6 Restorationism

6 Restorationism Many scholars have noted the relationship between Pentecostalism and Restorationism. Some have done so by calling attention to Pentecostals as one example of restorationists in the United States. George Allen Turner is one example of this perspective.1 Others have begun by look- ing at Pentecostalism or the Holiness movement and proceeding to note the restorationist aspects of Pentecostalism or the Holiness movement. One example of this approach is Edith Blumhofer.2 Another is Stephen Ware.3 The restorationist aspect of Pentecostalism has been a major theme of Grant Wacker.4 Some, like Nils Block-Hoell, have even noted the importance the restoration of spiritual gifts was for establishing the restorationist bona-fides for the early Pentecostals.5 What has not been specifically noted is that the doctrine of initial physical evidence is in itself an expression of the restorationist character of Pentecostalism. It is restorationism which explains the choice of tongues as the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Restorationism has been defined as ‘the exaltation of the original.’6 It is a call to return to the pristine beginnings of a movement, in this case, the Christian Church. As such, it does not necessarily reject church history, nor does it claim to have any special understanding of that history; rather it rejects any ‘theological significance’ in church history.7 The rea- son for this rejection is the desire to have a perfect church, which is 1 George Allen Turner, Churches of the Restoration (Lewiston, NY: Mellen University Press, 1994). 2 Edith L. Blumhofer, Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993). 3 Stephen L. Ware, Restorationism in the Holiness Movement in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004). 4 One example of this can be found in Grant Wacker, ‘Playing for Keeps: The Prim- itivist Impulse in Early Pentecostalism’ in Richard T. Hughes, ed., The American Quest for the Primitive Church (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998). 5 Nils Block-Hoell, The Pentecostal Movement: Its Origin, Development and Distinctive Character (New York: Humanities Press, 1964). 6 Samuel S. Hill, Jr., ‘Comparing Three Approaches to Restorationism: A Response,’ in The American Quest for the Primitive Church, ed. Richard T. Hughes (Chicago: Univer- sity of Illinois Press, 1988), pp. 233-34. 7 Hill, pp. 233-34. 6. Restorationism 97 defined as that church which was established by the Apostles, the de- scription of which is found in the New Testament in general and the book of Acts in particular.8 To restorationists, everything that happened in the intervening centuries serves either as an example of what not to do, or, at best, is irrelevant. Restorationism is not a new concept in Christianity. Richard Hughes calls it ‘old and venerable’ in church history.9 Restorationism, sometimes also called ‘primitivism,’ has taken at least four forms in Protestantism: ecclesiastical primitivism, ethical primitivism, experiential primitivism, and gospel primitivism.10 Hughes traces the form and development of these types of restorationism. He traces ecclesiastical primitivism to Huldrych Zwingli. Ecclesiastical primitivism focuses primarily on restoring the practices of the church to their original form.11 Perhaps the best- known example of this kind of restorationism is found in the Churches of Christ. Ethical primitivism he traces to the sixteenth-century Anabaptists. As the name suggests, it focuses on encouraging Christians to behave ethi- cally in biblical fashion, while refusing to accept into the church those who do not do so.12 The groups that have most reflected this type of restorationism in the United States are the Holiness churches.13 Experiential primitivism refers to the belief that one’s experience as a Christian should parallel that recorded in the New Testament. It is much more recent, and is reflected in two branches of Christianity, the Holi- ness movement and the Pentecostal movement; in addition it can be seen in Mormonism.14 Lastly, Gospel primitivism goes back to Martin 8 Richard T. Hughes, ‘Christian Primitivism as Perfectionism: from Anabaptists to Pentecostals’ in Reaching Beyond: Chapters in the History of Perfectionism, ed. Stanley M. Burgess (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986), pp. 213-14. 9 Richard T. Hughes, ‘Historical Models of Restoration,’ in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Douglas A. Foster et al. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), p. 635. 10 Hughes, ‘Historical Models of Restoration,’ p. 635. 11 Hughes, ‘Historical Models of Restoration,’ pp. 635-36. 12 Hughes, ‘Historical Models of Restoration,’ p. 636. 13 Stephen Ware, Restorationism in the Holiness Movement in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004), p. 105. Ware notes that, ‘entire sanctification was viewed as one of the prime pieces of the theological and experiential heritage of apostolic Christianity which had been restored to the church….’ 14 Hughes, ‘Historical Models of Restoration,’ p. 637. This concept of Mormonism as being a restoration of true and original Christianity is clearly seen in the writings of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. A recent history of the church by Brian and Petrea Kelly, entitled, Latter Day History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2004) begins with a chap- ter entitled, ‘Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration,’ p. 2. Another example can be found on the Church of Jesus Christ – Latter-Day Saints website. In their history of the church is contained an article entitled, ‘Joseph Smith and the Restoration.’ See: .

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