Intro to the History &

Theology of the Assemblies

of God

THEO 233D

Ag.org

The Start

 Between the Civil War and the close of

the 1800’s – conditions

 Fundamentalists and the Holiness

Movement

Bethel Bible College

 Director: Charles Parham

 Topeka, KS – January 1,

1901

 13 students in a barn –

praying and fasting

 Agnes Ozman

 Initial physical evidence

– speaking in tongues

W. J. Seymour

 Trained in the ministry

by sitting outside a

classroom window as

Charles Parham taught

– Texas

 1906 – secured a

building at 312 Azusa

St. in Los Angeles, CA

 Services from 10 am –

midnight everyday for

3 years.

Publication: Word and

Witness – E. N. Bell

 For information, teaching and organizing the

movement

 Called for a conference in Hot Springs, Ark in

1914

 300+ people attended

 The Assemblies of God birthed – E. N. Bell

elected the first Chairman of this new

fellowship

Why? 5 Reasons

1. Better understanding and unity of doctrine

2. To know how to conserve God’s work at home

and abroad (other countries)

3. To consult on protection of funds for missions

4. To help charter churches under a legal name

5. To consider the establishment of a Bible training

school with a literary division.

Doctrine Established

 16 Fundamental Truths of the

Assemblies of God – 1916

 1961 – Position Papers called “Where

We Stand”

 Commission of Doctrinal Purity – 1990’s

The Scriptures Inspired

Fundamental Truth of the A/G

 The Authoritative Rule: “The Scriptures, both the

Old and New Testament are verbally inspired of

God and are the revelation of God to man, infallible,

authoritative, rule of faith and conduct.”

 Three kinds of religious authority:

 A) human reasoning = rationality (the quality of being

based on or in accordance with reason or logic) vs.

rationalism (reliance of reason to validate religious

truth)

 B) the Church = apostolic succession (Peter)

 C) God’s Word = Hebrews 1: 1 – 2

The Revelation of God to

Humankind

 A) Natural/General Revelation: Romans 1:20, “Since the

creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His

eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen,

being understood from what has been made, so that

men are without excuse.”

 B) Conscience: Romans 2: 14-15, “Indeed, when Gentiles,

who do not have the law, do by nature things required by

the law for themselves, even though they do not have

the law, since they show that the requirements of the

law are written on their hearts, their consciences also

bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now

even defending them.”

Verbally Inspired Word of

God

 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and

is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and

training in righteousness, so that the servant of God

may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

 “theopneustos” = Hebrew meaning “God-breathed”.

This is not “dictation” – God spoke sometimes

audibly, sometimes through the heart/mind Spirit,

etc. The Spirit illuminates the mind of the writer and

reader.

 2 Peter 1: 16-21, “For we did not follow cleverly

devised stories when we told you about the

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but

we were eye witnesses of His majesty. He

received honor and glory from God the Father

when the voice came to Him from the

Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I

love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We

ourselves heard this voice that came from

heaven when we were with Him on the

sacred mountain (transfiguration)…

 2 Peter 1 continued: “We also have the

prophetic message as something

completely reliable, and you will do well to

pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a

dark place, until the day dawns and the

morning star rises in your hearts. Above all,

you must understand that no prophecy of

Scripture came about by the prophet’s own

interpretation of things. For prophecy

never had its origin in the human will, but

prophets, though human, spoke from God

as they were carried by the Holy Spirit.”

 Jesus fully accepted the Torah (OT) in John 10:35,

“Scripture cannot be broken.” Also, look at Matt. 5:18,

“Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest

letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means

disappear from the Law until everything is

accomplished.”

 Plenary Verbal Inspiration:

 Plenary = “full”

 Verbal = “spoken/inspired”

 Inspiration = discussed earlier

 The A/G holds strongly to the plenary verbal inspiration

of Scriptures – it’s message is absolute truth.

Peter’s view of Paul’s

writing…

 2 Peter 3: 15-16, “Bear in mind that our Lord’s

patience means salvation, just as our dear

brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom

that God gave him. He writes the same way in

all his letters, speaking in them of these

matters. His letters contain some things that

are hard to understand, which ignorant and

unstable people distort, as they do other

Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

The Infallible Rule

 Infallible = “incapable of error and therefore not

capable of misleading, deceiving, or disappointing us.”

(p. 26)

 Inerrancy = “exempt from error”- to the A/G, scriptures

are not inerrant.

 A/G strongly supports the infallibility of God’s Word but

recognizes recording/statistical errors are possible.

 “The whole Bible shows that He is reliable, dependable,

trustworthy, and His very nature guarantees the

authority and infallibility of His Word.”

T The Canon & Later

Translations

Canon = a rule, a standard, a measuring rod

39 Old Testament Canons – already established by the

time of Jesus’ incarnation (God in human form)

367 ad – Athanasius examining documents circulated

discovered there were 27 NT books/letters/canons

397 ad Council of Carthage

declared the NT had 27

books

4 NT Criteria:

1. Apostolicity = writer an apostle or one who had

seen Jesus?

2. Universality = was the book widely accepted by

the Church?

3. Contents = writings consistent with OT and other

NT texts?

4. Inspiration = does the writing have the divinely

inspired quality as the other accepted books have?

Dead Sea Scrolls

 Discovered in 1947 by a shepherd boy

 All or parts of all 39 OT canons – except

for the Book of Esther – were

discovered – Hebrew text

 Dated as early at 250 BC

 250 bc – 150 bc =

 Septuagint Version - Greek

Changing Translations

 312-320 ad = Jerome (Church Father) and

300 other priests/translators translated

the entire 66 books into Latin – called

the Vulgate

 1380 ad = John Wycliffe translated the

first English Bible. He died in 1384 ad.

Roman Catholic Church condemned his

work and by 1428 – most of his

handwritten copies were burnt.

 Printing press – 1440 helped spread the

Word

 1462 – 1522 = at least 17 translations of the

Bible were found in Germany

 Martin Luther influenced William Tyndale

who made the first most important English

translation of the NT in 1525. Tyndale was

arrested by the RC Church and burned at the

stake.

 Geneva Bible = English translation written by

English refugees who fled to Switzerland –

brought to America by the Pilgrims.

KJV

 King Henry VIII – broke off from the Catholic

church and created the Church of England

(Episcopal) 1530’s – varying translations were used

 King James I appointed several groups of Biblical

scholars who wrote the KJV in 1611. It was King

James who “authorized” this version.

 This was during the time when Shakespearian

English was very popular so that is what the

translators used…

The One True God

Fundamental Truth of the A/G

 “The one true God has revealed Himself as

the eternally self-existent ‘I AM’, the

Creator of heaven and earth and the

Redeemer of mankind. He has further

revealed Himself as embodying the

principles of relationship and association

as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

 Deut. 6:4

 Isaiah 43: 10-11

 Mark 28: 19 and Luke 3:22

In Response to a 1913

Heresy…1916 “The Adorable

Godhead”

 Terms Defined = Trinity (although not used in

scriptures) and Persons of the Godhead are in

harmony with Scriptures. Matt. 28: 19

 Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead = Jesus

identified the Godhead in the terms of Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 13:14

 Unity of the One Being of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

= Father-Begetter; Son-Begotten; Holy Spirit-the One

proceeding from the Father & Son. Zech 14:9; John 1:

 Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead = The

Father is not from the Son – the Son is from the

Father; the Holy Spirit is from the Father and the

Son proceeding – hence, neither Person in the

Godhead exists or works separately or

independently of each other. John 5: 17-30, 32 & 37

 The Title, Lord Jesus Christ = belongs exclusively to

the Son of God only. Romans 1: 1-3, 7; 2 John 3

 The Lord Jesus Christ, God with Us = The Son of

Man, both God and man – Immanuel. His time on

earth. Matt 1:23; Rev 1: 13 & 17.

 The Title , Son of God = eternal

The Existence of God

1. Ontological view = because god does not have a

physical existence – he is imperfect and therefore

non-existent

2. Cosmological view = the First Cause

3. Teleological view = Divine Designer

4. Moral view = every human being has a stamp of

right and wrong that is higher than his/her

existence therefore there is a god.

Attributes

 Omnipotence = almighty

 Omnipresent = all present

 Omniscient = all knowing

 God is good

 God is love

 God is holy

 God is righteous

The Deity of the Lord

Jesus Christ

Fundamental Truth of the A/G

The Lord Jesus Christ is the

eternal Son of God

1. His virgin birth = Matt 1:23; Luke 1: 31 & 35

2. His sinless life = Heb 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22

3. His miracles = Acts 2:22 & 10:38

4. His substitutionary work on the cross = I Cor 15:3 & 2

Cor 5:21

5. His bodily resurrection from the dead = Matt 28:6;

Luke 24: 39; I Cor 15: 4

6. His exaltation to the right hand of God = Act 1: 9 &11;

Acts 2:33; Phil 2: 9- 11; and Heb 1:3.

THE OFFICES OF CHRIST:

 Prophet = the anointed Servant = Is.

11:2

 Priest = Heb 8:3

 King = Rev. 5: 6- 13