Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 2/12/2008

Question
how pentecostals view church history

Answer
Steve,

I hope that you don't mind, but another expert placed your question in the "church history question pool" and I thought I would try to help you out.

Penetcostals view church history as just that, history. It is what it is. Yes, some will try to scew the facts, but history will remain the same.

I just happen to have a history of the church page on our ministry site. Here is the info (at the bottom you will find the link)...

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ began in the second century, when in Acts chapter two He sent the Holy Ghost on the first Pentecost Sunday forty days after His ascension back to the right hand of the Father. From its beginning, God's church experienced great revival with thousands coming to receive Jesus as Savior, and its Gospel message being spread throughout the known world. The Lord worked through His church with signs, miracles, and supernatural gifts of the Spirit to confirm the Word being preached. Every believer was filled with the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and preached fervently the truth. They did such a wonderful job that their critics accused them of turning the world upside down.

The early church fathers continued living in the same spirit of the apostles after the apostles died. But little by little, through the centuries, Christians abandoned the faith and dynamic lifestyle of their predecessors. They entangled themselves in silly controversies, which split the unity of the Christians. One group built their headquarters in Constantinople; they became the Eastern Church. And the other group had their headquarters in Rome and called themselves Roman Catholics.

At this time there was great persecution brought against the church, with many Christians dying as martyrs, giving their lives for their King. These persecutions ushered in a bleak period of time know as "The Dark Ages". They were dark because the Gospel message of salvation and the manifestations of the Spirit were hidden for centuries by so-called religion.

During the dark ages, the Catholic Church had a monopoly over most of the Christendom, and she used her power in terrible ways. This church deserted the ways of Christ and His teachings. They put fear in the hearts of the peasants by making them seek the church for forgiveness. They promised an easy salvation to those who would purchase indulgences. They exalted Mary nearly to the same position as Christ. They offered prayers to her as well as to many of the saints. In summary, they rejected most of the clear teachings of the Bible.

This branch of Christianity needed reformation. And God was going to bring it to her. For almost the last five hundred years, God has brought to western Christianity four major restorational movements: 1) the reform, 2) the evangelical, 3) the holiness, 4) the Pentecostal. Each movement has been used of God to restore to the Church truths and practices that were lost by the Church.

In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther, who after discovered from the Bible that salvation was not earned, but that it was a free gift to all those who believed, resounded a loud and clear message, "The Just shall live by faith." This doctrine that the just shall live by faith is the most basic doctrine of the Bible. We could not preach anything else without this truth. True Christians everywhere believe that salvation is a free gift to those who truly believe.

This monk brought in the first restorational truth to the Church. This movement took on his name. His followers were called "Lutherans." His following was mainly in Germany. Others followed his same doctrine and beliefs in other countries, and they were called different names. In Scotland, the reformers were called Presbyterians; in England they were called Anglicans (or Episcopalians). Basically these three denominations believe the same things.

Although the reformed movement embraced the all important way of salvation, there were still some old Catholic ways and doctrines that they continued to cling to. They still believed that the Church should use the State to persecute dissenters and they also practiced infant baptism. These practices and beliefs were clearly not biblical.

So within these denominations, in about the 1600's, men arose to confront the reformed movement just as the reformers confronted the Catholic church. They began by first insisting that all believers who were baptized as infants be rebaptized. They did this because many Lutherans, Presbyterians and Anglicans had never experienced the new birth; they were erroneously told that they were Christians because they were baptized as babies. Many experienced true salvation through the efforts of the evangelicals. It was the evangelicals rebaptizing efforts that caused the critics to call them "Anabaptists."

The Anabaptists also demanded separation between state and church. They believed that everyone should be able to worship God according to their own consciences, without the intrusion of the government. They won, although at a huge cost. Many lost their lives for standing up against the reformed churches, just as many reformers lost their lives by standing up against the Catholic Church. The Anabaptists were correct in their beliefs concerning adult baptism and freedom of worship. Today, almost all Christians believe these things. God restored adult baptism and freedom of worship for the Christians.

In time, even these Anabaptists began to experience a need for reformation. The shortcoming of the Anabaptists was a lack of holiness. They had so emphasized that salvation was by grace alone, not by works that many of them refused to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. They reasoned, as many do today, "Since salvation is by grace, through faith alone, there is no real need to do good works." Many Anabaptists were living ungodly lives because of the Calvinistic teachings about election and the perseverance of the saints. These teachings, in essence, gave many people a license to practice immorality, or at least, gave them freedom to live undisciplined lives.

Because of these things another restoration was needed, and this one would emphasize holiness. John Wesley would be the main leader in this next restorational move. His movement was later called, Methodism, termed after his disciplined, methodological approach to holy living. John Wesley and others taught the past restorational truths, but they also emphasized the need to live discipline Christian lives. They rejected much of the Calvinistic ideas of the past. They laid stress upon personal works, without neglecting salvation by grace. Like the other restorational leaders of the past, they too were persecuted, mocked, and criticized. But today, many Christians acknowledge a real need to discipline their lives. Many Christians no longer take the grace of God in vain. They work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

Many in the holiness camp saw that there were still things lacking in their lives--primarily power. They lived separated from the world, but they lack supernatural power. So it was that the fourth reformation began in January 1901 at the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Students who were studying the subject of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, and spending time in prayer, discovered that they lacked the Bible experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. As they began to seek God for this experience God graciously met their faith. He filled them with the Holy Ghost with the Biblical evidence of speaking in other tongues. At that time, a young lady named Agnes Ozman was reported to have been the first student to receive the experience, followed by several other students and their teacher, Charles Fox Parham.

One man who received the infilling, left the school and began preaching this new-found experience in Los Angeles, California in a small church on 312 Azusa Street. He was the first black man to lead a restorational movement, his name was William Seymour. God sovereignty poured out His Spirit in this great revival for three years, from 1906 thru 1909.

Since the days of the early apostles, there are recordings throughout history of men and women speaking in other tongues. For centuries there had been testimonies of some of these same manifestations among groups such as the Huguenots in France and Irvingites in England. And to those who met at Azusa Street it was viewed as a sign of the restoration of true New Testament Christianity. The revival lasted for three years, with several services daily. Under the pastorate of William Seymour, thousands learned of the revival and were drawn to the meeting. They all came together in worship: men, women, children, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, illiterate, and educated. The message was the love of God, and unity and equality were priority. Author Frank Bartleman noted, "The 'color line' was washed away by the Blood."

Today, millions of people have received the Pentecostal experience of being baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This truth is firmly established in the Bible.

http://www.forministry.com/USOKPENTEMMM1/ChurchHistory.dsp

Steve, I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Elder Greg Madden
http://www.forministry.com/USOKPENTEMMM1