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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x W black and white photographic prints are available fw any photographs or illustrations amring in this copy for an additional charge. Corrtact UMI directly to order. 8811 8 H~llInformation and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbof, MI 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Early Amdrlcan Pentecostalibm and the Issues ot Race, Gender, War, and Poverty: A History of the Belief System and Social Witness of Early Twentieth Century Pentecostalism and its Nineteenth Century Holineu Roots Scott Srnalridge Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University, Montreal May, 1998 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. O Scott Smalridge 1998 National Library Biblioth&que nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellingtm OrtawaON KlAON4 OltawaON KlAW Canada callada The author has granted a now L'auteur a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotbeque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/h, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts &om it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent Stre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. i Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS i ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter Page I. THE BELIEF SYSTEM AND SOCIAL WITNESS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY HOLINESS MOVEMENT 7 Holiness Movement Before the Civil War 7 Social Witness of the Antebellum Holiness Movement 9 Holiness Movement After the Civil War 14 Social Work in the Postbellurn Holiness Movement 16 A Theological Paradigm Shift 19 Conclusions 29 II. THE BELIEF SYSTEM AND SOCIAL WITNESS OF EARLY AMERICAN PENTECOSTALISM (CA. 1900-191 3) Charles Fox Parham and the Apostotic Faith Movement Parham 's Pentecostal Social Witness William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival The Prophetic Witness of Azusa Street The Social Witness of Frank Bartleman The Social Witness of Finis E. Yoakum The Social Witness of Carrie Judd Montgomery Historiography and the Question of an early Pentecostal Social Witness Criticisms and Conclusions Ill. THE HISTORY AND SOCIAL WITNESS OF THE EARLY ASSEMBLIES OF GOD (CA. 1914-1942) 67 Some Early Pentecostal Centres and the Formation of the Assemblies of God 67 Theological Controversies During the Formative Years of the Assemblies of God 71 The Assemblies of God in Transition 72 Early Assemblies of God and Race 73 Early Assemblies of God and Gender Issues 75 Aimee Semple McPherson 79 Early Assemblies of God and the Issue of Waf 81 The Assemblies of God and Evangelicals 85 Discussion and Conclusions 87 CONCLUSION 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY 92 iii Abstract Early American Pentecostalism had an ambiguous social witness, which contained both radical and conservative elements. The millennarian- restorationist core of the Pentecostal belief system was prophetic and counter- cultural in that it inspired adherents to denounce the injustices of the status quo and anmunce the justice of the soon-coming Kingdom of God. Consequently, in the earliest years of the American movement, many Pentecostals professed and practiced 1) racial equality. 2) gender equality. 3) pacifism, and 4) anti- capitalism. However, this prophetic social witness co-existed, from the very beginning, with a strong conservative ethos. which defended the norms, beliefs, and values of nineteenth-century 'Evangelical America' against the apparent religious and cultural 'anarchy' of modern society. As Pentecostal groups (especially white Pentecostal groups such as the Assemblies of God) organised , institutionalised, and rose in socioeconomic status, the prophetic voices of early Pentecostalism were increasingly ignored, and the conservative ethos grew to dominate Pentecostal social concerns. Precis Les premiers pentec6tistes americains prkhaient un 'temoignage social' ambigu, qui contenait des elements radicaux et traditionnels. Le coeur de la foi pentecdtiste etait de tendence prophetique et contre-culturelle parce qu'il encourageait les fidUes a dbnoncer les injustices du statu quo et a annoncer la justice du Royaume de Dieu. Par cons@uent, dans les premieres ann&s du 'reveil' pentec6tiste1beaucoup de fideles adoptaient 1) I'ealite raciale. 2) I'egalite sexuelle, 3) le pacifisme, et 4) I'anti-capitalisme. Mais, ce temoignage social coexistait avec un temoignage tres traditionnel, qui defendait la foi et la culture de 'IIAmerique evangelique' du dix-neuvieme siMe contre 'I'anarchie' religieuse et culturelle de la modernite. Quand les groups pentecbtistes ont commence a s'organiser (surtout les Assemblies of God, qui etaient composees principalement de membres de race blanche), le temoignage prophetique a ete de plus en plus oublie, alors que la puissance du temoignage traditionnel augmentait, jusqu'a devenir un trait dominant de I'ethique sociale pentedtiste. Acknowledgments This thesis could not have been completed without the help of the professors, staff members, and fellow students at McGill University. In particular, I am indebted to my supewisor, Rev. Dr. William J. Klempa, and to the late Dr. Edward J. Furcha for guiding the development of this project. Others who have provided insight and assistance include Dr. Ogbu Kalu, Father Philippe Thibodeau and his staff at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, the staff at the Assemblies of God Archives, the staff at the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada Archives, and Dr. Gregory Baum. The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (Montreal, Quebec) houses a substantial collection of papers and periodicals from the Society for Pentecostal Studies -- one of the few such collections in Eastern Canada. Father Thibodeau not only provided me with access to this collection, but also with encouragement and discussion which proved invaluable to my research. 1 Introduction Since Pentecostalism began spreading among the poor and the oppressed of the 'third world', scholars and Christian leaders with a commitment to economic development and social justice have been wondering about the social and political views of the movement. Does Pentecostalism promote social justice or does it support the oppressive status quo? Suspicion of Pentecostalism has been heightened by the fact that, in contemporary America, such 'mainstream' Pentecostal groups as the Assemblies of God have become allies of the political right and defenders of conservative middle-class values. American Pentecostals today seem, at best, apolitical and 'other- worldly', or at worst, flag-waving patriots and ardent defenders of the status quo. However, since the rise of Pentecostal studies in the 1960s, many Pentecostal leaders and non-Pentecostal historians have begun to question whether the Pentecostal movement always possessed such a conservative social witness.1 Over the past few decades, these scholars have investigated the social and political views of Pentecostalism's earliest proponents, and have debated whether the early movement might have contained a positive, progressive, or prophetic social witness which was erased through years of accommodation and institutionalisation. In the face of these questions, this thesis will explore the social witness of the early American Pentecostal movement and its immediate predecessor, the 19th century Holiness movement. The study will focus on four key social issues: 1) race and racism, 2) gender and gender inequality, 3) war and pacifism, and 4) poverty. Two rather different perspectives dominate discussion of Pentecostalism's social witness. The first perspective labels the entire movement, in every geographic context and time period, as apolitical and as a deterrent for poslive social change. In 1979, Robert Mapes Anderson 1 The term 'social witness' refers to the moral beliefs, soda1 practices, ethical positions, and political actions taken by an individuJ or group in relation to the larger society. Academic interest in Pentecostalism began with the English translation