"WESLEYAN-HOLINESSASPECTSOFPENTECOSTALORIGINS:
ASMEDIATEDTHROUGHTHENINETEENTHCENTURYHOL:LNESSREVIVAL"
ReadbeforetheSocietyforPentecostal
StudiesatCleveland,Tennessee,Novem-ber30,1973byM.E. Fh.D.,
GeneralSecretaryofEducationalInsti-tutionsofTheWesleyanChurch.
Melvin E. Dieter "WESLEYAN-HOLINESS ASPECTS OF PENTECOSTAL
ORIGINS:As Mediated through the Nineteenth Century Holiness
Revival"IntroductionIn 1885, William Jones, a Holiness evangelist,
attempted tolocate the mission of the Holiness movement within the
prevailing"Zeitgeist." In a tone reminiscent of Josiah Strong's
oft-quotedanalysis of the mission of the American nation and
churches at thatsame period, Jones spoke to questions only
infrequently raised byrevivalists.lHe discussed the churches'
responsibilities to suchdiverse groups as the immigrants who were
pouring onto the nation'sshores like an "ever-increasing flood;"
"the fetid Indians" thatlingered "in squalor and filth" on the
country's "Western borders;"and the millions of "illiterate and
imbruted ex-slaves." Themagnitude of these responsiblities, he
observed, raised seriousdoubts about the power and the will of the
churches to roeet them.However, woven into the often tawdry fabric
of the age, Jonessaw the clear pattern of a divine plan which
promised a rapidlyapproaching "ultimate victory" over these
obstacles. The expectancyof that victory filled the revivalist and
many of his Holiness col-leagues with "inexpressable pleasure." To
them, the divine destinywas manifest. Everywhere they looked they
saw God at work in newways. Crowns and thrones, they said, were
"falling like stars inan apocalytic vision;" "conservatism" was
being startled from its"death of sleep." Technology, moreover, had
become the Lord's hand-1W.A.P.O.- Dieter2 maiden. In the ever
deepening thrusts of the railroad buildersinto the heart of Africa,
they heard "the footsteps of Jehovah."Itwas as ifa "tremor of
invisible forces" were pervadingall lands and thrilling and
agitating all peoples.Jones likened the whole to the manner in
which engineers haddestroyed the massive outcrop of rock which once
restricted the en-trance to the New York harbor. In that instance
workers had pain-stakingly tunneled into the bedrock, quietly and
carefully set theirexplosive charges, and then in one instant had
"loosed the electricspark that converted the potential energy into
actual energy." Ina similar manner, Jones, reckoned, God was now
"tunneling into theworld and packing itwith His truth" When "the
church" got"ready" and "the ministry" believed in "the Holy Ghost"
and accepted"his fiery baptism" God would let slip "one spark of
Pentecostalfire" and the whole earth would Lecome His kingdom.2It
is probably within the context of this kind of late nine-teenth
century Holiness rhetoric about "crumbling thrones," "dis-solving
empires," and the world-changing potential of "one sparkof
Pentecostal fire" that one must search for some of the main rootsof
the Pentecostal movement of the twentieth century. In this
briefstudy we shall also consider the earlier theological roots in
Wes-leyan theology and experience and the later roots channeled
throughindividuals and organizations who moved from the Wesleyan
Holinessmovement to the Pentecostal movement around the world; but,
centralto the whole was the change in the evangelical mood created
in largemeasure by the American Holiness revival. The attempt of
the revivalto restore primitive Christianity to the churches
through a renewalW.A.P.O. - Dieter3 of Pentecostal experience and
an accompanying "new age of the HolySpirit" created a spiritual
expectancy unequaled in prior Protest-ant history. By the turn of
the century some in the "leftwing,,3of the Holiness movement began
to define these Pentecostal hopesfor world-wide revival in and
experiential terms whichbecame unacceptable to the main stream of
the older National Holi-ness Association movement; a separation
resulted which formed thedynamic nucleus of the Pentecostal
revival.In brief then, the American Holiness movement of the
nineteenthcentury mediated Wesleyan theology and experience through
Americanrevivalism to almost the whole of evangelicalism around the
world.Itwon broad acceptance of a "second blessing" leading to
spiritualpower and fullness in the Holy Ghost. New concepts of
Christian ex-perience were generated, methodologies for the
promotion of thoseconcepts were developed, expectancies of a new
age of Pentecostalpower were aroused, tensions were created in the
Holiness movementwhich seemed to some to demand better answers than
were being given fI,,,Feurfsec,h#and finally in the nineteenth a
large numberof its founding leaders and organizations. Fredrick
Bruner hasswept itall into one brief summary, "Out of the
world-wide Holi-ness movements the Pentecostal movement was
born.,,4Wesley's Contribution - "The Second Blessing"The
indebtedness of the Pentecostal movement to Wesley had
beenrecognized in studies of Pentecostal history from the very
early workof the German scholar, Paul Fleisch, to that of recent
scholars suchas Fredrick Bruner, Wa;ter Hollenweger, and Vincent
Synan.5Only afew years after the effects of the Azusa Street
revival had begun to1 W.A.P.O.- Dieter 4 $pread around the world,
Fleisch wrote that itwas worthy of notethat the Holiness teaching
of a "clean heart" as itwas then beingespoused by the
"tongues-speakers" was a return "to the point oforigin of the whole
Holiness movement - Wesley's teaching on ho1i-ness.,,6 Therefore,
in the sense that Wesley's teachings on Chris-tian perfection,
experienced as a "second blessing" distinct fromthat justification,
represent the major introduction of this thoughtinto Protestant
Christianity, all modern Holiness movements - thePentecostal
movement among them - may be said to "stem down" fromhim.7The
enduring nature of the centrality of this relationship be-tween
\'les1ey' s "second blessing" and the Holiness, Kes-wick,
Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements is indicated in thatthis is
the one common point at which they frequently have come un-der
questions by both friendly and unfriendly critics from withinthe
Reformed tradition.8Their conjunction of the life in the fu11-ness
of the Spirit with a definite crisis experience of faithand grace
subsequent to evangelical justification constitutes theone
unacceptable aspect of their teaching.The Modifying Influences of
the American Holiness RevivalThe Development of the RevivalWesley,
himself, believed that the teaching and propagation ofScriptural
Holiness had been made the peculiar responsibility of thepeople
called Methodists. However, within less than one hundredyears after
Wesley's followers had first transplanted Methodism inAmerica,
responsibility for this "grand depositum" of spiritual
truthw.A.P.O.- Dieter ., 5
didnotappeartobewidelyacknowledgedbyitstrustees.Inthe
earlydecadesofthenineteenthcentury,Methodismspokeofthe
doctrineinmutedtonesandthewitnessesoftheexperiencewere
sparse.Inthelate1830's,however,anewtwin-prongedandyet
coordinated,Holinessrevivalmovementbegantostir.Theespousal
ofanessentiallyWesleydoctrineofChristianperfection,ora
"secondconversion,"byCharlesG.FinneyandAsaMahanatOberlin
Collegeparalleledandsoonreinforcedan"awakening"totheexper-iencewithinMethodisminthehomeofWalterandPhoebePalmer,
prominentlaymenofNewYorkCity.
ThesubsequentweddingofthemainstreamofAmericanrevivalism
underitsmostableleader,Finney,withMethodistperfectionismas
representedbythePalmers,wasmostsignificantforthefutureof
bothrevivalismandperfectionism.The"newmethods"oftherevi-valistsweresoonusedtocallChristianstoanimmediateresponse
toGod'sprovisionofa'lifeofpresentChristianholinessjustas
effectivelyastheyhadpreviouslybeenusedtocallsinnerstoan
instantaneousnewbirthatthepenitentbench.Therevivalofthe
promotionoftheMethodistdoctrineandtheupsurgeoftestimonies
totheexperiencewhichensuedseemedtonorethanfulfillWesley's
ownprophecythatthedaywouldcomewhensanctificationswouldbe-comeasnumerousasconversions.
lO Ontheotherhand,theacceptance
bymanyrevivalisticCongregationalists,Presbyterians,Baptists,
Episcopalians,andothersoftheneedforafurtherworkofgracein
thelifeoftheborn-againChristiangreatlyexpeditedtheMethodiza-tionofAmericanrevivalism.Methodism'sevangelicalArminianism
appearedtobeessentialtothegeneralappealofther v i v l i s ~ and
thedesireforaqualityofChristianexperiencemorestablethan W.A.P.O. -
Dieter6 that which frequently accompanied continual revivalism
culminated ina broad acceptance of the Hethodist teaching of a
"second blessing"experience or some adaptation of itby the end of
the century.ll TheArminianization of revivalism has been rather
widely acknowledged;but ithas yet to be as fully recognized how
widespread was the shiftto an emphasis on a "second blessing " and
the subsequent turn to anew interest in the work of the Holy Spirit
and the significance ofthe meaning of Pentecost in the experience
of the church.For almost thirty years after the revival of
Christian perfec-tion began, evangelists of the movement such as
Finney, Mahan, Caughey,and the Palmers dominated American
revivalism. Their work - particu-larly that of a Palmers - was
especially important to the Revival of1857-58. That revival marked
a significant point in American evangel-icalism; by then the
Arminianizing of the American churches was al-most complete and the
perfectionist leanings were strongly evident.The involvement of the
holiness evangelists in the spread of this"Layman's Revival" to
Europe in the beginnings of what G. Edwin Orrhas called the "Second
Evangelical Awakening" clearly indicates thatItrend.12Their
ministry in the British Isles prepared the way forthe burst of
holiness evangelism a decade later under Robert PearsallIand Hannah
Whitall Smith, lay evangelists of the National Associationfor the
Promotion of the Holiness movement. out of Smith's "whirl-wind
campaign" his essentially American Wesleyan teaching on the"second
blessing" was introduced to many evangelicals who might
haverejected the revivalism of the Methodists because of doctrinal
ordenominational prejudices. Those influences were preserved by
theongoing work of the Keswick Conventions for the Promotion of
HolinessW.A.P.O Dieter.. 7Ili and the Gemeinshaftsbewegung - both
of which deeply penetrated thefabric of the life of the established
churches in England and Ger-many.13The Character of the American
Holiness RevivalThe Palmer InfluencesA brief review of the
characteristics of Mrs. Palmer's pro-motion of holiness may give
some indication of the changes whichwere taking place in the
American Holiness movement by the begin-ning of the Civil War
Period - changes which illustrate shifts inmood which possibly
helped to prepare the way for the rise of thePentecostal movement
forty years later.It should be noted first of all that Mrs.
Palmer's teachingon the doctrine of entire sanctification vis-a-vis
that of Wesleygreatly enhanced the distinctiveness of the second
blessing fromthat of the initial experience of regeneration. Wesley
generallyregarded entire sanctification as a definite experience,
but never-theless a point in a process of growth and gradualism,
and therefore,a maturity following considerable experience in the
Christian life.[ Mrs. Palmer, however, tended to make the
experience "the beginningof days" for the Christian.14The
definiteness of her urgent re-vivalism called upon every believer
to recognize the Biblical pro-mise of the fullness of the Spirit
and to receive the experience by!consecration and faith - now. The
result was that the AmericanHoliness revival came to emphasize
crisis stages of salvation at theexpense of an emphasis on growth
in grace. Dramatic and even revo-lutionary experience frequently
became the hallmark of Christian lifeand witness. This distinctive
eventually became a vital element ofPentecostalism.15W.A.P.O. -
Dieter IIII 8 IfIThe Witness ControversyAs a result of this strong
emphasis upon the crisis experiences,the verification of the
authenticity of the experiences became criti-cal; they were the
touchstones of one's standing before God; onehad to have a firm
witness to their reality. Moreover, Mrs.Palmeralso insisted on the
believer's regular public testimony to what Godhad done. One could
neglect such testimony only to the detrimentand eventual loss of
his spiritual relationship. The place and mean-ing of "the witness"
consequently created considerable controversy inthe movement.
Phoebe Palmer taught, in what has become known as her"altar
theology" or "terminology," that the Bible revealed that Christwas
the Christian's sanctifying altar; when a believer received
thattruth and by faith placed his wholly consecrated life upon that
altar,the altar immediately sanctified the gift, cleansing the
believer frominbred sin and filling him with perfect love.As a good
Methodist, Mrs. Palmer believed that the Wesley's"witness of the
Spirit" would surely corne to the believer at somepoint, but
whether that was immediate or not, complete consecrationand
implicit faith in God's Word were the key to the genuiness ofthe
finished work of entire sanctification. Many Methodists -
bothfriends and foes of her special Holiness promotion - challenged
whatthey regarded as this "easy believism." The venerable
Methodist,Nathan Bangs, otherwise a firm supporter of the Holiness
movement,cautioned her against what he believed was a non- Wesleyan
tack.Bangs warned that the blessing should not be claimed until at
thesame instance the Holy Spirit testified that the work in the
soulwas complete. The subsequent history of the Holiness movement
showsW.A.P.O. - Dieter...9 I !IftI!. that both positions continued
to prevail.16The persistence of the issue and its importance to an
exper-ience-centered movement undoubtedly agitated interest in
alternatedefinitions of the nature of the "witness." That these led
someto emphasize a sensate evidence of the Spirit's presence
followedfrom a consistent tendency to stress the importance of
emotionaland physical evidences throughout the history of the
revival. Al-though the Holiness camp meeting movement only rarely
exhinred theemotional excesses which were common to the older
frontier campmeetings, revivalistic Methodist enthusiasm or
"getting blessed"was very much a part of Holiness worship. The
"holy" shout, dance,jump, or the trance "under the power of the
Spirit" were so commonthat in many areas ifone did not visibly
"demonstrate," his spir-ituality might be called into question.The
importance which the movement attached to this is pointedup sharply
in the experience of Hannah Whitall Smith, author ofthe Holiness
classic, The Christian's Secret.17In her autobio-graphy, she tells
of her anguish of soul over the lack of the samekind of dramatic
emotional witness to her own sanctification exper-ience which her
husband, Robert Pearsall Smith, had had to his; hehad gotten the
"blessing" in good Methodist style. She finally hadto conclude that
the blessing apparently came to each according tohis own
nature.18But the problem apparently continued to plagueher as she
worked as an evangelist in the movement. In 1871, shesays that she
was introduced to a "Dr. R." who revealed to her thatwhen he had
received the "Baptism of the Spirit" physical thrillshad gone
through him from "head to feet." "No one," he told her,W.A.P.,O.-
Dieter II!IiIriI10
"couldreallyknowwhatthebaptismoftheSpiritwaswhodidnot
experiencethesethrills."HeurgedHannahWhitallSmithtopray
forthis"Baptism."Hisenthusiasmfortheexperienceandherown
"hungerandthirstforsometangibleBaptismthatwouldgive
theenrapturingthrillsofblissothersseemedtoenjoy,andwould,"
shesaid,"assuremethatIhadreallyreceivedtheBaptismofthe
HolySpirit,"ledhertoseekit;sheneverclaimedtohavefoundit.l9
Suchambivalenceonthe"witness"questions,vocalizedperhaps
byonlyasmallpartofthetotalHolinessmovement,nevertheless
indicatesthekindofclimatewhichpersistedandcontinuedtopre-vailinthemovementworld-widewhenthePentecostalrevivalsprang
upwithitsdistinguishingwitnessof"tongues."Otherfactorssuch
astheinheritedultraistictendenciesofaperfectionistmovement
andtheinfluenceofthespiritualrapturesintheexperiencesofthe
QuietistsandotherCatholicmysticswhohadbeenwidelyaccepted
aspartofthetrueHolinessmovementprobablycontributedtothis
turnaswell. 20 ForsomethetensionsbetweenMr.WesleyandMrs.
Palmerwereerasedinthenewandfullyevidentwitnessof"tongues."
Theacceptanceorrejectionof"thesign"quicklybecamethe"water-shed"whichgaveidentitytothePentecostalmovementasawholeand
justasquicklysetintotwodistinctcampsthosewhoclaimedtobe
Wesleyansandyetstoodoneithersideofthatwatershed. 2l
TheDevelopmentofPentecostalSemantics
ThePalmermovementalsopreparedthestagefortheriseof
thePentecostalmindbyhelpingtopopularizenewterminologyfor
describingtherevivalandtheexperiencesit promoted.Atabout
thesametimethatWilliamArthur'sinfluentialHolinessclassic, ft r
__________________l W.A.P.O.- Dieter 11
TheTongueofFire,emphasizingtheHolySpirit'sPentecostal
activitywasfirstpublishedjustbeforetheCivilWar,22
PhoebePalmerbeganusingsimilar"Pentecost"languageinreporting
theresultsofherandherhusband'sevangelisminCanada.Her1857
reportsarefilledwithlanguageandexpressionswhichheraldeda
majorchangeinthesemanticsandmaybeeventhetheologyofthe
AmericanHolinessmovement.Anaccountofatalkonholiness
whichshegaveattheMillbrook,CanadaMethodistcampmeeting (shewould
never allowthatshepreached)clearlyillustratesthis
shift."Welive,"shesaid,
underthedispensationofthespirit.Iftheusheringin
ofthedispensationofthespirit[atPentecost]wasso
glorious,whatoughtwetoexpectnow?-
Surelynotade-creaseinpower.[Italicshers.]
Shecontinuedtheaddressbyaskingwhethereveryonemightnot
nowreceivea"baptismoftheHolyGhost"similartothatreceived
bythebelieversatPentecost?Sheurgeduponthecongregationthat
sucha"baptism"waseveryChristianbeliever's"privilege"and therefore
his "duty. ""Thequestionnowbeforeusis,"sheconcluded,
"Mayweaskinfaiththatwemaybeenduedwithpowerfromon
high,baptizedwiththeHolyGhostandwithfire.?"Mrs.
Palmertestifiedthatthemeetingclosedwith"many"rec8l.ring"the
baptismoffire,"andtherest"inexpectationofreceivinga
PentecostalBaptism.,,23
Similarlanguagepermeatesherreportsofherwartimeministry
intheBritishIsles.Amazedatwhatshesawhappeningthere,she
concluded,"SurelynowasintheearlydaysoftheSpirit'sdispensa-tion,PentecostalblessingsbringPentecostalpower."Again,she
reportsthatayounglocalpreacherwhoreceived"thetongueoffire," l
W.A.P.O. - Dieter12 testified "as the Spirit gave utterance."24In
the county of Antrimin Ireland she encountered instances of
trances, visions, sleeps,dreams and miracles, "such as that persons
who never knew a letter ofthe alphabet when awake could read the
Bible distinctly [and] singPsalms and hymns .with eloquence and
fluency.,,25 In Scotlanda minister observed that the people who
were being filled with theSpirit in the Palmer's meetings reminded
him of the Apostles atPentecost. "Clapping his hand, [the minister]
leaped andshouted for joy," crying that they were surely "being
blessed with.the return of Pentecostal power.,,26The emphasis on
the "baptism of the Spirit" and the use ofPentecostal references
also arose early in the Oberlin movement.27The emphasis steadily
intensified throughout the development ofthe revival following the
Civil War. Itwas also evident in thelarge NationalAsrociation camp
meetings for the promotion of holinessof that period. Adam Wallace,
editor of the accounts of the NationalCommittee's sixteenth camp at
Landisville, Pennsylvania, was inclinedat first to title the work
"Pentecost Repeated;" finally, however, hetitled it, A Hodern
Pentecost.28At the second National Camp Meetingin 1868 at Manheim,
Pennsylvania, in a prayer meeting atwhich twothousand were in
attendance, "all at once, as sudden as if a flash oflightening had
fallen upon the people, one burst of agony andthen of glory was
heard in all parts of the congregation "The article continued that
many of the people present "declared thatthe sensation was as ifa
strong wind had moved from the stand overthe congregation.,,29 In
the third National Camp Meeting at RoundLake, New York, following
"a most powerful sermon" by Bishop Peck ofW.A.P.O. - Dieter13 the
Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the ministers stood anddeclared
that the meeting had "rolled the world a hundred yearstowards the
millennium " Itwas," he said, "the outflowof God's great Amazon"
which would eventually flow around theglobe."30These common
experiences of the developing Holiness revivalare merely
illustrative of a steadily growing emphasis. They tendto prove that
whether surrounded by the optimism of the post-millennialism which
commonly dominated the movement's eschatologyduring most of this
period or whether deeply involved in the pre-millennialism which
ruled itlater, the place of Pentecost in thepreaching, thinking,
and experience of the movement took on a pro-minence never before
seen in Protestantism. It resulted in astrong belief that the
coming of a new "age of the Spirit" wouldrestore "primitive
Christianity" to the churches, they in turnwould recover the purity
and the power to overcome the forces offormalism, worldliness,
materialism, higher criticism and allthe other "isms" which
increasingly seemed to threaten everythingthat the first Pentecost
had promised.3lDelegates to the Evangel-ical Alliance Meeting in
New York in 1873 heard that as long as"Pentecostal effusions"
continued to manifest themselves, "primi-tive Chri.stianity
survives in one of its chief characteristicsand will vindicate its
reality and potency . "32By the turn of the century - one of those
points in time atwhich men become especially conscious both of what
has been and whatmay yet be - Pentecost as past proof of God's
power, Pentecost as thepresent pattern for ~ renewal of the
churches, and Pentecost as - 14 the portent of fulfillment of all
things in the restoration ofGod's kingdom among men became the
pervading atmosphere of theHoliness movement.33Itall blended very
well with what RussellNye has called the "American Sense of
t-iission" and expressed thatmission in religious terms: a nation
rebaptized with Pentecostalpower would serve as an example to the
rest of the world of God'splan for all nations.34The Significance
of the Healing MovementIn addition to this sense of the renewed
activity of the HolySpirit in deepening the personal experience of
Christian believers,many Holiness adherents saw the increased
incidents of miraculousphysical healing as another demonstration of
the new dispensation ofthe Spirit. The belief in and the witness to
miraculous divinehealings attended the Holiness movement at every
turn. The healingtestimony of John Inskip, president of the
National Camp MeetingAssociation, was widely publicized in National
Association circles.Dr. Charles Cullis, founder of a Boston home
for consumptives andan Episcopalian lay evangelist of the Holiness
movement, had prayedfor Inskip's healing.35Cullis's pioneer healing
emphasis was fur-thered by evangelists such as W. E. Boardman,
author of The HigherChristian Life, who ended his days in a healing
ministry in Englandand Europe following the great Holiness crusades
there in 1874-75.36Later in the century, Jennie Smith, known as the
"railroad evangelist"because of her work among railroad men, spread
the story of her claimsto miraculous healing after decades of
living as an invalid allacross the country in personal witnessing
and in the effective publicforums which the numerous and vigorous
Holiness camp meetings afforded.37W.A.P.O. - Dieter15 II frI tI The
involvement of other Holiness leaders such as A. B. Simpson of the
Christian and Missionary Alliance is well known. Within the
Holiness movement the developing "healing question"was thoroughly
debated and the teaching propagated in spite of thefact that the
National Association eventually proscribed preaching intheir
meetings otherIonthat and the so-called/"side issues" which the
National leadersbelieved to be detrimental to a singular promotion
of Christianholiness.38Both sides of the controversy as to whether
or nothealing is "in the atonement" were espoused in the movement.
Therooremoderate place given to divine healing in the economy of
re-demption by most Holiness churches today is best illustrated
inthe writings of R. Kelso Carter, professor at Pennsylvania
MilitaryCollege and author of the well-known Gospel song "Standing
on thePromises." In a book published in 1877, he first supported
the"healing in the atonement" concept later espoused by most
Pente-costal groups and then retracted that position in a work
writtentwenty years later.39 writings could bQ with great
prof+t--by-thes-e-in-the-HoH.-ness
PentecoS+a--inevement-whO'"&t:and on aiffereing siaes of the
issueThe Four-Fold GospelThe emphasis on healing continued to be a
prominent factor inthe formative period of the Holiness churches
organized around theturn of the century. The Pentecostal Church of
the Nazarene as itwas originally known, and the Pilgrim Holiness
Church, the two churchesin which the largest groups of converts
gathered together out of theHoliness camp meeting movement, were
typical of the Holiness groupswho commonly espoused the healing
emphasis in their statements ofW.A.P.O.- Dieter 16 faith. 40
WiththeexceptionoftheChurchoftheNazarenethese
samegroupscommonlyincludedanarticleavowingtheircommitment
toapremillennialpositionoftheSecondComingaswell. 4l This
"fourfoldGospel"of"salvation,sanctification,healing,andthe
second-coming,"setapatternofdoctrineandadefinitionofmis-sionwhichfinallybecamealmostuniversallyacceptedintheHoliness
churches- inpractice,evenbytheChurchoftheNazarene.
SanctificationandPower
Thelogicinherentinthisrenewedemphasisontherestoration
ofprimitivefaithandholinessthroughtherevivalofthePente-costalexperiencewasoutlinedbyArthurT.Pierson,aPresbyterian
whowasstronglyinfluencedbytheKeswickHolinessmovement.At
theturnofthecenturyindiscussingtheriseofthehealingmove-ment,Piersonreasoned,','\,,"..,
If,thereforesupernaturalsignshavedisappearedincon-sequenceofthelossofprimitivefaithandholiness,a
revivalofthesemaybringsomenewmanifestationsofthe f o r m ~
.IfinthesedegeneratedaysanewPentecost
wouldrestoreprimitivefaith,worship,unity,andactivity,
newdisplaysofdivinepowermightsurpassthoseofanypre-viousperiod. 42
IntheHolinessmovement,thegapwhichfrequentlyprevailedbe-tweensuchhighspiritualexpectationsandsubsequentspiritual
resultscreatedquestionsoftherelationshipofthesanctifying
experiencetothepowerimpartedbythesanctifyingSpirit.At
allperiodsinthehistoryofthemovementanundertoneoftensionat
thispointconsistentlyparalleledthereportsoftheadvancesthe
movementseemedtobemaking.Afewscatteredexamplesfromthehis-torymayoutlinethepatternofthedevelopmentofthe"power"con-troversywhichUltimatelycontributedtotheriseofthe"third
- lIII 17 blessing"movementandsubsequentlythePentecostalmovement.
In1873,atthebeginningoftheLandisville,Pennsylvania
NationalCampMeeting,JohnInskip,presidentoftheNational
AssociationfqrthePromotionofHoliness,said,"I,asPresident
ofthisAssociation,wanttobeendowedwithpowerfromonhigh,
sothatImaydirecttheservicesaright.Iwantthedeepestbap-tismofmylife.
,,43Suchstatementsexpressedadichotomywhich s
themovementfullyrecognizedasthoroughlyconsistentwithadis-tinct"secondblessing"experience.Theyinterpretedit
according totherecordedprayersofthedisciplesforspecialendowmentsof
powersubsequenttotheirownPentecostalexperience;44however,
thatdichotomydidestablishthefactthatthereweresomeaspects
ofpowerforservicewhichwerenotautomaticallyinherentinthe
powerwhichaccompaniedthemovement'steachingontheinitialbap-tismwiththeHolyGhostinentiresanctification.45
In1884,J.P.Brooks,aleaderofthemoreradicalmidwestern
Holinessmovements,expressedtheopinionthatwhatthebadlydivided
Holinessadherentsofhisareareallyneeded,wastoseek"thebap-tismoftheHolyGhost.,,46S.B.Shaw,oneofthemovement'searly
editorsnotedinthesameyearthat"oflate.it iscommontofind
professorsofheartpuritybemoaningthelackoffullness."Shaw
wouldnotallowthatsuchaconditionrepresentedthetrueexper-ienceoftherevival."Thatanyoneshouldthinkthatwemaybe
entirelysanctified. andnotpossessthefullnessoftheSpirit
ofGraceiscertainlyverystrangeindeed,"heobserved.[Italics
his.]47In1902,C.W.Ruth,anearlyleaderintheHolinessChris-tianChurch,theInternationalApostolicHolinessUnion,andfinally
18 in the Church of the Nazarene, also defended the traditional
stanceof the Methodist center of the Holiness revival that "the
Holy Ghosthimself is the power; hence to get sanctified wholly is
to getthe promise. The negative and the positive side
ofsanctification occur simultaneously."48But the inherent tension
between challenge and achievementpersisted. In 1907,a year after
the Azusa revival began,an articlein the Nazarene Messenger decried
the shallowness of experience whichhad crept into the movement and
called upon the movement to "taq:yfor the power" no matter what the
past profession may have been. Theauthor continued: "We are not
third-blessingites; we have learnedbetter things; but what we want
and what our hearts need is a genuinesecond blessing. We need itto
save us from fanaticism that is no,,49doubt a result of superficial
workAs the above tend to indicate, any lackof spiritual power
with-in the movement was generally attributed to the failure of
individualsto enter into the "fullness"of the sanctification
experience, to thefailureto take advantage of the means of grace
which could keep thesoul spiritually strong and alert, or to actual
apostacy from sancti-fying grace. Apparently however, some in the
movement looked to analternative answer to the question; their
thinking tended to centeraround the belief that what was lacking
was a third experience ingrace which would bring the desired
baptism of power. This tendencyaccelerated with the increasing
expectancy of the return of Pentecostalwithpower as the revival
progressed and/the introduction of the "Baptism"language which we
have already noted in the Palmer ministry. It wascrystallized
across the whole movement by the publication of AsaMahan's The
Baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1870.50" - 19 Within the milieu, an
1869 article on the subject by Dr. "Asbury Lowrey is instructive.
Lowrey, a stalwart in the MethodistHoliness movement and co-editor
with Asa Mahan of Divine Life, raisedthe question, "Is the Baptism
of the Holy Ghost a Third Blessing?"Lowrey's answer was both "yes"
and "no," but definitely tended toseparate the cleansing and
empowering work of the Holy Ghost in thebeliever's life. He wrote,I
Itthose eventually raised by the "third-blessing" movement.Such an
ambience enveloped those in the movement who began to tpromote
"third-blessing" teaching toward the end of the nineteenthcentury.
In spite of strong opposition, the teaching quickly caughthold in
some areas. Vincent Synan and other historians of the Pen-tecostal
movement describe the ministry of Benjamin Hardin Irwin,the
establishment of this "third blessing" movement, and its conse-But
if the question be asked, "May we have a dispensationof the Holy
Ghost after sanctification and supplementaryto that grace, a
dispensation greater and more powerfulthan necessarily belongs to
the state of a pure heart?" Iunhesitatingly answer, Yes. The Gospel
evidently promisessuch accessions. (Italics his.)Without this
"post-sanctification dispensation," he continued, aChristian's
"capacities cannot be developed at all."But with it, "even the
weakest believer may do greater works thanthose wrought by the
ministry of Christ, Himself."Sl Distinctionssuch as this tended to
bifurcate what the main movement held weretwo aspects of a single
work of grace and are remarkably similar toquences for the study of
Pentecostal origins.52Ralph C. Horner, aminister of the Methodist
Church in Canada, also a "thirdblessing" theology. Horner, the
founder of what eventually becamethe Standard Church of Canada,
began to preach in the late 1880's Dieter20 that the baptism of the
Spirit was distinct from His work in sanc-tification. In 1891 he
published his beliefs in his book, Fromthe Altar to the Upper
Room.53He maintained that modern Holinessteachers had "muddled
Wesley." The latter, he claimed, "had taughtholiness by commands,
prayers, and promises in the WordHeselected commands from the Old
and New Testaments, but didn't useany that were given by the Lord
Jesus to the Apostles regardingPentecost." Horner observed that had
not been convincedthat the Apostles had already been sanctified and
that the Actspassages referred to a "baptism for service," he would
most certainlyhave used those passages, for they would have been
his strongesttexts. Horner concluded that the experience of the
Holiness movementof his time was the practical proof that
sanctification did not bring54spiritual power.For some itwas but a
short step from such "third blessing"teaching - especially when
cast in the dynamic rhetoric of the Ir-win movement-to the
Pentecostal movement. The scattered remnantsof Irwin's
Fire-Baptized Church eventually took that step.Horner'sgroup did
not. They remained on the fringes of the Holiness movementwhose
main leaders and organizations rejected the "third
blessing"experience as a dangerous aberration at best, and at
worst, as heresyand fanaticism.55Nevertheless, the developing
history of the Holi-ness and Pentecostal movements increasingly
indicates that the riseof this teaching within the more radical
elements of the NationalHoliness Association movement, encouraged
by a renewed awareness ofJohn Fletcher's use of "Spirit baptism"
terminology and the effectivedissemination of the Kes...lick
Holiness movement's "baptism for service"teachings by R. A. Torrey,
all worked together to create the poten-21 tiality for the
immediate, world-wide response aroused by theAzusa Street meetings
in 1906.56Men and Methods - the Final ContributionThe rejection of
the Irwin movement by the National Holinessmovement and its
satellite groups at the turn of the century was anomen of the
future; itportended a similar reaction by the center-core leaders
to the "tongues" movement almost from the first stir-rings of the
Azusa Street Revival. There were some early efforts tomake caution
the key-word in judging the new phenomena associatedwith that Los
Angeles center. The radii of the revival which quicklyspread acorss
the country and around the world were supported, thoughbriefly, by
some of the existing institutions of the continuing Holi-ness
revival which had similarly circles the world thirty years
pre-viously.57 However, when Phineas Bresee, founder of the Church
ofthe Nazarene, finally published his first editorial reaction to
therevival in his horne town, itexhibited a pattern of reaction
andjudgment which has characterized the viewpoint of the Holiness
move-ment in general since that time. Bresee said that, at first,
he hadquietly ignored the nearby meetings at Azusa Street where
"there be-gan something which was called 'the gift of tongues.'IIHe
judgedthat all men knew that,so far as itwas good itwas necessarily
the same as isbeing carried on with much success in this city of
gettingbelievers sanctified and sinners converted, and so far
asitpartakes of fanaticism and was fostered by hereticalteachings,
we did not care to give itthe prominence ofpublic discussion.The
Nazarene leader admonished his readers to cautiously and care-fully
examine anything which varied from the standard teaching ofthe
movement on sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. - 22
He believed that these people who were seeking "after the hope
ofexceptional or marvelous things" were "more or less" those
whoseexperience was "unsatisfactory, who have never been
sanctifiedwholly, or have lost the precious work out of their
hearts.uHesaid, "People who have Christ revealed in the heart' by
theHoly Spirit, do not hanker after strange fire""There is restonly
in the old paths where the Holy Spirit Himself imparts to
thesoul'/directly the witness of the cleansing and the
indwelling,"he concluded.58But apparently there were significant
numbers of people in theHoliness movement of Bresee's day who were
either dissatisfied orlax, or even apostate in their experiences.
Frank Bartleman, a holi-ness evangelist who had preached his way
across the country to LosAngeles in a number of Holiness centers,
may serve as a typical ex-ample of these; he was at least among the
dissatisfied. His reactionsto Azusa Street were quite the opposite
of Bresee's. Stirred by therevival in Wales in 1904, he feared that
the awakening might pass theHoliness people by. The Holiness
people, he judged, were "loaded downto the water's edge with a
spirit of prejudice and pharisaism." "Theywere too proud of their
standing," he said, and warned that God might"humble them by
working in other places.,,59In 1906, Bartleman quickly became part
of the Azusa Street meet-;ings and the new movement; he wrote
articles for holiness papers such as the Way of Faith and God's
Revivalist, seeking, he said, to bringt:the holiness people into
the stream of what he believed was the rising !-tide of the revival
they had always sought.60Of his eventual separa-tion from the
Holiness movement, he said that itbecame necessary be-,Icause the
Iioliness leaders were "old timers," many of whom had workedI 23
lII faithfully in their time and day, but now would not join the
newrevival to which he had committed himself. Finally failing in
hisattempts to win them over, he testified that the Lord told him
tolet the holiness people to God. Bartleman, himself, was now to
moveon with a "new order of Priests."6lThus the Holiness revival
forces were divided. Itwas mainlyin the south that there were
significant shifts of groups of holi-ness churches to the new
movement.62 However, other holinessbodieswere also affected. In
April 1909, H. F. Reynolds, General Super-intendent of the
Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene for the EasternDivision,
reported to the Pentecostal Advocate that he had notvisited Durant,
Florida at that time as he had anticipated, becausein Florida, the
"so-called Tongue Movement" had swept all the Naza-63rene churches
into its fold except one. Wesleyan Methodist recordsshow that their
southern districts were often affected.64Accordingto Conn, all the
members of the Southern Florida Holiness Associa-tion except three
became members of the Church of God and the N.H.A.camp meeting at
Durant became a Pentecostal center.65Much more signficant to the
actual continuity between the twomovements than the organizational
crossovers, however, were thenumerous individuals - some heralded
in the older movement, especiallyamong southern holiness
leadership, but most unheralded -- who promptlytook places of
leadership in the Pentecostal revival. Itwas theKings, the
Tomlinsons, the Seymours, the Bartlemans, the Barratts,the Pauls,
the Parhams, the Masons, the Ebys - all out of the Holi-ness
movement - that set the Wesleyan patterns that dominated
thePentecostal revival's formative years and which are still
normative24 for more than half of the movement's members today.
These rapidlypassed on the theology, the methodology, and the mores
of the oldermovement to the newer. They adopted for the newer
movement fromthe older, the Gospel songs; the evangelistic methods,
the use ofthe camp meeting as a center of celebration,
communication, andcatechism; the Pietistic concern for personal
purity and a separatedlife; and the concepts of "faith works," of
healing and of pre-millennialism.Rooted in these commitments, the
two movements have continuedto be at the forefront of the growing
edge of evangelical Christianityaround the world. o ~ h r they form
a significant part of the Na-tional Association of Evangelicals. It
may do no violence to thefacts nor to human nature to suggest that
the differences, the con-flicts, the sometimes bitter
recriminations which have been part ofthe past relationships of the
Holiness and Pentecostal movements couldbe the strongest proof of
the commonality of their origins. It is inone's family that one
often has the most difficulty in establishinghis identity and his
role; itis especially difficult when one isborn a twin - even
ifonly fraternal and not identical.THE WESLEYAN ASPECTS OF
PENTECOSTAL ORIGINSlWilliam Jones, From Elim to Carmel (Boston: The
Christian Wit-ness o ~ 1885); Josiah Strong, The New Era: or the
Coming Kingdom(New York: Baker and Taylor, 1893).2Jones, ~ cit.,
pp. 78-81.3John A. Hardon, The Protestant Churches of America
(Westminster,.Md.: The Newman Press, 1957), p. 305; John Thomas
Nichol, Pentecos-talism (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p.
6.4Fredrick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The
Pen-tecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness (Grand
Rapids,Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publisher, c.1970), p. 44.
Vincent Synanmakes this the "overriding thesis" of his The
Holiness-PentecostalMovement: in the United States (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971); see ibid., p.
8. Winthrop Hudson,Religion in America (New York: Chas. Scribner
and Sons, 1965), p. 345;Willard Sperry, Religion in America
(Cambridge: University Press,1946), p. 76; Nils Bloch-Hoell, The
Pentecostal Movement: Its Origin,Development, and Distinctive
Character (Olso: Universitetsforlaget,1964), pp. 16, 17; Church of
God Minutes, 1962 (Cleveland, Tenn.:Church of God Publishing House,
1962), p. 182; Elmer T. Clark, TheSmall Sects in America (New York:
Abingdon Press, 1949), p. 148;Charles W. Conn, Like a Mighty Army
Moves the Church of God, 1866-1955(Cleveland, Tenn.: h u ~ c h of
God Publishing House, 1955), p. xix;Klaude Kendrick, The Promise
Fulfilled: a History of the Hodern Pen-tecostal Movement
(Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1961),25 W.A.P.O. -
Dieter26 pp.25-36; Nichol, ~ cit., pp. 5-7.5paul Fleisch, Zur
Geshcichte der Heiligungsbewegung (Leipzig:Wallman, 1910), pp.
9-46; Bruner, Ope cit., pp. 37-39; W. J. Hol-1enweger, The
Pentecostals: The Charistmatic Movement in theChurches
(Minneapolis, Minn.: Augusburg Publishing House, c.1972),p.21;
Synan, ~ cit., pp. 13-19.6Fleisch, Ope cit., p. 8.7W E. Sangster,
The Path to Perfection (London: Epworth Press,1943), p. T.
8"Justification by Faith and the Baptism of the Spirit," Pre-sent
Truth, Special Issue (1972),9-15; Russell Hitt, "Tongues:Updating
some Old Issues," Eternity XXIV (March, 1973), 8. Alsosee James W.
L. Hill, "The New Charismatics 1973," in ibid., p. 33.9General
accounts are in Timothy L. Smith, Called unto Holiness:The Story of
the Nazarenes, the Formative Years (Kansas City, Mo.:Nazarene
Publishing House, 1962), pp. 11-26; Synan, ~ cit., pp.25-54. Smith,
Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth CenturyAmerica (New
York: Abingdon Press, 1957), pp. 4 5 l 4 ~ gives a moredetailed
account.10Guide to Christian Perfection, I (July, 1839),13.1lsee
Glen C. Atkins, Religion in Our Times (New York: RoundTable Press,
1932), p. 19; Melvin E. Dieter, "Revivalism and Holi-ness"
(Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University, 1973), pp.
20-23,210-212.12walter and Phoebe Palmer, Four Years in the Old
World: Com-prising the Travels, Incidents, and Evangelistic Labors
of Dr. andMrs. Palmer in England, Ireland, and Wales (New York:
Foster andW.A.P.O. - Dieter27 f.Palmer, Jr., 1867), passim; James
Orr The Second EvangelicalAwakening in Britain (London: Marshall,
Morgan and Scott, 1949).13For a thorough though negative account
see, Benjamin War-Il field, Perfectionism (Philadephia: The
Reformed and Pres-byterian Publishing Co., 1971), pp.
312-464.l4Charles E. Jones, "Perfectionist Persuasion: a Social
Pro-file of the National Holiness Movement within American
Methodism,1867-1936" (Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of
Wisconsin,1968), pp. 22-25; John L. Peters, Christian Perfection
and AmericanMethodism (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956), pp.
112-13.15 . 20Bruner, ~ CJ. t., p. l6R Wheatley, The Life and
Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Palmer(New York: W. C. Palmer, Jr., 1876),
pp. 15-26; Smith, Revivalismand Social Reform, pp. 124-29; Dieter,
op. cit., pp. 30-37.l7The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life
(Westwood, New Jersey:Revell, [1870], 1968).l8Hannah Whita11 Smith,
The Unselfishness of God, and How IDiscovered It: A Spiritual
Autobiography (New York: Fleming H.Revell Co., 1903), p. 243.19Ray
Strachey (Rachel Cossteloe), (ed.), Religious Fanaticism:Extracts
from the Papers of Hannah ~ ~ i t a Smith (London: Faberand Gywer,
Ltd., 1928), pp. 166-71.20paul Fleisch, Zur Geshichte der
Hei1igungsbewegung,p.100.2lHo11enweger, ~ cit., p. 209.22William
Arthur, The Tongue of Fire: or the True Power of Chris-tianity(New
York: Harper and Brothers, [1856], 1880).23Beauty of Holiness, VIII
(June, 1857), 164-65.----W.A.P.O. - Dieter..2824palmer, Four Years,
p. 96. 25Ibid., p. 76. 26Ibid., p. 232. 27See the Oberlin
Evangelist, II (1840), p. 93. 28Adam Wallace, (ed.), A Modern
Pentecost: Embracing a Record of the Sixteenth National Camp
Meeting.. (Philadelphia: MethodistHorne Journal Publishing House,
1873).29William McDonald and John E. Searles, The Life of Rev. John
S.Inskip, President of the National Association for the Promotion
ofHoliness (Chicago: The Christian Witness Co., 1885), p.
201.30Ibid., pp. 203-204. 3lSee Dieter, 2. cit., pp. 102-104.
32Philip Schaff and S. Iranaeous Prime, (eds.), History, Essays,
Orations and other Documents of the Sixth GeneralConference of
theEvangelical Alliance .. e w York: Harper and Brother
Publishers,1874), p. 351.33This "Pentecost line" as itwas called in
the movement is bestillustrated by the publishing efforts of Martin
Wells Knapp editorof God's Revivalist publications; e.g. Seth Cook
Rees, The IdealPentecostal Church (Cincinnati, Ohio: God's
Revivalist Office, 1897),and Knapp's series of paper backs called
the Pentecostal HolinessLibrary.34Russell E. Nye, This Almost
Chosen People: Essays in the His-tOry of American Ideas (n.p.:
Michigan State University Press, 1966),pp. 164-207.35McDonald and
Searles, Ope cit., pp. 279-280.36Mrs. William E. Boardman, The Life
and Labors of W. E. Boardman (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1887),
pp. 136-37, 156-60.W.A.P.O. - Dieter, III 2937Jennie Smith, From
Baca To Beulah (Philadephia: GarriguesBrothers, 1880).38Jones,
Perfectionist Persuasion, p. 175.39Russell ~ e l s o Carter, The
Atonement for Sin and Sickness: ora Full Salvation for Soul and
Body (Boston: Willard Tract Repository,1884); the same, Faith
Healing Reviewed after Twenty Years (Boston:The Christian Witness
Co., 1897).40Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, 1940, p. 31.
Manual ofthe Pilgrim Holiness Church, 1930, p. 20.4lCompare above:
Pilgrim Manual, p. 20, and Nazarene Manual,p. 30.42Arthur T.
Pierson, Forward Movements of the Last Half Century(New York: Funk
and Wagnalls Co., 1905), p. 401.43wallace, Ope cit., p. 75.44For
exarnple.Acts 4.31.45See also, "Getting the Power," Nazarene
Messenger, X (June 7,1906), 12.46Good a ~ VI (April 26, 1884),
2.47Michigan Holiness Record, III (May, 1884), 10.48Nazarene
Messenger, VII (October 2,1902),5.49Ibid., XII (October 17, 1907),
2.50{New York: W. C. Palmer, Jr.,).5lDivine Life, (August, 1879),
pp. 46-47.52Synan, Ope cit., pp. 61-64; Kendrick, Ope cit., p. 33;
JosephE. Campbell, The Pentecostal Holiness Church, 1898-1948
(FranklinSprings, Ga.: Publishing House of the Pentecostal Holiness
Church,1951), pp. 19lff.53{Toronto: WID. Briggs, 1891).W.A.P.O. -
Dieter30 54Ibid., pp. 136-39.55See "Minutes of the Fifteenth
Session of the Wesleyan MethodistConnection and Church 1899"
(Original "Minute Book" intheWesleyan Church Archives), pp. 146-47;
the Wesleyan Methodist, LIV(november 29, 1897), 4: Nazarene
Messenger, III (August 24, 1899),2.56Bruner, ~ . cit., pp.
44-46.57pentecostal Herald, XVIII (October 3, 1906), 7; The Way
ofFaith,XXV (July 9, 1914), pp. 6-7. Bloch-Hoell, ~ . cit., p.
49.58"Editorial - The Gift of Tongues," Nazarene Messenger,
XI(December 13, 1906), 6.59Frank Bartleman, How Pentecost Came to
Los Angeles (LosAngeles: Frank Bartleman, 1925), p. 21.60AS late as
1914 letters from Bartleman were still appearinginthe Way of Faith
edited by John Paul with such holiness stalwartsas J. M. Pike
(founder and former editor of the paper), J. L.Brasher, and Roy T.
Williams as corresponding editors; see XXV{July
9,1914),6,7.61Latter Rain Evangel, II (July, 1910), 5.62 .Synan, ~
. c ~ t . Pf I/r;...'7- .3 7.63pentecostal Advocate, XII {April
8,1909),10.64"Minutes of the seventeenth General Conference of the
WesleyanMethodist Connection and Church 1907," (Original "Minute
Book,"Wesleyan Church Archives), p. 372; Wesleyan Methodist,LXX
(August 12,1908), 12.65Conn, ~ . cit., pp. 96-97.