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The Azusa Street Revival

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Allan Anderson, a reader at the Graduate Institute for Theology and Religion, states that Pentecostalism received global recognition during the events at Azusa Street in spite of having various origins in the beginning of the twentieth century (Anderson 180). “The intense apocalyptic eschatology of the Pentecostals thus created a self-appraisal that their movement was something profoundly original and which had few precedents in Christian history,” suggests Steven Hunt, author of A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain and the United States of America (117). Joe Creech, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Notre Dame, suggests that Pentecostals believed Azusa was the place where God would reestablish the church. He …show more content…

The Azusa Street Revival birthed what has been described as both a Pentecostal and Charismatic movement throughout the United States and around the world. “This period represented the birth of the Pentecostal movement and was decisive for its early identity,” comments Terje Hegertun, author of Thomas Ball Barratt and ‘The Spirit of Unity’ (Hegertun 37). Hunt illustrates that the city of Los Angeles needed a remedy of hope for the disheartened commonwealth, and the uprising of a renewal would be the solution (Hunt 115-116). Jacob Dodson, a scholar of world Christianity, reports that the pioneer of the Azusa Street Revival, William Seymour, emphasized a need for total uniformity. Dodson explains that the separation of racial, ethnic, and social class ceased to exist upon the infilling of the Holy Spirit among the congregation (52). According to William C. Turner Jr., Associate Professor of the Practice of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, Seymour exhausted every aspect of the Black Church circuit and boldly crossed over to the Holiness …show more content…

Gorman reports that manifestation of the Holy Spirit took precedence over the rules of dogma. He explains that the unorthodox church practices, which allowed any person to speak behind a pulpit, created discord among the congregation (Gorman 520). Ben Pugh, a Lecturer in Theology at Cliff College, UK, describes how William Seymour implemented a third aspect of the evidence of speaking in tongues to the Wesleyan belief system (Pugh 17). Hegertun explains that rather than “attacking the dogmatic positions of others” the evidence of the Holy Spirit and charismatic gifting served as justification of their theology (37-38). Pugh states that the trifold aspect of theology is implemented to date by the Holiness-Pentecostals with the majority being African American (17). He also reveals that by 1910, the end result would be a metamorphosis of American Pentecostals to the trifold model of sanctification (Pugh 17). Hunt explains that receiving the gift of utterance, according to Synan, is the driving force behind Pentecostalism (117). Dodson proposes that the evidence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit happening at the revival demonstrated God’s authority and existence (52). Hunt reports there were numerous personal accounts of healings, deliverance, and miracles (116). He reveals that by 1914, all churches implemented the

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