Why Charles Parham, the founder of Pentecostalism did not die a Pentecostal
When Parham (the founder of the movement) visited the meetings in October 1906, even he was shocked by the confusion of the services. He was dismayed by the "awful fits and spasms" of the "holy rollers and hypnotists." He described the Azusa "tongues" as "chattering, jabbering and sputtering, speaking no language at all"8
The wife of Charles Parham recorded the mind of her husband concerning the Azusa Street meetings as “The Azusa Street meetings were so wild that Parham condemned them with the term "sensational Holy Rollers." He testified that the Azusa Street meetings were largely characterized by manifestations of the flesh, spiritualistic controls, and the practice of hypnotism. According to Parham, two-thirds of the people professing Pentecostalism in his day "are either hypnotized or spook driven"9
Parham continued to eco his disapproval of the movement the Azusa Street revival in 1906, he began his first sermon by telling the people that "God is sick at his stomach" because of the things which were occurring at Azusa†10 This angered the big shots at Azusa including William Seymour who planned a big revenge on the man who had started the movement.
The movement did not take long before it turned against its founder; Parham was thrown out of the Azusa Street work in 1906 and banned from that time on. Parham spent the rest of his days denouncing W.J. Seymour and the Azusa Street revival. Seymour took over the leadership of the movement to emerge as the second leader of the movement.
He never changed his opinion. To the end of his life, Parham, often called "the father of Pentecostalism," denounced Azusa Street as a case of "spiritual power prostituted." Thus the "father of Pentecostalism" roundly rejected the Azusa Street meetings as phony, manipulated, and demonic, even though practically all Pentecostal denominations trace their heritage directly from those meetings!11
There was nothing Godly at the beginning of Pentecostalism, even the founder of the movement regretted the subsequent activities. It is so unlikely that a movement which began on a wrong path turned out to be the right one. To God a sin is always a sin. If Pentecostalism was wrong from the beginning, still it is.
The wife of Charles Parham recorded the mind of her husband concerning the Azusa Street meetings as “The Azusa Street meetings were so wild that Parham condemned them with the term "sensational Holy Rollers." He testified that the Azusa Street meetings were largely characterized by manifestations of the flesh, spiritualistic controls, and the practice of hypnotism. According to Parham, two-thirds of the people professing Pentecostalism in his day "are either hypnotized or spook driven"9
Parham continued to eco his disapproval of the movement the Azusa Street revival in 1906, he began his first sermon by telling the people that "God is sick at his stomach" because of the things which were occurring at Azusa†10 This angered the big shots at Azusa including William Seymour who planned a big revenge on the man who had started the movement.
The movement did not take long before it turned against its founder; Parham was thrown out of the Azusa Street work in 1906 and banned from that time on. Parham spent the rest of his days denouncing W.J. Seymour and the Azusa Street revival. Seymour took over the leadership of the movement to emerge as the second leader of the movement.
He never changed his opinion. To the end of his life, Parham, often called "the father of Pentecostalism," denounced Azusa Street as a case of "spiritual power prostituted." Thus the "father of Pentecostalism" roundly rejected the Azusa Street meetings as phony, manipulated, and demonic, even though practically all Pentecostal denominations trace their heritage directly from those meetings!11
There was nothing Godly at the beginning of Pentecostalism, even the founder of the movement regretted the subsequent activities. It is so unlikely that a movement which began on a wrong path turned out to be the right one. To God a sin is always a sin. If Pentecostalism was wrong from the beginning, still it is.
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