“What if Fire at Azusa never happened”
Nupur James
HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY II:
THE REFORMATION AND MODERN CHURCH
HIST 0562
INSTRUCTOR: REV. DR. RON KYDD 13th April 2015
Mail Box # 344
The Azusa Street Revival was a historical Pentecostal revival meeting that occurred in Los Angeles, California and is the beginning of the Pentecostal movement. It was run by William J. Seymour, an African American minister. It started with a meeting on April 9, 1906, and proceeded until about 1915. The revival was portrayed by euphoric spiritual encounters joined by miracles, speaking in tongues, inter-racial socialising during worship services. The members were criticized by media and theologians for their behaviour as it was considered as outrageous and unorthodox, particularly at the time. Today, the restoration is considered by historians to be the essential push for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century. This paper will aim to analyze how history may have unfolded if it had not happened, it will be examining the event and setting it in context that how it has impacted the history of Christianity for the reformation and modern Church. It will analyze how this event impacted the historic Pentecostal movement. Being born and bought up in Christian Orthodox Church, for a long time I could not understand the real meaning of Pentecostalism, but things changed dramatically in my life, and so did my theology about Church. Throughout the year I have learnt a
McGrath’s Christianity’s Dangerous Idea attempts to tell the story of Protestantism from its early beginnings up to its present-day form. A similar and parallel story is found in Justo Gonzalez’s The Story of Christianity in which he also gives a narrative of the origin, growth and development of the Protestant movement from the Reformation to the present day. However, Gonzalez not only gives an account of Protestantism but of Christianity as a whole while McGrath concentrates his study on Protestantism alone. In addition, McGrath not only narrates but also gives a prophetic
Additionally, Davis’s monograph explores detailed information regarding the shift of many people at the time from Catholicism to Protestantism, which is extremely important to the
After the Civil War, seen by numerous American Protestants, not as a Christian thrashing, in which the frailty or disagreements of the confidence had been uncovered, yet as an American-Christian triumph, in which Christian populist educating had been triumphantly vindicated against rebels and faithless people, that the preacher surge accumulated force. This Christian mission was a Protestant one in the eyes of America. The `divine event' can be seen as the Christianization of the world by the American view of equity and
In Pentecostalism, a variant of Christianity, the Bible is studied in many versions, to deepen the understanding of the adherent regarding Christianity, which can better help them make informed decisions in terms of the religious practice, which imposes validity in the dynamism of Pentecostalism (Walsh, 2008).
The Azusa Street revival of 1906 to 1909 was an event that popularised the practice of charismatic worship first in the United States and eventually throughout the Christian world. However, representations of the revival in the early years of the 20th century were biased, and distorted the events that occurred. Early believers portrayed the revival as an eschatological narrative in which the power of God came down to earth and revolutionised the church, especially with the gift of tongues. Pentecostal historians later mythologised Azusa Street representing the revival as the birthplace of Pentecostalism. On the other hand, conservatives portrayed the events of the revival as unbiblical and sinful, while secular critics depicted the revival
13. ‘01 Discuss the political and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation in the first half of the sixteenth century.
Chapter three is a careful reading of the early Pentecostal periodical materials. She explains how the worship practices of early Pentecostals using both the Wesleyan-Holiness and the Finished Work traditions during the time period of 1906-1916.
The Protestant Reformation of the Catholic Church devastated the religious unity of Christian Europe, resulting in a great deal of antagonism, which in turn led to the persecutions, denial of civil rights, expulsion, and ultimately the torture and death of many men, women and children. The ongoing conflict was not consigned to one distinct European nation, but was experienced in every European nation that the Catholic Church ruled and reigned. There was no worldview in Europe at that time that allowed for the religious differences of men to coexist peaceably.
We now come to the section devoted to the major pioneers in the beginning of Pentecostalism in America. The first person we want to discuss is Charles Fox Parham. “He is the man generally recognized as the formulation of Pentecostal doctrine and the theological founder of the movement.” Parham held to the theological argument that tongues are always the initial evidence of a person receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He also taught the necessity of being baptized with the Holy Spirit as the only way to escape the great tribulation.
Thesis: It is the intent of this paper to dig into the life of Peter and see just who this man that passionately followed Christ was. As we dig into the life of Peter we will examine his character strengths, his weaknesses, and overall how Peter was transformed by Christ. We will see how God took a man who more often than not acted without thinking and transformed him into a passionate follower who’s words we read today in God’s very words to us.
“We could keep on arguing for a hundred years and it wouldn’t get us anywhere! Until you can get rid of my verse I will not admit defeat.” (Documents on the Continental Reformation, p.97) When people are liberated with the power to think for themselves and own their own ideas, differences in opinion will occur. When we look at the Protestant Reformation we will see that key individuals such as Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, even though they are protesting similar things, develop differences upon the way, especially in the way they interpret Scripture. These differences, in any movement, will ultimately affect the outcome and the development of the Protestant movement that started in 1517 with Luther. This essay aims to examine these differences between Luther and Zwingli and find out how the Protestant movement was affected by their differing opinions. Firstly, Luther and Zwingli’s reformations will be observed individually and what they each stood for and then we will discuss their major differences and the influence they had on the Protestant movement.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. Second Edi. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010.
15 E-Did the creation of Protestantism occur peacefully? Why were many rulers attracted by Martin Luther’s message? In terms of the 6 Ways, how did Protestantism switch the emphasis within Christianity? When did the Council of Trent take place and how did it change Catholicism? Why was the “discovery” of the Americas troublesome for the Church? Why were the astronomical discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo opposed by the Church? What kind of changes took place during the 1962 Second Vatican Council?
The intent of this paper is to evaluate the distinct character and quality of the expressions of the Protestant Reformation. This paper will discuss Lutheran Reformation, The Anabaptist, and The English Puritans as well as the Catholic Reformation also known as the Counter Reformation. It is the hope that after the reader has had the opportunity to view each of the characteristics and the expressions of each of the reformation the reader will have a better understanding of each and will be able to articulate the differences of each.
The purpose of the paper is to differentiate between Christ of faith and Jesus of history. New Testament biblical scholars from the 19th Century have been preoccupied by the notion of Christ of faith versus Jesus of History. Jesus of history can be described as the quest for historical Jesus, while the Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief either through the Church or historically. Some traditions even went ahead to argue that the Jesus of History could never be found and therefore the Christ of faith is the only way forward for Christians. On the other hand, those who have been promoting the Jesus of History have often assumed that the historical Jesus is much superior as compared to the Christ of Faith. Despite the key differences between Christ of faith and the historical Jesus, both these aspect have an implication for Western Christianity.