WHAT IS PENTECOSTALISM? AI: “Pentecostalism is a vibrant, fast-growing Protestant movement emphasizing direct, personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, often evidenced by speaking in tongues. Emerging in the early 20th century, it prioritizes spiritual gifts, divine healing, and enthusiastic worship, with over 600 million followers globally, making it one of the largest forms of Christianity. A post-conversion experience, distinct from salvation, that empowers believers to live a holy life and work for God. Belief that biblical gifts—including prophecy, healing, and tongues—are active today, Strict adherence to the inerrancy of the Bible, with a focus on replicating the power of the early Apostolic Church. A focus on Jesus not just as Savior, but also as Baptizer (in the Spirit), Healer, and Soon-Coming King. Speaking in Tongues (Glossolalia): Often considered the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Services are characterized by emotional expression, such as raised hands, clapping, dancing in the spirit, and vocal praise.Evangelism: A strong, mission-driven focus on spreading the gospel.”

Modern Pentecostalism in the US began on January 1, 1901, in Topeka, Kansas, when Agnes Ozman spoke in tongues at Charles Fox Parham’s Bethel Bible College. Parham, a holiness teacher, established that speaking in tongues was the “initial evidence” of baptism in the Holy Spirit. The movement grew rapidly, catapulting to international fame through the 1906-1909 Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, led by Parham’s student, William J. Seymour. 

WHAT IS THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT? Emerging in the 1960s as a “second wave” of Pentecostalism, brought Pentecostal-style spiritual gifts—such as tongues, prophecy, and healing—into mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations. Unlike Pentecostalism, which formed new denominations, this movement encouraged adherents to remain within their traditional churches, initiating a global renewal movement. The movement is widely considered to have begun on April 3, 1960, when Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett announced to his congregation at St. Mark’s in Van Nuys, California, that he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. While Pentecostalism was the first wave (early 1900s), the Charismatic movement acted as a second wave (1960s), with a “third wave” (1980s onwards) focusing on signs and wonders without necessarily emphasizing tongues as the initial evidence of the Spirit. Third Wave believers often do not view the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” as a second, distinct experience after conversion, nor do they typically insist on tongues as the only evidence of that baptism. A central concept where preaching the Gospel is accompanied by miraculous signs and wonders to validate the message. It emphasizes the restoration of the offices of apostle and prophet.The movement is known for emotional,, sometimes, dramatic worship experiences, including reports of “laughing in the Spirit” and other physical manifestations. Associated with figures like John Wimber (Vineyard Movement) and movements focusing on spiritual warfare. Key groups include the Association of Vineyard Churches, Calvary Chapel, and various ministries associated with the Toronto Blessing and Kansas City Prophets. By the early 21st century, this group was considered to have more adherents worldwide than the first two waves combined. Then there are the neo-charismatics: This broader term includes groups that emphasize the “health and wealth” gospel, such as those associated with Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, and Kenneth Copeland.”

WHAT WAS TONGUE SPEAKING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? That’s a lot of history. Let’s stick with the first wave of Pentecostalism and discuss the speaking in tongues and baptism of the Holy Spirit. Do Pentecostals really speak in tongues just like done in the New Testament? Tongues in the New Testament were actual human languages that believers who had received the gift of the Holy Spirit could speak in. It began in Acts on the Day of Pentecost when the apostles were gathered in an upper room waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had told them to wait for. There were Jews from many different countries present for the Feast of Pentecost. The apostles started miraculously speaking in human languages that they did not know. We know the tongues were actual human languages b/c of the reaction of those who heard. Acts 2:⁵ Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others were jeering and saying, “They are full of sweet wine!” Throughout the New Testment, tongue speaking was miraculously speaking in human languages which the tongue speaker did not know. Paul told the Corinthians that there must be an interpreter of the tongues, i.e. one who miraculously can interpret the human tongue language even though he does not know the language. If there was no interpreter, a person was not allowed to speak in tongues in the Sunday assemblies. That again sounds like tongues were human languages.

WHY AND HOW WAS TONGUE SPEAKING GIVEN TO BAPTIZED BELIEVERS?Tongue speaking miraculously in a human language was a proof of salvation for a baptized believer in the first century church. An example of this is found in Acts 19. Paul found some whom he thought had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but they had only been baptized in John’s baptism which was no longer valid after the ascension of Jesus. Paul taught them about the baptism in the name of Jesus. 19:⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.” The tongues speaking was proof of salvation and was necessary in the first century b/c there the New Testament had not been written yet. There were several signs that accompanied believers being baptized in the name of Jesus. Mark 16:¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Tongue speaking was part of the miracles poured out on believers in the last days of the Jewish Age, i.e. from 30 AD to 70 AD that culminated with Jesus’ 2nd coming in judgment on the Jews in 70 AD. Joel 2:28-32 had predicted this pouring out of the Spirit (miracles) in the last days and Peter said in Acts 2:17-21 that Joel’s prophecy was beginning to be fulfilled with the apostles speaking in tongues that day. Acts 2:17  And in the last days it shall be, God declares, ^wthat I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and  your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18  even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20  the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (ESV)’ This 40 year miraculous period in the early church would end with the “glorious day of the Lord”, i.e. the judgment of the Jews at Jesus’ 2nd coming in 70 AD. Tongues and miracles were no longer needed after the New Testament was delivered. All 27 books of the New Testament were written before 70 AD. We don’t need tongues today as a sign that we have been saved when we believe and are baptized. We have the written word of God in the New Testament, which is better than relying on tongue speaking. The miraculous spiritual gifts were given to baptized believers by the laying on of the hands of the apostles. That is seen in Acts 8. Philip, who could do miracles himself, baptized many in Samaria but he could not give the baptized believers the Holy Spirit (also called the “gift of the Holy Spirit). The apostles Peter and John came from Jerusalem to lay their hands on them and give them the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ” That’s about as clear as it gets showing how the miraculous gifts were given to baptized believers. The apostles all died before 70 AD so there are no apostles to continue to give miraculous gifts after 70 AD.

ARE MODERN TONGUES THE SAME AS TONGUES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? Modern tongue speaking has been tested to see if there are any human languages in the tongue speaking, and no human languages have been found. Likewise none found to be able to miraculously interpret a human language that they do not know. One experiment had someone saying the Lord’s prayer in a real foreign language. 5 people who claimed to have the gift of interpretation were asked to interpret it. They gave 5 different interpretations and none of them was the Lord’s prayer. Modern tongue speaking claim that tongues do not have to be human languages. They might cite 1 Corinthians 13:1 the tongues of angels. But we have already seen that tongues were actual human languages. Modern tongue speaking is just a rapid saying of different nonsense words, none of which are human languages. That would not impress me as a miracle sent by God if I was a listener. The pagan religions had prophets who worked themselves into a frenzy and spoke in weird syllables so Christian tongue speaking had to be different than that to convince an unbeliever that it was truly from God. Modern tongue speaking is truly an emotional experience but I don’t think it is tongue speaking as in the early church. It can cause those who claim to speak in tongues to have a superior spirituality than those who don’t speak in tongues. It can leave a tongue speaker feeling less spiritual when he is not speaking in tongues. I would never make fun of someone who claimed to speak in tongues, but I feel the need to teach on what tongues really were. I don’t think tongue speaking is a heaven/hell issue.

WHAT IS CESSATIONISM: AI: “Cessationism is the Christian doctrine that miraculous spiritual gifts—such as tongues, prophecy, and healing—ceased to function after the apostolic age and the completion of the New Testament canon. It posits that these sign gifts were temporary, intended specifically to validate the apostles’ message and establish the early church.” It is opposed to continuationism, which teaches that all spiritual gifts are available to believers today”. They were necessary to confirm the gospel message, for the establishment of the church kingdom, provide the early church with spiritual gifts for their edification in their assemblies,and for the confirmation of who the true Christians were. They were like a scaffold temporarily used to build a house. Scaffolds are needed until the house is built but then they come down. I believe that the miracles ceased in 70 AD at the end of the last days of the Jewish Age which coincided with the completion of the writing of the New Testament books. When I say miracles have ceased, I mean supernatural events that cannot be explained by natural means, that are undeniable. Acts 4:¹⁵ But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, ¹⁶ saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.” The enemies of Jesus and the apostles never denied that a supernatural event had occurred so they said that Jesus did his miracles by the power of the devil. Jesus said that Satan would not do thatt b/c it would be destroying his own house. The miracles healings were instantaneous with no relapses. The miracles were not done for money. Those wanting to be healed were never “culled” and not allowed to get to Jesus. There were no failures in doing the miracles, perhaps saying that something failed due to a lack of faith of the person wanting to be healed. I don’t see those kind of miracles being done today. God can and does still do amazing things. He can cure someone providentially. Maybe its just semantics on whether we call an amazing act of God a “Bible miracle”. or not. But to avoid confusion, I think we should only call events miracles today if they meet the tests given above for miralces done by Jesus and the apostles.

PLEASE DON’T TAKE OFFENSE! If you are a tongue speaker or go to a church that has tongue speaking, I hope this article has not offended you. I also am aware of a lot of the arguments for tongue speaking today. For example, the church I was raised in (the Church of Christ) is cessationist. They also claim to restore the church to its original form as in the book of Acts. They claim to restore worship to the way it was in the New Testament. But then you carry them to 1 Corinthians 12-14 and see all the miraculous Spiritual gifts that were used in the assembLies and how to use the tongue speakers and the prophets. My church does not believe in using those miraculous gifts in their assemblies and yet they claim to be restoring the early church to its original worship. That sounds inconsistent. But it is not inconsistent if we understand that the miracles were only for that transition period from 30-70 AD. Everything in the New Testament was not written directly to us but to other people living in that transition period. I look around and I do not see human language miraculous tongue speaking and other miracles being done in churches today. I thing it would be undeniable if such was really happening, but I jsut don’t see it. The charismatic might not be evil, but is it real?

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Joel 2:28 -32

The Promise of the Spirit

²⁸ “It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
²⁹ And even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the Lord

³⁰ I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
³² And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will be saved;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

We know when this prophecy was fulfilled. In Acts 2 apostles begin speaking in tongues, i.e. the languages of the many nations represented by the Jews who were present in Jerusalem at the time to keep the feast of Pentecost. Some said that they were drunk, but Peter said that the tongue speaking was the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, and quoted those verses verbatim. “In the Old Testament under the old covenant, the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit was active and present in various figures, including leaders like Moses (and the 70 elders who were given the Spirit), Samson, Saul and David, artisans like Bezalel, and prophets like Joshua, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Spirit empowered them for specific tasks, such as leading the people, creating the Tabernacle, or prophesying.” (From AI) The receiving of the Spirit would be different in the new covenant. The miraculous power (dreams, visions, prophesying) of the Spirit would be poured out on all mankind. We know that means men, women, and people of all races and professions who were baptized believers in Jesus. Every baptized believer in the book of Acts could receive the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit, i.e. the “indwelling of the Spirit”, by the laying on of the apostles’ hands.

In Acts 2:38 Peter told the Jews on that day of Pentecost that they too could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, i.e. the same miraculous power of the Spirit that Joel predicted and that they had seen manifested in the apostles speaking in tongues. Acts 2:38 says that they would receive the gift of the Spirit after they repented and were baptized, but it doesn’t say exactly how they received the Spirit. Did the Spirit just come on them as they arose from immersion in water? Acts 8 tells us how they received the Spirit. In Acts 8:4-24 Peter and John (both apostles) came to Samaria to lay their hands on those baptized by Philip to give them the Spirit. Acts 8:¹⁶ (For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

In Acts 19 Paul came to Ephesus and found some baptized disciples of Jesus. Acts 19:² He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.” Just as in Acts 8, they received the miraculous power of the Spirit by the laying on of hands of an apostle, Paul.

In Acts 10 there is an exception. Peter had been sent to the house of Cornelius to preach the gospel to him. Acts 10:⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵ All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.” The Spirit fell on Cornelius without the laying on of an apostle’s hands. God skipped that step and gave the miraculous power of the Spirit, as evidenced by them speaking in tongues, directly to Cornelius even before he was baptized. This is clearly an exception to the normal order of receiving the Spirit as found in Acts 2,8,19. God did this to show the Jewish Christians that Gentile believers could receive salvation through Jesus and become members of Christ’s church just as they did. They did not skip the baptism part, and were baptized in the name of Jesus. These verses also show that the “gift of the Holy Spirit” and the “receiving of the Spirit” refer to the same thing, i.e. the miraculous power of the Spirit given to baptized believers. This helps us understand what the “gift of the Spirit” is in Acts 2:38, i.e. the miraculous power given to baptized believers by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. We can safely assume that in Acts 2 that the baptized believers received the miraculous power of the Spirit as they arose from immersion in water, the apostles’ hands already being laid on them as the apostles baptized them. This refutes the idea that the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38 is some non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit received after baptism. Think about it this way. They saw the miraculous speaking in tongues of the apostles, they were told that was the fulfillment of the pouring out of miraculous power of the Spirit as predicted by Joel, and they they were told they they too could receive the gift of the Spirit. What do you think they would expect to received after baptism? Some non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit? No way. They would have expected to receive the miraculous power of the Spirit just as Joel predicted.

When would this miraculous outpouring of the Spirit be made available to baptized believers? Joel 2:29 I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” “Those days” would be defined by Joel 2:30-32 as the days “before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes”. What is that day of the Lord? It must be the coming of the Lord in judgment on the Jews in 70 AD when Jesus sent the Romans to destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem, killing one million Jews according to Josephus. That fits the context of Acts 2 that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” from judgment on that day. Joel even says they will “escape” and will be “survivors” on that judgment. Jewish believers did escape when they left Jerusalem to go to Pella when they had the opportunity before the final 5 month siege of the city during which no one escaped. Peter told them in Acts 2:⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” That comment shows that he is urging them to be saved from the fate that their evil generation of Jews would find in 70 AD. Josephus said that generation of Jews before 70 AD must have been the most evil that had ever lived up to that time. Jesus would often speak of the pending judgment on that “evil generation” of Jews living before 70 AD (Matthew 12:38-42; 16:4).

So “those days” in which the miraculous power of the Spirit would be poured out on baptized believers would be the “last days of the Jewish age”, i.e. from Acts 2 the day of Pentecost in 30 AD to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. This was a 40 years period of an outpouring of the miraculous power of the Spirit in the early church. Everything was done by the miraculous power of the Spirit. The Spirit gave miraculous gifts to baptized believers and the assemblies were dominated by the exercise of those miraculous gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14). The church was taught and matured by the miraculous leadership gifts of “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).

The miraculous speaking in tongues and prophesying after the laying on of hands by the apostles on baptized believers was confirmation that they were indeed the true sons of God and the saved. We can know that we are saved when we believe, repent, and are baptized b/c the book of Acts tells us so. The early believers did not have the written word to confirm their salvation. They needed miraculous proof and they received it. Paul spoke of this miraculous confirmation in Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Some in the Galatian churches were turning being led back to trusting in the keeping of the Law of Moses. Paul challenges them: did you “receive the Spirit” by keeping the Law or by the hearing of faith (we assume that would mean becoming a baptized believer)? This “receiving of the Spirit” must have been something visible, tangible or it would not be a persuasive argument by Paul. He must be referring to the miraculous gift of the Spirit they received when he laid his hands on them.

Does all this mean that baptized believers after 70 AD don’t receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts 2:38? It should be obvious from studying Acts 2,8,10, and 19 that the gift of the Spirit was a miraculous “indwelling of the Spirit”. So, if we do get that gift of the Spirit they they received in those chapters, then we should get the same thing they got, i.e. the miraculous indwelling. That’s what the Pentecostals and charismatics have been trying to tell us all along. But most of our scholars said that we get a non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit immediately after baptism since our tradition doesn’t believe that we have the miraculous gifts today. But that is not the context of those chapters in Acts. We can’t ignore Acts 8,10, and 19 and just make Acts 2:38 mean what we want it to mean. We must follow those other chapters to help us define terms. The miraculous receiving of the gift of the Spirit between AD 30 and AD 70 was a special gift for that period in the early growth and development of the church. It was a scaffold to help build the church. Once a building is finished, the scaffold is no longer needed.

So do we receive the Spirit today if we don’t receive the miraculous gift of the Spirit of Acts 2:38? We actually have something better. Several times the Bible says that once the church in fully established as of 70 AD that God would make his abode in His people, the church. He would dwell in His people. Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” This “new Jerusalem” is the church that replaced the old Jerusalem. . The “new heavens and earth” is the new Messianic system and covenant that replaced the old heavens and earth the Jewish old covenant. The prophets predicted this. Ezekiel 37:²⁶ And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. ²⁸ And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” That “sanctuary” is the church where God dwells. God dwells spiritually by faith in every baptized believer. Jesus dwells in us spiritually by faith. Ephesians 3:¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” This is a spiritual presence in us by faith. So if the Father and Son swell in us by faith, then the Spirit must dwell in us also. The believers in the book of Acts received a miraculous indwelling that we do not receive, but we do receive the presence of the Spirit when we receive the indwelling of God the Father and Jesus. I don’t believe that the Spirit does the miraculous as he did in the book of Acts, but I do believe that he leads us providentially.

I first remember 50 years ago someone taking me through a study of Acts just as I have done in this article. I remember thinking, “this is the context of these chapters in Acts that can’t be refuted”. Franklin Camp’s book on the Holy Spirit just made it so simple. Some interpret the Spirit in Acts based on how they want it to mean instead of simply accepting the clear context.