The main section will trace the history of the modern Pentecostal movement. Contrary to what you have read, it did not begin on Azusu St. in Los Angeles in 1906. The modern Pentecostal movement was the evolutionary development of American revivalism. It was a small step in the evolution of revivalism from Charles Grandison Finney to the Pentecostal movement. Another question looms in the background: what is the relationship between the modern Pentecostal movement and the popular continuationist position now postulated by many modern scholars? Has the Pentecostal movement influenced scholarship? If Pentecostalism is an erroneous movement, would that do anything to dissuade some scholars from believing that the apostolic gifts have not ceased to operate in the churches? I think that is an interesting question.
Disclosure: in the interest of fair disclosure, I am a former Pentecostal. My first church experience as a Christian was in a Church of God in West Virginia. I went on to pastor in that denomination, head-quartered in Cleveland, TN. I know Pentecostalism pretty well. The modern Pentecostal movement began in what would eventually become known as the Church of God, headquarters in Cleveland, TN, not in Los Angeles, CA.
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