The Fire Spreads: Holiness and Pentecostalism in the American South

by Randall J. Stephens

Today pentecostalism claims nearly 500 million followers worldwide. An early stronghold was the American South, where believers spoke in unknown tongues, worshipped in free-form churches, and broke down social barriers that had long divided traditional Protestants. Thriving denominations made their headquarters in the region and gathered white and black converts from the Texas plains to the Carolina low country. Pentecostalism was, in fact, a religious import. It came to the South following the post-Civil War holiness revival, a northern-born crusade that emphasized sinlessness and religious empowerment. Adherents formed new churches in the Jim Crow South and held unconventional beliefs about authority, power, race, and gender. Such views set them at odds with other Christians in the region. By 1900 nearly all southern holiness folk abandoned mainline churches and adopted a pessimistic, apocalyptic theology. Signs of the last days, they thought, were all around them. The faith first took root among anonymous religious zealots. It later claimed southern celebrities and innovators like televangelists Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, T. D. Jakes, and John Hagee; rock-and-roll icons Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard; and, more recently, conservative political leaders such as John Ashcroft. With the growth of southern pentecostal denominations and the rise of new, affluent congregants, the movement moved cautiously into the evangelical mainstream. By the 1980s the once-apolitical faith looked entirely different. Many still watched and waited for spectacular signs of the end. Yet a growing number did so as active political conservatives.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2008

Reviews

[Dave Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fire Spreads tells the story of the early Holiness and Pentecostal movements, a movement that still claims millions of followers today. It is concise, brief, and easy to read. It attempts to stay on neutral ground, but does insert some subtle commentary here and there to temper the obvious visible charisma of the history and movement with insight beneath the surface. Given that the movement from the beginning was defined by the challenging of Church structure and social realities, there is no doubt going to be certain biases that one will need to filter through. The Fire Spreads does well to allow this opportunity, if by erring on the side of understanding to temper the cynics. And this may be one the more important feats of this work.

At the end of the book, Stephens proposes that such an innovative movement and people have managed to still retain some of the key themes of the original thinkers and movers. This includes the promise of direct communion with God, the practice of the gifts of the spirit, and the resistance of formal worship and constriction in Christian approach. Along with these themes, the early movement, described as the Holiness movement (largely an interpretation of Wesley's teaching) existed largely as a social response removed from the political realm. There was a strong focus on equality, a response to the landscape of the civil war and racial divide. And as well it played a prominent role in accepting women in to equal place in the Church. They also adhered to a sense of pacifism. As prominent themes, these things were largely positive.

As with all revivals, which the holiness and pentecostal movements were, there is a tendency for them to come and go. Within the revival movement itself though were many mini revivals, each responding to something specific. Initially the Holiness movement came alongside the American South which was highly Calvinist (Southern Baptist) along with Arminian and Methodist. The early movement did attract from many of these areas, but again largely attracted those on the fringe and on the lower end of the social scale. One of the key challenges that it faced came both from the inside and the outside. From the inside there was tension over the idea of sanctification as a slow process or shorter more immediate process as a result of the second work of grace (the baptism of the spirit). The Holiness movement was built around the idea of perfectionism, that the Holy Spirit could cleanse and make one holy. This emphasis on the "good" also put it in to tension from the outside, as the reality of slavery was a tough fit for the good of humanity. To this the Calvinist approach of total depravity stood as a contrast.

Two of the most defining part of the Holiness and eventual Pentecostal movement were the Holy Spirit (specifically the sign of tongues) and a focus on the end of days, to which the tongues and signs predicted we were living in. This idea that we were living in the last days would end up influencing in a massive way the eventual rise of Christian literature, arts and politics which would arise in the early to later 1900's. A significant part of the the movements can be found in its embrace of the printing press. They were a highly oral movement, but in print they found a new way to advertise their charisma in an exciting way to the masses. This would carry forward in to Pentecostalism, which would eventually merge more closely in to larger society as the initial rural aspect got closer and closer to the big cities. It is out of this that the modern Christian media would form, along with things such as the Prosperity Gospel.

The Pentecostal movement itself would eventually come to see itself as the successor to perfectionism. Staring in the mid south and branching to the southern coast and eventually to the west and beyond, the movement would see all kinds of adaptations along the way under the branch of its charisma. Cash and Presley are two of the more well known names to come out of this modern movement, and interestingly within the innovative movement played a key roll in pushing the boundaries between the exclusivity of the Christian media and the possibility of secular life and music fitting with their faith.

As with every movement there are downsides that coincide with the positives. Far from short lived, this revival movement shifted away from a focus on the outcast and egalitarian motives. It would also eventually merge with the world, to which there remains much argument over whether the Christian press and media was a positive thing as the outcome of this influence. They also abandoned their pacifist roots in exchange for bonding with the political bent of some of the American Protestant movements. As well, which should be obvious, a movement that is so geared towards the signs and the gifts and rejecting authority can lead to some misrepresentations of scripture and some questionable line of thinking (such as snake handling). However, as with every movement, there is always room to return to the positive roots of which it began. The Holiness movement, to be fair, cannot be separated from the long line of history leading back to the early Church, and we see evidences and examples of it on smaller scales in many places. To the extent that these movements popularized it though, one of the needs certainly was social and racial reform. To this they need to be credited. As well, in all movements that instill structure and doctrine, or in a history that saw the power abused within the Catholic Church hiearchy, examples of divine revelation and the idea of on ongoing relationship with God are healthy and necessary. Arguably many of the movements had lost sight of the importance of this aspect of faith. Knowing the roots of a movement is helpful, necessary and good for understanding the context in which it emerged. And Stephens has given us a good source to begin navigating this.

[Timothy Maples · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a general overview of the beginnings of the Holiness and Pentecostal groups in America, especially the South. It is good in explaining the origins of the theology of the various wings of these groups without becoming bogged down in detail. The author is fair to all concerned, but perhaps too willing to gloss over many of the faults and errors of his subjects. There is also no comparison between these groups and historic Christianity, except in passing; in fairness, that may be beyond the scope of the book. The book is well-paced, except for one chapter dealing with the magazines and periodicals that were used to disseminate the views of these groups. I would recommend this book, but only if other sources are consulted to provide a more balanced account.

[Dana]

Written by one of my favorite undergrad professors (history).

[Tim Swanson]

New era of history for me. Was enlightening to learn about the rise of the holinee and pentecostal movements of the Protestant church in America in the 1800's and early 1900's. Had spurned me on to want to learn more. I ended up skimming through some of the book due to the high level of detailed information at the local level that I was not interested in.