THEOLOGICAL ROOTS OF PENTECOSTALISM

by Donald W. Dayton

Pentecostalism has been with us now for three quarters of a century.

But in spite of the scholarship of recent years, the origins and
background of this movement are still unclear. This is in part due to the
fact that most interpretations-whether historical, theological, psy-
chological, or sociological-have focused on Pentecostalism's most
distinctive feature, the practice of "speaking in tongues" or "glosso-
lalia." This orientation not only obscures the fact that Pentecostalism
asserts a distinctive gestalt of broader theological ideas, but makes
difficult any effort to contextualize the movement-whether historically
or theologically.

lThis essay is a slightlyrevised version of a paper originallyread in the "Free Church

Studies" section of the AmericanAcademy of Religionannual meeting, October 26,1974.
It is a preliminary report on a dissertation of the same title in the theologydepartment of
the DivinitySchool of the Universityof Chicagoprojected for completionin late 1978. For
related preliminary studies see "From 'Christian Perfection' to the 'Baptism of the Holy
Ghost' " in H. Vinson Synon (editor), Aspects of Pentecostal-CharismaticOrigins (Plain- '
field, N.J.: Logos International, 1975, originally a paper presented before the 1973
meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies: "Asa Mahan and the Development of
AmericanHoliness, Theology,"Wesleyan TheologicalJournal 9 (Spring,1974), 60-69, an
abridgement of a paper read before the 1973meeting of the WesleyanTheologicalSociety;
"The Evolutionof Pentecostalism," The CovenantQuarterly32 (August,1974), 28-40;and,
"The Doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Its Emergence and Significance,'
WesleyanTheologicalJournal 13 (Spring, 1978), 114-126, a revisionof a paper read at the ,
1977 meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society.
Donald W Dayton (Ph.D.,University of Chicago)is Librarian and Assistant Professor
of Historical Theology at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Illinois.

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Toward A Theological Definition:

Pentecostalism has understood itself to proclaim a "full gospel."

The elements of this "full gospel" are spelled out in the "foursquare" .
gospel of Aimee Semple McPherson's International Church of the Four-
square Gospel:
Perhaps the simplest Scriptural summary possible of Four-
square faith and experience would be the testimony, "Jesus
saves us according to John 3:16. He baptizes us with the Holy
Spirit according to Acts 2:4. He heals our bodies according to
James 5:15-15. And Jesus is coming again to receive us unto
Himself according to I Thessalonians 4:16-17."1
These "four fundamental teachings" have, in the words of Stanley
Horton of the Assemblies of God, "received special emphasis and
illumination by the Holy Spirit during the present-day pentecostal
revivaL"2 They can be found with little variation in nearly all branches of
the movement, including the more recent "charismatic movement" of
the last decade or so. The situation is somewhat more complicated in the
"holiness" branches of Pentecostalism which add the experience of
"entire sanctification"-but the reasons for this variation will emerge in
the course of this study.
These four fundamental teachings are bound together by a series of
sub-themes. The revivalist understanding of "conversion" or"salvation"
is the presupposition of the whole movement and serves well to place it
within its proper milieu. This experience of "salvation" is bound to the
"Baptism of the Holy Spirit" by a distinctive hermeneutic that in-
ternalizes or subjectivizes the events of the Heilsgeschichte, requiring
that each be replicated in the life of the individual believer. Or, in the
words of Assemblies of God historian William Menzies:

lThis is apparently the formulation of compiler Raymond L. Cox in Aimee Semple

McPherson, The Four-Square Gospel (Los Angeles: Foursquare Publications, 1969).
Similar expositions occur variously in Pentecostal literature. Cf. George Jeffreys, The '
Miraculous Four Square Gospel(London: Elim Pub. Co., 1929).
'
2 Cf.Into All Truth (Springfield.MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1955), which in eight
chapters devotes two each (One on the Old Testament and one on the New) to expounding
these four themes. This quote is on page 13, but cf. also the concluding chapter on "Our
Full Gospel Heritage."

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 The Pentecostal Movement is that group of sects within the
Christian Church which is characterized by the belief that the
occurrence mentioned in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost not
only signalled the birth of the church, but described an ex-
perience available to believers in all ages. The experience of an
enduement with power, called the "baptism in the Holy Spirit"
is believed to be evidenced by the accompanying sign of
"speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance."I
This claim leads quickly to another theme: the restoration of New
Testament Christianity. The availability of the fulness of the Pente-
costal experience to the believer today sweeps away the importance of
the intervening years since Pentecost and calls for the restoration of the
"Apostolic Faith" (the earliest name by which the Pentecostal Move-
ment was known).2 This raises the question of the place today of the
"supernatural" occurrences (tongues, healing, miracles, etc.) reported in
the New Testament. Pentecostalism at this point flies directly in the face
of the "Princeton theology" that gave foundamentalism its basic
theological formulation. B. B. Warfield, for example, insisted that such
occurrences ceased with the close of the Apostolic era.3 Pentecostalism,

lAnointed to Serve (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1971). This basic
definition of Pentecostalism is endorsed as well by David W. Faupel, The American
Pentecostal Movement (Wilmore, KY: B. L. Fisher Library of Asbury Theological
Seminary, 1972), a very helpful guide to the literature of Pentecostalism. This hermen-
eutic may be traced at least as far back as pietism. Cf. Claude Welch,Protestant Thoughtin
the Nineteenth Century, VoLI, 1799-1870 (New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1972), p.
28. It resurfaces in Methodism, but finds perhaps its fullest development in the "holiness
movement" where the exodus from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings,and entry into the
promised land are exegeted typologically in terms of the "second blessing." Cf. for
example, Martin Wells Knapp, Out of Egypt Into Cancan: Ur, Lessons in Spiritual
Geography(Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe, 1887-but recently reprinted by the Book
Nook of Phoenix, Arizona).
2Notice the prominence of this theme in Frank Bartleman's "eyewitnessaccount" of
the Azusa Street Revival,How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles(Los Angeles: the author,
1925) where he speaks of contact with the holiness body operating under the name of the
"New Testament Church" and in the early Assemblies of God account by B. F. Laurence,
The ApostolicFaith Restored (SL Louis: Gospel Publishing House, 1916).
3Warfield's position is developed in CounterfeitMiracles (most recently reprinted in
London: Banner of Truth Trust, 19 7 2).Tracing the objects of Warfield's most severe
polemics is perhaps the best clue to the traditions and teachings that lie behind Pente-
costalism. On the broader context and figures cf. Warfields' two vols. on Perfectionism
(New York:Oxford UP, 1931).Most of the relevant essays from this set also appear in the
one volume abridgement (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.,
1958).

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however, looks for the renewal of these gifts today-especially the gift of
healing.
But this position immediately raises the difficult question of the
status of the forms of Christianity during the intervening nearly two
millenia. Some Pentecostals attempted to demonstrate the preservation
of "Apostolic Faith" throughout the whole of church history in small
esoteric subcultures, but the mere characteristic solution of classical
Pentecostalism was based on the "Latter Rain Covenant." This requires
a spiritualization of the pattern of physical rainfall in Palestine. There is
the "early rain" that comes at planting times and the "latter rain" that
prepares the grain for harvest. When this scheme is used to interpret
church history, Pentecost is the "early rain" or initial outpouring of the
Pentecostal Movement is the manifestation of the "latter rain" that
prepares the people of God for the final harvest at the return of Christ 1
By this solution classical Pentecostalism not only attempted to restore
the New Testament expectation of the imminent return of Christ, but
actually turned the newness of this theme into an apologetic argument.
These, then, are the "four fundamental teachings" of Pente-
costalism and something of the cement of minor themes that bond the
basic teachings into a whole. This exposition indicates something of the
complexity of the theological claims of Pentecostalism and provides a
profounder understanding of the character of the movement than would
be achieved by concentrating on the experience of glossolalia. But this
exposition also permits us to sketch the history of the rise of the complex
of ideas that eventuated in Pentecostalism.

lThis somewhat neglected theme has with the maturation of Pentecostalism tended
to fall into the background, but it dominates the early literature. Cf. the equation of the
term with pentecostalism in a chapter on the "Wonderful History of the Latter Rain" by
Miss LilianThistlethwaite in The Lifeof CharlesF. Parham, Founder of the ApostolicFaith
Moucrncnt(Joplin, MO: Tri-State Printing Co., 1930, reprinted in 1969. The classic
statement of the doctrine with charts of Palestinian rainfall and a setting of the date of
Christ's return cf. David Wesley Myland, The Latter Rain Covenantand PentecostalPower
(Chicago: Evangel Publishing House, 1910. David Faupel of Asbury Theological
Seminaryis workingon a project that willattempt to interpret the rise and development of
Pentecostalism from the perspective of this theme. For antecedents of the theme in earlier
movements cf. "The Latter Rain," a poem by A B. Simpson reprinted in Songsof theSpirit
(Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, n.d.) and a chapter on "The Latter Rain" in
George D. Watson, Types of the Holy Spirit (Cincinnati: Revivalist Office, 1898-still in
print in a joint volume with Watson's The HeavenlyLife).

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The Question of Methodist Roots Of These Teachings:

H. Vinson Synan has suggested that we seek the origins of Pente-

costalism in Methodism. It is easy to overstate this case. Aside from a
couple of references, Wesley seems to have had little interest in "divine
healing." And, though the question is disputed, it is almost impossible to
force Wesley's eschatological teachings into the framework of Pente-
costal premillenialism. Nor did Wesley, as W. J. Hollenweger claims,
make a "distinction between the sanctified, or those who had been
baptized in the Spirit, and ordinary Christians,"1 though here we are
closer to the truth. Wesley advocated a doctrine of "Christian Per-
fection" but steadfastly resisted any doctrine of a "baptism of the Holy
Spirit."2 Wesley did, however, move toward an explication of "entire
sanctification" in terms of a second crisis, but this crisis was for Wesley
firmly embedded in a process of gradual sanctification and was de-
veloped along Christological rather than Pneumatological lines.
Yet Wesley did give major impetus to patterns that were to climax a
century and a half later in Pentecostalism. The Evangelical Revival was
concerned to recover the dynamic of "Primitive Christianity," empha-
sized a "piety of conversion," and saw examples of "motor phenomena"
and other expressions of intense religious experience. But what is more
important is that, although Wesley firmly resisted the development, his
formulation of the doctrine of Christian Perfection was susceptible to
translation into "Pentecostal Language." This took place early on in the
thinking of John Fletcher who described his difference from Wesley in
the following terms:

I would distinguish more exactly between the believers

baptized with the Pentecostal power of the Holy Ghost, and the
believer who, like the Apostles after our Lord's ascension, is not
yet filled with that power.33
lThe Pentecostals (MinneapolisP Augsburg,1972), p. 21.

2 Onthis point cf. Herbert McGonigle,"Pneumatological Nomenclaturein

Early Methodism," WesleyanTheologicalJournal vm (Spring, 1973), 61-72.
3This is from a letter of March 7, 1778 from Fletcher to Mary Bosanquet,
reprinted in Luker Tyerman, Wesley'sDesignatedSuccessor(London: Hodder
and Stoughton, 1882), pp. 411-12.

7
But this difference depended on a deeper transformation of Wesley's
categories. Fletcher divided the history of God's revelation and dealings
with men into three dispensations, each identified with a person of the
Trinity. This formulation sees Pentecost as the inauguration of the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit and gives prominence to an "Age of the
Spirit." But Fletcher went on to suggest that the Heilsgeschichte is to be
replicated in the life of the believer as well. The Christian enters the
experience of the Holy Spirit dispensation by the "baptism of the Holy
Spirit" in which "He is a Comforter, not only with, but in us."l
Such a formulation is already well on the way to the basic thought
patterns of Pentecostalism. And it appears that Fletcher and Fletcher's
editor and biographer Joseph Benson both moved solidly in this
direction. In fact, a pamphlet by Benson on the "baptism of the Holy
Ghost" seems to have been a major factor in fomenting the "Calvinistic
Controversy" within Methodism that resulted 'winthe split between
Wesley and Whitefield's followers.2 But Wesley fought to prevent this
transformation of his teachings, warning Benson "to abstain from
speaking of ... Mr. Fletcher's late discovery."3 Wesley objected to this
formulation because it tended to speak of entire sanctification as
"receiving the Holy Ghost." In Wesley's thought "the phrase in that
sense is not scriptural and not quite proper, for they all 'received the
Holy Ghost' when they were justified."4 Wesley seems to have won out in
this controversy. Fletcher's "New discovery" and "Pentecostal lan-
guage" receded into the background in early Methodism and did not
emerge again for most of a century-and then on the American scene.

lOn Fletcher's reformulation of Wesley and the importance of the doctrine of

"dispensations" cf. John Allan Knight, "John William Fletcher and the Early Methodist
Tradition" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1966). Some of the
results of this study are summarized in more popular and accessible form in Knight's The
HolinessPilgrimage(Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1973): The quotation is from
this last work, p. 68.
2Letter of Fletcher dated March 22,1771, reprinted in Tyerman,Wesley'sDesignated
Successor, pp. 179-80. Extensive-efforts to locate the pamphlet in question have failed.
3 Letterof Wesley toBenson dated March 9, 1771,available in John Telford (ed.), The
Letters of the Rev. John Wesley,A.M., Vol. V (London: Epworth Press, 1931), p. 228.
Knight argues that this '`new discovery" of Fletcher was the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
4Letter of Wesley to Benson dated December 28, 1770, available in Telford, Vol.V,
pp. 214-215.

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The American Reaffirmation Of Christian Perfection:

According to John Peters, the doctrine of Christian Perfection was

present but not prominent in early American Methodist thought and
practice.1 Bu 1800 or so it had fallen into disuse. But the doctrine was
reasserted in the 1820's and 1830's when it had a natural affinity with the
optimistic utopianism and social reform movements of pre-Civil War
America. This renewed emphasis on the doctrine took place primarily in
the circles surrounding the Guide to Holiness, Phoebe Palmer's "Tues-
day Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness," and in the early years of
Oberlin College under the influence of President Asa Mahan and
Evangelist and Theologian Charles G. Finney.2
This new expression of "Christian Perfection" differed in nuance
from Wesley's formulation. Its context in American revivalism and its
removal from the restraints of the Church of England and British Society
contributed to a new intensity and a narrowing of focus on this particular
experience. This American "perfectionism" was in effect the product of a
subtle synthesis of Wesleyanism and the revivalism of Finney. Phoebe
Palmer's restatement of the doctrine picked up the emphasis on "now"
in Finneyite revivalism and insisted that the blessing could be received
instantaneously by the act of "placing all on the altar." The result was a
shift from the goal-oriented formulation of Wesley ("having the mind of
Christ in you") to an experience of a "second blessing" that tended to
drop out the emphasis on the gradual work of sanctification.3
1ChristianPerfectionand AmericanMethodism(NewYork: AbingdonPress,1956), p.
188. But Peters gives little attention to themes of interest to this study.
2Among the basic studies of the "holiness movement" that emerged from these
currents are my bibliographicintroduction, The American HolinessMovement(Wilmore,
KY: B. L. Fisher Library of Asbury Theological Seminary, 1971), Melvin Dieter,
"Revivalism and Holiness" (Unpublished PhD. dissertation, Temple University, 1972);
and Charles E. Jones, PerfectionistPersuasion (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1974).
For bibliography see Charles Jones, A Guide to the Study of the Holiness Movement
(Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1974). Cf. also the early chapters of Timothy
Smith, Called Unto Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1962).
3There has been little real effort to define the shifts in nuance between Britain and _
American and between the 18th and 19th centuries in the expression of "Christian
Perfection." Cf., however, chapters III & IV in John Peters, Christian Perfection and
American Methodism (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956); chapter II in Melvin Kieter,
"Revivalism and Holiness" (Unpublished PhD. dissertation, Temple University, 1972)
and some of the material in H. Ray Dunning, "Nazarene Ethics," (Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1969).

9-
 It is quite clear that the sources for this renewal of Christian
Perfection, whether at Oberlin or in Phoebe Palmer's circles, were
Wesley and Fletcher But it is equally clear that the early decades of this
movement were dominated by a more Wesleyan formulation of the
doctrine that was radically Christocentric in character, relied on texts
advocating "perfection" (and neglecting the book of Acts), had a highly
ethical and moral content, etc. The determinitive.and typical expression
of the doctrine during this period was Asa Mahan's Scripture Doctrine of
Christian Perfection 1839), published by the editor of the Guide to
Holiness.2
But the shifts in nuance in the American expression of the doctrine
prepared the way for the emergence of a formulation more along the lines
of Fletcher's restatement of Wesleyan theology. This shift to "Pente-
costal" terminology seems to have taken place first at Oberlin in the
writings of the other, more obscure members of the theological faculty. In
1840 the Oberlin Evangelist carries two sermons by Henry Cowles on the
"Baptism of the Holy Ghost." In the second of these Cowles argued that
"the plan of salvation contemplates as its prime object, the sanctifica-
tion of the Church; and relies on the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the
great efficient power for accomplishing the work."3 But in 1845 John
Morgan published two articles in the first volume of the Oberlin Quarterly
Review that seem to be the first major expression in America of the
doctrine of the "baptism of the Holy Ghost." At the same time these two
articles indicate an unresolved tension that was to plague the advocates
of the doctrine for the rest of the century. The first of these, "The
Holiness Acceptable to God." spells out the nature of holiness without
developing it as a work of the Holy Spirit. But llilorgan's second essay,
"The Gift of the Holy Spirit," argued that "the baptism of the Holy

lThis is indicated in a somewhat negative manner a statement that "Not Wesley,not

Fletcher, not Finney, not Mahan, not Upham, but the Bible, the Holy Bible, is the first and
last, and in the midst always"in GeorgeHughes,Fragrant Memoriesof theTuesday Meeting
and the Guide to Holiness (New York. Palmer & Hughes, 1886, p. 4
2For more detail on this book and its relationship to what followed cf. my essay on
"From 'Christian Perfection' to the 'Baptism of the Holy Ghost': a Study in the Origins of
Pentecostalism," in H. Vinson Synan (ed), Aspectsof Pentecostaland Charismatic Origins
(Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 19 7 5)and "Asa Mahan and the Development of American
Holiness Theology," Wesleyan TheologicalJournal IX (Spring, 1974), 60-69.
3The Oberlin Evangelist II 1840), p. 93.

10
 Ghost, then in its Pentecostal fullness, was not to be confined to the
Primitive Church; but is the common privilege of all believes."l But in
this essay the idea of perfection falls into the background to give place to
an enduement of power as the result of the "baptism."
But this early Oberlin expression of the new doctrine did not take
fire-at least right away. Other forces meanwhile began to focus
attention on "Pentecost" as well. Mid and late-19th century saw an in-
creasing crescendo of books on the Holy Spirit and the imagery of Pente-
cost. One can trace the rise of these themes in both Britain and America
during the 1850's-though for the most part the longing is for a "new
Pentecost" as a general "baptism" of the Spirit and not for an individual
Pentecost. This tendency was perhaps epitomized in a book by William
Arthur that was constantly reprinted for the rest of the century. British
Methodist Arthur concluded his The Tongue of Fire (1856) with a prayer:
And now, adorable Spirit ... renew the Pentecost in this our
age, and baptize thy people generally-O, baptize them yet
again with tongues of fire! Crown this nineteenth century with a
revival of "pure and undefiled religion" greater than that of the
last century, greater than that of the first, greater than any .
"demonstration of the Spirit" ever yet vouchsafed to men.2
Within a year or so, Arthur's prayer was to some degree answered in
the outbreak of the revival of 1857-58. Though somewhat neglected by
historians, this revival is important in this study for several reasons: (1)
It "spread abroad the ideals of the Holiness and Perfectionist Move-
ments" through the efforts of Phoebe Palmer within Methodism and
beyond, but also through Baptist A. B. Earle, Presbyterian W. E.
Boardman (author of the extremely popular ?'he Higher Christian Life of
1858), Quaker Hannah Whitall Smith and her husband Robert Pearsall
Smith, and others.3 (2) This revival was suffused through and through

lThe OberlinQuarterlyReviewI (August,1845),115. This essay was later published in

pamphlet form with an introduction by Finney (Oberlin: Goodrich, 1875).
2 WilliamArthur, The Tongueof Fire: Or, the True Power of Christianity(New York:
Harper & Bros., 1856).
3For more about these figures see the books in note 16. J. Edwin Orr is the only
historian to have devoted major attention to this revival. His most recent effort is The
Fervent Prayer (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974). Orr has recently become more aware of the
Palmers and other holiness leaders in this revival, but the issue needs more work. For
further clues cf. Melvin Dieter, "Revivalism and Holiness."

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with the imagery of Pentecost, (3) From this revival we may date the
first widespread propagation of a doctrine of a "Pentecostal baptism of
the Holy Ghost" as a definite second experience to be sought by all
believers.
This last point was the work of Phoebe Palmer who was at the height
of her influence during this period. The Revival broke out under the
ministry of the Palmers in Canada in 1857 and was carried by them to the
British Isles. Perhaps under the influence of Arthur's book Phoebe
Palmer adopted during this period the "Pentecostal" formulation of the
holiness teaching that she had been promoting for some two decades. In
her letter/reports from Newcastle she indicated that "we talked about
the endowment of power, the full baptism of the Holy Ghost, as the
indispensable, ay, absolute necessity of all the disciples of Jesus."2 Or
'
again a month later, but still in Newcastle, she reported that "at our
afternoon meetings, 'holiness unto the Lord,' or, in other words, the full
baptism of the Holy Spirit, as received by the one hundred and twenty
disciples on the day of Pentecost, is set forth as the absolute necessity of
all believers of every name."3 About the same time was published
Phoebe Palmer's Promise of the Father in which the "Pentecostal"
orientation is full blown, but where it is bent to a defense of the right of
women to preach. This argument is based on Pentecost and the Acts 2
quotation from the prophet Joel that predicts that "your sons and
daughters shall prophecy."4 Here are the seeds of the "latter rain" argu-
ment Even though women have not been allowed to preach down
through the ages of the church, they did in the New Testament and are
being restored to that role as a "specialty of the last days."
But it was still another decade before the appearance of the

1 Illustrativeof this would be Pentecost: Or, the Work of God in Philadelphia, .4.. D.
1858 (Philadelphia: Perry McMillan, 1859).
2These letters were printed in the Guideto Holinessand then collected as Four Years
in the Old World(NewYork: Walter C. Palmer, Jr., 1870).This quotation is on p. 76 (letter
of Sept. 16, 1859).
3Ibid., p. 107 (letter of October 12, 1859).
4Promise of theFather (Boston: Henry V. Degen, 1859). One of the most interesting
sidelights on the development of "Pentecostal" language is its close connection with an
unusual argument for the right of women to preach. For more detail about this cf. Lucille
Sider Dayton and Donald W. Dayton, "Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: Feminism in the
Holiness Movement," Methodist History October, 1975.

12
definitive statement of this new doctrine. Oberlin's Asa Mahan, how
president of Adrian College in Michigan, began to preach on the doctrine
to students in the mid-1960's. The response encouraged him to seek to
publish The Baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1870. Phoebe Palmer was at
first reluctant to publish the work under the auspices of the Guide to
Holiness but finally acceded to Mahan's argument that "in this work the
doctrine of entire sanctification is presented in a form old and yet new.
For this reason a new interest in the whole subject will be excited."1 1
Apparently Mahan was right. Less than a dozen years later he was able to
report that "it has been very extensively circulated in America, in Great
Britain. and in all missionary lands; and has been translated into the
German and Dutch languages."2

Comparison with Mahan's earlier work on Christian Perfection

1839) indicates how radical a theological transformation has taken place
with the adoption of the "Pentecostal" language. The former is radically
Christocentric. The latter tends to subordinate the work of Christ to the
Holy Spirit. In the earlier book the Heilsgeschichte is divided into two
"covenants" separated by the Atonement of Christ. In the later book the
division is into "dispensations"-and history climaxes in the Spirit
whose age is inaugurated by Pentecost. There is a nearly complete shift
in exegetical foundations: the first book rarely refers to the book of Acts,
but the second is given its character by a series of texts from Acts.
Attention is focused on Acts 1:8 ("ye shall receive power," after than the
Holy Ghost is come upon you"), bringing the idea of "power" to the fore.
And so forth.33

lTwo interesting letters from Mahan to Phoebe Palmer about the publication of this
volume may be found in Rose MemorialLibrary, Drew University.This quotation is from a
letter dated May 4 (perhaps 7 or 9), 1870.
2 AsaMahan Autobiography,Intellectua? Moral and Spiritual (London: T. Woolmer, '
1882), p. 414.
6For a more detailed comparison of these books cf. material cited in note 2, p. 8.

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The Wider. Impact Of This Doctrine:

After 1870 one can trace the rapid spread of this doctrine through-
out the more revivalistic side of evangelicalism until its dominance at the
turn of the century. The new Pentecostal language gained ground
especially in the holiness circles out of which it emerged. By 1897 the
Guide to Holiness added as a subtitle "and Pentecostal Life" in response
to the "signs of the times" which indicated that " `The Pentecostal idea'
is pervading Christian thought and aspiration more than ever before." 1
The same theme dominated other centers of holiness thought and
influence: The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene wrote it into her new
articles of religion; Henry Clay Morrison published the Pentecostal
Herald out of Asbury College in Wilmore, KY: God's Revivalist and the
related Bible School and publisher in Cincinnati were permeated with
the Pentecostal language; Methodist evangelist S. A. Keen held "Pente-
costal meetings" in annual conferences throughout the Methodist
Episcopal Church; Free Methodists struggled with "Pentecostal Bands"
under the leadership of Vivian Dake; and so on.
There was, however, a variation on this response within the holiness
movement. While most holiness traditions followed Asa Mahan in re-
expressing the doctrine of "entire sanctification" in terms of Pentecost,
some retained the doctrine in its classical form and added the "baptism
of the Holy Ghost" as a "third work of grace." This was the pattern
especially in the American South and Southeast where the teachings of
B. H. Irwin had great impact. This is the strand whose story is told in
Vinson Synan's book, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement 2
But the doctrine of the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" spread far
beyond the boundaries of the holiness movement strictly conceived. In
these new contexts where the holiness doctrine of"entire sanctification"
was either unknown or had been resisted, the doctrine was permitted to
work out the logic of the texts in Acts and become understood primarily
as an "enduement of power." Finney and the Oberlin School after

1"Pentecost-What Is It?" Guide to Holiness LXVI (January, 1897), p. 37.

2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), especially Chap. III on "Fire-Baptized Way."

- 14-
Mahan's departure tended to move in this direction. When Oberlin was
finally reconciled to orthodox Congregationalism, Finney addressed the
Oberlin Council of Congregationalism (1871) on the "Baptism of the
Holy Ghost." 1 But by this time the torch of revivalistic leadership had
been passed on to D. L. Moody. In response to the appeal of two Free
Methodist women, Moody struggled with the doctrine in 1871 just
before he was launched into his international career as a revivalist.2 The
teaching was present but muted during Moody's career, but broke out in
full force in his successor, R. A. Torrey, president of Moody Bible
Institute.3 The Keswick Movement that emerged in England in the
1870's and was brought back to the United States via Moody's North-
field Conferences was also influenced by the doctrine. Mahan had led
very popular seminars on the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" at both the
Oxford and Brighton meetings that gave the original impetus to the
formation of Keswick.4 We could go on, but we will mention only three
more important advocates of the doctrine: (1) Baptist A. J. Gordon,
founder of Gordon College, advocated the doctrine in a more restrained
form;5 (2) Andrew Murray, missionary from Scotland to South Africa
and a popular Keswick teacher, developed a form of the teaching as a
result of the influence of W. E. Boardman and holiness "missionary

1 Perhaps the kernel of "Enduement of Power," published as appendix to the British

editions of Mahan's books.
2The importance of this event for Moody is disputed. Its occurrence is reported in
William R. Moody, The Life of Dwight L. Moody (New York: Revell, 1900 and in R. A.
Torrey, WhyGod UsedD. L. Moody(Chicago: Moody Bible Institute,1923). For Moody'ss
ownteachings on the subject of SecretPower (Chicago: Revell, 1881)and two addresses in
the first volume of Northfield Echoes (1894).
3 Torrey'smajor statement is in The Baptism with the HolySpirit (NewYork: Revell,
1895),but the theme dominates ThePerson and Workof theHolySpirit (NewYork: Revell,
1910), and The Holy Spirit (New York: Revell, 1927).

4 Account ofthe UnionMeetingfor the Promotionof ScripturalHolinessHeld at Oxford,

Aug.29 to Sept. 7, 1874 (various publishers, n.d.), p. 141, and Record of the
Convention for
the Promotion of Scriptural Holinessheld at Brighton, May 29 to June 7, 1875 (Brighton:
W. J. Smith, n.d.), p. 383.
5 Cf. Gordon,The Two-foldLife ( Chicago:Revell, 1883) and TheMinistryof the Spirit
(American Baptist Publication Society, 1894).

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bishop" William Taylor; and (3) Presbyterian A. B. Simpson, founder of
the Christian and Missionary Alliance, became perhaps the most
2
important non-holiness advocate of the doctrine.2
The importance of all of this is not just that a doctrine of the
"Baptism of the Holy Ghost" was wide-spread at the turn of the century,
but that this particular doctrine is the core around which the other
elements of the Pentecostal "four-fold" gospel gather. This is quite clear
with regard to healing, pre-millenialism, and the practice of glossolalia.

The Rise Of The Doctrine Of "Divine Healing":

Finneyite revivalism had emphasized "the prayer of faith" and the

necessity of specificity and confidence in prayer. 3 This teaching had
affinity with the idea of "faith missions" and "faith work" that began-to
develop in the 19th century. Out of this milieu developed the doctrine of
"faith-cure" or "divine healing"-a doctrine that took root well in
"holiness soil." The reasons for this are expressed by R. Kelso Carter
who found that "I began to believe that a Divine Master not only took
upon himself my sins, but also bore my bodily sicknesses, and that I
might, through simple faith, be freed from the latter; just as well as from
the former." 4 Carter self-consciously paralleled "full salvation from sin"
and healing, suggesting that the instantaneous character of "entire
sanctification" indicated the possibility of instantaneous divine healing.
Carter went so far as to insist that:

1 Cr. Murray, The Spirit of Christ (New York A. D. F.

RandQlph,1888) and The Full
Blessing of Pentecost (New York Revell, 1908).
2 Cf. Simpson's 2 vols. on The Holy Spirit Or, Power From 'on High (New York
Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1924). This is not the first edition.
3 Cf. C. G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of
Religion,ed. by William G. McLoughlin
(Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 1960), pp. 72-88.
4 R. Kelson Carter, TheAtonementfor Sin and Sickness: Or,A Full Salvation for Soul
and Body (Boston: Willard Tract Repository, 1884), p. 2.

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 It is a remarkable fact, that on one has ever been known to seek
the healing power for the body, without receiving a distinct
spiritual blessing; and further, that everyone known to the
writer (a very large number), who has been entirely healed in
body, is or has become a believer in and professor of entire
sanctification of seoul 1

When the doctrine of "entire sanctification was transmitted into the

"baptism of the Holy Ghost," this emphasis was carried along and given
new grounding in the restoration of "New Testament Christianity" which
expected to see the "gift of healing" as a manifestation of the "power"
bestowed by the Pentecostal baptism.
As a result of this development healing was taught in much of the
holiness movement by the end of the century-even though leaders of
the National Campmeeting Association attempted to discourage it in
official meetings. The doctrine of "divine healing" tended to be
emphasized in those contexts that most affirmed the "Pentecostal"
formulation of the holiness teaching. The Nazarenes wrote it into their .
first statement of faith-and it found a firm place in such places as
Cincinnati and Wilmore, Kentucky. Asa Mahan reported the healing of
his wife, and even John Inskip, first president of the National Camp-
meeting Association, reported a similar experience. And nearly every
figure mentioned above in the "larger holiness movement" wrote a book
on healing, including R. A. Torrey, A. J. Gordon, A. B. Simpson, and
Andrew Murray.2

The Rise of Pre-Millennialism

A similar development took place with regard to the doctrine of

"Pre-millennialism." Here, though, the fusion of doctrines is even more
remarkable. Pre-Civil War American perfectionism out of which the

lIbid., p. 38.
2 Cf. R. A.
Torrey, DivineHealing (Chicago: Revell, 1924), A. J. Gordon,The Ministry
of Healing (Boston: Howard Gannett, 1882), A. B. Simpson, The Gospelof Healing(New
York: Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1888), and Andrew Murray, 3Divine Healing (New
York: Christ Alliance Pub. Co., 1900).

17
holiness movement emerged was fiercely "post-millennial" in character,
expecting to usher in the kingdom with reform efforts. How that
optimistic doctrine was transformed into the more pessimistic "pre-
millennialism" has not been adequately explained-though it has been
correlated with the impact of the Civil War and the collapse of the pre-
War dream of a Christian America under the impact of immigration,
industrialization and urbanization. But it is clear that the adoption of the
"Pentecostal" formulation of the holiness doctrine also prepared the way
for the rise of pre-millennialism in holiness ranks.
Making Acts 2 (with its emphasis on the prophecy of Joel) the
hermeneutical key to the whole of the Scriptures pushed the holiness
movement very far in the direction of a new emphasis on the "prophetic" .
interpretation of the Bible. The older exegetical defense of holiness
doctrine traced the idea of "perfection" through both Testaments. This .
approach permitted the direct appropriation of models of behavior from
the Old and the New Testaments. But a decisive significance given to
Pentecost precludes this direct appropriation of the Old Testament
which must now be viewed primarily as "promise" or "prophecy" of the
great event of Pentecost. This new "promise-fulfillment" reading of the
Scriptures pushed the holiness traditions toward the new prophecy
conference movement that began in the 1870's. 1
Pre-millennialism experienced more resistance than healing did from
within the holiness movement-from those most firmly grounded in pre-
Civil War perfectionism. But it is clear that, for the most part, those
groups that most vigorously adopted the new "Pentecostal" language
capitulated most readily to the rising tide of pre-millennialism. This was
true in Wilmore, Ky., Cincinnati, and most centers of the Church of the
Nazarene. The Pilgrim Holiness Church, perhaps the archetypal illus-
tration of nearly obsessive fascination with Pentecost, self-consciously
understood itself to stand for both healing and pre-millennialism over
against less radical facets of the movement.2 This was also true of the

1 These currents are sketched in Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970).

2 LeeHaines and Paul W.Thomas, AnDutline Historyof theWesleyanChurch (Marion,

Ind.: The Wesley Press, 1974), p. 118.

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figures in the "broader" holiness movement, most of whom also left
behind books in defense of the new eschatology. 1
The point of all this is not just to trace the rise of all these doctrines
but to show that most of the "four-square" gospel of Pentecostalism was,
therefore, widely taught in the post- Civil War revivalistic and holiness
traditions. These doctrines were not for the most part taught prior to the
Civil War, but captured much of the Evangelical world in the last three
decades of the l9th century. A. B. Simpson even advocated a "four-fold"
gospel that became the slogan of the emerging Christian and Missionary
Alliance.2 Simpson spoke of Christ as "Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and
Coming King." One has only to translate this into the pneumatological
framework and add speaking in tongues to produce the "Four-Square"
gospel of Pentecostalism. These shifts were already developing in
Simpson and his followers during the last decade of the 19th century.

The Capstone Doctrine Of "Speaking In Unknown Tongues":

The foundations had already been laid for the emergence of

glossolalia. One cannot long contemplate Acts 2 and related passages on
the "gifts of the Spirit" without at least raising questions about the
practice. Phoebe Palmer had early placed a premium on the testimony to
the experience of the "Pentecostal baptism." This was understood more
and more as "speaking as the Spirit gave utterance." Such expressions
could easily tend toward the sort of "possession by the Spirit" required
for glossolalia. Hannah Whitall Smith observed as well in the early .
1870's an intense longing for a physical manifestation that would ac-
company the "baptism" and give assurance of its reception.3 No doubt

1 A.J. Gordon, Ecce Venit Behold He Cometh (New York: Revell, 1889), and A. B.
Simpson, The ComingOne (New York: Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1890).
2A. B.Simpson,TheFour-FoldGospel(NewYork: Christian AlliancePub. Co.,1890).

3Cf. the posthumous papers of Hannah Whitall Smith edited by Ray Strachey as ,
ReligiousFanaticism (London: Faber & Gwyer, 1928).

- 19-
this concern for assurance was closely related to the sorts of subliminal
pessimism that provided the psychic basis for the shift from post-
millennialism to pre-millennialism.

But whatever the precise weight to be given to the various reasons

for the emergence of glossolalia, it is clear that one can document a
crescendo of incidents of the practice in the late 19th century within
holiness and revivalistic contexts.l A typical incident took place in 18811
at a holiness camp: .

One day right in the midst of a great sermon, a woman from

Carrol County, a holiness professor, sprawled out at full length
in the aisle. This, in itself, was not much to be thought of, for to
tumble over now and then was to be expected. But the un-
expected happened in this case. It kept some of the sisters busy
to keep her with a measurably decent appearance. Directly she
began to compose a jargon of words in rhyme and sing them
with a weird tune. She persisted till the service was spoiled and
the camp was thrown into a hubbub. Strange to say, the camp
was divided thereby. Some said it was a repetition of speaking
in unknown tongues as at Pentecost. But every preacher on the
ground without exception declared it to be of the deviL But the
camp was so divided in opinion that it had to be handled with
the greatest of care....2 2

This incident clearly indicates how the practice began to develop, the
sort of interpretation that naturally emerged, and the sharp divisions
that resulted.
The final emergence of the full expression of Pentecostalism
required only that this practice be recognized and cultivated as the
evidence of the reception of the "baptism of the Holy Ghost." This final

1 Fora list cf. Wm. Menzies, Anointed to Serve (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing
House, 1971), pp. 29-33.
2A. M. Kiergan,Historical Sketches of the Revivalof True Holiness and Local Church '
Polity (Fort Scott, KS: Church Advocate and Good Way, 1971), p. 31.

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step in the development of Pentecostal doctrine took place near Topeka,
Kansas, at Bethel Bible School under the leadership of holiness
evangelist, Charles Fox Parham.1 This addition to the complex of
Pentecostal ideas provided the authenticating sign and the psycholigical
dynamic that propelled the new movement into a well-prepared world
with a force that is far from being spent.

1 The Life of Charles F. Parham (Joplin, MO: Tri-State Printing Co., 1930.

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