is set' Moltmann studied the
4 20 Belief and Practice
Old Testament. The heathen of that period, the Babylonians and Canaanites,
believed in gods who at the beginning had fixed the world as it is for all time.
For these people there were 'no new horizons towards which a people could be
led, no God who is on the way letting men see what they have never yet seen.'58
By contrast with this, the God of Israel was a God of nomads, who were con-
tinually travelling, and who - as exemplified in the story of Abraham - were
always setting out towards new horizons on the basis of God's promise.
But the promise was always greater than its fulfilment. This 'overplus of
promise'59 by contrast to history was the driving force behind the history of
Israel.
The overspill of promise means that [events] have always a provisional char-
acter. They contain the note of provisio, that is, they intimate and point
forward to something which does not yet exist in its fullness in themselves.60
The horizon moves on ahead of the traveller, it is a 'boundary of expectation
which moves along with us and invites us to press further ahead.'61
Moltmann now applies this Old Testament insight to the understanding of
the church. Just as the Old Testament people of God was travelling towards
the land where milk and honey flow, so the New Testament people of God is
travelling towards the new earth and the new heaven.
This hope makes the Christian Church a constant disturbance in human
society, seeking as the latter does to stabilize itself into a 'continuing city'.
It makes the Church the continual source of new impulses towards the realiza-
tion of righteousness, freedom, and humanity here in the light of the promised
future that is to come.62
Significantly, Moltmann does not limit the hope to the salvation of individual
souls. It includes the world and society. According to Moltmann it is not
possible to hope for a new heaven and a new earth and at the same time to
abandon this world. 'Hope then fades away to the hope of the solitary soul in
the prison of a petrified world.'63 Someone who knows that God will wipe away
all tears will not accept with resignation the tears of those who are tormented
and tortured. Anyone who knows that there will be no more disease can already
look forward to a provisional and symbolic conquest of the sickness of individuals
and of society. And someone who knows that the enemy of man and God, the
devil, will be conquered, will already perceive him in his machinations in the
family and also in society. Either hope for this world which God created and
loves, or no hope at all! Thus the Christian mission is not concerned with
maintaining what exists in the wrorld, but in transforming it to be like what is to
come. This transformation of the world to be like what is to come brings in the
social and political aspect of hope. It is in these areas in particular that there is a
need for people who are not embittered by resignation and hardened by cyni-
cism, for according to Moltmann resignation is only a particular sort of pride,
Eschatology 421
which camouflages its despair by saying with a smile: Bonjour tristesse! Molt-
mann is not ready to follow the French writer Camus in 'thinking clearly and
hoping no more', 'as if thinking could gain clarity without hope'.64 On the
contrary, 'positivistic realism proves to be illusory, so long as the world is not a
fixed body of facts.'65
In his chapter on the relationship between the exposition of the Bible and
mission, Moltmann takes up a primary concern of Pentecostals:
The question as to the correct exposition of the Old and New Testament
scriptures cannot be addressed to the 'heart of scripture'. The biblical scrip-
tures are not a closed organism with a heart, or a closed circle with a centre.
. . . Thus if we are to understand the biblical scriptures . . . we must look in
the same direction as they themselves do.66
But the scripture looks forward to the second coming of Jesus and to the
mission which precedes it and is related to it. Moses (Ex. 3.11), Jeremiah
(Jer. 1.6), Isaiah (Isa. 6.5), and Paul (Acts 9) did not understand God's word,
God's forgiveness, and God's future until they were taken by God into his
service. Thus the so-called conversion of these men was identical with their
calling, with their being taken into the service of God's mission. And 'missions
perform their service today only when they infect men with hope.'67 Thus to be
converted and called means to live by a hope which goes beyond what is now
present and at hand, and for that reason changes what is present.
A theologian who reads the simplification of Moltmann's thesis which I have
been forced to make here may raise his eyebrows at it. To a Pentecostal pastor
it will seem very complicated and difficult. But I would ask him for indulgence.
It is worth his while to come to grips with this vision of the last things, because
here he is being shown a vision of the last things which believes in heaven
without betraying the earth, which hopes for the second coming of the Lord
without giving up any part in the work of society, and which indeed draws
inspiration and power from the hope of what is to come to change the present
world in the light of the future.68
NOTES
1. Quoted from a hymn by J. McGranahan, Redemption Hymnal 1958, no. 245.
2. Quoted from B. Elling, Stadskanaal, Holland; letter to W.H. 17.7.1963.
3. E.g. the Apostolic Church; cf. ch. 13.4, pp. 191 ff.
4. S. Beck, Daaben, p. 63.
5. S. Doctorian, The Evangelist 4/1, June 1964, p. 4.
6. The difference between 'Reformed' and 'Lutheran' is virtually unknown.
7. H. Lauster, Die Wahrheit 15/8, Aug. 1962, p. 4.
8. L. EisenlofFel, Der Leuchter 10/1, Jan. 1959, pp. 4f.
9. Sundkler, p. 170.
422
io. K. Schlosser, letter to W.H., 3.3.1964, p. 7.
Belief and Practice
1 I
I
11. F. D. Bruner, Doctrine I, pp. 26fF.; II, p. 27, n. 61. I
12. Krust II. I
13. K. Ecke, Der reformierende Protestantismus; Schwenkfeld', Pfingstbewegung-, I
Sektierer; K. Ecke and O. S. v. Bibra, Reformation. 1
14. H. R. Gause, ChoGE 51/33, 23.10.1961, pp. 8fF.
15. G. G. Kulbeck, What God Hath Wrought, p. 24.
16. J. E. Campbell, PHCh, p. 34.
17. Ibid., p. 60. I
18. Here Campbell is summarizing W. W. Sweet, Story, pp. 584-90; J. E. Campbell,
PHCh, p. 29.
19. D. H. Macmillan, Churchman's Magazine-, Pattern 20/11, Nov. 1959.
20. M. Hauser, Komme, p. 81.
21. Gemeinde fur Urchristentum, Wer wir sind, p. 10.
22. J. Paul, Pfinstgriisse 3/14, 1911, p. 111; cf. also Elim Missionary Assemblies
(02a.02.121, esp. b,9). 1
23. O. T. Swart, Bantu-Kldnge, June 1961, no. 93, p. 2. j
l
24. Frohliche Nachrichten 14, 15.2.1956.
25. G. Klemm, Bald kommt der Herr, Evangeliumsklange A 51 L.
26. J. Davis, Songs of Faith, Decca DL 4220: 'My Lord Will Lead Me Home'.
27. Einar Ekber g,jfag dr enfrdmling, Hemmets Harold P 5055.
28. A. A. Allen, Miracle Revival Service (E), M - n o ; cf. above ch. 25.2^), p. 366.
29. A. A. Allen, What Then? M-109.
30. Mahalia Jackson, What Then} Metronome, MEP 1099. j
31. Cf. the longing for eternity expressed in the song 'Komm heim zum AbendmahP
(Come home to the Lord's Supper), Evangelisations-Team Konigs-Quartett, BIEM I
101; commentary, above, ch. 27.1, p. 387.
32. PE 1632, 18.8.1945, p. 8.
33. PE 1395, 1.2.1941, p. 10 (NB: a year and a half after it was signed!).
34. PE 2704, 6.3.1966, p. 10. I
35. PE 1563, 22.4.1944, p. 16. But the fact that Finland became allied to Germany in I
its fight against Russia can best be attributed to spiritist influences (PE 1570,10.6.1944,
p. 16).
36. S. MacCennan, VdV25/1, Jan. 1932, p. 9.
37. R. Ruff, VdV 6/1, 1.1.1914, pp. 8ff.
38. PE 1323, 16.9.1939, p. 9.
39. H. PopofF, Tlkuvanie.
40. Tschernomorski Front, quoted in MD 23, i960, pp. 285^
41. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, ch. 4. j
42. G. Krissilas, Rundschreiben, in modern Greek and German: 05.11.004a. j
43. J. M. Black, Redemption Hymnal 1958, no. 763. J
44. Squintus, Elim Evangel 43/37, 15.9.1962, p. 581.
45. Declaration of Faith of the Bruderschaft: Der Konig kommt! (The 'The King
Comes!'Brotherhood).
46. Elim Evangel 12, 1931, p. 266; quoted by B. R. Wilson, Social Aspects I, p. 91. j
47. P. Mink, Ich bin der Herr, pp. 32f.
48. C. L. Brasfield, Jr., ChoGE 51/48, 12.2.1962, p. 7.
49. N. I. Pejsti (ed.), Zasady, ch. 20.
50. PAoW, /G6J Minute Book, pp. 9fF.
51. Full Salvation Union, Manual, 1944, p. 82; quoted in Moore, p. 302.
52. On Blumhardt cf. above, ch. 26, pp. 38iff. I
53. On Ragaz, see W. J. Hollenweger, Theologie (ET in preparation).
Eschatology 423
54. K. Barth, Romerbrief, 2nd ed., 1922, p. 298; ET, The Epistle to the Romans, 1933,
p. 3H-
55. J. Moltmann, Theology of Hope, p. 39.
56. Ibid., p. 16.
57. Ibid., v. 17.
58. V. Maag, Malkut Jhmh, Vetus Testamentum Suppl. VII (Congress Volume,
Oxford, 1959), i960, p. 150, quoted by Moltmann, op. cit., p. 101.
59. J. Moltmann, op. cit., p. 106.
60. Ibid., p. 108.
61. Ibid., p. 125.
62. Ibid., p. 22.
63. Ibid., p. 69.
64. Ibid., p. 24.
65. Zfa'i., p. 25.
66. /ta/., p. 283.
67. J. C. Hoekendijk, Mission - heute, p. 12.
68. Cf. also what Catholic Pentecostals have to say about eschatology (K. and D.
Ranaghan, Catholic Pentecostals, p. 247).
30
Not an Organization but an Organism:
Ecclesiology
Listen, reporter,... these people whom you call fanatics - now listen, church
journalists - are people who cause no difficulties to the police, who do not
pillage, steal and rob . .., but who fight against crime and vice . . ., and co-
operate with the police to achieve a healthy morality and a spiritual level in
society. You should realize this, journalist, smelling of the priest's cassock . . .
Dangerous fanaticism is when mobs stirred up by dishonourable Jesuits
destroy Protestant churches . . . Fanaticism is when a wild crowd, dangerous
to others and to itself, spends millions of cruzeiros in the capital of the
Republic to give an image of the so-called Madonna of Capocabano a luxurious
diamond-studded crown, while millions are dying of hunger and weakness on
the hills round about the city . . . We are certain that the Virgin was saddened
by these honours . . . What we call dangerous fanaticism is the ignorance of
the word of God amongst our people, who kneel at the feet of priests who,
as if it was not enough to steal their souls out of paradise, plunder their
finances mercilessly in the mass and the confessional . . . They called our
pastor Manoel de Melo 'wily' (espertalhao). Properly speaking, he is wily in
God's work, and you are wily in the work of the evil one.79
This feud in the press led to a lawsuit which was won by Manoel de Melo,
though this did not prevent de Melo from calling the Bishop of Recife, the
apostle of the poor, Helder Camara, the pattern of an evangelist.80 Part of the
protest quoted above can be explained from the persecution which the Latin
American and Italian Pentecostal movement has had to surfer at the hands of
the Catholic Church.81 Particular warnings against the intolerance of the
Catholic Church are given by former Catholic priests, of whom there are many
amongst the Pentecostal pastors.82
On the other hand, some of the best and most accurate accounts of the
Pentecostal movement have been written by Catholic priests. In recent years
disciminating judgments on the part of Catholic observers have been on the
increase83 and in Rome David J. Du Plessis, as a Pentecostal observer at the
Second Vatican Council, encountered more than polite astonishment. He tells
of high Catholic dignitaries who begged him for the laying on of hands, that
they might receive the baptism of the Spirit.84 And already informal consulta-
tions are taking place between the Vatican and a number of leading Pentecostal
pastors.
With the spread of Pentecostal practices in the Catholic Church85 a severe
blow was dealt to Pentecostal polemics against the Catholic Church. While
43 8 Belief and Practice
Pentecostal journals only occasionally report on the Pentecostal revival in the
Catholic Church,86 Pentecostals are well aware of it. There is occasional co-
operation with Catholic priests, especially in the USA,87 Chile,88 Holland,89
France.90 In the summer of 1970 the leader of the Pentecostal Chiesa Evangelica
Internationale in Italy (with two hundred churches), McTernan, visited the
General Secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva and was intro-
duced there by a Catholic priest (K. McDonell). The church has formally asked
for membership in the World Council of Churches.91 Pentecostals and Catholics
are beginning to sing the same hymns, they read the same Bible, and they
receive the same gifts of the Spirit.
One of the most important questions which preoccupies the Pentecostal
movement in Latin America was put to me in almost every discussion: Will
the World Council of Churches lead the Protestant Churches back under the
rule of Rome?92 I told the Pentecostals of the existing contacts between Rome
and Geneva on the level of the exchange of observers, but stressed emphatically
that the Catholic Church had hitherto made no application for membership
of the World Council of Churches. But if this application should be made -
which is not impossible - it will be all the more important that the Protestants
of Latin America (that is, the Latin American Pentecostal movement) should
take part in these discussions, regardless of whether these Pentecostal churches
were members of the World Council of Churches or not.
Other journals, including Roman Catholic ones,128 tried to give more accurate
information about this movement, which seems to be ultra-Protestant, but which
had adopted essential elements of Catholic thought and practice. A few Pente-
costal journals made critical comments. At the same time, there were also
attempts at a positive judgment.129 A French Pentecostal journal devoted a
special issue to the World Council of Churches. It reproduced an article by
D. J. Du Plessis, who saw in the way in which the traditional churches and the
Pentecostal movement were drawing closer together the fulfilment of a pro-
phecy by the famous popular Pentecostal evangelist Smith Wigglesworth. The
journal quotes ecumenical documents at length, and reproduces a photograph
which shows a Pentecostal team of French gypsies in the chapel of the Ecu-
menical Centre in Geneva.130
As this process of drawing together continued, several conferences with
Pentecostals took place in Germany,131 with black Pentecostals in the United
States,132 in Chile,133 Mexico134 and Brazil. What at the moment is the latest
stage in this dramatic story is the acceptance of the Brazilian Igreja Evangelica
Pentecostal 'Brasil para Cristo' into the World Council of Churches,135 to-
gether with the Pentecostal Eglise de Jesus Christ sur la terre par le prophete
Simon Kimbangu from the Congo,136 the beginning of bilateral conversations
between the Lutheran World Federation and the Pentecostals137 and between
the Vatican and the Pentecostals and a candidature for membership of the
important Italian Pentecostal church Chiesa Evangelica Internazionale. These
444 Belief and Practice
facts have disturbed and alarmed some Pentecostal churches even more than
the acceptance of the two Chilean churches into the World Council.
(d) Analysis of the charges made by the Pentecostal movement against the World
Council of Churches
The charges made by the Pentecostal movement against the ecumenical
movement can be summarized as follows:138
i. The World Council of Churches has a false understanding of the Church
It regards all existing churches as the Church of Jesus. Many circles in
Protestant Christianity - and the whole Pentecostal movement - reject this
assertion. The Church of Jesus can only consist of those who are born again,
and who are characterized by the reception of the Holy Spirit. Does the World
Council do anything to bear clear witness to this biblical truth? The World
Council wants to maintain existing ecclesiastical institutions, and yet assist in
the renewal of the church. What will this renewal look like in practice ? The
Pentecostal churches believe that a real renewal can only come about by the
setting up of so-called 'gathered churches'. The dead burden of the past must
be honestly written off.
These two documents of the World Council of Churches {The Church For
Others and Section II of the Full Assemly in Uppsala) make it unambiguously
clear to anyone that the World Council of Churches is not concerned with the
maintenance of ecclesiastical institutions, but with a search for 'new instru-
ments of mission', which will make the church better able to fulfil its task. In
the Toronto Declaration of the Central Committee of the World Council of
Churches (1950) the theme 'The Church, the Churches and the World Council
of Churches'143 was dealt with point by point. There was an explicit affirmation:
The Council is far from desiring to usurp any of the functions which already
belong to its constituent Churches, or to control them, or to legislate for them,
and indeed is prevented by its constitution from doing so.144
The World Council cannot and should not be based on any one particular
conception of the Church. It does not prejudge the ecclesiological problem.145
Membership in the World Council of Churches does not imply that a Church
treats its own conception of the Church as merely relative.146
Visser 't Hooft has discussed these problems in several articles. At a very early
stage he called 'mission an ecumenical action'.147 The unity of the church does
not consist of 'common allegiance to human ordinances or traditions'.148 In
another article he shows that the World Council cannot of its nature attempt to
be a 'super-church'.
Eccksiology 447
It is not enough to affirm that the ecumenical movement does not want to be
a super-church. We must show that its presuppositions, spirit, structure are
fundamentally different from those of the super-church.149
Visser 't Hooft sets out to show this in six theses (which are given here in
abbreviated form):
The ecumenical movement is not motivated by political, social or institutional
concepts of unity, but by the biblical affirmation that the Church of Christ is
one.
The ecumenical movement does not seek a return to the sociological unity of
the Corpus Christianum^ but promotes the spiritual and manifest unity of
churches which seek together to be the Church in the world.
The ecumenical movement stands for religious liberty.
The ecumenical movement does not believe in unity imposed by pressure or
constraint but stands for that unity which expresses itself in the free response
of the churches to the divine call to unity.
The ecumenical movement does not promote unity as an aim in itself, but as
part of the total calling of the Church of Christ.
The ecumenical movement seeks in its own life to avoid the dangers of con-
centration of power, of centralisation and institutionalism.150
I turn now to the second charge. Anyone who ploughs through the moun-
tains of Pentecostal literature will soon observe that there is disagreement
within the Pentecostal movement itself about what belongs to the 'whole word
of God'. Examples of this are the different views of baptism, the controversy
about the baptism of the Spirit, the washing of feet. Not even Pentecostals
within the Pentecostal movement itself have so far been able to delineate the
'biblical doctrine' which should provide the basis of true unity. Thus it is far
less likely that there should be a biblical doctrine on which all Christians could
agree. The counsel 'in essentials unity, in inessentials liberty, and in all things
charity' breaks down against the fact that Christians are never in agreement
about what exactly is essential. Nevertheless, there is an impressive amount
of agreement amongst the churches of the World Council. This is shown, for
example, by the long report of the 1963 Faith and Order Conference in Mon-
treal. One section dealt in detail with the theme 'Scripture, Tradition and
Traditions'.151 It is impossible to summarize this work here. Anyone who
proposes to criticize the inadequate biblical basis of the World Council of
Churches should study this text. With great care it examines the relationship to
Scripture, on the one hand of the oral traditions which preceded Scripture, and
on the other hand of the interpretation of Scripture which followed.
With regard to the third objection, it is difficult to decide whether the World
Council of Churches is growing closer to Rome, or whether Rome is growing
448 Belief and Practice
closer to the World Council. Closer co-operation is only possible when the
Roman Catholic Church abandons its exclusive claims. But this is not out of
the question. For there are miracles in the history of the church too, not only
in the history of the Pentecostal movement. At a time when an increasing number
of Pentecostal churches join with Catholics in ecumenical services152 this charge
is a little surprising. Latin American Pentecostals at least are clear that it is not
sufficient for them to come into contact with the fanatical, exclusive kind of
Catholicism, but that they must also acquaint themselves with the Catholicism
which is ready to enter into an honest partnership with other churches, and is
therefore prepared to renounce exclusive claims. No one at the present day can
say which party in the Catholic Church will gain the upper hand. Consequently,
the question of whether the Catholic Church can be a member of the World
Council of Churches must remain in abeyance until this question is clarified.
But one must not judge the matter in advance, as EisenlofFel does, by expecting
the Catholic position to harden.
Lukas Vischer, who was an observer for the World Council of Churches at the
Vatican Council, expressed a similar view in his report to the Central Committee
of the World Council in Enugu (1965):
The results do not point clearly in one direction. Many movements have taken
place which hint at a promising development. There are many signs that the
great ideas which were unfolded at the outset can be brought only to partial
fruition . . . The movement which was sparked off by the proclamation of the
(Vatican) Council has not yet come to an end, and it is still too early to talk
about the outcome of the Council. The Roman Catholic Church itself is not
yet fully aware of what the Council has really done to it. The broad trends
can still only be seen in outline.
But even though the Council has led the Roman Catholic Church to some extent
into complicated difficulties, this is no reason for other churches to indulge in
neutral aloofness or even secret gloating. The defeat of one church is no
victory for the others. It is a defeat for the proclamation of the name of Christ
in general. The non-Roman churches have therefore a responsibility to
exercise. They must attempt through their contribution to bring to develop-
ment the potential beginnings made in the Council. Dialogue, encounter
based on an open confession of loyalty to the truth, is the hope for the way
ahead. An inner withdrawal would be a sure way of bringing the movement
of the Council to a halt.
Lukas Vischer does not conceal the enormous difficulties attached to such a
dialogue.
We have seen that the big question of how a fellowship of dialogue and co-
operation can come about between the churches is still not settled. The decree
de oecumenismo does not supply an answer to i t . . . For this reason the dialogue
should begin at this very point.153
Ecclesiology 449
In 1965 a Joint Working Group of the World Council of Churches and the
Roman Catholic Church was set up. Its task was 'to work out the principles
which should be observed in further collaboration and the methods which
should be used'.154 The Jesuit Roberto Tucci - who, like the Pentecostal
Christian Krust, was invited to speak at the Fourth Full Assembly of the WCC
in Uppsala, as a representative of a non-member church - does not regard the
obstacles to the Roman Catholic Church joining the WCC as 'insuperable'.155
In 1969 the Pope visited the World Council of Churches in Geneva.156 A
particularly important aspect of this visit was that he was received in exactly the
same way as a representative of any other Christian denomination - and not as
the representative of the whole of Christianity. The representatives of the
World Council of Churches (amongst whom were an Indian layman and a
British teacher) met the Pope as a partner - and this was given visible expression
through the fact that the chairs were all on the same level. In the report of the
first four years of the Joint Working Group no decision was made about the
possible entry of the Roman Catholic Church into the WCC. The Joint Working
Group
recognized that the question of membership needed to be examined, and
reported that a small group had been asked to study the problem in detail.
The Minutes left entirely open the possible outcome of this enquiry. It listed
various possibilities which might be considered: the continuation and exten-
sion of existing relationships; the establishment of a new fellowship of
Churches different from the existing World Council of Churches; the entry
of the Roman Catholic Church into the World Council of Churches in its
present form or in a slightly modified form. The text does indeed add that it is
this third solution which will be investigated first.157
Since Pentecostals are carrying out discussions with the Catholic Church at
various levels, it is reasonable to ask how they can also contribute to the dialogue
between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church, particularly since the
Pentecostal revival in the Catholic Church seems increasingly to be spreading.
The fourth charge, that the World Council of Churches is a political organ-
ization, must have been formulated in total ignorance of the work of the World
Council. The World Council had a Secretariat for Religious Freedom which -
with partial success - intervened on behalf of persecuted minorities throughout
the world - including the Jehovah's Witnesses. Pentecostal churches have also
benefited from interventions on the part of the World Council of Churches -
for example in Italy and Latin America. In numerous publications and official
documents158 the WCC has made clear that religious minorities must also,
under all circumstances, have the freedom to profess their religion in public.
This religious freedom
includes freedom to worship according to one's chosen form . . ., freedom to
teach . . . freedom to practice religion or belief... It is for the churches in
450 Belief and Practice
their own life and witness, recognizing their own past failures in this regard,
to play their indispensable role in promoting the realization of religious liberty
for all men.159
In the declaration on 'Christian Witness, Proselytism and Religious Liberty'
accepted by the Third Full Assembly of the World Council of Churches in
New Delhi (i961), no modifications were made to the above statements. It was
affirmed that a Christian's task is to bear witness in every situation. But this
witness is corrupted
when cajolery, bribery, undue pressure, or intimidation are used - subtly or
openly - to bring about seeming conversion.160
Thus this is the definition which the World Council of Churches gives to the
term 'proselytism', and it is difficult to see what Pentecostals have against
this.
It should also point out in all modesty that at the time when certain sections
of the German Pentecostal movement were still welcoming Hitler as a leader
sent by God,161 leading figures in the World Council of Churches were pointing
to the anti-Christian element in Nazism. References can be found in Bethge's
splendid biography of BonhoefFer. Moreover, in protesting against racial dis-
crimination in South Africa (which has led a number of South African churches
to leave the World Council of Churches), against discrimination against negroes
in the USA (which led to a decrease in finances from America), and against cer-
tain aspects of the American intervention in Vietnam, the World Council clearly
showed that it does not bow down before the mighty of this world. On the
other hand, one looks in vain up to the present in the journals of the American
Pentecostal movement for similar utterances, and in fact it is this commitment
on the part of the World Council of Churches which in the eyes of American
Pentecostals casts suspicion on it.
Most ecumenists are clear that all these honest endeavours 'are in vain . . .
unless the Lord builds the house'. Thus for example Visser 't Hooft writes:
The world thinks it knows what peace means, and the church, in so far as it is
of this world, sometimes also speaks as if it had peace in its pocket. But our
Lord tells us that there is a peace which is quite different from the peace of
this world. And the city of peace, Jerusalem, must be told that it does not
know what makes for its peace. The truth is that peace is like all the other gifts
of God. We can only receive them, when we constantly admit that we do not
really know them and we do not really possess them. We are only rich when
we remain beggars. Thus today we can still do nothing better than to ask time
and again what the peace is which our Lord seeks to give us. And since he
himself is the peace that he gives, we are not trying to define some concept,
but asking what he is and what he does.162
To the fifth charge, that the World Council of Churches thinks too highly of
itself, I would reply as follows. The World Council of Churches does not regard
Ecclesiology 451
itself as the divine movement of this century. There is no text of the World
Council of Churches which makes such an assertion.
Finally, one must add how far the Pentecostal movement may have formu-
lated its criticisms in an unfortunate way, and yet is pointing to something pro-
foundly wrong in the ecumenical movement, which the Pentecostal movement
could play an essential part in curing. Albert van den Heuvel has already pointed
out163 that the World Council of Churches believes that the Pentecostal move-
ment has a great contribution to make to it. This contribution could be made by
helping to answer the following questions: What forms of personal commitment
exist for Christians ? What is the significance of a 'spontaneous liturgy' for
traditional churches and how can the existing traditional liturgies be 'unfrozen' ?
What means of communication are available with those levels of the population
which have lost contact with the traditional churches ?
Recognizing a need for co-operation in these areas, the Mulheim Association
of Christian Fellowships sent its administrative head, Christian Krust, as an
observer delegate to the Fourth Full Assembly of the WTorld Council of Churches
at Uppsala in 1968. There he stated: 'I tried constantly to discover more about
the relations between the ecumenical movement and the Pentecostalist move-
ment.' He set out his critical contribution under seven heads:
The ecumenical movement as a spiritual unity.
Living faith, not verbal statements of belief.
The testimony of holy Scripture and scholarly study of the Bible.
Variety of members, but unity in spirit.
The renewal of mankind and of the world can come only from God.
The ecumenical movement and the Pentecostalist movement - opportunities
for mutual aid.
No salvation apart from Christ.
Krust says: 'However, my own view is that it might benefit both movements
tremendously if they were to get to know each other better.'164
NOTES
1. A. Reichenbach, VdV 55/10, Oct. 1962, p. 5.
2. VdV 1909 or 1910; quoted in Schweizer Evangelist, 12.2.1910, p. 104.
3. P Free Will Baptists, Faith, 1961, art. 22.
4. The Jesus Church, Assembly Report 1952-1953, p. 16; quoted in Moore, p. 310.
5. Gemeinde fur Urchristentum, Wer wir sind, p. 9.
6. AdD, Dominican Republic, Reglamento, 1932, 1944.
7. L. EisenlofFel, Leuchter 5/1, Jan. 1957, p. 5.
8. L. EisenlofFel, Leuchter 13/12, Dec. 1962, pp. 7f.
9. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christengemeinden in Deutschland, Wer wir sind, n.d.
10. P. Mink, Einheitskirche, 4th ed., n.d., on the distorted information about the
Volkskirche-situztiori in some European countries; cf. V. D. Hargrave (ChoGE 51/34,
452 Belief and Practice
31.10.1960, pp. 10-13) who states: 'Switzerland constitutionally grants freedom to all
religions, but even the Pentecostals must belong to one of the official churches or else
suffer the embarassment of being classified as second-rate citizens.'
11. Swaziland: 01.39.007. In socialist countries, in which the Pentecostal church
has the same rights as other churches (Poland, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Hungary) pastors
are possibly paid by the state. No exact details are available. This suggestion is based
on verbal information.
12. PE 2526, 7.10.1962, p. 13; PE 2887, 7.9.1969, p. 15.
13. T. N. Turnbull, What God Hath Wrought, p. 125.
14. The Church of God, April 1964; quoted in MD 27, 1964, pp. 227f.
15. A. v. Polen, Pinksterboodschap 3/12, Dec. 1962, p. 12; cf. ch. 1.1(b), pp. 7ft0.
16. Der Leuchter 18/10, Oct. 1967, p. 2; Nils Taranger, Mensageiro da Paz 37/16,
16.8.1967, pp. 1, 7.
17. C. Lemke, Der Leuchter 19/2, Feb. 1968, pp. 9f.
18. On the World Conferences cf. ch. 5.5, pp. 67ff.
19. Cf. below, ch. 30.4^), p. 442.
20. A. M. Ritter, G. Leich, Wer ist die Kirche?
21. C. Williams, Where in the World?\ What in the World?', Faith in a Secular Age;
The Church.
22. E. Kasemann, 'Unity and Multiplicity in the New Testament Doctrine of the
Church', in Kasemann, Questions, p. 257.
23. E. Schweizer, Church Order, 2a.
24. Ibid., 2I.
25. Ibid., 2m.
26. Ibid., 7m.
27. All these quotations from H. Horton, Gifts, 6th ed. i960, pp. 224-6.
28. For this concept cf. ch. 2.1, p. 26, n. 1.
29. H. Horton, op. cit., pp. 226f. (reprinted in i960).
30. V. Pylkkannen, Voitto Sanoma, 1932, no. 9, pp. ii7ff.; quoted in W. Schmidt,
Pfingstbewegung, p. 190.
31. Toivon Tdhti, 1923, no. 2, p. 14; quoted in W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewegung, p. 145.
32. Toivon Tdhti, 1913, no. 1, p. 11; quoted by W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewegung, p. 144.
33. E. S. Williams, PE, 1945, 19.8.1951. PP- 3"4-
34. From VdV, 1909 or 1910; quoted in Schweizer Evangelist, 12.2.1910, p. 104.
35. L. Pethrus, Der Heilsbote; VdV 20ft, July 1927, pp. i3fF.
36. Details: 05.28.020b.
32. Broederschap van Pinkstergemeenten in Nederland, Pinkstergemeente, pp. i4f.
38. E. N. O. Kulbeck, P Testimony, July 1964, pp. 2, 32.
39. J. D. Bright, ChoGE 51/25,28.8.1961, pp. 6f.; cf. also H. R. Gause, ChoGE 52/34,
29.10.1962, pp. 3f.
40. Cf. above ch. 24.1, pp. 32if.
41. Der Leuchter 14/1, Jan. 1963, p. 2; L. Eisenloffel, Ein Feuer, p. 98; PGG, pp.
235ff.
42. W. A. Waltke, Gemeinde, p. 5.
43. D. Gee, P 22, 1952, p. 17.
44. Congregacao Crista do Brasil, Estatutos, 1946, art. 4.
45. E.g. A. A. Boddy (07.134, Anglican, Great Britain), K. Ecke (07.390, Lutheran,
Germany), F. de Rougemont (08.212, Reformed, Switzerland), and many others.
46. E.g. A. Beart (07.107, RC, France), C. Glardon (07.511, Reformed, Switzer-
land), A. Hitzer (Lutheran, Germany), V. Lindblom (07.853, Lutheran, Finland), and
many others (cf. 06.002).
47. E.g. in all churches in the USA (cf. above, ch. 1, pp. 3ff; 06.002).
Ecclesiology 453
48. Almost all the pioneers of the Pentecostal movement were originally ministers in
a traditional church (e.g. C. Price, 08.156, Presbyterian, USA), and the same phenome-
non can be observed more recently outside Europe, especially in Latin America.
49. G. A. Wumkes, Pinksterbeweging.
50. T. Achelis, Kulturprobleme der Gegenwart I, p. 195.
51. E.g. in Haarlem; cf. J. Zeegers, Pinksterboodschap 2/7, July 1961, p. 7.
52. F. Boerwinkel, Pinkstergroepen (Oekumenische Leergang 5), 1962, p. 13.
53. Nederlands Hervormde Kerk, De Kerk en de Pinkster groepen, i960, 3rd ed.,
1961, p. 34.
54. Ibid.
55. A. van Polen, Pinksterboodschap 3/11, Nov. 1962, p. 3.
56. Broederschap van Pinkstergemeenten in Nederland, Pinkstergemeente, pp. 7ff.
57. Ibid., p. 10.
58. Ibid., p. 12.
59. Ibid., pp. i4f.
60. Ibid., pp. 15-17-
61. W. W. V[erhoef], Vuur 7/4, June 1963, p. 9.
62. MD 21, 1958, pp. 237f.; 25, 1962, p. 60.
63. D. G. Molenaar, De doop, p. 34.
64. Bruno Paul de Roeck (RC), Vuur 13/2, Feb. 1969, pp. 4f.
65. G. H. Wallien, Vuur 13/6, June 1969, p. 6.
66. J. Zeegers, Pinksterboodschap 3/4, April 1962, p. 13; W. W. Verhoef, Vuur 6/5,
July-Aug. 1962, pp. 1 iff.
67. On the Dutch Pentecostal Movement see W. J. Hollenweger, Nederlands Theol.
Tijdschrift 18/4, April 1964, pp. 2891!.
68. Ecumenical Press Service 30/2, 16.1.1963, p. 1.
69. L. K. Grose, Sent into the World, pp. 79-80.
70. M. H. Duncan, Revelation, p. 217; so also W. H. Hannah, Redemption Tidings
45/^3. 5-6.1969, P- 11.
71. M. Gaston, PE 2421, 2.10.1960, pp. 6f., 28f.; PE 2422, 9.10.1960, p. 10.
72. Cf. ch. 4.2^), p. 53.
73. H. Lauster, Wahrheit 15/8, Aug. 1962, pp. 4f.
74. Elim Evangel 19, 1938, p. 86; quoted in B. Wilson, Sects, p. 94.
75. C. D. Alexander, Pattern 24/2, Feb. 1962, p. 11.
76. E. BischofF, Wahrheit 15/9, Sept. 1962, pp. 4f.
77. E. N. O. Kulbeck, P Testimony, April 1959, p. 2.
78. Estado de S Paulo, 8.7.1959.
79. J. B. Lyra, A Voz Pentecostal 7/78, Oct. 1959, pp. 2, 7, reprinted: J. B. Lyra,
Orientafdo, pp. 31-4.
80. Cf. ch. 8.3(#), p. 104.
81. Cf. ch. 19.2, pp. 254fF.
82. E.g. E. Piccioni, Risveglio P 9/7-8, July-Aug. 1954, pp. 7f.; J. Zanin, Here is the
News (periodical), n.d. On A. Beart: 05.09.027b.
83. H.-C. Chery, Offensive', I. Vergara, El Protestantismo; Mensaje 3/41, Aug. 1955,
pp. 257fF.; A. de Moura, A importancia', P. van Dongen, Oekumene 5/5,1966, pp. 26fF.;
A. Gaete, Un cas d?adaptation, in Abd-el-Jalil and others (ed.), LEglise, pp. i42fF.;
L. Zenetti, Heisse (W)Eisen, pp. 304fF. For the important American publications cf. ch.
i.i(i), pp. 8f. For a general summary, see W. J. Hollenweger, Una Sancta, June 1970,
PP. i5off.
84. D. J. Du Plessis, Vuur 8/11, Jan. 1965, pp. i2f.; E. O'Connor, Ave Maria 105,
3.6.1967, pp. 7fF.; M. Sandoval, Nat. Cath. Reporter, 12.6.1968.
85. Cf. ch. 1.1(d), pp. 8f.
454 Belief and Practice
86. F. J. Schulgen, Testimony, 4/1, 1st quarter, 1965, pp. iff.; L. O'Docharty, ibid.,
p. 8; PE 2860, 2.3.1969, p. 10; PE 2785, 24.9.1967, pp. 6f., p. 13.
87. Acts 1/5, 1968, pp. 14!!.
88. Interviews with the Catholic priest Jean-Marie Robert and Bishop Mancilla of
the Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal.
89. Cf. above, n. 66.
90. Cf. the very remarkable article 'Question oecumenique' in the French Pentecostal
journal Vie et Lumiere 46, pp. i4fF.
91. Verbal communication from Emilio Castro, July 1971.
92. Cf. the interview by Vie et Lumiire with Lukas Vischer (Vie et Lumiere 46, pp.
ioff.).
93. On the whole subject see W. J. Hollenweger, Ecumenical Review 18/3, 1966,
pp. 3ioff.
94. E. Chavez, letter to G. Theyssen, 19.6.1962.
95. Ibid.
96. E. Chavez, La Voz Pentecostal no. 56, June 1962, p. 16.
97. E. Chavez, letter to G. Theyssen, 19.6.1962.
98. Correspondence at the WCC, Geneva.
99. The legally certified documents of authorization in the archives of the WCC in
Geneva bear witness to this.
100. E. Chavez, letter to W.H., 23.1.1963.
101. E. Chavez, La Voz Pentecostal 56, June 1962, p. 16.
102. Iglesia Pentecostal de Chile (02b.08.054; Mision Iglesia Pentecostal (02b.08.601);
W. A. Visser 't Hooft (ed.), New Delhi Report, pp. 70. 219.
103. R. C. Cunningham, PE 2526, 7.10.1962; F. M. Boyd, PE 2526, 7.10.1962,
pp. 4f., 19; MD 25, 1962, pp. 225, 426.
104. D. J. Du Plessis, VdV 55/3, March 1962, p. 9.
105. Cf. the chapter 'Dios y Dolares' in E. Labarca Goddard, Chile invadido, pp.
287ff.
106. R. O. Corvin, letter to E. Chavez, 10.9.1968.
107. J. A. Synan, bishop of the PHCh, letter to Chavez, 3.6.1969.
108. The second largest Pentecostal church in Chile, the Iglesia Evangelica Pente-
costal (02b.08.045) was not represented at Uppsala.
109. Cf. A. Ramirez-Ramirez, 'I could have danced', Monthly Letter on Evangelism,
Oct. 1969 (Geneva, WCC). Several meetings have taken place between the leading
pastors of the Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal and W. J. Hollenweger and D. J. Du
Plessis (Concepto Latino-Americano I, Special Issue 26, March 1970, WCC, Geneva).
n o . Proposals in Concepto Latino-Americano I, II, III (WCC, Geneva). Summarized
and interpreted by W. jf. Hollenweger, IRM 60/238, April 1971, pp. 2321!.; cf. also
Theologie (ET in preparation).
i n . PE 1748, 8.11.1947, p. 10 (not directly in connection with the WCC, but with a
report on E. Stanley Jones's plans for Church unity).
112. K. Schneider, VdV 55/8, Aug. 1962, p. 2; PE 2849, 21.1.1962, p. 10; cf. also
ch. 3.4, pp. 42f. and p. 45 n. 93.
113. ChoGE 51/48, 12.2.1962, p. 15.
114. L. Eisenloffel, Leuchter, 13/n, Nov. 1962, pp. 4f.
115. K. Kopelle, Pinksterboodschap 4/1, Jan. 1963, pp. 6f.
116. H. Lauster, Die Wahrheit 15/4, April 1962; MD 25, 1962, p. 108.
117. A. Guggenbuhl, Geschaftsmann und Christ 3/11, Aug. 1963, pp. 6 ff.
118. Further documents on the attitude of individual Pentecostal denominations to
the WCC: 02a.01.13b, ee; 02a.02.115c, bb; 02b.05.012c; o2b.o8.o54d/e; 05.07.015c,
dd; 05.07.028f; 05.09.026; 05.09.027; 05.13.023c, bb; 05.15.B.VI; 05.20.004e/g;
Ecclesiology 455
05.23.C; 05.28.025c, ee, etc. Cf. also above ch. 3.4, pp. 421*.; ch. 6.3^), pp. 8iff.;
ch. 8.3, PP- 99ff.; ch. 12.5(4 pp. i65fF.; ch. 17.3, pp. 24off.; ch. 19.2, pp. 254!!".
119. W. Malgo, Letters to the Editor, Miner nachtsruf 6\6, Sept. 1961.
120. Cf. above ch. 15.2(4 pp. 2o8ff.
121. M. B. Handspicker, Purpose, FO/66:63. O ct - x966.
122. A. Bittlinger, Fragen, SE 67:3, Oct. 1966.
123. A. van den Heuvel, Impulses for Renewal, Y:66/2i. Other preparatory papers:
J. H. Davies, Renewal, SE 66132; L. EisenlofFel, Renewal, SE 66134 (printed in German
in Leuchter 17/11, Nov. 1966, pp. 5ff.); W. J. HoUenweger, European Pentecostal
Movement, SE 66:35. A similar consultation took place in 1967 in New Zealand (M. B.
Handspicker and W. J. HoUenweger, The Outlook 74/1, 18.2.1967, pp. i6f., 21); MD
30, 1966, pp. 283ff.
124. Cf. ch. 21.4, pp. 305ff.; ch. 30.4(4 p. 443.
125. M. B. Handspicker and L. Vischer, (ed.) An Ecumenical Exercise (Faith and
Order 49) 1967; also in Ecumenical Review 19/1, Jan. 1967, pp. 47ff.
126. W. J. HoUenweger (ed.), Pfingstkirchen.
127. W. Malgo, Mitternachtsruf 11110, Jan. 1967, p. 15.
128. Cf. above n. 83.
129. Review of W. A. Visser 't Hooft, Oekumenische Bilanz, by L. EisenlofFel, Der
Leuchter 18/1, Jan. 1967, pp. 4f.; L. Steiner, VdV 59/12, Dec. 1966. pp. i3f.; Heilszeu-
gnisse 52/1, Jan. 1967, pp. 3f.
130. Vie et Lumiere 30, Jan. 1967.
131. Cf. L. Steiner, Heilszeugnisse 52/1, 1.1.1967, pp. 3-4; C. Krust, Heilszeugnisse
52/7, 1.7.1967, pp. 98-102; H. Rottmann, Heilszeugnisse 53/12, 1.12.1968, pp. 179-80;
C. Krust, Heilszeugnisse 53/8, 1.8.1968, pp. ii4f.; ibid. 53/8, 1.8.1968, pp. 116-18;
53/11,1.11.1968, pp. 163-6,171-4; 53/12,1.12.1968, pp. 180-5; cf. ch. 17.3, pp. 24ofF.
132. W. J. HoUenweger, Black Pentecostal Concept, June 1970 (WCC, Geneva).
133. Cf. above n. 109.
134. Concepto Latino-Americano III, Sept. 1970 (WCC, Geneva). English summary
by W. J. HoUenweger, IRM 60/238, April 1971, pp. 232fF., and Theologie (ET in
preparation).
135. Cf. ch. 8.3, pp. 99fF.
136. M. B. Handspicker and L. Vischer (ed.), An Ecumenical Exercise (Geneva, WCC,
Faith and Order 49); M. L. Martin, Kirche ohne Weisse; PGG (French edition); WCC,
Central Committee Minutes, Canterbury, 1969, p. 11.
137. Cf. above n. 69.
138. The following quotations are taken from an unpublished article by Ludwig
EisenlofFel. Cf. also the attitude of the AoG, USA, Appendix: 3, pp. 5i6f.
139. Cf. the regular Monthly Letters on Evangelism (Geneva, WCC); reprinted in
W. J. HoUenweger, Kirche, Benzin und Bohnensuppe (ET in preparation).
140. WCC, The Church for Others (quotation from the Preface to the German edition,
WCC, Die Kirche fur andere, p. 5).
141. WCC, Drafts for Sections, p. 31.
142. WCC, The Church For Others, pp. 37f.
143. Most easily available in English in the collection by L. Vischer (ed.), A Docu-
mentary History of the Faith and Order Movement, pp. i67fF.
144. L. Vischer, op. cit., p. 167.
145. Ibid., p. 170.
146. Ibid.
147. W. A. Visser't Hooft, Oekumenische Bilanz, pp. 9fF. (an essay written in 1941).
148. Ibid., p. 10.
149. W. A. Visser 't Hooft, Ecumenical Review 10/4, July 1958, p. 375.
456 Belief and Practice
150. Ibid., pp. 376f.
151. P. C. Rodger and L. Vischer (ed.), The Fourth World Conference of Faith and
Order, Montreal ig6$ 3, 1964, pp. 506.
152. Cf. above, ch. 30.3, pp. 438, and Ranaghan, Spirit, pp. ii4fF.
153. L. Vischer in his report of the third session of the Vatican Council, given to the
Central Committee of the WCC in Enugu, 1965, Minutes of the Central Committee
(Enugu 1965), pp. 1 oof.
154. L. Vischer, Ecumenical Review 22/1, Jan. 1970, p. 37. Cf. also the report of the
'Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council
of Churches' in N. Goodall (ed.), Uppsala Report, pp. 344fF.
155. R. Tucci, 'The Ecumenical Movement, the World Council of Churches and the
Roman Catholic Church' in N. Goodall (ed.), Uppsala Report, pp. 323ff.
156. The speeches made by E. C. Blake and the Pope are given in Ecumenical Review
21/3, July 1969, pp. 265fF.
157. L. Vischer, Ecumenical Review 22/1, Jan. 1970, p. 67.
158. 'Statement on Religious Liberty' in W. A. Visser 't Hooft (ed.), New Delhi
Report, pp. 159fT.; 'Declaration on Religious Liberty', Amsterdam 1958, in WCC,
Evanston to New Delhi, pp. 253f; 'Christian Witness, Proselytism and Religious
Liberty' (Central Committee, St Andrew's, i960; Full Assembly, New Delhi 1961) in
L. Vischer (ed.), A Documentary History of the Faith and Order Movement, pp. i83fF.
159. W. A. Visser 't Hooft (ed.), New Delhi Report, pp. i6of.
160. L. Vischer (ed.), A Documentary History, p. 271.
161. Cf. above, ch. 17.1(f), pp. 252ff.
162. W. A. Visser 't Hooft, Oekumenische Bilanz, p. 68 (essay of 1950).
163. Cf. p. 442.
164. C. Krust, 'Pentecostal Churches and the Ecumenical Movement' in N. Goodall
(ed.), Uppsala Report, pp. 34off.
31
'Islands of Humanity' :
A Sociological Assessment
After a time the meeting grows quieter. Suddenly the drummer girl intones the
Our Father. All join in, and at the end sing 'Amen' in different variations for
three minutes.3
The Harris prophets of Ghana have a prayer garden in which the sick are
subjected to a powerful psychological therapy. But they do not reject ordinary
medical assistance. The patients stand in the 'prophet's garden' before a white
cross, and carry a pitcher of holy water on their heads. The top half of their
bodies must be naked. While the congregation gives support to the healing by
singing, the prophets and prophetesses walk through the rows of the sick and
dip their fingers in the pitcher on the patients' heads. They they touch the sick
part of the bodies of those who are seeking healing. As the healings take place
there are violent outcries, shouts of joy, signs and convulsions.4
In the revival which gave rise to the Chilean Pentecostal movement, which
has since become known throughout the world, the Pentecostals were seized
by holy dread. In their services, the agricultural labourers of Chile had the
experience of being persons of importance in the history of the church and the
world.
The brethren were possessed by dancing and spiritual visions, they spoke in
tongues of angels, prophesying about the great spiritual revival. The Holy
Spirit seized them in the streets. The authorities took them into the prisons
as criminals, but the brethren danced in the prisons, speaking in tongues and
prophesying to these officials.5
It would be easy to show that what Fritz de Rougemont was expecting from
his conversion to the Pentecostal movement is impossible. But the decisive fact
is that here a man from a cultured, devout, aristocratic family, the son of a
pastor, psychologically healthy, open to the world, an art lover, a trained
theologian and respected by his colleagues, is posing questions that cannot
easily be answered, even if one must regard de Rougemont's conclusion as the
victory of despair over hope. His statement expresses the sorrow of a man who
in his ministry has experienced the disadvantages under which the pastoral
office labours in present-day society. The rhetorical claims made upon the
pastoral ministry, and the class consciousness which it imposes on the minister
himself, and which is accepted by the nuclear congregation which he serves,
bear no relation to factual reality. This 'status contradiction'25 is experienced
by the minister as a misere affective.
Fritz de Rougemont is not alone in this. It would be a mistake to believe that
the experience of being on the fringes of society is shared only by those who
suffer from economic and social disadvantages. There are more people than it is
usually supposed who suffer from a real or imaginary disadvantage because of
the colour of their skin, their education, their sex, their temperament, their
outward appearance, a contradiction in their status, and so forth, and wish to
compensate for this disadvantage. After the victorious campaign of the Pente-
costal movement amongst the poor and the intellectually deprived, we are
experiencing at the present day a second wave of Pentecostal revivals amongst
high officials, managers in big businesses, scientists and scholars in every sub-
ject, artists, diplomats and officers.
What is it which draws these people into the Pentecostal movement ? Lotte
Denkhaus26 has expressed what many feel about the inability of the church to
communicate its faith:
More than ever I [that is, every 'serious' Christian] stand in a situation of
confusion. I need to have studied philosophy, and learned by heart and under-
stood a whole dictionary of technical expressions, in order to grope my way
A Sociological Assessment 463
in turn round each new movement and theological doctrine. Why ? So that I
can make an independent decision, which I have a right to do. For - according
to what all the theologians assert directly or indirectly - the most important
thing in the world is at issue. But it lands me in front of the bars of a cage and
they, the theologians, draw the bars closer and closer. Sometimes, perhaps
when I have been ill or on holiday and have had time and leisure and have
paid good money for thick theological tomes, I have had the fortune or mis-
fortune to dip into them and have a look around this world of scholarship. But
it requires endless trouble, patience, courage and determination to make my
way back out of the cage and into the park along a path which may finally
perhaps have been overgrown . . . Who, then, can choose one item from so
rich a stock and take it home ? And who can ever succeed in entering the
warehouse of theology and getting a selection to choose from ? Most of us have
not got trained minds. Thus we are hopelessly 'naive' and 'primitive',
excluded from any possibility of knowing what there is in the church which
concerns us, even down to the personal decision about what is false coin and
what is good coin.
Even the ministers are disciples of a particular school, either Barthians or
disciples of Bultmann, or disciples of his disciples, or followers of Tillich, and
so forth. They never make us independent, or at least rarely. Nor can they
even seriously propose to do so, because very often they are no longer inde-
pendent themselves. So we need guidance from somewhere else. In simple
terms, we need the Holy Spirit. I wait on him, I pray for him. But I do not
pray regularly, and certainly my prayer is often only subconscious . . . And
so much time is taken up by my daily quota of work, so wearisome and yet so
much loved, by care for the family and worry on their account, and by concern
for the people whom I meet, who need me or whom / need.
People like these, disappointed with a kind of worship which adds the problems
of the theologian to their own professional problems, and longing for direct
prayer and a simplification of religious faith in the form of spontaneous and
personal relationships, find in Pentecostal worship exactly what they need.
For it does not teach people to think, but to believe (in the sense of a direct
religious experience) and to live (within the framework of tangible personal
relationships). Thus the well-known Dr Charles Price, who was himself a
colleague of Aimee Semple McPherson, has described one of her services -
in which numerous academics felt at home:
Somebody way back in the audience starts to sing in a little soprano voice, 'Oh,
it is Jesus.' The multitude take up the refrain and they sing it again and again;
the cornets proclaim it in measured tone; the trombones boom out the same
sweet story; the grand piano vibrates and pulsates with joy, 'Oh, it is Jesus.'
Sister's tambourine is working now, rolling from her finger tips as she leads
the great audience in singing the glad story, 'Oh, it is Jesus.' It reminds us of
Miriam sounding the timbrel over Egypt's dark sea after the crossing of the
waters.... 'Oh, it is Jesus' shout back the preachers and the choir. The
building rings and rings again until it seems as if the great dome must break,
464 Belief and Practice
and let the whole world hear the music of the pilgrims who have that day seen
the King in all His beauty.27
/o /o
I Ministers, pastors 105 26-2 42-6*
Roman Catholic i Baptist 10
Anglican 9 Chrischona 1
Lutheran 16 Salvation Army 8
Reformed 20 Others 7
Methodist 19 Lay Workers 14
* First percentage taken inclusive of the 38-8% unknown, second figure excluding
them.
Belief and Practice
Graph Relating Three Generations
Examples of (1)
The English Pentecostal evangelist Smith Wigglesworth111 was born in
Menston, Yorkshire, as one of six children in a very poor family. He had to go
to work when he was only six years old. When he was seven, he began work in a
cotton weaving mill, where he worked with his father from six in the morning
to six at night.
I cannot forget those long winter nights and mornings, having to get out of
bed at five o'clock to snatch a quick meal and then walk two miles to be at
work at six. We had to work twelve hours each day, and I often said to my
father, 'It is a long time from six until six in the mill.' I can remember the
tears in his eyes as he said; 'Well, six o'clock will always come.' Sometimes
it seemed like a month coming.112
With his grandmother he went to Wesleyan services, where he once took part
in a dancing service. At that chapel anyone who wished could testify. Wiggles-
worth tried to do so several times, but after the first words almost burst into
tears. One day three old men prayed with him, so that he was freed from this
inhibition. Since he had had to work in a factory as a boy, he had no schooling.
His wife later taught him to read. He was never very good at writing. The book
Ever Increasing Faith was written down by those who heard his sermons. He
never read it himself. This stocky, uneducated man became one of the greatest
evangelists of the Pentecostal movement. In most of the capitals of the world,
he preached to large crowds. His preaching was characterized by short staccato
sentences. He was adept at summing up his message in a single phrase. Once he
had overcome the mute suffering of the exploited proletarian, he became a
symbol of the little man, poor and uneducated, despised by the world but loved
by God. His sure feeling for the English language was astonishing. Although
he had the opportunity to become rich, money meant nothing to him. 'Making a
living is the small, time-serving, dwarfed and paralysed man's object. Making
a life is the kingly, righteous and holy man's object.' He was very abrupt with
God: 'If you ask God seven times for the same thing, six times are in unbelief.'
'If the Spirit does not move me, I move the Spirit.'113 'Great faith is a product
of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs
can only come after great trials.'114
When the fourteen-year-old Dane Andreas Enderson (1889-1967) went into
the factory, it must have been a cruel shock to him, not only because to the
amusement of his instructor, a rough journeyman blacksmith, he could not lift
the great sledge-hammer, but also because the latter greeted him with fierce
curses and imprecations. 'He said he would have great pleasure in splitting me
into pieces, so that at least he could make a walking stick out of me.' 115 Under
A Sociological Assessment 479
this man's influence he was soon led into swearing, drinking and stealing
materials from the factory. He gives a vivid description of his apprenticeship
in his autobiography. There was no one to whom he could utter his distress,
for he had no friends. Nevertheless, he prayed the Lord's Prayer every day.
A representative of the Blue Cross (the temperance organization), to whom he
confided his vice, laid down a probationary period of three months. But how
could he go for three months, when he could not even live for three days without
alcohol? In 1919, greatly influenced by the words of the pastor at a mission
service, he prayed at home: 'Jesus, if it is true that you live, save me and make
me as willing to follow you as I have been to follow the devil.'116 He was cer-
tainly freed from his vice. His place in the bar at ten o'clock in the morning and
four o'clock in the afternoon remained empty. He told what had happened to the
Blue Cross man who had laid down a probationary period of three months for
him, but was greeted with disbelief. Four years later he became an evangelist
of the Pentecostal Elim Assembly.
Another Danish Pentecostal pastor, Martinus Bjerre, as a small boy, had to
drive the cattle fifteen miles to a neighbouring farm at night, so that he lost no
time from his work during the day. He used to pray: 'Dear God, it doesn't
matter if things go on like this as long as I am young. But please take care of me
when I am old, and then I will be able to come up to you when I die.'117
Donald Edward Curry has published and commented on a lengthy taped
interview with a Brazilian Pentecostal pastor, Antonio Jose dos Santos. In the
north-east of Brazil, in Porto do Calvo, dos Santos at the age of thirty-six
accepted 'the word of Christ's Gospel'. Then he went ten months into the
wilderness to pray. He describes in detail his wanderings in north-east Brazil,
his embitterments and miraculous liberations, his healings and prayer meetings.
He finally succeeded in founding, with a small congregation of thirty families, a
kind of self-governing agricultural co-operative owning its own land. Curry
impressively demonstrates the fact that for dos Santos and his followers salvation
happens here and now through their liberation from mental subjection, and
consequently from economic and political oppression.118
And the talented Dutch organist Peter van Woerden, who became a Christian
in prison, describes the first service he attended after his release in the Reformed
church as a great disappointment.
The pastor, standing in the pulpit with his gown, was a wholly sympathetic
figure. His sermon was an interesting presentation of a number of biblical
truths, his style was polished and every expression he used carefully chosen.
But what I found lacking was any practical application of the theological
truths which were being so skilfully propounded. One could compare him
with someone giving a distinguished lecture about bread to a hungry crowd.
Instead, he found in a Pentecostal assembly the spiritual support and biblical
instruction which he sought, although the pastor was not very fluent, and as a
trained musician he was irritated by the Pentecostal style of singing.125
Out of four hundred Pentecostal pastors, a hundred and five were ministers
or pastors in another church before becoming pastors in the Pentecostal move-
ment. Some of them remained ministers in their own church and worked part-
time in the Pentecostal movement, while the others left the service of their
church. One can sum up by saying that both categories, the ministers and the
working men who became Pentecostal pastors, were dissatisfied with the social
or ecclesiastical structures in which they lived. The workers saw themselves
faced by an anonymous set of circumstances which they had to suffer in silence.
The Pentecostal movement made it possible for them to articulate their suffer-
ing and so overcome it. The ministers suffered because the church they belonged
to had ceased to command a living faith, and they hoped to find in the Pente-
costal movement a more lively and missionary-minded group, closer to other
people and closer to the Bible, of Christians whose talents were both intellectual
and intuitive, both rational and emotional. An examination of their biographies
does not confirm the charge that these ministers were looking for a non-insti-
tutional and purely enthusiastic fellowship of believers. What they were looking
for in the Pentecostal movement was not a church without institutions, but a
church which did not carry on its institutions for their own sake, and was ready
to give up or replace parts of an institution which had lost their function. This
is in fact the most important ecclesiological question in present-day ecumenical
discussion. The fact that a large number of ministers and ordinands have
joined the Pentecostal movement is the expression of their search for a flexible
church structure which is capable of functioning effectively.
The same can probably be said of the artists who have become Pentecostal
pastors. The famous Swedish author Sven Lidman126 found in the Pentecostal
movement a meaning for life which he had previously sought in vain in his
A Sociological Assessment 481
activity as a writer. The equally famous Danish opera singer Anna Larsen
Bjorner127 found a fuller life as the wife of a pastor than in the opera. Both were
to undergo severe disillusionments: Lidman, when he was driven out by the
less talented but more vigorous Lewi Pethrus, and Anna Larsen BJ0rner when
she had to live through a severe schism in the Danish Pentecostal movement,
for which her husband, Sigurd Bjorner, the former secretary of the YMCA,
was not wholly without blame.
Musicians of average skill from the world of entertainment, such as Joseph
Wannenmacher, Douglas Scott and others, found in the assemblies of the Pente-
costal movement an attentive and grateful audience, in particular as their music
was interpreted in the framework of the scheme of values of Pentecostal evan-
gelization, and sanctified as the handmaid of evangelization. (Summary, pp.
489ff.).
(c) An account of conversion, the baptism of the Spirit and the call as an aid to the
interpretation of the doctrine of the Pentecostal pastor128
Conversion: There are many types of description of conversions. Quite a number
of Pentecostal pastors were converted when members of a traditional church
either by the preaching of a 'minister mighty in the spirit' (see Rockle), by a
hymn (M. A. Alt), by the personal exhortation of a 'converted minister' (F.
Jequier), by his own liturgical ministry at the funerals of children (J. Paul), or
the pastoral work of the minister who prepared him for confirmation (A. Goetz).
Negative judgments on the instruction given by the church can sometimes be
found, but are relatively rare (F. Schaufele); for example, the only positive
thing which A. Endersen can remember from his confirmation instruction is
the fact that because he learned a children's hymn properly he was given a large
pear. The confirmation day filled him with dread.
Others were converted by hymns, testimonies, or sermons by Pentecostals,
either in open air meetings (L. Jeeveratnam, C. Lemke) or in a Pentecostal
service (N. Bhengu, A. Beart). Many were healed from a severe disease and
were converted as a result (Adegoke, N. Nxumalo, L. B. Yeomans). Others
again were converted by the personal testimony of a Christian (U. Lasco,
D. J. Du Plessis, L. Wreschner, H. Zaiss). A few had a vision (M. Fraser, Jakob
Widmer). Others were disappointed with life as a result of misfortunes and
were then converted (W. A. Raiford). Some were converted when young (A. B.
Reuss, R. Ruff and others). Often the conversion represents the close of a period
of youthful melancholy.
In general it can be said that the Pentecostal experiences the conversion
which is best suited to his blocked expectations and his mental constitution.
One must not overestimate the element of 'social deprivation'. It is only one of
the possible factors. According to L. P. Gerlach and V. H. Hine the decisive
element in joining a Pentecostal assembly is a personal invitation (a statement
which is based on a thorough analysis in the USA).129
482 Belief and Practice
Baptism of the Spirit and call: The baptism of the Spirit has been described
in detail above.130
In the Pentecostal movement the call to be a pastor must be an experience
which in the eyes of the person who is called and of his future followers allows a
break with previous loyalties, and indeed demands and gives a positive inter-
pretation to such a break. It can be brought about by visions, dreams, voices,
prophecies on the part of another person, the reading of the Bible, or doubts
about the established church. The final step is usually brought about by a
combination of various factors.
The bishop of the American Negro church, the Church of God in Christ,
C. H. Mason, was called by a vision. The healing evangelist T. L. Osborn
experienced his call while pasturing cattle 'with many tears', and later had a
vision of Christ. The Nigerian steam-roller driver Joseph Babalola did not
react to several calls by voices to become a pastor. Thereupon his steam-roller
refused to function, which he saw as an unmistakable sign to respond to the
call. When the American healing evangelist Philip N. Green was reading a
philosophical article, in order to write a book about 'The Believer's Approach
to Philosophy', he heard a voice which said to him: 'If you will close your library
and read only one Book, I will give you miracles wherever you go.' The German
pastor Martin Gensichen was required by his superior in the Berlin City Mission
to make written preparation for his sermons. Gensichen tried to carry out this
order, but when he tried to write his sermons down, he tells us that his hand
was prevented from writing by God. Gensichen thereupon gave up his ministry
and became a Pentecostal pastor.
Daniel Berg, a Swedish emigrant to the USA, was shown in a dream that he
had to go as a missionary to Para. He did not know where Para was, but found
in the Chicago public library that it was a state in Brazil. He became the founder
of the Assembleias de Deus in Brazil, which now has two million members.
Karl Born was called by a prophecy given during a visit of the South African
Latter Rain movement to become a full time pastor of the German Latter Rain
Mission, after his wife, during the last days of the Benoni Conference in i960,
was set free from an evil force which was made to reveal itself and was driven
out with a loud cry. 'Hundreds of people at the conference were present when
this happened, to their great joy.'
Sometimes the prophecy or the vision is experienced by someone else. Thus
the prophet Job Cartey came to Appiah and prophesied:
Master Appiah, God has made you a great king. On my way here I saw you in
a vision dressed like a king, with a crown on your head, and angels were
bringing you down to the earth from heaven. In this way God sends me to tell
you that he has made you a great king.
The mother of the prophet C. Wovenu, Mikayanowa, was barren. Wovenu was
born as the result of the prophecy of an unknown person who said to his father
that 'this son's head will stand higher than my father's'.
A Sociological Assessment 483
G. R. Polman refused a call to become a Salvation Army officer, explaining
to another officer that he had to take over his father's farm. The officer replied,
'Anyone can run a farm, but not everyone can save sinners.' The British jazz
musician Douglas Scott was called to missionary work by a message spoken in
tongues, with an interpretation. He played a decisive part in the setting up of
what is the largest free church in France, the Assemblies de Dieu. Many
already felt the call to be pastors when they were boys.131
Others became certain of their call on being healed from severe illness.132
The Ghanaian mason Do was told by his pastor that the Bible would become
his dowonu, that is, his tool. Do took no notice of this statement, because he
wanted to become a stonemason. After his apprenticeship as a mason, he worked
at digging and lining wells in Togoland, where he was much sought after.
Wherever he worked, he was also a keen member of the Presbyterian Church.
When he was working in Ziofe, there were no Presbyterian services there. And
therefore, with the permission of the church authorities, he began to hold
services in Ziofe. Since those who attended did not know the hymns, he organ-
ized hymn practices. A dying boy was brought to one of these practices, and the
assembled congregation prayed for him, whereupon he was healed. This was the
beginning of a prayer and healing group which remained within the Presby-
terian church, and of which Do became the leader.
Sometimes, a severe disappointment can lead to a conversion experience, as
for example when the American detective W. A. Raiford lost an election. Of
greater importance are the doubts which L. Eisenloffel underwent during his
training as a church worker. Eisenloffel was looking for security and guidance
in the training institute, but found instead young people full of questions, 'not
because they were thirsting for the truth, but because they wanted to justify
their doubts'. His experiences as a teacher in a church children's home strength-
ened his criticism of the church, and he joined the Pentecostal movement, to
which his mother had already belonged. In the case of the founder of the
American 'Jesus only' group, F. J. Ewart, the discovery of the baptismal formula
'in the name of Jesus' in the Acts of the Apostles played the decisive part in a
new Pentecostal denomination which observed the 'biblical formula of baptism.'
These examples show that a calling to become a pastor is experienced under a
wide range of forms, depending on the degree of resistance, the psychological
and cultural environment and the individual temperament of the person called.
But the decisive element is always that the call is recognized either by the
church to which the person belongs, or else by a new congregation which is
founded as a result of the call.
NOTES
1. Details: 01.36.040f.
2. Details: 01.36.214a: Christian Zion Sabbath Apostolic Church.
3. Sundkler, pp. 1836.
4. Details: 01.12.014b (bibliography).
5. Chile Pentecostal, Sept. 1954; quoted in I. Vergara, El Protestantismo, and at
length 02b.08.049a.
6. Details: 02b.01.006b (bibliography).
7. Details: 02b.26.001.
8. C. S. Snyder, Jr., in Presbyterian Survey, summarized by C. M. O'Guin, The
Pentecostal Messenger 38/10, Oct. 1964, pp. 4f.
9. H. R. Niebuhr, Social Sources of Denominationalism, p. 30.
10. Cf. the analysis of L. Pope (above, ch. 4.2(c), pp. 53ff.).
11. Details: 01.09.003.
12. Details: 05.27.006.
13. See ch. 13.3, pp. i87fF.
14. For example in the sacral dance of the Latin American Pentecostal movement,
in the 'altar-cah (cf. above, ch. 23, p. 316), in speaking in tongues and its interpretation.
The above example is from oral tradition.
15. D. Maurer, Reforme 3/115, 31.5.1947, p. 2; 05.09.003a, dd; cf. PGG (French
translation).
16. H.-Ch. Chery, Offensive, pp. 3846.
17. H. V. Synan, P Movement, pp. 266.
18. Cf. above, ch. 19.3, pp. 26ofF.
19. G. Sentzke, Kirche Finnlands, p. 57; 05.08.001c.
20. W. Schmidt, Pfingstbewegung, p. 27.
21. Kolkuttaja 1921, p. 56; quoted in W. Schmidt, op, cit., p. 38.
22. For hwyl cf. above ch. 13.1^), pp. i77f.
23. L. EisenlofFel, Der Leuchter 10/1, Jan. 1959, pp. 46.
24. F. de Rougemont, letter to a colleague, 9.6.1956. Full text: 05.28.048; cf. also
PGG, pp. 279f.
25. The concept of'status contradiction' was applied by B. R. Wilson to Pentecostal
pastors. But it is also applicable to ministers of traditional churches, in that within his
A Sociological Assessment 493
church and within a certain section of society a minister has a very high status, whereas
outside the church and this particular section of society he has an increasingly diminish-
ing status (05.i3.024c/d).
26. L. Denkhaus, quoted from Deutsches Pfarrerblatt, in Wort und Tat 21/9, Sept.
i967> PP- 3i6rT.
27. Quoted from D. Gee, Pentecostal Movement, 2nd ed., 1949, p. 120.
28. A. I. Zelley, Hymns of Glorious Praise, 1969, no. 215.
29. Cf. the hymn Komm heim zum Abendmahl quoted above, ch. 27.1, p. 387.
30. Cf. the hymn by Jimmie Davis, Wasted Years, quoted above, ch. 23, pp. 3i5ff.
31. 'One sat alone beside the highway begging . ..', O. J. Smith, in: N. J. Clayton
(ed.), Melodies of Life, no. 35.
32. R. Franz, Der Leuchter 14/7, July 1963, p. 8.
33. A detailed account is given above, ch. 25.2(f), pp. 365fF.
34. E.g.: 'Dis-moi pourquoi, o centenier', Edition Croisade, Geneva, 4545B (Eglise
Evangelique de Reveil, 05.28.015).
35. Record by Edizioni Uomini Nuovi (25.28.049), BIEM UN 4501: 'Gerusalemme'.
The soloist is the Swedish singer Stig Almstron, with Pierre van Woerden at the organ.
It is a version of the well-known English song 'The Holy City'.
36. Douglas Gray, Youth Challenge 2, 1963, pp. 24-6. Example: London Crusader
Choir (05.13.024), 'Blessed Assurance', Herald Sacred Recordings LLR 510.
37. Ralph Carmichael Orchestra, 'Now I Belong to Jesus', Sacred Spectraphonic,
Sacred Records, Inc., Whittier, California, LP 8004.
38. To express the idea 'Once I was l o s t . . . '
39. The sleeve informs us that for the production of this stereo record, which contains
paraphrases of several hymns, 200 pages of full score and 1750 orchestral parts had to
be written out.
40. E.g. 'Miksi viivyt sa poluill, maailman' (Ruth Jaarla), Celesta CLS-4.
41. Examples on the record PAN-AM (C.P. 4501, S. Paulo) LP 102 (Recordacao da
8a Conferencia Mundial Pentecostal).
42. E. Buchner, Christliche Welt 25, 1911, p. 29; cf. PGG, ch. 18.2, p. 262.
43. Cf. above, ch. 31.1(f), pp. 465ff.
44. Cf. Wilsons's works in the bibliography.
45. Details: 05.13.024 c/d.
46. The following quotations are taken from E. Altmann, Predigt als Kontaktgeschehen
(pp. 48-69). Altmann's study, based on comparisons between tape recordings and
manuscripts of sermons, shows with merciless clarity why our normal sermons allow
no 'contact' to take place, and therefore cannot be 'understood'. Further discussion in:
W. J. Hollenweger, 'Preaching Dialogically', Concordia Theological Monthly 42/2,
April 1971, pp. 243-8.
47. C. Lalive d'Epinay, Haven of the Masses, p. 53.
48. D. Gee, P Testimony 41/2, Feb. i960, p. 8.
49. K. M. Donnell, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Winter 1967/68, pp. io5ff.
50. Diettrich, Aufder Warte 1/37, 17.12.1902, pp. if.; cf. above ch. 16.1(0), p. 221.
51. Aufder Warte 2/24, 10.6.1905, p. 3 (Torrey on Socialism); cf. PGG, ch. 14.1(0),
p. 205.
52. T. A. Carver in H. W. Greenway (ed.), Power Age, pp. 4fF.
53. Statuto delle AdD in Italia, pp. iof.
54. AoG, Australia, You Have Accepted Christ, p. 10.
55. Cf. 02a.02.007a, n. 101.
56. W. Scopes, Christian Ministry, p. 70.
57. I. Mosqueda, Voice of Healing, March 1962, pp. 9, 11, 14.
58. Full Gospel Men}s Voice 7/2, March 1959, pp. igfF.
494 Belief and Practice
59. M. Arganbright, quoted from Geschaftsmann und Christ 5/2, Nov. 1964, pp. 2of.
60. Chile (02b.05.039), Brazil (above, ch. 8.4, pp. ioyfF.), Italy (above, ch. 19.3, pp.
26ofF.), Russia (above, ch. 20, pp. 262fF.), Hungary (05.33.007), Poland (05.23.006c) and
E. Czajko in Hollenweger (ed.), Pfingstkirchen, pp. 91-5), Rumania (05.15.002 and
T. Sandru in Hollenweger (ed.), op. cit., pp. 82-90), Yugoslavia (05.16.002).
61. D. Gee, P 14, 1950, p. 17. Cf. also Joanyr de Oliveira, 'Nem comunismo, nem
comodismo', Mensageiro da Paz 39/19, 15.10.1969, p. 2; above, ch. 6.2, pp. 796.
62. D. Gee, Study Hour 9, 1950, p. 167.
63. G. H. Wallien, Vuur 13/6, June 1969, p. 6.
64. Bo Wirmark, 'Politik in der schwedischen Pfingstbewegung' in W. J. Hollenweger
(ed.), Die Pfingstkirchen, pp. 256-61.
65. Cf. above, ch. 8.3(b), p. 102.
66. Philip Gaglardi (02a.01.013a, ff).
67. Musa Amalemba (01.17.013a).
68. Depending on whether one counts the ChoG in Christ (02a.02.075 and Black
Pentecostal Concept Special Issue No. 30, June 1970, Geneva, WCC; the latter gives
exact statistics, sources and bibliography) having one or three million members, and
whether one is prepared to accept the statistics of the House of Prayer For All People
(02a.02.097).
69. E.g. H. D. Daughtry of the House of the Lord (Black Pentecostal Concept,
pp. 57fF.).
70. E.g., ChoG in Christ (02a.02.075, Black Pentecostal Concept, pp. 26ff.), Pentecos-
tal Assemblies of the World (02a.02.139, Black Pentecostal Concept, pp. 59fF.).
71. Bishop F. D. Washington of the Church of God in Christ (in J. O. Patterson
(ed.), Holy Convocation ChoG in Christ, 1969, and Black Pentecostal Concept, pp. 29fF.).
72. ChoGE 53/24, 19.8.1963, p. 23.
73. AoG, Our Mission in Today's World, p. 85.
74. George Dugan, 'Mass Evangelism Called of no Relevancy to Blacks', New York
Times, 5.4.1970.
75. R. O. Cunningham, PE 2840, 13.10.1968, p. 5.
76. AoG, Our Misson in Today's World, p. 133.
77. D. Gee, P 68, 1964, p. 17.
78. 01.01.006; 05.28.009d.
79. 01.12.020b; cf. above, ch. 3.2(d), p. 38.
80. 02b.08.058; C. Lalive d'Epinay, Haven for the Masses, p. 143.
81. In a shortened form Weber's hypothesis is: Since North America and Europe
owe their riches to the impulses of the Reformation, and the adoption of the Reforma-
tion automatically leads to industrialization and capital formation, the first task of
Christians in Latin America is to penetrate Latin American society with the ideas of the
Reformation.
82. Karl Marx, ed. S. Landshut, Friihschriften, p. 208; ET, A Contribution to the
Critique ofHegeVs 'Philosophy ofRighf, p. 131. C. Lalive d'Epinay, op. cit., p. 35.
83. This is a summary of Lalive d'Epinay's criticism of Weber's hypothesis (d'Epinay,
op. cit., pp. i47ff.).
84. Frankfurter Zeitung, 22.10.1907; quoted in Zeitschrift fur Religionspsychologie 1,
1907, P- 439-
85. Quoted by B. R. Wilson, Sects, p. 87.
86. H. Horton, Gifts, 6th ed., i960, p. 226. Cf. also below, ch. 31.4(b) on Wiggles-
worth, p. 478.
87. Cf. above, ch. 15.2(c), pp. 21 iff.
88. H. Horton, Preaching and Homiletics, pp. ii4fF.
89. D. Gee, P Testimony 38/8, Aug. 1957, p. 8.
A Sociological Assessment 495
90. E. Chavez, letter to W.H., 23.1.1963.
91. D. E. Walker, A Survey ofNez Perce Religion.
92. H. D. Honsinger, P Testimony, March 1963, p. 32.
93- 05.23.006; 05.23.002; 02a.02.004a, n. 52; Akademia Teologiczna, Warsaw,
D. L. Moody jako ewangelista na tie zycia religijno-koscielnego w Stanach Zjednoczonych
AP (1962 ace. to J. Mrozek Jr., etc. (edd.), Kalendarz 1963, p. 180).
94. On Lidman, cf. W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Die Pfingstkirchen, pp. 337-9.
95. Examples: P Assemblies of Canada (o2a.oi.oi3a,ee). Biographies in02a.02.110a,
cc (PHCh), AoG (above, ch. 3.2^), pp. 37ff.), Oral Roberts University (above, ch.
25.2W, pp. 3636.)-
96. J. E. Campbell, PHCh, pp. 122, 132.
97. W. H. Urch, Spiritual Gifts, pp. i7f; Der Leuchter 13/2, Feb. 1962, p. 5.
98. R. Willenegger, VdV 53/11, Nov. i960, p. 1.
99. Shaman is not a pejorative term. Shamans are not neuropaths, as Eliade {Myths,
p. 77), Nadel ('A Study of Shamanism', p. 478), Jennings (Journal of the American
Scientific Association, March 1968, pp. 5-16) have amply demonstrated.
100. 06.002.001. This gap has now been filled by Lalive d'Epinay's study of Chile.
101. The first percentage is based on the total numbers, including the high figure
(38%) of those whose profession was not known. The second percentage is more useful
for comparison, because it is a percentage only of the number of pastors whose profes-
sion before they became Pentecostal pastors is known.
102. Table 3a; 06.002, p. 88.
103. Because of the very high proportion of 'unknown' in the column 'Father's
profession', it seemed better not to give a percentage of the whole sample, but only of
those whose profession was known.
104. The first generation is formed from pastors who begin their ministry as pastors
during the first ten years of a denomination. The second generation is those who become
pastors from the eleventh to the thirty-fifth year of a denomination. The third generation
consists of those who become pastors in a denomination which is more than thirty-five
years old.
105. For an attempted interpretation see PGG, pp. 2716.
106. P. R. Ruff (08.218).
107. A. J. Tomlinson (08.482), C. Parham (08.088), Vaino Pfaler (08.126), R. Fauvel
(07.433), R. Bracco (07.178), A. and S. Larsen Bjorner (07.141, 07.142), S. H. Frods-
ham (07.476), W. H. Durham (07.382), W. J. Seymour (08.284).
108. S. Jeffreys (07.702).
109. J. Paul (08.097), A. Hitzer (07.463).
n o . B. R. Wilson, Sects, pp. 156.; cf. above ch. 14.3, pp 3026. Example in the
AoG: K. E. M. Clark, Redemption Tidings 45/43, 23.10.1969, p. n ; above, ch. 15.3,
pp. 213ft0. and passim. For a summary of the social origin of Pentecostal pastors, cf.
P- 475-
i n . Sources: 08.606.001.
112. Frodsham, Smith Wigglesworth, p. 2.
113. Ibid., pp. 81, 83, 84.
114. Ibid., p. 91. A similar example: Oral Roberts (above, ch. 25.2(b), pp. 3636.
115. A. Endersen, Frelst i havn, p. n .
116. Ibid., p. 68; sources: 07.411.
117. M. Bjerre, Jegfik det i tilgift (07.139).
118. D. E. Curry, Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs 12/3, July
1970, pp. 4i6ff.
119. A. B. Reuss (08.184), C. Polhill (08.146).
120. J. Paul (08.009).
496 Belief and Practice
121. P. Mabilitsa (07.883), I. B. Akinyele (07.011).
122. P. Mink (07.955).
123. Cf. PGG, pp. 276fF.
124. L. Eisenloffel, Ein Feuer, pp. 34ff. (08.634).
125. P. van Woerden, Weg mit Jesus, p. 28 (08.637).
126. Works and biography: 07.851.
127. A. Larsen Bjorner, Teater og Tempel (07.141).
128. In order not to overload this section with notes, I would make a general refer-
ence to 06.002.003, where the references for all the examples (mostly in autobiographies)
are given.
129. L. P. Gerlach and V. J. Hine, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 7/1,
Spring 1968, pp. 23fF. cf. also their important comparison between Black Power and
Pentecostalism, People, Power, Change.
130. Cf. above ch. 24.4, pp. 33off.
131. C. Parham, T. L. Osborn.
132. E.g. T. Hicks (07.624.001); Louise Nankivell (08.014.001).
133. Cf. above ch. 28.4, 5, pp. 4oiff.
134. Cf. above ch. 25.2(b), pp. 363fF.
135. This also explains the violence with which all ecumenical contacts are rejected
by Pentecostal churches, but shows how important such contacts are. Nothing shakes
tribal religion more than the realization that real Christians also exist in other tribes.
136. Above, ch. 11.2(a), p. 142.
137. Above, ch. 134(c), pp. 191 ff.
138. Above, ch. 4.2, p. 50.
139. Cf. above, ch. 27.3, pp. 395fF.
140. Above, ch. 21.3, pp. 299^.
141. R. Bracco, Veritd, p. 47 (above, ch. 19.1(0), p. 253). Examples: Lexie Allen
(07.020); Bertha Augstburger (07.067).
142. ChoGE 51/2, 14.3.i960, p. 3; cf. also M. Ray, ChoGE 51/44, 16.1.1961, p. 4.
143. E.g. M. A. Alt (07.023); E. A. G. Wilson (08.630).
144. E.g. Paula Gasser (07.492).
145. E. Clark, Small Sects, p. 116.
146. Life 17, 20.10.1944, pp. 85-9: A. S. MacPherson.
147. International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (02a.02.124).
148. N. B. Mavity, Sister Aimee, p. xx; this outstanding analysis is discussed at length
in 07.932.001.
149. Literature and biography, 08.191.
150. Cf. above, ch. 11.1, p. i4off.
151. Cf. above, ch. 1.1(a), p. 5. Other examples of leading women, L. Wreschner,
Ph.D. (08.645); Louise Nankivell (08.914); M. B. Woodworth-Etter (08.642).
152. L. P. Gerlach and V. H. Hine, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 7/1,
Spring 1968, pp. 23ff.; E. O'Connor, Pentecost in the Catholic Church', The Pentecostal
Movement in the Catholic Church.
153. N. L. Gerrard (see bibliography).
154. WCC, Drafts for Sections, pp. 3of., 44f.
32
Practice as a Theological Statement:
A Theological Assessment
i. A Summary of Research
ATHOUGHUI recent years the Pentecostal movement has caused concern to the
churches of every continent, and extensive literature has been produced about
it and by it, there is still no systematic summary of these publications.1 This is
evident to anyone who consults the scrappy bibliographical details of the
Pentecostal movement given in standard scholarly works and lexicons. There
seems to be a need, therefore, for a systematic summary of this literature. My
Handbuch der Pfingstbewegung (Handbook of the Pentecostal Movement)
contains some of the preliminary work for this.
In it Hist:
approximately 4,700 titles of accounts written by Pentecostals themselves
(1,673 authors)
approximately 1,100 titles of accounts of the Pentecostal movement written
by others (763 authors)
approximately 1,100 accounts of the Holiness movement by those who
belong to it and by outsiders (1,004 authors)
400 short biographies of Pentecostal pastors.
In two research papers2 I have published a comprehensive summary of this
literature.
These papers, and in particular the state of the sources for the early history
of the movement which is complicated, but not inaccessible to a systematic
study, cannot be summarized here. Nevertheless we shall list here the most
important scholarly works on the Pentecostal movement.
NOTES
1. A bibliography is being prepared by Ray T. Geiger, 141 Inman Drive, Decatur,
Georgia 30030.
2. W. J. Hollenweger, Una Sancta, June 1970, pp. isoff.; 'Ein Forschungsbe-
richt' in Die Pfingstkircheny pp. 307ff.
3. C. Conn, Like a Mighty Army; Where the Saints have Trod.
4. M. G. Hoover, Origin and Structural Development of the AoG.
5. Synan is secretary of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, founded in 1970.
6. K. Kendrick, The Promise Fulfilled.
7. G.-H. Paul, The Religious Frontier in Oklahoma.
8. S. DurasofF, AUCECB, printed as Russian Protestants.
9. A. Sundstedt, Pingstvackelsen.
10. E. Strand, E. Strom, M. Ski, Fram til urkristendommen.
11. I. J. Harrison, A History of the AoG; G. F. Bruland, The Origin and Development
of the Open Bible Churches in Iowa.
12. K. Ecke, Schwenckfeld; Der Durchbruch des Urchristentums; Pfingstbewegung;
Sektierer oder wertvolle Bruder? K. Ecke and O. von Bibra, Der reformierende Protestan-
tismus; Die Reformation in neuer Sicht.
13. R. F. Edel, Heinrich Thiersch.
14. L. M. Vivier-van Eetveldt, Glossolalia; 'The Glossolalic and His Personality' in
T. Sporri (ed.), Beitrdge zur Ekstase, pp. i53fF.
15. Akademie Teologiczna, Warsaw, D. L. Moody.
16. C. Glardon, Les dons spirituels; Pierre Fuegg, Le bapteme du Saint Esprit;
R. C. Dalton, Tongues; O. S. von Bibra, Die Bevollmdchtigten; L. Dalliere, D*aplomb
sur la parole de Dieu; H. Thulin, En prdst vaknar; Kring kyrkan och pingstvackelsen;
Pingstrorelsen.
17. P. Gericke, Christliche Vollkommenheit; A. Bittlinger, Gifts and Graces (see also
bibliography); J. Paul, Die Taufe in ihrem Vollsinn; Ihr werdet die Kraft des Heiligen
Geistes empfangen; E. Giese, Jonathan Paul.
18. J. B. A. Kessler, Older Protestant Missions and Churches in Peru and Chile.
19. F. D. Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit; E. Briem, Den moderna pingstrorel-
sen; 'Den evangeliska kyrkan och de nutida vackelserorelserna' (and also various articles
by the same author in Svensk Uppslagsbok); E. Linderholm, Pingstrorelsen (3 vols.);
E. Giese, J. Paul; W. Metzger, Fuldaer Hefte 15 (1964), pp. 46fF.; W. Schmidt, Die
Pfingstbewegung in Finnland; K. Hutten, Seher, Griibler, Enthusiasten; N.Bloch-Hoell,
Pentecostal Movement; P. Fleisch, Die Pfingstbewegung in Deutschland.
20. O. Eggenberger, Evangelischer Glaube und Pfingstbewegung; M. Miegge, Arch, de
soc. des religions 4/8, July-Dec. 1959, pp. 8iff.; G. Peyrot, Religious Intolerance in Italy;
La circolare Bujfarini-Guidi e i Pentecostali.
21. E. T. Clark, Small Sects.
22. E. Krajewski, Geistesgaben; F. Stagg, E. G. Hinson, W. E. Oates, Glossolalia;
A. Hermansson, Svenska Missionstidskrift 53, 1965, pp. 2oofF.; 54, 1966, pp. i37n\
23. M. Harper, As at the Beginning; various articles in The Living Church.
24. L. Newbigin, The Household of God.
25. A. C. Jemolo, Per la pace religiosa d*Italia; H.-C. Chery, Offensive des Sectes;
I. Vergara, El protestantismo en Chile; A. Gaete, 'Un cas d'adaptation'; P. Damboriena,
Mensaje (Santiago de Chile) 6/59, June 1957, pp. i45fF.; Arbor (Madrid), 50/192, Dec.
1961, pp. 60 ff.; Tongues as of Fire; L. Zenetti, Heisse (W)Eisen, pp. 304fF. For American
literature cf. above, ch. i.i(i), pp. 8fF.
Sio Belief and Practice
26. Ben Gurion, Sixth World Pentecostal Conference pp. xvii-xviii; Ish-Shalom, ibid.,
pp. if.; A. Gilbert, Christian Century 78, p. 1961, pp. 794ff.
27. V. D. Bonch-Bruevich, 'K sektantem', Rassvet (Geneva), 1904/1; Iz mira
sektantov; Izbrannie Sochineniya; A. Dolotov, Tserkotfi sektantsvo v Sibiri; F. I.
Garkavenko, Chto takoe religioznoe sektantsvo; A. Iartsev, Sekta evangel'skikh khristian;
V. M. Kalugin, Sovremennoe religioznoe sektantstvo; S. I. Kovalev, Sputnik ateista;
A. P. Kurantov (ed.), Znanie i vera v boga; G. M. Livshits, Religiya i tserkov; E. V.
Mayat and N. N. Uzkov, iBrafyay i 'sestry' vo Khristi; V. A. Metsentsev (ed.), My
porvali s religiey.
28. K. L. Schmidt, Der Rahmen der Geschichte Jesus, Berlin, 1919.
29. R. Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, ET of 3rd ed., Oxford:
Blackwell, 1963.
30. L. Newbigin, The Household of God.
31. Cf. the literature above, ch. 30.2, pp. 432ff.
32. E. Benz. Der Heilige Geist in Amerika; H. Meyer, Die Pfingstbewegung in Brasilien.
33. H. W. Turner, History of an African Independent Church (2 vols.); Profile
Through Preaching.
34. Above, ch. i.i(i), pp. 8ff., esp. the works by K. McDonnell.
35. A. M. de Monleon, Vers VUnite Chretienne 23/9 (227), Oct.-Nov. 1970, pp.8iff.
36. V. E. W. Hayward (ed.), African Independent Church Movements; T h e Pente-
costal Movement in Europe', Ecumenical Review 19/1, Jan. 1967, pp. 37fF.
37. K. Hutten, MD 32/17, 1.9.1969, pp. 202fF.
38. Hermann Schopwinkel, Enthusiastisches Christentum.
39. Jakob Zopfi, Wort und Geist, 2/2, Feb. 1970, pp. 7fF.; 2/3, March 1970, pp. I5f.;
2/4, April 1970, pp. i3ff.; 2/5, May 1970, pp. isfF.; 2/8, Aug. 1970, pp. 6ff.; 2/9,
Sept. 1970, pp. 1 iff.; 3/2, Feb. 1971, p. 23; cf. W. J. Hollenweger, Heilszeugnisse.
40. Christian Krust, Heilszeugnisse 54/9, 1.9.1969, pp. i32ff., 139.
41. Ludwig Eisenloffel, Der Leuchter 20/9, Sept. 1969, pp. iof.; and Leuchter
Verlag's list of publications.
42. Leonhard Steiner, 'Ein kritisches Nachwort', in PGG, pp. 577ff.; Wort und Geist
1/8, Aug. 1969, p. 15; Urchristliche Botschaft 6/1969, June 1969, p 94.
43. Above, n. 40.
44. E. Czajiko, Chrzescijanin (Warsaw) 1970/2, pp. 11 IF.; Jednota (Warsaw), Miesie-
eznik Religijno-Spoleczny; Powwicony polkiemu ewangeliczymowi i ekumenii 14 (28V3,
1970, pp. i3f.; Berliner Pressespiegel, 15.5.1970; Henryk Turnowski (pseudonym),
Wiz 13/2 (142), pp. i2off.
45. Alvar Lindskog, Dagen (Stockholm), 30.12.1969, p. 4; Goran Janzen, Dagen,
19.2.1970, pp. 1, 15.
46. Der Bund (Berne), 7.11.1969; Otto Brekke, Vart Land (Oslo) 25/215, 17.9.1969,
p. 6; Aldo Comba, Nuovi Tempi (Rome) 4/23,7.6.1970, p. 80; Christa G$b\zv,Ziirichsee-
Zeitung, 12.6.1970; Helmut Haug, 'Die Briicke zur Welt', Sunday Supplement to the
StuttgarterZeitung i n , 16.5.1970, p. 49; Andreas Lindt,Reformatio (Berne) 20/2, Feb.
1971, pp. i27f.; Josef Lundaahl, Svenska Dagbladet, 11.9.1969; Rodolfo Oberrmiller,
Freie Presse (Buenos Aires), 17.10.1969; Rudolf Renfer, Le Christianisme au XXe Siecle,
19.11.1970, p. 11; N. H. Soe, Kristeligt Dagblad (Kopenhagen) 74/118, 18.2.1950;
Erland Sundstrdm, Tro och liv. Tidskrift for Kristen och Forkunnelse, 1969/5, pp. 2o6ff.;
L. Szabo, Protestantismo 18/1971,pp. 2o6ff.; Tagesanzeiger (Zurich; weekly issue for cir-
culation abroad), 1.11.1969; Die Tat (Zurich), 20.12.1969; Seppo A. Teinonen,
Teloiginen Aikakausi-Kirja (Helsinki) 15/3, 1970, pp. 207ff.; Hedi Vaccaro, UEco delle
valli Valdesi (Torre Pellice) 107/31-32, 7.8.1970, p. 3.
47. J. H. Yoder, Ecumenical Review 23/1, Jan. 1971, pp. 74-6.
48. Johannes Althausen, Die Zeichen der Zeit (Berlin, DDR), 1970, pp. 29off.
A Theological Assessment 5"
49. K. Kupisch, Christ und Welt, 10.10.1969, p. 45.
50. Marie-Louise Martin, Kirchenblatt fur die reformierte Schweiz (Basel), 5.2.1970,
P. 43-
51. Evangelisches Schulblatt, Dec. 1969.
52. Hellmut Gollwitzer, Evangelische Theologie 29/11, Nov. 1969, pp. 6i9f.
53. Z. K. Zeman, Canadian Journal of Theology 16/3-4, I97? PP- 26iff.
54. Gisela Gorzewski, Study Encounter 6/3, 1970, pp. i56fF.
55. Martin Conway, Theology 62, Dec. 1969, pp. 563^
56. S. v. Kortzfleisch, Christ und Welt, 10.10.1969, p. 45.
57. Ephemerides Theologieae Lovanienses 1969/3, p. 531; B. Holtz, Neue Zeitschrift fur
Missionswissenschaft (Switzerland) 26/1, 1970, pp. 701*.; Schweiz. Kirchenzeitung, 1970,
P-39-
58. J. Sudbrack, Geist und Leben 43/5, Nov. 1970, pp. 369ff. (both quotations from
p. 386). For another Roman Catholic evaluation see K. McDonnell in his valuable
review of recent literature on Pentecostalism in Worship 45/4, April 1971, pp. 215-19.
59. Josef Pieper, In Tune With the World: A Theory of Festivity.
60. Hugo Rahner, Man at Play.
61. J. Sudbrack, op. cit., pp. 386f.
62. The ecclesiological and doctrinal consequences which would result from this
situation are discussed in W. J. Hollenweger, Concilium 6/7, June 1971, pp. n6fF.;
and in F. Hasselhoff and H. Kriiger, Okumene, pp. 22ofF. (ET, W. J. Hollenweger,
Theology: the World's Agenda.)
63. E. Kasemann, New Testament Questions, p. 257; cf. also A. M. Ritter and G.
Leich, Wer ist die Kirche?, p. 21. (English summary, W. J. Hollenweger, IRM 60/237,
Jan. 1971, pp. 139-41-)
64. G. Harbsmeier, Evangelische Theologie 10, 1950/51, pp. 366f., 352.
65. J. Sudbrack comments: Hollenweger's 'attempt to redefine the concept of a
"sect" (above, p. 504), should give Catholic readers food for thought.' But he remarks:
'However welcome the suggestion is that the term "sect" should not be applied to the
Pentecostal movement, I am not convinced by the assertion that only "insignificant
exceptions" amongst Pentecostal groups adopt sectarian attitudes. The accounts given
in the text of the book (cf. the quotation from Doctorian above, ch. 29.1, p. 414).. . tell
another tale.' J. Sudbrack, Geist und Leben 43/5, Nov. 1970, p. 382.
66. J. E. Campbell, PHCh, p. 121.
67. E. S. Williams, PE 2536, 16.12.1962, p. 11.
68. E. Schweizer, Neotestamentica, p. 355.
69. WCC, The Church for Others.
70. Ibid.
71. Schweizer Concept Suisse V (Sept. 1966); Concept, Special Issue 23 and 24 (July
and Nov. 1969) (all WCC, Geneva).
72. Study Encounter 3/2, 1967, pp. 84-108.
73. Thomas Wieser (ed.), Planning for Mission.
74. W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Kirche, Benzin und Bohnensuppe. Auf den Spuren
dynamiseher Gemeinden (ET in preparation).
75. W. J. Hollenweger, Theologie in der Tagesordnung der Welt (ET in preparation).
w
APPENDIX
Declarations of Faith
Text in Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Sept. 1906, photocopied in R. Crayne, Early 20th
Century Pentecost, pp. 51-2; cf. ch. 2.3, pp. 22fF.
5H Appendix: Declarations of Faith
2. Assemblies of God
Here the declaration of faith of the Assemblies of God, USA (ch. 3, pp. 29fF.), is quoted.
In the notes examples are given of the variations found in a number of declarations
of faith based on the document of the Assemblies of God.
5. Baptism in Water
The ordinance of Baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded
in the Scriptures, by all who have really repented and in their hearts have truly believed
on Christ as Saviour and Lord. In so doing, they have the body washed in pure water
as an outward symbol of cleansing, while their heart has already been sprinkled with
the blood of Christ as an inner cleansing. Thus they declare to the world that they have
Appendix: Declarations of Faith 515
died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of
life (Matt. 28.19; Acts 10.47-8; Rom. 6.4; Acts 20.21; Heb. 10.22).
9. Entire Sanctification
The Scriptures teach a life of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command, 'Be ye holy, for I am
holy'. Entire sanctification is the will of God for all believers, and should be earnestly
pursued by walking in obedience to God's Word (Heb. 12.14; I Peter 1.15-16; I Thess.
5.23-4; I John 2.6).
Text in: United Evangelical Action 13.1.1955 and 15.1.1955, p. 10; also quoted in
K. Kendrick, Promise', pp. 204-5.
Text always printed on the cover of the Church of God Evangel (cf. ch. 5, pp. 476.)
Text in Back to God, 1958, pp. 1, 2, 6, 9; cf. ch. 10, pp. i26ff.
Text in H. W. Greenway, Labourers with God, pp. 3of.; cf. ch. 14, pp. 197ft0.
520 Appendix: Declarations of Faith
8. Declaration of Faith of the British Assemblies of God
We believe
in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, the infallible and all-sufficient rule for
faith, practice and conduct;
in the unity of the true and living God revealed in three persons: Father, Son and
Holy Spirit;
in the fall of man;
in salvation through faith in Christ;
in baptism by immersion in water;
in the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking with other
tongues;
in holiness of life and conduct;
in the deliverance from sickness by divine healing;
in the breaking of bread;
in the pre-millennial second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ;
in everlasting punishment, the portion of all who are not written in the book of life;
in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the offices set by God in the Church as recorded in
the New Testament.
Text always printed in Redemption Tidings. A longer version of this declaration of faith
has been published in AoG (Great Britain and Ireland), IQ62-IQ6J Year Book, pp. jf.
Cf. ch. 15, pp. 2o6ff.
1. Noi crediamo ed accetiamo Pintera Bibbia, come infallibile parola di Dio ispirata
dallo Spirito Santo, sola e perfetta regola della nostra fede e condotta, alia quale nulla
si pud aggiungere o togliere.
2. Noi crediamo che vi e un solo Dio, Eterno e d'infinita potenza, Creatore di tutte
le cose e che nelPunita di esso vi sono le tre distinte persone: Padre, Figliolo, Spirito
Santo.
3. Noi crediamo che il Figliol di Dio e la Parola fatta carne. Egli assunse l'umana
natura in seno di Maria Vergine. Quale vero Dio e vero Uomo, porto in Se stesso due
nature. Egli e Punico Salvatore, il Quale realmente soffri la morte per la colpa primitiva
e per i peccati attuali delPuomo.
4. Noi crediamo che la rigenerazione si riceve soltanto per la fede in Cristo.
5. Noi crediamo che il battesimo dell'acqua deve essere somministrato per immer-
sione nel Nome del Padre, del Figliolo e dello Spirito Santo.
6. Noi crediamo al battesimo dello Spirito Santo, come ad una potente virtu divina
che penetra nelPuomo dopo la salvezza e si manifesta visibilmente con il segno scrit-
turale del parlare nuove lingue.10
7. Noi crediamo che la Santa Cena simboleggia il sacrificio del Figliol di Dio e che
chi la partecipa rammemora in essa la Sua morte e la manifestazione del Suo amore.
8. Noi crediamo che e necessario astenersi dalle cose sacrificate agli idoli, dal sangue,
dalle cose soffocate e dalla fornicazione, in ossequio a quanto decretato dallo Spirito
Santo nel primo Concilio di Gerusalemme.11
Appendix: Declarations of Faith 52i
9. Noi crediamo alia guarigione divina secondo le 'Sacre Scritture': per la preghiera,
per la somministrazione delPUnzione delPolio; per l'imposizione delle mani.
10. Noi crediamo che il Signore stesso ritornera dal cielo e che la risurrezione cor-
porate di tutti i morti awera e a ciscuno sara dato in ragione delle proprie opere.12
Text in Risveglio Pentecostale 8/11, Nov. 1953, p. 2; cf. above ch. 19, p. 25iff.
NOTES
Dalliere, Louis, B*aplomb sur la parole de Dieu. Courte etude sur le Reveil de
Pentecote. Valence: Imprimerie Charpin et Reyne, 1932, 54 pp.
Dallmeyer, Heinrich, Die Zungenbewegung. Ein Beitrag zu ihrer Geschichte
Bibliography 531
und eine Kennzeichnung ihres Geistes. Lindhorst (Schaumburg-Lippe) and
Hanover: Buchhandlung der Landeskirchlichen Gemeinschaft, 1924,144 pp.;
Langenthal, Switzerland; 2nd ed. n.d., 143 pp.
See also B. Kiihn.
Dalton, Robert Chandler, Glossolalia (unpubl. B.D. thesis, Eastern Baptist
Theol. Seminary, 1940, preparatory work for Tongues Like as of Fire)
Tongues Like as of Fire. A critical study of modern tongue movements in the
light of apostolic and patristic times. Springfield, Mo.: GPH, 1945, 127 pp.
Damboriena, Prudencio, Tongues As of Fire. Penlecostalism in Contemporary
Christianity. Washington and Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969, 256 pp.
Davies, Horton, Christian Deviations. The Challenge of the Sects. London:
SCM Press, ^1954, ^1955, ^1956, ^1957, enlarged 1961 (pp. 83-98 on
Pentecostals)
Davies, J. Hywel, The Renewal of the Church from a Pentecostal Viewpoint (dupl.
Geneva: WCC, SE 66:32, 1966)
Davis, J. Merle, How the Church Grows in Brazil. A study of the economic
and social basis of the Evangelical Church in Brazil. London: IMC, 1943,
167 pp.
Day, Richard Ellsworth, Bush Aglow. Philadelphia: Judson Press, ^1936
Dewar, Lindsay, The Holy Spirit and Modern Thought. An inquiry into the
historical, theological, and psychological aspects of the Christian doctrine of the
Holy Spirit. New York: Harper, 1959, 224 pp.
Diener, W., Medio Siglo de Testimonio para Cristo. Temuco, Chile: Imprenta
y Editorial Alianza, # n.d.
Dolotov, A., Tserkov* i sektantstvo v Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Sibkraiizdat, ^1930
Donaldson, Franklin, The Sister Buck Memorial Hospital Project in Spiritual
Healing, 1966-196/, 15 pp., n.d. (paper of the Christian Medical Commission,
WCC, Geneva)
Douglas, W. M., Andrew Murray and his Message. London and Edinburgh:
Oliphants, 1926
Drollinger, Christian, Offener Brief auf die Erklarung des Herrn Methodisten-
predigers Wdhrer aus Signau, vom 28. Oktober 1937, in betreff der neuen
Versammlung in Signau und anderwarts, n.p. (Signau, Switzerland), n.d.
(i937)> 23 pp.
Dubb, A. A., The Role of the Church in an Urban African Society. Rhodes
University, ^1962 (unpublished thesis)
Dumas, Andre, Ideologia efe. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo e Presenca, ^1968
Duncan, Mildred H., A Revelation of End-Time Babylon. A Verse by Verse
Exposition ofthe Book of Revelation. Edgemont, South Dakota: M. H. Duncan,
1950, 286 pp.
Dunn, James D. G., Baptism in the Holy Spirit. A Re-examination of the
New Testament Teaching on the Gift of the Spirit in relation to Pentecostalism
today. (Studies in Biblical Theology II/15.) London: SCM Press, 1970,
248 pp.
Durasoff, Steve, The All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in
the Soviet Union: 1944-1964. (Diss., University of New York, 1967, 347 pp.,
manuscript) (cited as AUCECB)
532 Bibliography
DurasofF, Steve, 'Sowjetunion' in: W. J. Hollenweger (ed.), Pfingstkirchen, pp.
50-60
The Russian Protestants. Evangelicals in the Soviet Union, ig^-iqbq.
Cranberry, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickenson UP, ^1971
Dye, M. L., The Murderous Communist Conspiracy. Satarfs End-Time Program,
New Baltimore, Mich.: Anchor Bay Evangelistic Association Inc., n.d., 27 pp.
Jager, P. C. de, Vingerwysings na die Koms van Christus en van die Antichris.
'n Samevatting van die Tekens van die Tyd sowel as van die rampe wat die
gersgestelde mensdom inwag. Benoni, South Africa: Latter Rain Assemblies,
1962, 113 pp.; ET, Signposts Pointing to the Coming of Christ and of the
Antichrist, Benoni, South Africa: Latter Rain Assemblies, P.O.B. 415, 1963,
92pp.; German: DieZeichender Wiederkunft Jesu, Beilstein, KreisHeilbronn:
Deutsche Spatregenmission, 1956, 32 pp.
Jeevaratnam, Lam, Concerning Demons. Questions and Answers, Guidvada
P.O., Kistma District, South India, ^1936; New York 2nd ed. ^1937, Gudi-
vada P.O., 3rd ed. 1937; Madras 4th ed. 1948, 63 pp.
Jeffreys, George. The Miraculous Foursquare Gospel - Supernatural, 2 vols.,
London: Elim Publ. Co., 1929/30
'The Gospel of the Miraculous', in: D. Gee. (ed.), The Phenomena of Pente-
cost, 1931, pp. 33-50
Healing Rays, London: Elim Publ. Co. ^1932; 2nd ed. ^1935; London and
Worthing: Henry E. Walter Ltd., 3rd ed. 1952, 121 pp.
Why I Resigned from the Elim Movement, London, *n.d.
Jemolo, Carlo Arturo, Per la pace religiosa a"Italia. Firenza: La Nuova Italia,
1944, 51 pp.
Jensen, Jerry (ed.), The Methodists and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Los
Angeles: FGBMFI, 1963, 32 pp.
(ed.), The Presbyterians and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles:
FGBMFI, 1963, 32 pp.
(ed.), The Baptists and the Baptism ofthe Holy Spirit. Los Angeles: FGBMFI,
1963* 3 2 PP-
(ed.), The Lutherans and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles:
FGBMFI, 1963, 32 pp.
r
Bibliography 541
(ed.), The Episcopalians and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles:
FGBMFI, 1964, 32 pp.
(ed.), Attorneys' Evidence on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles:
FGBMFI, 1965, 32 pp.
(ed.), Physicians Examine the Baptism in the Spirit. Los Angeles: FGBMFI,
1968, 32 pp.
(ed.) Charisma in the 20th Century Church. Los Angeles: FGBMFI, 1968,
32 pp.
(ed.) (?), The Catholics and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles:
FGBMFI, n.d., 32 pp. (contributions by Kevin Ranaghan, Bert Ghezzi,
Tom Noe, Mary Pat Bradely, Donald E. Knoop, Francis Schulgen, Marc
McCarty)
Jerusalem Bible. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966
Jesus Church, Assembly Report. General Views and Teachings of the Bible
and Church. Cleveland, Tenn.: The Jesus Church Publ. House, 1953,
49 PP.
Johnson, S. C , Who Is This That Defies and Challenges the Whole Religious
World On These Subjects? Philadelphia, ^1958
Juillerat, L. Howard, Brief History of the Church of God. Cleveland, Tenn.:
ChoG Publ. House, ^1922
Macleod, George F., The Place of Healing in the Ministry of the Church.
Glasgow: Iona Community Publ. Department, n.d., 13 pp.
Marcondes, J. V. Freitas, and Osmar Pimentel, S. Paulo, Espirito, Povo,
Instituifdes. S. Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1968
Martin, Marie-Louise, Critical Notes on W. J. Hollenweger's Dissertation.
Roma, Lesotho, 1964, 4 pp. (manuscript in German)
'Afrikanischer Messianismus und der Messias der biblischen Offenbarung',
in: Peter Beyerhaus (ed.), Weltmission heute 33/34, 1967, pp. 40-56
Kirche ohne Weisse. Basel: Reinhardt-Verlag, 1971
The Biblical Concept of Messianism and Messianism in Southern Africa.
Doctoral thesis presented to the Department of Theology of the University
of South Africa, Morija, Lesotho, 1964, 211 pp.
Marx, Karl, Die Friihschriften, ed. Siegfried Landshut. Stuttgart: Kroner
Taschenbuch 209,1953, 588 pp.; ET, A Contribution to the Critique ofHegeVs
'Philosophy ofRight\ ed. J. O'Malley. London: Cambridge UP, 1970.
Mavity, Nancy Barr, Sister Aimee. New York: Doubleday, 1931, 360 pp.
Mayat, E. V., and N. N. Uzkov, 'Bratyd! i 'sestrf vo Khriste. Moscow: Izd.
'Sovetskaia Rossiia', ^1960.
Mayer, Philip. Townsmen or Tribesmen. Conservatism and the Process of
Urbanization in a South African City. Cape Town: Oxford UP, 1963, 306 pp.
McPherson, Aimee Semple, This is That. Personal experiences, sermons and writ-
ings. Los Angeles, Calif.: Echo Park Evangelistic Assoc, 3rd ed. 1923,791 pp.
Bibliography ^c
Declaration of Faith, compiled by A. S. McPherson for the Int. Church of
the Foursquare Gospel, Los Angeles, n.d.
McWhirter J., The Bible and War, ^1940
Mead, Frank S., Handbook of Denominations in the United States. New York:
Abingdon Press, ^1951, 3rd ed., 1961, 272 pp.
Meister, J. (ed.), Bericht fiber den Kongress der Europaischen Baptisten, 26.
bis 31. Juli 1958 in Berlin. Kassel: Oncken-Verlag, 1959
Mendelsohn, Jack, The Forest Calls Back. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., *i965
Menzies, William W., Anointed to Serve. The Story of the Assemblies of God.
Springfield, Mo.: GPH, 1971, 436 pp.
Mesquita, A. N. de, Istoria dos Batistas no Brasil. S. Paulo, ^1940
Metsentsev, V. A. (ed.), Mporvali s religiei. Moscow: Voennoe izdats'stvo
ministerstva oborony SSSR, 1963
Meyer, Harding. 'Die Pfingstbewegung in Brasilien', Die evangelische
Diaspora. Jahrbuch des Gustav-Adolf-Vereins 39, 1968, pp. 9-50
Meyriat, Jean (ed.), La Calabria. Milan: Lerici, i960, 463 pp.
Mikkonen, Pekka, He huusivat suurella aanella. Porvoo, ^1919
Mink, Paul, Wird die Einheitskirche kommen? Hirzenhain, Oberhessen:
Maranatha-Mission, n.d. 8 pp.
Ich bin der Herr, dein Arztf Betrachtungen fiber die Heilung durch den
Glauben nach dem Wort Gottes. Hirzenhain, Oberhessen: Maranatha-Mission,
n.d., 48 pp.
Molenaar, D. G., De doop met de Heilige Geest. Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1963,
272 pp.
Moller, F. P., Die apostoliese leer. Johannesburg: EvangelieUitgewers, 1961,73 pp.
Moltmann, Jiirgen, Theologie der Hoffnung. Untersuchungen zur Begriindung
und zu den Konsequenzen einer christlichen Eschatologie. Miinchen:
Kaiser-Verlag, ^1964, 6th ed. 1966, 340 pp; ET, Theology of Hope. On the
Ground and the Implications of a Christian Eschatology. London: SCM
Press, 1967, 342 pp.
Moody, William R., The Life of Dwight L. Moody. New York: Revell, ^1900
Mosimann, Eddison, Das Zungenreden geschichtlich und psychologisch unter-
sucht. Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1911, 137 pp.
Moura, Abdalazis de, Importancia das Igrejas Pentecostais para a Igreja
Catdlica. Recife (duplicated typescript, de Moura, Rua Jirquiti 48, Boa
Vista), 1969, 44 pp.
Mrozek Josef jun., Edward Czajko, Mieczyslaw Kwiecien, Boleslaw Winnik
(edd.), Kalendarz jubileuszowi 1963. Warsaw: Zjednoczony Kosciol Ewange-
liczny, 1963, 334 pp.
Mummsen, R., Wittenberg und Wales! Erwiderung auf P. Glages Schrift:
Wittenberg oder Wales? Neumunster: IhlofF& Co., n.d. (ca. 1906), 64 pp.
Murray, Andrew, With Christ in the School of Prayer (1886). London:
Pickering and Inglis, 1957
The Spirit of Christ. Thoughts on the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the
Believer and the Church (1888). London and Edinburgh: Oliphants, 1963
The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer (1898). London and
Edinburgh: Oliphants, 1964
546 Bibliography
Murray, Andrew, The Key to the Missionary Problem, London: Nisbet, 1901
Divine Healing, London: Victory Press, 1934
The Full Blessing of Pentecost, The One Thing Needful (1895). London:
Revell, 1908; London: Elim Publ. Co., *n.d. (several reprints until 1970)
Nadel, S. F., 'A Study of Shamanism in the Nuba Mountains', in: William
A. Lessa and Evon Z. Vogt (edd.), Reader in Comparative Religion: An
Anthropological Approach, New York: Harper & Row, 1965, pp. 464-79
Das Neue Testament in der Sprache der Gegenwart, Neue Miilheimer Ausgabe
mit Anmerkungen und Worterverzeichnis, Miilheim/Ruhr, ^1914; Altdorf
bei Niirnberg, 7th ed. 1967
Neve, J. L., Churches and Sects of Christendom, Blais, Nebraska: Luth. Publ.
House, 1952, 509 pp.
New English Bible. London: Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, New
Testament, 1961, 2nd ed., 1970; Old Testament and Apocrypha, 1970
Newbigin, Lesslie. The Household of God. Lectures on the Nature of the Church,
London: SCM Press, 1953, 155 pp.
Nichol, John Thomas. Pentecostalism, New York: Harper & Row, 1966, 264 pp.
Niebuhr, H. Richard, The Social Sources of Denominationalism. New York:
Holt, 1929, 304 pp.
Rad, Gerhard von, Theologie des Alten Testaments, 2 vols. Miinchen: Kaiser,
1958/60; ET, Old Testament Theology. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962/65
Das erste Buch Mose (Das Alte Testament Deutsch). Gottingen: Vandenhoeck
& Ruprecht, 1961; ET, Genesis. London: SCM Press, 2nd ed. 1963
Rahner, Hugo, Der spielende Mensch. Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 3rd ed.,
1954; ET, Man at Play. London: Burns and Oates, 1965; New York: Herder,
1967, 105 pp.
Ranaghan, Kevin & Dorothy, Catholic Pentecostals. New York: Paulist Press,
1969, 266 pp.
(edd.), As the Spirit Leads Us. New York: Paulist Press, 1971, 250 pp.
Raum, O. F., 'Von Stammespropheten zu Sektenfiihrern', in Ernst Benz
(ed.), Messianische Kirchen, 1965, pp. 49-70
Read, William R., New Patterns of Church Growth in Brazil. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1965, 250 pp.
and Victor M. Monterroso and Harmon A. Johnson, Latin American Church
Growth. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1969, 421 pp.
Redemption Hymnal With Tunes. London: AoG Publ. House, 1958
Rees, Thomas, The Unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of the Persons therein
(Tenets of the Apostolic Church 1). Bradford: Puritan Press, 1954, 20 pp.
Reiser, Werner, Dieter Hanhart, Christian Gasser, Hans Wenger, Industrielle
Sonntagsarbeit. Zurich: Flamberg-Verlag, i960, 96 pp.
Reuber, Kurt, Mystik in der Gemeinschaftsfrbmmigkeit der Heiligungsbewegung.
Giitersloh, 1938
Ribeiro, Boanerges, 0 padre protest ante. Sao Paulo: Casa Editora Presbiteriana,
1950, 215 pp.
Rich, Arthur, Die Anfdnge der Theologie Huldrych Zwinglis. Zurich: Zwingli-
Verlag, 1949, 180 pp.
Pascals Bild vom Menschen. Zurich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1953, 214 pp.
Christliehe Existenz in der industriellen Welt. Zurich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1957,
enlarged 2nd ed 1964, 284 pp.
Glaube in politischer Entscheidung. Beitrage zur Ethik des Politischen. Zurich:
Zwingli-Verlag, 1962, 208 pp.
Die Weltlichkeit des Glaubens. Diakonie im Horizont der Sakularisierung.
Zurich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1966, 115 pp.
Riggs, Ralph Meredith, A Successful Sunday-School. Springfield, Mo.: GPH,
1934, 128 pp.
Ritter, Adolf Martin, and Gottfried Leich, Wer ist die Kirche ? Amt und Gemeinde
im Neuen Testament, in der Kirchengeschichte und heute. Gottingen: Vanden-
hoeck & Ruprecht, 1968, 303 pp.
Roberts, Evan, and Mrs Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, ^1912
Roberts, Oral, If You Need Healing, Do These Things. Tulsa, Okla.: Abundant
Life Publ., 1947, 2nd ed. 1948, 3rd ed. 1957, 124 pp.
God is a Good God. Believe It and Come Alive. New York: Bobbs-Merrill
Co., 1966, 188 pp.
550 Bibliography
Robertson, Archie, That Old-time Religion. Boston: Houghton Miffling, 1950
Robinson, Ch.E., The Adventures of Blacky the Wasp. Springfield: GPH,
1936
Rogers, Esther, Memoirs. Cincinnati, ^1848
Rossel, Jacques, Mission dans une societe dynamique. Geneva: Labor et Fides,
1967; ET, Mission in a Dynamic Society. London: SCM Press, 1968, 152 pp.
Rubanowitsch, Johannes. Das heutige Zungenreden. Neumiinster: Vereinsbuch-
handlung G. Ihloff, n.d., 120 pp.
Riippel, E. G., Die Gemeinschaftsbewegung im Dritten Reich. Ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte des Kirchenkampfes. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1969,
258 pp.
Rushbrook, J. H., The Baptist Movement In the Continent ofEurope. London:
Carey Press, Kingsgate Press, 1915, 150 pp.
Union des Eglises de Pentecote Belgique, Annuaire ig62. Fleurus, 38, rue des
Robots, 1962, 26 pp.
United Pentecostal Church, This is That. St Louis, Mo.: n.d.
Urch, Walter H., The Place ^/Spiritual Gifts in Pentecostal Churches. London:
Elim Publ. Co., 1955, 31 pp.
Walker, D. E., A Survey ofNez Perce Religion for the Research and Survey Staff
Institute of Strategic Studies and the Office of Indian Work. New York:
United Presbyterian Church, USA, 1966, 99 pp.
Waltke, W. A., 'Wer ist die Gemeinde Jesu Christi in Deutschland ? Was ist
ihre Lehre ? Welches ist ihr Ziel ?' Lebendiges Wasser, n.d., no number, no
pagination.
Ward, C. M., Dr Wernher von Braun: 'The Farther We Probe Into Space the
Greater My Faith . . .' Springfield, Mo.: AoG, 1966
Wasserzug-Traeder, Gertrud, Gottes Wort ist Gottes Wort. Bin Zeugnis zur
Inspiration der Bibel. Beatenberg (Switzerland): Bibelschule, n.d., 58 pp.
WCC, Evanston to New Delhi, 1%4-1961. Report of the Central Committee to
the Third Assembly of the WCC. Geneva: WCC, 1961
'Christian Witness, Proselytism, and Religious Liberty' (Central Committee,
Bibliography 555
St Andrews i960, Full Assembly New Delhi 1961), in: Lukas Vischer (ed.),
A Documentary History, 1963, pp. 183-96
'Statement on Religious Liberty', in W. A. Visser 't Hooft (ed.), New Delhi
Report, 1961, pp. 159-61
Central Committee ofthe WCC, Minutes and Reports of the Eighteenth Meeting,
Enugu, Eastern Nigeria, Africa, 12 to 21 January 1965. Geneva: WCC,
196S
The Church For Others and The Church For the World. A Quest For
Structures for the Missionary Congregations. Final Report of the Western
European Working Group and the North American Working Group of the
Department on Studies in Evangelism. Geneva: WCC, 1967, 133 pp. (also
in German, Spanish, and Portuguese)
Drafts For Sections, prepared for the Fourth Assembly of the WCC, Uppsala,
Sweden 1968. Geneva: WCC, 1968, 136 pp.
Webster, Douglas, Pentecostalism and Speaking With Tongues. London:
Highway Press, 1964, 47 pp.
Weman, Henry, African Music and the Church in Africa (Studia Missionalia
Upsaliensia 3). Uppsala: Svenska Institutet for Missionsforskning, i960,
296 pp.
Wesley, John, Plain Account of Christian Perfection, as believed and taught
by the Rev. Mr John Wesley, from the year 1725 to 1777, in: John Wesley,
Works, XI1872, pp. 366-446
'Thoughts on Christian Perfection', 1759, in: J. Wesley, Works, XI, 1872,
pp. 394-407
The Works of John Wesley. Grand Rapids, Mich., 14 vols, (photo-mechanical
reproduction of the authorized version of 1872)
Whyte, Frederic William, art. 'William Thomas Stead (1849-1912)', in: George
Smith (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, igi2-ig2i. London: Oxford
UP (1927), 1966, pp. $orjf.
Widmer, Johannes, Im Kampf gegen Satans Reich, 3 vols. I: 1938, 131 pp.
(published first under the title Mein Kampf gegen Satans Reich), 3rd ed. 1948,
119 pp.; II: ^1942, 2nd ed. 1949, 225 pp.; I l l : # i947, 2nd ed. 1952, 231 pp.
All three volumes: Bern: Gemeinde fur Urchristentum
Wieser, Thomas (ed.), Planning for Mission. Working Papers on the New Quest
For Missionary Communities. London: Epworth Press; New York, WCC,
1966, 230 pp. (This is an adaptation of H. J. Margull (ed.), Mission als Struk-
turprinzip. Ein Arbeitsbuch zur Frage missionarischer Gemeinden. Geneva:
WCC, 1965, 3rd ed. 1968)
Wildberger, Hans, Biblische Welt (text by Hans Wildberger, pictures by Michael
and Luzzi Wolgensinger). Zurich: Silva-Verlag, n.d., 120 pp.
Wilkerson, David R., and John and Elizabeth Sherrill, The Cross and the
Switchblade. New York: B. Geis Ass., distributed by Random House, 1963
(GPH edition), 217 pp.; Pyramid Publ. USA 1963, 174 pp.
Twelve Angels From Hell. Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1963,
152 pp.
Willems, Emilio, 'Religious Mass Movements and Social Change in Brazil',
in: E. N. Baklanoff (ed.), New Perspectives of Brazil, 1966, pp. 205-32
556 Bibliography
Willems, Emilio, Followers of the New Faith. Culture Change and Rise of
Protestantism in Brazil and Chile. Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt UP, 1967,
290 pp.
Williams, Colin, Where in the World? Changing Forms of the Church?s Witness.
New York: NCCC USA, 1963; London: Epworth, 1965, 116 pp.
What in the World? New York: NCCC USA, 1964; London: Epworth,
1965, 105 pp.
Faith in a Secular Age. London: Fontana Books, 1966
The Church (New Directions in Theology Today IV). Philadelphia: West-
minster, 1968
Williams, J. Rodman, The Era of the Spirit, including views on the Holy Spirit
held by four eminent theologians: Karl Barthy Emil Brunner, Paul Tillich and
Rudolf Bultmann. Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1971, 119 pp.
Wilson, Bryan R., Social Aspects of Religious Sects: A Study of Some Con-
temporary Groups in Great Britain. With Special Reference to a Midland City.
Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1955, 2 vols (manuscript)
Sects and Society: the Sociology of Three Religious Groups in Britain. London:
Heinemann, 1961. (A summary of the foregoing.)
'Apparition et persistance des sectes dans un milieu social en evolution',
Archives de Sociologie des Religions 5, Jan.-June 1958, pp. 140-50
'An Analysis of Sect Development', American Sociological Review 24/1,
Febr. 1959, pp. 3-15
'The Pentecostalist Minister: Role Conflicts and Status Contradictions',
American Journal of Sociology 64/5, March 1959, pp. 494-504
Typologie des sectes dans une perspective dynamique et comparative',
Archives de Sociologie des Religions 16, 1964, pp. 49-64
Wilson, Elizabeth A. Galley, Making Many Rich. Springfield, Mo.: GPH, 1955,
257 PP-
Winehouse, Irwin, The Assemblies of God. A Popular Survey. New York:
Vantage Press, 1959, 224 pp.
Woerden, Peter van. In the Secret Place. A Story of the Dutch Underground.
Wheaton, 111.: Van Kampen Press, 1954, 64 pp.
Mein Weg mit Jesus. Stuttgart: Christ! Verlagshaus GmbH, 1965,
176 pp.
Wovenu, Charles Kwabla Nutornutis, Adzogbedede na mawu. Tadzewu, Ghana:
Apostolic Revelation Society, 1963, 24 pp. ET, Vowing to God. Tadzewu,
Ghana: Apostolic Revelation Society, 1963, 24 pp.
Wumkes, G. A., De Pinksterbeweging voornamelijk in Nederland. Amsterdam:
G. R. Polman, 1917, 23 pp.
Wurmbrand, Richard, The Soviet Saints. London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1968, 189 pp.
Wyatt, Thomas, The Birth and Growth ofa World-Wide Ministry. Los Angeles;
Wings of Healing, n.d., 15 pp.
Bibliography 557
'O Pentecostismo e as Igrejas protestantes', in ASTE, 0 Esptrito Santo,
1966, pp. 68-70
Zenetti, Lothar, Heisse (W) Eisen. Jazz, Spirituals, Beatsongs, Schlager in der
Kirche. Munchen: J. PfeifFer, 1966, 328 pp.
i
INDEX
570 Index
Sicard, H. von, 164,1731*. Stroter, Ernst F., 225, 229
Simon, Friedrich, 223?., 229 Stube, E. B., 17,19
Simon, G., 286 Stucki, Alfred, 113, I22f.
Simpfenddrfer, W., 397 Studd, C. T., 185
Simpson, A. B., 123 Stupperich, R., 271, 284^
Sindstrdm, E., 510 Subbotin, Feoktist I., 277
Sippel, T., 223, 225, 229 Sudbrack, J., 5oif, 511
Ski, M., 498 Sumner, F. J. B., 214, 217
Smale, Joseph, 22, 27 Sumrall, Lester F., 36, 44, 73, 378, 383,
Smidt, G., 323 411
Smith (Holiness evangelist), 113 Sundar Singh, Sadhu, 369
Smith, E. F., 43 Sundkler, B., 124, 149-52, 154-9, l65f-
Smith, F. L., 398 171-3,175, 308, 393, 398, 421,492
Smith, Hiram, 27 Sundstedt, A., 498, 509
Smith, O. J., 493 Swann, W. O., 19
Smith, Philip L. C , 186, 195 Swart, O. T., 415, 422
Smith, R. P., 26 Sweet, W. W., 422
Smith, T. L., 347 Swiss Pentecostal Mission (Lesotho),
Smolchuk, F., 46 i36f.
Smorodin, N. P., 269 (Switzerland), 307,334^ 356,397f:>40i>
Snyder, Charles H., 458,492 43, 485, 500
Socrates, 181 Synan, H. V., 26-8, 43, 60,109, 460, 492,
Sdderholm, G. E., 27 498, 509
Soe, N. H., 510 Synan, J. A., 68f., 73, 307, 348,454
Soucek, J. B., 352 Szabo, L., 510
Souza, Beatriz M. de, 98,108
Soyuz Khristian Evangel'skoy Very, see Talmadge, 214
Union of Christians of Evangelical Taranger, Nils, 452
Faith Tavares, Levy, 102,109
Spade Reen Gemeentes van Suid-Afrika, Taylor, Clyde W., 142
see Latter Rain Assemblies (South Taylor, Jeremy, 26, 195
Africa) Teinonen, Seppo A., 510
Spellman, Cardinal F. J., 258 Temple, William, 346, 352
Spence, H. T., 307 Tenney, T. F., 412
Spini, Giorgio, 254^ 265 Tenoria, C. U., 89
Spiritual Christians of Biblical Faith, 269 Teresa, St, 180
Sporri, T., 124, 344, 351, 383, 509 Terry, Neely, 22
Spurling, Richard B., 47 Thant, U, 280
Stagg, F., 509 'The King Comes' Brotherhood, 347,391,
Stalin, J. V., 285 417, 422
Stanley, H. M., 128 Theyssen, G., 438,454
Stead, W. T., 177, 180, i83f., i93f. Thibodeau, P. A., 18
Steele, Minnie A., 320 Thiersch, H., 498, 509
Steiner, Heinrich, 269, 284 Thimme, 243
Steiner, Leonhard, 43,67f., 73,195,242f., Thomas, M. M., 352
302, 308, 324, 335, 338, 349, 355, 357, Thulin, H., 509
374f., 442, 455, 500, 510 Tillich, Paul, 282, 310, 463
Stephano, F., 265 Tognini, E., 109
Sterling, Chandler W., 15 Tolstoy, L., 285
Sterne, W. P., 375 Tomlinson, A. J., 48f., 495
Stevenson, Edith C , 295, 308 Tomlinson, Homer, A., 426
Stiles, Mrs J. E., 12-14,19, 44, 349 Torbet, R. C , 285
Stockmayer, O., 113,115,219,243,353 Torrey, R. A., 26, 128, 221, 236, 309, 493
Stone, Mrs Jean, 9,14, 17,19, 408 Transvaal African National Congress, 172
Strand, E., 498, 509 Trasher, Lilian, 471,488
Strom, E., 498, 509 Tregubov, 285
Stromen van Kracht, 374 Tschuy, Theo, 439
Index 57i
Tucci, Roberto, 449, 456 Ward, L., 61,411
Turnbull, T. N., 196, 348, 452 Ward, W. M., 412
Turner, H. W., 161,174,196, 510 Warren, J. A., 22
Turnowski, H., 510 Washington, F. D., 494
Wasserzug-Traeder, G., 309
Udesti Heranneet Laestadialaiset, see Wattenwyl, A-von, 113
Laestadians Weber, M., 471,494
Uexkiill, Baron von, 268, 284 Webster, D., 186, 195
Ulstadius, Lars, 461 Webster, S., 47
Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, WeddleJ., 17
267, 284 Weishaupt, A., 296
United Churches of Christ, 172 Weiss, J., 218
United National Church of Africa, 172 Welch, J. W., 44
United National Church of Christ, 173 Wellhausen, J., 2i8f.
United Pentecostal Church, 44, 71, 264, Wenger, H., 410
314, 348, 406 Wesley, John, 22, 26, 128, 185, 238, 243,
Upham, T. C , 21, 26, 468 273, 322, 328, 336, 347f., 413
Upper Room Mission, 23 Wessels, G. R., 68,121
Urch, W. H., 205,495 Westermann, Diedrich, 164, 174
Urshan, 269 White, Alma, 23, 27
Uzkov, N. N., 510 Whyte, F. W., 194
Widmer, J., 320, 378, 383, 410, 481
Vaccaro, H., 510 Wieser, T., 250, 508, 510
Vagabov, M. V., 282, 287 Wigglesworth, Smith, 184, 207, 322, 346,
Valdivia, 74 354, 443, 478, 494*"-
Varjao (family), 81 Wilde, J. de, 375
Vergara, I., 307, 314, 453, 492, 509 Wilkerson, David R., 8, I7f., 38, 45, 405,
Verhoef, W. W., 345, 351, 432, 453 411
Verkuyl, J., 300, 309 Willems, E., 97f., 108
Vetter, J., 219, 383, 410 Willenegger, Robert, 266, 292, 308, 314,
Victorious Church of God, 195 383, 407, 412, 495
Viehbahn, G. von, 242 Williams, B., 45, 294f., 308
Vignes, 353, 368 Williams, Colin, 427, 452
Vingren, G., 75-7, 83 Williams, D. P., 191
Vinyard, R., 44, 358, 374 Williams, E. S., 27,36,40,44f., 267,302f.,
Vischer, Lukas, 448,454-6 310, 320, 351, 401,405,4iof., 452, 510
Visser't Hooft, W. A., 445-7, 450,454-6 Williams, F. S., 351
Vivier-van Eetveldt, L. M., 122,124,137, Williams, J. Rodman, 310
342, 351, 498, 509 Williams, W. J., 191
Voevodin, I., 275, 277, 286 Williamson, G. Jeffreys, 216
Voget, C. O., 233, 324 Willis, L. J., 3o7f.
Vogt, Walter, 370, 375 Wilson, Bryan R., 189,196,198-205, 308,
Voliva, Wilson, G., 118 343, 347, 349, 35*, 422, 465, 473, 49,
Voltaire, F. M., 51, 293 492-5
Volz, P., 350 Wilson, E. A. G., 125
Voronaev, Ivan E., 267-9, 284, 286 Wilson, Harriet P., 274, 285
Voronaev, Katherina, 268, 284 Wilson, Michael, 370, 375
Vouga, O., 320, 398 Winehouse, I., 44
Vries, J. C. de, 122 Wirmark, B., 45, n o , 410, 494
Witt, Otto, 479
Wakin, E., 45 Woerden, Peter van, 480, 493,496
Walker, D. E., 495 Womack, D. A., 44
Walker, P. H., 61, 398 Woodworth-Etter, Mary, 46, 496
Wallien, G. H., 453,494 Working Fellowship of Christian
Waltke, W. A., 348, 369,452 Churches, Germany, 145, 148, 232,
Wannenmacher, J., 481 248, 379, 400,411,45i, 464, 485
Ward, C. M., 412 Woude, P. v. d, 308, 348
572 Index
Wovenu, Charles K. N., 407, 412, 473, Zaleski, A., 18
482 Zanin, J., 453
Wreschner, Lilly, 391, 481, 496 Zeegers, J., 453
Wright, Henry, 116 Zelley, A., 493
Wullenweber, K., 18 Zeman, Z. K., 511
Wumkes, G. A., 432, 452 Zenetti, L., 453, 509
Wurmbrand, R., 286 Zhidkov, Michael, 269, 275, 285
Wyatt, T., 309, 320 Zimmermann, Thomas, 42, 45
Wyss, 373 Zion Apostolic Church, 152
Zion Apostolic Church of South Africa,
Yeomans, Lilian B., 35, 44, 35$, 374> 152, 173, 398
481 Zion Christian Church (I), 152
Y o d e r J . R , 510 (II), 152
Yuasa, Key, 80,83,87,90,92f., 102, io8f., (III), 152, 173
486 Zopfi,J., n o , 510
Zwiazek stnowczych chrezescian, 345
Zaiss, Hermann, 356, 362, 416, 481 Zwingli, H., 61, 128, 273, 312