Beginning Of The Assemblies Of God Flashcards
Current Pentecostal movement originates
At Bethel College in Topeka, KS on January 1, 1901
The Assemblies of God came into being as a result of
The Assemblies of God came into being as a result of the Pentecostal revival that began early in the twentieth century. This revival came as God’s mighty supernatural answer to Modernism, the antisupernatural religious liberalism that was taking over the major Christian denominations in America and around the world.
The possibility of God-given miracles was denied.
The possibility of God-given miracles was denied. A spiritual vacuum was developing. As Dr. William Menzies points out: The United States in the years between the Civil War and the close of the [nineteenth] century was in social and religious ferment. Moral, political, and economic corruption increased the stresses occasioned by urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. The great denominations,
Students at Bethel college
Students, from their studies of the Bible, concluded that speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4) is the initial outward evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
One of the students, Agnes Ozman, said she
One of the students, Agnes Ozman, said she felt “as though rivers of living water were proceeding from [her] innermost being.”2
The revival became a Pentecostal explosion when, in
The revival became a Pentecostal explosion when, in 1906, W. J. Seymour secured an old two-story frame building at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California.
For about three years services ran almost continually,
For about three years services ran almost continually, from ten in the morning to midnight. Many of those who received the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit there scattered to spread the message. Many independent Pentecostal churches sprang up.
After the Pentecostal outpourings began, numerous publications appeared advocating its teachings and serving as channels for teaching information, and the support of missionaries overseas. One of these publications, the Word and Witness
edited by Eudorus N. Bell, issued a call in 1913 for a conference of Pentecostal believers to convene in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the following year. This became the founding meeting of the General Council of the Assemblies of God.3
Five basic reasons were given for calling the General Council of April 2–12, 1914.
Five basic reasons were given for calling the General Council of April 2–12, 1914. They were “(1) to achieve better understanding and unity of doctrine, (2) to know how to conserve God’s work at home and abroad, (3) to consult on protection of funds for missionary endeavors, (4) to explore the possibilities of chartering churches under a legal name, and (5) to consider the establishment of a Bible training school with a literary division.”4 More than three hundred attended and elected E. N. Bell as the chairman of their new Assemblies of God fellowship.
More than300 attended and elected
More than three hundred attended and elected E. N. Bell as the chairman of their new Assemblies of God fellowship. Then in 1916, a “statement of truths” was prepared, primarily by Daniel Warren Kerr, of Cleveland, Ohio.
They adopted the following preamble
It was adopted with the following preamble: This statement of Fundamental Truths is not intended as a creed for the church, nor as a basic of fellowship among Christians, but only as a basis of unity for the ministry alone (i.e., that we all speak the same thing, 1 Cor. 1:10; Acts 2:42). The human phraseology employed in such statement is not inspired nor contended for, but the truth set forth in such phraseology is held to be essential to a full Gospel ministry. No claim is made that it contains all truth in the Bible, only that it covers our present needs as to these fundamental matters.6
A committee worked on
There was little dissatisfaction with any of the sixteen points.7 However, since some of the doctrines were stated quite briefly, it was felt that some of needed clarification and enlarging. In 1960, a committee worked on this and minor rewording and clarity.
The committee’s work was approved and adopted
work was approved and adopted by the General Council in 1961. The only significant change was in dropping the term “entire sanctification,” because it was understood in different ways by different theologians and was thus ambiguous. “The clarification of 1961 specified the belief that the imputed righteousness accorded the believer at his justification was to be exhibited in a life of holiness.”
PApers up to 1989 have been collected and published under the title
All papers up to 1989 have been collected and published under the title Where We Stand.9 Their titles follow: (1) “The Inerrancy of Scripture”; (2) “Can Born-again Believers Be Demon Possessed?” (3) “Divorce and Remarriage”; (4) “The Ministry of the Body of Christ”; (5) “Divine Healing: An Integral Part of the Gospel”; (6) “The Discipleship and Submission Movement”; (7) “Transcendental Meditation”; (8) “Deacons and Trustees”; (9) “Eternal Punishment”; (10) “The Assemblies of God View of Ordination”; (11) “The Doctrine of Creation”; (12) “The Security of the Believer”; (13) “Homosexuality”; (14) “The Rapture of the Church”; (15) “The Believer and Positive Confession”; (16) “The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit”; (17) “A Biblical Perspective on Gambling”; (18) “Abstinence”; (19) “A Biblical Perspective on Abortion”; and (20) “The Kingdom of God as Described in Holy Scripture.” Since the publication
