A History of Christian Doctrine #3

A HISTORYof Christian Doctrine The Twentieth Century A . D . 1900 – 2000 Volume 3 David K. Bernard A HISTORYof Christian Doctrine The Twentieth Century A . D . 1900 – 2000 Volume 3 A History of Christian Doctrine Volume Three The Twentieth Century A.D. 1900 – 2000 by David K. Bernard Cover Design by Paul Povolni ©1999 David K. Bernard Hazelwood, MO 63042-2299 All Scripture quotations in this book are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise identified. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an electronic system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of David K. Bernard. Brief quotations may be used in literary reviews. Printed in United States of America Printed by Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bernard, David K., 1956– A history of Christian doctrine / by David K. Bernard. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. 3. The Twentieth Century, A.D. 1900–2000. ISBN 1-56722-221-8 (pbk.) 1. Theology, Doctrinal—History. 2. Church history. 3. Oneness doctrine (Pentecostalism)—History. I. Title. BT 21.2.B425 1995 230'.09—dc20 95-35396 CIP Contents Preface. 7 1. The Pentecostal Movement . 9 2. The Finished Work Controversy . 39 3. The Jesus Name Controversy. 59 4. Oneness Pentecostal Organizations . 89 5. Trinitarian Pentecostal Organizations. 125 6. Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy . 165 7. Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism . 199 8. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy . 227 9. The Healing Revival and the Latter Rain Movement . 249 10. The Charismatic Movement . 275 11. Christianity Today. 319 Appendixes. 331 A. Dates in the History of Christianity, 1900-2000 . 333 B. Early Pentecostal Leaders Baptized in Jesus’ Name . 335 C. Answering the Charge of Cultism . 340 D. Response to a Cult Hunter . 347 E. Major U.S. Pentecostal Organizations. 358 F. Major Jesus Name Pentecostal Organizations . 359 G. Major United Pentecostal National Organizations . 361 Notes . 362 Select Bibliography . 389 Index . 397 Preface This book surveys the history of Christian doctrine from A.D. 1900 to 2000. It generally follows chronological order and identifies the most significant events in church history, but the emphasis is on tracing doctrinal developments and controversies. To further this purpose, it discusses some events thematically rather than in strict chronological sequence. We will use the words church and Christian in the most general sense, recognizing that the visible church structure is not necessarily the New Testament church as defined by message and experience. We will discuss the major groups of people who have identified themselves as Christian, providing an overview of Christendom in the twentieth century and discussing various doctrines and movements. We devote special attention to the Pentecostal movement for three reasons: (1) Numerically and theologically, it is the single most important development within twentieth-century Christianity. (2) It contains the most authen- tic expressions of apostolic Christianity today. (3) Volumes 1 and 2 of this series have examined the basic doctrines of other major groups. Occasionally material in this book may seem complex and foreign, but some treatment of details is necessary to provide background and to impart a feel for significant issues and problems. The main objective is to introduce the leading historical figures and movements and to convey a 7 A History of Christian Doctrine basic understanding of their doctrines. This information will provide various perspectives on biblical issues and will aid in dialogue with people of different backgrounds. The reader will see how God has worked to restore and revive fundamental truths that were largely forgotten. This book arose out of teaching church history for five years at Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi, and lecturing for the extension program of Kent Christian College in Dover, Delaware. Special thanks goes to Claire Borne for transcribing the taped material, which served as an outline and a partial rough draft. It is important to remember that only the Bible is our authority for doctrine. We cannot establish spiritual truth by history, tradition, majority opinion, great leaders, or personal experiences, but only by the Word of God. 8 1 The Pentecostal Movement The first day of the twentieth century marked the beginning of a new movement in Christianity that would sweep the world in the next hundred years. By century’s end, more people would identify with this Pentecostal movement than any other label in Christendom, except for the Roman Catholic Church. Although the modern Pentecostal movement was a new historical development, spiritually it was not new at all, but it sought to restore the doctrine and experience of the apostles and the first-century church. While in many ways it succeeded, in many ways the majority of adherents have not fulfilled its original promise. But the end is not yet. The story begins with Charles F. Parham, an indepen- dent Holiness preacher and founder of a small Bible school. 9 A History of Christian Doctrine He and his students began to study the baptism of the Holy Ghost in the New Testament. To understand their motivation, we must first understand the Holiness movement. Chapter 13 of A History of Christian Doctrine, Volume 2 discusses the Holiness people and how they set the stage for the Pentecostals; we briefly summarize this information below. Roots in the Holiness Movement The Holiness movement arose within conservative Protestantism in America in the latter half of the nine- teenth century. It was a revival of the founding principles of Methodism, which developed from the ministry of John Wesley, an eighteenth-century preacher in the Church of England. The distinctive doctrine of the Holiness movement was Wesley’s teaching of entire sanctification, which the Methodists had largely abandoned by this time. According to this doctrine, when a sinner first believes on Jesus, he is converted and justified and receives forgive- ness of all sins. He still is dominated by his sinful nature, however, until he receives entire sanctification or Christian perfection. This divine work purifies his motives, desires, and thoughts. He still has the ability to sin, but his inward nature (the sinful nature inherited from Adam) is no longer a source of temptation. Wesley emphasized an ongoing process of sanctification with the goal of Christian perfection, but the later Holiness movement emphasized sanctification as a crisis experience. In essence, the Holiness groups taught that everyone should seek two distinct experiences with God, or works of grace: conversion and sanctification. 10 The Pentecostal Movement As people in the Holiness movement studied the Scriptures, particularly the Book of Acts, they noticed that the disciples were “baptized with the Holy Ghost,” and they began to equate entire sanctification with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They did not necessarily asso- ciate this experience with speaking in tongues, although there were some instances of speaking in tongues among them, as among the Methodists earlier. A number of holiness-minded people in the late nine- teenth century began to proclaim an alternate view of holiness. The practical effect was much the same, but the approach was somewhat different. They denied that the inward nature of sin is eradicated in this life, but they proclaimed that by His Spirit God gives Christians power to overcome and suppress the influence of the sinful nature. This view is sometimes called Keswick holiness, after a parish in English where meetings were held to pro- mote the teaching. Adherents of this position exhorted all Christians to seek a distinct encounter with God’s Spirit in which they would receive power for Christian service and power to bear spiritual fruit. It could happen at conversion or after- ward. Subsequently, they should live in the “fullness of the Spirit” and participate in the “higher Christian life.” These teachers also began to use the scriptural terminology of being “baptized with the Holy Ghost” for this crisis experience. An American group that was aligned with Keswick thinking was the Christian and Missionary Alliance, an evangelistic organization founded in 1887 by Presby- terian minister A. B. Simpson. He proclaimed a fourfold gospel of Jesus as Savior, sanctifier, healer, and coming 11 A History of Christian Doctrine Lord. Many ministers in his organization would enter the Pentecostal movement. In sum, adherents of both Wesleyan perfectionism and Keswick holiness advocated the life of holiness, but the former stressed the eradication of the sinful nature while the latter stressed the endowment of power to subdue the sinful nature. Both groups used much the same terminology, encouraging people who had repented to seek for a subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit to give them victory over sin and enable them to do the will of God. There was a strong call to go back to the doctrines and practices of the apostles in the New Testament church. In describing this desire, the adjective “Pentecostal” became common, and a rallying cry was, “Back to Pentecost.” Some leaders began to press for the restoration of spiritual gifts, including prophecy, healing, and miracles. A minority of Holiness people, including the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church, began to seek for the “baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire” as a third crisis experience, but again not associating it with tongues. Charles Parham and the Topeka Outpouring In this atmosphere, Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) opened Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on October 15, 1900, at age twenty-seven. At the end of the first term, Parham asked his students to find the biblical evidence for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Together they concluded that the initial evidence is speaking in tongues (foreign languages unknown to the speakers) as the Spirit gives utterance.

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