What is Pentecostalism

 

Pentecostalism is a Protestant Christian movement that emphasises direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, and the speaking in "foreign" tongues as described in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

Like other forms of evangelical and charismatic Protestantism

 

Pentecostals adheres to the inerrancy of the Bible and the necessity of the New Birth: an individual repenting of their sin and 'accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior'. It is distinguished by belief in the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" that enables a Christian to "live a Spirit-filled and empowered life". This empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and divine healing—two other defining characteristics of Pentecostalism.

 

Because of their commitment to biblical authority, spiritual gifts, and the miraculous, Pentecostals tend to see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power and teachings that were found in the Apostolic Age of the early church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term "Apostolic" or "Full Gospel" to describe their movement.

 

As a faith movement, Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century among radical adherents from of Wesleyan-Holiness movement, who were energized by revivalism and expectation for the imminent Second Coming of Christ.

 

Believing that they were living in the end times, they expected God to spiritually renew the Christian Church, and bring to pass the restoration of spiritual gifts and the total evangelization of the world.

Visitors carried the Pentecostal experience back to their home churches or felt called to the mission field. While virtually all Pentecostal denominations trace their origins to the USA, the movement has had several divisions and controversies. Early disputes centered on challenges to the doctrine of entire sanctification, as well as that of the Trinity.

 

The rationale is simple. The Pentecostal has no unifying body to represent the denomination on the world stage - as Pentecostals we wish  to encourage others to live (and worship) in the Holy Spirit.