CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository THE MOVE TO INDEPENDENCE FROM ANGLICAN LEADERSHIP: AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALEXANDER ALFRED BODDY AND THE EARLY LEADERS OF THE BRITISH PENTECOSTAL DENOMINATIONS (1907-1930) by KYU-HYUNG CHO A Thesis Submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham September 2009 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis examines the relationship between the leaders of the Anglican Church, centring on Alexander Alfred Boddy (1854-1930), considered the father of British Pentecostalism, and the young Pentecostals in the process of formation of the three major Pentecostal denominations, namely, the Apostolic Faith Church, the Assemblies of God and the Elim Church. Although there were not many Anglican participants in British Pentecostalism and most Pentecostals came from Nonconformist backgrounds, Boddy dominated the leadership from the beginning. As a result, most of the British Pentecostals who were actively involved in the forming of Pentecostal denominations were either directly or indirectly influenced by him. However, as Pentecostalism grew, disagreement and conflict appeared over certain issues and intensified during the period when the Pentecostal denominations were taking shape. Finally, with the departure of the Anglican leaders from Pentecostalism, the Anglican influence disappeared. Although there is no doubt that Boddy‟s contribution to the history of British Pentecostalism was considerable, there were huge gaps between his teachings and those of the men who became the denominational leaders of the Pentecostals. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Hugh McLeod and Professor Allan Anderson, who encouraged my work and provided me with excellent supervision. They gave me not only many comments and suggestions for this research but also perceptive criticism. I wish also to record my appreciation to the directors and staff of the following institutions: to Dr. David Garrard of the Donald Gee Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Research at Mattersey, for giving me permission to consult invaluable manuscripts and letters on early British Pentecostal history; the staff of the British Main Library and British Library Newspaper Collection for their excellent assistance; the staff of the Flower Heritage Center, Springfield, USA for supplying materials on Pentecostal history via mail; the staff of Durham University Archive for giving me permission to consult and photocopy some valuable materials regarding the Sunderland Parish; the librarian of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World in the University of Edinburgh for lending me materials related to Cecil Polhill; the staff at Newcastle City Library, Sunderland City Library and Durham County Records Office for their kind help in consulting local newspapers and materials. I also want to thank the Rev. Desmond Cartwright, who not only lent me his private materials on the history of British Pentecostalism, in particular on the Elim Church, but also gave me kind comments via email. Dr. Mark Cartledge and my colleagues in the Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies have offered useful suggestions for my thesis. I would like to give particular thanks to them, in particular to Gerald King who helped me to read difficult hand-written material. I am also grateful to my friends at the Postgraduate Study Room for the sharing of theological knowledge and life. I am grateful to my wife, Sunah Oh, and our three children, Herry, Nathan and Nahyun, for giving me encouragement and for enduring the creative pains with love and thanks. I also give my thanks to both parents for their financial support. I give special thanks to all the ministers and saints in the Church of the Foursquare Gospel in Korea for their prayers, encouragement and financial support. Above all, I want to give my thanks to gracious God who led me to study in this University and enlightened me through this pains-taking work to understand that I really do not know what I think I know. May God be glorified! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 1. Subject of the Thesis ......................................................................................... 1 2. Background of the Thesis ................................................................................. 2 3. Previous Studies ................................................................................................ 6 4. Problem Statement ............................................................................................ 9 5. Research Questions ......................................................................................... 10 6. Materials and Methodology ............................................................................ 12 6.1. Problem of Biased Interpretations ................................................... 12 6.2. Research Materials ........................................................................... 13 6.3. Research Methodology .................................................................... 15 7. Contribution of the Thesis .............................................................................. 16 8. Definition of Key Terms ................................................................................. 18 8.1. Evangelicalism ................................................................................. 18 8.2. Pentecostalism as a Revivalism ....................................................... 20 8.3. Anglicanism ..................................................................................... 23 8.4. The Tension between Old and New ................................................. 24 9. Structure .......................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER TWO: PRECEDENT SPIRITUALITIES AND THEIR COMBINATION WITH PENTECOSTALISM ...................................................... 28 1. The Church of England and its Impact on Pentecostalism ............................. 28 1.1. The Triangular Relationship in English Christianity ....................... 28 1.2. Boddy‟s Mentors and the Characteristics of Anglicanism .............. 30 2. The Keswick Movement ................................................................................. 34 2.1. The Keswick Movement‟s Teaching and Its Methods .................... 34 2.2. Characteristics of the Keswick Convention ..................................... 38 iv 2.3. The Keswick Movement and the Forming of Pentecostalism ............................................................................... 42 3. The Welsh Religious Revival as the Fuse of Pentecostalism ......................... 44 3.1. The Welsh Revival and Its Characteristics ...................................... 47 3.2. The Welsh Revival and Its Influence ............................................... 53 4. The Influx of Classical Pentecostalism ........................................................... 57 4.1. The Tongues Movement in Los Angeles ......................................... 57 4.2. T. B. Barratt : The Bridge of British Pentecostalism ....................... 60 4.3. Boddy‟s Encounter with Pentecostalism ......................................... 64 5. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER THREE: SETTLING DOWN OF NASCENT PENTECOSTALISM ........... 69 1. Time of Evangelicalism Dominance ............................................................... 69 1.1. Boddy and His Effort to Spread the Pentecostal Movement ........... 69 1.2. T. B. Barratt, Inflamer of the Pentecostal Movement ...................... 72 1.3. Direct Criticism in the Initial Periods .............................................. 74 1.3.1. The Relationship between the Pentecostal Movement and the Pentecostal League of Prayer ............. 74 1.3.2. Criticism from Two Prominent Visitors of the Sunderland Meetings ......................................................... 78 1.3.3. The Opposition from Jessie Penn-Lewis .......................... 80 1.3.4. Barratt and Boddy‟s Defences