PENTECOSTALS. —
I. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
The name p. (Pentecostal Churches) is given to three groups of Christians derived from Methodism or Wesleyanism, which are of recent origin and constitute a new instance of the fragmentation of Protestantism.In 1896, the Rev. Hardin Wallace, a minister of the Free Methodist Church (Free methodist Church), organized in California a branch separated from his Church and gave it the name Holiness Church (Holiness Church). After 20 years, it numbered 28 ministers, 33 churches, and 926 adherents. Subsequently, it underwent no significant changes. The following year, the Rev. M. W. Knapp, who belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church (Methodist Episcopal Church), separated from the Holiness Church in order to found in Cincinnati (Ohio) the Pilgrim Holiness Church (Pilgrim Holiness Church). In justification of his action, he stated that, in his view, the Methodist Episcopal Church was no longer entirely in the spirit of Wesley, either in its teaching or in its practice. From 1879 to 1916, this new group made slow progress, eventually numbering 826 ministers, 367 churches, and 12,362 members. In this group, as in the preceding one, the high number of ministers relative to the number of adherents is noteworthy. Whereas in the Catholic Church one priest for every thousand faithful is considered a good average, among the Methodists of the Pilgrim Holiness Church the average is one minister for every 15 faithful. The overall average in the three “Pentecostal” groups is one minister for every 16 faithful. From this it might be inferred that these are rather societies devoted to study and the pursuit of holiness, according to the methods of John Wesley. The third of these groups calls itself the Pentecostal Holiness Church, that is, the Church of Pentecostal Holiness. The designation means that it seeks to reproduce the spiritual fervor of the apostles at Pentecost. This third church, analogous to the preceding two, arose in August 1898 at Anderson (South Carolina); in 1916 it numbered 282 ministers, 192 temples, and 5,353 adherents.
II. DOCTRINE
The P. in their various denominations have preserved the doctrine and characteristic features of Methodism. They have accorded a greater or lesser place to the authority of bishops or, conversely, to that of the laity, according to the circumstances or their respective precedents. As regards doctrine, they differ very little from Methodism in general. The second branch professes faith in the Most Holy Trinity and consequently rejects Unitarianism; it holds that Sacred Scripture, in its original content, is infallible, divinely inspired, and constitutes the sole and absolute rule of faith and religious practice. With this proviso, each person is free to administer Baptism in whatever manner he prefers, and to confer it upon or withhold it from children. The Lord’s Supper is likewise celebrated according to the ministers’ inspirations or the communicants’ request. There is, therefore, a certain diversity in the practice of the various groups.The two principal branches of the Pentecostal movement engage in proselytizing activity among the pagans. The Pilgrim Holiness Church has, according to the latest census, 40 stations in Africa, the East Indies, South America, Japan, and Korea; 33 missionaries assisted by 31 indigenous workers; 35 organized churches; 780 members; and 5 schools with 300 pupils. The Pentecostal Holiness Church, for its part, had a few missionaries in South Africa, southern China, and Central America. Recently the P. have attempted to carry out their propaganda in Europe, but with little success. In the general statistics of the religious denominations of the United States, the P. are listed under the heading of Methodists, from whom they derive.