Jonathan Paul and The German Pentecostal Movement - The First Seven Years,1907-1914

Abstract

The German Pentecostal Movement began in 1907 but too few people are aware of its history or origins. In Confidence, published 1908 - 1926, A. A. Boddy preserved many vital insights into the genesis of the German Pentecostal Movement. Some articles were reproduced in the German magazine Pfingstgrüße, 1909 - 1919, originally edited by Jonathan Paul who became the prominent leader of Pentecost in Germany. Both publications were established to promote Pentecostalism and provide invaluable primary source material in the form of editorials, teaching, sermons, stories and testimonies, mostly long forgotten, recording exciting days, reminiscent of the Early Church. Germany provided European Pentecostalism with some key leaders, preachers and teachers, principally Jonathan Paul, but also Emil Meyer, and Emil Humburg and Carl Octavius Voget. The first seven years were marked by influential conferences, a major attack against the Pentecostals in the form of the Berlin Declaration, and the formation of the Mülheimer Verband, not a denomination but a Pentecostal association. The influence of Azusa Street and North American Pentecostalism cannot be ignored, but a separate and unique European Pentecostal development can be identified, with Germany exerting major sway.