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159 Spiritual Advice to a Seeker: Letters to T. B. Barratt from Azusa

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159 Spiritual Advice to a Seeker: Letters to T. B. Barratt from Azusa 159 Spiritual Advice to a Seeker: Letters to T. B. Barratt from Azusa Street, 1906 David Bundy* Thomas Ball Barratt has long been known as "the apostle of the Pentecostal Movement in Europe."I It is also well known that he accepted the Pentecostal understanding of Christianity while in New York City and that he did not go to Azusa Street until 1928, a visit which was less than pleasant.2 Barratt heard of the Pentecostal mes- sage after taking refuge at the New York Christian Alliance Mission- ary Home of A. B. Simpson after his efforts to raise money for the City Mission in Christiania (Oslo) came to naught. His fund raising difficulties arose from a misunderstanding with the Methodist Mission Board. He had come to the U.S.A. at the invitation of the Methodist bishops and had been led to believe that the Mission Board, on their instruction, would assist him in raising funds for the Methodist Central *David Bundy is Associate Professor of Church History at Christian Theo- logical Seminary in Indianapolis, IN 60637. 1Nils Bloch-Hoell, The Pentecostal Movement; Its Origin, Development, and Dis- tinctive Character (Oslo: Universitetsforiaget, 1964), 75. This book is a partial trans- , lation of the Norwegian original: idem, Pinsebevegelsen. En undersoketse av pinsebevegelsens tilblivelse, utvikling og saerpreg med saerlig henblikk pi bevegel- sens utformning i Norge (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1956), 267 (with a different nuance). The historiography of Norwegian Pentecostalism and of Barratt's life and influence is still in its initial stages. Major efforts, of varying scholarly value include: Solvcig Barratt Lange, Et Nerrens sendebud (Oslo: Filadelfiaforlaget, 1962); idem.. "Barratt, Thomas Ball," Kristen sang og musikk (1(1968), 183-186; Martin Ski, T. B. Barrait-dopt i And og Ild (Oslo: Filadelfiaforlaget, 1979); idem, Fram til unkristen- dommen. Pinsevekkelsen gjennon 50 dr (Oslo: Filadelfiaforlaget, 1956), I, passim; idem, "Barratt, Thomas Ball" Norsk misjonsleksikon 1(1965), cols. 141-142; T. B. Barratt om hans liv och verk en minnesbok red. Lewi Pethrus (Stockholm: Forlaget Filadelfia, 1940); and, Arthur Sundstedt, Pingstvackelsen--dess uppkomst och forsta utvecklingsskede(Pingstvackelsen, 1; Stockholm: Normans Forlag, 1969). Non Scan- dinavian analyses have been less complete, including Donald Gee, The Pentecostal Movement. A Short flistory and Interpretation for British Readers (London: Elim Publishing House, 1941); Leonhard Steiner, Mit folgendenZeichen. Eine Darstellung der Pfingstbewegung (Basel: Verlag Mission für das volle Evangelium, 1954); Stanley Frodsham, With Signs Following: The Story of the Pentecostal Revival in the Twentieth Century (Springficld: Assemblies of God Publishing House, 1928). 2Barratt did not discuss the 1928 experience, but a letter from I. May Throop to T. B. Barratt, 11July 1928, University of Oslo Archives, T. B. Barratt Etterlatte Papirer, Dagboker XIX, 46, comments [italics and punctuation hers], "... I was grieved over the way you were received at Azusa St.-you know they are great stick- lers for two works of while we believe in And instead of its them grace many! " giving the sweet spirit of Jesus, it is contrarywise. Too bad!..." 160 Mission in Christiania (Oslo) of which he was the director.3 Instead of helping, the Mission Board actively hindered his efforts. The result was that he returned to Oslo, not with funds, but with the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" Pentecostal style. Within a few months he was instru- mental in the beginnings of Pentecostal churches throughout Europe and India.4 Crucial to this transformation from disenchanted and desperate vic- tim of power plays between the Methodist Bishops and the Methodist Mission Board to founder of European Pentecostalism, were a series of letters written to Barratt while he was in New York, penniless but forbidden to return to Norway by the Methodist bishops. It was in this context that Barratt had learned of the revival at Azusa Street from the first fascicle of The Apostolic Faith published in early September 1906. He wrote to Azusa Street apparently asking for more informa- tion and spiritual advice. He received a letter from I. May Throop5 dated 28 September 1906. His reply was answered by Glenn A. Cook6 on 8 October 1906. Cook wrote two additional letters to Barratt in October and November, before Clara E. Lum and B. H. Irwin? took up the pen. Thus Barratt received, between 28 September and 28 Novem- ber 1906, five letters containing spiritual advice from the Azusa Street Mission and one from Irwin who was requested to write from Salem, Oregon, by the Azusa Street leadership. The letter from I. May Throop was published in English, as we shall see below, as well as in Nor- wegian, Swedish and Danish as were selected paragraphs from two of the letters of George Cook. The others have not been previously made available, to my knowledge, in English. Letter writing was a key component of the Pentecostal revival at the Azusa Street Mission. The bulk of the contents of The Apostolic Faith were garnered from that vast correspondence. The ministry of several individuals was to respond to inquiries from throughout the world. 3D. Bundy, "T. B. Barratt's Christiania (Oslo) City Mission: A Study in the Inter- cultural Adaptation of American and British Voluntary Association Structures," Crossing Borders: Conference on Pentecostal and Charismatic Research in Europe 3rdL6ih July 1991 (Kappel, Switzerland: n.p., 1991 ),1-15. 4The relationship with the Methodist Episcopal Mission Board is discussed in detail in, D. Bundy, "T. B. Barratt: The Methodist Years," to appear in EPTA Bulletin. 51 have found no prosopographical information about Throop. She certainly played a significant role at the Azusa Street Mission by answering correspondence from inquirers. She maintained contact with Barratt throughout his life and a number of her letters are preserved in his personal papers. 6R. M. Riss, "Cook, Glcnn A." Dictionary of the Pentecostal and Charisimatic Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 224-225. 77 C. M. Robeck, Jr. "Lum, Clara E." Dictionary of the Pentecostal and Charis- matic Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 561; and H. V. Synan, "Irwin, Benjamin Hardin," Dictionary of the Pentecostal and CharistmalÍc Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 471-472. .
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