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Pentecostal Movement Its Impact Among the Dalits and Tribal in India

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I. Introduction
The prime focus of this paper is to explore the modern Pentecostal or charismatic movement and its impacts among the Dalits and the tribal in India. In this paper the presenter will also try to bring out a brief origins and historical development of Pentecostalism, in order to understand the movement and its impact on the Dalits and the tribal in India.

1. Etymology of the term Pentecostal
The term Pentecostal is derived from the Greek word pentekosté which literally means ‘fifty’. It is the Greek name for the Jewish festival known as the ‘Feast of Weeks’ in the Old Testament, which celebrates the fiftieth day after Passover observances. The New Testament used the term to refer to the established Jewish feast. However, …show more content…

After the Azusa Street revival on April 1906, “Azusa Street soon became the ‘Mecca’ for thousands of visitors around the world.” The people who visited this place went back to their homelands spread this new experience and spread the Pentecostalism to other parts of the world and formed Pentecostal churches. From the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, Pentecostalism spread rapidly around the world and began its advance toward becoming a major force in Christendom.

5. Pentecostalism Movement in India
We have observed the modern Pentecostal movement in the 20th century that sparked out of the revivals that took place at Azusa Street, Los Angeles, which spread rapidly to the ends of the earth. Most of the scholars traced back the origin of Pentecostalism to the Azusa Street revival in 1906. However, it is not yet firmly established as to when the Pentecostalism started in India because prior to the coming of Pentecostal missionaries in the 20th century there were Pentecostal like events in the history of Christianity in India.
According to Gary McGee, the eminent historian of Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism had already established itself in India long before word of Azusa reached the subcontinent. He validated by showing the documentary evidence that Pentecost, with all the associated phenomena, came

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