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This book is an overview rather than a detailed or analytical history of the Pentecostal movement, although some chapters provide more detail than others. Dr. Synan, a historian from the Pentecostal Holiness Church, is not the only author, so that there are several instances where different chapters include accounts of the same events, in particular of the Azusa Street revival of 1906, which was the seminal event for Pentecostalism. The strongest part of the book is actually the account (mostly by Dr. Synan) of the period before Azusa Street, explaining the genesis of the holiness "second-blessing" and "third-blessing" doctrines that were adopted by Charles Parham in his teaching that speaking in tongues was the definitive and necessary sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Dr. Synan points out that the term "baptism in the Holy Spirit" was in use well before Parham's time, and that the beginnings of Pentecostalism may be traced to as early as 1886, although Pentecostalism as we know it today is generally said to have begun when Parham successfully prayed over Agnes Ozman to receive the gift of tongues on 1 January 1901.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Synan is fairly weak on earlier charismatic manifestations in the Catholic Church and Catholic analyses of charismatic gifts. He stresses that many Protestant churches were (and some still are) "cessationist," believing that charismata ceased with the apostolic period. The Catholic Church never was, although--as Dr. Synan notes--St. Augustine and other Fathers of his period pondered why they had become so rare. However, he does not mention that St. Augustine was familiar with the "jubilus" or inarticulate prayer of praise that greatly resembles the practice of singing or praying in tongues familiar to charismatics today. No doubt one of the reasons for the confusion concerning charismatic gifts during the period from the fourth to the nineteenth centuries is that theologians, reading the second chapter of Acts, assumed that the gift of tongues would always be manifest as the speaking of a known language the speaker had never learned and did not consciously know. This was also Parham's belief: the account of Agnes Ozman was that she spoke Chinese (and in fact could not speak her native English for several days), and that tongues were specifically a gift for missionaries to use in foreign countries. From now on, he taught, language training would no longer be necessary. Catholic history, such as the experience of St. Francis Xavier, contains examples of this phenomenon. A generally sympathetic Catholic account of the Welsh revival of 1904, which Dr. Synan notes as part of the early manifestations of Pentecostalism, describes what contemporary charismatics would call speaking in tongues, but says that it is not speaking in tongues because the speech was in no known language. [This is not in Dr. Synan's work.] Certainly, however, on the broader front of God's miraculous work in the present world, the Catholic Church has always held it to be possible, often but not always associated with the sacraments or as a sign of exceptional sanctity.
Dr. Synan does deal with some of the theological differences within the Pentecostal movement, including the distinction between his own Holiness tradition and the "finished-work" theology of the Assemblies of God and related groups. He also deals with the rise of the non-Trinitarian "Oneness" or "Jesus-only" Pentecostals, which he treats alongside the other Pentecostal groups, while acknowledging that the majority of Pentecostals are Trinitarian.
The later parts of the book--not all by Dr. Synan--are in large part quick summaries of people, organizations, and events, without a great deal of analysis. One of the stronger chapters is the account by Pablo A. Deiros and Everett A. Wilson on Hispanic Pentecostalism (both in the United States and Latin America), although--both authors being from Pentecostal churches--it fails to discuss the profound effect of charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in Latin America. The accounts of the broader movement in the United States lack depth. David Harrell's discussion of the healing movement after World War II discusses the role of William Branham as a founder of the movement, but while he notes that by the time of his death Branham was a "marginal figure" in Pentecostalism (p. 326), he does not discuss Branham's theology, which was not only non-Trinitarian, but included other elements that were rejected by mainstream Pentecostals as well as other Christians. Nor does he discuss the connection of Branham and the healing movement with the Latter-Rain movement and some of its dubious sequelae such as the Kansas City "prophets." He notes that there have been criticisms of some of the most noted healing preachers because of their lifestyles and possibly excessive claims, he does not discuss the allegations of outright fraud that have been made against some of them.
Dr. Synan's final chapters comprise a survey of various groups and "streams" of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, including many claims to numbers of participants that may be difficult to verify, especially as he acknowledges a certain amount of double counting. The timeline with which he concludes the book ranges from useful to laughable. He includes both mainstream Catholic and Protestant movements with heterodox groups and individuals who claimed possession of the Holy Spirit. His "possible future developments" section of the timeline (beyond the publication date of 2001) should have been left out. It predicts that the whole Christian Church (with a provision for the "primacy of the bishop of Rome") will be reunited in 2010, an event which, alas, did not happen, and it concludes with the events of William M. Miller's science fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz.
Altogether this is a worthwhile survey of the topic, but for understanding in depth, we may hope that Dr. Synan and the other authors have done more thorough scholarly work elsewhere. Perhaps this may be found in the bibliographical notes that end each of the chapters.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Synan is fairly weak on earlier charismatic manifestations in the Catholic Church and Catholic analyses of charismatic gifts. He stresses that many Protestant churches were (and some still are) "cessationist," believing that charismata ceased with the apostolic period. The Catholic Church never was, although--as Dr. Synan notes--St. Augustine and other Fathers of his period pondered why they had become so rare. However, he does not mention that St. Augustine was familiar with the "jubilus" or inarticulate prayer of praise that greatly resembles the practice of singing or praying in tongues familiar to charismatics today. No doubt one of the reasons for the confusion concerning charismatic gifts during the period from the fourth to the nineteenth centuries is that theologians, reading the second chapter of Acts, assumed that the gift of tongues would always be manifest as the speaking of a known language the speaker had never learned and did not consciously know. This was also Parham's belief: the account of Agnes Ozman was that she spoke Chinese (and in fact could not speak her native English for several days), and that tongues were specifically a gift for missionaries to use in foreign countries. From now on, he taught, language training would no longer be necessary. Catholic history, such as the experience of St. Francis Xavier, contains examples of this phenomenon. A generally sympathetic Catholic account of the Welsh revival of 1904, which Dr. Synan notes as part of the early manifestations of Pentecostalism, describes what contemporary charismatics would call speaking in tongues, but says that it is not speaking in tongues because the speech was in no known language. [This is not in Dr. Synan's work.] Certainly, however, on the broader front of God's miraculous work in the present world, the Catholic Church has always held it to be possible, often but not always associated with the sacraments or as a sign of exceptional sanctity.
Dr. Synan does deal with some of the theological differences within the Pentecostal movement, including the distinction between his own Holiness tradition and the "finished-work" theology of the Assemblies of God and related groups. He also deals with the rise of the non-Trinitarian "Oneness" or "Jesus-only" Pentecostals, which he treats alongside the other Pentecostal groups, while acknowledging that the majority of Pentecostals are Trinitarian.
The later parts of the book--not all by Dr. Synan--are in large part quick summaries of people, organizations, and events, without a great deal of analysis. One of the stronger chapters is the account by Pablo A. Deiros and Everett A. Wilson on Hispanic Pentecostalism (both in the United States and Latin America), although--both authors being from Pentecostal churches--it fails to discuss the profound effect of charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in Latin America. The accounts of the broader movement in the United States lack depth. David Harrell's discussion of the healing movement after World War II discusses the role of William Branham as a founder of the movement, but while he notes that by the time of his death Branham was a "marginal figure" in Pentecostalism (p. 326), he does not discuss Branham's theology, which was not only non-Trinitarian, but included other elements that were rejected by mainstream Pentecostals as well as other Christians. Nor does he discuss the connection of Branham and the healing movement with the Latter-Rain movement and some of its dubious sequelae such as the Kansas City "prophets." He notes that there have been criticisms of some of the most noted healing preachers because of their lifestyles and possibly excessive claims, he does not discuss the allegations of outright fraud that have been made against some of them.
Dr. Synan's final chapters comprise a survey of various groups and "streams" of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, including many claims to numbers of participants that may be difficult to verify, especially as he acknowledges a certain amount of double counting. The timeline with which he concludes the book ranges from useful to laughable. He includes both mainstream Catholic and Protestant movements with heterodox groups and individuals who claimed possession of the Holy Spirit. His "possible future developments" section of the timeline (beyond the publication date of 2001) should have been left out. It predicts that the whole Christian Church (with a provision for the "primacy of the bishop of Rome") will be reunited in 2010, an event which, alas, did not happen, and it concludes with the events of William M. Miller's science fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz.
Altogether this is a worthwhile survey of the topic, but for understanding in depth, we may hope that Dr. Synan and the other authors have done more thorough scholarly work elsewhere. Perhaps this may be found in the bibliographical notes that end each of the chapters.
