Register once, for every course
Your progress is saved in this browser as you study, and kept with the seminary under your student code, so you can continue on any device. Keep the code private, like a password. Email is optional. Add one so we can return your student code, send reminders, and deliver a certificate. You can enroll and keep studying without it. What we keep.
The Certificate track answers the multiple choice. The Associate adds the fill-in-the-blank questions; M.Div. and Th.M. add those and the short-answer questions. 90% of each part is required to pass.
Key Verse
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6, NKJV)
Learning Objectives
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
1. Give reasons commonly offered for Pentecostal growth, and state fairly the limits of growth statistics.
2. Describe the main forms of prosperity teaching and explain why it appeals to many people.
3. Give at least four Scriptural reasons why classical Pentecostals reject prosperity teaching.
4. Describe how Pentecostals have related to other Christians, and state the case for and against closer cooperation.
5. Name important questions facing Pentecostal churches in the future, and say how a pastor can prepare.
The Voice of This Unit
This final unit looks at the movement as it is today. It is written from inside classical Pentecostalism. We give thanks for what God has done, and we speak honestly about where we need correction. This matters most in the second part of the unit. Prosperity teaching is one of the most serious problems in Pentecostal and charismatic churches today, and conservative Pentecostal leaders in many countries have warned against it. We state its case as its supporters would, and then we answer from Scripture.
Growth Today
In Unit 1 we saw that researchers estimate more than 660 million Pentecostals and charismatics in 2025, with most living in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Since then we have followed the movement in Latin America, Africa, Asia and in the older churches through the Charismatic Renewal. What explains the growth?
Reasons commonly given
Scholars and pastors usually mention several things.
Direct experience of God. People meet the Spirit in worship and prayer, not only hear about Him.
Participation. In Pentecostal worship ordinary believers sing, testify, pray aloud and pray for one another. They are not only listeners.
Healing and deliverance. In places where doctors are far away or too costly, people seek the Lord for their sick and for freedom from fear and spiritual oppression.
Local leadership. As the earlier units showed, Pentecostal churches often ordain local leaders quickly. A pastor may have little formal education, but he lives among the people and speaks their language.
Mission zeal. Believers are taught that every Christian can be a witness (Acts 1:8).
Response to change and need. In cities swelling with new arrivals, the church becomes a family, offers help and gives hope.
Questions about the growth
The social-science objection. Some sociologists say that Pentecostalism grows because people are poor, uprooted and anxious, and that religion simply fills that need. If so, the Spirit would be unnecessary to the explanation.
Our answer. Social conditions are real, and we welcome scholars who study them. God works through human circumstances: Paul preached in the cities of the Roman Empire at a time of roads, trade and many languages, and "when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son" (Galatians 4:4). Poverty and need do not create the power of the Spirit. They open ears. Also, the Spirit's work is often shown in the changed lives of people who are not poor.
The statistics objection. We repeat what we learned in Unit 1: numbers depend on definitions, leaders may report hopeful figures, and many countries keep no records. In addition, many people who join a Pentecostal church come from another church, and growth by transfer is not the same as new conversions. Many also leave. A church that counts heads but does not disciple its people has not yet done what Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).
We therefore thank God for growth but do not boast about it. The question to ask of every church is not "how large?" but "are the people being made disciples of Jesus Christ?"
Prosperity Teaching
What it is
Prosperity teaching, sometimes called the "health and wealth gospel" or "prosperity gospel," holds that God wants every believer to be physically healthy and financially rich in this life, and that faith, positive confession and giving to the ministry will bring this about. It takes many forms, and not everyone who teaches some of it teaches all of it.
Where it came from
It has several roots. E. W. Kenyon, a writer of the early twentieth century, taught about the power of faith-filled words. Kenneth Hagin, who began as a Pentecostal preacher, spread similar ideas in the "Word of Faith" movement. Oral Roberts, a Pentecostal healing evangelist, taught "seed faith," the idea that a gift given to God is a seed that returns with increase. David Yonggi Cho, whom we met in Unit 8, taught a "threefold blessing" of salvation, health and prosperity, based on 3 John 2. Later the message spread through television, books and large churches. It now has many forms in North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, mentioned in Unit 9, is one well-known example in Brazil.
Why it appeals
We should understand its attraction and not mock it.
First, it speaks to real suffering. A man who cannot feed his children does not want a message of pain. He wants hope.
Second, it offers dignity. It tells the poor that they are not forgotten and that their lives can change.
Third, it often encourages work, sobriety, education and discipline, and many of its followers do improve their lives.
Fourth, its supporters quote real verses. They point to Deuteronomy 28 and to Galatians 3:14 on the blessing of Abraham, to Malachi 3:10 on tithes, to Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus," and to 3 John 2, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, even as your soul prospers."
We agree with part of this. The Bible says that God is our provider, that He answers prayer for daily bread, and that He heals. Pentecostals have always believed in divine healing and in a God who cares for our needs. These truths are not the problem.
The Scriptural answer
The problem is that prosperity teaching turns these truths into a formula, promises wealth and health to all who follow the formula, and sets money at the center of the Christian life. We reject it for the following reasons.
1. It misreads the texts it uses. Third John 2 is a friendly greeting in which an elder wishes his friend well, as letters of that time often did. It is not a promise of riches for every believer. Philippians 4:19 was written to people who had given to Paul's mission at their own cost, and it promises that God will supply their "need," not every desire. Second Corinthians 8:9 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." Paul writes this to encourage generous giving, and the riches are the riches of grace. Galatians 3:14 itself tells us what "the blessing of Abraham" is: "that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Deuteronomy 28 belongs to Israel's covenant in the land. It is not a promise of wealth to every Christian.
2. It teaches that sickness and poverty show a lack of faith. This is cruel and untrue. Jesus said of the man born blind, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him" (John 9:3). Paul prayed three times that his thorn in the flesh be removed, and the Lord answered, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), and told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments (1 Timothy 5:23). Hebrews 11:35-38 praises faithful people who were tortured, poor and homeless. Their faith was not lacking.
3. It puts the love of money where Scripture warns us. "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greed, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" (Luke 12:15). Peter said to the lame man, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). The first apostles had power without wealth.
4. It reverses the Bible's care for the poor. James asks, "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?" (James 2:5). Our movement itself began among poor people, and the revivals at Azusa Street and Mukti were not led by the wealthy. A message that makes the poor feel guilty for being poor does not fit the story we have told in this course.
5. It invites abuse. When a pastor says that giving to him brings a return, the poor are pressured to give what they cannot spare, and the leader is tempted to live in luxury. The apostle Peter told elders to shepherd the flock "not for dishonest gain but eagerly" (1 Peter 5:2). Simon the magician thought that the gift of God could be bought, and Peter rebuked him sharply (Acts 8:18-20). The failures of some famous leaders, including the court case against Cho that we noted in Unit 8, remind us that no one is above accountability.
6. It replaces the cross with success. Jesus said, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34). A gospel that promises comfort and wealth does not preach that cross.
The classical Pentecostal response
Classical Pentecostal denominations and leaders in many countries have warned against the extreme forms of this teaching, and other evangelicals have as well. An international consultation of evangelical leaders in Ghana in 2009, with the Lausanne Movement, studied the subject, and a statement from the Lausanne Theology Working Group followed in 2010. We hold that "full gospel" teaching centers on Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer with the Spirit and Coming King, and must be kept separate from a gospel of success.
We do not want to be unjust. Prosperity teachers differ, and some of the more moderate ones preach against greed and for generous giving. We encourage pastors to take the good elements, such as hope, hard work and generosity, and reject the error.
Ecumenism: Pentecostals and the Wider Church
A history of caution and cooperation
Early Pentecostals were often rejected by other churches, and they responded by separating. In the later twentieth century this began to change. The first World Pentecostal Conference met in Zurich in 1947. In the United States, the Assemblies of God took part in the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1943. In 1961 two Chilean Pentecostal bodies joined the World Council of Churches, which was unusual among Pentecostals. As we saw in Unit 9, David du Plessis worked to build bridges, and formal talks between Pentecostals and the Roman Catholic Church began in 1972.
The debate
The case for closer cooperation. Jesus prayed that His people "may be one" so that the world may believe (John 17:21). Pentecostals share the gospel with many Christians, and we can learn from them. Working together serves the poor and the persecuted.
The case for caution. Some Pentecostals fear that joining large councils will blur essential truths, such as the authority of Scripture, salvation by faith in Christ alone, and the need for new birth. Others note that some councils include members who do not hold to the gospel.
Our answer. We seek unity "in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3), and also unity in truth (Ephesians 4:15). We can cooperate with other evangelicals in prayer, evangelism, relief of the poor and defense of religious freedom. We join other bodies where we can do so without giving up the gospel or our convictions. We do not say that others are not Christians because they differ from us on tongues or baptism.
Future Questions
No one can predict the future, but several questions are already before us.
Teaching and training. Many Pentecostal pastors have never studied the Bible formally. A movement that grows faster than it teaches can drift into error. This seminary exists because we believe sound teaching and the Spirit belong together.
The next generation. Will young people receive the experience and the doctrine of their parents, or only the style?
Money and accountability. Churches need clear finances, shared oversight and honest pastors.
Truth and experience. We love the Spirit's power, but experience must always be tested by Scripture (Acts 17:11).
Women in ministry. Pentecostal women have served as missionaries, evangelists and pastors from the beginning. Churches differ on how far women should serve in leadership, and Course 4 will present these views fairly.
Pressure and persecution. Believers in many countries suffer for their faith, and churches elsewhere should pray and help.
Faithful engagement with society. Pentecostals are asking how to serve the poor, speak against injustice and relate to governments without losing the gospel.
Pastoral Application
A faithful member of a small church loses her job. A television preacher tells viewers that a "seed offering" of a month's wages will bring her a new job and a house within the year. She asks her pastor if she should give.
The pastor does not shame her. First, he listens and prays with her. Second, he asks whether the family has enough for rent and food. He opens 1 Timothy 5:8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7 with her: God loves a cheerful giver, not one who gives under pressure. Third, he teaches that God is her provider (Matthew 6:31-33), but that He does not promise a certain sum for a certain gift. Fourth, he arranges help through the church's benevolence fund, and encourages her to look for work with the help of members. Fifth, he is open in teaching and keeping the church's own accounts, so that his people never wonder where their gifts go.
Summary
Pentecostalism today is a large, young and mostly majority-world movement. Common explanations for its growth include direct experience of God, participation, healing, local leadership, mission zeal and response to urban need, but statistics are uncertain and growth by transfer is not the same as discipleship. Prosperity teaching, which includes Word of Faith, seed faith and Cho's threefold blessing, appeals to the poor with real hope, yet classical Pentecostals reject it because it misreads Scripture, blames the sick and the poor, honors money, reverses the Bible's care for the poor, invites abuse and replaces the cross with success. Pentecostals have moved from isolation to cooperation with other Christians, and we seek unity in peace and in truth. The future requires sound teaching, faithful discipleship, honest finances and constant testing of experience by the Word.
Further Reading
• Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2nd ed., 2014).
• Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism (2007).
• J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity (2013).
• Pew Research Center, Spirit and Power (2006).
• Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, annual statistics in the International Bulletin of Mission Research.
• Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741).
Unit 10 Exam
Certificate track: the 20 multiple-choice questions. Associate track: add the 10 fill-in-the-blank questions. Master’s tracks: add the 10 short-answer questions.