William Seymour and the Pentecostal Movement
Pentecostalism is considered one of the greatest universal movement that transformed immensely the history of Christianity. It emphasized a personal interaction with God facilitated by baptism of the individual by Holy Spirit (Alexander, 43). One of the proponents of Pentecostalism is William Seymour. He is regarded as the initiator of Pentecostal movement because of his fundamental teachings on the role of Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life (Heaton 35). Therefore, this research paper aims to describe the contributions of William Seymour to evolution of Pentecostalism. The guiding thesis is that Seymour orchestrated the Pentecostal movement that swept the nation all over the world, which later contributed to the creation of new religious denominations that shared common beliefs, practices, and customs.
Brief history of William Seymour
William Joseph Seymour was born in 1870 in Louisiana. He was the first African American preacher to induce the Pentecostal religious movement (Alexander 9). Seymour was a scholars at Novel Bible School, which was established in 1905 by Charles Parham in Texas (Espinosa 12). This was where Seymour learned and embraced major doctrines and teachings that were propagated by the Holiness Movement, the common belief of speaking in tongues (Glossolalia) (Heaton 13). According to the belief, speaking in tongues was observed as an actual confirmation and assurance of the gift of the Holy Spirit in a Christian.
Seymour later migrated to Los Angeles. He became a preacher in one of the mainstream churches. However, due to the radical nature of his newly acquired Pentecostal teaching, he was ejected from the parish (Alexander 33). He then sought out a new location to...
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...g the tumultuous times of intense racial discrimination and gender inequality makes him more relevant in history of Christianity. Currently the Pentecostal faith is still rapidly growing as its followers are still increasing in number.
Works Cited
Alexander, Estrelda. Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism. Canada: InterVarsity Press, 2011. Print.
Bergunder, Michael, Anderson, Allan, Droogers, Andre, and Van Der Laan, Cornelis. Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods. California: University of California Press, 2010. Print.
Espinosa, Gastón. William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism: A Biography and Documentary History. New York: Duke University Press, 2014. Print.
Heaton, Allan. An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print.
The second edition of “African American Religious History: A Documentary Witness,” covers the religious experiences of African Americans—from the late eighteenth century until the early 1980s. My paper is written in a chronological order to reflect on the progress blacks have made during the years—by expounding on the earliest religion of Africans to black religion of today. Race Relation and Religion plays a major role in today’s society—history is present in all that we do and it is to history that African-Americans have its identity and aspiration.
David Walker was “born a free black in late eighteenth century Wilmington,” however, not much more information is known about his early life. During his childhood years, Walker was likely exposed to the Methodist church. During the nineteenth century, the Methodist church appealed directly to blacks because they, in particular, “provided educational resources for blacks in the Wilmington region.” Because his education and religion is based in the Methodist theology, Methodism set the tone and helped to shape the messages Walker conveys through his Appeal to the black people of the United States of America. As evident in his book, Walker’s “later deep devotion to the African Methodist Episcopal faith could surely argue for an earlier exposure to a black-dominated church” because it was here he would have been exposed to blacks managing their own dealings, leading classes, and preaching. His respect and high opinion of the potential of the black community is made clear when Walker says, “Surely the Americans must think...
First, Sweeney provides an overview of American evangelicalism that is brief and balance. This is demonstrated by his broad yet comprehensive writing style and selection of chapter themes. Next, Sweeney’s inclusive approach provides the reader not only with the history of the more famed evangelicals, but also acknowledges the influences Pentecostals, charismatics, women and black leaders of the movement. Additionally, he is not afraid to highlight many of the shortcomings within the movement. In fact, “he confronts the American imperialism and “cultural chauvinism” that often accompanied mission in the nineteenth century (98) as well as the unfortunate embrace of slavery and racism by some evangelicals.” Lastly, chapter four contains a good summary of the development of modern missions movement. To his credit, Sweeney includes within this summary several trailblazing women in the rise of evangelical missions and affirms that women “worked more freely with internationals abroad than they could minister to Americans at home.” Moreover, he discusses criticism concerning “contextualization” and offers a couple of perspectives on the demographic trends of evangelical
Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 19(1), 69-84. Heim, D. (1996). The 'Standard'. Phil Jackson, Seeker in Sneakers. Christian Century, 133(20), 654-656.
James H. Cone is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. Cone probably is best known for his book, A Black Theology of Liberation, though he has authored several other books. Dr. Cone wrote that the lack of relevant and “risky” theology suggests that theologians are not able to free themselves from being oppressive structures of society and suggested an alternative. He believes it is evident that the main difficulty most whites have with Black Power and its compatible relationship to the Christian gospel stemmed from their own inability to translate non-traditional theology into the history of black people. The black man’s response to God’s act in Christ must be different from the whites because his life experiences are different, Dr. Cone believes. In the “black experience,” the author suggested that a powerful message of biblical theology is liberation from oppression.
Martin Wells Knapp was born in southern Michigan on March 27, 1853. His parents were farmers. At age 17, Knapp became a student of Methodist College in Albion, Michigan. It wasn’t until he was 19 that Knapp was converted, through the prayers and witness of Lucy J. Glenn, who later became his wife. He was both shy and unattractive, yet overcome both obstacles to become a pastor in the Methodist Michigan Conference. His biographer, A. M. Hills, said that “the various parts and members of his body,… seemed as if they had been thrown together… by some laughable in accident of nature.” Though it was difficult for people to warm up to him initially, God used him to change the course of church history. Knapp had four significant contributions to the future Pilgrim Holiness Church. They were revivals, publishing holiness literature, holiness associations, and foreign missions.
Black caucuses developed in the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. "The central thrust of these new groups was to redefine the meaning and role of the church and religion in the lives of black people. Out of this reexamination has come what some have called Black Theology.... ... middle of paper ...
The American Evangelical Story, A History of the Movement written by Douglas A. Sweeney offers an outline that better defines evangelicals while the author explores the roots of the Great Awakening and the Gospel. Sweeney presents the history of theology within the evangelical movement. Currently, Douglas Sweeney serves as the associate professor of Church history and is the Director of the Carl F. H. Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. [1] Sweeney begins by addressing the word, meaning, and definition of “evangelicalism, Sweeney states, “I tell the story of its birth of in the transatlantic Great Awakening and its development in the United States through many challenges and cultural changes.” [2] This short book is written primarily for those who maintain an interest in the role of the evangelical movement throughout history. Defining “the evangelical movement is something the author states is quite diverse, he writes, “we are a people more remarkable for our differences than our
Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century. Today, this association is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity. It has over 30 million American adherents and a worldwide following of more than 430 million (Anderson, 1992). Pentecostalism’s gloomy beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century make the movement’s growth all the more
Christian Science is an idealistic and most radical form of transcendental religiosity. The study of Christian Science teaches a feeling of understanding of God's goodness and the differences between good and evil, life and death. The purpose of this paper is to address how the study of Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization in America, as well as the impact of American on globalization. This paper is important because globalization features a dominant worldview. All throughout the world people believe, study and teach different types of religious movements that impact others. People need to better understand how certain religions modify, conflict with, and impact the world. First, it will discuss the life and work of the founder, Mary Baker Eddy. Secondly, it will examine the primary rituals and religious services of the Christian Science movement. Then, it will outline the precursors and history of the religion. In the conclusion, a response will be offered to the question of how Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization on America and of America on globalization.
C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990), 352. Lindsay A. Arscott, "Black Theology," Evangelical Review of Theology 10 (April-June 1986):137. James H. Cone, "Black Theology in American Religion," Theology Today 43 (April 1986):13. James H. Cone, "Black Theology and Black Liberation," in Black Theology: The South African Voice, ed. Basil Moore (London: C. Hurst & Co., 1973), 92, 96.
Richardson, William E., and Dave Kidd. “Articles.” Pentecostal Evangel. General Council of the Assemblies of God. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Johnson, Rev. George, Rev. Jerome D. Hannan, and Sister M. Dominica. The Story of the Church: Her Founding, Mission and Progress; A Textbook in Church History. Rockford: Tan Book and Publishers Inc., 1980.
The ‘Gift of Tongues’ (Glossolalia) as described by many Christians in present day is said to be evident proof of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost in an individual. Although many outsiders see it as a new belief or ideology, Christians believe that it is not a new practice but rather a forgotten gift of the spirit given to the early church right after Jesus’ departure. Many believers provide proof of that by recalling the biblical event with the Apostles at the Pentecost, found in Acts 2 and also the twelfth chapter of the first Pauline letter to the Corinthians. Some of these manifestations and gifts of the Spirit emerged to the public, after a long period of time, in the late 19th century and early 20th century giving birth to Pentecostalism. But as any other novelties it brought strife with itself. Today many Pentecostal and nondenominational charismatic churches are firm doers of this practice. They not only think of glossolalia as an idea or a charismatic practice but hold it to be “a heavenly language that [is] unknown to the speaker but known in the heavenly spiritual realm,” a unique spiritual language through which one can communicate with God.