Where Did All These Pentecostals and Charismatics Come From?

[PeteSinCA]

Where Did All These Pentecostals and Charismatics Come From?
Mark DeVine
TheGospelCoalition.org
12:01 AM CT

Yet Pentecostals and charismatics remain mysterious even to other Protestants, despite the fact that the origins of the contemporary Pentecostal movement are well known. A cluster of events around the turn of the 20th century shaped Pentecostalism's distinctive character and launched it as one juggernaut of a Christian movement.
The Start: Topeka

In October 1900, 29-year-old Agnes Ozmen matriculated at the freshly founded Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. Former Methodist, now Holiness pastor Charles Fox Parham directed students to read the book of Acts with heightened alertness to every mention of the Spirit. Consensus emerged on two points: (1) outward manifestations always accompany the Spirit's activity, and (2) speaking in tongues is the outward sign, the proof of baptism in the Holy Spirit.
...
The second pivotal event occurred when African American Holiness-turned-Pentecostal pastor William J. Seymour made his way to Azusa Street in Los Angeles to preach. Seymour, a former student of Parham and son of a slave, witnessed the outbreak of a revival that would not abate for three years. This multi-racial, multi-class eruption of miraculous gifts (charismata) pumped out Pentecostal evangelists, missionaries, and ministers.

The spiritual lineage of almost all early leaders among Pentecostals who soon dispersed throughout North America and beyond trace back to this extraordinary time in greater Los Angeles. The defining theological distinctive of Pentecostalism was distilled at Topeka. The launching pad of what would become global Pentecostal advance was situated on Azusa Street.
...
So what about the charismatics? Aren't they the same? Yes and no. Pentecostals are charismatics in that they pursue and report experience of the charismatic gifts. But the modern global charismatic movement exploded in the 1970s among Roman Catholics and within Protestant denominations as "the gifts" prized by Pentecostals appeared among them. The Vineyard Church is widely viewed as the first charismatic denomination. The charismatic movement emerged apart for Pentecostalism, but these communities cross-pollinated with their gift-practicing siblings in significant ways. ...

The modern charismatic movement provided an unexpected and fairly astonishing validation of Pentecostal theology as practice of the gifts spread within the established, non-restorationist Christian world. But these new charismatics also posed a challenge to Pentecostals, who seemed to have something of a corner on both teaching and experience where the gifts were concerned. Significantly, the new charismatics rarely treated tongues or any other outward manifestation as the necessary sign of Spirit baptism, making them immediately more compatible with others inside and outside their denominations who did not manifest the gifts.

I'm not sure what kind of discussion, if any, might flow from this article, and other to inform and learn I don't have any agenda or purpose. Pentecostals, as they understand themselves as a distinct "movement within Christianity, have been around for over 110 years. So a moderate length Internet article is barely going to scratch the surface of the influences that formed and history of a people so diverse. With that said, this article is a very decent starting point: it gives a casually curious person a very decent overview; for the more than casually interested, it provides a good start of an outline (and indicates some directions) for further research. There is one quite significant omission, regarding charismatics, that I do not understand. The article states, "The Vineyard Church is widely viewed as the first charismatic denomination." Without questioning the significance and influence of Vineyard Churches, it was predated by over five years and started as part of the Calvary Chapel churches (which started with Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa). I do not believe that what are now called movements (such as Pentecostals and charismatics) were begun with a view of becoming movements. This shows in both their tendency to intersect and cross-pollinate with other movements, and in their tendency to have sub-movements that form around personalities or particular ideas or practices.

[PaulSacramento]

IIRC, they were an off-shoot of the Adventis movements that ended with the "great disappointment" in the 19" century (1844).

[Kurieuo]

Where Did All These Pentecostals and Charismatics Come From?
Mark DeVine
TheGospelCoalition.org
12:01 AM CT

Yet Pentecostals and charismatics remain mysterious even to other Protestants, despite the fact that the origins of the contemporary Pentecostal movement are well known. A cluster of events around the turn of the 20th century shaped Pentecostalism's distinctive character and launched it as one juggernaut of a Christian movement.
The Start: Topeka

In October 1900, 29-year-old Agnes Ozmen matriculated at the freshly founded Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. Former Methodist, now Holiness pastor Charles Fox Parham directed students to read the book of Acts with heightened alertness to every mention of the Spirit. Consensus emerged on two points: (1) outward manifestations always accompany the Spirit's activity, and (2) speaking in tongues is the outward sign, the proof of baptism in the Holy Spirit.
...
The second pivotal event occurred when African American Holiness-turned-Pentecostal pastor William J. Seymour made his way to Azusa Street in Los Angeles to preach. Seymour, a former student of Parham and son of a slave, witnessed the outbreak of a revival that would not abate for three years. This multi-racial, multi-class eruption of miraculous gifts (charismata) pumped out Pentecostal evangelists, missionaries, and ministers.

The spiritual lineage of almost all early leaders among Pentecostals who soon dispersed throughout North America and beyond trace back to this extraordinary time in greater Los Angeles. The defining theological distinctive of Pentecostalism was distilled at Topeka. The launching pad of what would become global Pentecostal advance was situated on Azusa Street.
...
So what about the charismatics? Aren't they the same? Yes and no. Pentecostals are charismatics in that they pursue and report experience of the charismatic gifts. But the modern global charismatic movement exploded in the 1970s among Roman Catholics and within Protestant denominations as "the gifts" prized by Pentecostals appeared among them. The Vineyard Church is widely viewed as the first charismatic denomination. The charismatic movement emerged apart for Pentecostalism, but these communities cross-pollinated with their gift-practicing siblings in significant ways. ...

The modern charismatic movement provided an unexpected and fairly astonishing validation of Pentecostal theology as practice of the gifts spread within the established, non-restorationist Christian world. But these new charismatics also posed a challenge to Pentecostals, who seemed to have something of a corner on both teaching and experience where the gifts were concerned. Significantly, the new charismatics rarely treated tongues or any other outward manifestation as the necessary sign of Spirit baptism, making them immediately more compatible with others inside and outside their denominations who did not manifest the gifts.

I'm not sure what kind of discussion, if any, might flow from this article, and other to inform and learn I don't have any agenda or purpose. Pentecostals, as they understand themselves as a distinct "movement within Christianity, have been around for over 110 years. So a moderate length Internet article is barely going to scratch the surface of the influences that formed and history of a people so diverse. With that said, this article is a very decent starting point: it gives a casually curious person a very decent overview; for the more than casually interested, it provides a good start of an outline (and indicates some directions) for further research. There is one quite significant omission, regarding charismatics, that I do not understand. The article states, "The Vineyard Church is widely viewed as the first charismatic denomination." Without questioning the significance and influence of Vineyard Churches, it was predated by over five years and started as part of the Calvary Chapel churches (which started with Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa). I do not believe that what are now called movements (such as Pentecostals and charismatics) were begun with a view of becoming movements. This shows in both their tendency to intersect and cross-pollinate with other movements, and in their tendency to have sub-movements that form around personalities or particular ideas or practices.

Pentecostals and the spirituality they represent have been around since the beginning of Christianity.

It is just that they were killed for their "odd" Christian spirituality that was deemed heretical. They were persecuted by the RCC and essentially dissolved by the 4th century, or at least perhaps adapted as smaller groups within the Church.

Tertullian would perhaps be best known to all, and is somewhat affiliated with this movement only practicing his Christian spirituality in Carthage. I'm not sure how much you can find online, but look up Montanism. I researched and wrote a paper on this movement during my theological studies.

One of the dangers that the RCC saw in particular re: what we now historically call "Montanism" (after one of its main "heretical" head)... was that they also have a claim to tradition particularly an Apostolic authority. That is, they can be traced back through their teachers to the Apostles and as such as Christ Himself.

This was one argument the Church used against gnostic teachings -- the Church has Apostolic authority whereas the Gnostic teachings didn't.

So, it seems to me, as illegitimate as Pentecostals might be to some with speaking in tongues, prophesying and the like, there is an acceptable Christian spiritualism to be found in Pentecostal churches.

During my assignment, I had a man come up to me in the library while I was researching. The conversation must have lead to my assignment as he asked me what I thought on Pentecostal churches like Hillsong. At the time I was doing a bit of soul searching because my Christian origins are very much Aussie Pentecostal and I gave a negative slant. Yet, then he admitted that he finds his church quite dry, and being an investor, if he were to bank his money on where God is moving that it'd be the churches pulling in 100s and 1000s of people rather than losing them.

Make of that what you will. I'm not endorsing either way here. I do reject "Word of Faith" movements which is Pentecostalism gone wrong. However, this man's words are something that have stayed with me, and I know historically that a similar spirituality did exist early on that had traditional authority to the Apostles...

[B. W.]

...Pentecostals and the spirituality they represent have been around since the beginning of Christianity.

It is just that they were killed for their "odd" Christian spirituality that was deemed heretical. They were persecuted by the RCC and essentially dissolved by the 4th century, or at least perhaps adapted as smaller groups within the Church.

Tertullian would perhaps be best known to all, and is somewhat affiliated with this movement only practicing his Christian spirituality in Carthage. I'm not sure how much you can find online, but look up Montanism. I researched and wrote a paper on this movement during my theological studies.

One of the dangers that the RCC saw in particular re: what we now historically call "Montanism" (after one of its main "heretical" head)... was that they also have a claim to tradition particularly an Apostolic authority. That is, they can be traced back through their teachers to the Apostles and as such as Christ Himself.

This was one argument the Church used against gnostic teachings -- the Church has Apostolic authority whereas the Gnostic teachings didn't.

So, it seems to me, as illegitimate as Pentecostals might be to some with speaking in tongues, prophesying and the like, there is an acceptable Christian spiritualism to be found in Pentecostal churches.

During my assignment, I had a man come up to me in the library while I was researching. The conversation must have lead to my assignment as he asked me what I thought on Pentecostal churches like Hillsong. At the time I was doing a bit of soul searching because my Christian origins are very much Aussie Pentecostal and I gave a negative slant. Yet, then he admitted that he finds his church quite dry, and being an investor, if he were to bank his money on where God is moving that it'd be the churches pulling in 100s and 1000s of people rather than losing them.

Make of that what you will. I'm not endorsing either way here. I do reject "Word of Faith" movements which is Pentecostalism gone wrong. However, this man's words are something that have stayed with me, and I know historically that a similar spirituality did exist early on that had traditional authority to the Apostles...

I second that K...

It all began on the day of Pentecost, and hasn't stopped since. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and keeps his word and promises even at the expense of his own hurt. It is people that misuse these gifts of the Holy Spirit , yet, the Lord remains faithful. The Word of Faith (WOF) movement has a torrid history. Its well's are drawn from Theosophical Society, New Thought Metaphysics, and Christian Science from the early 20th Century. It comes directly from E W Kenyon whose writing were plagiarized (word for word) by one prominent WOF teacher who was later sued for this act. In my opinion, WOF is dangerous as it mixes the profane in with the holy.

The real gifts of the Spirit are real and do occur, yet, however, so much of the Church world has slid into Laodicea and Sardis that it comes as no wonder that K ran across that man in the library...
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[PeteSinCA]

IIRC, they were an off-shoot of the Adventis movements that ended with the "great disappointment" in the 19" century (1844).

You're either thinking of the modern Seventh Day Adventists or Jehovah's witnesses, both of whom have Adventist roots.