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The History of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements History: ~2.4 Billion People are “Professing Christians” out of 7.3 Billion world population

Major Christian Traditions

Catholic: 50.1% Protestants: 36.7% Orthodox: 11.9% Other Christian: 1.3%

According to Pew Research: Dec 2011

Denominations of Protestants % of all Protestants

Other (Independent / Non-Denominational) 38.2

Historically Pentecostal Denominations 10.8

Anglican 10.6

Lutheran 9.7

Baptist 9.0

United Churches (Unions of Diff Denominations) 7.2

Presbyterian Reformed 7.0

Methodist 3.4

Adventist 2.7

Congregationalist 0.5

Brethren 0.5

Salvation Army 0.3

Moravian 0.1

TOTAL 100%

Pentecostal / Charismatic Population

Recent studies estimate the total number of Pentecostals and charismatics worldwide at just over 500

million—with 80 million in North America, 141 million in Latin America, 135 million in Asia, 126

million in Africa, and 38 million in Europe.55,1

Total Pentecostals / Charismatics (2011)

Movement Estimated Number % of World

Population

% of Christian

Population

Pentecostal 279,080,000 4.0% 12.8%

Charismatic 304,990,000 4.4% 14.0%

Combined 584,070,000 8.5% 26.7%

Evangelical 285,480,000 4.1% 13.1%

55 Allan Anderson, introduction to Asian and Pentecostal, edited by Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (Costa Mesa, CA: Rengum Books,

2005), 2. These statistics come from David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2nd

ed., vol. 1. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World (Carlisle, UK:

Paternoster, 2001), 21, 32, 34, 41, 52 have significantly lower figures. They estimate 87 million Pentecostals and charismatics in Asia,

compared to 72 million in North America, 85 million in Latin America, 84 million in Africa, and 14 million in Europe. 1 John F. MacArthur Jr., Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Nashville: Thomas Nelson,

2013).

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What is the difference between Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Evangelicals?

Who are Pentecostals?

Pentecostals are members of distinct Protestant denominations or independent churches that hold the

teaching that all Christians should seek a post-conversion religious experience called the baptism of the

Holy Spirit. These denominations and churches teach that those who experience the baptism of the Holy

Spirit may receive one or more spiritual gifts, including the abilities to prophesy or utter messages from

God, practice physical healing, speak in tongues or spiritual languages (glossolalia), and interpret

tongues. Pentecostalism has roots in the 19th-century Holiness Movement, which promoted intense

personal piety. Pentecostal denominations include the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in

Christ.2 It emerged as a distinct religious movement in the U.S. in the early 20th century.3

Who are Charismatics?

Charismatics are members of non-pentecostal denominations —including Catholic,

Orthodox and some Protestant denominations —who hold at least some Pentecostal beliefs and engage

in at least some spiritual practices associated with pentecostalism, including divine healing, prophecy

and speaking in tongues. The charismatic movement, sometimes known as the charismatic renewal,

began among mainline Protestants in the U.S. in 1960 and had spread to parts of the U.S. Catholic

Church by 1967.4

2 Randall Balmer, The Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press,

2002, page 446. 3 For background information, see Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of

Pentecostals, 2006. http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-movements-anddenominations/#defining; Accessed

1/18/2014 4 Randall Balmer, The Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, pages 122-124; Allan Anderson, An

Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pages 144-151.

http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-movements-anddenominations/#defining; Accessed 1/18/2014

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Protestant charismatics regard Spirit Baptism as a distinct act of grace, as do all Pentecostals, but many

Protestant and all Roman Catholic charismatics regard it as a renewal or actualization of the baptism in

the Spirit, which all Christians receive in water baptism or on their conversion. Some Protestant

charismatics hold the "initial evidence" view of glossolalia; other Protestant and all Roman Catholic

charismatics reject this view.5

Who are Evangelicals?

Evangelicals are Christians who (1) believe in the centrality of the conversion or “born again”

experience in receiving salvation; (2) believe in the authority of the Bible as God’s revelation to

humanity; and (3) have a strong commitment to evangelism or sharing the Christian message.

Evangelicals constitute a trans-denominational movement; Christians who hold these beliefs or

commitments may be found in numerous denominations and church traditions, such as Methodism and

Presbyterianism; Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God; and denominations that are

expressly and historically evangelical, such as the Evangelical Free Church of America.6 The origins of

modern evangelicalism are often traced to late 17th-century Lutheran Pietism in Germany and

Methodism in England around the same time.7

The Prosperity Gospel (PG)

What is the heritage of those in the PG movement?

Isn’t the Prosperity Gospel only a fringe segment of Christianity?

a. Note: The PG is also known as: The Health, Wealth, & Prosperity Movement

b. Word-Faith Movement

If not, what has been the influence of that philosophy?

Prosperity Gospel Influence8

Nearly half of American Christians, in any denomination, and roughly two-thirds of

American Pentecostals now embrace the basic premise of the prosperity gospel: God wants you to be

happy, healthy, and rich. (Even among classic Pentecostals, the prosperity gospel has become more

popular than speaking in tongues: As Christianity Today’s Ted Olsen noted in 2006, only half of

American Pentecostalists report having spoken in tongues but 66 percent agreed with the premise that

God grants believers wealth (Douthat, Bad Religion, 194).

A recent survey found that in the United States, 46 percent of self-proclaimed Christians agree

with the idea that God will grant material riches to all believers who have enough

faith.” (David Jones and Russell Woodbridge, Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Grand

Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 16.)

So is it any wonder the health-and-wealth prosperity gospel has taken our planet by storm? (As

Candy Gunther Brown observes, What seems most objectionable, and shamanistic, to non-pentecostal

Christian critics and to secular critics of American self-interested consumerism is the Pentecostal

concern with allegedly lower, selfish, this-worldly blessings, such as healing or financial prosperity,

5 "Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity." Encyclopedia of Religion. . Retrieved January 06, 2017 from

Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pentecostal-and-charismatic-

christianity 6 Randall Balmer, The Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, pages 196-197. 7 “Evangelicalism,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Gale, 2002, page 472. http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-

christianity-movements-anddenominations/#defining; Accessed 1/18/2014 8 John F. MacArthur Jr., Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Nashville: Thomas Nelson,

2013).

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which are often caricatured as a prosperity theology or a health and wealth gospel that greedy U.S. faith

healers have exported worldwide through their disturbingly successful use of modern communications

media (Candy Gunther Brown, Introduction to Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing [Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2011], 11).

In the Two-Thirds World of Asia, Africa, and Latin America—where the Charismatic Movement

is growing at an unprecedented rate—experts estimate well over half of Pentecostal and charismatic

adherents hold to the prosperity gospel. (Paul Alexander notes the extent of this theology: The

Pentecostal prosperity gospel appeals to hungry Christians in an age of wealth and proclaims that if you

have faith in God, you will be financially secure. Over 90 percent of Pentecostals and Charismatics in

Nigeria, South Africa, India, and the Philippines believe that God will grant material prosperity to all

believers who have enough faith (Alexander, Signs and Wonders, 6364).)

As John T. Allen explains: The fastest-growing and largest charismatic congregations all preach

some form of this message, from David Yonggi Cho in South Korea, whose church claims more than

eight hundred thousand members, to Bishop Enoch Adeboye of Nigeria, whose monthly prayer meetings

regularly draw three hundred thousand in attendance.9

TV: Prosperity Gospel’s Vehicle

As the largest religious television network on the planet, TBN beams its product 24/7 to more than one

hundred countries on seventy satellites through more than eighteen thousand TV channels and cable

affiliates.10 Daystar & LeSea are two competitors of TBN who broadcast many Prosperity Gospel

Preachers

9 As two scholars observe, The fastest-growing movement within Pentecostalism has been called the Prosperity Gospel, or health-and-

wealth churches. [ . . . To outside observers, these churches often appear to trade in magical thinking and psychological manipulation].

(Donald E. Miller and TetsunaoYamamori, Global Pentecostalism [Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007], 29). John F.

MacArthur Jr., Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with

Counterfeit Worship (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013). 10 About on Trinity Broadcasting Networks official Facebook page, accessed April 2013;

https://www.facebook.com/trinitybroadcastingnetwork/info. John F. MacArthur Jr., Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit

with Counterfeit Worship (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013).