Pentecostalism

Definition and Meaning

Pentecostalism, also called the Pentecostal movement, is a Protestant movement that emphasizes the experience of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts (special abilities given by the Spirit). Its name comes from the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:1-4). Pentecostalism holds that believers experience baptism in the Holy Spirit as a distinct event subsequent to conversion. Many Pentecostal denominations teach that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of Spirit baptism. Pentecostals also emphasize divine healing and the imminent Second Coming. Similar movements that arose within established denominations from the 1960s onward are usually called the Charismatic movement and are distinguished from Pentecostalism.

Biblical and Historical Background

Pentecostalism cites as its principal foundations the account of the outpouring of the Spirit in the Book of Acts and the lists of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Historically, it grew out of the nineteenth-century American Holiness movement, which carried forward John Wesley's teaching on sanctification. Its origins are commonly traced to the experience of speaking in tongues at the Bible school led by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas, in 1901, and to the revival led by William Seymour on Azusa Street in Los Angeles in 1906. In 1914 the Assemblies of God was organized in the United States.

Practice in the Korean Church

The leading Pentecostal denomination in Korea is the Korea Assemblies of God, organized in 1953, which later divided into several denominations. As Yoido Full Gospel Church, founded in 1958 by David Yonggi Cho and others, grew dramatically, its teachings of the "Fivefold Gospel" and the "Threefold Blessing" became widely known. The Fivefold Gospel consists of regeneration, the fullness of the Spirit, divine healing, blessing, and the Second Coming; the Threefold Blessing, based on 3 John 1:2, refers to the prospering of the soul, prosperity in all things, and health. Pentecostal worship services and prayer meetings are marked by tongseong gido (simultaneous audible prayer), all-night prayer, and healing services.

Other denominations view Pentecostalism in differing ways:

• The Holiness Church shares roots in the same Holiness movement and includes divine healing in its Fourfold Gospel (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming).
• Among Presbyterians, those who emphasize the Reformed tradition hold that Spirit baptism occurs together with regeneration and do not regard tongues as necessary evidence of it. Some hold that the miraculous gifts ceased after the apostolic age. Pentecostals counter that the gifts continue today (cessationism and continuationism).
• Under the influence of the Charismatic movement, prayer in tongues and Holy Spirit meetings are not uncommon even in Presbyterian and Methodist churches.
• Some critics link the emphasis on "blessing" to prosperity theology. Full Gospel proponents respond that this emphasis refers to the salvation of the soul and of the whole of life.