Running head: JIMENEZ 1

The Impact of Pentecostalism on the Stone Campbell Movement and on the Understanding of the Holy Spirit within Churches of Christ

By

Amy Jimenez

Advanced Restoration History

BIBH 664.W1

Dr. Wes Crawford

November 19, 2013

JIMENEZ 2

Introduction

The American frontier, at the turn of the Nineteenth century, was hungry for reli-

gious freedom and innovation. A spirit of revivalism was palpable, and a call to restore a sim-

pler church was undeniable. As Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist leaders struggled to stake a

claim on the then Western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee, they discovered common

ground in large revivals and tent meetings that drew thousands of people, hungry to experience

God in a new way. Out of these revivals, many new religious movements were born. Two

such movements, the Stone-Campbell Movement and the Shaker/Pentecostal Movement, stake a

claim to the great Cane Ridge Revival of 1801 as part of their origins.1 Though these two move-

ments share a common heritage, they developed radically different beliefs regarding the Holy

Spirit, polarizing one another to extreme positions. The influence of Pentecostalism within the

Stone-Campbell Movement and specifically upon the Churches of Christ has contributed to a di-

minished emphasis on the power and work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the expressive life of

believers. Stark differences emerged in Biblical interpretation relating to the role of emotions in

the Christian life and the specific nature and gifts of the Holy Spirit as they affect the church. As

one examines these differences as well as the parallel growth of the two movements, patterns of

possibility emerge to bridge the vast gap between Pentecostal churches and Churches of Christ

today, ushering in a new spirit of Holy Spirit led revivalism.

Shared History of the Pentecostal and Stone Campbell Movements

The Great Awakening of Europe and subsequently the New England Colonies of the

United States in the mid Eighteenth century has been described as “an emotional protest against

the intellectual hegemony of the age.”2 It was marked by an apparent irrationalism or enthusi-

asm that flew in the face of the Enlightenment, or “Age of Reason.” This evangelical move-

1 Ibid, 21.

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ment, unified by Methodist preachers like John Wesley and George Whitefield alongside Presby-

terian and Baptist leaders, though deeply divided over doctrine, was unified on the principles of

conversionism, crucientricism (justification by faith with emphasis on the atoning work of Christ

as agency of salvation), Biblicism (devotion to the Bible), and activism in spreading a mass

movement.3

As the “Second Great Awakening of Revivalism” made its way to southern states from

1800-1805, similar tensions began to emerge on this western frontier. The Anglican and Presby-

terian churches were vying for position among the more rural inhabitants of this region. By 1800

in the state of Kentucky, more than 220,000 people were not associated with organized congre-

gations of churches. Many young people seemed indifferent to religion.4 Unimpressed with rea-

son of the Enlightenment theologians and high church traditions, the Methodist and Baptist

movements were gaining ground, more simplistic in their lay leadership and emotionally demon-

strative worship services, and opposing the materialism and arrogance of plantation aristocracy.5

James McGready, called the father of the great revival in the West, was a Scotch Irish Presbyte-

rian. Scotch Irish Presbyterians had been known for emotionally intense and physically demon-

strative 3-4 day communion services as early as the 1720’s. McGready and Barton W. Stone,

greatly influenced by McGready, were drawn to the Methodist Wesleyan doctrine of sanctifica-

tion, a call to “perfect holiness” via baptism of the Holy Spirit. Accounts of emotional revivals,

2 John B. Boles, "Revivalism, Renewal, And Social Mediation In The Old South," in Modern Christian Revivals, ed. Edith L. Blumhofer and Randall Balmer (Urbana, IL: University Of Illinois Press, 1993), 60-61.

3 Ibid, 92-93.

4 Moses Hoge to Dr. Ashbel Green, Letter from a Kentucky minister, September 10, 1801, Increase in Piety, (Newburyport, CN: Angier, 1802), 53.

5 Stanley M. Burgess, ed., "Shakers," in International Dictionary of Pentecostal Charis-matic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 1058-1059.

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full of emotional swooning and shouting with massive conversions were the accounts of sanctifi-

cation that moved McGready and Stone and resonated with their traditional communion ser-

vices.6

Many evangelical churches, from their Eighteenth century revivalist roots, stressed a

sense of purpose and community and placed a high value to a conversion experience, emphasiz-

ing an emotional response to sin of “contrition and worthlessness” leading to a radical accep-

tance of God’s grace and an emotional high when God’s redemption was accepted. It was into

this atmosphere that the camp meeting revivals, large outdoor worship services with thousands of

people, multiple ministers preaching at the same time, emphasizing intense emotional persuasion

became popular. One such revival, the Cane Ridge Revival in 1801, would launch Barton W.

Stone on a path to pioneer the Stone Campbell Movement of ecumenical unity, but would con-

vince many in the Pentecostal Stream, of the vital importance of outward signs or manifestations

of the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christ follower.

The Cane Ridge Revival and the Holy Spirit

The Cane Ridge Revival climaxed a season of Scotch Irish Presbyterian communion ser-

vices. Barton W. Stone, minister of the Cane Ridge Presbyterian Church, presided over this

communion service/tent revival on August 6, 1801. Even as a promoter of ecumenical coopera-

tion, Stone could not have anticipated the enormous attendance and emotionally charged re-

sponse of people hungry for religious renewal. Of the 10,000 in attendance, between 500-1000

were converted to faith in Jesus Christ.7 The physical exercises that accompanied these conver-

6 Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven: the Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1995), 17.

7 A. Anderson, "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism In Africa," accessed No-vember 14, 2013, http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/Publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm.

JIMENEZ 5

sions included fallings, a result of the shame associated with acceptance of sin, and described as

a deep coma state where people would lie in a semi-unconscious state proceeded by symptoms of

seizure and hysteria.8 Upon awakening from the “falling,” those who were converted would

arise with shouts of joy, exhorting others to experience this intense grace of God. Other physical

exercises included “jerks,” or rhythmic dancing. One minister, present at the revival described

the scene as follows:

“Sinners dropping down on every hand, shrieking, groaning, crying for mercy, convo-luted; professors (of religion) praying, agonizing, fainting, falling down in distress, for sinners, or in raptures of joy! Some singing, some shouting, clapping their hands, hugging and even kissing, laughing; others talking to the distressed, to one another, or to opposers of the work, and all this at once – no spectacle can excite a stronger sensation. And with what is doing, the darkness of the night, the solemnity of the place and of the occasion, and conscious guilt, all conspire to make terror thrill through every power of the soul to rouse it to awful attention.”9

Responses to Cane Ridge: The Role of Emotion in the Christian Life

Biblical interpretive differences regarding the importance of the role of emotion and

physical response as related to the work of the Holy Spirit were born out of the Cane Ridge Re-

vival experience. Two Presbyterian ministers and close colleagues of Stone, John Rankin and

Richard McNemur, testified to the validity of the physical manifestations at Cane Ridge as signs

of the Holy Spirit.10 Convinced of this mark of the Spirit, as it pertained to the unity that would

draw all Christians to a primitive New Testament ecclesiology and thus unity, along with Stone,

these men became pioneers in the Stone Campbell Movement. Later, however, Rankin and Mc-

Nemur were mesmerized by Ann Lee’s restorationist message that the primitive church had lost

8 Neil Meyer, "Falling For The Lord: Shame Revivalism, And The Origins Of The Sec-ond Great Awakening," Early American Studies (2011, Winter): 147, 156.

9 George O Folarin, "The Origin, Development, And A Brief Appraisal Of The Doctrine Of The Baptism In The Holy Spirit In Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria," HTS Teologiese Stud-ies/Theological Studies 69, no. 1 (2013, March 12): 1.

10 Paul K. Conkin, Cane Ridge: America's Pentecost (Madison, WI: The University Of Wisconsin Press, 1990), 101.

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the spiritual gifts of the Spirit. With an intense call to perfectionism, her followers, the Shakers,

espoused to eliminate greed, pride, and sexual desires with fervent dancing ceremonies, where

they would “shake off sin” and “trample evil underfoot” to rid self of evil desires. McNemur

and Rankin along with members of their congregations left the Stone Campbell movement to be-

come Shakers in 1805. Through the mid Nineteenth century (1825-1850), spiritualism flourished

among these Shaker societies, and would influence the larger Pentecostal movement at the turn

of the twentieth century.11 Cane Ridge, often referred to as America’s Pentecost, is often viewed

as the starting point of a movement that emphasized “that the signs and wonders that took place

were not some kind of spectacle, but rather a harbinger of God’s new day.”12

Roughly a century later, an explosive revival among African American and Latino Chris-

tians on Azuza Street in Los Angeles in 1906 launched a renewed interest in Pentecostalism in

America, where speaking in tongues was the flagship sign of the Spirit’s emotionally charged

empowerment. Ordinary untrained missionaries of all races were launched around the globe

from this revival.13 Emotionalism when combined with reason, according to Meyer, motivates

people to action at a much deeper level. He proposed that the shame associated with public con-

fession of sin, prevalent at Cane Ridge and subsequent Pentecostal revivals, created vulnerability

among participants and physiological “falling effect” opened the mind to the power of God.14

11 Amy Collier Artman, "The Encounter Of North American Stone-Campbell Christians With The Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement," Discipliana 62, no. 3 (2002, Fall): 86.

12 Newell Williams, Barton W. Stone: A Spiritual Biography (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2000), 63.

13 Anthony L. Dunnavant. "The Meaning Of Cane Ridge" (an Address given at the Dis-ciples of Christ/Roman Catholic Dialogues Commission, Lexington, KY, December 14, 1988) 288.

14 Amy Collier Artman, "The Encounter Of North American Stone-Campbell Christians With The Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement," Discipliana 62, no. 3 (2002, Fall):87.

JIMENEZ 7

Current statistics says that Pentecostalism is the “fastest growing Christian movement on earth,”

accounting for one in every four Christians.15 Clearly, Pentecostalism is a movement that has

continued the emotionally charged evangelistic appeal initiated at Cane Ridge. As its appeal has

reached across all races and nationalities, perhaps the experiential expression of religious fervor

associated with Pentecostalism still retains the unifying quality that Barton W. Stone would find

so compelling at Cane Ridge.

For Barton W. Stone, the events at Cane Ridge further distanced him from his Presbyte-

rian roots. Many Presbyterian clergy members were threatened by role of emotionalism at Cane

Ridge because of their strong religious tradition tied to systematic doctrine. Having justified the

deep feelings and emotionalism of experiential religion in the context of proper understanding

and orthopraxy, what they perceived to be oversimplified theological understandings frightened

them.16 Stone, already struggling with many tenets of Presbyterianism, saw the physical and

emotional manifestations of the Spirit at Cane Ridge as a confirmation of the work of the Holy

Spirit in conversion. He saw the “trembling, jerking, barking, running, all of these powerful

manifestations were not the result of the direct interposition of the Holy Spirit, but of the over-

whelming power of Gospel truth.”17 He saw the dramatic effects of the Holy Spirit as a draw for

God to convict through the Word. He believed that “God transforms sinners through the Gospel,

without a previous work of the Spirit.”18 Because Cane Ridge involved multiple preachers from

15 Ibid, 83.

16 Alexander Campbell, "The Gift Of The Holy Spirit, Nos. 1-7," Millenial Harbinger 5, (1834, January 01): 219.

17 Alexander Campbell, "Short Sermons On Christian Practice - No. IV, On Bible Read-ing - No. 1," Millennial Harbinger 10, (1839, January 01): 343.

18 Robert Rea, ‘“Holiness’ In The Writings Of Early Stone-Campbell Movement Lead-ers," Stone-Campbell Journal 8, (2005, Fall): 172.

JIMENEZ 8

different denominations preaching at the same time, Stone believed the physical responses that

inspired converts to speak and convert others was a clear sign of unity and inspired a deep sense

of ecumenism that would propel him to join Thomas and Alexander Campbell in a movement to

restore a primitive, New Testament ecclesiology.19 Nonetheless, Artman said, “Stone walked a

delicate line in his acceptance of religious excitement and sometimes found himself in reluctant

competition with groups such as the Shakers and Holiness Methodists, and often in disagreement

with his colleague, Alexander Campbell.”20

Thomas and Alexander Campbell recognized the dangers of emotionalism, while advo-

cating the need for holiness in the life of the believer. Blaming the emotionalism associated with

early revivals for McNemar and Dunlevy’s alignment with the Shakers, Alexander Campbell was

often in disagreement with Stone regarding any benefit to emotionalism in Christian practice.

Combating the Calvinism of the day, Campbell felt strongly that no emotional proof was needed

of the Holy Spirit’s direct action of conversion because the Holy Spirit acted through the word.21

Campbell said that emotional preaching “converts more persons by an anecdote, a shout, and a

denunciation; or by the word “damnation” at the top of the voice, or by “hell-fire,” uttered in

the midst of great animal excitement, than by all the gospel facts or arguments from Genesis to

Apocalypse.”22 He strongly downplayed the revival emotionalism of Cane Ridge. After Stone

19 Cheryl Bridges Johns, "Overcoming Holy Spirit Shyness In The Life Of The Church," Vision (2012, Spring): 8.

20 D. Newell Williams, Douglas Foster, and Paul M. Blowers, eds., The Stone-Campbell Movement (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2013), 13, 116, 153.

21 Ibid, 92.

22 Erling Jorstad, The Holy Spirit in Today's Church: A Handbook of the New Pente-costalism (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1973), 11-12.

JIMENEZ 9

and Campbell’s deaths, emphasis in the Stone Campbell Movement turned to the spirit of unity

at Cane Ridge rather than the revival’s emotional and physical manifestations.

At the same time, there is no doubt that the Stone Campbell movement emphasized and

expected personal holiness through sanctification from Christians or Disciples of Christ.

Alexander Campbell said in 1839: “The immediate, proper and practical intension of the Chris-

tian Institution is personal holiness…But what is holiness? It is sanctification. And what is

sanctification? It is separation or consecration to God in heart as well as in state. And what is

this separation of heart, but conformity of views, feelings, and desires, or an approving and

choosing the same thing? To will what God wills, to love what he loves, to hate what he hates, is

holiness in principle and in heart, and to carry this out in practice is holiness in fact and in

truth.”23 While Stone, Alexander Campbell and Scott all affirm that the Holy Spirit is the divine

agent in producing holiness, they emphasized the Spirit’s instrument to be the Word of God and

the blood of Christ, received by faith. Rea concluded that Stone and Campbell believed that the

Holy Spirit uses faith, developed through increasing knowledge of the Scriptures, to transform

the heart and behavior of the believer to conform to the divine nature, rather than emotional and

physical manifestations of His personal indwelling.24

As the effects of the Civil War bore down upon Stone Campbell Movement leaders and

congregants, a southern sectarian movement arose that would divide into its own denomination,

Churches of Christ. Many within this group further polarized from any emotionalism associated

with their understanding of the Holy Spirit and its role in sanctification and holiness. Believing

23 George O Folarin, "The Origin, Development, And A Brief Appraisal Of The Doc-trine Of The Baptism In The Holy Spirit In Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria," HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 69, no. 1 (2013, March 12): 1-8.

24 A. Anderson, "Evangelism and the Growth of Evangelism in Africa," viewed 14 Nov 2013, from http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/Publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm.

JIMENEZ 10

strongly in the inerrancy of Scripture and certain that the Holy Spirit could not lead believers to

divine holiness apart from the Word, the Texas tradition within Churches of Christ came to see

the Bible as the sole source of the Spirit’s work. Many believed that any other view of the Holy

Spirit, as a person who indwelt the believer, was associated with enthusiastic, emotive forms of

religion that tended to disregard scripture. Instead, they shifted their focus to “Word over

Spirit.”25 In a movement characterized by reason and logic, believing that anyone could ratio-

nally believe in Jesus, many were fearful of anything that appeared irrational and emotive.

Though some from the Tennessee tradition of the Churches of Christ, like James Harding and

David Lipscomb believed that only God, through an indwelling Spirit, could transform humans

into the image of Christ, by 1930, the Texas tradition’s denial of a personally indwelling Spirit

became the dominant view of Churches of Christ at large.26

By the mid twentieth century, polarizing debates arose among Churches of Christ and

Pentecostal Churches arguing rationalism vs. emotionalism. Churches of Christ strongly be-

lieved that “the Spirit would not employ emotional coercion over rational persuasion.”27 Harrell

was so bold as to say that “Pentecostals became the arch enemy of the Church of Christ.” It was

ironic that Pentecostals desired to reclaim the Cane Ridge legacy of emotional Christianity while

25 Amy Collier Artman, "The Encounter Of North American Stone-Campbell Christians With The Pentecostal/charismatic Movement," Discipliana 62, no. 3 (2002, Fall): 88.

26 Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, "Dialogue Spiritless Lutheranism, Fatherless Pentecostalism, And A Proposed Baptismal-Christological Corrective," Pneuma 34, (2012, January 01): 416, 423. Wilson lays a case for the dependency on one another that Lutheranism and Pentecostalism share. Because she appeals to the rationalism of Lutheranism, many of her arguments apply to Churches of Christ as well.

27 Chris E. Green, "The Body Of Christ, The Spirit Of Communion': Re-visioning Pen-tecostal Ecclesioloy In Conversation With Robert Jenson," Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20, (2011, January 01): 21.

JIMENEZ 11

Stone Campbell Churches of Christ desperately desired to leave it behind.

The Nature and Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Stone Campbell and Pentecostal Christians seeking the restoration of the New Testament

church after Cane Ridge, both knew that the Holy Spirit was a critical factor in the apostolic min-

istry of the church, but differed on the Spirit’s nature and the gifts associated with as it affected

their churches. As the Shaker movement gave way to Holiness churches and the Pentecostal

movement, at large, much emphasis was placed on the nature of the Holy Spirit as a person of

the Godhead, who demonstrated powerful physical manifestations or signs amongst true follow-

ers of Christ. Pentecostals were inclined to seek evidence of the Spirit’s empowering presence

by way of physical signs demonstrated in the lives of the people in whom He has chosen to

dwell.

The rise of Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century was built on the same 18th cen-

tury Wesleyan Methodist principles that had influenced Stone and McGready prior to Cane

Ridge. John Wesley’s Principle of Sanctification stated that a converted Christian could grow in

personal holiness through a spiritual and moral life, empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holi-

ness tradition churches, such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Pilgrim Holiness Church, and

the Church of God furthered this doctrine with a belief in the sanctifying work of the Spirit being

perfected in a second baptism – the baptism of the Holy Spirit.28 Methodism made sanctification

the purpose of baptism of the Holy Spirit and outbursts of joy the evidence. Students at a

Topeka Bible College in 1900 took this notion a step farther, believing that speaking in tongues

was the only evidence associated with the baptism of the Spirit in Acts. When a student Agnes

28 Douglas A. Foster et al, ed., "Scott, Walter," in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Camp-bell Movement (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 677.

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Ozman, experienced this baptism by speaking in tongues, the Classical Pentecostal movement

arose, claiming that ‘speaking in tongues’ was the primary evidence of baptism in the Spirit, as it

happened on the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts.29 Charismatic churches would follow who

would accept other spiritual gifts as proofs this Spirit baptism. Many scholars consider all

churches that promote the use of ‘wonder gifts’ in the contemporary world as Pentecostal.30

Pentecostals assert that if the New Testament church had been restored, than all the gifts

of the Holy Spirit should accompany sanctification, to include healing, exorcism, prophecy in ad-

dition to speaking in tongues.31 Rather than a “proof of salvation,” the granting of spiritual gifts

in Pentecostalism is seen as a “consequence of salvation,” a salvation with its foundations in the

doctrines of justification by faith and water baptism. This is an important distinction. Pente-

costals believe that all spiritual gifts remain permanently available to believers for the sake of

mission, to lead the baptized into an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ that extends out into

the world to those that do not know him. 32 They systematically dislike ritual, formality, and

creedal confessions because they value the freedom and liberty to respond spontaneously to

God.33

29 Alexander Campbell, Christian Baptism, with Its Antecedents and Consequents (Bethany, VA: Alexander Campbell, 1851), 286.

30 Thomas Campbell, The Christian System, 5th edition (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Pub-lishing Company, 1901), 256-257.

31 Cheryl Bridges Johns, "Overcoming Holy Spirit Shyness In The Life Of The Church," Vision (2012, Spring): 9.

32 Douglas A. Foster et al, ed., "Holy Spirit, Doctrine Of The," in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 404-405.

33 Hebrews 4:12, English Standard Version.

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For Stone Campbell Christians, and Churches of Christ in particular, the most unifying

belief in restoring the early New Testament Church was the importance of baptism by immersion

as the means of salvation. From Walter Scott’s five finger exercise, the method that brought

many to Christ in the early Stone Campbell movement, and based on Acts 2:38 the steps to sal-

vation included: (1)Faith, (2)Repentance, (3)Baptism, (4)Forgiveness of Sin, and (5)The Gift of

the Holy Spirit.34 Scott, Stone, and Campbell all agreed that this gift occurred simultaneously

through water baptism, not in addition to it.35 Thomas Campbell claimed that the New Testa-

ment was the constitution for the life of a Christian and thus the church. He said that once the

New Testament was completed “the Holy Spirit ceased to guide the church (baptized believers)

except by these writings.”36

In Churches of Christ, dominated by the Texas tradition the emphasis on Scripture over

Spirit created a dangerous separation of Spirit and Word. By over-emphasizing the Word, the

scripture became more of a witness to truth rather than a “truthful vehicle of God’s presence.”37

Therefore, the ongoing witness of the gifts of the Spirit was neglected and scripture alone be-

came the standard of praxis. This polarizing effect, motivated by a fear of misinterpreting the

Word or following higher criticism that could lead one to doubt the inerrancy of Scripture, para-

lyzed leaders in the Churches of Christ from placing emphasis on the Holy Spirit. Wilson de-

scribes this as an “empty doctrine of the Spirit,” and that has evolved into “an extreme, critical,

34 Foster et al, 405.

35 Norberto Sarcaco, "I Will Pour Out My Spirit On All People: A Pastoral Reading Of Joel 2:28-30 From Latin America," Calvanism Theological Journal 46, (2011, January 01): 268-277. This article gives a personal perspective of a Disciples of Christ minister embracing Pente-costalism in Latin America.

36 D. Newell Williams, Douglas Foster, and Paul M. Blowers, eds., The Stone-Campbell Movement (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2013), 294-295.

37 O.S. Boyer, "Interior Brazil Missions," Word and Work (1932, February 1): 52.

JIMENEZ 14

even suspicious approach that refuses to believe what it cannot prove: therefore miracles are out,

prayer is pain management, and healing is tapping into the body’s natural resources.”

Many other Stone Campbell leaders have taken views to move the work of the Holy

Spirit beyond the written word. Early leaders like Robert Milligan and Robert Richardson, con-

temporaries of Alexander Campbell, feared setting limits on the Spirit, and claimed the Spirit

was not entirely confined to the written word. As early as 1905, J.H. Garrison, a historian and

writer and editor of the Christian Evangelist, gave credence to the position that the Holy Spirit

accompanies the preaching of the written Word, the Spirit and the Word working independently

of each other but in harmony.38 It is this claim that refuses to equate Scripture as God, but al-

lows Scripture to point to God. Jesus spoke to this when he said to his followers, “You search

the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear wit-

ness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you have life.”39

Another Stone Campbell view on the nature and working of the Holy Spirit emerged in

the mid to late twentieth century and espoused that the Holy Spirit can motivate the heart of the

unbeliever to enable one to change one’s life beyond simply believing in the gospel informed by

the Word. In other words, the Spirit is necessary to promote the deeper Christian life. Disciples

of Christ leader James DeForest Murch, one time editor of the Christian Standard and then edi-

tor of the United Evangelical Action and Christianity Today and Church of Christ preachers

Claude Witty and Carl Ketcherside were proponents of this view of the Holy Spirit as it informed

unity amongst believers. Ketcherside’s journal Mission Messenger, called Christians to “the dy-

namic of love” as the answer to healing a divided Movement, encouraging bringing the Holy

38 Williams, Foster, Blowers, 307.

39 Ibid, 333.

JIMENEZ 15

Spirit into the lives of believers.40 These views have created more balance between the starkly

contrasted views of Stone Campbell and Pentecostal Christians in the past and hopefully set the

conditions for mutual edification to be found from these groups shared heritage.

The Growth of Pentecostalism from the early Twentieth Century to the Present

As the Stone Campbell movement spread from its early roots on the American frontier to

a global movement reaching every continent in one way or another, Pentecostalism, with its

shared heritage and pursuit of Apostolic Christianity, seemed to always be close at hand, point-

ing the way to a more mutually beneficial future. This is most clearly seen in Latin American

Countries and African where cultural influences and collectivists societies perhaps lend them-

selves to openness for the mystical, experiential experience of God among large people groups.41

As Stone Campbell missionaries witnessed this rise and its amazing results, many were fearful

and continued to polarize, but others began to open their eyes to the evidences of the Holy Spirit

and the need for change.

One such example was a revival in Puerto Rico in 1933, strangely similar to the Revival

at Cane Ridge more than a century earlier. The Puerto Rican revival launched what was de-

scribed as a new spiritual identity for Christians to whom the gospel had been introduced by

American missionaries. In a time of economic uncertainty and diminished spiritual leadership in

Puerto Rice, a small prayer group experienced physical manifestations of the Spirit of speaking

in tongues and dancing. This led to 18 months of intense fasting, praying and aggressive evange-

lism, results that had convinced Stone in the power of God to convict converts who then con-

40 Albert Douglas Ofori, "The Development Of Pentecostalism In Ghana And Its Effects On Churches Of Christ," (master's thesis, Abilene Christian University, 2009), 94-128.

41 Douglas A. Foster et al, ed., "Holy Spirit, Doctrine Of The," in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 403.

JIMENEZ 16

verted others back at Cane Ridge. When conservative Stone Campbell missionaries attempted to

squelch this “Pentecostal spirituality,” an indigenous effort of natives to develop self-sufficient

churches independent of missionary control and UCMS financial support emerged.42

In 1932 the first North American Church of Christ missionaries to Brazil, Orla Boyer and

Virgil Smith witnessed Brazilian leaders experiencing what they called “the baptism of the Holy

Spirit” and had spoken in tongues. This created fear and antagonism from North American

Church of Christ leaders and propelled these men into partnerships with Brazilian Churches of

God, and later Pentecostal Churches.43 Ironically, Christian Churches/Disciples of Christ and

Christian Churches/Churches of Christ were successful in Latin American countries of integrat-

ing the Pentecostal faith with the practice of traditional Stone Campbell commitments, forging

ecumenical partnerships. Contrastingly, “those who rejected these developments (Pentecostal-

ism) felt themselves increasingly drawn toward fellowship with Churches of Christ.”44

. Though North American Churches of Christ generally tried to distance themselves from

the Pentecostal influences, other examples pointed to their conviction that dramatic acts of the

Holy Spirit confirmed the work of God. In Nigeria, an amazing work of the Spirit led five Nige-

rian evangelists to baptize more than 10,000 people, and spawned an effort to develop “an ex-

ceptionally strong commitment by North American Churches of Christ) to educating and sup-

porting African evangelists! A statement was made in regards to this explosive organic revival

42 Jeremy M. Bergen, "The Holy Spirit In The World," Vision (2012, Spring): 91.

43 D. Newell Williams, Douglas Foster, and Paul M. Blowers, eds., The Stone-Campbell Movement (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2013), 364.

44 Donald A. McGavran, Understanding Church Growth, 3rd Edition ed, ed. C. Peter Wagner (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1990), 167.

JIMENEZ 17

that is telling: “In three and a half short years, they have established more congregations than

we have in the whole of southern Africa after thirty years of labor by white missionaries.”45

In Ghana, in 1993, when opposing pro-Pentecostal factions and anti-Pentecostal factions

formed in local Churches of Christ, peaceful coexistence was achieved through the efforts of a

Ministers’ Association of national leaders among Churches of Christ, proving that Churches of

Christ are functioning well embracing many Pentecostal practices.46 These examples of Pente-

costal influences in and among Churches of Christ in foreign lands outside the United States,

lends credence to the power of the Holy Spirit to work beyond the human constraints of agenda

focused North American missionaries, or their interpretation of the Word alone. It was the

power of the Holy Spirit, evidenced in the lives of believers, that was the most effective evangel-

ical tool in rising up indigenous leaders among Stone Campbell Churches.

Common Ground for Modern Day Revivalism

Many Stone Campbell adherents have held to the following truths regarding the work of

the Holy Spirit: “that the Holy Spirit is part of a three part God, that the church is a creation of

the Holy Spirit, that the Scriptures were inspired by and brought together through the agency of

the Holy Spirit, and to the work of the Holy Spirit as that of converting the world to Christ and

residing in the lives of Christians for their spiritual fulfillment, and among more liberal leaders,

that the Holy Spirit works institutionally to bring about social change in the interest of human

justice.”47

45 Jose Casanova, "Religion, The New Millennium, And Globalization," Sociology of Religion 62, (2001, January 01): 435.

46 John Kenneth Gibson, "A Pneumatological Theology Of Diversity," Anglican Theo-logical Review 94, no. 3 (2012, Summer): 438.

47 John B. Boles, "Revivalism, Renewal, And Social Mediation In The Old South," in Modern Christian Revivals, ed. Edith L. Blumhofer and Randall Balmer (Urbana, IL: University Of Illinois Press, 1993), 60-61.

JIMENEZ 18

As the Spirit propelled the mission of God from the first Pentecost through the apostles

who took the message to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, converting the likes of

Ethiopians, Gentiles, Greeks, Romans, and the like on the pages of the New Testament and be-

yond, the Holy Spirit, today, has the power to advance the kingdom of God. Evidence of the

Spirit’s work in social movements, racially diverse and inclusion directives, and the other-ori-

ented mission of God, are a few areas where Pentecostal churches and Stone Campbell Churches,

the Church of Christ in particular, can find the common unity that the Holy Spirit alone can pro-

vide.

Anslem Min, a Pentecostal theologian, argues that the nature of the Holy Spirit as he re-

lates to the Father and the Son of the triune God provides an understanding of the Spirit’s work

in social movements. He describes the Spirit as a humble, selfless God whose personhood points

attention to Jesus Christ, and through him, the Father. Thusly, when one sees social movements

that attempt to overcome classism, sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism, exploitation of the weak

and vulnerable, these by way of the Spirit point to the reconciliation between human beings and

God, through Jesus Christ.48 Christian Churches/Disciples of Christ have demonstrated numer-

ous partnerships with Pentecostal groups throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Eu-

rope, and the United States, with emphasis on social movements. Examples include international

relief efforts like Christian Rural Overseas Program (C.R.O.P.) and Cooperative for American

Remittances to Europe (C.A.R.E) and Church World Service, an ecumenical service organiza-

tion.49 Among Churches of Christ, support for relief agencies such as Global Samaritan of Abi-

lene and Churches of Christ Disaster Relief in Nashville, demonstrate ecumenical cooperation in

48 Ibid, 92-93.

49 Moses Hoge to Dr. Ashbel Green, Letter from a Kentucky minister, September 10, 1801, Increase in Piety, (Newburyport, CN: Angier, 1802), 53.

JIMENEZ 19

ministering to the oppressed around the world. Perhaps a new spirit of revivalism of ecumenical

partnerships in social movements could open Churches of Christ and Pentecostal Churches up to

an agreement to “keep in step with the Spirit.”

Additionally, the church, as an extension of Christ, must find diversity and unity in the

triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one being, to unleash the power of the

Spirit on the church today. God as creator is the source of all diversity. Ironically, it is the insti-

tutional church the least racially diverse organization in modern society. Interestingly, a Disci-

ples of Christ missionary in India, Donald McGavran in 1970 identified what he called the ho-

mogenous unit principle of evangelism. He said that “unbelievers prefer to join churches whose

members look, talk, and act like themselves.”50 The Pentecostal movement, however, offers a

different perspective. Described as “the most dynamic and fastest growing sector of Protestant

Christianity worldwide, and is likely to become the predominant global form of Christianity of

the 21st century,”51 Pentecostalism envelops all socio-economic levels. Many diverse congrega-

tions are present in the United States, like the King’s Park International Church in Durham,

North Carolina, with 40 percent African-American, 40 percent white, and 20 percent Asian,

Latino, and other ethnicities.52 Is it possible that Protestant churches to include Churches of

Christ could look to Pentecostal examples of diversity as a basis for ecumenical agreement? The

revival at Cane Ridge broke socioeconomic and denominational barriers while the Azuza Street

50 Stanley M. Burgess, ed., "Shakers," in International Dictionary of Pentecostal Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 1058-1059.

51 Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven: the Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshap-ing of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1995), 17.

52 A. Anderson, "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism In Africa," accessed No-vember 14, 2013, http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/Publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm.

JIMENEZ 20

revival in Los Angeles, brought together African Americans, Latinos, and whites. Perhaps a new

spirit of revivalism regarding diversity and inclusion is in order today.

Conclusion

Pentecostalism and the Stone Campbell movement, no doubt, share a common heritage

and a deep desire for unity through an appeal to the restoration of New Testament Christianity.

Ultimately, this desire is directed by the Holy Spirit. Those drawn to Pentecostalism desire more

than creeds and doctrines to define their faith, and are certainly looking toward the restoration of

the same outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the early apostles at the first Pentecost. Those

drawn to Stone Campbell ideals, and particularly the Churches of Christ, seek a similar the same

thing, a holiness, a desire to be set apart, that is from within and that produces fruit that will last,

an outward manifestation, if you will. These two notions seem inextricably tied to me, but in-

stead of promoting unity, these two movements have polarized from one another instead, fearing

the extremism of the other. As Stone was convinced by the outcry of the Spirit at Cane Ridge, I

think Churches of Christ would be well advised to consider similar Spirit-led revivalism today,

evidenced by ecumenical partnerships that promote social justice and diversity as a means living

out the gospel in the world as a tangible call of God to look beyond doctrine and disputes to a re-

newed appeal for unity.

JIMENEZ 21

WORKS CITED

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JIMENEZ 22

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JIMENEZ 23

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Amy,

Nicely done. This is an extremely well-researched and well-written paper. You should be

proud. I hope you continue your research in this area. I believe you have the beginning of

an important piece here.

Grade: 93