LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

The Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements and Speaking in Tongues

Submitted to Dr. Timothy McAlhaney in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course

CHHI 525-D08 Spring 2015 LUO
History of Christianity II

By

Fred Martin
May 13, 2015

Contents I. Introduction…………………………………………………….................................1 II. The History and Theologies of Pentecostals and Charismatics…….……….………2 a. Brief History of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements……..……….2-3 b. The Beliefs of the Pentecostals and Charismatics…………………..............3-5 III. The Bible and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit……………………..……….…….....5 IV. The Bible and Gifts of the Holy Spirit…………………………………….………..6 V. Scholarly Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues ………………………….………..7 a. Speaking in Tongues: A Reversal of the Babel Event at Pentecost….……..7-8 b. Psychiatric Views of Speaking in Tongues……………………….…......….8-9 c. Speaking in Tongues as Spiritual Warfare…………………………….…....9 VI. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….…....10
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………......…11

I. Introduction
Author Paul Enns presents his perspectives on the supernatural gift of speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit in his book The Moody Handbook of Theology, Revised and Expanded. However, Enns believes that gift ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age. This view is flawed because it does not take into account the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues in today’s modern world. Whether the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still at work and bestowed upon believers today is an issue causing considerable confusion, disagreement, and tension within the Christian community. There are as many arguments for as against the degree of involvement and depth of experience concerning the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the modern world. Speaking in tongues, a gift of the Holy Spirit embraced and practiced by most Pentecostals and Charismatics, is considered by many in the Christian community as not only unbiblical but heretical. This paper will examine the biblical arguments for and against the continuing manifestation of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. However, due to the limited length and scope of this paper, it will not be possible to include every group, every nuance, or every bit of evidence surrounding the topic. This paper will now provide a brief analysis of those in the Christian community who continue to embrace baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts-Charismatics and Pentecostals.

II. Defining the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
The Charismatic and Pentecostal movements in America have significantly influenced modern Christianity worldwide and have contributed greatly to the preaching of the gospel of Christ. A 2011 Pew Research Poll found that 14 percent of the world’s Christian population, or 305 million people, identify as Charismatics. Likewise, the poll revealed that 12.8 percent of the world’s Christian population, or 279 million people, characterize themselves as Pentecostals. The Pentecostal and Charismatic movements have their own unique history and characteristics that warrant a brief examination. A. History of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
The Methodist Holiness Movement of the late 19th century led to the origin of both Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement. On January 1, 1901, Agnes Ozman spoke in tongues during a Bethel Bible School event in Topeka, Kansas, and the result was the birth of Classical Pentecostalism. The term Pentecostal refers to the events in the book of Acts, and Pentecostalism denotes a body of believers who still believe in the supernatural manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The worldwide influence of Pentecostalism was launched in Los Angeles, California, during the Azusa Street Revival of 1906-1907, led by Pastor William Seymour. The passion and spiritual devotion of the
Pentecostals soon spread around the world and the Pentecostal Denomination was established. There are now approximately 170 various denominations that identify as Pentecostal. The Charismatic movement, or neo-Pentecostalism, was born in 1960 when Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett, during the Passion Sunday service, both spoke in tongues and announced that he had received baptism in the Holy Spirit. Although this event is associated with the official beginning of the Charismatic movement, it must be noted that many other Pentecostals and even mainline Christians are considered essential to the birth and spread of the movement. They include such names as David du Plessis, Smith Wigglesworth, Agnes Sanford, Kenneth McAll, Presbyterian pastor James Brown, and Lutheran minister Harald Bredesen. Those who embrace the beliefs and practices of the Charismatic movement do not generally align themselves with any particular mainline Christian denomination. However, Charismatics are found today in all the major Christian denominations, especially in the Pentecostal, Lutheran, Episcopalian, and Catholic Churches. The term Charisma means gift, so therefore Charismatics denote those that demonstrate one or many of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.
B. The Beliefs of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
Pentecostals and Charismatics have similarities in their theological and ecclesiological beliefs. Both Pentecostals and Charismatics believe in the following: (1) there is healing in the atonement of Christ, as He died for our sicknesses as well as our sins. This is based

on the authority Christ gave the apostles and is viewed as an essential aspect of evangelism; (2) Holy Spirit Baptism comes subsequent to salvation, and evidence of this baptism is glossolalia (speaking in tongues). Even though believers receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, there may come a second work of grace by the total penetration of the Holy Spirit, a total infilling and release of the Holy Spirit within the believer in which the Holy Spirit claims the believer; (3) They both recognize all the spiritual gifts for today including prophecy (continuing revelation), healing, and glossolalia; (4) They emphasize the necessity of signs and wonders accompanying the preaching of the Gospel according to Matthew 10:7-8; (5) They also believe in the deeply-spiritual phenomenon called “slain in the Spirit.” This involves a believer being overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit which causes the believer to fall down due to a loss of feeling and physical control; and (6) A few Pentecostals and Charismatics believe in the doctrines of Positive Confession, Health and Wealth, and Oneness. Additionally, a variety of doctrines and divisions are evidenced in the fringe elements of both movements.
There are, however, relevant differences in doctrine between the Pentecostals and Charismatics: (1) Pentecostal refers to the groups that began in the early 1900s which emphasized speaking in tongues as the evidence of the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." Pentecostals ardently believe that speaking in tongues is essential in proving baptism in the Holy Spirit. Likewise, this “proof” is mandatory for salvation as it is a positive reflection of conversion; (2) Charismatic refers to the beliefs that developed in 1960 including the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, speaking in tongues is a gift that is given to believers after conversion. Charismatic worship comprises dynamic and spirited music, active engagement of the worshipers, sharing of praise reports and healing events testimonials, and a tendency to avoid one pastor delivering the message.
Pentecostals and Charismatics stress the active and powerful role of the Holy Spirit in worship, doctrine, and life after conversion. This paper will now provide a review of common biblical arguments for and against Baptism in the Holy Spirit. III. The Bible and Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Perhaps the most convincing evidence that there is a second baptism following conversion is found in Acts 8:14-18, “…(the Apostles) sent Peter and John to them (Samaria) so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” This undoubtedly states that a second baptism was necessary for the Holy Spirit to be awakened. Moreover, Acts 10:44-47, “…the Holy Spirit fell upon all those that heard the word…the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also…Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” This passage clearly associates the Holy Spirit with a second baptism. Finally, the passage in Acts 1:5 concerning Christ’s remarks to His disciples about the Holy Spirit is profound, “You have heard from Me: for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Some who believe that these and other passages do not refer to a baptism of the Holy Spirit point to a scholarly view that there is a difference between the history of salvation (historia salutis ) and the order of salvation.(ordo salutis). So the issue of Holy Spirit baptism is further confounded by not only this idea of the theological differences in the order of salvation, but also as to whether the baptism following conversion and the subsequent Holy Spirit baptism are actually one unified event. Author Douglass Oss proposes that while Acts records the fulfillment of redemptive history, it records only the beginning of the “last days” fulfillment. However, author Robert Saucy disagrees that a separate baptism need take place. Specifically, that the spirit comes upon all believers through faith in Christ. He continues this concept by stating that nowhere in the bible does it say that believers are to seek a new relationship with the Spirit, are to be baptized in the Spirit, or to receive the Spirit in any new or different way. This paper will now examine the issue of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
IV. The Bible and Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Although the evidence for miraculous gifts is documented by not only research but also by various electronic media, there is a hesitation to believe such occurrences and even more reluctance to give these events supernatural credibility. However, Apostle Paul does not teach a cessation of the gifts, but rather maintains a position of continuing of the gifts until the Parousia. I Corinthians 1:7 is conceptually linked to I
Corinthians13:8-12 in supporting the continuity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Paul taught to the early church that the gifts were provided by the Holy Spirit to provide for the common good of the church. Paul and the members of the early church saw the gifts as a normal occurrence and part of the New Covenant life. Likewise, the early church was not looking for the gifts to end. The cessationist viewpoint appears to be a modern church concept.
V. Scholarly Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues
The gift of speaking in tongues has drawn a great deal of scholarly interest and speculation regarding its origins, purpose, authenticity, and psychological dynamics. Author Hugh Pyle states, “All that glitters in the religious realm is not gold.” The meaning to this statement is that some supernatural behavioral manifestations of the Holy Spirit, much like all human behaviors, may be facetiously displayed from time to time in order to glorify or edify a person or persons. However, aside from these false displays, there are several theories worth exploring as to speaking in tongues. A. Speaking in Tongues: A Reversal of the Babel Event at Pentecost
Author Michael Welker proposes that the speaking in tongues at Pentecost, as a result of Holy Spirit Baptism, was actually an individual and corporate expression of Christ’s unifying message to all the world, not just Israel. The confused and chaotic diversification of language during the Babel event was man-centered, whereas the speaking in tongues event at the Pentecost was God-centered resulting in a reversal of the confusion and chaos during the Babel event. Speaking in tongues is tool of unification in which believers can collectively share in the gospel message of Jesus. B. Psychiatric Views of Speaking in Tongues
In 1964, researchers Lapsley and Simpson conducted interviews and established profiles on control groups comprising twenty-four Pentecostal tongue-speakers and twenty-four Christian non-tongue speakers. After reviewing the data, the researchers determined that glossolalia was a “dissociative expression of truncated personality development” and “a regression in the service of the ego that relieves tension even if it is no more than infantile babble.” However, psychologist Virginia Hine offers a more positive interpretation of glossolalia. She interviewed, in collaboration with four psycho-therapists, more than thirty Pentecostal groups and collected two-hundred-thirty-nine questionnaires. She determined that there was antipathy towards religious groups demonstrated by those in the psychological and scientific community. Furthermore, she found that there exists a readiness to assume pathology in glossolalics without adequate knowledge of the groups involved. Finally, in 1985, researchers Malony and Lovekin conducted exhaustive research on glossolalia. They argued from both the tongue-speaker and social-science perspective. They concluded that a physical activity that can be naturally explained can also be a manifestation of supernatural power: the greater can be transposed into the lesser. There are numerous other studies, too many for this paper, that explore the glossolalia issue. However, science cannot seem to discredit the supernatural context of the gift or attribute speaking in tongues to a mental or cognitive disorder. C. Speaking in Tongues as Spiritual Warfare
Pentecostals and Charismatics have a spiritual worldview that passionately embraces the notion that Christians are in a continual battle with Satan over the control of their hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. Therefore, glossolalia is incorporated into their daily prayer, worship, and inventory of “weapons” to be used in Spiritual Warfare with Satan. Moreover, speaking in tongues becomes a method of awakening the supernatural spirit of God in order to achieve power against the seemingly endless assault on God’s people. This communication not only provides the tongue speaker with a weapon against Satan, but also provides life-changing and life-sustaining “glue” that Satan cannot resist. Tongue speakers also feel a special kinship and brotherhood with one another that increases the supernatural power of God through perceived “strength in numbers.” VII. Conclusion
This paper has discussed the spiritual gifts and the role of baptism in the Holy Spirit. The author of this paper has presented arguments against the cessationist view of author Paul Enns. Unless Paul Enns can prove unequivocally that he has been blessed with the unique privilege to know the intentions and mind of the Holy Spirit or has been to every corner of the world, every hospital room, every hospice situation, every fervent Charismatic/Pentecostal worship service, or every global arena that is steeped in tragedy, death, suffering and chaos, then that author cannot defend absolutely the position of the cessation of the gifts. This paper has also provided evidence of the ongoing scholarly and scientific debate as to the purpose and authenticity of speaking in tongues. No one knows the mind of God, and no one can say definitively that there is no Baptism in the Holy Spirit or that the gifts have ceased. What is known is that every day the Holy Spirit continues to enrich the lives of millions of Christians worldwide. As author C.S. Lewis writes, “We shall love the Father as Christ does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us.” Bibliography
Cartledge, Mark. Speaking in Tongues: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006.
Clark, Randy. The Essential Guide to the Power of the Holy Spirit. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 2015.
Dunn, J.D. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Napierville, IL: Allenson, 1970.
Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook of Theology, Revised and Expanded. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014.
Gundry, Stanley and Wayne Grudem. Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.
Lewis, C.S. The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002.
Maloney, H.N. and A.A. Lovekin, Glossolalia: Behavioural Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology, Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Poewe, Karla. Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina Press. 1994.
Pyle, Hugh. The Truth About Tongues and the Charismatic Movement. Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1989.
Welker, Michael. God the Spirit. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994.

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[ 1 ]. Paul Enns. The Moody Handbook of Theology, Revised and Expanded. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014.)
[ 2 ]. Ibid., 679-685.
[ 3 ]. Pew Research Study, Religion and Public Life. Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population, 2011. Accessed April 4, 2015, http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/
[ 4 ]. Ibid.
[ 5 ]. Paul Enns. The Moody Handbook of Theology, Revised and Expanded. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 679-680.
[ 6 ]. Walter Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 899.
[ 7 ]. Ibid.
[ 8 ]. Karla Poewe. Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture. (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1994), 2-4.
[ 9 ]. Ibid.
[ 10 ]. Millard Erickson. Christian Theology, Third Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 781.
[ 11 ]. Ibid., 220.
[ 12 ]. Enns, Moody Handbook, 679-683.
[ 13 ]. Walter Elwell. The American Patriot’s Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 1247.
[ 14 ]. Ibid., 1251.
[ 15 ]. Ibid., 1238.
[ 16 ]. Robert B. Gaffin, “A Cessationist View,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, ed. Stanley Gundry and Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 31-32.
[ 17 ]. J.D. Dunn. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. (Napierville, IL: Allenson, 1970), 10-14.
[ 18 ]. Douglas Oss, “A Pentecostal/Charismatic Response,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, ed. Stanley Gundry and Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 90-91.
[ 19 ]. Robert Saucy, “An Open but Cautious View” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, ed. Stanley Gundry and Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 98-100.
[ 20 ]. Ibid.
[ 21 ]. Douglas Oss, “A Pentecostal/Charismatic View,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, ed. Stanley Gundry and Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 274-276.
[ 22 ]. Douglas Oss, “A Pentecostal/Charismatic View,” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, ed. Stanley Gundry and Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 274-276.
[ 23 ]. Ibid.
[ 24 ]. Ibid.
[ 25 ]. Hugh Pyle. The Truth about Tongues and the Charismatic Movement. (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1989), 61.
[ 26 ]. Ibid., 60-68.
[ 27 ]. Michael Welker. God the Spirit. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994), 148.
[ 28 ]. Welker, God the Spirit, 148.
[ 29 ]. Mark Cartledge. Speaking in Tongues: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006), 38-40.
[ 30 ]. J.N. Lapsley and J.H. Simpson, “Speaking in Tongues: Infantile Babble or Song of the Self”, Pastoral Psychology 15 (1964), 16-24, 48-55. Accessed May 9, 2015. http://www.researchgate.net/journal/0031-2789_Pastoral_Psychology
[ 31 ]. Ibid.
[ 32 ]. V.H. Hine, “Pentecostal Glossolalia: Towards a Functional Interpretation”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 8 (1969), 211-226. Accessed May 9, 2015. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291468-5906
[ 33 ]. Ibid.
[ 34 ]. H.N. Maloney and A.A. Lovekin, Glossolalia: Behavioural Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985).
[ 35 ]. Cartledge, Speaking in Tongues, 159-161.
[ 36 ]. Ibid.
[ 37 ]. C.S. Lewis. “Mere Christianity” in The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics. (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002), 144.