Pentecostal is a generic term that refers to an attitude toward contact with the Holy Spirit. The term, as we use it today, came from a revival led by William Seymour in Los Angeles beginning in 1906. The African American had studied with Charles Parham, who had tried to replicate the meeting described in Acts when the apostles "heard a wind, then saw tongues of fire come down and touch them." [1]
People who visited Seymour’s Azusa Street revival divided over the importance of speaking in tongues. The all-white Assemblies of God, following Parham, made it their primary evidence for conversion in 1913. Other groups accepted being healed by faith, hearing voices, or dancing as equally important signs of divine blessing.
Churches that elevate being healed by faith pose unique public health problems during the Coronavirus pandemic. Spiritual healing has always existed to handle those physical ailments that cannot be cured by the official doctors. The Roman Catholic church beatifies miracle workers; thousands flock to shrines like that at Lourdes.
On the one hand, people who attend churches where people are healed by faith are more likely to be exposed to someone who is sick, than those who go to other services. On the other, such churches are a refuge for those whose illnesses haven’t responded to western medicine.
Tony Spell refuses to close his Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He said, "When the paramedics can’t get there, when the law enforcement can’t get there, the holy ghost can get there it will make a difference in someone’s life." [2]
Spell’s church was founded by his grandfather, Bervick Atwood Spell, in 1953. [3] The elder Spell helped found the Apostolic Minister’s Fellowship in 1968. [4] It was descended from a group that separated from the Assemblies of God in 1915 over the nature of God.
The Oneness Pentecostal movement did not accept that God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost were the three separate entities defined by the Trinity. They believe God was a spirit who, when He needed to appear on Earth, took the form and name of Jesus. Since, when He needs to contact humans he does so in the guise of the Holy Ghost. [5] Spells adds speaking in tongues as "the definite, indisputable, supernatural witness or sign of the baptism of the Holy Ghost." [6]
Spell believes divine healing is available to all "who will come to Him in faith and obedience." [7] The particular method he espouses is laying hands on the sick. This is particularly fraught with Coronavirus, which is passed through droplets from one person to another.
There are other, safer ways. Guillermo Maldonado, who was mentioned in the previous post, recited an incantation like an exorcist: "I curse that virus from the root and from the seed, in Jesus’ mighty name, right now. Disintegrate, dissolve like the dust, in Jesus’ mighty name." [8]
Kenneth Copeland is not a Pentecostal. He believes God wants his people to prosper, and wealth is a sign of grace. Much of his ministry is through television programs. [9] He told people who were sick: "Put your hand on that television set. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. He received your healing." [10]
Another preacher in Florida installed machines in his church that he said would vaporize the virus. [11] Rodney Howard-Browne was raised in a Pentecostal church in South Africa. [12] Pentecostalism was introduced there by followers of Parham. [13]
Lest one dismiss the acts of these men as aberrations, recall Chris Cuomo. The CNN newsman was infected by the Coronavirus. He made clear he is following his doctor’s orders, but, when asked what helped, he admitted he also was using chicken soup. [14]
In normal times, we maintain the older practices at the same time we call the doctor for an antibiotic. When times get bad, we do both, only more so. And, when there’s nothing to prescribe, traditional remedies are what’s left.
Sources:
1. Act 2:3, King James translation. In the Holy Family edition of the Catholic Bible, verses 2–4 are translated as: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak." (Chicago: The Catholic Press, 1950.
2. Nexstar Media Wire. "Louisiana Church Hosts More than 1,800 People amid COVID-19 Outbreak." Posted by WGN-TV, Chicago, website. 23 March 2020.
3. I’m not sure if it is significant that some of the men who are turning their religious values into political confrontations inherited their positions. They did not build their institutions. Jerry Falwell’s father established the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, then opened Liberty University. Before he died, he made Jerry head of the college and his other son head of the church. Perhaps Falwell and Spell are like the second generation Puritans in this country who did not have conversion experiences. Their lives simply were different.
4. "Rev. B. A. Spell of Life Tabernacle Inducted into Ministerial Hall of Fame, Awarded ThD." Central City [Louisiana] News website. 7 November 2019.
5. "Apostolic Doctrine." Life Tabernacle Church website. "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names of separate persons, but titles of positions held by God."
6. "Apostolic Doctrine."
7. "Apostolic Doctrine."
8. William Bredderman and Will Sommer. "Trump’s Megachurch Allies Promise COVID-19 Snake Oil and ‘Miracles’." The Daily Beast website. 23 March 2020.
9. Kenneth Copeland Ministries website. "KCM’s purpose is to mature believers worldwide in the use of their faith. Our vision is to see believers experiencing the fullness of THE BLESSING which includes divine healing, supernatural prosperity, the God kind of love and more."
10. Bredderman.
11. Hemant Mehta. "Pastor: If You Have Faith in God, He’ll Multiply Your Toilet Paper Rolls." Friendly Atheist website. 29 March 2020.
12. Wikipedia. "Rodney Howard-Browne." His Tampa, Florida, church is The River at Tampa Bay.
13. Wikipedia. "Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa."
14. Brian Stelter. "Chris Cuomo Shares Covid-19 Experience: ‘The Beast Comes at Night’." CNN website. 3 April 2020.
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