Holiness Pentecostalism is the original branch of Pentecostalism, which is characterized by its teaching of three works of grace: [1] the New Birth (first work of grace), [2] entire sanctification (second work of grace), and [3] Spirit baptism evidenced by speaking in tongues (third work of grace). [1] [2]
Holiness Pentecostalism emerged under the work of ministers Charles Fox Parham and William Joseph Seymour, the latter of whom, beginning in 1906, led the Azusa Street Revival at the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission. [3] The testimony of those who attended the Azusa Street Revival was "I am saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost" in reference to the three works of grace taught by Holiness Pentecostals, the oldest branch of Pentecostalism. [1] According to church historian and theologian Ted A. Campbell, this three-part pattern is often explained by stating "Holy Spirit cannot fill an unclean vessel", so the cleansing of the heart that takes place in entire sanctification is necessary before a person can be filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit. Inheriting the Wesleyan-Holiness doctrine, Holiness Pentecostals teach entire sanctification is a definite second work of grace, accomplished in an instantaneous crisis experience, that cleanses the heart of the recipient from all sin and imparts to him/her the power to accomplish that to which he is called. It is evidenced by love for God and love for neighbour. [1] Holiness Pentecostals operate within the framework of Wesleyan (Methodist) theology with the exception of the uniquely Holiness Pentecostal belief in a third work of grace (traditional Wesleyan theology affirms two works of grace—the New Birth and entire sanctification). [4] William Joseph Seymour and Florence Crawford published The Apostolic Faith newsletter, which disseminated the teachings of the Holiness Pentecostal movement. [5]
Holiness Pentecostals teach that believers should dress and behave in a manner becoming unto holiness, and as such, historically, Holiness Pentecostals (such as the Apostolic Faith Church and Calvary Holiness Association) traditionally adhere to holiness standards, which include modest dress, as well as abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The holiness standards vary based on the group and while many Holiness Pentecostal denominations such as the Apostolic Faith Church have specific 'holiness standards', other denominations in the present-day, such as the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, have general principles of living contained in their covenant. [6] [7]
Holiness Pentecostals are distinguished from Finished Work Pentecostals, the other branch of Pentecostalism that separated from Holiness Pentecostalism after William Howard Durham in 1910 began to promulgate his view that "salvation and sanctification occurred for the believer at the time of conversion". [8] [9]
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Pentecostal Christianity was established under the work of Charles Fox Parham and William Joseph Seymour. [3] Charles Fox Parham was originally a Wesleyan-Holiness preacher, and in 1901, under his ministry "a student had spoken in tongues (glossolalia)" and Parham thought this to be evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. [3] Parham established a Bible school to train students in what he called the "Apostolic Faith" (Holiness Pentecostalism). [3] William Joseph Seymour, originally a Holiness Restorationist minister in the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), met Charles Fox Parham in Texas through Lucy F. Farrow and there, Parham encouraged Seymour to attend his classes. [3] Seymour did this and then accepted Parham's teaching of a third work of grace (Spirit Baptism evidenced by speaking in tongues). [3]
At the home of Richard Asberry on Bonnie Brae Street in April 1906, Seymour and other Christians spent a month fasting and praying, after which they received the third work of grace. [3] Word spread of this and crowds began to gather to hear Seymour's preaching. [3] To accommodate the increasingly large number of people who wished to attend these services, William Joseph Seymour secured a deconsecrated African Methodist Episcopal church on Azusa Street, which they renamed as the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission. [3] There, church services lasted into the nighttime. [3] The Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission had a lower room where people became entirely sanctified and an upper room where people prayed to receive the third work of grace. William Joseph Seymour would only let believers who had received the second work of grace (entire sanctifiation) into the upper room. [1] At the Azusa Street Revival, the testimony of those who attended the Azusa Street Revival was "I am saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost". [1] The reporter Frank Bartleman wrote that "Pentecost has come to Los Angeles, the American Jerusalem." [3]
William Joseph Seymour and Florence Crawford published a newsletter titled The Apostolic Faith to spread word of Holiness Pentecostal teaching; this was distributed at no cost to recipients. [10] At that time, the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission held three services a day, all days of the week, and there "thousands of seekers received the baptism of speaking in tongues." [10] When Florence Crawford moved to Portland, she began the Apostolic Faith Church there. [5]
Most of the first generation of Pentecostals were from this holiness stream that had its roots in Methodism. ... When the Pentecostal movement began, these "Holiness Pentecostals" simply added the baptism in the Holy Spirit with tongues as "initial evidence" of a "third blessing" that brought power for witnessing to those who had already been sanctified. With the news tongues experience, sanctification was seen as a prerequisite "cleansing" that qualified the seeker to experience the "third blessing" of baptism in the Holy Spirit. An early prophetic utterance stated ominously that "My Spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple." Seekers were encouraged to abandon all the roots of bitterness and original sin so that nothing would block their reception of the Spirit. In fact, it was told that Seymour would not admit seekers to enter the upper room to seek the baptism until he was satisfied that their sanctification experience had been certified downstairs. The historic Azusa Street testimony was "I am saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost."
Those who resisted Durham's teaching and remained in the 'three-stage' camp were Seymour, Crawford and Parham, and Bishops Charles H. Mason, A. J. Tomlinson and J. H. King, respectively leaders of the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God (Cleveland) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Tomlinson and King each issued tirades against the 'finished work' doctrine in their periodicals, but by 1914 some 60 percent of all North American Pentecostals had embraced Durham's position. ... The 'Finished Work' controversy was only the first of many subsequent divisions in North American Pentecostalism. Not only did Pentecostal churches split over the question of sanctification as a distinct experience, but a more fundamental and acrimonious split erupted in 1916 over the doctrine of the Trinity. ... The 'New Issue' was a schism in the ranks of the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals that began as a teaching that the correct formula for baptism is 'in the name of Jesus' and developed into a dispute about the Trinity. It confirmed for Holiness Pentecostals that they should have no further fellowship with the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals, who were in 'heresy'.
Finished Work Pentecostalism is inseparable from the influence of William Howard Durham (1873–1912). A Pentecostal minister based in Chicago, Durham was active throughout the Midwest and in parts of Canada. In 1910, he began to preach on "The Finished Work of Calvary", a message that rejected the Wesleyan understanding of sanctification as a distinct second experience of grace separate from conversion and which bestowed "Christian perfection" on the recipient. For Durham, both salvation and sanctification occurred for the believer at the time of conversion, when the believer appropriated the "finished work" of Christ on the cross.