Baadhi ya maandishi haya bado hayajatafsiriwa kwa Kiswahili; sehemu hizo zinaonyeshwa kwa Kiingereza.

Kusoma mitazamo tofauti ya kiteolojia. Masomo ya kihistoria yanaeleza mitazamo ya waandishi wake, ikiwemo mapokeo ya Kiarminiani na ya Kireformed au ya Kikalvini. Kujumuishwa hakufanyi msimamo wa mwandishi kuwa fundisho thabiti la CTS. Soma pamoja na Maandiko na nyenzo zilizopangwa. Jibu lenye hoja kutoka mtazamo mwingine wa kiinjili linapaswa kupimwa kwa hoja zake, si kuadhibiwa kwa sababu tu linatofautiana na mwandishi. Ikiwa alama ya kompyuta inakataa jibu kama hilo, omba CTS ilipitie.

Masomo Yaliyopangwa ya Uzamili (yote matano)

Wanafunzi wa M.Div. na Th.M. husoma masomo yote matano yaliyopangwa na kufanya mtihani wake tofauti baada ya kuanzishwa. Ukurasa wa mtihani unaeleza kanuni ya sasa; ukamilishaji halali wa awali unabaki halali.

Heshima ya Hiari (chagua matatu)

Heshima ni ya hiari kwa kila programu. Wanafunzi wa Cheti na wa Shahada ya Mshiriki wanaweza kusoma masomo matatu ya heshima bila mtihani wa masomo ya lazima. Heshima haichukui nafasi ya mtihani wowote wa Uzamili.

The Master's textbook test: read The Apostolic Faith, 1906–1907: Selections on the Spirit and His Gifts, then take its test: twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once. Correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. It is separate from the reading test on the five digests below: passing one does not pass the other. On the M.Div. and Th.M. tracks both tests are being introduced; each test's page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take them, and a pass is kept in your record.

The Master's reading test: separate from the honors invitation below. Honors asks you to read any three of these digests; the Master's test covers all five. It has twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, four from each reading, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once; correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. You may try again after a short wait. The test is being introduced: its page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take it, and a pass is kept in your record.

Chaguo la heshima: Kamilisha masomo matatu yoyote kati ya matano yaliyo hapa chini. Masomo haya yanaongeza kozi na hayachukui nafasi ya sehemu zake wala mitihani yake.

Kwenye tovuti hii: Kila moja ya masomo matano ni muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala, ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana hapa kwenye tovuti — kila mmoja unafunguka moja kwa moja kutoka ukurasa huu, bila kupakua chochote. Kila kadi inataja kitabu ambacho muhtasari wake umetokana nacho.

Yaliyochaguliwa: 0 kati ya 3

Somo la 1 · Seeking the Promise

The Baptism with the Holy Ghost

A CTS digest of The Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Vol. I No. 6, February–March 1907, p. 7 — “The Baptism with the Holy Ghost” (W.J.S.), with “Messages in Tongues Interpreted,” “Preserved and Sealed” and a closing editorial note (unsigned)

William J. Seymour answers the seekers who wrote to Azusa: pursue the promise of the Father, not tongues, and God will add the sign. He ties Spirit baptism to repentance, restitution and a clean heart, reads Acts 2 as immersion, and stands beside interpreted messages that exalt Christ and a closing hope of all races made one.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa

Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Tafuta Ahadi, Si Ishara: Seymour Kuhusu Ubatizo katika Roho MtakatifuSeek the Promise, Not the Sign: Seymour on the Baptism with the Holy Ghost

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — ushauri wa William J. Seymour mwenyewe kwa watafutaji, pamoja na fundisho lisilotiwa sahihi na ujumbe uliofasiriwa uliochapishwa kando yake katika ukurasa wa 7 wa gazeti la AzusaA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — William J. Seymour’s own counsel to seekers, with the unsigned teaching and interpreted messages printed beside it on page 7 of the Azusa paper

Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: “The Baptism with the Holy Ghost” (iliyotiwa sahihi W.J.S.), pamoja na vipengele visivyotiwa sahihi “Messages in Tongues Interpreted” na “Preserved and Sealed” na dokezo la mwisho la wahariri, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Buku la I Nambari 6, Februari–Machi 1907, ukurasa wa 7. CTS inanukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya funzo na ufafanuzi.A CTS digest of a primary source: “The Baptism with the Holy Ghost” (signed W.J.S.), with the unsigned items “Messages in Tongues Interpreted” and “Preserved and Sealed” and a closing editorial note, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 6, February–March 1907, page 7. CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.

Ubatizo katika RohoSpirit baptism
Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
W. J. SeymourW. J. Seymour
19071907

Neno kabla ya kusoma. Kufikia mwanzoni mwa 1907 mamia ya barua zilikuwa zikifika kwenye misheni ya Azusa Street zikiuliza swali moja: nitapokeaje ubatizo katika Roho Mtakatifu? Katika ukurasa wa ndani wa toleo maradufu la Februari–Machi, mchungaji wa misheni, William J. Seymour (1870–1922), alijibu kwa jina lake mwenyewe. Somo hili linapitia jibu lake na vipande vifupi visivyotiwa sahihi vilivyochapishwa pamoja nalo. Linawasilisha fundisho lake kama ushuhuda wa kihistoria: kile ambacho mchungaji mmoja mwanzilishi wa Kipentekoste aliamini na kufundisha. Ukurasa huohuo pia ulikuwa na ushuhuda wa waandishi wengine, ambao CTS inauacha kwa mujibu wa kanuni yake ya haki za wachangiaji. A word before you read. By early 1907 hundreds of letters were reaching the Azusa Street mission asking one question: how do I receive the baptism with the Holy Ghost? On an inner page of the double February–March issue, the mission’s pastor, William J. Seymour (1870–1922), answered in his own name. This reading walks through his answer and the short unsigned pieces printed with it. It presents his teaching as historical testimony: what one founding Pentecostal pastor believed and taught. The same page also carried testimonies by other writers, which CTS leaves out under its contributor-rights rule.

1.Mchungaji Awajibu Watafutaji1.A Pastor Answers the Seekers

Seymour alikuwa mwana wa wazazi waliokuwa watumwa zamani huko Louisiana, mhubiri wa utakatifu aliyekuja Los Angeles kutoka Houston mnamo Februari 1906. Mwaka mmoja baadaye misheni aliyoiongoza ilijulikana ulimwenguni kote, na gazeti lake lilitumwa bure kwa makumi ya maelfu ya wasomaji. Makala ya ukurasa wa 7 yametiwa sahihi “W.J.S.” tu, herufi za mwanzo ambazo gazeti lilizitumia kwa ajili yake. Imeandikwa kama barua ya kichungaji kwa “mmoja katika Kristo” anayetafuta. Sauti hiyo ina umuhimu. Seymour hajabishana hapa na wakosoaji. Anawafundisha waumini wenye njaa, wengi wao waliokuwa wamesoma kuhusu Azusa lakini hawakuweza kusafiri kwenda huko, na ambao walikuwa wakimngojea Roho katika mikutano midogo ya maombi mbali na Los Angeles. Sentensi yake ya kwanza inaweka mwelekeo wa yote yanayofuata: msitafute lugha, anasema, bali “ahadi ya Baba.” Maneno hayo yanatoka Matendo 1:4, ambapo Yesu aliyefufuka anawaambia wanafunzi wake wangoje Yerusalemu. Kwa Seymour, lengo la mtafutaji si uzoefu bali ahadi iliyotolewa na Mungu, inayopokelewa kwa imani.Seymour was the son of formerly enslaved parents in Louisiana, a holiness preacher who had come to Los Angeles from Houston in February 1906. A year later the mission he led was known across the world, and its paper was mailed free to tens of thousands of readers. The article on page 7 is signed simply “W.J.S.,” the initials the paper used for him. It is written as a pastoral letter to “one in Christ” who is seeking. That tone matters. Seymour is not arguing with critics here. He is coaching hungry believers, many of whom had read about Azusa but could not travel there, and who were waiting for the Spirit in small prayer meetings far from Los Angeles. His first sentence sets the direction for everything that follows: do not seek for tongues, he says, but for “the promise of the Father.” The phrase comes from Acts 1:4, where the risen Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem. For Seymour, the goal of the seeker is not an experience but a promise made by God, received by faith.

2.“Mungu Ataongeza Lugha”2.“God Will Throw in the Tongues”

Msemo unaokumbukwa zaidi wa Seymour ni wa kawaida na wenye uhakika: ombeni ubatizo, “na Mungu ataongeza lugha.” Aliamini kwamba kunena kwa lugha kunaambatana na ubatizo. Baadaye katika makala anaandika kwamba waumini wanapoupokea, “hakika watanena kwa lugha.” Lakini anakataa kufanya lugha kuwa kitu cha kutafutwa. Lugha, katika picha yake, huja kama mfanyabiashara anavyoongeza kitu cha ziada katika ununuzi wa haki: hutolewa pamoja na karama, si kufukuzwa kwa ajili yake zenyewe. Pia anaonya dhidi ya kujitahidi kupita kiasi. Msijali “sana,” anaandika, kuhusu kunena; mwacheni Roho atoe maneno, nayo yatakuja kwa uhuru kama kupumua. Kisha mstari mfupi, muhimu: “Si kitu kinachotengenezwa.” Seymour alijua kwamba katika mikutano yenye watu wengi watu wangeweza kuiga walichokiona. Ushauri wake ulikuwa ulinzi dhidi ya hilo. Kile Roho anachotoa kinatoka “moyoni,” anasema, akikiunganisha na Warumi 10:10: moyo huamini na kinywa hukiri. Kazi ya mtafutaji ni kujisalimisha na imani, si mbinu.Seymour’s most memorable phrase is homely and confident: pray for the baptism, “and God will throw in the tongues.” He did believe that speaking in tongues accompanied the baptism. Later in the article he writes that when believers receive it, they “surely will speak in tongues.” But he refuses to make tongues the object of seeking. Tongues, in his picture, come the way a merchant adds something extra to a fair purchase: they are given along with the gift, not chased for their own sake. He also warns against strain. Do not be “too concerned” about speaking, he writes; let the Spirit give the words, and they will come as freely as breathing. Then a short, important line: “It is nothing worked up.” Seymour knew that in crowded meetings people could imitate what they saw. His counsel was a guard against that. What the Spirit gives comes “from the heart,” he says, linking it to Romans 10:10: the heart believes and the mouth confesses. The seeker’s task is surrender and faith, not technique.

3.Toba, Kurudisha Kilichoibiwa na Moyo Safi3.Repentance, Restitution and a Clean Heart

Seymour haanzi na Pentekoste. Anaanza na Yohana Mbatizaji, aliyeonya dhidi ya dhambi na unafiki kabla hajasema juu ya Yule atakayebatiza kwa Roho Mtakatifu (Mathayo 3:11). Mungu anawatuma wahudumu, Seymour anaandika, kuhubiri toba, kuwageuza watu kutoka dhambi, na kuwafanya warudishe “kulingana na uwezo wao.” Baada ya hapo tu anasema juu ya utakaso, akinukuu sala ya Yesu katika Yohana 17: “Uwatakase kwa ile kweli.” Mpangilio huu unaonyesha mapokeo ya utakatifu ambayo Seymour alitoka kwayo. Alifundisha hatua tatu: kuongoka (kuhesabiwa haki), kazi ya pili ya neema inayosafisha moyo (utakaso), kisha ubatizo katika Roho Mtakatifu kama karama ya nguvu kwa ushuhuda. Wasomaji wa leo hawana haja ya kukubali kila sehemu ya mpango huo ili kuona uzito wake wa kimaadili. Katika fundisho la Seymour hakuna njia ya mkato kuelekea nguvu za kiroho inayopita juu ya uaminifu. Mtu aliyeiba lazima arudishe awezavyo. Mtu aliyemkosea jirani lazima arekebishe. Ndipo tu anasema, pamoja na Yesu, “ngojeni.”Seymour does not begin with Pentecost. He begins with John the Baptist, who warned against sin and hypocrisy before he spoke of One who would baptize with the Holy Ghost (Matthew 3:11). God is sending ministers, Seymour writes, to preach repentance, to turn people from sin, and to have them make restitution “according to their ability.” Only after that does he speak of sanctification, quoting Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “Sanctify them through Thy truth.” This order reflects the holiness tradition Seymour came from. He taught three steps: conversion (justification), a second work of grace that cleanses the heart (sanctification), and then the baptism with the Holy Ghost as a gift of power for witness. Readers today need not accept every part of that scheme to see its moral seriousness. In Seymour’s teaching there is no shortcut to spiritual power that goes around honesty. A person who has stolen must pay back what they can. A person who has wronged a neighbor must make it right. Only then does he say, with Jesus, “tarry.”

4.Upepo, Moto na Kuzamishwa4.Wind, Fire and Immersion

Kisha Seymour anasoma Matendo 2:1–4 polepole, kishazi kwa kishazi. Upepo, anasema, “siku zote ni kielelezo” cha Roho au cha uzima. Shindo lilipojaza “nyumba yote,” wanafunzi walikuwa, kwa maneno yake, “wamezamishwa au kubatizwa katika Roho Mtakatifu.” Hilo ni chaguo makini la maneno. Kwa Seymour, kubatizwa ni kuzamishwa katika kitu kikubwa kuliko mtu mwenyewe, kama maji yanavyomfunika anayebatizwa. Mahali pengine gazeti lilitoa hoja hiyohiyo kwa kulinganisha glasi iliyojazwa maji na ile iliyofichwa chini yake. Pia anaona umati katika Matendo 2:5–8, Wayahudi wacha Mungu kutoka kila taifa waliowasikia wanafunzi wakinena kwa lugha zao wenyewe. Wapentekoste wa mwanzo walitumaini kwamba lugha mara nyingi zingekuwa lugha halisi za wanadamu zilizotolewa kwa ajili ya kuhubiri kimisionari. Seymour anashiriki tumaini hilo, lakini anaongeza tahadhari ya kichungaji iliyothibitika kuwa ya busara: kama hujui lugha unayonena, “usijisumbue kuhusu hilo.” Bwana, anasema, hakuahidi kutaja lugha. Aliahidi tafsiri.Seymour then reads Acts 2:1–4 slowly, phrase by phrase. Wind, he says, is “always typical” of the Spirit or of life. When the sound filled “all the house,” the disciples were, in his words, “immersed or baptized in the Holy Spirit.” That is a careful choice of words. For Seymour, to be baptized is to be plunged into something larger than oneself, the way water covers the one who is baptized. Elsewhere the paper made the same point by contrasting a glass that is filled with water with one that is hidden under it. He also notices the crowd in Acts 2:5–8, devout Jews from every nation who heard the disciples speak in their own languages. Early Pentecostals hoped that tongues would often be real human languages given for missionary preaching. Seymour shares that hope, but he adds a pastoral caution that proved wise: if you do not know what language you are speaking, “do not puzzle yourself about it.” The Lord, he says, did not promise to name the language. He promised interpretation.

5.Ujumbe Uliofasiriwa Ulisema Nini5.What the Interpreted Messages Said

Moja kwa moja chini ya makala ya Seymour gazeti lilichapisha “Messages in Tongues Interpreted” mbili fupi. Hazijatiwa sahihi, na wasemaji hawatajwi majina. Maudhui yake yanastahili kuzingatiwa. Hazitabiri tarehe, hazifunui siri za faragha wala hazimtangazi kiongozi yeyote. Zinaelekeza kwa Kristo: “Mtazame Yesu sasa,” ya kwanza inahimiza, ikimwita “mzuri kabisa.” Ya pili inakusanya Maandiko yanayojulikana, nuru inayochomoza kwa wale walio gizani (Isaya 9:2; Mathayo 4:16), na Yesu aliyekuja “kutafuta na kuokoa kilichopotea” (Luka 19:10). Inasema juu ya uponyaji, utakaso na Roho, na inaishia na ukombozi kwa damu ya Kristo. Chochote mtu atakachohitimisha kuhusu uzoefu uliokuwa nyuma yake, jumbe hizi zinaonyesha kipimo ambacho misheni yenyewe ilitumia. Ujumbe ulikaribishwa ulipomtukuza Yesu na kupatana na Neno lililoandikwa. Kipimo hicho kinalingana na kanuni ya Paulo kwamba hakuna anayenena kwa Roho amwitaye Yesu amelaaniwa, na kwamba kila ungamo la “Yesu ni Bwana” hutoka kwa Roho (1 Wakorintho 12:3). Masomo ya baadaye katika kozi hii yanarudi kuona jinsi upimaji huo ulivyofanya kazi kwa vitendo.Directly beneath Seymour’s article the paper printed two short “Messages in Tongues Interpreted.” They are unsigned, and the speakers are not named. Their content is worth noticing. They do not predict dates, reveal private secrets or promote any leader. They point to Christ: “Look up unto Jesus now,” the first one urges, calling him “altogether lovely.” The second gathers familiar Scripture, the light that dawns on those in darkness (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16), and Jesus who came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). It speaks of healing, cleansing and the Spirit, and ends with redemption by Christ’s blood. Whatever one concludes about the experience behind them, these messages show the test the mission itself applied. A message was welcomed when it exalted Jesus and agreed with the written Word. That standard matches Paul’s rule that no one speaking by the Spirit calls Jesus accursed, and that every confession of “Jesus is Lord” comes by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Later readings in this course return to how that testing worked in practice.

6.“Kuhifadhiwa na Kutiwa Muhuri”6.“Preserved and Sealed”

Kipande cha pili kisichotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa, “Preserved and Sealed,” kinatoka katika kupokea Roho kuelekea kuishi naye. Mwanzo wake ni rahisi na wa kuchunguza moyo: “Damu ya Yesu Kristo humfanya mtu kuwa mtamu.” Kisha kinakuja kipimo ambacho kila kusanyiko linaweza kukitumia: “Hatuwezi kuwa na imani kubwa katika dini isiyomweka mtu mtamu.” Wivu au matendo mengine ya mwili yakitokea (Wagalatia 5:19–21), mwandishi anasema, kuna kitu kimeharibika. Mfano unatoka jikoni. Kabla maziwa hayajamiminwa katika chombo, chombo huoshwa na kuwekwa juani; chombo safi tu ndicho huweka maziwa matamu. Kwa hiyo Bwana husafisha moyo, huujaza upendo na mafuta, kisha humtuma muumini kutangaza Neno. Roho pia “humtia muhuri” muumini hadi siku ya ukombozi (Waefeso 4:30), akizuia kile ambacho kingeharibu au kutia uchungu. Hii ni uwiano muhimu kwa makala ya Seymour. Ushahidi unaohusu zaidi kwa muda mrefu si uzoefu wa usiku mmoja bali tabia inayobaki ya upendo, uaminifu na wema.A second unsigned piece on the page, “Preserved and Sealed,” turns from receiving the Spirit to living with him. Its opening is simple and searching: “The Blood of Jesus Christ sweetens a person.” Then comes a test that every congregation can apply: “We cannot have much confidence in a religion that does not keep a person sweet.” If jealousy or other works of the flesh appear (Galatians 5:19–21), the writer says, something has gone wrong. The illustration comes from the kitchen. Before milk is poured into a vessel, the vessel is washed and set in the sun; only a clean vessel keeps milk sweet. So the Lord cleanses the heart, fills it with love and oil, and then sends the believer out to proclaim the Word. The Spirit also “seals” the believer until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), keeping out what would sour or embitter. This is an important balance to Seymour’s article. The evidence that matters most over time is not an experience on one night but a character that stays loving, honest and kind.

7.Mwili Mmoja, Mataifa Mengi, na Yaliyofuata7.One Body, Many Nations, and What Came After

Ukurasa unaisha na dokezo lisilotiwa sahihi linalosoma Pentekoste kama karama kwa mataifa yote. Alama moja ya kuja kwa Bwana, linasema, ni kwamba anayeyusha “jamii zote na mataifa pamoja.” Mwaka 1907 hili lilikuwa dai la kushtua. Azusa Street iliongozwa na mchungaji Mweusi, na waumini weusi, weupe, Walatino na wahamiaji waliomba kwenye madhabahu moja huku ubaguzi ukizidi kuwa mgumu kote Marekani. Ukurasa huohuo pia ulichapisha ushuhuda wa C. H. Mason, mwanzilishi Mweusi wa Church of God in Christ, aliyepokea ubatizo Azusa mwaka 1907; CTS inaacha maneno yake kwa mujibu wa kanuni yake ya haki. Umoja haukudumu. Ndani ya kizazi kimoja miili mingi ya Kipentekoste iligawanyika kwa mistari ya rangi, na urekebishaji ulianza rasmi mwaka 1994 tu. Mafundisho nayo yalibadilika. Makundi mengi yalifanya lugha “ushahidi wa mwanzo” unaohitajika, ilhali Seymour mwenyewe, katika mwongozo wake wa kanisa wa 1915, alionya kwamba lugha bila upendo si uthibitisho. Uongozi nao ulitofautiana: Azusa wanawake kama Lucy Farrow na Florence Crawford walihubiri na kuwawekea mikono watafutaji, na makanisa ya leo yanasoma historia hiyo kwa mitazamo ya ukamilishano wa majukumu (complementarian), ya usawa (egalitarian) na ya huduma ya timu.The page closes with an unsigned note that reads Pentecost as a gift for all peoples. One token of the Lord’s coming, it says, is that he is “melting all races and nations together.” In 1907 this was a startling claim. Azusa Street was led by a Black pastor, and Black, white, Latino and immigrant believers prayed at one altar while segregation was hardening across the United States. The same page also printed the testimony of C. H. Mason, the Black founder of the Church of God in Christ, who received the baptism at Azusa in 1907; CTS leaves his words out under its rights rule. The unity did not last. Within a generation most Pentecostal bodies divided along racial lines, and repair began formally only in 1994. Teaching changed too. Many groups made tongues the required “initial evidence,” while Seymour himself, in his 1915 church manual, warned that tongues without love were not proof. Leadership also varied: at Azusa women such as Lucy Farrow and Florence Crawford preached and laid hands on seekers, and churches today read that history in complementarian, egalitarian and team-ministry ways.

8.Kulichukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa kutafakari. Seymour aliwaambia watafutaji wafuate ahadi ya Baba badala ya ishara. Waumini katika mazingira yako hutafuta nini mara nyingi wanapoomba Roho, na kwa nini? Aliunganisha nguvu za kiroho na toba na kurudisha kilichoibiwa. Je, kuna kitu unachohitaji kukirekebisha kabla ya kumwomba Mungu zaidi? Gazeti lilisema dini ya kweli humweka mtu “mtamu.” Watu wanaokuzunguka wangetazama wapi kuona kama hilo ni kweli kwa kanisa lako? Na kusanyiko lako linawezaje kukaribisha kila jamii na taifa kama ukurasa wa Azusa ulivyotumaini? For reflection. Seymour told seekers to pursue the promise of the Father rather than a sign. What do believers in your setting most often seek when they pray for the Spirit, and why? He tied spiritual power to repentance and restitution. Is there anything you need to make right before you ask God for more? The paper said a true religion keeps a person “sweet.” Where would people around you look to see whether that is true of your church? And how can your congregation welcome every race and nation as the Azusa page hoped?

Chagua

Somo la 2 · Gifts and Order

The True Pentecost

A CTS digest of The Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Vol. I No. 4, December 1906, p. 2 — “Signs Shall Follow” and “The True Pentecost” (unsigned)

The Azusa teaching page explains spiritual gifts from Mark 16, Acts and 1 Corinthians 12–14. It sets out the “Bible standard” of Pentecost, insists that the justified, the sanctified and the Spirit-baptized all make up one body, ranks interpreted tongues with prophecy, and warns believers to seek the Giver rather than the gift.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa

Kulipanga Kanisa: Karama, Lugha na Mwili wa KristoSetting the Church in Order: Gifts, Tongues and the Body of Christ

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — jinsi gazeti la Azusa lilivyosoma Marko 16, Matendo na 1 Wakorintho 12–14 kueleza karama za rohoni na kulifanya kusanyiko lililojazwa Roho liwe na umojaA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — how the Azusa paper read Mark 16, Acts and 1 Corinthians 12–14 to explain spiritual gifts and keep a Spirit-filled congregation united

Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: makala ya mafundisho yasiyotiwa sahihi “Signs Shall Follow” na “The True Pentecost,” The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Buku la I Nambari 4, Desemba 1906, ukurasa wa 2. CTS inanukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya funzo na ufafanuzi.A CTS digest of a primary source: the unsigned teaching articles “Signs Shall Follow” and “The True Pentecost,” The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 4, December 1906, page 2. CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.

Karama za rohoniSpiritual gifts
1 Wakorintho 12–141 Corinthians 12–14
Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
19061906

Neno kabla ya kusoma. Ukurasa wa 2 wa kila toleo la Azusa ulikuwa ukurasa wa mafundisho, ambapo misheni ilieleza ilichoamini. Mnamo Desemba 1906 makala mbili zisizotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa huo zilishughulikia tatizo la kivitendo. Ikiwa ubatizo katika Roho huleta lugha, vipi kuhusu waumini wasionena kwa lugha? Je, ni wa daraja la pili? Kanisa lililojaa karama mpya linawezaje kudumisha umoja na utaratibu wake? Somo hili linafuata majibu ya gazeti, ambayo kwa kiasi kikubwa yanatoka kwenye barua ya Paulo kwa Korintho. Linayawasilisha kama mafundisho ya kihistoria, na linabainisha mahali ambapo Wapentekoste wa baadaye na Wakristo wengine wamesoma vifungu hivyohivyo kwa njia tofauti. A word before you read. Page 2 of each Azusa issue was the teaching page, where the mission explained what it believed. In December 1906 two unsigned articles on that page dealt with a practical problem. If the baptism with the Spirit brings tongues, what about believers who do not speak in tongues? Are they second-class? How should a church full of new gifts keep its unity and order? This reading follows the paper’s answers, which come largely from Paul’s letter to Corinth. It presents them as historical teaching, and it notes where later Pentecostals and other Christians have read the same passages differently.

1.“Ishara Zitafuatana”1.“Signs Shall Follow”

Makala ya kwanza inaanza na Marko 16:17–18, ahadi kwamba ishara “zitafuatana na hao waaminio”: kutoa pepo, lugha mpya, kulindwa dhidi ya nyoka na sumu, na kuponywa kwa wagonjwa kwa kuwekewa mikono. Hoja ya mwandishi ni rahisi. Yesu aliwaambia wafuasi wake wafundishe “yote” aliyoyaamuru (Mathayo 28:20). Kama kanisa linahubiri sehemu tu ya Injili, linaweza kutarajia ishara? Jibu linakuja katika sentensi moja: “kurudi kwenye Injili kamili huleta kurudi kwa ishara.” Kwa Wapentekoste wa mwanzo, “Injili kamili” ilimaanisha wokovu, utakaso, ubatizo katika Roho, uponyaji wa kiungu na kuja kwa Kristo, vyote vikihubiriwa pamoja. Tahadhari mbili zinahitajika. Kwanza, tafsiri nyingi za kisasa za Biblia huchapisha Marko 16:9–20 pamoja na tanbihi kwamba hati za kale zaidi huishia mstari wa 8; Wakristo wanaokubali kifungu hicho kuwa Maandiko na wale wanaotilia shaka asili yake wote wanahitaji kukisoma kwa unyenyekevu. Pili, gazeti halikumhimiza yeyote kushika nyoka. Vikundi vichache baadaye vilifanya hivyo katika ibada, na baadhi ya waumini walikufa. Yesu mwenyewe alikataa kumjaribu Mungu (Mathayo 4:7).The first article begins with Mark 16:17–18, the promise that signs “shall follow them that believe”: casting out devils, new tongues, protection from serpents and poison, and healing of the sick through the laying on of hands. The writer’s argument is simple. Jesus told his followers to teach “all things” he had commanded (Matthew 28:20). If the church preaches only part of the Gospel, can it expect the signs? The answer comes in one sentence: “a return to the full Gospel brings a return of the signs.” For early Pentecostals, “full Gospel” meant salvation, sanctification, Spirit baptism, divine healing and the coming of Christ, all preached together. Two notes of care are needed. First, most modern Bible translations print Mark 16:9–20 with a note that the oldest manuscripts end at verse 8; Christians who accept the passage as Scripture and those who doubt its origin both need to read it humbly. Second, the paper did not urge anyone to handle snakes. A few groups later did so in worship, and some believers died. Jesus himself refused to put God to the test (Matthew 4:7).

2.Watafutaji Kutoka Mapokeo Mengine2.Seekers from Other Traditions

Makala hiyohiyo fupi inaripoti wageni wawili waliokuja Los Angeles kutafuta ubatizo. Mmoja alikuwa “Mama Wheaton,” Elizabeth Wheaton, mwinjilisti wa utakatifu aliyetumia miaka mingi kuhubiri magerezani nchini Marekani na Ulaya. Mwingine alikuwa A. S. Worrell, mwanazuoni Mbaptisti, mhariri wa Gospel Witness na mfasiri wa Agano Jipya. Uwepo wao ni jambo dogo lakini linalosema mengi. Azusa haikuwa mkusanyiko wa maskini na wasiojulikana tu. Ndani ya miezi michache ilivutia wahudumu wazoefu na waumini wenye elimu kutoka mapokeo mengine, waliokuja kupima waliyosikia. Hilo linaleta swali ambalo makala inayofuata inajaribu kulijibu. Watu kutoka makanisa mengi, wenye uzoefu tofauti sana wa Mungu, wanapojiunga na ushirika mmoja uliojazwa Roho, wanaishije pamoja bila mafarakano? Jibu la gazeti litakuwa kwamba karama hutolewa kuujenga mwili mmoja, si kuwapanga waumini kwa vyeo. Ili kufikia jibu hilo, mwandishi kwanza anaeleza kile anachokiita mfano wa Kibiblia wa Pentekoste.The same short article reports two visitors who had come to Los Angeles to seek the baptism. One was “Mother Wheaton,” Elizabeth Wheaton, a holiness evangelist who had spent years preaching in prisons in the United States and Europe. The other was A. S. Worrell, a Baptist scholar, editor of the Gospel Witness and translator of the New Testament. Their presence is a small but telling detail. Azusa was not only a gathering of the poor and unknown. Within months it drew experienced ministers and educated believers from other traditions, who came to test what they had heard. That fact sets up the question the next article tries to answer. When people from many churches, with many different experiences of God, join one Spirit-filled fellowship, how do they live together without division? The paper’s answer will be that gifts are given to build up one body, not to rank believers. To reach that answer, the writer first sets out what he calls the biblical pattern of Pentecost.

3.“Kiwango cha Kibiblia” katika Matendo3.The “Bible Standard” in Acts

“The True Pentecost” inaanza kwa kuita Matendo 2:4 “kiwango na mfano wa Kibiblia” wa Pentekoste: wote walijazwa Roho Mtakatifu na kunena kwa lugha nyingine. Kisha mwandishi anatoa mifano mingine miwili. Nyumbani kwa Kornelio, mahubiri ya kwanza ya Petro kwa Mataifa yalikatizwa Roho aliposhuka na waumini Wayahudi “waliwasikia wakisema kwa lugha” (Matendo 10:44–46). Efeso, Paulo alipowawekea mikono wanafunzi kumi na wawili hivi, walinena kwa lugha na kutabiri (Matendo 19:6). Katika matukio yote matatu, mwandishi anahitimisha, “ushahidi uleule” ulionekana. Hii ndiyo mizizi ya kile Wapentekoste baadaye walichokiita fundisho la “ushahidi wa mwanzo.” Linategemea kusoma masimulizi ya Matendo kama mfano kwa kila muumini. Wakristo wengine hujibu kwamba Matendo huelezea kilichotokea bila kila mara kuagiza kinachopaswa kutokea, na hutaja vifungu kama Matendo 8, ambapo lugha hazitajwi. Ndani ya Upentekoste wenyewe fundisho hilo baadaye likawa rasmi katika baadhi ya miili na likalainishwa katika mingine. Wanafunzi wanapaswa kuelewa hoja hiyo kwa haki kabla ya kuihukumu.“The True Pentecost” opens by calling Acts 2:4 the “Bible standard and sample” of Pentecost: they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues. The writer then gives two more examples. At the house of Cornelius, Peter’s first sermon to Gentiles was interrupted when the Spirit fell and the Jewish believers “heard them speak with tongues” (Acts 10:44–46). At Ephesus, when Paul laid hands on about twelve disciples, they spoke with tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:6). In all three cases, the writer concludes, “the same evidence” appeared. This is the root of what Pentecostals later called the doctrine of “initial evidence.” It rests on reading the narratives of Acts as a pattern for every believer. Other Christians answer that Acts describes what happened without always prescribing what must happen, and they point to passages such as Acts 8, where no tongues are mentioned. Within Pentecostalism itself the doctrine later became official in some bodies and was softened in others. Students should understand the argument fairly before judging it.

4.“Ili Kusiwe na Mafarakano”4.“That There Should Be No Schism”

Kisha mwandishi mwenyewe anaibua pingamizi dhahiri: kwa nini si wote katika kanisa la Korintho walionena kwa lugha? Jibu lake ni la kichungaji zaidi kuliko la kiufundi. Katika 1 Wakorintho 12, anasema, Paulo alikuwa “akilipanga kanisa, ili kusiwe na mafarakano katika mwili.” Katika kusanyiko la Azusa, wengine walikuwa wameokoka tu, wengine walikuwa wametakaswa, na wengine walikuwa wamepokea ubatizo katika Roho. Hakuna hata mmoja wao aliyepaswa kudharauliwa. Mwandishi anasema wazi: “inahitaji ndugu aliyehesabiwa haki, aliyetakaswa na aliyepokea Pentekoste wote ili kuufanya mwili wa Kristo.” Hii ni mojawapo ya sentensi muhimu zaidi katika gazeti la mwanzo. Inamaanisha kwamba kanisa lililojazwa Roho halipaswi kugawanyika katika washiriki wa daraja la kwanza na la pili. Picha ya Paulo ya mwili inasema vivyo hivyo: jicho haliwezi kuuambia mkono, “Sina haja nawe” (1 Wakorintho 12:21). Chochote mtu anachoamini kuhusu lugha kama ushahidi, kanuni hii ya kichungaji inamlinda mshiriki dhaifu zaidi. Pia inalinda dhidi ya kiburi ambacho uzoefu wa kiroho unaweza kukizalisha kwa urahisi.Next the writer raises the obvious objection himself: why did not everyone in the Corinthian church speak with tongues? His answer is pastoral more than technical. In 1 Corinthians 12, he says, Paul was “setting the church in order, that there should be no schism in the body.” In the Azusa congregation, some had just been saved, some had been sanctified, and some had received the baptism with the Spirit. None of them was to be despised. The writer puts it plainly: “it takes the justified, the sanctified and the Pentecost brother all to make up the body of Christ.” This is one of the most important sentences in the early paper. It means that a Spirit-filled church must not divide into first- and second-class members. Paul’s picture of the body says the same: the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of thee” (1 Corinthians 12:21). Whatever one believes about tongues as evidence, this pastoral rule protects the weakest member. It also guards against the pride that spiritual experience can easily produce.

5.Unabii, Lugha na Tafsiri5.Prophecy, Tongues and Interpretation

Kisha mwandishi anageukia 1 Wakorintho 14:5: “Yeye atabiriye ni mkuu kuliko yeye anenaye kwa lugha, isipokuwa afasiri.” Anasisitiza maneno ya mwisho. Ndugu anayenena kwa lugha na pia kufasiri, anasema, si mdogo kuliko anayetabiri, kwa kuwa kanisa linajengwa kwa njia zote mbili. Anaripoti kwamba misheni ilikuwa na “wengi” waliofasiri walipokuwa wakisema, na kwamba hili “lilijenga mwili.” Wasiwasi wake ni uleule wa Paulo: kile kinachosaidia kanisa lililokusanyika kuelewa na kukua. Anaongeza mstari wa uhakika ambao wasomaji wanapaswa kuupima kwa makini: “Waweza kuwa na karama zote ukimwomba Bwana tu.” Paulo pia anahimiza waumini watamani karama za rohoni (1 Wakorintho 14:1). Lakini anasema Roho huzigawa “kwa kila mtu peke yake kama apendavyo yeye” (12:11), na anauliza, akitarajia jibu hapana, “je, wote wanena kwa lugha?” (12:30). Wapentekoste wengi wameshikilia kweli hizi mbili pamoja kwa kutofautisha lugha kama ishara ya ubatizo wa Roho na lugha kama karama inayoendelea kwa kanisa.The writer then turns to 1 Corinthians 14:5: “Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret.” He stresses the last three words. A brother who speaks in tongues and also interprets, he says, is not less than one who prophesies, because the church is built up either way. He reports that the mission had “a good many” who interpreted as they spoke, and that this was “edifying to the body.” His concern is the same as Paul’s: what helps the gathered church understand and grow. He adds a confident line that readers should weigh carefully: “You can have all the gifts if you will only ask the Lord for them.” Paul also urges believers to desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1). But he says the Spirit gives them “to every man severally as he will” (12:11), and he asks, expecting the answer no, “do all speak with tongues?” (12:30). Many Pentecostals have kept both truths together by distinguishing tongues as a sign of Spirit baptism from tongues as a continuing gift for the church.

6.Karama na Mtoaji6.The Gift and the Giver

Katika 1 Wakorintho 14, mwandishi anasema, Paulo alikuwa akiwapanga wale ambao tayari walikuwa na ubatizo na lugha, ili wasijivune na kuwadharau wengine. Anatoa onyo la wazi: “karama hizi za thamani zaweza kutujivunisha kwa urahisi, ikiwa hatukai chini ya damu.” Kisha anatoa usomaji wa tatizo la Korintho. Waumini hawa hapo awali walikuwa wamepelekwa na “sanamu zisizosema” (12:2). Roho alipomiminwa, uzoefu ulikuwa mtamu sana hata “wakakaribia kuabudu karama badala ya Mtoaji.” Dawa ni kubadili mwelekeo: “tumtafute Mtoaji na Mbarikiwa badala ya karama na baraka.” Huu ni ushauri wa busara kwa uamsho wowote. Kanisa linapoanza kuwapima watu kwa udhihirisho wao, limeweka karama kimyakimya mahali pa Mungu. Jibu la Paulo halikuwa kukataza karama bali kuziweka chini ya upendo (1 Wakorintho 13) na chini ya lengo la kulijenga kanisa lote (14:12, 26).In 1 Corinthians 14, the writer says, Paul was setting in order those who already had the baptism and the tongues, so that they would not get “puffed up” and look down on others. He gives a frank warning: “these precious gifts can easily puff us up, if we do not keep under the blood.” He then offers a reading of the Corinthian problem. These believers had once been carried away by “dumb idols” (12:2). When the Spirit was poured out, the experience was so sweet that they “almost commenced worshipping the gift instead of the Giver.” The cure is a change of focus: “seek the Giver and the Blesser instead of the gift and the blessing.” This is wise counsel for any revival. When a church begins to measure people by their manifestations, it has quietly put the gift in the place of God. Paul’s answer was not to forbid the gifts but to place them under love (1 Corinthians 13) and under the goal of building up the whole church (14:12, 26).

7.Kuimba katika Roho, na Utaratibu Leo7.Singing in the Spirit, and Order Today

Makala inaishia kwa furaha. Waumini wanapopokea ubatizo, mwandishi anasema, wanaweza kuimba kwa lugha, kisha Roho hutoa tafsiri kwa Kiingereza. Azusa mwaka 1906 mara nyingi iliabudu bila vitabu vya nyimbo au ala. Katika picha ya kuvutia, gazeti linasema kwamba “Roho Mtakatifu hupiga piano katika mioyo yetu yote.” Makanisa mengi ya Kipentekoste baadaye yalikumbatia ala kwa furaha; hoja ilikuwa kumtegemea Mungu, si sheria dhidi ya muziki. Sura hizohizo zinaibua swali lingine kuhusu utaratibu ambalo makanisa hulijibu kwa njia tofauti: nafasi ya wanawake. Azusa, wanawake waliomba, walitabiri, walifasiri na kuongoza watafutaji madhabahuni, chini ya ahadi ya Yoeli kwamba “binti zenu watatabiri.” Hata hivyo 1 Wakorintho 14:34–35 pia inasema juu ya wanawake kunyamaza. Makanisa ya ukamilishano wa majukumu (complementarian) husoma mistari hii kama inayopunguza baadhi ya majukumu ya kufundisha au kuongoza kwa wanaume. Makanisa ya usawa (egalitarian) huiona kama inayoshughulikia tatizo la mahali pamoja na kuwafungulia wanawake kila huduma. Makanisa ya huduma ya timu husisitiza uongozi wa pamoja chini ya Kristo. CTS inawasilisha mitazamo yote mitatu kwa haki na inawaomba wanafunzi wasome hoja nzima ya Paulo kuhusu utaratibu, upendo na kujengana.The article ends with joy. When believers receive the baptism, the writer says, they may sing in tongues, and then the Spirit gives the interpretation in English. Azusa in 1906 often worshiped without hymnbooks or instruments. In a striking picture, the paper says that “the Holy Ghost plays the piano in all our hearts.” Many Pentecostal churches later embraced instruments gladly; the point was dependence on God, not a rule against music. The same chapters raise another question about order that churches answer differently: the role of women. At Azusa, women prayed, prophesied, interpreted and led seekers at the altar, under Joel’s promise that “your daughters shall prophesy.” Yet 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 also speaks of women keeping silence. Complementarian churches read these verses as limiting certain teaching or governing roles to men. Egalitarian churches see them as addressed to a local disorder and open every ministry to women. Team-ministry churches stress shared leadership under Christ. CTS presents all three views fairly and asks students to read Paul’s whole argument for order, love and edification.

8.Kulichukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa kutafakari. Gazeti lilisisitiza kwamba waliohesabiwa haki, waliotakaswa na waliobatizwa katika Roho wote ni wa mwili wa Kristo. Nani katika kanisa lako anaweza kujisikia kama mshiriki wa daraja la pili, na kwa nini? Umeona wapi karama za rohoni zikijivunisha badala ya kujenga? Kusanyiko lako linahakikishaje kwamba lugha na unabii vinaeleweka na vinalisaidia kanisa lote? Na ingekuwaje, katika ibada yako ijayo, kumtafuta Mtoaji zaidi kuliko karama? For reflection. The paper insisted that the justified, the sanctified and the Spirit-baptized all belong to the body of Christ. Who in your church might feel like a second-class member, and why? Where have you seen spiritual gifts “puff up” instead of build up? How does your congregation make sure that tongues and prophecy are understood and help the whole church? And what would it look like, in your next service, to seek the Giver more than the gift?

Chagua

Somo la 3 · Prophecy and Interpretation

Gifts of the Spirit

A CTS digest of The Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Vol. I No. 5, January 1907, p. 2 — “Gifts of the Spirit” (W.J.S.), with “Bearing His Reproach” and “God Is His Own Interpreter” (unsigned)

Seymour answers critics who asked what good tongues could do. He puts divine love before every gift, defines prophecy as Spirit-filled speech that builds up the church, explains tongues and interpretation from 1 Corinthians 14, and admits the mission had learned to be quieter. An unsigned article on interpretation shows how messages were weighed and confirmed.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa

“Mungu Ndiye Mfasiri Wake Mwenyewe”: Unabii, Lugha na Tafsiri Azusa“God Is His Own Interpreter”: Prophecy, Tongues and Interpretation at Azusa

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — fundisho la Seymour kuhusu 1 Wakorintho 14, funzo la misheni kuhusu utaratibu wa kusanyiko, na jinsi tafsiri ilivyopimwa na kujaribiwaA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Seymour’s teaching on 1 Corinthians 14, the mission’s lessons in congregational order, and how interpretation was weighed and tested

Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: “Gifts of the Spirit” (iliyotiwa sahihi W.J.S.), pamoja na makala yasiyotiwa sahihi “Bearing His Reproach” na “God Is His Own Interpreter,” The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Buku la I Nambari 5, Januari 1907, ukurasa wa 2. CTS inanukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya funzo na ufafanuzi.A CTS digest of a primary source: “Gifts of the Spirit” (signed W.J.S.), with the unsigned articles “Bearing His Reproach” and “God Is His Own Interpreter,” The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 5, January 1907, page 2. CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.

UnabiiProphecy
TafsiriInterpretation
KupambanuaDiscernment
19071907

Neno kabla ya kusoma. Kufikia Januari 1907 wakosoaji walikuwa wakiuliza misheni ya Azusa swali kali kuhusu lugha: zina faida gani? Ikiwa hakuna anayeelewa, zinamsaidiaje mtu? Katika ukurasa wa mafundisho wa toleo la tano, William J. Seymour alijibu kwa usomaji makini wa 1 Wakorintho 14, na makala mbili zisizotiwa sahihi zilifuata. Somo hili linawasilisha mafundisho yao kama ushuhuda wa kihistoria. Pia linayaweka kando ya maagizo ya Agano Jipya yenyewe kuhusu kupima unabii na kujaribu roho, na kando ya mazoea ya makanisa ya Kipentekoste tangu hapo. A word before you read. By January 1907 critics were asking the Azusa mission a sharp question about tongues: what good is it? If no one understands, how does it help anyone? On the teaching page of the fifth issue, William J. Seymour answered with a careful reading of 1 Corinthians 14, and two unsigned articles followed. This reading presents their teaching as historical testimony. It also places it beside the New Testament’s own instructions on weighing prophecy and testing the spirits, and beside the practice of Pentecostal churches since.

1.“Sipendi Msiwe Hamjui”1.“I Would Not Have You Ignorant”

Seymour anaanza pale Paulo anapoanzia, 1 Wakorintho 12:1: “Basi, ndugu, kuhusu karama za rohoni, sipendi msiwe hamjui.” Wakorintho, anasema, walikuwa kama watu wa Kristo kila mahali: wengi hawajui haki zao katika Injili. Dawa yake si uzoefu kwanza bali Maandiko. Waumini lazima “wabaki daima katika Neno la Mungu,” anaandika, ili wawe na matunda ya Roho na pia karama. Anawaomba wasomaji wake “wayachunguze Maandiko na kuona wao wenyewe” kama wanalingana na kila neno la Mungu. Kisha ananukuu sala kuu ya Paulo katika Waefeso 3:16–20, kwamba waumini watiwe nguvu na Roho, wawe wameshikamana na kuwa na msingi katika upendo, na wajazwe utimilifu wote wa Mungu. Mahali hapa pa kuanzia ni muhimu kwa sehemu iliyobaki ya makala. Kwa Seymour, karama si idara tofauti ya maisha ya Kikristo. Ni za ndani ya maisha yaliyo na mizizi katika Neno, upendo na utimilifu wa Mungu. Kupambanua, kama tutakavyoona, hukua kutoka udongo uleule.Seymour begins where Paul does, with 1 Corinthians 12:1: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” The Corinthians, he says, were like Christ’s people everywhere: many do not know their privileges in the Gospel. His remedy is not first an experience but Scripture. Believers must “forever abide in the Word of God,” he writes, so that they may have the fruits of the Spirit and also the gifts. He asks his readers to “search the Scriptures and see for ourselves” whether they measure up to every word of God. He then quotes Paul’s great prayer in Ephesians 3:16–20, that believers may be strengthened by the Spirit, rooted and grounded in love, and filled with all the fullness of God. That starting point matters for the rest of the article. For Seymour, gifts are not a separate department of the Christian life. They belong inside a life rooted in the Word, in love and in the fullness of God. Discernment, as we will see, grows from the same soil.

2.Upendo Kabla ya Karama2.Love Before Gifts

Kisha Seymour anakabiliana na wakosoaji moja kwa moja. Watu wengi husema, anaandika, kwamba lugha ni “karama ndogo kuliko zote” na huuliza zina faida gani kwao. Anajibu kutoka 1 Wakorintho 14:1, ambapo Paulo anaambia kanisa “fuateni upendo na kutamani sana karama za rohoni.” Kabla ya kutetea lugha, anafafanua upendo. “Upendo maana yake ni upendo wa kimungu,” anasema, na bila huo hakuna atakayeingia mbinguni. Kisha inakuja sentensi inayofupisha 1 Wakorintho 13: “Karama zote zitapita, lakini upendo wa kimungu utadumu milele yote.” Ni jambo la kustaajabisha kwamba kiongozi wa misheni maarufu zaidi ulimwenguni ya kunena kwa lugha aliweka upendo kwanza katika fundisho lake kuhusu karama. Linaeleza kwa nini gazeti mara nyingi lilipima maisha ya kiroho kwa utamu, unyenyekevu na wema badala ya udhihirisho pekee. Paulo mwenyewe aliweka sura yake juu ya upendo katikati ya sura zake mbili kuhusu karama, kana kwamba anasema kila karama lazima ipitie upendo ili ifae. Kanisa linaloshika mpangilio huo litatumia karama zake kwa njia tofauti sana na kanisa linalousahau.Seymour then faces the critics directly. Many people say, he writes, that tongues are “the least gift” and ask what good it is to them. He answers from 1 Corinthians 14:1, where Paul tells the church to “follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts.” Before he defends tongues, he defines love. “Charity means Divine love,” he says, and without it no one will enter heaven. Then comes a sentence that summarizes 1 Corinthians 13: “Gifts all will fail, but Divine love will last through all eternity.” It is remarkable that the leader of the most famous tongues-speaking mission in the world put love first in his teaching on gifts. It explains why the paper so often measured spiritual life by sweetness, humility and kindness rather than by manifestations alone. Paul himself placed his chapter on love between his two chapters on gifts, as if to say that every gift must pass through love to be of any use. A church that keeps that order will use its gifts very differently from a church that forgets it.

3.Unabii Maana Yake Nini3.What Prophecy Means

Paulo anaendelea, “hasa mpate kutabiri.” Seymour anaeleza anachochukulia unabii kumaanisha: “kuhubiri kwa lugha yako mwenyewe,” kwa maneno yanayowajenga watakatifu na kanisa. Unabii, anaandika baadaye, “ni karama bora kwa kanisa,” kwa sababu unawajenga watakatifu na kuwainua kwa mambo ya juu zaidi katika Kristo. Fasili yake inafuata 1 Wakorintho 14:3, ambapo yeye atabiriye huwaambia watu maneno ya “kujenga na kutia moyo na kufariji.” Wakristo hufafanua unabii kwa njia zaidi ya moja. Wengine, kama Seymour hapa, husisitiza usemi uliopakwa mafuta na Roho unaolitia nguvu na kulitia moyo kanisa, karibu na kuhubiri kwa kupuliziwa. Wengine husisitiza maneno ya ghafla ya ufunuo yanayotolewa mkutanoni. Makanisa mengi ya Kipentekoste huruhusu yote mawili, lakini husisitiza kwamba hakuna unabii unaoongeza Maandiko au kusimama juu yake. Msisitizo wa Seymour una faida ya kivitendo. Unaushikilia unabii kwenye ukuaji wa kanisa, si udadisi kuhusu wakati ujao au mwongozo wa faragha kwa watu binafsi. Katika maelezo yake, unabii unalitumikia kusanyiko; hautamfanya nabii kuwa muhimu.Paul continues, “but rather that ye may prophesy.” Seymour explains what he takes prophecy to mean: to “preach in your own tongue,” in words that build up the saints and the church. Prophecy, he writes later, “is the best gift to the church,” because it edifies the saints and lifts them to higher things in Christ. His definition follows 1 Corinthians 14:3, where the one who prophesies speaks to people for “edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” Christians define prophecy in more than one way. Some, like Seymour here, stress Spirit-anointed speech that strengthens and encourages the church, close to inspired preaching. Others stress spontaneous words of revelation given in a meeting. Most Pentecostal churches allow both, but insist that no prophecy adds to Scripture or stands above it. Seymour’s emphasis has a practical benefit. It keeps prophecy tied to the church’s growth, not to curiosity about the future or to private guidance for individuals. In his account, prophecy serves the congregation; it does not make the prophet important.

4.Lugha, Mafumbo na Tafsiri4.Tongues, Mysteries and Interpretation

Kisha Seymour ananukuu 1 Wakorintho 14:2–4. Yeye anenaye kwa lugha isiyojulikana hanenei “watu bali Mungu,” akitamka mambo ya siri kwa Roho. Mtu kama huyo, anasema, hujijenga mwenyewe, ilhali kanisa halijengwi isipokuwa Bwana amjalie mtu tafsiri. Hapa, anakiri, ndipo wengi wanapojikwaa. Wanauliza ina faida gani msemaji asipojua anachosema. Jibu la Seymour kwanza ni ungamo la imani: “kila karama anayotoa ni karama njema.” Kuomba kwa lugha ni ushirika halisi na Mungu, hata kama hakuna mwingine anayeelewa. Lakini katika kanisa lililokusanyika kanuni ni kuelewa. Mtu anayehubiri kabisa kwa lugha bila tafsiri, anaandika, ana manufaa kidogo kuliko anayetabiri; pamoja na tafsiri, wawili ni sawa. Anamaliza sehemu hii kwa onyo ambalo gazeti liliirudia mara nyingi: “si kuiabudu karama.” Waumini wanapaswa kutumia karama yao kwa utukufu na heshima ya Mungu, si kwa maonyesho, na wanapaswa kusoma 1 Wakorintho 14 wao wenyewe.Next Seymour quotes 1 Corinthians 14:2–4. The one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks “not unto men, but unto God,” uttering mysteries in the Spirit. Such a person, he says, edifies himself, while the church is not edified unless the Lord gives someone the interpretation. Here, he admits, is where many stumble. They ask what good it is when the speaker does not know what he is saying. Seymour’s reply is first a confession of faith: “every gift He gives is a good gift.” Prayer in tongues is real communion with God, even when no one else understands. But in the gathered church the rule is understanding. A person who preaches entirely in tongues without interpretation, he writes, is less useful than one who prophesies; with interpretation, the two are equal. He closes this part with a warning that the paper repeated often: “not worship the gift.” Believers should use their gift for God’s glory and honor, not for display, and should read 1 Corinthians 14 for themselves.

5.“Tumejifunza Kuwa Watulivu Zaidi”5.“We Have Learned to Be Quieter”

Mistari ya kufichua zaidi ya makala inakuja mwishoni mwake. Katika siku za kwanza za uamsho, Seymour anaandika, “sote tulikuwa tunalipuka kwa lugha.” Lakini, anaendelea, “tumejifunza kuwa watulivu zaidi na karama.” Wimbi la baraka linapokuja, wengi bado wanaweza kunena kwa lugha kwa muda, lakini hawataendelea wakati ibada ya mahubiri inaendelea. Sababu ni utii kwa Maandiko, ili kila kitu kifanywe “kwa heshima na kwa taratibu na bila fujo.” Maneno haya yanaakisi 1 Wakorintho 14:33 na 40. Yanaonyesha kusanyiko likijifunza. Misheni ya Azusa mara nyingi ilidhihakiwa magazetini kuwa isiyo na utaratibu, na wakosoaji wake walijumuisha Charles Parham, aliyetembelea Oktoba 1906. Seymour hakujibu kwa kuziacha karama. Alijibu kwa kufundisha kujizuia na utaratibu. Hili ni jambo muhimu la kihistoria. Tangu mwanzo, wachungaji wa Kipentekoste ilibidi wachunge karama za rohoni, si kuziachilia tu, na mwanzilishi wa harakati yenyewe alifundisha kwamba Roho na utaratibu ni marafiki.The most revealing lines of the article come at its end. In the first days of the revival, Seymour writes, “we all used to break out in tongues.” But, he continues, “we have learned to be quieter with the gift.” When a wave of blessing comes, many may still speak in tongues for a while, but they will not continue while the preaching service is going on. The reason is obedience to Scripture, so that everything may be done “decently and in order and without confusion.” These words echo 1 Corinthians 14:33 and 40. They show a congregation learning. The Azusa mission was often mocked in the newspapers as disorderly, and its critics included Charles Parham, who had visited in October 1906. Seymour did not answer by abandoning the gifts. He answered by teaching restraint and order. This is an important historical point. From the beginning, Pentecostal pastors had to shepherd spiritual gifts, not merely release them, and the movement’s own founder taught that the Spirit and order are friends.

6.“Mungu Ndiye Mfasiri Wake Mwenyewe”6.“God Is His Own Interpreter”

Makala isiyotiwa sahihi “God Is His Own Interpreter” inashughulikia swali hilohilo kwa hadithi ya Agano la Kale. Mkono ulipoandika ukutani kwenye karamu ya Belshaza, wenye hekima wa mfalme walinyamaza; ilimhitaji Danieli, aliyetembea na Mungu, kufasiri (Danieli 5). Kwa hiyo leo, mwandishi anasema, Mungu hutoa tafsiri, na “mtu wa tabia ya asili” hawezi kuelewa mambo ya Mungu (1 Wakorintho 2:14). Baadhi ya madai yake yanahitaji uangalifu. Inasema mfasiri hahitaji kujitahidi: “Hutumii akili yako kabisa.” Hata hivyo Paulo anasema kwamba ataomba na kuimba “kwa akili pia” (14:15). Makala pia inatumia msemo wa dhihaka, “wenye akili ya kidoli,” katika kuripoti wakosoaji, na inawachukulia wafuasi wa Spiritualism na wapiga hypnotism kuwa watenda kazi wa shetani. Lakini sentensi moja inaelekeza kwenye mazoea thabiti: “Mara nyingi Bwana humtuma mtu anayeielewa lugha hiyo ili kuthibitisha tafsiri.” Misheni haikudai kwamba kila tafsiri iko juu ya mashaka. Ilikaribisha uthibitisho. “Bearing His Reproach” ya ukurasa huohuo iliwakumbusha wasomaji kwamba kumfuata Kristo nje ya lango (Waebrania 13:12–13) huleta laumu na huita unyenyekevu.The unsigned article “God Is His Own Interpreter” takes up the same question with an Old Testament story. When the hand wrote on the wall at Belshazzar’s feast, the king’s wise men were silent; it took Daniel, who walked with God, to interpret (Daniel 5). So today, the writer says, God gives the interpretation, and “the natural man” cannot understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Some of its claims need care. It says the interpreter does not have to strain: “You do not use your mind at all.” Paul, however, says that he will pray and sing “with the understanding also” (14:15). The article also uses a mocking phrase, “thimble-brained,” in reporting critics, and it treats Spiritualists and hypnotists as the devil’s workers. But one sentence points toward a sound practice: “Often the Lord sends someone that understands the tongue to verify the interpretation.” The mission did not claim that every interpretation was beyond question. It welcomed confirmation. The same page’s “Bearing His Reproach” reminded readers that following Christ outside the gate (Hebrews 13:12–13) brings reproach and calls for humility.

7.Kupima Unabii: Maandiko na Mazoea7.Weighing Prophecy: Scripture and Practice

Agano Jipya linatoa maagizo wazi ya kupima usemi wa kiroho. Paulo anasema manabii wawili au watatu wanene na “wengine waamue” (1 Wakorintho 14:29). Roho za manabii huwatii manabii, “kwa maana Mungu si Mungu wa fujo” (14:32–33). Waumini wasimzimishe Roho wala kuudharau unabii, bali “jaribuni mambo yote” na kushika lililo jema (1 Wathesalonike 5:19–21). Yohana anaongeza, “zijaribuni roho kwamba zimetokana na Mungu,” na kutoa kipimo: Roho wa Mungu hukiri kwamba Yesu Kristo amekuja katika mwili (1 Yohana 4:1–3). Makanisa ya Kipentekoste yamegeuza maandiko haya kuwa mazoea. Viongozi hupima jumbe za lugha, tafsiri na unabii kwa Maandiko, kwa matunda yake na kwa kama zinamtukuza Kristo. Makanisa mengi huomba maneno ya kuelekeza kuhusu ndoa, fedha au huduma yapimwe kwa faragha na wachungaji badala ya kutangazwa hadharani. Azusa, wanawake pamoja na wanaume walifasiri na kutabiri, chini ya ahadi ya Yoeli; makanisa ya leo yanatofautiana kuhusu uongozi wa wanawake, lakini yanakubaliana kwamba maneno ya kila msemaji lazima yapimwe kwa Neno lilelile.The New Testament gives clear instructions for weighing spiritual speech. Paul says that two or three prophets should speak and “let the other judge” (1 Corinthians 14:29). The spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, “for God is not the author of confusion” (14:32–33). Believers must not quench the Spirit or despise prophecy, but must “prove all things” and hold fast what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19–21). John adds, “try the spirits whether they are of God,” and gives a test: the Spirit of God confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:1–3). Pentecostal churches have turned these texts into practice. Leaders weigh messages in tongues, interpretations and prophecies by Scripture, by their fruit and by whether they exalt Christ. Many churches ask that directive words about marriage, money or ministry be tested privately with pastors rather than announced publicly. At Azusa, women as well as men interpreted and prophesied, under Joel’s promise; churches today differ on women’s leadership, but agree that every speaker’s words must be weighed by the same Word.

8.Kulichukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa kutafakari. Seymour aliweka upendo kabla ya karama na Neno kabla ya uzoefu. Nini kingebadilika katika kanisa lako kama lingefanya vivyo hivyo? Alikiri kwamba misheni ilikuwa imejifunza “kuwa tulivu zaidi” na lugha. Wewe au kusanyiko lako mmelazimika kujifunza nini kuhusu kutumia karama za rohoni kwa utaratibu? Kanisa lako linapimaje unabii na tafsiri, na nani anawajibika kufanya hivyo? Na unawezaje kuzijaribu roho bila kumzimisha Roho? For reflection. Seymour put love before gifts and the Word before experience. What would change in your church if it did the same? He admitted that the mission had “learned to be quieter” with tongues. What have you or your congregation had to learn about using spiritual gifts in order? How does your church weigh prophecy and interpretation, and who is responsible for doing it? And how can you test the spirits without quenching the Spirit?

Chagua

Somo la 4 · Holiness and Accountability

In Money Matters

A CTS digest of The Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Vol. I No. 3, November 1906, pp. 2–4 — editorial notes (unsigned, p. 2); “Papers to Distribute,” “The Faith Way” and “Under the Blood” (unsigned) and “In Money Matters” (W. J. Seymour) (p. 3); “Bible Salvation,” “Sanctification and Power” and “The Character of Love” (unsigned, p. 4)

Short unsigned teachings in the November 1906 issue say Scripture aims at a changed heart, not mere theory, and define holiness as the loving character of Christ. Notes warn the Spirit-baptized against pride, the paper explains its trust-based finances, and Seymour’s “In Money Matters” confronts fanatical teaching that left families unprovided and debts unpaid.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa

Utakatifu, Neno na Fedha za Uaminifu: Uwajibikaji katika Gazeti la AzusaHoliness, the Word and Honest Money: Accountability in the Azusa Paper

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — mafundisho ya misheni kuhusu Maandiko, utakaso na upendo, maonyo yake dhidi ya kiburi, na ushauri wa Seymour kuhusu fedha, familia na witoA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the mission’s teaching on Scripture, sanctification and love, its warnings against pride, and Seymour’s counsel on money, families and calling

Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: madokezo ya wahariri yasiyotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa wa 2; “Papers to Distribute,” “The Faith Way” na “Under the Blood” zisizotiwa sahihi na makala “In Money Matters” (iliyotiwa sahihi W. J. Seymour) katika ukurasa wa 3; na “Bible Salvation,” “Sanctification and Power” na “The Character of Love” zisizotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa wa 4; The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Buku la I Nambari 3, Novemba 1906, kurasa za 2–4. CTS inanukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya funzo na ufafanuzi.A CTS digest of a primary source: unsigned editorial notes on page 2; the unsigned “Papers to Distribute,” “The Faith Way” and “Under the Blood” and the article “In Money Matters” (signed W. J. Seymour) on page 3; and the unsigned “Bible Salvation,” “Sanctification and Power” and “The Character of Love” on page 4; The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 3, November 1906, pages 2–4. CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.

UtakatifuHoliness
MaandikoScripture
UwakiliStewardship
19061906

Neno kabla ya kusoma. Uamsho mara nyingi hukumbukwa kwa nyakati zake za kilele. Somo hili linaangalia kitu kisichovutia sana na kilicho muhimu vilevile: jinsi misheni ya Azusa ilivyojaribu kuwaweka watu wake waaminifu, wanyenyekevu na wenye uaminifu kwa Maandiko. Zikiwa zimetawanyika katika kurasa za ndani za toleo la Novemba 1906 kuna mafundisho mafupi yasiyotiwa sahihi kuhusu kusudi la Maandiko, kuhusu utakaso na upendo, maonyo kadhaa dhidi ya kiburi cha kiroho, madokezo kuhusu jinsi gazeti lilivyoshughulikia fedha, na makala ya William J. Seymour kuhusu kutoa, familia na kazi. Kwa pamoja yanaonyesha utakatifu wa Kipentekoste cha mwanzo kama uwajibikaji wa kivitendo, nayo pia yanaibua maswali ambayo harakati ingelazimika kuyakabili baadaye. A word before you read. Revivals are often remembered for their high moments. This reading looks at something less dramatic and just as important: how the Azusa mission tried to keep its people honest, humble and faithful to Scripture. Scattered across the inner pages of the November 1906 issue are short unsigned teachings on the purpose of Scripture, on sanctification and on love, several warnings against spiritual pride, notes on how the paper handled money, and an article by William J. Seymour on giving, families and work. Together they show early Pentecostal holiness as practical accountability, and they also raise questions that the movement would have to face later.

1.“Si Nadharia Tu”1.“Not a Mere Theory”

Makala fupi isiyotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa wa 4, “Bible Salvation,” inaeleza kusudi la Maandiko kwa sentensi moja. Lengo lake, mwandishi anasema, ni “kwamba kazi mahususi ifanyike mioyoni mwetu na Roho Mtakatifu.” Mpango wa Mungu katika vizazi vyote, makala inaendelea, umekuwa kupandikiza tabia yake mwenyewe, ambayo ni upendo, katika jamii iliyoanguka. Kisha inakuja mstari unaoipa makala makali yake: wokovu halisi wa Kibiblia “si nadharia tu wala ubishi juu ya vifungu mbalimbali vya maandiko.” Hili ni jambo la kushangaza kwa gazeti la uamsho kusema. Wapentekoste wa mwanzo walibishana daima kuhusu maandiko, kama masomo ya baadaye yanavyoonyesha, na walinukuu Maandiko karibu kila mstari. Hata hivyo hapa gazeti linaonya kwamba Biblia inaweza kutumiwa vibaya, kama uwanja wa ubishi badala ya njia ya kubadilishwa. Onyo hilo linalingana na maneno ya Yesu kwa wasomi wa siku zake: walichunguza Maandiko lakini hawakutaka kumjia ili wapate uzima (Yohana 5:39–40). Kwa waandishi wa Azusa, kipimo cha mafundisho mazuri ya Biblia kilikuwa moyo uliobadilishwa uliojazwa upendo wa Mungu.A brief unsigned article on page 4, “Bible Salvation,” states the purpose of Scripture in one sentence. Its aim, the writer says, is “that a definite work may be wrought out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” God’s design through all the ages, the article continues, has been to implant his own nature, which is love, in a fallen race. Then comes the line that gives the article its edge: real Bible salvation is “not a mere theory or contention over different passages of scripture.” This is a striking thing for a revival paper to say. Early Pentecostals argued constantly over texts, as later readings show, and they quoted Scripture on nearly every line. Yet here the paper warns that the Bible can be used wrongly, as a field for argument rather than a means of transformation. That warning fits Jesus’ words to the scholars of his day: they searched the Scriptures but would not come to him for life (John 5:39–40). For the Azusa writers, the test of good Bible teaching was a changed heart filled with the love of God.

2.Utakaso na Nguvu2.Sanctification and Power

“Sanctification and Power,” pia isiyotiwa sahihi, inasisitiza hoja hiyohiyo kuelekea utakatifu. Inamuuliza msomaji moja kwa moja, “Je, umemkubali kama mtakasaji wako?” na kunukuu sala ya Yesu katika Yohana 17 na maneno ya Paulo, “hii ndiyo mapenzi ya Mungu, utakaso wenu” (1 Wathesalonike 4:3). Baada ya hapo tu inasema juu ya ubatizo katika Roho kama nguvu ya kushuhudia hadi miisho ya dunia. Mpangilio wa gazeti ni wa kawaida wa mapokeo ya utakatifu ya Kiwesley: kuongoka, kisha kazi ya pili ya utakaso, kisha ubatizo katika Roho. Mpangilio huo haukudumu bila kubadilika. Kuanzia 1910 William Durham wa Chicago alifundisha kwamba utakaso umekamilika katika “kazi iliyokamilika” ya Kristo msalabani, na miili mingi ya baadaye ilimfuata, ilhali makanisa ya Kipentekoste ya utakatifu yalishika mpangilio wa zamani. Kati ya 1913 na 1916 mgogoro mwingine, kuhusu ubatizo kwa jina la Yesu na Utatu, uligawanya Wapentekoste wa Umoja (Oneness) na wa Kitrinitari. Hata hivyo sentensi moja katika makala inasema kupitia migawanyiko hii yote. Mwandishi anamshukuru Mungu kwa vyombo vya kibinadamu vilivyoleta nuru, lakini anamheshimu zaidi ya yote “Mwalimu wa walimu asiyekosea kamwe.” Hakuna kiongozi wa kibinadamu, hata atumiwe vipi na Mungu, aliye juu ya masahihisho.“Sanctification and Power,” also unsigned, presses the same point toward holiness. It asks the reader directly, “Have you accepted Him as your sanctifier?” and quotes Jesus’ prayer in John 17 and Paul’s words, “this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Only then does it speak of the baptism with the Spirit as power to witness to the ends of the earth. The paper’s order is typical of the Wesleyan holiness tradition: conversion, then a second work of sanctification, then Spirit baptism. That order did not survive unchanged. From 1910 William Durham of Chicago taught that sanctification is complete in Christ’s “finished work” on the cross, and many later bodies followed him, while holiness Pentecostal churches kept the older pattern. Between 1913 and 1916 another dispute, over baptism in Jesus’ name and the Trinity, divided Oneness from Trinitarian Pentecostals. Yet one sentence in the article speaks across all these divisions. The writer thanks God for the human instruments who brought light, but honors above all “the great Teacher of teachers that never makes a mistake.” No human leader, however used by God, is beyond correction.

3.“Tabia Yake Ni Upendo”3.“His Character Is Love”

Makala hiyohiyo inageuza utakatifu kuwa kitu ambacho watu wangeweza kuona. Waumini wanapoudhiwa kwa ajili ya Neno, inauliza, je, wanaweza kuomba kama Yesu msalabani, “Bwana, uwasamehe, kwa maana hawajui watendalo”? Inamwonyesha Stefano, aliyewaombea wale waliompiga mawe (Matendo 7:59–60). Karibu nayo, “The Character of Love” inaeleza lengo la utakaso kwa maneno rahisi kabisa: “tabia yake ni upendo.” Yesu, inasema, alikuwa “mtu wa upendo,” na makundi ya watu wa kawaida, akina mama waliobeba watoto wachanga kwenye joto na wanaume waliovuka ziwa kwa mashua, walimfuata ili wamsikie. Upendo ambao makala inauita ni “upendo ulio tayari kupata hasara,” usiojivuna, usiokasirika upesi, bali wa upole, wa unyenyekevu na wa kujishusha, upendo wa 1 Wakorintho 13. Hili lina maana kwa jinsi gazeti lilivyofafanua utakatifu. Haukuwa hasa orodha ya sheria kuhusu mavazi au chakula, ingawa baadhi ya vikundi vya utakatifu vilisisitiza hayo. Ulikuwa tabia ya Kristo iliyoundwa ndani ya muumini kwa Damu na Roho. Kanisa linaweza kupima utakatifu wake kwa kipimo hicho kwa uaminifu zaidi kuliko kwa ishara yoyote ya nje.The same article turns holiness into something people could see. When believers are persecuted for the Word, it asks, can they pray as Jesus did on the cross, “Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do”? It points to Stephen, who prayed for those who stoned him (Acts 7:59–60). Nearby, “The Character of Love” describes the goal of sanctification in the plainest terms: “His character is love.” Jesus, it says, was “a man of love,” and crowds of ordinary people, mothers carrying babies in the heat and men crossing the lake by boat, followed him to hear him. The love the article calls for is “love that is willing to suffer loss,” not puffed up, not easily provoked, but gentle, meek and humble, the love of 1 Corinthians 13. This matters for how the paper defined holiness. It was not mainly a list of rules about dress or food, though some holiness groups did stress those. It was the character of Christ formed in a believer by the Blood and the Spirit. A church can measure its holiness by that standard more honestly than by any outward sign.

4.“Kufa Kila Siku”: Maonyo Dhidi ya Kiburi4.“Die Daily”: Warnings Against Pride

Kati ya vipengele vya habari katika ukurasa wa 2 kuna maonyo mafupi yasiyotiwa sahihi. “Ninyi mliobatizwa katika Roho Mtakatifu mnapaswa kufa kila siku,” moja linasema, likiakisi 1 Wakorintho 15:31. Jingine ni kali zaidi: “Tukianza kujivuna, Mungu atatuweka kando.” La tatu linasema juu ya usafi wa moyo: maadamu mtafutaji anaendelea kusema, kwa maana, “Sipendi hiki au kile,” mapenzi ya nafsi bado hayajasalimishwa. La nne linawajibu watu walioogopa kwamba kumtafuta Roho kunaweza kuleta nguvu za shetani; wale wanaotembea katika nuru, linasema, wanaweza kuona kwamba hii ni ya Mungu. Sentensi hizi zinaonyesha kwamba misheni haikuchukulia uzoefu wa kiroho kama zawadi ya malipo au cheo. Iliuchukulia kama wajibu. Katika ukurasa wa 3 makala fupi “Under the Blood” inaongeza onyo zito ambalo kila kanisa la Kipentekoste linapaswa kulisikia: “Tunaweza kubaki na karama kwa muda lakini si uzima.” Mtu anaweza bado kunena kwa lugha au kutabiri baada ya upendo na utakatifu kuisha. Makala hiyohiyo inaunganisha uzima na Maandiko: “Tunaishi katika Neno, kisha damu inatiririka.”Between the news items on page 2 are short unsigned warnings. “You who are baptized with the Holy Ghost must die daily,” one says, echoing 1 Corinthians 15:31. Another is blunter: “If we begin to get puffed up, God will set us aside.” A third speaks of purity of heart: as long as a seeker keeps saying, in effect, “I don’t like this or that,” the self-will has not yet been surrendered. A fourth answers people who were afraid that seeking the Spirit might bring the power of the devil; those who walk in the light, it says, can see that this is of God. These sentences show that the mission did not treat spiritual experience as a reward or a rank. It treated it as a responsibility. On page 3 the brief article “Under the Blood” adds a sober warning that every Pentecostal church should hear: “We may retain the gifts for a time but not the life.” A person may still speak in tongues or prophesy after love and holiness have drained away. The same article ties life to Scripture: “We live in the Word, then the blood flows.”

5.Gazeti Bure na Hakuna Vitabu vya Hesabu5.A Free Paper and No Account Books

“Papers to Distribute” inamjibu msomaji aliyeuliza mafungu ya gazeti yanagharimu kiasi gani. Jibu linaeleza jinsi misheni ilivyoshughulikia fedha. Gazeti lilikuwa bure; lilikuwa linagharimu karibu dola moja kuchapisha na kutuma nakala mia; hakuna sadaka iliyowahi kukusanywa kwa ajili yake. Kisha: “Hatuna vitabu vya hesabu hapa, Bwana huweka kumbukumbu.” Majina ya wafadhili hayakuchapishwa, kufuatia mafundisho ya Yesu juu ya kutoa kwa siri (Mathayo 6:4). “The Faith Way” inasimulia jinsi Florence Crawford alivyoomba fedha za safari na kuzipokea, na kuhitimisha kwamba “Njia ya Kipentekoste ni kuwasilisha maombi yako kwa Mungu na kwa Mungu peke yake.” Kuna uzuri wa kweli katika imani hii. Hata hivyo seminari lazima pia iulize maswali magumu. Paulo alitunza sana mchango wa Yerusalemu, “tukiangalia mambo yaliyo mema, si mbele za Bwana tu, bali mbele za watu pia” (2 Wakorintho 8:20–21). Mipango isiyo rasmi iliiacha Azusa katika hatari. Mwaka 1908 mhariri wa gazeti, Clara Lum, alihamia Portland, Oregon, na orodha za kitaifa za kutumia barua zikaenda naye, ikimtenga Seymour na wasomaji wake wengi. Imani na kumbukumbu nzuri si kinyume. Hesabu wazi na usimamizi wa pamoja hulinda kazi na wafanyakazi.“Papers to Distribute” answers a reader who asked what bundles of the paper cost. The reply describes the mission’s way of handling money. The paper was free; it cost about a dollar to print and mail a hundred copies; no collection had ever been taken for it. Then: “We keep no account books here, the Lord keeps the records.” Donors’ names were not published, following Jesus’ teaching on giving in secret (Matthew 6:4). “The Faith Way” tells how Florence Crawford prayed for travel money and received it, and concludes that “The Pentecostal way is to make your requests known to God and to God alone.” There is real beauty in this trust. Yet a seminary must also ask hard questions. Paul took care with the collection for Jerusalem, “providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Corinthians 8:20–21). Informal arrangements left Azusa vulnerable. In 1908 the paper’s editor, Clara Lum, moved to Portland, Oregon, and the national mailing lists went with her, cutting Seymour off from most of his readers. Faith and good records are not opposites. Clear accounts and shared oversight protect both the work and the workers.

6.Seymour Kuhusu Fedha na Familia6.Seymour on Money and Families

Katika “In Money Matters,” iliyotiwa sahihi na Seymour, mchungaji anakabiliana na tatizo halisi. Baadhi ya walimu, anaandika, walikuwa wamewaambia kila mtu “auze vyote,” na wengi walikuwa wameingia katika ushupavu. Jibu lake ni la uwiano. Waumini wanapojazwa Roho, anasema, “mifuko yao ya fedha inaongoka,” na Mungu huwafanya wawe mawakili. Mungu akimwambia mtu auze, atafanya hivyo. Lakini Mungu hamwambii mtu yeyote aiache familia yake, na Seymour ananukuu 1 Timotheo 5:8: asiyewaangalia walio wake ni mbaya kuliko asiyeamini. Anaeleza uharibifu ambao mafundisho ya uongo yalifanya: watoto walioachwa na mavazi duni, wenzi walioachwa kutegemeza kaya peke yao, na madeni yaliyokopwa na kutolipwa kamwe. Hukumu yake ni ya moja kwa moja: “Mtu huyo anapaswa kwenda kufanya kazi.” Ananukuu Waefeso 4:28, kwamba muumini afanye kazi kwa mikono yake ili awe na cha kutoa. Pia ananukuu 1 Wakorintho 16:2, kutoa “kama alivyofanikiwa.” Anania, anaeleza, hakutenda dhambi kwa kushika mali; “dhambi ilikuwa katika kumdanganya Roho Mtakatifu.” Mungu anataka mtoaji wa hiari, si wa kulazimishwa.In “In Money Matters,” signed by Seymour, the pastor confronts a real problem. Some teachers, he writes, had told everyone to “sell out,” and many had gone into fanaticism. His answer is balanced. When believers are filled with the Spirit, he says, “their pocket books are converted,” and God makes them stewards. If God tells someone to sell, they will. But God does not tell anyone to forsake his family, and Seymour quotes 1 Timothy 5:8: one who does not provide for his own is worse than an unbeliever. He describes the damage false teaching had done: children left poorly clothed, spouses abandoned to support the household alone, and debts borrowed and never repaid. His verdict is direct: “That person ought to go to work.” He cites Ephesians 4:28, that a believer should labor with his hands in order to have something to give. He also cites 1 Corinthians 16:2, giving “as God hath prospered him.” Ananias, he explains, did not sin by keeping property; “the sin was in lying to the Holy Ghost.” God wants a free giver, not a pressured one.

7.Kuujua Wito Wetu7.Knowing Our Calling

Seymour anamaliza makala yake kwa ushauri kuhusu huduma: “Ni lazima tuujue wito wetu.” Wengine, anaona, wanadhani lazima wahubiri; lakini waumini tayari wanahubiri wanaposhuhudia. Wengine wanadhani lazima waondoke nyumbani na kusafiri kwa sababu tu wamepokea lugha. Huo si wito, anasema; lugha zinafaa Los Angeles kama mahali pengine popote. Badala yake, “Bwana atakuongoza kwa sauti yake ndogo,” rejea ya sauti ndogo tulivu aliyoisikia Eliya (1 Wafalme 19:12). Hii ni hekima ya kichungaji kwa kanisa lolote linaloona kazi mpya ya Mungu. Uzoefu wa kiroho, peke yake, haamui mahali mtu anapaswa kutumikia, kama aache kazi au aiache familia. Maamuzi hayo yanahitaji maombi, Maandiko, subira na ushauri wa waumini waliokomaa. Toleo hilohilo linaripoti wanawake kama Florence Crawford na Dada Hutchins wakisafiri kama wafanyakazi, na makanisa ya leo yanatofautiana jinsi wito huo unavyotambuliwa; katika kila mtazamo, kipimo cha Seymour cha wito wa utulivu unaoongozwa na Roho kinawahusu wote wanaotumikia.Seymour ends his article with counsel about ministry: “We must know our calling.” Some, he observes, think they must preach; but believers already preach when they testify. Others think they must leave home and travel simply because they have received tongues. That is not a call, he says; tongues are as useful in Los Angeles as anywhere else. Instead, “The Lord will lead you by His small voice,” a reference to the still small voice that Elijah heard (1 Kings 19:12). This is pastoral wisdom for any church that sees a fresh move of God. Spiritual experience does not, by itself, decide where a person should serve, whether to quit a job or whether to leave a family. Those decisions call for prayer, Scripture, patience and the counsel of mature believers. The same issue reports women such as Florence Crawford and Sister Hutchins traveling as workers, and churches today differ on how such callings are recognized; in every view, Seymour’s test of a sober, Spirit-led calling applies to all who serve.

8.Kulichukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa kutafakari. Gazeti liliwaonya dhidi ya kuichukulia Biblia kama “nadharia tu au ubishi” kuhusu maandiko. Kanisa lako linahakikishaje kwamba funzo la Biblia linaleta maisha yaliyobadilishwa? Wapi kusanyiko lako linaweza kupima utakatifu kwa ishara za nje badala ya tabia ya upendo? Linashughulikiaje fedha ili ziwe za uaminifu mbele za Mungu na mbele za watu? Na unawasaidiaje waumini kupima hisia ya wito kabla ya kuitendea? For reflection. The paper warned against treating the Bible as “a mere theory or contention” over texts. How does your church make sure that Bible study leads to changed lives? Where might your congregation measure holiness by outward signs rather than by the character of love? How does it handle money so that it is honest before God and before people? And how do you help believers test a sense of calling before they act on it?

Chagua

Somo la 5 · Testing the Spirits

Counterfeits

A CTS digest of The Apostolic Faith, Los Angeles, Vol. I No. 4, December 1906, pp. 2 and 4 — “Counterfeits” (W. J. Seymour) (p. 2); “Question of Meats,” “The Sin Against the Holy Ghost” and two editorial notes (unsigned, p. 4)

Facing imitation within and criticism without, Seymour warns that wherever the real appears, the counterfeit follows. The paper tests interpreted messages by Scripture and reverence, counsels freedom and charity on disputed questions such as food, and pairs a stern warning about the sin against the Holy Ghost with comfort for anxious believers.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa

Kilicho Halisi na Kilicho Bandia: Kuzijaribu Roho na Kushughulikia KutokubalianaThe Real and the Counterfeit: Testing the Spirits and Handling Disagreement

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — onyo la Seymour kuhusu bandia, kipimo cha gazeti kwa jumbe zilizofasiriwa, ushauri wake kuhusu maswali yanayobishaniwa, na fundisho lake kuhusu dhambi dhidi ya Roho MtakatifuA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Seymour’s warning about counterfeits, the paper’s test for interpreted messages, its counsel on disputed questions, and its teaching on the sin against the Holy Ghost

Muhtasari wa CTS wa chanzo cha msingi: “Counterfeits” (iliyotiwa sahihi W. J. Seymour), ukurasa wa 2, pamoja na “Question of Meats,” “The Sin Against the Holy Ghost” zisizotiwa sahihi na madokezo mawili mafupi ya wahariri, ukurasa wa 4, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Buku la I Nambari 4, Desemba 1906. CTS inanukuu hapa kwa ufupi tu, kwa ajili ya funzo na ufafanuzi.A CTS digest of a primary source: “Counterfeits” (signed W. J. Seymour), page 2, with the unsigned “Question of Meats,” “The Sin Against the Holy Ghost” and two short editorial notes, page 4, The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I No. 4, December 1906. CTS quotes it here only briefly, for study and commentary.

KupambanuaDiscernment
1 Yohana 41 John 4
KutokubalianaDisagreement
19061906

Neno kabla ya kusoma. Kufikia Desemba 1906 misheni ya Azusa ilikuwa na wakosoaji kila upande. Magazeti yaliidhihaki. Makanisa ya utakatifu yalifunga milango yao kwa mafundisho yake. Charles Parham, ambaye gazeti lilikuwa limemsifu hapo awali, alitembelea Oktoba, akalaani mikutano kuwa ushupavu na kufungua ibada pinzani. Ndani ya misheni pia, watu wengine waliiga walichokiona. Somo hili linafuata jinsi gazeti lilivyojibu matatizo yote mawili: udhihirisho wa uongo ndani, na kutokubaliana nje. Linawasilisha madai ya gazeti kama ushuhuda wa kihistoria na kuyaweka kando ya mafundisho ya Biblia kuhusu kupambanua katika 1 Wakorintho 12–14 na 1 Yohana 4. A word before you read. By December 1906 the Azusa mission had critics on every side. Newspapers mocked it. Holiness churches closed their doors to its teaching. Charles Parham, whom the paper had once praised, visited in October, condemned the meetings as fanaticism and opened rival services. Inside the mission, too, some people imitated what they saw. This reading follows how the paper answered both problems: false manifestations within, and disagreement without. It presents the paper’s claims as historical testimony and sets them beside the biblical teaching on discernment in 1 Corinthians 12–14 and 1 John 4.

1.“Popote Tunapopata Kilicho Halisi”1.“Wherever We Find the Real”

Makala ya Seymour “Counterfeits” inaanza na kanuni kutoka kwa Yesu: tunapaswa “kuujua mti kwa matunda yake” (Mathayo 7:16–20; 12:33). Kisha anataja tatizo kwa uaminifu: “Popote tunapopata kilicho halisi, tunapata kilicho bandia pia.” Haonyeshi kwamba kila kitu Azusa kilikuwa halisi. Mfano wake wa kwanza unatoka kanisa la kwanza lenyewe. Watu waume na wake walipokuwa wakipokea nguvu za Roho Mtakatifu, bandia ilitokea katika Anania na Safira, waliodanganya kuhusu mchango wao (Matendo 5:1–11). Nguvu za Mungu, Seymour anaandika, zilikuwa kuu kuliko kuzimu, kwa hiyo “dhambi yao iliwapata.” Anageuza hadithi kuwa onyo la kichungaji, “Jihadharini, wapendwa,” na kuwaelekeza wasomaji wake kwa 1 Yohana 1:7: tukienda katika nuru, twashirikiana sisi kwa sisi, na damu ya Yesu hutusafisha dhambi yote. Mahali hapa pa kuanzia ni muhimu. Kwa Seymour, kupambanua huanza na uaminifu binafsi mbele za Mungu, si na kuwashuku wengine. Swali la kwanza si kama mtu mwingine ni wa uongo, bali kama mimi ninaenda katika nuru.Seymour’s article “Counterfeits” opens with a principle from Jesus: we should “know a tree by its fruit” (Matthew 7:16–20; 12:33). Then he states the problem honestly: “Wherever we find the real, we find the counterfeit also.” He does not pretend that everything at Azusa was genuine. His first example comes from the early church itself. When men and women were receiving the power of the Holy Ghost, the counterfeit appeared in Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about their gift (Acts 5:1–11). God’s power, Seymour writes, was mightier than hell, so “their sin found them out.” He turns the story into a pastoral warning, “Be careful, dear loved ones,” and points his readers to 1 John 1:7: if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. This starting point is important. For Seymour, discernment begins with personal honesty before God, not with suspicion of others. The first question is not whether someone else is false, but whether I am walking in the light.

2.Kupima Madai Ndani ya Mkutano2.Testing Claims Inside the Meeting

Kisha Seymour anaeleza kilichotokea katika misheni. Watu wengine walikuwa wamekuja na kudai ubatizo katika Roho, lakini “walipopimwa na Roho Mtakatifu, walionekana kupungukiwa.” Anaripoti kwamba kisha walimtafuta Mungu tena na kupokea uzoefu huo. Wengine walikuwa wameiga karama ya lugha. Katika visa hivyo, anasema, Roho alifunua upesi kwa wale waliokuwa na ubatizo na kuweka “kemeo zito juu ya bandia,” katika lugha, hadi waigaji wakanyamazishwa. Mambo mawili yanajitokeza. Kwanza, misheni ilikubali kwamba uigaji ulikuwa halisi na ulihitaji kukabiliwa. Hilo lina afya; kanisa linalojifanya hakuna kitu cha uongo kinachotokea litadanganywa kwa urahisi. Pili, njia iliyoelezwa ni ambayo wachungaji wa baadaye wameishughulikia kwa uangalifu zaidi. Kemeo la hadharani kwa lugha linaweza kuwajeruhi watu na lenyewe linaweza kuwa kosa. Maandiko pia hufundisha marekebisho ya upole: nenda kwa ndugu kwanza kwa faragha (Mathayo 18:15) na umrudishe aliyeanguka “kwa roho ya upole” (Wagalatia 6:1). Kupambanua na wema ni vitu vinavyokwenda pamoja.Seymour then describes what happened at the mission. Some people had come and claimed the baptism with the Spirit, but “when they were put to the test by the Holy Spirit, they were found wanting.” He reports that they then sought God again and received the experience. Others had imitated the gift of tongues. In those cases, he says, the Spirit quickly revealed it to those who had the baptism and put “a heavy rebuke upon the counterfeit,” in tongues, until the imitators were silenced. Two things stand out. First, the mission accepted that imitation was real and needed to be faced. That is healthy; a church that pretends nothing false ever happens will be easily deceived. Second, the method described is one that later pastors have handled more carefully. Public rebuke in tongues can wound people and can itself be mistaken. Scripture also teaches gentle correction: go to a brother privately first (Matthew 18:15) and restore the one who falls “in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). Discernment and kindness belong together.

3.Fimbo ya Haruni na Dini za Siku Hizo3.Aaron’s Rod and the Religions of the Day

Picha kuu ya Seymour inatoka Kutoka 7. Fimbo ya Haruni ilipokuwa nyoka, wachawi wa Farao walifanya vivyo hivyo kwa uchawi wao, “lakini fimbo ya Haruni ilizimeza fimbo zao.” Kwa hiyo, anaandika, nguvu za Roho Mtakatifu “zinahukumu na kumeza bandia.” Kisha anataja harakati tatu: Christian Science, Theosophy na Spiritualism. Kila moja ilikuwa hai Los Angeles mwaka 1906. Christian Science ilifundisha uponyaji kwa ufahamu sahihi wa uhalisia wa kiroho; Theosophy ilichanganya mawazo ya siri ya Mashariki na Magharibi; Spiritualism ilitafuta mawasiliano na wafu. Seymour anaripoti kwamba wafuasi wa Spiritualism na Christian Science walikuwa wamekuja kwenye mikutano, wakakombolewa kutoka pepo, na kuokolewa na kutakaswa. CTS inawasilisha haya kama ushuhuda wa misheni, si kama matokeo yaliyothibitishwa. Wakristo wanaweza kuwa na kutokubaliana kwa kina kimafundisho na harakati nyingine za kidini, na Biblia hukataza kuwatafuta wafu (Kumbukumbu la Torati 18:10–12). Lakini seminari lazima pia ifundishe heshima kwa watu. Ni busara zaidi kutokubaliana na mafundisho waziwazi kuliko kuwabandika watu binafsi kuwa wenye pepo, na wachungaji wenye hekima huuliza kama mtu aliye katika dhiki pia anahitaji huduma ya matibabu au ya afya ya akili.Seymour’s main image comes from Exodus 7. When Aaron’s rod became a serpent, Pharaoh’s magicians did the same with their enchantments, “but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” So, he writes, the power of the Holy Ghost “condemns and swallows up the counterfeit.” He then names three movements: Christian Science, Theosophy and Spiritualism. Each was active in Los Angeles in 1906. Christian Science taught healing through right understanding of spiritual reality; Theosophy blended Eastern and Western esoteric ideas; Spiritualism sought contact with the dead. Seymour reports that Spiritualists and Christian Scientists had come to the meetings, been delivered from demons, and been saved and sanctified. CTS presents these as the mission’s testimony, not as verified findings. Christians may hold serious doctrinal disagreements with other religious movements, and the Bible does forbid seeking the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). But a seminary must also teach respect for people. It is wiser to disagree with teachings clearly than to label individuals as demonized, and wise pastors ask whether a person in distress also needs medical or mental-health care.

4.Kipimo cha Jumbe Zilizofasiriwa4.A Test for Interpreted Messages

Katika ukurasa wa 4 wa toleo hilohilo dokezo fupi lisilotiwa sahihi linaeleza kipimo cha misheni yenyewe kwa jumbe za lugha. Kadiri zilivyofasiriwa, linasema, “siku zote zimekuwa za kiroho na kulingana na Neno”: vifungu vya Maandiko, sifa kwa Mungu, kumtukuza Kristo na maonyo. Linaongeza: “Kamwe hakuna kitu cha upuuzi au kutokuwa na heshima.” Jumbe nyingi, linasema, zilikuwa za vitendo sana, hasa kwa mtu aliyekusudiwa. Hapa, kwa maneno rahisi, ni vipimo ambavyo misheni ilitumia: kupatana na Maandiko, heshima ya Kristo, utu wa heshima na manufaa. Vinalingana na Agano Jipya. Hakuna anayenena kwa Roho amlaaniye Yesu, na Roho huwaongoza watu kumkiri kuwa Bwana (1 Wakorintho 12:3). Unabii unapaswa kupimwa na wengine (14:29). Wabeya walimpima hata Paulo kwa Maandiko (Matendo 17:11). Dokezo jingine fupi katika ukurasa huo linaongeza neno la uhakika: “Hatuhitaji kujaribu kuwashawishi watu kwamba kazi hii ni ya Mungu.” Hubiri tu Kristo aliyesulubiwa, linasema, na Mungu atafanya kushawishi. Kweli haihitaji shinikizo.On page 4 of the same issue a short unsigned note describes the mission’s own standard for messages in tongues. As far as they had been interpreted, it says, they “have always been spiritual and according to the Word”: Scripture passages, praise to God, exaltation of Christ and warning. It adds: “Never anything of a foolish or irreverent character.” Many messages, it says, were intensely practical, especially for the individual for whom they were meant. Here, in plain terms, are the tests the mission used: agreement with Scripture, the honor of Christ, reverence and usefulness. They match the New Testament. No one speaking by the Spirit curses Jesus, and the Spirit leads people to confess him as Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). Prophecies are to be weighed by others (14:29). The Bereans checked even Paul against the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). Another brief note on the page adds a word of confidence: “We do not have to try to convince the people that this work is of God.” Just preach Christ crucified, it says, and God will do the convincing. Truth does not need pressure.

5.“Sisi Ni Watu Huru”: Maswali Yanayobishaniwa5.“We Are a Free People”: Disputed Questions

Si kila kutokubaliana kunahusu roho za kweli na za uongo. Mengine yanahusu mazoea. “Question of Meats” inawajibu wasomaji waliouliza kama watu wa Kipentekoste wa Azusa walikula nyama ya nguruwe. Jibu ni la joto na la Kibiblia: “Sisi ni watu huru.” Wokovu, linasema, haumo katika chakula, kinywaji au mavazi, bali katika haki na amani na furaha katika Roho Mtakatifu (Warumi 14:17). Linakumbuka maono ya Petro ya shuka iliyoshushwa kutoka mbinguni (Matendo 10), na kutoa funzo la kuvutia: hatupaswi kumwita “mtu ye yote kuwa najisi au mchafu.” Katika Matendo 10 maono hayo yalimvusha Petro mpaka kati ya Myahudi na Mmataifa hadi nyumba ya Kornelio. Katika misheni ambamo waumini weusi, weupe, Walatino na wahamiaji waliomba pamoja, msemo huo ulikuwa na uzito. Kisha makala inashauri kiasi, kwa kuwa mwili ni hekalu la Mungu. Mwishowe inatumia Warumi 14: ikiwa kula kunaleta hukumu juu yako, usile; lakini ikiwa Bwana hamhukumu mwingine, “usimhukumu.” Hii ni kielelezo kwa mabishano mengi yanayogawanya makanisa kuhusu desturi, mavazi, chakula au siku takatifu. Dhamiri inaheshimiwa, na hukumu inaachwa kwa Bwana.Not every disagreement is about true and false spirits. Some are about practice. “Question of Meats” answers readers who asked whether the Pentecostal people at Azusa ate pork. The reply is warm and biblical: “We are a free people.” Salvation, it says, is not in food, drink or clothing, but in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). It recalls Peter’s vision of the sheet let down from heaven (Acts 10), and draws a striking lesson: we should not call “any man common or unclean.” In Acts 10 that vision led Peter across the line between Jew and Gentile to the house of Cornelius. In a mission where Black, white, Latino and immigrant believers prayed together, the phrase carried weight. The article then counsels temperance, since the body is the temple of God. Finally it applies Romans 14: if eating brings condemnation on you, do not eat; but if the Lord does not condemn another, “do not condemn him.” This is a model for many disputes that divide churches over customs, dress, food or holy days. Conscience is respected, and judgment is left to the Lord.

6.Dhambi Dhidi ya Roho Mtakatifu6.The Sin Against the Holy Ghost

Makala ndefu zaidi isiyotiwa sahihi katika ukurasa wa 4 inashughulikia mada ya kutisha. Yesu alionya kwamba kumkufuru Roho Mtakatifu hakutasamehewa, “kwa sababu walisema, Ana pepo mchafu” (Marko 3:28–30). Gazeti linatumia onyo hili kwa watu wanaojua kazi ya Roho kisha wanasema kwamba kazi ya Azusa, na lugha zinazonenwa huko, ni za shetani. Wanafunzi wanapaswa kuona jinsi hilo lilivyo kali. Wakosoaji wengi mwaka 1906 walikuwa waumini wa dhati waliojaribu kutii 1 Yohana 4:1, na Wapentekoste wa baadaye kwa ujumla wamekuwa wazito zaidi kuwaonya wapinzani kuhusu dhambi isiyosameheka. Hata hivyo makala hiyohiyo ina utunzaji wa kichungaji wa upole. Inasema: “Shetani anaweza kuwaambia watu kwamba wametenda dhambi dhidi ya Roho Mtakatifu wakati hawakutenda dhambi kwa makusudi.” Wale walioshindwa nguvu na jaribu na kuanguka, inasema, bado wanaweza kutubu, kwa sababu “bado tunaye mwombezi kwa Baba” (1 Yohana 2:1). Wachungaji bado hukutana na waumini wenye wasiwasi wanaoogopa kwamba wametenda dhambi hii. Jibu la gazeti linabaki kuwa ushauri mwema: moyo unaohuzunika kwa ajili ya dhambi na kumtamani Mungu haujaachwa na yeye.The longest unsigned article on page 4 deals with a fearful subject. Jesus warned that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost will not be forgiven, “because they said, He hath an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:28–30). The paper applies this warning to people who know the Spirit’s work and then say that the work at Azusa, and the tongues spoken there, are of the devil. Students should notice how sharp that is. Many critics in 1906 were sincere believers trying to obey 1 John 4:1, and later Pentecostals have generally been slower to warn opponents of an unforgivable sin. Yet the same article contains tender pastoral care. It says: “The devil may tell people that they have sinned against the Holy Ghost when they have not sinned willfully.” Those who were overpowered by temptation and fell, it says, can still repent, because “we still have an advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). Pastors still meet anxious believers who fear they have committed this sin. The paper’s answer remains good counsel: a heart that grieves over sin and longs for God has not been abandoned by him.

7.Kuzijaribu Roho Leo7.Testing the Spirits Today

Yohana aliandika, “zijaribuni roho kwamba zimetokana na Mungu,” kwa sababu manabii wengi wa uongo wametokea (1 Yohana 4:1). Kipimo chake cha kwanza kinahusu Kristo: kila roho ikiri kwamba Yesu Kristo amekuja katika mwili inatokana na Mungu (4:2–3). Vipimo vyake vifuatavyo vinahusu ukweli na upendo: wale wanaomjua Mungu hulisikiliza fundisho la kitume (4:6), na “kila apendaye” amezaliwa na Mungu (4:7). Paulo anaongeza vipimo vya kujenga, utaratibu na upendo (1 Wakorintho 13–14), na Yesu kipimo cha matunda. Makanisa ya Kipentekoste yametekeleza hili kwa kuwaachia viongozi kupima unabii, kwa kukagua kila ujumbe dhidi ya Maandiko, kwa kutazama tabia ya wale wanaohudumu, na kwa kukataa kuruhusu udhihirisho wowote kusimama juu ya Neno. Hadithi ya Azusa pia inaonyesha kwa nini makanisa yanahitaji njia za haki za kutokubaliana. Seymour na Parham waliachana mwaka 1906; mafundisho ya “kazi iliyokamilika” ya William Durham yaligawanya misheni mwaka 1911; mgogoro wa Oneness uligawanya Assemblies of God changa mwaka 1916. Kuzijaribu roho kunalinda kanisa dhidi ya udanganyifu. Hisani katika maswali yanayobishaniwa kunalilinda dhidi ya mgawanyiko usio wa lazima.John wrote, “try the spirits whether they are of God,” because many false prophets had gone out (1 John 4:1). His first test is about Christ: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (4:2–3). His next tests are about truth and love: those who know God listen to the apostolic teaching (4:6), and “every one that loveth” is born of God (4:7). Paul adds the tests of edification, order and love (1 Corinthians 13–14), and Jesus the test of fruit. Pentecostal churches have practiced this by letting leaders weigh prophecies, by checking every message against Scripture, by watching the character of those who minister, and by refusing to let any manifestation stand above the Word. The Azusa story also shows why churches need fair ways to disagree. Seymour and Parham parted in 1906; William Durham’s “finished work” teaching divided the mission in 1911; the Oneness dispute split the young Assemblies of God in 1916. Testing the spirits protects a church from deception. Charity in disputed questions protects it from needless division.

8.Kulichukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa kutafakari. Seymour alisema kwamba popote kilicho halisi kinapopatikana, bandia hutokea pia. Kanisa lako linapimaje madai ya kiroho bila kuwa na shaka kwa kila mtu? Uigaji au kosa linapotokea, viongozi wanawezaje kulirekebisha kwa upole? Ni mabishano gani katika mazingira yako yanahusu mambo ya msingi, na ni yapi yanahusu maswali ambayo waumini wanapaswa “kutohukumiana”? Na ungemshauri vipi muumini anayeogopa kwamba ametenda dhambi dhidi ya Roho Mtakatifu? For reflection. Seymour said that wherever the real is found, the counterfeit appears too. How does your church test spiritual claims without becoming suspicious of everyone? When imitation or error appears, how can leaders correct it gently? Which disputes in your setting are about essentials, and which are about questions where believers should “not condemn” one another? And how would you counsel a believer who fears they have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost?

Chagua

Andika usomaji wako

Ukishasoma kikamilifu masomo matatu uliyochagua, andika jina lako na uthibitishe hapa chini. Kumbukumbu hii inatunzwa kwa uaminifu wako, kwenye kivinjari hiki; inaonekana kwenye cheti chako kama kwa heshima.

Jina lako

Kwa uaminifu wangu, nimesoma kikamilifu masomo matatu niliyochagua hapo juu.

✓ Imeandikwa — kozi hii inahesabiwa katika maendeleo yako ya Heshima. Kusoma kwa Heshima ↗

Somo la Heshima — limeandikwa

alithibitisha tarehe kuwa amesoma kikamilifu:

Chapala Theological Seminary · The Holy Spirit, Spiritual Gifts, and Discernment · present or print this page as your honors reading record.

Masomo Zaidi: Vitabu Vinane vya Uwanja wa Umma

Vitabu hivi vinane ni kwa masomo zaidi, kwa mwanafunzi anayetaka kuendelea kusoma. Si sehemu ya masomo ya heshima yaliyo hapo juu: hayo yanabaki kama yalivyo — muhtasari tano za CTS, mitatu yoyote ikisomwa kikamilifu na kuandikwa kwa uaminifu wako. Vyote vinane viko katika uwanja wa umma; kila kiungo kinafungua kitabu mtandaoni, na vingi vinapatikana pia katika Internet Archive au Project Gutenberg. Vingi viko kwa Kiingereza: kivinjari cha Chrome kinaweza kutafsiri ukurasa (bonyeza kitufe cha kulia cha kipanya, “Translate to…”; kwenye simu, menyu ya kivinjari).

The Original Pages · Archive

1. The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), 1906–1908

William J. Seymour, ed. · Apostolic Faith Mission, 312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles; archive at apostolicfaith.org

The archive of the Los Angeles paper, with a picture of every original page. The textbook and the readings come from Nos. 3–7; look up an article there to see it as it was first printed, before you cite it.

Fungua somo ↗

The Whole Issue · No. 1

2. The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), Vol. I, No. 1, September 1906