The Encyclopedia of World Religions

338 S Pentecostalism

Although Pentecostalism arose in the United States, today its center of gravity is in the south ern hemisphere. Especially starting in the 1950s it has thrived in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and certain countries in Asia. These churches have even begun to send missionaries to Europe. BELIEFS AND PRACTICES In general, Pentecostal Christians’ beliefs are fun damentalist ( see FUNDAMENTALISM , C HRISTIAN ). Pen tecostals have tended not to adopt specific state ments of faith, such as CREEDS . What distinguishes Pentecostal Christians is their emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit. Among these, the gift of speak ing in tongues is the most important. Other gifts include healing, prophecy, and the interpretation of tongues. Pentecostal churches differ on how to talk about these gifts. Some Pentecostals, for exam ple, the Church of God in C HRIST , say that peo ple receive God’s GRACE in three different stages: conversion, sanctification, and the (Pentecostal) gifts of the Spirit. Other Pentecostals, such as the Assemblies of God, say that people receive God’s grace in two stages: the work of Calvary (which includes conversion and sanctification) and the gifts of the Spirit. Still other Pentecostals belong to the “Jesus Only” movement. Most Christians baptize in the name of the Father (or Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit ( see BAPTISM ). But these Pentecostals baptize only in the name of Jesus. They do not recognize the Father and the Holy Spirit as different persons of a TRINITY . At first Pentecostal worship services were exu berant occasions at which the gifts of the Spirit— speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, and ener getic behavior—were highly visible. They still are in minority churches in North America and in many Pentecostal churches elsewhere. White American Pentecostal services have tended to become more subdued. Pentecostal worship tends to be nonliturgi cal. It emphasizes singing—often simple melo dies with lines repeated many times—fervent praying, preaching, and people giving testimo

Los Angeles. Seymour, too, had been a Holiness preacher, but under Parham’s influence he had become Pentecostal. People flocked to Seymour’s mission. From there Pentecostalism spread to the rest of the country. Pentecostalists had hoped to renew mainline Protestantism, but they were repudiated and had to found their own churches. In the United States Pentecostal Christianity has been most success ful in the hill regions stretching from the southern Appalachians to the Ozark mountains, as well as in Northern and Western cities. By 1910 converts had begun to bring Pente costalism to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Especially in Africa Pentecostalism resem bled movements begun by indigenous African preachers. One such preacher was Isaiah Shembe ( c. 1870–1935), who founded the amaNazaretha church in South Africa and thought of himself as the prophet of the Zulus. Another was Simon Kimbangu (1889–1951), a baKongo who began to receive revelations from Jesus and to heal in 1921. American Pentecostals have sometimes been reluc tant to see the gifts of these indigenous preachers as genuine gifts of the Spirit. That is because these preachers have often included elements of indig enous religions in their teachings. Soon after it arose, Pentecostalism began to split into different groups. Splits sometimes occurred because of arguments over proper teach ings. Most Pentecostal groups also divided along racial lines. Such divisions were present at the very beginning. William Seymour had to sit in the hall ways to listen to Charles Parham’s classes because Parham, influenced by the Ku Klux Klan, would not let Seymour in the classroom. In the 1960s a CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT began in other Protestant groups and then in R OMAN C ATHOL ICISM . In many ways this movement resembled the Pentecostal churches. Its adherents spoke in tongues and practiced faith healing. They man aged, however, to integrate their experiences into the teachings of their own religious congrega tions. Other members of their denominations often looked on them with suspicion, but they were not forced to leave.