History and Development of Pentecostalism — Unit 9: The Charismatic Renewal, the Third Wave, and Neo-Charismatic Networks

Key Verse

"endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain how the Charismatic Renewal began in the 1960s, naming Dennis Bennett, David du Plessis and the Catholic renewal of 1967.

2. Describe the Third Wave and the part played by John Wimber and C. Peter Wagner.

3. Describe neo-charismatic networks and name two examples.

4. State fairly the main questions Pentecostals and others ask about these movements, and give a Pentecostal answer to each.

5. Explain how a classical Pentecostal pastor can relate with truth and love to charismatic and neo-charismatic believers.

The Voice of This Course

This unit is written from inside classical Pentecostalism. We rejoice when the Holy Spirit is poured out on believers outside our churches. We also hold that every movement must be tested by the Bible. Both are Scriptural: "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).

The Three Waves

In Unit 1 we met the three types: classical Pentecostal, charismatic, and neo-charismatic or independent. Some writers describe the same history as "waves." The first wave is the classical Pentecostal movement of the early 1900s. The second wave is the Charismatic Renewal, which began about 1960 in the older churches. The third wave is a name given to evangelical groups from the 1980s that stress signs and wonders but do not call themselves Pentecostal.

This pattern is helpful, but it is not perfect. Some historians, including Allan Anderson, warn that it is too tidy and too tied to North America, because many movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America do not fit neatly into three waves. We use the pattern as a map, and we remember that a map is not the land.

Before the Renewal: Roads That Led to It

The Charismatic Renewal did not arrive from nowhere. Three developments prepared the way.

Healing evangelists after the Second World War. In the 1940s and 1950s many ministers held large meetings with prayer for the sick, and their reports reached people in many church families.

Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International. Demos Shakarian and others founded it in 1951. It brought Pentecostal testimonies to businessmen's breakfasts and dinners, and many from non-Pentecostal churches heard them there.

The Latter Rain movement. This movement began in 1948 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Its teachers stressed laying on of hands, prophecy and a restoration of apostles and prophets. The Assemblies of God and other classical bodies examined these teachings and, in 1949, the Assemblies of God rejected several of them. We mention the Latter Rain here because historians see some of its ideas returning later in neo-charismatic networks.

The Second Wave: Charismatic Renewal

Dennis Bennett, 1960

Dennis Bennett was an Episcopal priest at St. Mark's Church in Van Nuys, California. In April 1960 he told his congregation that he had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and had spoken in tongues. Some members were troubled, and he left that parish and later served a church in Seattle, Washington. His story was told in newspapers and magazines, and it showed many people that Pentecostal experience could happen in a historic church. Many see 1960 as the public beginning of the renewal.

David du Plessis, a bridge

David du Plessis was a South African Pentecostal minister, known to many as "Mr. Pentecost." He traveled widely and spoke with leaders of other churches, urging them to seek the Spirit without leaving their own church. This cost him dearly. In 1962 the Assemblies of God withdrew his ministerial standing because of his work with ecumenical groups, and it was restored in 1980. His life shows how deeply some classical Pentecostals feared losing their message, and how patiently others labored to share it.

Spread through the older churches

By the middle of the 1960s Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists and others were speaking of Spirit baptism. Many were taught by classical Pentecostal friends. Lutherans, for example, had pastors such as Larry Christenson as leaders of the movement.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal

In February 1967 a group of lay Catholics connected with Duquesne University in Pittsburgh held a retreat, prayed for the baptism in the Spirit and reported experiences of the Spirit's power. The renewal spread to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and then to other places. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) had just spoken of the gifts of the Spirit among the whole people of God, and this helped many Catholics to welcome the renewal. Today Catholic charismatics are found in a great many countries, and they form one of the largest groups in the charismatic family. In 1972 classical Pentecostals and Roman Catholics began a long series of formal talks, which continued for decades.

The Third Wave

Wimber, Wagner and Fuller Seminary

John Wimber led the Vineyard churches in California. In the early 1980s he taught a course at Fuller Theological Seminary with C. Peter Wagner on signs and wonders and church growth. Wagner, a seminary professor and missions scholar, later described this stream of evangelicals as the "third wave," a wave that followed the classical Pentecostals and the charismatics. Wimber wrote on "power evangelism," meaning that signs of God's power, such as healing and words of knowledge, open the way for preaching.

These believers expected the Spirit to heal and speak, but many did not teach Spirit baptism as a separate experience after conversion, and they did not usually require tongues as first evidence. Wagner and others said that the power of God was available to all believers when they received Christ, and they asked God to release it. Classical Pentecostals therefore welcomed the practice but did not always share the explanation.

The Toronto Blessing

In January 1994 meetings at a Vineyard church near Toronto Airport began and drew visitors from many countries. They were marked by laughter, falling and other unusual reactions. They influenced churches in Britain and elsewhere. In 1995 the Vineyard movement removed the Toronto church from its association because of concerns about how the manifestations were being handled. The story is a reminder that both blessing and disorder can appear in a revival.

Our tradition has long used the guidance of Jonathan Edwards, who in The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741) said that unusual bodily reactions do not prove a work to be God's, and do not prove it false. What matters are the fruit and the doctrine: whether Jesus is honored, Scripture is loved, sin is renounced and the people grow in love (compare 1 John 4:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 14:40).

Neo-Charismatic Networks

What they are

The largest and most varied group is the neo-charismatic or independent churches. They do not belong to old denominations, and many are not part of the classical Pentecostal bodies. They are often held together by a founder, a network of pastors, a ministry school or a shared teaching. Many are in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We have already met African and Asian examples in earlier units.

Examples

The Redeemed Christian Church of God. It began in Nigeria in 1952 under Josiah Akindayomi. It has grown into a very large church with congregations in many nations, and it has planted parishes among Nigerians and others abroad.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. It was founded in Brazil in 1977 by Edir Macedo. It has spread to many nations and is known for its large buildings, its stress on deliverance and healing, and its teaching on giving. It has also been widely criticized, and we return to that in Unit 10.

These two examples show how different the group is. The first is in some ways like a classical Pentecostal denomination, and the second has features that classical bodies question.

The New Apostolic Reformation

In the 1990s C. Peter Wagner began to use the phrase "New Apostolic Reformation" for networks led by persons who are called apostles and prophets, who have authority over groups of churches. Supporters say that Ephesians 4:11 names apostles and prophets as gifts to the church, and that the Lord is restoring them now. Many outside observers, and many classical Pentecostals, are not persuaded.

Questions People Ask and Our Answers

Question 1: Are the charismatics truly Spirit-baptized, if they do not leave their churches or teach our doctrine?

The question. Some classical Pentecostals in the 1960s said that real Spirit baptism meant leaving churches that did not teach it. Some feared that the renewal would water down our message.

Our answer. We distinguish the experience from the label. In Acts 10 and 11 the Spirit fell on Cornelius's household, and Peter said, "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:17). The Spirit does not belong to one denomination (John 3:8). When someone is filled with the Spirit and honors Christ, we receive him as a brother or sister. At the same time we do not give up our own teaching. We still teach, from Acts, that Spirit baptism is an empowering experience after conversion with tongues as its first sign, and we gently teach those who are open to it.

Question 2: What of doctrinal differences, especially in the Catholic renewal?

The question. Catholic charismatics hold teachings about the authority of the Church, the sacraments and Mary which Pentecostals do not share. Do we compromise by praying together?

Our answer. Real differences remain, and we do not hide them. Catholic charismatics understand the baptism in the Spirit differently, usually as a renewal of grace already received in the sacraments. We do not agree. But Scripture also gives a simple test for fellowship in prayer: "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3). We can pray with anyone who truly confesses Jesus as Lord and trusts in His finished work. We do not pretend that we agree where we do not, and we hold to the authority of Scripture alone. Where a teaching contradicts the gospel, Paul's warning stands (Galatians 1:8).

Question 3: Is the Third Wave simply Pentecostalism by another name?

The question. Some say the Third Wave has taken our experience while dropping our doctrine, and others, especially cessationists, say that its claims of signs and wonders are not biblical.

Our answer. We agree with the first group that there is a difference in doctrine. We disagree with the second group on the main point, because the Bible does not close the door on the gifts (1 Corinthians 14:39). We wish third-wave believers well, and we invite them to study Acts again. We also say plainly that claims of signs must be tested. A spectacular event does not prove a doctrine.

Question 4: Are modern apostles and prophets biblical?

The question. Neo-charismatic leaders cite Ephesians 4:11. Critics say that the apostles of the New Testament were unique witnesses of the risen Lord (Acts 1:21-22), and that no one now holds that office.

Our answer. Many classical Pentecostal bodies hold that the Twelve, and Paul, had a unique place as foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), and that no one today has authority to add to Scripture or to rule over churches that are not his own. Others use the word "apostle" for pioneering missionaries and church planters, as the New Testament sometimes uses it more widely (for example, Acts 14:14). Prophecy remains a gift in the church (1 Corinthians 14:1), but it is to be weighed by others (1 Corinthians 14:29), and it never stands above the Bible. Any leader who answers to no one breaks the pattern of Acts 15, where the church decided together.

Pastoral Application

A Pentecostal pastor in a Latin American town receives an invitation from the Catholic charismatic group and from an independent network church in the same neighborhood. They propose a joint evening of prayer for the town. Some of his members are in favor, and others are alarmed.

First, he prays and asks the elders to pray with him. Second, he meets the leaders and asks plain questions: Who is Jesus to you? What is the basis of salvation? What place does the Bible have? Third, he agrees to join in prayer where there is agreement on the Lord Jesus, the cross and the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 12:3), while stating that his church will teach its own convictions on baptism in the Spirit and other matters. Fourth, he does not go along with anything he cannot support from Scripture, and he speaks about others without gossip or contempt. Fifth, he teaches his own congregation about these movements ahead of time, so that they are not confused.

Summary

Classical Pentecostals, charismatics and neo-charismatics are three branches of a wide family, and some writers speak of three waves, though that pattern is too tidy for the whole world. The Charismatic Renewal was prepared by healing evangelists, the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship and the Latter Rain movement. It became public through Dennis Bennett in 1960, was carried by David du Plessis, and reached the Roman Catholic Church in 1967 at Duquesne. The Third Wave, named by C. Peter Wagner and led by John Wimber, stresses signs and wonders without requiring our doctrine of Spirit baptism. Neo-charismatic networks such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God are varied, and some have raised serious questions, including about modern apostles. We welcome the Spirit's work wherever Jesus is honored, test every claim by Scripture, and keep our own conviction with love, "keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Further Reading

• Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2nd ed., 2014).

• Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas, eds., New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (2002).

• Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition (1997).

• Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741), a classic guide to testing revivals.

• Gordon D. Fee, God's Empowering Presence (1994).

• Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (1996).

Submit Exam & Check Pass Reset