The Called Out of the Called Out: Charles Parham’s Doctrine of Spirit Baptism

Abstract

The origin of the doctrine of initial evidence in North American Pentecostalism has almost exclusively been traced back to Charles Parham, founder of the Apostolic Faith Movement in Topeka, Kansas. The story of Agnes Ozman and the students at Bethel Bible School is so famous in Pentecostal studies that it has taken on a mythic character as it has been passed along. Inherent in the story of Pentecostal beginnings was the search for evidence - irrefutable proof that one was baptized in the Spirit. A fresh reading of the book of Acts coupled with an outbreak of tongues speech left Parham and his students with a convincing answer: speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence of the Baptism in the Spirit. As inspiring as the story is to adherents of the Pentecostal faith, it is too simplistic to deduce from it Parham’s distinctive approach to Spirit baptism or his unique contribution to Pentecostalism. A thorough examination of Parham’s theology of Spirit Baptism shows that Parham’s understanding of the experience was adopted by later generations of Pentecostals only in word. Thus, Parham’s contribution to Pentecostalism should be understood to reside at the level of hermeneutics, not doctrine.The account first appeared in print in Parham’s book, Kol Kare Bomidbar, first published in 1902. This account would reappear again with slight revisions in an article entitled, ‘Pentecostal Baptism Restored,’ on the front page of the second issue of the Azusa Street newspaper. Apostolic Faith [Los Angeles] 1:2 (October 1906). It also was relayed in issues of Apostolic Faith [Houston, TX] edited by W. F. Carothers and later issues of Apostolic Faith [Baxter Springs, KS] edited by Parham with more significant changes.