The Pentecostal Baptism Restored
The second issue of Seymour’s paper tells the movement’s own origin story: a “partial Gospel” restored through Luther, Wesley and Cullis, a faith school in Topeka where Agnes Ozman and twelve students were said to speak in tongues, Parham praised only weeks before his break with Azusa, and brief reports of missions, missionaries and healing claims read with care.
MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Ubatizo wa Kipentekoste Warejeshwa: Kutoka Topeka hadi Los AngelesThe Pentecostal Baptism Restored: From Topeka to Los Angeles
Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — ukurasa wa kwanza wa toleo la pili la The Apostolic Faith, ripoti zake za misheni, na jinsi gazeti la Azusa lilivyosimulia hadithi ya mwanzo wake mwenyeweA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the lead editorial and mission reports of the second issue of The Apostolic Faith, and how the Azusa paper told the story of its own beginnings
Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: “The Pentecostal Baptism Restored,” pamoja na ripoti zisizosainiwa zilizo karibu nayo, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Juzuu ya I Na. 2, Oktoba 1906, ukurasa wa 1. Toleo asilia (1906) liko katika umma (public domain) nchini Marekani; CTS inalinukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya kujifunza na kufafanua.A CTS digest of a primary source: “The Pentecostal Baptism Restored,” with adjacent unsigned reports, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 2, October 1906, page 1. The original issue (1906) is in the public domain in the United States; CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.
- TopekaTopeka
- Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
- 1901–19061901–1906
- Uponyaji wa kiunguDivine healing
1.“Injili ya Sehemu”1.“A Partial Gospel”
Tahariri inaanza na mtazamo mpana wa historia: “Katika vizazi vyote watu wamekuwa wakihubiri Injili ya sehemu.” Kweli fulani, inasema, ilibaki katika “zama za giza,” na mara kwa mara Mungu aliinua watu kulirudishia kanisa kweli zilizopotea. Gazeti linataja watatu. Martin Luther alirejesha “kuhesabiwa haki kwa imani.” John Wesley alianzisha “utakatifu wa Biblia,” fundisho kwamba Mungu anaweza kuufanya moyo kuwa safi. Dkt. Charles Cullis (1833–1892), daktari wa Boston aliyefungua nyumba ambamo wagonjwa waliombewa, alirudisha “fundisho la ajabu la uponyaji wa kiungu.” Sasa, mwandishi anatangaza, Mungu “anarudisha Ubatizo wa Kipentekoste kwa kanisa.” Wanahistoria wanaita huu usomaji wa kurejesha (restorationist) wa historia ya kanisa: imani kwamba kanisa lilipoteza utimilifu wa imani ya kitume na kwamba Mungu anaurejesha kipande kwa kipande katika siku za mwisho. Wapentekoste wa mwanzo mara nyingi waliuunganisha na “mvua ya vuli” (latter rain) ya Yoeli 2:23, mmiminiko wa mwisho kabla ya kurudi kwa Kristo. Lakini mpango huu unaonyesha jinsi waumini hawa walivyojiona. Hawakufikiri wanaanzisha dini mpya. Waliamini kuwa wao ni sura mpya kabisa katika hadithi ndefu ya upya, wakisimama katika mstari mmoja na Luther na Wesley.The editorial begins with a sweeping view of history: “All along the ages men have been preaching a partial Gospel.” Some truth, it says, survived the “dark ages,” and from time to time God raised up men to bring lost truths back to the church. The paper names three. Martin Luther restored “justification by faith.” John Wesley established “Bible holiness,” the teaching that God can make the heart pure. Dr. Charles Cullis (1833–1892), a Boston physician who opened homes where the sick were prayed for, brought back “the wonderful doctrine of divine healing.” Now, the writer announces, God “is bringing back the Pentecostal Baptism to the church.” Historians call this a restorationist reading of church history: the belief that the church lost the fullness of the apostolic faith and that God is restoring it piece by piece in the last days. Early Pentecostals often linked it to the “latter rain” of Joel 2:23, a final outpouring before Christ’s return. But the scheme shows how these believers saw themselves. They did not think they were starting a new religion. They believed they were the newest chapter in a long story of renewal, standing in line with Luther and Wesley.
2.Hadithi ya Uponyaji na Shule ya Imani2.A Healing Story and a Faith School
Tahariri inasimulia kisha hadithi ya mvulana. Kulingana na gazeti, Mungu alimponya “mvulana mdogo mlemavu wa umri wa miaka saba” ugonjwa lakini akamwacha akitembea kwa pande za vifundo vya miguu yake. Akiwa na miaka kumi na minne, akiwa ameitwa kuhubiri, aliomba alipokuwa akisoma Biblia yake na, gazeti linasema, mara “akafanywa mzima,” akiruka na kumsifu Mungu kama yule kiwete kwenye Lango Zuri katika Matendo 3. Baadaye tu mwandishi anamtaja jina: Charles Parham (1873–1929). CTS inaiwasilisha hii kama dai la gazeti kuhusu maisha ya Parham, si historia ya kitabibu iliyothibitishwa, na sala fupi ambayo chanzo asilia kinaichapisha hapa imeachwa katika uteuzi wetu. Parham, aliyewahi kuwa mchungaji mbadala wa Methodisti na baadaye mwinjilisti huru wa utakatifu, alifungua Shule ya Biblia ya Bethel huko Topeka, Kansas, mnamo Oktoba 1900. Gazeti linaiita “shule ya imani”: wanafunzi hawakulipa ada wala chakula, fedha zilikuja kupitia maombi, na “Biblia ilikuwa kitabu cha kiada pekee.” Parham, gazeti linasema, alisadikishwa kwamba hakuna shule iliyolingana na Matendo 2, na karibu na mwisho wa 1900 aliwaweka wanafunzi wake kuchunguza Maandiko kutafuta ushahidi wa Biblia wa ubatizo huo.The editorial next tells the story of a boy. According to the paper, God healed a “little crippled boy seven years of age” of disease but left him walking on the sides of his ankles. At fourteen, called to preach, he prayed while reading his Bible and, the paper says, was instantly “made whole,” leaping and praising God like the lame man at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3. Only later does the writer name him: Charles Parham (1873–1929). CTS presents this as the paper’s claim about Parham’s life, not a verified medical history, and the short prayer the original prints at this point is left out of our selection. Parham, once a Methodist supply pastor and later an independent holiness evangelist, opened Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, in October 1900. The paper calls it “a faith school”: students paid no tuition or board, money came in through prayer, and “the Bible was the only textbook.” Parham, the paper says, became convinced that no school measured up to Acts 2, and near the end of 1900 he set his students to search the Scriptures for the Bible evidence of that baptism.
3.Mnara wa Maombi na Agnes Ozman3.The Praying Tower and Agnes Ozman
Wanafunzi waliendelea na “maombi bila kukoma katika mnara wa maombi.” Shule ilikutana katika jumba kubwa lisilokamilika, na katika mnara mmoja wake vikundi vidogo vilipokezana, kila kimoja kikiomba kwa saa tatu kabla ya kingine kuchukua nafasi yake. Kisha, gazeti linaripoti, usiku wa Mwaka Mpya Bi. Agnes N. Ozman (1870–1937) alisadikishwa kwamba alihitaji “Pentekoste ya kibinafsi.” Kwa miaka alikuwa ameujua kile gazeti linachokiita “upako udumuo” (1 Yohana 2:27), ambao linasema alikuwa ameukosea kuwa ubatizo. Muda mfupi kabla ya usiku wa manane aliomba awekewe mikono, na wakati wa maombi, gazeti linasema, “alinena kwa lugha nyingine kama Roho alivyojalia kutamka,” maneno ya Matendo 2:4. Wanahistoria hawakubaliani juu ya saa na tarehe kamili; wengi wanaweka tukio hilo tarehe 1 Januari 1901, na masimulizi ya baadaye ya Ozman mwenyewe hayakubaliani kwa kila undani na yale ya Parham. Wanachokubaliana wote ni umuhimu wake. Uzoefu wa Ozman kwa kawaida huchukuliwa kuwa wakati ambapo kunena kwa lugha kulifundishwa kwa mara ya kwanza waziwazi kama ishara inayotarajiwa ya ubatizo katika Roho. Uhusiano huo, zaidi ya lugha zenyewe, ukawa fundisho bainifu la Upentekoste wa kawaida (classical Pentecostalism).The students kept up “continual prayer in the praying tower.” The school met in a large, unfinished mansion, and in one of its towers small groups took turns, each praying for three hours before another took its place. Then, the paper reports, on New Year’s night Miss Agnes N. Ozman (1870–1937) became convinced she needed “a personal Pentecost.” For years she had known what the paper calls “the anointing that abideth” (1 John 2:27), which it says she had mistaken for the baptism. Shortly before midnight she asked that hands be laid on her, and during prayer, the paper says, she “spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance,” the words of Acts 2:4. Historians differ over the exact hour and date; most place the event on 1 January 1901, and Ozman’s own later accounts do not agree in every detail with Parham’s. What all agree on is its importance. Ozman’s experience is usually treated as the moment when speaking in tongues was first explicitly taught as the expected sign of the baptism in the Spirit. That link, more than tongues itself, became the distinctive teaching of classical Pentecostalism.
4.Wanafunzi Kumi na Wawili na “Lugha Tofauti”4.Twelve Students and “Different Languages”
Uzoefu wa Ozman, gazeti linasema, “uliwafanya wote kuwa na njaa.” Wakiwa hawali wala kulala sana, shule ilimngoja Mungu, na tarehe 3 Januari 1901, Parham alipokuwa mbali akihubiri, “wanafunzi kumi na wawili walijazwa Roho Mtakatifu” na kuanza kunena kwa lugha. Aliporudi, mwandishi anaripoti, chumba kilionekana kujaa “mng’ao mweupe wa nuru,” na wanafunzi walikuwa “wakizungumza kwa lugha tofauti.” Gazeti linaongeza kwamba Parham alipiga magoti kuomba na punde akanena kwa lugha nyingine mwenyewe; CTS inafupisha badala ya kunukuu maneno yake. Zingatia dai lililo nyuma ya msemo “lugha tofauti.” Parham alifundisha kwamba lugha zilikuwa lugha halisi za kibinadamu zilizotolewa kwa ajili ya kuhubiri kimisionari. Gazeti linashiriki tumaini hilo: linasema alihubiri kwa lugha nyingine, kwamba watu wa mataifa hayo walikuja madhabahuni, na linamwita “mtume wa fundisho la Pentekoste.” Haya ni madai, si ukweli wa kiisimu uliojaribiwa. Wamisionari wa mwanzo walipoenda ng’ambo wakitarajia kuhubiri kwa lugha za huko, wengi waligundua hawawezi, na Wapentekoste wengi walifikia kuelewa lugha hasa kama maombi na sifa katika Roho (1 Wakorintho 14:2). Sifa ya gazeti kwa Parham pia haikudumu. Seymour alikuwa amesikia mafundisho yake kwa mara ya kwanza huko Houston mwaka 1905, ingawa ubaguzi ulimlazimisha kusikiliza kutoka ukumbini. Gazeti lilimtarajia Parham huko Los Angeles “baada ya siku chache.” Alipokuja msimu huo wa vuli, alilaani ibada ya Azusa kama isiyo na utaratibu na alipinga kuchanganyika kwa waumini Weusi na Weupe madhabahuni. Misheni ilikataa uongozi wake, kama Somo la 3 linavyoonyesha, na njia za watu hao wawili zikatengana milele.Ozman’s experience, the paper says, “made all hungry.” Scarcely eating or sleeping, the school waited on God, and on 3 January 1901, while Parham was away preaching, “twelve students were filled with the Holy Ghost” and began to speak in tongues. When he returned, the writer reports, the room seemed filled with a “white sheen of light,” and the students were “talking in different languages.” The paper adds that Parham knelt to pray and soon spoke in another language himself; CTS summarizes rather than quotes his words. Notice the claim behind the phrase “different languages.” Parham taught that tongues were real human languages given for missionary preaching. The paper shares that hope: it says he preached in other languages, that people of those nationalities came to the altar, and it calls him “an apostle of the doctrine of Pentecost.” These are claims, not tested linguistic facts. When early missionaries went abroad expecting to preach in local languages, many found they could not, and most Pentecostals came to understand tongues chiefly as prayer and praise in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:2). The paper’s praise of Parham did not last either. Seymour had first heard his teaching in Houston in 1905, though segregation forced him to listen from the hallway. The paper expected Parham in Los Angeles “in a few days.” When he came that autumn, he condemned the Azusa worship as disorderly and objected to Black and white believers mingling at the altar. The mission refused his leadership, as Reading 3 shows, and the two men’s paths divided for good.
5.“Moto Unaenea”5.“The Fire Is Spreading”
Tahariri kisha inageukia Los Angeles, ambapo ujumbe ulikuwa “umelipuka kwa nguvu kuu.” Katika Mtaa wa Azusa, inasema, mikutano iliendelea “kuanzia asubuhi hadi usiku wa kuchelewa” na ibada tatu hivi za madhabahuni kwa siku. Gazeti linasema halikuweka rekodi ya idadi, lakini linaona kwamba ndugu mmoja alihesabu watu hamsini hivi waliobatizwa katika Roho katika wiki moja, idadi ya kusomwa kama makadirio ya mshiriki. Wahubiri wanne wa utakatifu wanasemekana kupokea uzoefu huo; mmoja, Ndugu William Pendleton, alifukuzwa kanisani pamoja na kutaniko lake na sasa alifanya mikutano katika Mtaa wa Nane na Maple Avenue. Kipengele hicho ni ukumbusho kwamba uamsho ulileta mgawanyiko pamoja na furaha, kwa kuwa makanisa ya utakatifu yalifunga milango yao kwa mafundisho mapya. Kundi kutoka Los Angeles, likiwamo Ndugu na Dada Evans na Dada Florence Crawford, lilikuwa limetumia majuma matano huko Oakland, na gazeti linaripoti watu sitini na watano wamebatizwa katika Roho huko. Linaongeza kwamba wamisionari wanane walikuwa tayari wameondoka kwenda mashamba ya kigeni na watenda kazi thelathini hivi walikuwa wametoka. Ripoti moja fupi inaonyesha jinsi duara lilivyokuwa tayari pana. Mchungaji Adolph Rosa, mhudumu anayezungumza Kireno kutoka Visiwa vya Cape Verde, aliyelelewa Mkatoliki na kuongoka katika kanisa la Methodisti la Kireno huko New Bedford, Massachusetts, alikuwa amepokea uzoefu huo Oakland na sasa alihubiri Los Angeles. Neno kali la gazeti “Romanism” linaonyesha lugha ya chuki dhidi ya Wakatoliki iliyokuwa ya kawaida miongoni mwa Waprotestanti wa wakati ule; CTS haishiriki mtindo huo.The editorial then turns to Los Angeles, where the message had “burst out in great power.” At Azusa Street, it says, meetings ran “from morning till late at night” with about three altar services a day. The paper says it kept no record of numbers, but notes that one brother counted about fifty people baptized with the Spirit in a single week, a figure to read as a participant’s estimate. Four holiness preachers are said to have received the experience; one, Brother William Pendleton, was turned out of his church with his congregation and now held meetings at Eighth Street and Maple Avenue. That detail is a reminder that the revival brought division as well as joy, as holiness churches closed their doors to the new teaching. A band from Los Angeles, including Brother and Sister Evans and Sister Florence Crawford, had spent five weeks in Oakland, and the paper reports sixty-five people baptized with the Spirit there. It adds that eight missionaries had already left for foreign fields and about thirty workers had gone out. One short report shows how wide the circle already was. Rev. Adolph Rosa, a Portuguese-speaking minister from the Cape Verde Islands, raised Catholic and converted in a Portuguese Methodist church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, had received the experience in Oakland and was now preaching in Los Angeles. The paper’s harsh word “Romanism” reflects the anti-Catholic language common among Protestants of that time; CTS does not share that tone.
6.Ripoti za Uponyaji, Zisomwe kwa Makini6.Healing Reports, Read with Care
Sehemu iliyobaki ya uteuzi ni mfululizo wa ripoti fupi za uponyaji. Mtu mmoja wa Elysian Heights, kipofu kwa mwaka mmoja na nusu, anasemekana kupata kuona. Bi. J. Kring, gazeti linaripoti, aliponywa “saratani ya mapafu” baada ya daktari wake kumkatia tamaa. Kijana aliyeteseka kwa miaka na kifafa aliombewa na Ndugu Batman, mtenda kazi aliyeitwa kwenda Afrika, aliyemwomba Mungu atoe “nguvu ya pepo.” Leso iliyotumwa na ndugu mgonjwa wa Mashariki iliombewa na Dada Sallie Trainor na kutumwa tena, na ndugu huyo, gazeti linasema, aliponywa mara moja. Wapentekoste wanaamini kwamba Mungu huponya kwa kujibu maombi (Yakobo 5:14–15), na CTS inashiriki imani hiyo katika Mungu asikiaye. Lakini haya ni ushuhuda wa aya moja, si visa vya kitabibu vilivyochunguzwa; hatujui utambuzi wa magonjwa wala yaliyotokea baadaye. Lugha pia inahitaji tahadhari. Mnamo 1906 Wakristo wengi walisoma kifafa kama ishara ya pepo. Leo tunajua ni hali ya kitabibu ya ubongo ambayo kwa kawaida inaweza kutibiwa. CTS haitoi ripoti hizi kama mwongozo wa kitabibu. Ikiwa wewe au mtu umpendaye ni mgonjwa, omba kwa imani, na pia muone daktari na ufuate huduma ya matibabu iliyohitimu.The rest of the selection is a series of brief healing reports. A man at Elysian Heights, blind for a year and a half, is said to have received his eyesight. Mrs. J. Kring, the paper reports, was healed of “cancer of the lungs” after her doctor had given her up. A young man who had suffered for years from epileptic fits was prayed for by Brother Batman, a worker called to Africa, who asked God to cast out “the demon power.” A handkerchief sent by a sick brother in the East was prayed over by Sister Sallie Trainor and sent back, and the brother, the paper says, was healed at once. Pentecostals believe that God heals in answer to prayer (James 5:14–15), and CTS shares that confidence in a God who hears. But these are one-paragraph testimonies, not examined medical cases; we do not know the diagnoses or what happened later. The language also needs care. In 1906 many Christians read epilepsy as a sign of demons. Today we know it is a medical condition of the brain that can usually be treated. CTS does not offer these reports as medical guidance. If you or someone you love is ill, pray in faith, and also see a doctor and follow qualified medical care.
7.Mchungaji wa Leo Anachukua Nini Kutoka Kwake7.What a Pastor Takes from It Today
Mchungaji wa Jalisco, Lagos au Manila anachukua nini kutoka kwa tahariri iliyochapishwa katika ukumbi wa misheni huko Los Angeles mwaka 1906? Kwanza, kwamba kila harakati husimulia hadithi kuhusu yenyewe, na wachungaji wanapaswa kusimulia ya kwao kwa uaminifu. Mpango wa “injili ya sehemu” katika tahariri uliwasaidia Wapentekoste wa mwanzo kuhisi wao ni sehemu ya kazi ndefu ya Mungu, lakini uliwaacha nje waumini wengi waaminifu wa nyakati nyingine. Pili, kwamba kumtafuta Mungu katika Maandiko na maombi huja kwanza: wanafunzi wa Topeka walijifunza Matendo na kuomba kwa zamu kabla jambo lolote jingine halijatokea. Tatu, kwamba madai kuhusu lugha na uponyaji yanastahili uwazi na tahadhari pamoja. Tumaini la mwanzo la lugha za kimisionari za papo hapo halikudumu, na Wapentekoste walikua kwa hekima kwa kujifunza kutokana nalo. Nne, kwamba uamsho unamtegemea Mungu, si kiongozi yeyote mmoja. Mtu ambaye gazeti lilimsifu kuwa mtume mwezi Oktoba alikataliwa kama kiongozi kufikia Desemba, na harakati iliendelea. Tano, kwamba imani na dawa si maadui. Kanisa linaweza kuwaombea wagonjwa kwa ujasiri na pia kuwahimiza waende kwa daktari. Haya si uchunguzi wa kihistoria tu. Ni orodha ya kichungaji kwa kanisa lolote linaloomba, kama Topeka na Azusa walivyofanya, kwa ajili ya nguvu za Roho.What does a pastor in Jalisco, Lagos or Manila take from an editorial printed in a Los Angeles mission hall in 1906? First, that every movement tells a story about itself, and pastors should tell theirs honestly. The editorial’s “partial Gospel” scheme helped early Pentecostals feel part of God’s long work, but it left out many faithful believers of other ages. Second, that seeking God in Scripture and prayer comes first: the Topeka students studied Acts and prayed in shifts before anything else happened. Third, that claims about tongues and healings deserve both openness and care. The early hope of instant missionary languages did not hold up, and Pentecostals grew wiser by learning from it. Fourth, that a revival depends on God, not on any one leader. The man the paper praised as an apostle in October was refused as a leader by December, and the movement went on. Fifth, that faith and medicine are not enemies. A church can pray boldly for the sick and also urge them to see a doctor. These are not merely historical observations. They are a pastoral checklist for any church that prays, as Topeka and Azusa did, for the power of the Spirit.