The Pentecostals

The Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God of Cleveland, the Foursquare Church and their kin: Trinitarian churches that seek a baptism in the Holy Spirit after conversion, with speaking in tongues as its first sign, and that expect healing and the gifts of the Spirit today.

Assemblies of God (USA), Statement of Fundamental Truths

Assemblies of God (USA), Position Paper: Baptism in the Holy Spirit (General Presbytery, August 9–11, 2010), read from an Internet Archive copy of the ag.org page because ag.org blocks direct downloads

Assemblies of God (USA), Position Paper: Divine Healing (General Presbytery, August 9–11, 2010)

Assemblies of God (USA), Position Paper: Ordination, The Recognition of a Call to Ministry (2020)

Assemblies of God (USA), Position Paper: Leadership and Governance in the Local Church (2019)

Assemblies of God (USA), About the AG (figures as shown on 2026-10-27)

Jonas José de Oliveira Maria, "O papel ecológico das Assembleias de Deus no Brasil," Estudos Teológicos 65, no. 2 (2025)

Church of God in Christ, About C. H. Mason (Founders Week)

The Foursquare Church, Our History

Victory of Albany (an Assemblies of God church, Albany, Georgia), "What to expect"

Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Declaration of Faith

Church of God in Christ, What We Believe

Church of God in Christ, Statement of Faith

Church of God in Christ, Our History

The Foursquare Church, Declaration of Faith (compiled by Aimee Semple McPherson), 2023 PDF

The Foursquare Church, Beliefs and the Global Distinctives

International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Beliefs (Articles of Faith with amplification)

International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Who We Are

Redeemed Christian Church of God, Our Beliefs

Redeemed Christian Church of God, Our History

Pew Research Center, Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals (2006)

Vinson Synan, "Pentecostalism: William Seymour," Christian History, issue 65 (Christianity Today)

Vinson Synan, "Christian History Timeline: The Rise of Pentecostalism," Christian History Institute

Christianity Today, "Died: Vinson Synan, Historian Who Saw Breadth of Pentecostalism" (2020)

Pneuma Review, review of Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge University Press)

Church of God in Christ, Our Founder

International Pentecostal Holiness Church, History

Redeemed Christian Church of God, home page

Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) (Wikipedia)

Assemblies of God (Wikipedia)

International Pentecostal Holiness Church (Wikipedia)

Foursquare Church (Wikipedia)

Célio César de Aguiar Lima, "Crise da borracha e expansão das Assembleias de Deus no Brasil," Revista Sítio Novo 9 (2025)

Gunnar Vingren (Wikipedia)

Redeemed Christian Church of God (Wikipedia)

Pentecostalism rose out of the American Holiness movement, which taught a second work of grace after conversion. In 1901 a Holiness teacher in Topeka, Kansas, taught that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence of a further baptism in the Spirit, and in 1906 an African American pastor carried that teaching to Los Angeles, where a three-year revival sent it round the world. Some of the bodies named here, the Church of God of Cleveland and the Church of God in Christ, were Holiness churches before they took up the tongues teaching. Others, the Assemblies of God, the Foursquare Church and the Redeemed Christian Church of God, began as Pentecostal churches. The Assembleias de Deus began in Brazil among Swedish missionaries in 1911.

Christian Union at Barney Creek

Richard G. Spurling, a Missionary Baptist minister, and eight others organized the Christian Union at the Barney Creek Meeting House in Monroe County, Tennessee, on August 19, 1886. Spurling and his father, an ordained elder, had rejected some of the views of the Baptists near them as not in accord with New Testament Christianity. The group later broke up, but the Church of God of Cleveland traces its origin to that day. It was a Holiness body at first; it came to the tongues teaching later.

The Church of God in Christ begins

Charles Harrison Mason, a Baptist preacher who had taught sanctification, was shut out of Baptist pulpits in Mississippi. In 1897 he and others, with sixty charter members, formed a church at Lexington, Mississippi. The name "Church of God in Christ" came to him, the church says, "while walking along a certain street in Little Rock, Arkansas," and 1 Thessalonians 2:14 supported it. It was a Holiness body, and it would split over tongues.

Topeka: tongues as the Bible evidence

At Charles Parham's Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, Agnes Ozman spoke in tongues on January 1, 1901. Parham called speaking in tongues the "Bible evidence" of the baptism in the Spirit. Vinson Synan, a Pentecostal Holiness historian, dates the classical Pentecostal movement from this point.

Azusa Street, Los Angeles

William J. Seymour, who had heard Parham's teaching in Houston, brought it to Los Angeles in early 1906. On April 9, after a month of prayer and fasting, he and several others spoke in tongues at a house on Bonnie Brae Street. The meetings moved to an old building on Azusa Street, where "as many as 600 persons jammed inside while hundreds more looked in through the windows." The revival ran for three years, and "an avalanche" of visitors carried the teaching out from it.

Mason at Azusa; the Church of God in Christ takes the tongues teaching

Mason went to Los Angeles in March 1907 and, in his own words, "a flame touched my tongue which ran down me. My language changed." He taught it at home. Elder J. A. Jeter, Elder C. P. Jones and others "regarded the new Holy Ghost experience of speaking in tongues as a delusion," and withdrew fellowship from him. Mason then called ministers who held with him to Memphis, where they organized "the first Pentecostal General Assembly" and chose him General Overseer and Chief Apostle, with "complete authority to establish doctrine, organize auxiliaries and appoint overseers."

The International Pentecostal Holiness Church

On January 30, 1911, at Falcon, North Carolina, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church and the Pentecostal Holiness Church merged. Gaston B. Cashwell, a Methodist minister who had gone to see the revival at Azusa Street, had preached the Pentecostal experience in a Holiness church in Dunn, North Carolina, from December 1906, and in 1908 most of the delegates at the annual conference had experienced tongues.

The Assembleias de Deus in Brazil

On June 18, 1911, in the home of Celina de Albuquerque in Belém, Gunnar Vingren and Daniel Berg, who had come to Brazil as missionaries from the Swedish Pentecostal movement, founded the first Brazilian Assemblies of God church.

The Assemblies of God organize

The Assemblies of God USA was organized in April 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas, by about 300 preachers and laymen from 20 states and several foreign countries, who met for a general council. It was the first Pentecostal denomination to take the name Assemblies of God.

Angelus Temple and the Foursquare Church

The evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson dedicated the Angelus Temple in Echo Park, Los Angeles, which seated 5,300, on January 1, 1923, and from it the Foursquare Church grew. The name stands for four aspects of Christ: "Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Healer and Soon and Coming King."

Brazil's first national convention

In 1930 the pastors of the Assemblies of God in Brazil met at Natal for their first national convention. The historian Célio César de Aguiar Lima describes it as a turning point: the Swedish missionaries held to the autonomy of each local congregation, and the Brazilian pastors sought a national convention. The convention began the process that led to the General Convention of the Assemblies of God in Brazil (CGADB), created in 1935.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God

Josiah Akindayomi began the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos in 1952. Its own history says: "Thus, the Redeemed Christian Church of God was born in 1952, destined by the Lord Himself to take the world for Him."

The Assemblies of God state their teaching on Spirit baptism

The Assemblies of God General Presbytery adopted a position paper on the baptism in the Holy Spirit in August 2010. It sets out the church's biblical case for baptism in the Spirit "distinguishable from and subsequent to the new birth," with tongues as the "initial, physical evidence," and it asks that the emphasis fall "on theological, not temporal, subsequence." It is the fullest statement from any of these bodies of why they hold the doctrine.

Charles Fox Parham

A Holiness teacher under whose ministry a student spoke in tongues in Topeka in 1901. For Parham this was the "Bible evidence" of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He taught Seymour in Houston, but when he visited Azusa Street in October 1906 he "was appalled" at what he saw, and the Azusa Street elders rejected him, Synan writes.

William J. Seymour

Born in Louisiana to former slaves. He accepted Parham's teaching in Houston, where Texas law required him to listen from the hallway, and brought it to Los Angeles in 1906. He pastored the Azusa Street mission until his death in 1922. Synan calls him one of the "least recognized" of the great black American religious leaders of the twentieth century.

Charles Harrison Mason

Born September 8, 1864, near Memphis to parents who had been enslaved, converted in 1878, and a Baptist preacher who taught sanctification. After Azusa Street he led the Church of God in Christ as General Overseer and Chief Apostle. In 1945 he dedicated Mason Temple in Memphis. He died on November 17, 1961.

Aimee Semple McPherson

The evangelist who founded the Foursquare Church in 1923 and opened the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. She had been an ordained evangelist of the Assemblies of God before she began her own work. A celebrity in her day, she took part in weekly Sunday parades through the streets of Los Angeles to the temple.

Gunnar Vingren and Daniel Berg

The two Swedish Pentecostal missionaries who founded the first Assemblies of God church in Brazil, in the home of Celina de Albuquerque in Belém, on June 18, 1911.

Josiah Akindayomi

Founder of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos in 1952. The church's history says he was "born into the Akindayomi family of Ondo State of Nigeria" in July 1909.

Where the historians differ. Vinson Synan (1934–2020), a Pentecostal Holiness minister and historian, tells the story in a line: Parham in Topeka in 1901, Seymour in Los Angeles in 1906. Christianity Today's obituary says he showed Pentecostalism as "a tradition with deep Protestant roots." Allan Anderson, in An Introduction to Pentecostalism, argues that Pentecostalism began in many places at once. A reviewer in Pneuma Review says Anderson "challenges the assumption of many authors that Azusa Street was the preeminent place where the Spirit was being poured out," pointing to Europe, Korea and India, "which in some cases had no contact with Azusa Street," and "calls for a rewriting of Pentecostal history." These are not rival lists of dates. The Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ trace themselves through Parham and Seymour; the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Assembleias de Deus began elsewhere, with missionaries or in Africa, and tell their own stories.

The Holiness root. The International Pentecostal Holiness Church says that it was "formed in 1898," and that its name "places it astride two major revival movements: the Holiness revival of the late 19th century, and the Pentecostal revival of the 20th century." The Holiness churches among them taught sanctification as a work after conversion before they taught the baptism in the Spirit as a third.

The figures. Each body counts in its own way. The Assemblies of God count "adherents," the Brazilian General Convention counts far more than the national census of 2010 found, and the Church of God in Christ publishes estimates. The Redeemed Christian Church of God figure comes through Wikipedia and is marked as such.

The Bible is the final rule of faith. The Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ bind a written statement of doctrine beside it, and the Pentecostal bodies also hold prophecy and the gifts of the Spirit to be at work among them today.

The Pentecostal bodies say that the Bible is their authority, and the Assemblies of God open their Statement of Fundamental Truths with it. The Foursquare Declaration of Faith, compiled by Aimee Semple McPherson, calls it "a plumb line to make straight the life of each individual and community."

Each body also holds a written statement. The Assemblies of God call theirs "intended simply as a basis of fellowship among us," and the Church of God of Cleveland says its Declaration of Faith is "its standard and official expression of its doctrine." Beside the written word, these churches teach that the Holy Spirit still speaks through prophecy, tongues and their interpretation. The Redeemed Christian Church of God says that "any prophecy that is against the Bible is rejected."

The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice.

We hold the Word of God to be the only authority in all matters and assert that no doctrine can be true or essential, if it does not find a place in this Word.

The Church of God believes the whole Bible to be completely and equally inspired and that it is the written Word of God.

The Foursquare Declaration, Article I, adds that the Bible is "the divine, supreme and eternal tribunal by whose standards all men, nations, creeds, and motives shall be tried." The Redeemed Christian Church of God, on prophecy: "We believe in all the prophecies in the Bible; likewise we believe that we can be given the gift of prophecy by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."

A sinner is saved by repenting and trusting Christ, and is then baptized by immersion as an outward sign of what has happened. The Church of God in Christ says baptism is "necessary" but is not "a means of salvation."

The Pentecostal bodies teach that a person is saved by repenting and trusting Jesus Christ. Water baptism follows, by immersion, as an act of obedience.

The Church of God in Christ teaches that water baptism "is necessary as instructed by Christ" but not, alone, "a means of salvation." The Foursquare Declaration calls it "a blessed outward sign of an inward work," and the Redeemed Christian Church of God, "an outward sign, an example of a true repentance of a sinner." Beyond conversion, the Church of God of Cleveland, the Church of God in Christ and the Pentecostal Holiness Church teach a second work of sanctification, and all of these bodies teach a baptism in the Holy Spirit after that. The Church of God of Cleveland adds that "repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins."

Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Saviour and Lord are to be baptized.

However, we do not believe that water baptism alone is a means of salvation, but is an outward demonstration that one has already had a conversion experience and has accepted Christ as his personal Savior.

The Church of God of Cleveland: "In water baptism by immersion, and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The Pentecostal Holiness Church's amplified Articles of Faith teach that sanctification is "a definite, instantaneous work of grace, obtainable by faith on the part of the justified believer." None of the pages read says that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.

The Lord's Supper is a memorial and a symbol of the Lord's death. These bodies do not set a day for it. The Church of God in Christ also keeps footwashing as an ordinance.

The Pentecostal bodies keep the Lord's Supper as a remembrance. The Assemblies of God call it "a memorial of his suffering and death" and "a prophecy of His second coming." The Church of God in Christ says it "symbolizes the Lord's death and suffering for the benefit and in the place of His people," and that "The communicant by faith enters into a special spiritual union of his soul with the glorified Christ." The Redeemed Christian Church of God says that Christ "commanded all Christians to gather together regularly to share the bread and wine till He comes back again."

The pages read set no day or frequency. The Church of God in Christ lists feet washing, after the Supper, as an ordinance, and "its regularity is left to the discretion of the Pastor in charge." The Church of God of Cleveland lists the Supper and the washing of the saints' feet together.

The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements --bread and the fruit of the vine-- is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord’s Supper symbolizes the Lord’s death and suffering for the benefit and in the place of His people.

He commanded all Christians to gather together regularly to share the bread and wine till He comes back again

The Foursquare Declaration, Article IX, speaks of "the commemoration and observing of the Lord's supper by the sacred use of the broken bread, a precious type of the Bread of Life," and says that it should be "ever preceded by the most solemn heart-searching, self-examination, forgiveness and love toward all men." The Church of God of Cleveland: "In the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet."

The Assemblies of God are governed by the congregation, which elects its pastor, under a General Council and district councils. The Church of God in Christ is led by a presiding bishop and bishops. Women are ordained in the Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church.

In the Assemblies of God the congregation "elects the lead pastor and the official board (referred to as deacons and/or trustees)," and pastors are ordained, men and women alike. The same church's paper on leadership says, "Since all believers are to function in a priestly role, it follows that plurality in leadership should be the norm."

Other Pentecostal bodies are governed otherwise. The Church of God in Christ has an executive branch, a Presiding Bishop and a Board of Bishops, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God is led by a General Overseer. The Foursquare Church commits itself to "prepare and release men and women across generations and cultures into all positions of leadership and areas of ministry."

While new models of governance are emerging, the congregational model has, for the most part, held a place of prominence in the Assemblies of God.

Ordination is the term used for the highest level of ministerial classification the Assemblies of God recognizes, a classification available to both men and women.

He was given complete authority to establish doctrine, organize auxiliaries and appoint overseers.

The Assemblies of God leadership paper also says of the New Testament, "He organized elders (plural) in the churches he began." The Church of God in Christ's site lists among its offices "The Presiding Bishop," "The General Board," "Board of Bishops" and "Pastors & Elders," and its Presiding Bishop today is John Drew Sheard.

Worship is led from a platform, with a worship band or choir and a wide range of instruments, spontaneous praise, an altar time and gifts spoken in the service. The pages read give no rule about instruments.

An Assemblies of God church describes its Sunday this way: "Music is a major feature of our worship, before, during and even after the service itself," and adds that "Assemblies of God churches make music more than a performance; it’s the music of worship." The service may include "quiet times of waiting in God’s presence" and, at other times, collective and spontaneous praise.

Pentecostal worship is meant to be led by the Spirit and to leave room for gifts, and yet "a certain properness and order should be maintained." The Foursquare Declaration describes the church as a congregation "observing the ordinances of Christ, worshipping Him in the beauty of holiness, speaking to each other in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs."

Instruments may range from piano and organ to synthesizers, guitars, horns, drums, and full-scale orchestras.

In everything, a flow of worship should be evident, and despite the spontaneity and excitement,

worshipping Him in the beauty of holiness

The Assemblies of God church page adds: "Music will include both congregational and special ministries — solos, duets, ensembles, choirs, and instrumentals." The Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths lists "Worship of God" among the four purposes of the ministry. Of the first meetings at Azusa Street, Synan writes: "There was no order of service, since 'the Holy Ghost was in control.'" This page is one congregation's description. None of the denominational statements read gives a rule on instruments.

A believer should seek a baptism in the Holy Spirit after conversion, and speaking in tongues is its first sign. The Assemblies of God, the Church of God of Cleveland, the Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Redeemed Christian Church of God hold that, and the Church of God in Christ calls the experience "mandatory." All teach divine healing and the gifts of the Spirit today.

The Assemblies of God teach that "All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire." It is "distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth." The Church of God of Cleveland and the Pentecostal Holiness Church teach the same first sign, tongues. The Redeemed Christian Church of God says: "Any Christian who receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit must speak in tongues."

The bodies differ on what these tongues are. The Assemblies of God teach that the tongues of Spirit baptism are "the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use." The Pentecostal Holiness Church says that "we distinguish between this initial manifestation and the gift of tongues, which is not given to every Spirit-filled believer." The Foursquare Church teaches the baptism, but its Declaration speaks of "inspired utterance," and names tongues only among the gifts. All of them expect prophecy, healing and miracles today, and the Foursquare Church pledges itself to "His miraculous works in our day."

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance

Nowhere does the Scripture indicate that one may be baptized in the Spirit without speaking in tongues.

Since the charismatic demonstrations were necessary to help the early church to be successful in implementing the command of Christ, we therefore, believe that a Holy Ghost experience is mandatory for all men today.

The Church of God of Cleveland: "In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost." The Pentecostal Holiness Church: "We do not believe this is the only evidence of the Spirit’s baptism, but it is the initial evidence." The Assemblies of God paper asks that the emphasis fall "on theological, not temporal, subsequence." The Church of God in Christ: "We believe that the works of God, which were performed during the beginnings of Christianity, do and will occur even today."

Christ will return personally, to raise the dead and judge the world. The Assemblies of God, the Church of God of Cleveland and the Pentecostal Holiness Church teach a rapture of the saints and a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth; the Church of God of Cleveland, the Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Redeemed Christian Church of God teach a return in two stages.

The Pentecostal bodies hold that Jesus Christ will return in person. The Assemblies of God teach: "The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years." The Church of God of Cleveland teaches "the premillennial second coming of Jesus": "First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years." The Church of God in Christ says, "We believe in the blessed Hope, which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ, at His return." The Foursquare Declaration says that Christ's coming "is personal and imminent."

The Assemblies of God also teach that "there will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works." The Church of God of Cleveland teaches "eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked."

The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years.

In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.

We believe in the blessed Hope, which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ, at His return.

The Pentecostal Holiness Church, in its amplified Articles: "The second coming of Christ will occur in two stages." The Redeemed Christian Church of God: "His return will be in two stages." The Foursquare Declaration says that "each day should be lived as though He were expected to appear at even." The Assemblies of God paper on rapture was not read.

Divine healing in the atonement

Healing of the body is provided in Christ's atonement and is the privilege of every believer.

The Assemblies of God position paper reasons that sickness is among "the works of the devil Jesus came to destroy," and "is thus included in the Atonement." The Church of God of Cleveland and the Pentecostal Holiness Church teach the same, and the Church of God in Christ says that "Healing is still practiced widely and frequently." In an Assemblies of God church, the sick may be "invited forward to be anointed with oil" and prayed for. Pew found that in all ten countries it surveyed, large majorities of Pentecostals said they had experienced or witnessed divine healing. The Pentecostal Holiness Church adds, "we do not condemn the use of medical means," while the Redeemed Christian Church of God teaches "Healing without medicine is Biblical."

Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers

The Church of God in Christ believes in and practices Divine Healing.

Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.

who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.

The Pentecostals' text is a real one: Matthew takes Isaiah 53:4 of bodily healing, for Jesus "healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases" (Matthew 8:16-17). But Matthew says it was fulfilled that evening in Capernaum, in the healings of Jesus' ministry before the cross, not that the cross secured health for every believer now. When Peter takes up "with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5), the healing is of sin: "who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). The cross does reach the body, but at "the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23), and in this life Paul left Trophimus "at Miletus sick" (2 Timothy 4:20) with no word of failed faith. So healing is not, as the atonement's provision, "the privilege of all believers" now; the church has James's command to call the elders and pray, for "the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick" (James 5:15), and God answers as he wills.

The Assemblies of God paper itself comes near this reading. It says that Matthew "sees this Isaiah passage fulfilled in the healing ministry of Jesus," that divine healing "is seen as a proleptic expression of the complete redemption of the human body," and that "some are healed instantly, some gradually, and others are not healed." That is honest, and it is a long way from a provision every believer may claim today. Paul told Timothy to use "a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities" (1 Timothy 5:23), and of Epaphroditus he wrote, "he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him" (Philippians 2:27).

Sanctification and the separated life

Several of these bodies teach a work of holiness after conversion, and a life set apart from the world.

The Church of God of Cleveland teaches "Holiness to be God’s standard of living for His people." The Redeemed Christian Church of God calls sanctification "the second accomplishment of the grace" after justification, and bids members avoid "dancing halls, or cinema halls," swearing, debt and costly dress.

In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.

THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST is a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in which the word of God is preached, ordinances are administered and the doctrine of sanctification or holiness is emphasized, as being essential to the salvation of mankind.

Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God.

And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication;

but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.

The Pentecostals are right that the church is called to holiness: "Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14), and the will of God is "even your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Holiness churches stand nearer the New Testament in that than many. The error is to make sanctification a second experience, received after conversion at a point in time. Paul writes to Corinth that the saints "were sanctified" when they were washed and justified: "but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 6:11), and the Assemblies of God themselves do not make it a second blessing. The Redeemed Christian Church of God's list of dress and diversions binds the conscience where Scripture is silent.

The Church of God in Christ's own history says the church was formed to "emphasize the doctrine of entire sanctification through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit." Sanctification in Paul's letters is done and also to be pursued, but it is never a stage that some believers have reached and others have not.

Women in ministry

The Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church open ordination and every leadership office to women.

The Assemblies of God say that ordination is "a classification available to both men and women." The Foursquare Church was founded by a woman, Aimee Semple McPherson, and its Global Distinctives pledge it to "prepare and release men and women across generations and cultures into all positions of leadership and areas of ministry." The Assemblies of God cite Joel 2:28-29 in their paper on Spirit baptism: "Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days."

According to God’s gifting and calling, we will intentionally prepare and release men and women across generations and cultures into all positions of leadership and areas of ministry.

Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly.

And on the morrow we departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters, who prophesied.

The Pentecostals' best text is Joel's, which Peter quoted at Pentecost: "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17). They are right that women prophesied, as Philip's four daughters did, "who prophesied" (Acts 21:9), and right to honor women's witness and work; Priscilla and Aquila together "expounded unto him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26). But to prophesy is not to hold the elder's office. The elder is "the husband of one wife" (Titus 1:6), and Paul writes, "But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness" (1 Timothy 2:12), grounding it in creation and not in the custom of Ephesus: "For Adam was first formed, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:13). In giving the pastor's office to women, the Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church leave the plain line of the text.

Paul's "let the women keep silence in the churches" (1 Corinthians 14:34) stands in the same chapter that the Pentecostals read for the gifts. This chart did not find the Church of God in Christ's rule on women pastors in its own words, so it does not say where that body stands.

Footwashing as an ordinance

The Church of God of Cleveland and the Church of God in Christ keep footwashing as a church ordinance.

The Church of God in Christ lists three ordinances: the Lord's Supper, feet washing and water baptism. The washing is held after the Supper, and "its regularity is left to the discretion of the Pastor in charge." The Church of God of Cleveland lists "washing of the saints' feet" in its Declaration of Faith. The Pentecostal Holiness Church reads the washing differently, as "a symbol of the inner cleansing of their hearts."

Feet Washing is practiced and recognized as an ordinance in our Church because Christ, by His example, showed that humility characterized greatness in the Kingdom of God, and that service, rendered to others gave evidence that humility, motivated by love, exists.

In the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet.

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.

Let none be enrolled as a widow under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she hath brought up children, if she hath used hospitality to strangers, if she hath washed the saints’ feet, if she hath relieved the afflicted, if she hath diligently followed every good work.

Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

Jesus' words are plain: "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you" (John 13:14-15). These churches take that seriously, and others have let it drop. The question is whether he meant a rite or a lesson in service, and the New Testament names a washing of the saints' feet only among the works of a widow "well reported of" (1 Timothy 5:10), never in the assembly's order, never at the Supper (Acts 20:7). The churches that keep it as an act of humility do well; to bind it on the church as an ordinance goes a step further than the apostles' practice shows.

The Church of God in Christ's statement that three ordinances are "instituted by Christ himself and therefore, binding upon the church practice" is a strong claim. Of the chapter itself, Jesus says "I have given you an example," where for the Supper he says "this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24).

Prophecy and the gifts in the assembly

The service is kept open for a prophecy, a tongue and its interpretation, spoken by members as the Spirit moves them.

An Assemblies of God church tells its visitors that one "may speak out in an unknown tongue" and another "will then give the interpretation," and that on occasion "the Spirit may prompt someone to speak out, to prophesy, in the language of the congregation." The Foursquare Declaration lists the gifts of the Spirit "to bestow upon the believing church."

The planned service order may be suspended as individuals speak or share as prompted by the Holy Spirit, under the supervision of the pastor (1 Corinthians 12-14).

We believe in all the prophecies in the Bible; likewise we believe that we can be given the gift of prophecy by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speaketh in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, and that in turn; and let one interpret: but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern. But if a revelation be made to another sitting by, let the first keep silence. For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;

But let all things be done decently and in order.

being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

Paul's rules in 1 Corinthians 14 are the best part of the Pentecostal practice: no tongue without an interpreter, "let him keep silence in the church" (1 Corinthians 14:28), prophets by two or three, and "let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). Where a church keeps Paul's rules, it keeps more of the chapter than many churches that never open it. But the chapter does not make the gifts of Corinth a standing part of every church's order. It was written to a church that had been given them by apostles' hands, to bring order to a gift that was already ending (see the verdict on the Holy Spirit). The church today is built "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), and a foundation is laid once. Revelation is complete; there is no need for a word from the Spirit beside the written word.

Paul gives the test in the same letter: "If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37).

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. The Pentecostals went back to the Book of Acts and asked for what they found there, and they are the loudest voice in modern Christianity for prayer, for the nearness of God and for the power of the Spirit in a believer's life. Where they stand nearer the pattern than most, they are credited plainly; where they stand further, that is said too.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

The Pentecostal bodies hold that all Scripture is inspired, and the Assemblies of God call it their "all-sufficient rule for faith and practice," which is the right confession. They then set beside it what Scripture does not give. They teach that the Holy Spirit still gives prophecy, tongues and their interpretation in the assembly, and that Acts is a pattern binding on every believer, so that tongues are bound on the church as the first sign of the Spirit, and the Church of God in Christ calls that experience "mandatory." The church is to "learn not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6), for the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and what is not written is not to be bound, whether as an experience or a rule. Each body also holds a written statement of its own, though the Assemblies of God call theirs only "a basis of fellowship."

This course stands further from the line than that of the bodies that have a creed and no continuing revelation, because here the written word is joined by a living word. The Bereans were commended for "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11), and the Pentecostal churches are right to put prophecy to the same test, as the Redeemed Christian Church of God does: "any prophecy that is against the Bible is rejected." But a word that agrees with Scripture adds nothing, and a word that adds is not to be received.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

The Pentecostals baptize believers, and by immersion, and in that they stand on the New Testament line where most of Christendom does not; the Assemblies of God cite Romans 6:4 for it: "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). They stand short on what the water is for. They teach that baptism follows salvation, "an outward demonstration that one has already had a conversion experience," in the Church of God in Christ's words, but Peter commanded baptism "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and Saul, who had believed and prayed three days, was still told, "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts 22:16). Their own reading of Acts 2:38 for the Spirit tells against them, for there the gift comes after baptism: "be baptized … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). They also add two steps beyond the new birth, a work of sanctification and a baptism in the Spirit, which the apostles never made a condition of the Christian life.

The Church of God in Christ says that baptism is "necessary," which comes nearer, and the Foursquare Declaration lists Acts 2:37-38 and Acts 22:16 among its references. What is missing in every statement read is Peter's word that baptism is for remission. Faith and repentance come first, and they come "unto" the same promise: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). The Pentecostal Holiness Church's page did not name water baptism or its mode, so this chart does not speak for it on that point.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

The Pentecostals keep the Supper as a remembrance of the Lord's death, "in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24), with no priest, no sacrifice and no change in the bread, and the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ call it a symbol. On what the Supper is, they stand on the line. They stand short on when. The disciples at Troas met "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and that first-day Supper is binding on the church; none of the pages read sets a day. The Redeemed Christian Church of God says only "regularly," and the Church of God in Christ leaves footwashing to the pastor's discretion. A Supper kept when the pastor decides is no nearer Acts 20:7 than a yearly feast.

The Church of God in Christ and the Church of God of Cleveland add footwashing to the Supper. The weekly Supper is the pattern the churches in Acts followed, and without it the church comes together without the one thing the Lord asked it to do in his memory.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

The Assemblies of God keep the congregation's right to elect its pastor, with no bishop over it, and their own paper confesses the New Testament pattern: "He organized elders (plural) in the churches he began." They stand nearer the line than a bishop's church, and they do not go all the way. The apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), a plurality of men in each congregation, called elders, bishops and shepherds alike (Acts 20:17, 28), and the Assemblies of God give each church a lead pastor and an official board of deacons and trustees. The General Council credentials the pastors and holds the churches to its doctrine, so each church answers to a body above it in doctrine and polity, and women are ordained to the pastorate against "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12).

Other bodies stand further out. In the Church of God in Christ the General Overseer, called Chief Apostle, held "complete authority to establish doctrine, organize auxiliaries and appoint overseers," and today the church is led by a Presiding Bishop and a Board of Bishops. In the Redeemed Christian Church of God a General Overseer, today Enoch Adejare Adeboye, leads the church worldwide, and its Our Beliefs page says: "Rebellion against Church Ministers is against the Will of God." There is no apostle after the Twelve and Paul, and no office above the elders of one congregation in the New Testament. The placement here follows the Assemblies of God, the largest body, and the other courses of the family sit further.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

Pentecostal worship asks the whole assembly to take part, and the Assemblies of God church page says its worship is "geared for participation": members pray aloud together, lift their voices and speak as moved. That is the Corinthian assembly, in which "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching" (1 Corinthians 14:26), and the Pentecostals stand nearer it than the churches where a choir and a priest do everything. They stand short in the music itself. The New Testament commands the church to sing, "singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), and nowhere appoints an instrument, yet the same page lists "synthesizers, guitars, horns, drums, and full-scale orchestras," with "solos, duets, ensembles, choirs," and in many churches a team on the platform leads while the assembly follows.

The aim, music "more than a performance," is right. But an ensemble leading from a platform, with the people listening to it, shifts the singing from the assembly to the band. The apostles' command is "teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16).

Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit: for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

The Pentecostals' best case is Luke's: at Pentecost, at Caesarea and at Ephesus the Spirit came and men spoke with tongues, and the Assemblies of God call tongues the one sign "explicitly presented as evidence authenticating the experience." But in Acts the miraculous gift came by the apostles' hands, not by seeking. Philip worked signs in Samaria, yet the Spirit had fallen on no one there until Peter and John came, for "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:18), as at Ephesus "when Paul had laid his hands upon them" (Acts 19:6), and as Timothy's gift came "through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). The signs had a purpose, and the New Testament speaks of it as done: the word "was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them" (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the faith so confirmed was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3); so the miraculous gifts came through the apostles' hands and ceased with them. No text makes a sign the mark of every believer, for Paul asks, "do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:30), and to bind tongues on all as the first sign, or to call the experience "mandatory," binds what the apostles never bound and tells obedient believers they lack what God promised them in the gospel (Acts 2:38).

Their case, in their own words. The Assemblies of God paper builds on five scenes in Acts. It grants that Pentecost was "a unique, historic, once-for-all and unrepeatable event," yet holds that it "serves as a paradigm for later believers." It is honest about its gaps. Of Saul it says, "Luke does not record any details of Paul’s Spirit baptism," and only that "It seems legitimate and logical to infer that he first spoke in tongues at the time Ananias laid hands on him." Of the Samaritans it rests on "the consensus among biblical scholars." So of the five scenes, two record tongues for all, one records tongues with prophecy, and two record no tongues.

The apostles' hands. The paper answers this point directly: "The imposition of hands is mentioned in three instances (Samaria, Damascus, Ephesus) but it is not a requirement, as evidenced by the outpourings in Jerusalem and Caesarea." Those two are the outpourings that came straight from heaven, and by the paper's own list they are the only two that Acts calls a baptism in the Spirit (Acts 1:5; 11:16). Both came with apostles present, and each opened the door, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. To prove Caesarea, Peter had to reach back to Pentecost: "the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15). He would not need to reach so far if the Spirit fell so on every convert. Everywhere else the gift passed by an apostle's hands. The crowds in Samaria "saw the signs which he did" (Acts 8:6), but Philip could not give the Spirit, and Simon offered money to the apostles, not to him. Philip and Stephen themselves are first said to work signs after the apostles "laid their hands upon them" (Acts 6:6). The elders joined in Timothy's ordination, "with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery" (1 Timothy 4:14), but Paul says the gift came "through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). The one plain exception is Ananias (Acts 9:17). The Lord sent him in a vision to one man, who was to be an apostle, and Luke does not say that Saul spoke in tongues.

What the tongues were for. At Caesarea they convinced "they of the circumcision that believed" (Acts 10:45), who doubted that God would receive Gentiles. That fits Paul's rule: "tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving" (1 Corinthians 14:22). At Pentecost they were languages, for "every man heard them speaking in his own language" (Acts 2:6); the paper allows that tongues today "may not always be human." On that same day about three thousand "were baptized" (Acts 2:41), and Luke records no tongues among them. The promise Peter gave them was "ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38), on repentance and baptism, with no tarrying and no sign named.

1 Corinthians 12–14. The paper says Paul's question about tongues relates "to the exercise of the gift in corporate worship." But it stands in a list of persons, "Are all apostles? are all prophets?" (1 Corinthians 12:29), and the Spirit gives each gift "dividing to each one severally even as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:11). Paul draws no line between a tongue for the assembly and a tongue for every believer. The paper reads 14:5 as a wish that all would continue in tongues. But "Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:5) is the same kind of wish as "I would that all men were even as I myself" (1 Corinthians 7:7), and there Paul adds that "each man hath his own gift from God" (1 Corinthians 7:7). He ranks tongues last, keeps them silent without an interpreter, and his "forbid not to speak with tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:39) was written to a church that came "behind in no gift" (1 Corinthians 1:7).

"That which is perfect." Pentecostals read 1 Corinthians 13:10 as the Lord's return, and "then face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12) may well point there. The verse does not name when, and this verdict does not rest on it. It says only that the gifts would end.

Confirming the word. Hebrews was written by one who had the word from "them that heard," and he speaks of the confirming signs as given with them (Hebrews 2:3-4). The longer ending of Mark says the same: "the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed" (Mark 16:20). The two oldest Greek manuscripts omit Mark 16:9-20, as the American Standard margin notes, and the passage joins tongues to taking up serpents, which none of these churches binds. Prophecy brought revelation, "if a revelation be made to another sitting by" (1 Corinthians 14:30), and a faith "once for all delivered" (Jude 1:3) leaves no room for revelation beside the written word.

How strong the case is. No verse says in so many words that the gifts would end with the last apostle. The case is drawn from the whole: how the gifts were given, what they were for, and that the faith they confirmed was delivered once for all. Against it, the Pentecostal case has no text that shows a miraculous gift passed on without an apostle except Ananias, and no text that binds tongues on every believer. The Pentecostals are right that the Spirit dwells in every believer, and right to pray for the sick; God hears prayer and heals when it pleases him. Foursquare comes nearest the text, for its Declaration does not say that every believer must speak in tongues.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:

But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

The Pentecostal bodies teach what the Scriptures teach about the end: Christ will come again in person, the dead will rise, and the righteous will have eternal life and the wicked eternal punishment. They stand short in making a rapture of the saints, a later return and a thousand-year reign on earth articles of faith: the Assemblies of God set it in their Statement of Fundamental Truths, and the Church of God of Cleveland in its Declaration of Faith. Holding that order is not the fault by itself, though the plain texts lean against it. The apostles speak of one day: "the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice" (John 5:28), the good and the evil together, and Jesus says of the believer, "I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). When the Lord is revealed "from heaven with the angels of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:7), he comes to give the afflicted "rest with us" and to render "vengeance to them that know not God" (2 Thessalonians 1:8) in the same hour. An order the apostles did not set out is bound on every church in these bodies. They also teach that his coming is "imminent" and to be watched for, and that part is right: "of that day and hour knoweth no one" (Matthew 24:36).

The teaching of two stages, a rapture before the tribulation and a visible return after it, rests on separating 1 Thessalonians 4 from 2 Thessalonians 1, which describe the same coming. The Assemblies of God paper on the rapture was not read. The Foursquare Declaration speaks of the saints being "caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," and of a coming that is "personal and imminent," without naming a thousand-year reign. The Pentecostal churches' call to be ready is right: "Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh" (Matthew 24:42).

The Pentecostals hold much that Scripture also teaches, and it should be said plainly. They confess one God in three persons, the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his death for sinners and his bodily resurrection. They hold the Bible to be the Word of God. They baptize believers, by immersion, and not infants. They keep the Supper as a remembrance, and have no pope, no purgatory, no prayers to saints and no priestly sacrifice. The Assemblies of God teach that the priesthood belongs to all believers. They pray, believing that God answers; they anoint the sick with oil as James commands; they sing, they preach, they give, and they send missionaries with an energy that few churches match. They have carried the gospel to the poor, across the color line at Azusa Street, and to continents the older churches left alone. They long for holiness and look for the Lord's return.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Pentecostals stand on the line in much of what they believe about God and Christ, and in the baptism of believers by immersion. They stand short in five places: a continuing word and sign beside the written word, the purpose of baptism, the day of the Supper, the form of church government, and the miraculous gifts, which they teach every believer should seek and which the New Testament shows came through the apostles' hands and ceased with them. The baptism in the Holy Spirit with tongues as its first sign is the center of the Pentecostal faith, and it is the course that stands furthest from the line.

These are not the failings of churches that scorn the Bible. The Pentecostals went to Acts and asked for the church they read there, and they gave the poor and the unlearned a place at the front. What remains is to ask of the second blessing, the sign, the prophecy and the platform what they would ask of any rule not found in the book.

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