Spirit in Christianity – part 2: Reformation to Present

October 11, 2017

Article by Ben Frostad

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(Ruach HaKodesh, Session 2b)

 

This session of the Ruach HaKodesh series looks at the history of ideas in Christianity regarding the Holy Spirit. In part 1 we looked at the early church up to the Reformation. This episode, part 2, will complete our historical survey from the Reformation up to the present day. Particular attention will be given to John Wesley, Methodism, the Holiness Movement, and revivalism, all of which paved the way for the three waves of modern charismatic Christianity.

The following is a condensed version of the audio teaching. You can also subscribe to this podcast here.

 

Spiritualism and Pietism

After the initial Protestant Reformation, the resulting churches slowly lost some of their original vitality and began to get caught up in cold dogmatism. Two movements arose in reaction to Protestant dogmatism:

• Spiritualism (not to be confused with “Spiritism”): sought inner renewal by leaving the church
• Pietism: sought inner renewal within the confines of the church

Examples of Spiritualists include Jakob Boehme (1575-1624), George Fox (1624-1691) who founded the Quaker movement, and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). While extremely varied, their views represent an extreme sort of Protestant mysticism. The subjective experience of Holy Spirit took the place of the objective Scriptures to one extent or another. These groups ended up rejecting mainstream Christian doctrines, and as a result remained on the fringe of Christianity.

In contrast to Spiritualism, Pietism sought inner renewal within the established church. Their goal was to help bring the pendulum swing back towards the importance of the individual, without jettisoning conventional theology or church structure. People like Philip Jakob Spener (1635-1705), August Hermann Francke, and F. A. Lampe, insisted that believers are supposed to be different than the surrounding society, an “uncomfortable challenge for a comfortable church.”^[1]Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol 2: The Reformation to the Present Day (New York: Harper Collins, 2010), 261.

Another group, related to the Pietists, was the Moravians, who took refuge under the protection of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (Spener’s godson). Both the Pietists and the Moravians played a lead role in the birth of Protestant missions. But their greatest impact came via an individual who was greatly influenced by them, and who would shape the course of evangelical Christianity as we know it today: John Wesley.

 

John Wesley

John Wesley lived from 1703 to 1791. He was ordained as an Anglican priest, in 1735/36, but felt he lacked something spiritually. He was heavily influenced by the Moravians, who impressed on him the importance of having a personal salvation experience.

Finally, on May 24, 1738, Wesley had the life-changing experience he sought:

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.^[2]Journal, May 24, 1738. As quoted in Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity Vol 2, 266.

Wesley went on to play a leading role in the Great Awakening in England. Over time he became convinced of Arminianism, emphasizing man’s free will in choosing salvation. Up until that time, most major Protestant branches were Calvinist, and Arminianism had little influence. The subsequent popularity of Arminianism among Evangelicals is largely thanks to Wesley.

Wesley remained a part of the Anglican Church up until his death, but his followers quickly formed an independent church known as the Methodist Church. Wesley’s teachings later gave rise to the Holiness Movement, and formed the foundation of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

Wesley had a huge impact, not only on the groups that descended from his teachings (Methodism, Holiness movement, etc.), but on evangelicalism in general. He started the pendulum swing towards the right side on both of our two charts from our introduction: He made Arminianism more popular as well as a form of pietism, emphasizing the need for a personal salvation experience and a personal relationship with God.

Wesley developed two pivotal concepts related to the Holy Spirit that had a huge impact on subsequent movements:

1. The necessity for a new birth experience and an assurance of salvation
2. The doctrine of subsequence and Christian Perfection

 

New Birth

It was Wesleyanism that began to emphasize a “new birth” experience. While ancient interpreters understood the phrase “born again” (John 3:3) to refer simply to baptism,^[3]Joel C. Elworthy, Ed. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament IVa, John 1-10, (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2007), 109-110. Wesley understood it as equivalent to “saved.” For Wesley and the majority of subsequent Evangelicalism, this rebirth (conversion experience) takes place at an identifiable moment in time, and baptism is merely an outward sign of what has already occurred spiritually. Being born again requires submitting to God and accepting Jesus into one’s heart. (This contrasts with the Reformed/Calvinist view which understands the new birth as being an act of God in oneself prior to any action or reaction on the part of the individual.)

One key factor of this New Birth theology that distinguished it from certain other Protestant movements was the principle of assurance. True rebirth is accompanied by a clear assurance of salvation, and this is a work of the Holy Spirit. This is in contrast to the earlier Puritans who believed that assurance was rare, late, and the fruit of struggle.^[4]See, e.g., Thomas Goodwin, “An Exposition of the First Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians,” in Works of Thomas Goodwin, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: ...continue Although he was criticized for this view, this was no mere theoretical idea for Wesley, but based on his own personal experience at Aldersgate.^[5]Allison, Historical Theology, 445.

 

Subsequence

Wesley believed in two works of grace, or two separate events in the life of every believer: justification and sanctification. -Justification is the instantaneous rebirth or salvation experience. Sanctification is the instantaneous experience of the removal of one’s sinful nature subsequent to salvation. It is the second experience that makes you holy, that sets you free from sin. This is a conscious crisis experience.^[6]Cf. J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit (Leicester, England: IVP, 1984), p. 132, 135.

This doctrine also became known as Christian Perfection or entire sanctification. Wesley’s theology was influenced by Catholic and Anglican mystical traditions.^[7]Vinson Synan, The Holiness–Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans ...continue This “second blessing” experience was later equated with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. For most of Christian history, “baptism of the Holy Spirit” was considered identical with baptism (similar to the term “born again”).

This doctrine of subsequence laid the foundation upon which Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement would later build: the idea of a Holy Spirit experience subsequent to salvation for which mature believers ought to strive.

 

The Great Awakenings

The First Great Awakening took place between 1720 and 1750 in both England and America. Some of the famous names of this movement include Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and John and Charles Wesley. This awakening was often characterized by an emotional response on the part of the people. John Wesley, who believed that God wished for everything to be done in order, was

…worried about the response to his preaching. Some people would weep and loudly bemoan their sins, while others would collapse in anguish. Then they would express great joy, declaring that they felt cleansed of their evil. Wesley would have preferred more solemn proceedings. Eventually, he decided that what was taking place in such instances was a struggle between Satan and the Holy Spirit, and that he should not hinder the work of God. In any case, after the early years such extreme occurrences became less frequent.^[8]Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity Vol 2, 261.

Jonathan Edwards is famous for preaching his 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It is said that people responded with wailing and that they actually gripped the pillars of the church building out of fear of falling into the gates of Hell which they felt yawning under their feet. After going through this anguish and crying out to God they would break into indescribable joy.

The Great Awakening laid the foundation for some of our concepts of revivalism, which took shape more during the Second Great Awakening (1800 to 1850). Some of the major figures during the Second Great Awakening were Timothy Dwight (a grandson of Jonathan Edwards), Francis Asbury, Charles Hodge, and Charles Finney.

A large component of the Second Great Awakening was the “camp meetings” that were held on the American frontier. The most famous of these was the Cane Ridge Revival in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in August 1801. It was marked by strange physical phenomena such as falling, jerking, rolling, dancing, and barking.^[9]Ibid. 327. These camp meetings and the revivalism associated with them had an impact on concepts of the Holy Spirit, particularly in “individualizing and emotionalizing of the Christian faith.”^[10]Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1970), 39.

 

Charles Finney

Charles Finney (1792-1876) was a Presbyterian minister, and very influential in the Second Great Awakening. He is often called the father of modern revivalism. His preaching sparked revivals in 1825-35 in upstate New York and Manhattan.

Finney was anti-Calvinist, and very opposed to Old School Presbyterian theology. In fact, he is often accused of being Pelagian instead of simply Arminian. He emphasized man’s role in justification and sanctification, emphasizing the need for repentance and obedience.

He believed in an experience subsequent to salvation which he called baptism of the Holy Spirit, an experience of empowerment in evangelism. “However, it was not principally Finney’s doctrine of the spiritual baptism, it was his revival methods which proved of most permanent influence in American Christianity.”^[11]Ibid. 41.

 

The Holiness Movement

The Holiness Movement arose in the 19th century among those who were troubled by the ways in which Methodism had departed from what they viewed as the true teachings of John Wesley. Their focus was on Wesley’s second work of grace: Entire sanctification and Christian perfection (holiness as an event).^[12]Ibid. 42.

In the Holiness movement, the second work of grace is considered to be a cleansing from the tendency to commit sin, an experience called entire sanctification which leads to Christian perfection. Wesley had taught a lifelong process of cleansing from sin. The Holiness Movement, however, began to teach that entire sanctification was less a process and more of a state that one entered into by faith at a definite moment in time. This second blessing, as it was commonly called, allowed Christians to be freed from the power of sin. Among adherence of the Holiness Movement, baptism in the Holy Spirit was synonymous with second blessing sanctification.

Finney and others expanded on this view: while Wesleyan teachers saw the work of the Holy Spirit as effecting purity, Finney saw it as empowerment, effecting power in revival and evangelism.

Some of the influential people associated with the Holiness Movement include:

• W. E. Boardman (author of The Higher Christian Life, one of the most influential books from the Holiness Movement)
• Phoebe Palmer
• Andrew Murray
• A. J. Gordon
• F. B. Meyer
• A. B. Simpson
• R. A. Torrey
• D. L. Moody

The most well-known offspring of the Holiness movement was Pentecostalism. Some of the non-Pentecostal denominations that sprung out of the Holiness movement include:

• Christian and Missionary Alliance
• Church of the Nazarene
• Salvation Army
• Evangelical Church of North America

Torrey’s famous quote offers the clearest pre-Pentecostal description of Holy Spirit baptism subsequent to conversion:

The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and subsequent and additional to His regenerating work. A man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In regeneration there is an impartation of life, and the one who receives it is fitted for service. Every true believer has the Holy Spirit. But not every believer has the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, though every believer . . . may have.^[13]R. A. Torrey, What the Bible Teaches: A Thorough and Comprehensive Study of What the Bible Has to Say concerning the Great Doctrines of Which it ...continue

 

The Modern Era

There has certainly been an enormous revived interest in the Holy Spirit in the 20th century. The only full-scale work written on the gifts of the Holy Spirit between the early church and the 20th century was by John Owen in 1679.^[14]Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, 28. Since the early 1900s, however, the works of the Spirit have received enormous and unprecedented attention.

We will focus on the three “waves” of charismatic Christianity: the Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Neo-Charismatic movements.

Pentecostalism is founded on the ideas of Wesleyanism and revivalism. As Bruner writes,

[E]ighteenth-century Methodism is the mother of the nineteenth-century American holiness movement which, in turn, bore twentieth-century Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism is primitive Methodism’s extended incarnation.^[15]Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, 37.

While theologically Methodism has exerted the major influence on the Pentecostal movement, methodologically revivalism, particularly American revivalism, has been the most formative influence. . . . Pentecostalism is revivalism gone indoors. In Pentecostalism revivalism has moved from it tents and rented halls into organized Christendom and myriad local churches. Inheriting Wesley’s experiential theology and revivalism’s experiential methodology, Pentecostalism went out into an experience-hungry world and found a response.^[16]Ibid. 39.

The Holiness Movement was the immediate soil out of which Pentecostalism sprang. While most holiness preachers emphasized the second blessing, in the late 1800s the idea of a “third blessing” began. The second blessing representing baptism in the Holy Spirit, but the third blessing represented baptism in fire.^[17]Vinson Synan, “The Pentecostal Movement” in David Horton, ed., The Portable Seminary (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2006), 533. ...continue Many holiness churches were also marked by spiritual manifestations such as tongues, healings, and prophetic utterances.^[18]Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity Vol 2, 340.

Thus, when tongues-speaking occurred in Topeka in 1901, the only significant addition to the foregoing was to insist that the tongues-speaking was the biblical evidence of receiving the Spirit baptism. All the other teachings and practices of Pentecostalism were adapted from the Holiness milieu in which it was born, including its style of worship, hymnody, and basic theology.^[19]Synan, “The Pentecostal Movement”, 534.

 

Azusa Street

It was Charles F. Parham (1873-1929), a holiness preacher, who arrived at the conviction that speaking in tongues was the necessary sign of being filled with the Spirit. One of his students, William J. Seymour (1870-1922) took that doctrine and ran with it. In 1906 Seymour came to Los Angeles where he and others began to have experiences that they considered to be the Biblical gift of tongues. They began meeting in an old African Methodist Episcopal church building at 312 Azusa Street. Thus began was became known as the Azusa Street revival.

Within months there were hundreds flocking to Azusa Street, and the movement spread like wildfire. While Parham and many others severely criticized the movement, thousands of visitors became convinced of the validity of the experience and took that experience back home with them. This movement came to be known as Pentecostalism.

 

Pentecostalism

Hollis Gause defines Pentecostalism as distinct from other Protestants in these four beliefs:

1. The belief that the experience first recorded in Acts 2 is to continue in the life of the Christian church.
2. The belief that this experience is distinct from regeneration (or conversion generally) and subsequent to it.
3. The belief that this experience is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that its initial outward sign is speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
4. The belief that this is the normal experience to be expected of every believer.^[20]R. Hollis Gause, “Issues in Pentecostalism,” in Russel P. Spittler, ed., Perspectives on the New Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker ...continue

Gause writes further that “Pentecostalism is distinct from the milieu in which it arose primarily in two respects: (a) its practices of worship, and (b) its doctrine of the baptism and manifestation of the Holy Spirit.” The former — including weeping, shouting, and jerking — are not unique to Pentecostalism, but what is unique is that most groups view them as aberrant and undesirable, whereas Pentecostalism treats them as desirable and normative for a good service.^[21]Ibid. 111.

The early Pentecostal movement considered baptism of the Holy Spirit to be a “third separate work of God’s grace.” The first work is justification, the second is sanctification, and the third is Holy Spirit baptism as a gift of power on a sanctified believer.^[22]J. Rodman Williams, “Pentecostal Theology: A Neo-Pentecostal Viewpoint,” in Russel P. Spittler, ed., Perspectives on the New ...continue This was later simplified to two works of grace: conversion, and Holy Spirit baptism.

Today there are over 700 Pentecostal denominations. Some examples of Pentecostal denominations and groups include:

• Church of God in Christ
• Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
• International Pentecostal Holiness Church
• Assemblies of God
• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
• Open Bible Churches
• Apostolic Church
• Oneness Pentecostalism
• United Pentecostal Church International
• Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

 

The Charismatic Movement

The Charismatic movement began primarily in the 1960’s. Originally known as Neo-Pentecostalism, it was largely influenced by groups such as the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, founded in 1953. The Charismatic movement represents Pentecostal experience and theology overflowing denominational bounds. Now Christians of all different denominations (including Catholic) began claiming experiences of Holy Spirit baptism accompanied by speaking in tongues. Rather than forming new denominations, this movement attempted renewal of existing denominations and churches.

Charismatics hold primarily to Pentecostal theology, especially in regard to a “second blessing” experience of Holy Spirit baptism. However, not all Charismatics believe that tongues is the necessary initial evidence of that baptism.

 

The Neo-Charismatic Movement

In the 1980s another movement began which is known variously as the Neo-Charismatic movement, the Signs and Wonders movement, or the Third Wave movement. John Wimber (of Vineyard) was a leading voice in the formation of this movement, with works such as Signs and Wonders and Church Growth (1984), Power Evangelism (1985), and Power Healing (1987).

Neo-Charismatics generally reject the Pentecostal theology of subsequence. They believe, along with most non-Pentecostals, that Holy Spirit baptism occurs at the same time as conversion. In other words, they reject the idea of a “second blessing” as a necessary experience. Believers receive the Holy Spirit the moment the put their faith in Messiah. However, they believe repeated fillings with the Spirit are available and desirable.

Neo-Charismatics hold to much of Pentecostal practice and emphasis on supernatural gifts. But the Neo-Charismatic movement represents somewhat of a democratization of these gifts as compared to earlier movements. For example, previously healing was usually done by individuals with “healing ministries.” In the Neo-Charismatic movement, the gift of healing is available for everyone to practice. Similarly, in the Neo-Charismatic movement, everyone believer is a prophet and is supposed to exercise the gift of prophecy. Prophecy is not limited to specifically-gifted individuals.

A sub-movement within Neo-Charismaticism is the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to establish a new branch of Christianity with modern apostles and prophets as their leaders. According to C. Peter Wagner, the main tenets of this movement that differentiate it from other Protestants include:

• Apostolic governance (belief that the office of apostle continues today)
• The office of prophet
• Dominionism (it is the Church’s job to take dominion over the earth in Jesus name)
• A theocracy (permeating all aspects of society with believers)
• Extra-biblical revelation (God speaks to us personally aside from Scripture)
• Supernatural signs and wonders (miracles are a necessary part of our faith)^[23]C.P. Wagner, “The New Apostolic Reformation Is Not a Cult.“

Names associated with the New Apostolic Reformation include:

• C. Peter Wagner
• Lou Engle (The Call)
• Mike and Cindy Jacobs
• Rick Joyner (MorningStar Fellowship Church)
• John P. Kelly
• Bill Johnson (Bethel Church)
• Mike Bickle (International House of Prayer)
• Jane Hansen Hoyt (Aglow International)

Other names and groups associated with the Neo-Charismatic movement include:

• John Wimber
• Wayne Grudem
• Sam Storms
• Vineyard
• Toronto Blessing
• Brownsville Revival

 

Reactions and Influence

Since their inception, there have been many strong opponents to the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. One common anti-Charismatic position is Cessationism: the belief that supernatural manifestations of the Spirit ceased when the Apostles died out. (This will be discussed more in session 8 of our series.) Not all anti-Charismatics are Cessationists, however.

Pentecostalism has had a profound impact on all branches of Christianity, both those influenced by it and those reacting against it. Some of those influences felt in varying degrees include:

• The emphasis on being “Spirit-filled.”
• Valuing spontaneity over ritual and tradition.
• Devaluing theological training and scholarship in favour of zeal.
• Spiritual warfare and deliverance ministries.
• Worship as music, intentionally emotional.

Thanks to Pentecostalism, things that were unheard of 100 years ago are considered by many to be mainstream.^[24]Jacob Fronczak, “The Historical Context of Pentecostalism,” in Gifts of the Spirit (FFOZ, 2013), 89. According to David Barrett and Todd Johnson, today there are:

740 Pentecostal denominations; 6,530 non-Pentecostal, mainline denominations with large organized internal charismatic movements; and 18,810 independent, neo-charismatic denominations and networks. Charismatics are now found across the entire spectrum of Christianity, within all 150 traditional non-Pentecostal ecclesiastical confessions, families, and traditions.^[25]David Barrett and Todd Johnson, “Global Statistics,” in Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas, eds., The New International ...continue

There are about 279 million Pentecostal Christians and 305 million charismatic Christians in the world, together making up about 27% of all Christians. The largest percentage of Pentecostals are found in Sub-Saharan Africa (44 percent), followed by the Americas (37 percent) and Asia and the Pacific (16 percent).^[26]Pew Forum 2011, pp. 67-68. Pentecostals and Charismatics make up the largest segment of Christianity besides Roman Catholicism.

 

Summary

How do we get the Holy Spirit, and what does that look like? In our brief sketch of Christian history we have seen various answers to that question:

• Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit fills a person upon baptism and confirmation.
• Reformed Churches believe that the Holy Spirit fills a person when they become believers. All who are in Messiah have the Holy Spirit. It is not so much a physical experience as a spiritual truth to be appreciated by faith.
• In Methodism and Holiness churches, the Holy Spirit fills a believer as a second blessing that effects entire sanctification, or Christian perfection. It is evidenced by the destruction of the desire to sin, resulting in holiness.
• Pentecostal and Charismatic churches also see the baptism of the Holy Spirit as subsequent to salvation. The evidence is speaking in tongues (for most).
• Neo-Charismatic groups generally don’t believe in subsequence, believing rather that the baptism in the Holy Spirit happens at conversion; later manifestations are simply “fillings” (or “refillings”).

It is amazing to me how entire movements can be built off of trying to imitate one person’s spiritual experiences. There are many examples in Church history where an individual’s experience becomes galvanized as theology and considered the only normal and Biblical path of spirituality. While we cannot deny the experience of others, we must always keep the Bible as our final authority, not experience. God’s Word is the ultimate test of truth.

It is helpful to learn the history of ideas so we can better understand both others and ourselves. But in the end of the day, we have to keep our focus on our Saviour, Yeshua. We must not allow confusion and controversy to stifle our hunger for more of God’s presence in our lives. God is a gracious and loving Father. If we keep our hearts humble and submitted completely to Him, He will reveal Himself to us through His Word.

 

Photo by Callsignpink (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

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