The Pentecostal Charismatic Movement As Revival And Renewal

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THE PENTECOSTAL-CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT

AS REVIVAL

by

Peter Hocken

In this

paper,

I

presume

AND RENEWAL

the charismatic

basic movement

movement within the Churches

that the Pentecostal

in the information of Pentecostal assemblies and denominations,

movement within the historic

of God’s

Spirit upon

his

People.

movement, issuing

and

Churches form one

The charismatic is the extension of the Pentecostal

movement to new milieux. In this

paper

I shall look at those differences

in

language

between Pentecostals differences in

self-understanding. least our initial

understanding

show how

important

and charismatics that stem from These differences affect at the

very

of these

differences,

and

of what God is

doing.

In the last

part

of the

paper,

I shall reflect on the

significance

it is to see them within one

larger

over-all vision. The

unity

of what God is doing in our

day

demands a united and

higher viewpoint,

in which we are united

upon

who Jesus Christ

is, upon

what he works in the believer

through

his

Spirit

and

upon

the fact that these points

which unite are more

important

Community, Washington,

than

any

which divide.

Peter Hocken (S.T.L., Accademia Alfonsiana, Rome), is on the staff of the Mother of God

D.C. He is a prolific writer, doing research from within the Catholic charismatic tradition. Father Hocken serves as Catholic Book Editor for “Pneuma”.

– 31-

1

Pentecostal

Usage

The first Pentecostals

of their move-

had a sense of the

uniqueness

ment.

They

were also aware that this move of the

Spirit

came as a climax to

many previous

moves of the

Spirit

and as an answer to

years

of im-

portunate prayer

for a Pentecostal standing

of uniqueness

concepts

that were used to describe

and climax was

expressed

outpouring.

Their twofold under-

in the

categories

and what God was

giving.

and

outpouring.

They

are

is evident from the Pentecostals’ used

by Evangelicals

These terms include revival, basically

used

by

Pentecostals Evangelicals

J. Edwin

Orr.

which

incidentally costal

explosiorLI Revival

The

climax, showing

a continuity with

previous

moves of the

Spirit,

complete adoption

of the

terminology

and Holiness

people

to describe the work of God.

awakening

in the same sense as

they

have been

by

as for

example

in the various historical volumes written

by

do not

give

much

place

to the Pente-

category,

is itself used in

history

entitled With

the dominant

several senses. The whole movement is often called “The Pentecostal Revival.” as in the sub-title of Stanley Frodsham’s

Signs Following.

2 The term revival is also

regularly given

to local

events,

outbreaks

of

particular evangelists,

revival,4

the Dunn revival,5 etc. From these more basic

usages,

the term

to

particular

both the more

spontaneous advertised

campaigns

revival has been

applied Time, etc.

as at Azusa Street3 and the

as with the Galena

services,

Reuival Hour, Revival

lDr. Orr’s account of Evangelical Awakenings from 1900, The Flaming Tongue, has eight pages out of two hundred on the Pentecostal movement

Revival in the Twentieth 2Stanley

Howard Frodsham, With Signs Following: The Story of the Pentecostal

Century (Springfield, MO: GPH, 1946).

p.

3″Azusa Street revival” is mentioned in The Apostolic Faith (Portland,

Oregon),

54. The phrases “Azusa Street revival” and “Azusa revival” are found throughout Pentecostal literature.

(St Louis, MO, 1916), p.

4B. F. Lawrence refers to “The Galena Revival” in The Apostolic Faith Restored

60.

from

5The Dunn revival in North Carolina began when G. B. Cashwell returned home

Azusa Street

Cf. H. V. Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids, 1971), pp. 124-139.

– 32-

2

The

designation awakeningl applied

to the whole movement, particular

Divine visitations human instrumentality

.

and

outpouring2

are

occasionally but

they

are more often used to refer to

when the

power

falls with no obvious

other than fervent

preparatory prayer.3

Preach- ing

of course forms a regular

part

of such local

awakenings

or

outpour- ings,

but it is not the initial instrument that it is in other forms of revivaL

use of the terms

awakening

of the distinctive character

and

outpouring

is a useful of these divine

eruptions

into the

the

early

Pentecostals

had a clear

This dominant

reminder

midst of God’s

People.

However,

as was

mentioned, sense of the

uniqueness

the

Evangelical

and Holiness certainly

of this movement of God’s

Spirit. By taking

over

terminology

already

at hand,

they

outpouring

did not see God’s

activity

in their mist as

simply

another blessing

of a familiar kind.

They expressed

in three main

ways:4 by calling

it Pentecost,5

the

uniqueness

of this new

by seeing

it as

lThe Apostolic Faith (Portland, Oregon, 1965), pp. 19, 41. Cf. also introduction to minutes of the Convention at Hot Springs, Ark. in 1914 quoted in K. Kendrick, The Promise Fulfilled (Springfield, MO: 1961), p. 83

2B. F. Lawrence’s book, cf. note 4 above, has the sub-title “A History of the Present Latter Rain Outpouring of the Holy Spirit Known as the Apostolic or Pentecostal Movement” Carl Brumback, A Sound From Heaven (Springfield, MO: 1977), pp. 19, 108.

With Signs Following, Foreword, pp. 51, 53.

Stanley Frodsham,

Outpouring

3Frodsham, op. cit, has chapters entitled “The Outpouring Throughout the South,” “The Pentecostal

Outpouring in the British Isles,” “The Outpouring in China,” “Great

in Central and West Africa,” and “Pentecostal

Outpourings in History.” References to local awakenings, Frodsham, Ibid., p. 103, Nichol, The Pentecostals

43.

(Plainfield, 1971), p.

“Apostolic

4A fourth designation pointing to a belief in the uniqueness of this movement is

Faith.” Cf. D. W. Faupel “The Function of ‘Models’ in the Interpretation of Pentecostal Thought,” Pneuma, Spring 1980, VoL 2 No. 1, pp. 52, 57-59.

preceded

1904).

SReferring to contemporary outpouring of the Spirit

as “Pentecost”

certainly

Azusa Street. The Cincinnati Enquirer describing Parham’s campaign in Galena, Kansas stated that “the ‘followers’ receive what they term ‘the Pentecost.’ ” (January 27,

Bartleman writes in Way of Faith

(August 1, 1906); “Pentecost has come to Los Angeles, the American Jerusalem” (op. ciG, p. 64). T. B. Barratt writes from Norway in January 1907 “A number have received their Pentecost” (quoted in Frodsham, p. 71).

– 33-

3

“the Latter Rain”l and by

calling

their

message

“the Full

GospeL”2 Interestingly,

all of these are found in the

preparatory period,

what we might

call God’s

build-up

for the Pentecostal

outpouring.3

3

The

Significance

of this

Usage

The word revival

obviously

in its basic

meaning refers

to a “coming to life.” Its

original usage among

Protestant Christians was

primarily corporate,

in

regard

to the

coming

to

life, coming

back to

spiritual

1 Parham spoke of “The Latter Rain” (cf. R. M. Anderson, Vision of the Disin- herited, (New York/Oxford, 1979), p. 84. Bartleman links Latter

Rain with baptism of the Spirit (Another Wave Rolls

p. 57). The phrase is widely used of Azusa Street and of the subsequent movement. Leonard Lovett says “The Latter Rain did not break suddenly upon

the world in one massive downpour, but began in scattered showers falling here and there before the real torrential storm broke … It was at Azusa Street, however, the watershed of pentecostal history, where the Latter Rain poured.” (art. in Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins, ed. V. Synan, Plainfield, NJ, 1975, p. 126). This was not however a standardized view in the early days: cf. phraseology of J. Nelson Parr in S. H. Frodsham, With Signs Following, p. 61.

2Klaude Kendrick states that Parham’s teaching was being called the “full gospel” by

1904 (The Promise Fulfilled, p. 60). Cf. also

quotations

from Henry Tuthill in Brumback,

A Sound From Heaven, p. 29.

3S. A. Keen a Holiness preacher, wrote in 1895: “Every Pentecost the world has witnessed has come by this promise (Luke 11, 13); by it all the Pentecosts of the future are to come” (Pentecostal Papers, Cincinnati, 1895, p. 12). There are also some inti- mations of Latter Rain expectation among the Holiness people; cf. A. B. Simpson, The Holy Spirit or Power From on High, I, New York, 1895, p. 286. Two teachers at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Institute at Nyack, NY

was

taught that “the Church

soon to receive the ‘Latter Rain,’ ” (Brumback, Ibid., p. 87). The term “Full Gospel” is closely linked with the fourfold roles of Jesus. Initially formulated by A. B. Simpson and promoted by The Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1887, the four roles of Jesus were Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming Lord. The Pentecostals took this over, changing Sanctifier to Baptizer

with the

Holy Spirit. “Returning King” is often now preferred to “coming Lord” but the meaning is the same.

– 34-

4

vitality,

of whole

congregations of individualism,

related to local Churches, dividualist

ance for sin,

forgiveness

power,

conversion.

cept

the

reality

described future includes a new

hope awakening

and

outpouring

in mass

campaigns

not

closely

conversion:

repent- the Blood of Jesus.

with the

past,

ex- Its outlook towards the

Coming.

The terms

but

possibly point

.

and assemblies.1 The later

progress

aided

by

and

expressed

led to the word revival

acquiring

a more in-

sense, meaning the mass conversion of individuals.

With its basic reference to

life,

revival focuses attention on God’s role and on the

Holy Spirit

as “the

giver

of life.”2 Revival means new life

through

Jesus Christ “I came that

they may

have

life,

and have it

abundantly” (John 10:10).

It aims at

personal

and

cleansing through

The word

suggests

manifestation of the

power

of God, his power to

save, and to do so on a

large

scale. Revival then

points

to action of

God,

Revival is not much concerned

in the

Scriptures.

for the Second

have similar associations

more

strongly

to God as the

agent

of revival.3

The terms used to indicate the

uniqueness

introduce new elements. Pentecost has a

sense. While

many

Pentecostals have

spoken

Pentecost

seekers, fervently awaiting

the divine

anointing.

It refers to a very

parti- cular

coming

of the

Holy Spirit,

and it makes evident its

missionary

a

way

in which the Pentecostal

movement not

surprisingly more

strongly corporate of their

personal Pentecost,

evangelistic purpose,

certainly

outshone its

predecessors.

of God’s work in this

strongly implies

a

body

of

movement

and has

on James 5:7 with

backing

in two distinct ideas:

first,

that

The “Latter Rain,” based

particularly

Joel 2:23 and Job 37:64

brings together

of the latter or

spring

rain is a return to the levels of

only

known in New Testament

autumn rain;

secondly,

that this

outpouring

this

outpouring blessing previously

of the Lord’s return.

times,

the

early

or is a

sign

of the

proximity

chapter

1 Cf. Richard F. Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Downers Grove, IL, 1979),

1.

Nicean-Constantinopolitan

2 Cf. the phrase “I/We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life” in the

Creed.

3 Awakening and outpouring do not have as common a secular usage as revival, though I do not see this as of great significance.

4Cf. also Deut. 11:14; Job 36:27-28.

– 35-

5

The term “Full

Gospel”

serves a rather different

purpose, drawing attention to the new elements in the

message proclaimed.

Whereas most

previous

revivals involved

simply

the

preaching

of the

message already professed

at least in

theory,

the Pentecostal movement preached

a fuller

message.

This of course was also seen as the restora- tion of the full

original message;

hence the

phrase

“Full

Godpel.”

The new elements

by comparison

to

previous

revivals were

baptism

in the Holy Spiri?

evidenced

by speaking

in

tongues,

and the

spiritual gifts, enumerated

by

Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

Charismatic

Usage

The use of the term “charismatic” to refer to Christians who are baptized

in the

Spirit

but who retain their

existing

denominational membership

and

loyalty

is of course

fairly

recent. It is not found to my knowledge among

those small

groups,

for

example

in Francel and Germany,2

who were

baptized

in the

Spirit

and remained in their Churches

many years

before the rise of the neo-Pentecostal move- ment in the United States. I use the term in this sense of Christians receiving

the Pentecostal

blessing

of

baptism

in the

Spirit

while remaining

members of their own

Churches,

even

though

the term

lThe word “charismatique” does not appear in the charter of the Union de Priere which arose in 1945 out of the revival dating from the early 1930s, especially in the Ardeche region, in which several French Reformed pastors were baptized in the Spirit.

2Ernst Giese does not use the term “charismatisch” of these groups and only speaks of the “charismatische Bewegung” with the return of Arnold.Bittlinger from a visit to the U.S.A. in 1963

(Und flicken die Netze, Marburg, 1976, pp. 221-223). Siegfried Grossmann’s section on Dates and Events under the heading “The Charismatic Renewal” in his Haushalter der Gnade Gottes (Wuppertal, 1977, pp. 45-54) includes numerous items prior

to Van Nuys and Dennis Bennett, but does not indicate that the terms “charismatic renewal” and “charismatic movement” were not then in use.

– 36-

6

“charismatic”

only gradually

took over from “Pentecostal” and “neo- Pentecostal” in the late 1960s and

early

1970s.1

On the whole, the first charismatics did use the

Evangelical

and Pentecostal

language

of revival,

awakening

and

outpouring.

In the first years following

the

surfacing

of this movement at Van

Nuys

in 1959- 1960,

there was no obvious

reaching

for new

terminology,

or dissatis- faction with the old.2 There was no

agreed way

of referring to the new movement

amongst

its

participants, though

its critics

regularly

de- scribed it as “the

tongues

movement.”3 The

designations

“neo- Pentecostalism” and “neo-Pentecostal movement” were

only slowly admitted,

but their awkwardness did not make for

widespread popular usage.

The

changes

of terminology, with which I am concerned

here,

came as a result of two interrelated factors. First, the rise of a consciousness of being part

of a

widespread movement,

as distinct from

just knowing that similar outbreaks were

happening

in

separate locations; secondly, the

resulting

sense of a call to mediate this

blessing

to one’s own Church. It was this

development

that led to the term renewal

coming

into the language

of the movement. It was

particularly

fostered

by the

formation in England in 1964 of the Fountain Trust, which has as one of its

explicit

‘

1 Grossman, op, cit, pp. 54-60, defines the difference between “Pentecostal” and “charismatic” entirely in theological terms, and not at all in terms of continued membership

of an historic Church. This is a peculiarly European, especially German, perspective,

which in my view fails to do justice to the Church commitment of people like Dennis Bennett whom Grossmann classifies as Pentecostal rather than charismatic. “In the neo-Pentecostal movement I place the overwhelming majority of

the Protestant charismatic movement in the U.S.A.” (my trans., p. 57). It fails to allow for a combination of traditional theological categories to interpret the Pentecostal experience and a real challenge

to the adequacy of those categories as a result of this same experience.

2The recognition that charismatics should seek first to understand the Pentecostal experience

in their own traditional categories rather than by taking over Pentecostal concepts

seems to have stemmed from Arnold Bittlinger’s visit to the U.S.A. in 1963.

3Whereas the terms “Pentecostal movement” and “charismatic movement/renewal” are theological designiations, “tongues movement” is phenomenological and so readily appeals

to behavioral scientists interested in the subject.

– 37-

7

aims: “To

encourage

Spirit …”1

The Fountain Trust’s appeared

from 1966.

Although

Michael

Harper, Trust,

later used the terminology responsible

for the

popularizing the word charismatic.

local churches to

experience

the

founding

magazine,

renewal in the

Holy itself entitled

Renewal,

of charismatic

father of the Fountain renewal,

he was more

of the term reneu;al than for that of

This is in line with what he wrote in 1964: “It is the renewal of the Church that God is principly (sic) concerned about-

not that of the

gifts.”2

early

in 1967 that

provided terminology.

of

ordinary

Catholic

parlance. revival

suggested something fanatical, certainly undesirably

fire to the Catholic Church

of

for most Catholics the word

Protestant and somewhat

It was the

spread

of the Pentecostal

a

major

new thrust for this

adaptation

An obvious reason is that the term revival was not

part

Indeed,

essentially

emotional.

By contrast,

the term renewal, was a

regular part

of Catholic

vocabulary.

had

brought

consciousness.

spoke

several times of “a new Pentecost” in connection

event of Vatican II

(1962-65) the forefront of Catholic

of Vatican II, this was

largely categories.3 People

renewal: renewal of the

liturgy,

all over the Catholic world were

talking

Indeed, the major Catholic

the

concept

of renewal to

Though Pope

John XXIII

with the aims expressed

in traditional Catholic

about renewal of

catechesis,

renewal of

that the

religious life,

renewal of parish life, etc. So, it is not

surprising

of this work of God in terms of renewal

have

traditionally

first Catholic Pentecostals

spoke rather than revival.4 Catholics

prayed

to the

Holy

lQuoted

from Renewal, No. 19, (February/March 1969), p. 3

2Michael Harper, Prophecy, A Gift for the Body of Christ (London, 1964), p. 5.

3Cf. of the speech of Pope John XXIII at the close of the first session of Vatican II, December 8, 1962, printed in The Encyclicals and other

messages of John XXIII

439-446.

(Washington, D.C., 1964), pp.

comp, by Ralph Martin,

4In an article “Before Duquesne: Sources of the Renewal,” James B. Manney shows how many of the first leaders in the Pentecostal movement in the Catholic Church had been prepared for this outpouring in other renewal activities. (The Spirit and the Church,

New York, 1976, pp. 21-41). Manney writes: “The leaders of the Catholic charismatic renewal… were formed in movements which stressed renewal of the Church. They were trained to evangelize nominal Christians and to encourage them to make a deeper commitment to the Lord, to integrate this new commitment into a vital Christian community, and to form leaders who would draw others to Christ” (pp. 23-24).

– 38-

8

Spirit saying

the words “Send forth

your Spirit

and

they

shall be created: and

you

shall renew the face of the eartli”l

.

book to come out of the movement costals, by

Devin and

Dorothy constantly.

A characteristic

passage.:

Ranaghan,

The

purpose

persons,

or

structures,

So in the first real among Catholics, Catholic Pente-

the word renewal occurs

of the Church

by

of

baptism

in the

Holy Spirit

is the renewal of

of

institutions,

bringing

about the realization of the risen Lord and the

present power

of his

Spirit

for true

worship

work

(p. 238).

When Catholics touched process

of

comparing

this movement

by

this Pentecostal

and effective

apostolic

grace began

the to other trends and movements

in the Catholic Church,

they quickly

saw the Pentecostal movement in their Church as a “renewal movement.”

George

Martin makes a

comparison

also made

by

other Catholics:2

with another renewal move-

ment, a comparison

Perhaps

a

comparison

ment. The

goal

of these

engaged

can be made with the

liturgical

move-

in the work of

liturgical

movement within the

their

renewal was not to create a

separate

Church and

enjoy quality liturgies among themselves; goal

was to renew the

liturgical

life of the entire Church. In order to

accomplish

this

goal i?

was

necessary

for the

liturgical movement to have some

organization

movement. Since the enactment of

liturgical

Vatican Council II, however,

–

and

identity

as a definite

reforms

by the

identity

of the

liturgical

movement as a movement has all but vanished.

It is in this sense that the charismatic renewal can be con- sidered a movement-a Catholic

pentecostal

goal

is a

charismatically

renewed

Church,

movement. The not a

separate

.

1This versicle and response from the Catholic liturgy for Pentecost Sunday comes from Ps. 104:30.

2This comparison is also made by Steve Clark, as for example in Where Are We Headed? (Notre Dame, IN, 1973, p. 19), and by Cardinal Suenens, A New Pentecost?

113.

(New York, 1975), p.

-39-

9

“pentecostal”

organization

“for

people

who

go for

that sort of

thing.” Having

some

identity

as a movement

may

be

necessary for a time in order to

accomplish

goal

is the

significant

one: a

charismatically

l

Church,

_

This kind of

comparison

Pentecost.”

buting uniqueness life than are Pentecostals

the

larger goaL

But the

larger

renewed Catholic

baptized

is

implicit

in all talk of a “new

in attri- character to

things

in Church

does not mean that Catholics

in the

Spirit

saw this movement as

simply

a recurrence of

something familiar in the

past.

I think a uniqueness

But Catholics are

generally

much more cautious

and an

unprecedented

and

many

Protestants.

It was in the

years

when Catholics were

reflecting

on the character

and

making comparisons

of the movement

Movement” to “The Catholic charismatic re-

over a period of years from about 1969

was still the common label and charis-

of this movement

that their basic

description Catholic Pentecostal

newal.” This

change happened when Catholic Pentecostalism matic renewal was

occasionally Catholic charismatic

Catholic Pentecostalism

renewal is the

accepted 2

is

rarely

heard.2

with

previous

changed

renewals from “The

mentioned,

until

1973, by which time

title and the

phrase

1 George Martin, “Charismatic Renewal and the Church of Tomorrow” in As the Spirit Leads Us (ecL K. & D. Ranaghan, New York, 1971), pp. 233-245. Quotation from p. 244.

1969, Pentecostals,

interchangeable.

Bergamo Center, Dayton,

2The titles of the books, articles and pamphlets that came out between 1967 and 1970 all refer to “the Catholic Pentecostal movement” or “Catholic Pentecostals.” By

the Ranaghans have occasional references to “charismatic movement” (Catholic

New York, 1969, pp. 222, 225, 240, 247) and to “charismatic renewal” (Ibid., pp. 228, 252, 258). By

the time of Steve Clark’s article “Charismatic Renewal in the Church” in As the Spirit Leads Us, imprimatur dated March 1,1971, the terms are virtually

Clark says: “Pentecostal movement, charismatic renewal, movement of the Spirit-it does not matter what we call it” (p. 18). However in a talk given at the

Ohio in June 1970, possibly spoken after the above cited article was written, Clark said “we should more often use the term ‘charismatic renewal’ to describe what the Lord is doing than ‘Pentecostal movement.’ ” (memeographed copy, p.

The change by 1973 can be seen in Steve Clark’s Where are we headed? and from New Covenant magazine.

2).

– 40-

10

Although

the

terminology

of charismatic renewal did not

originate among

the Catholics, as has

already

been

pointed out,

it was the Catholic

predilection

for the

language

of charismatic renewal and the Catholic lead in

organizing

and

structuring

this movement of God in their Churchl that

decisively

influenced the

terminology

used in all the historic Churches.2

The

Significance

of this

Terminology

It is interesting that the

change

of language from revival to renewal received

very

little

comment, whereas much more space was given to the switch from “Pentecostal” to “charismatic.”3 The term renewal in Catholic

usage

is at least as wide as revival in

Evangelical language, and is

possibly

more

complex.

One

thing

is clear about the modern

usage

of the term renewaL It always

has reference to life within an

existing order,

in this case life within the Churches. Renewal is never used of

break-away

movements that involve the formation of new denominations or conventicles. Unlike revival,

it

implies

essential links with the

past

and

suggests

a vision of historical

continuity.

The term

renewal, while recognizing a need for revitalization, sees this as

bringing

to life what is already

possessed. The

Ranaghans express

this

clearly, though

not all charismatics would be

happy

with

every aspect

of their formulation:

.

To

evangelical Pentecostals, baptism

in the

Holy Spirit

is a ‘new’ work of

grace.

In the life of a Catholic it is an ‘old’ work, yet practically

‘new’ because the

phrase

as used

by Catholic

pentecostals

is a

prayer

of renewal for

everything that Christian initiation is and is meant to be.4

1A decisive event here was the formation and name of the “Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service Committee” in June, 19 7 0. Cf. James Connelly in As the Spirit Leads Us, p. 232,

note 33.

2National service committees for charismatic renewal in the Protestant churches were all established subsequent to the Catholic committee. The same applies to the hold of annual denominational charismatic conferences.

3Cf. J. Rodman Williams, The Pentecostal Reality (Plainfield, NJ, 1972), p. 58.

4Catholic Pentecostals, p. 142. Cf. too the quotation from Herbert Schneider, SJ in S. Grossman, op. ciG, p. 38.

– 41-

11

Renewal

language

as in linear continuity the effective

functioning not been defined

by

awareness of hope.

The future is seen

of

grace.

While renewal has conversion and

relationship

is not

normally accompanied

the Second

Coming

as an

object

of Christian

with the

past.

Renewal tends to have as a focus

of the means

in terms of

personal

to Jesus Christ, it would be wrong to suggest that the

leading

advocates

with structural

history

a

long

tradition of

emphasis

the need for renewal to be anchored

of renewal are

just

concerned Catholic

Ralph

Martin

emphasizes relationship

to God:

a new Pentecost,

our

programs, structures, the will of man’-the

change.

There is in on

spiritual

renewal.2

2

in our

prayed

as he

opened

the

is that

they produce

life.3

of

spiritual

include frameworks proper

role of

discipline and

spontaneity.

Frankly,

Church renewal, indeed,

depends

on our

experiencing

as

Pope

John

Council.

Nothing

less will produce Church renewal. So many of

courses, sermons, are ‘of the flesh, of

frightening judgment

no fruit.

Only

what is of the

Spirit produces

The

language

of renewal does

recognize

that currents

life

require

various elements if the

impulses

of God are to be of lasting influence and not

merely

a

temporary

for renewed Christian life, an

understanding

and of the

relationship

enthusiasm. These elements

of the

between

planning

While

any

trend concerned with

enlivening

life can be called a renewal movement, this term has a

particular

use. In this more restricted

is a network of trends and convictions characterized

more restricted

1950)

principe qui peut faire

an

aspect

of Church

and sense,

a renewal movement

by:

lYves Congar, OP, in his major study, Vraie et fausse Reforme dans 1 ‘Eglise (Paris,

sees revival properly understood as a necessary basis for true renewal- “il revient directement a notre sujet de chercher dans le mouvement religieux de reveil lui-meme le

de lui ou une secte ou un renouvellement dans 1 ‘Eglise” (p. 291). For a Protestant appreciation of the spiritual basis of the Catholic liturgical renewal, Lovsky “Les renouveaux de xxe siecle,” Tychique,

no. 17, January 1979, pp. 53-58.

2This tradition is expressed for example in these sections of the Vatican IT Decree on Ecumenism emphasizing the nature of true renewal and spiritual ecumenism (para.

as e.g.’ “There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion”

6-8), (para. 7).

3Unless the Lord Build the House (Notre Dame, IN, 1971), p. 62.

– 42-

12

1. A clear

grasp

that a particular aspect of Church life is not what it

ought

to be.

2. A

growing understanding 3.

Seeing

that the

missing

of what is

lacking.

element is an essential of the life of the Christian Church

Testament.

according

component to the New

4.

Seeking

to convince one’s Church so that this

missing

dimen-

sion can be

effectively

restored

the historic

to the life of the whole Church.

The clear vision and

gifts

are not an

optional

of the Christian Church, as

portrayed

By comparison

movement,

the restoration

In these

terms,

it is clear that the Pentecostal movement within

Churches is a renewal movement.

conviction is that

baptism

in the

Spirit

and the full

range

of

spiritual

extra,

but an essential

component

of the life in the New Testament.

such as the

liturgical

renewal is concerned with

basic to the effec-

°

can be conceived

doing through

the charismatic which all other renewals are

incomplete

to other renewal

movements,

it is clear that the charismatic

and

recovery

of what is

absolutely

tiveness of the

Gospel.

In other

words,

no other renewal movement

which is more basic than what God is

showing

and

movement. It is the renewal without

and

ultimately

ineffective.

What is the

Significance Combination?

of the Renewal-Revival Contrast and

It is

possible

to

interpret

in rather

the data I have

presented

different

ways.

It is possible to see all these differences between revival and renewal as

proving

how

right

we have been in isolation from one

another.

Also Pentecostals

can see these differences matics have so taken over and

adapted

that it is no

longer truly Pentecostal,

to renewal

as showing how charis-

the Pentecostal

reality

and

no

longer

the “full In such a

view,

the

change

of

represents

a

process

of

in the traditional Churches can

say

that the

in a

theology

of

discontinuity

message

Gospel”

that

they

know and

proclaim. terminology

from revival

deformation.

Likewise,

charismatics

Pentecostal

message

was so rooted and so associated

tive to make

plain

the difference change

in

terminology again recognizes

with unbridled emotionalism that it was

impera-

between the two. In this view, the

a change from

Pentecostalism,

but this time it is seen as a

change

for the better.

– 43-

13

understanding.

by

differences

of the

king

I of what God is of these dif-

and with his Son

Jesus,

that

Both of these views, I suggest, are wrong and

lacking

in faith or

They

are more

impressed

have outlined than they are by the unity and the greatness

doing

in our

day. Any

true assessment of the

significance

ferences must start from the evident facts that God is

pouring

out his Spirit

on all flesh, that God is bringing

people

from all continents Churches into a living and vital relationship

Jesus is

baptizing

them in his

Holy Spirit,

that this issues in the

possi-

of our God, and that this God is

equipping

all

with his

gifts

for

evangelism,

for

service, and

bility

of united

praise

these anointed

people

for

upbuilding

the

Body

of Christ.

It is

necessary

God’s action in terms of cate-

those of the tradition out

are not

wholly wrong.

But

that we

interpret

gories

inherited from the

past, particularly

of which we come. After all, our

categories

what the

revealing

work of the

Spirit

does in anointing and

permeating his

People

is to reveal the

majesty

of Jesus Christ. As we are fashioned

into his likeness

(cf.

2 Corinthians ness of the

languages

concept

for

expressing

positively

connoted

3:18)

we find both the full rich-

and the limitations of

any one

not

tradition in the Old Testa-

we have inherited

the full truth about Jesus.

In fact both revival and renewal have a biblical foundation, just

in terms of the nouns and related verbs, but in terms of the realities

by

our modern

English

words. We can see

many elements of renewal in the whole

prophetic

ment with its constant summons of a rebellious Israel back to covenant fidelity.

Here there are the characteristic renewal

spiritual

condition of the whole

People

of God, of fidelity to the

heritage and of restoring the

city

of God to its

rightful glory. Something

can be sensed in the most

prophetic Revelation of

John, especially

concerns of the

similar book of the New

Testament,

the

to the Churches in

the

valley

of

dry

bones

in the

messages

chapters

2 and 3. In the

prophecy concerning

in Ezekiel 37 we can see a vision of revival and renewal

through

the infusion of the

Spirit

into the multitude of inanimate bodies. In the

we can find the main

ingredients

of the Word with

power,

extensive

personal

Acts of the

Apostles pectant faith, proclamation conversions,

and

missionary

zeaL2

of revival: ex-

devastated; they (Is. 61:4).

1 Cf. for example: “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long

will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations”

2Cf. Acts 2:1-41; 10:44-46; 13:44-49; 14:1,21; 17:10-12; 18:7-8; 19:1-7.

– 44-

14

has described.

the kind of contrast

However,

we do not find in the

Scriptures

between revival and renewal that we have inherited and that this

paper

The

positive

elements in both revival and renewal inter- mesh and cannot be

wholly separated.

as renew or renewall

life of the believer rather than to the means of

grace

in the Christian

ment

generally

translated

community.2

concepts.

But

historical

easy

for us to reconcile separated

two

concepts,

within the historic confessional

The words in the New Testa-

apply

to the

personal

emphases,

which it is not

Churches,

the other symbolize

It is not that there is

nothing

in common now between these two

it should be evident that

they carry

a

quite

distinct

freight,

and have

quite

distinctive

quickly,

even

though

we know

they

were not

in the New Testament. What I want to

suggest

is that these

one favored

by

Pentecostals and

Evangelicals,

and/or

liturgical

the

way

in which divisions between Christians limit the work of God. They

show us that what was united

by

God in the

Scriptures apostolic Church,

and that was sundered

by human sin,

do in fact

belong

together.

Allow me to illustrate

by very

fruitful contact one Pentecostal

assembly

and the

I could see in

this

point

from

my personal experience. My entry

into the charismatic renewal was marked at an

early stage

with classical Pentecostals.

I was blessed to know a more mature and .

alive version of what I was then

coming

to know in charismatic

and

Anglicans. Largely through this,

I knew there

groups

of Catholics

was

something very significant

prayer

about

Pentecostals,

and I came to

and not

simply

a subsection have been

living

in a covenant community

Spirit.3 In

this

community,

see

ways

in which Pentecostalism was a major new block in Christianity

of

Evangelical

community

built on the common foundation

we have been led

by

God to find

great

Christianity.

Since

1976,

I near

Washington, D.C.,

a

of

baptism

in the

Holy

1 Anakainoo, anakainosis, ananeoo, anakainizo.

(ananeoo), basic initiation

2They refer to renewal of the mind in Romans 12:2 (anakainoo) and Ephesians 4:23

the inner man in 2 Corinthians 4:16 and Colossians 3:10 (both anakainoo),

in Titus 3:5 (anakainosis) with some similarity in Hebrews 6:6 (anakainizo).

politan

3Mother of God Community in the Maryland suburbs of the Washington metro-

area has several hundred committed members and approaching a hundred households living a common life-style. Further information can be obtained from The

Mother of God Community, P.O. Box 34430, Washington, D.C., 20034.

Secretary,

– 45-

15

both in our town

tradition,

treasures

our first leaders being Catholics,l lives and teachings of St. Catherine and in other traditions,

Also we have discovered

of wisdom and

spiritual teaching

coming

to see marvelous

things

in the

Lewis7 and T. Austin-Sparks8

This community experience

of Siena2 and St.

Ignatius Loyola,3

figures

on both

my

conviction that

as with Andrew

Murray4

and

George

Mueller.5

great

riches in lesser-known

sides,

such as St. John of Avila8 on the Catholic side, and Jessie Penn-

on the Protestant.

has

strengthened

the centre of every Christian tradition is Jesus Christ. I see that charis- matics can remain loyal members of their Churches

Jesus Christ is the heart of their tradition and their

origins,

whatever the

contemporary

the

Spirit

because

had

after

baptism

in

state of their Church. I can

l One of the leaders, Judith Tydings, who read a paper at the S.P.S. meeting in 1977,

written a book Gathering a People that illustrates the exciting discoveries here mentioned (obtainable from the address in note 1). She is at present writing a book on how some leading saints lived out the basic Gospel message (to be published by Servant

Ann Arbor, Michigan).

Books,

2Cf. The Dialogue of the Seraphic Virgin, Catherine of Siena. Though subsequent translations do not mention this, the last English edition of the full text was by Algar Thorold (London, 1896). This has been re-issued several times with one section omitted

Christian Classics, Westminster, Md., 1973 and in paper-back by Pan).

in the Classics of Western Spirituality series is unreliable.

(recently by A new translation

Delmage, SJ, Boston, 1978) Olin,

3Cf. The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola (recent translation by L.

and The Autobiography of St

Ignatius of Loyola (ed. John C.

New York, 1974). An excellent biography and study is P. Dudon St Ignatius of Loyola trans. Wm. J. Young, Milwaukee, 1949.

4Cf. The Spirit of Christ (Fort Washington, PA, 1963).

5Cf. The Diary of George Muller, compo by A. J. Rendle Short (Grand Rapids, 1972); Answers to Prayer from George Muller’s narratives, comp. by A. E. C. Brooks (Chicago,

n. d.) .

6 Blessed John of Avila, The Holy Ghost (Chicago and Dublin, 1959). John of Avila was canonized in 1970.

7Cf. The Centrality of the Cross and The Cross of Calvary and its Message, (Fort

Washington, PA, n.d.).

8 C. The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Significance of Chris4 The Battle for Life, In Touch with the Throne, The School of Chris4 all from Bethesda, MD, n.d.

– 46-

16

see that

any

true

outpouring sions. So for me, the

language dropped;

the

Spirit’s

In an ecumenical

community,

our divi- I have

of which I knew little before.

traditions

of God’s

Spirit

must transcend

of renewal is not

something

rather it has a

deeper meaning finding

its full dimensions in the

putting

to death of the old man

by

the

power

of the Cross and

creation of the new man in Christ. But I have also dis- covered riches in the revival traditions

which values the

separated

to which its members

belong,

we are

finding

that God is

piecing

these

But this

synthesis

whereby

we

piece together

from renewal and make our own

synthesis.

in God’s own

work,

and we are

being taught

to use a wider

variety

of

elements

together. construction,

tools to understand it.

is not first of all an intellectual

elements from revival and

Rather the

synthesis

is

How it is put together

by the

Lord can be illustrated

the time-elements in the

concepts tioned,

revival reactivates end-times,

future,

to devise

strategies speaking,

our

community

to

community

tionships

and an awareness

awareness

given

for the

unbuilding

by considering of revival and renewal. As men-

a sense of the

But we have found in

in the

history

of the Catholic

of the return

all

plans

for the future. In

They

and

they

are

explicitly

bine all the characteristics early

Pentecostal instinct precedented

is thus confirmed. characteristic

terminologies ness.

apocalyptic expectations,

the

urgency

of the

hour; renewal tends

to build for the

to that

end,

to form

community. Humanly

you

could not

put

these

together.

life that all these

things

are

present.

The initial thrust

came out of a sense of the need for committed rela-

of community

Church. The

urgency

of the

hour, having

an

expectation

of Jesus, these have been

given by

the Lord to us as a

body.

But this

has not caused us to abandon

fact,

the

gifts

of the

Spirit

combine these two

perspectives. always go

with an end-times consciousness

of the

Body

of Christ.

In this

light

we can see how

truly

remarkable

gether

of Protestants and Catholics in this movement.

been in Christian

history

until now a movement

of impact and influence. No previous movement has been able to com-

typical

both of revival and renewal. The

to see in this work

something

It is

my hope

that this reflection on our

adds to our

understanding

– 47-

is the

coming

to-

There has not with such a wide

span

quite

un-

of this

unique-

17