Primitivism And Dispensationalism Of Aimee Semple McPherson

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Primitivism and the Redefinition Theology of Aimee Robert Cornwall* Dispensational premillennialism, or restorationism, theology. costal evangelist and founder premillennialism restorationism nineteenth-century Grant Wacker, proved American 23 of Dispensationalism Semple McPherson in the with its belief in the imminent Church of the force in several According to which Pentecostals often Their primitivism return of Jesus Christ, combined with a distinctive form of primitivism to form two central elements of early pentecostal These elements undergirded the theology of the early Pente- of the International Foursquare Gospel, Aimee Semple McPherson. While dispensational was a dominant theme in fundamentalist circles, itself to be an important religious movements. this primitivist impulse, referred to as the “latter rain” theory, preceded and bolstered the Pente- costal version of premillennialism. dispensationalism to fit the restoration and prophecy, into their dispensational and primitivism are ahistorical for the historical development and other Pentecostals, to believe that they the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church in the fulfillment of the Joel’s prophecy that in the last days God redefine including tongues Both dispensationalism tion.2 This lack of concern tianity led Mrs. McPherson, were witnessing enabled them to of spiritual gifts, 1 scheme. in orienta- of Chris- *Robert Cornwall is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Church History at Fuller Theological Seminary. (Urbana: University message, Wesley Myland 1 Grant Wacker, “Playing for Keeps: The Primitivist Impulse in Early Pente- costalism,” in The American Quest for the Primitive Church. Richard T. ed., of Illinois Press, 1988), 204-5. Robert Hughes, Mapes Anderson the places emphasis on premillennialism as the undergirding element of the Pentecostal in Vision of the Disinherited (New York: Oxford University Press, and 1979), 80-81. The tract The Latter Rain Covenant Pentecostal Power written by D. and published in 1910, provides an early glimpse at this restora- tionist motif. This tract is reprinted in Donald W. Dayton, ed., Three Pentecostal Tracts (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985). Cf. Grant Wacker, “The Func- tions of Faith in Primitive Pentecostalism,” Harvard Theological Review 77 October (July/ 1984), 364-67. ocally 2B. F. Lawrence in his 1916 tract, The Apostolic Faith Restored, 11-12, states that the Pentecostal movement has unequiv- sought to return to the New Testa- ment for its doctrinal and ecclesiological positions. He writes that the Pentecostals, unlike the “older denominations, has no the prior history, precedents, habits, or customs.” The Pentecostal position “leaps intervening years,” and goes “back to Pentecost.” The tract is reprinted in Three Pentecostal Tracts New York: Garland Publishers, 1985. 1 24 would pour out his “Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). This outpouring of what came to be known as the latter rain (Joel 2:23), involved the supernatural restoration of the purity of the New Testament church. Although the “exploits” of Mrs. McPherson’s life have often been addressed, little attention has been paid to these theological under- pinnings of her teachings. After providing a brief sketch of Mrs. McPherson’s life we will explore the ways in which the eschatological and the primitivist components of Mrs. McPherson’s theology con- tributed to her perception of the church and its historical development. Following a brief sketch of Mrs. McPherson, we will examine her theological presuppositions, especially, as they are contained in her definition of the “foursquare gospel.” Then we will attempt to analyze her eschatological presuppositions. Finally, we will look at her theory of the restoration of the New Testament church. Throughout, we will attempt to demonstrate how dispensationalism and primitivism worked together to lead her to the conclusion that her ministry was a part of God’s final act in human history. ° The Life Story of Aimee Semple McPherson The life of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) is complex and intriguing. She was not only a Pentecostal evangelist, but she was probably the first Pentecostal celebrity. Even in death she appeared larger than life. Her story begins with her conversion to Pentecostalism at the age of eighteen by a young evangelist, Robert Semple. After her subsequent marriage to Semple, and ordination in 1909 by William Durham, pastor of the North Avenue Mission in Chicago, the couple began their service in China as missionaries. Tragedy, however, soon overtook the young couple, when Robert died of malaria shortly after their arrival. With a newborn daughter, Roberta, to care for, Mrs. McPherson was forced to give up her ministry and return home. For a time her life revolved around her marriage to Harold McPherson and being the mother of two children, Roberta Semple and Rolf McPherson. Yet, the call to ministry remained, and in 1915 she em- barked on an itinerant evangelistic ministry, at first accompanied by her husband of four years, who served as her advance man. Eventually Harold tired of life on the road and left his wife to continue on alone. They were divorced in 1921. Aimee’s ministry, however, continued to grow and expand. In 1921 she settled in Los Angeles, which became the headquarters for her ministry. Aimee Semple McPherson, in many ways, was a pioneer in Christian ministry. She stands out in American religious history as an early advocate of the rights of women to serve in ministry It has been esti- mated that forty percent of Foursquare pastors in the early years of the denomination were women. Susan Setta states that even though there were conflicting patriarchal and feminist elements in her thought, she offered a powerful vision of the feminine in religion at a time when 2 25 women had a minimal role in mainline religion.3 Aimee also took a leading role in using the media to propagate the gospel; in addition to launching Bridal Call magazine in 1917, she was among the first people to use the radio for religious purposes. By 1924 she had opened one of the first religious radio stations in the country. Her other endeavors included the establishment of a Bible college, the construc- tion of Angelus Temple to serve as the centerpiece of her movement, the opening of a publishing house, and most importantly, the creation of a new denomination, which she led until her death. Despite having been ordained as an evangelist by the Assemblies of God in 1919, she returned her credentials in 1922, setting out on her own. She finally created the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1927 to facilitate here growing ministry. Yet, even after she created the denom- ination, she continued to have an ecumenical outlook and appeal. Throughout her life she preached in a wide variety of churches, includ- ing several mainline congregations, and her revival meetings were always done interdenominationally. In spite of her popularity and effectiveness in bringing the Pente- costal message to a broad audience, she was not immune from human frailty; twice divorced, there were many people who believed that her disappearance from a beach in 1927 was the cover for an affair with an employee of her radio station, Kenneth Ormiston. Her tragic death at the age of fifty-four of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills was simply the culmination of a series of physical and emotional problems that troubled her last years of life.4 Though accounts of her life have tended to be either hagiographic or highly critical,5 even her critics have sensed something special about 3Susan M. Setta, “Patriarchy and Feminism in Conflict: the Life and Thought of Aimee Semple McPherson,” Anima 9 (Spring 1983), 129-36. 4Edith Blumhofer, “McPherson, Aimee Semple (1890-1944),” in in Dictionary of Christianity America, Daniel G. Reid, Robert D. Linder, Bruce Shelley, Harry S. Stout, eds., (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 696-97. C. M. Robeck, “McPherson, Aimee Semple,” in Dictionary of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Stanley Burgess and Gary B. McGee, eds., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 568-72. 5Biographical accounts which cast Aimee in a positive light include her own autobiographies. Aimee Semple McPherson, In The Service of the King, New York: Boni and Liveright, 1927; McPherson, The Story of My Life, Raymond L. Cox, ed., Waco: Word Books, Inc., 1973; it was rereleased in 1979 by Foursquare publications under the title: Aimee. The Life Story of Aimee Semple McPherson. Raymond L. Cox, The Verdict is In, Los Research Publications, 1983, is an to to the that the Angeles: attempt respond charges kidnapping incident was an affair. Books including Robert Bahr, Least of All the Saints, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1979; Barr Sister Garden NY: and Nancy Mavity, Aimee, City, Doubleday, Doran, Company, Inc.; Lately Thomas, Storming Heaven, New York: William Morrow and Company, 1970, and Lately Thomas, The Vanishing Evangelist, New York: The Viking Press, 1979; are critical and focus on her lifestyle and on the disappearance in 1926. Other books 3 26 this woman. Richard Quebedeaux contributions made by Aimee Semple Religious scene, noting that ‘ flamboyant style courage industry has perceptively summarized the McPherson to the American Aimee Semple McPherson has been called the Mary Pickford of revival- ism and the P. T. Barnum of religion, but she was more than that. Her was a strange mixture of sentimentalism, temper, and that was right at home with the Hollywood show business she probably could have joined if she had wished to do so. But Sister Aimee always used her status, her visibility to reach the common man and woman with the 6 Gospel, her moral short comings-fabricated or true-not withstanding. the problems that she faced, Mrs. McPherson mainstream of early Pentecostal Pentecostal denomination were quite successful. Despite major Aimee Semple stood in the piety and her efforts at launching a Foundations the phrase the “Foursquare message. The four emphases, which described Jesus Pentecostalism churches, and were version Theological McPherson coined Gospel” to define her evangelistic other Pentecostals referred to as the “Full Gospel,” Christ as Savior, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, Healer, and Soon Coming King. These four teachings can be found throughout and the Charismatic Movement of the mainline presaged in the nineteenth-century by A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, who coined the phrase the “four- fold gospel.” The major difference between and that of the non-Wesleyan Pentecostals, was the substitution of the bap- tism of the Holy Spirit for sanctification. who retained the doctrine of entire sanctification, the Holy Spirit to form a five-fold gospel.7 Temple: Publishing Company, Simpson’s Wesleyan Pentecostals, added the baptism with written against her included an expose by a former associate pastor of Angelus John D. Goben, ‘Aimee’ The Gospel Gold Digger! New York: 1932. A Los fundamentalist pastor, Robert P. (Bob) Peoples Shuler wrote two responses to her Angeles ministry: “McPhersonism,” (Los Angeles, and pri- “Miss X,” Los Angeles, privately printed, n.d. 6Richard Quebedeaux, By What Authority. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, vately printed, n.d.), 1982),33. Evangelistic Gospel. Raymond 7Donald Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism. (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press and Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987), 19-23. Donald Dayton, “Theological Roots of Pentecostalism,” Pneuma 2:1 4. (Spring 1980), Aimee Semple McPherson, The Foursquare Gospel. (Los Angeles: Echo Park Association, 1946), 19. Aimee Semple McPherson, The Foursquare L. Cox, this book compiler, Los Angeles: Foursquare Publications, 1969; includes commentary on the emphases of the denomination by Dr. Cox with sermons by Mrs. McPherson on each of the themes. On A. B. Simpson’s of the “four-fold gospel” see: John Sawin, “The Fourfold Gospel,” in David F. Hartafeld and Charles Nienkirchen, eds., The Birth of a Vision (Regina, Saskatchewan: His Dominion, 1986), 1-28. along understandings 4 27 Although all four elements of her “Foursquare Gospel” had been espoused earlier by Simpson and other Pentecostals, Mrs. McPherson reported that the notion of the “foursquare gospel” came to her in a vision during a revival held in Oakland, California in 1922. She described the event in her autobiography, stating: It was in this Oakland revival that the concept of the Gospel as “Four- square” dawned in my heart. I had not been completely content with the designations Pentecostal or Full Gospel, though I had used both on the masthead of the Bridal Call.$ 8 The vision emerged in the context of a sermon on Ezekiel 1:1-28, and provides considerable evidence of her dependence, at times, on an alle- gorical hermeneutic. The four living beings with four faces were inter- preted as the symbolic representations of her Gospel. The human face, she contended, symbolized Jesus as Savior; the lion represented Jesus as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit; the ox symbolized Jesus as healer and the eagle portrayed Jesus as the Soon Coming King. She called this four-fold presentation of the ministry of Jesus the “perfect Gos- pel.” It was, she believed, “a complete Gospel for body, soul, for Spirit, and for eternity. A Gospel that faces squarely in every direction The “Foursquare Gospel,” she insisted, had its origin in God’s mind before the creation of the world, thus it was not a new Gospel, but it had been revealed to the world at a time when it was most needled.10 This message, which had been established according to the eternal counsel of God, was now being revealed in the last days. But God has in His Divine Providence chosen to emphasize in these latter days, the four important phases of His Son’s I have stated that the Foursquare message existed from ministry. eternity in type and shadow but for the last few years of time God has seemingly saved this definition of His Word. 11 I special As we have noted, the key difference between her position and that of A. B. Simpson, regarded her rejection of the Holiness position on sanctification. Mrs. McPherson affirmed William Durham’s “Finished Work” theory. Durham, who had been Aimee’s early mentor, rejected the idea of a second work of grace, asserting that the cross was suffi- cient to save and to cleanse a person of sin and death. Thus, conversion brought with it both salvation and sanctification. Although a Christian was sanctified at conversion, this sanctification needed to be progres- sively worked out in that person’s life. The “Finished Work” doctrine would, in time, come to be accepted by the majority of Pentecostals, including the Assemblies of God, with whom Aimee was associated 8McPherson, Story of My Life, 110. 9McPherson, Foursquare Gospel, 22. 10McPherson, Foursquare Gospel, 19-23. 11lMcPherson, Foursquare Gospel, 21. ‘ 5 28 for several years.12 McPherson cross, “It is finished,” therefore, need to be bound with those habits Evidence of this doctrine, was found in Jesus’ last words. bondage sanctification, she insisted course, Speaking apostolic Christianity, according to Mrs. Jesus cried out on the “the door is now open. You do not and chains another moment.” Thus, seek “the hidden life, by speaking in tongues, is, of theology. It is not spirituality, it is also a sign that the In the Pentecostal restora- if people would only call on Jesus he would free them from their to sin.13 In line with the progressive nature of the process of that the Christian was to “be sanctified daily,” partake of Christ’s holiness, continue to grow “stronger in faith, power, prayer, love and service,” unrelentingly where self decreases and Christ increases,” live soberly and unselfishly so as to be victorious in spiritual conflict, and finally reflect Christ in one’s life. 14 Baptism of the Holy Spirit, evidenced the most distinctive element of Pentecostal only seen as a mark of individual “latter rain” had begun to fall on the church. tionist scheme the outpouring of the Spirit in the last days was a sign of the complete return of a lost or diminished apostolic Christianity. in tongues served to give evidence of the restoration of because it was the only sign unique to the day of Pentecost It is the final component of this gospel that concerns us. The fourth cardinal doctrine declared that Jesus was the soon coming king, and her eager anticipation of a premillennial return of Christ may have her crusade of evangelism and for she considered herself to be one of God’s evangelists of the last days. 16 provided healing; the impetus for launching Eschatological McPherson coming Presuppositions on the second Aimee Semple placed great emphasis of Christ. In fact, she asserted that “there is every reason to believe His coming to be near, even at the door.”17 Yet, her dispensa- Gospel Publishing 12Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited, 166-73. Edith Blumhofer, The Assem- blies of God: A Chapter in the Story of American Pentecostalism. (Springfield, MO: House, 1989), 1:128-30. 13Aimee Semple McPherson, The Ministry of Christ and the Ministry of the Church. (Los Angeles: Foursquare Gospel Publications, n.d.), 17-18. 14McPherson, Foursquare Gospel, 150-52. l5pimee Semple McPherson, Fire From on High (Los Angeles: Foursquare Pub- lications, 1969), 107, 124. Aimee Semple McPherson, Lost and Restored, (Los Publications, 1976), 39-4 1 , 44-48. Dayton, Theological Roots 21-23, 26-28. Wacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 203-5. 16Aimee Semple McPherson, This is That. (Los Angeles: Echo Park Evangelistic Association, 1923), 75,663-64. Semple McPherson, The Second Coming of Christ. (Los Angeles: 1 pri- Angeles: Foursquare of Pentecostalism, Aimee vately printed, 1921), 35. 6 29 tional model was modified to fit her needs. She affirmed dispensa- tionalism’s pessimistic view of world history, but instead of distin- guishing between the apostolic and church ages, as the fundamentalists such as C. I. Scofield had, she conflated the two dispensations. While, as Timothy Weber has noted, Dispensationalists tend to differentiate between God’s dealings with Israel and the church so that the church is excluded from the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies thereby making the church age little more than a parenthesis, Mrs. McPherson affirmed that God is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). God’s plan, the “foursquare” gospel, has “existed from eternity,” therefore, God is working today in the same way as He always has.18 The affirmation of Dispensationalism’s pessimistic view of world history which, according to George Marsden, would see great a con- frontation between Christ and Satan just prior to the beginning of the millennium, enabled her to conclude that the end was near. She rejected postmillennialism which posited that the world would con- tinue to get progressively better, stating that crime and sin were on the increase, evidence that a premillennial view made more senses. 19 Mrs. McPherson’s belief that she was living in the final days of human history, was based on watching the signs of the times that would precede Christ’s return. She wrote: In answer to the questions of His disciples in Matt. 24, Jesus told of many signs that precede, and indicate the approach of that day; signs that were to be seen in things national, spiritual, educational, and touch walk and every calling in life. These signs were to point like mile posts to that great event.20 Among the signs was the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that the fig tree would put forth leaves in the last days (Matthew 24:32), signaling the restoration of the Jewish people to Israel and the end of the age. In addition to the return of the Jews to Palestine, which would enable them to begin rebuilding the Temple, she pointed to the recent conclu- sion of the First World War, the coldness and formality of the existing churches, as well as the emergence of false gospels, such as Christian Science. Other signs included the increased technology of the twenti- 18McPherson., Foursquare Gospel. 14, 21. McPherson, This is That. 675. Wacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 204-5. Timothy Weber, Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 19-21. Cf. Gerald T. “Pentecostals and the Hermeneutics of Dispensationalism: The of an Sheppard, Anatomy Uneasy Relationship,” Pneuma 6:2 (Fall 1984): 5-10. Sheppard mainly focuses on the Pentecostal belief in a pre-tribulation rapture rather than on the of the different development dispensations and their correlation to the Pentecostal eschatology. l9Aimee Semple McPherson, “The Wedding in the Air,” in Foursquare Gospel (1969), 182. George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), 62-63. 20McPherson, Second Coming, 35. 7 30 century, was increasing in the twentieth attributed these inventions supernatural Christ’s impending return.21 coupled the restoration eth century. She wrote that knowledge such devices as the telephone, radio, the gasoline engine, as well as the airplane were portents of the coming of Christ. She not to the progress of humanity, increase of knowledge, With these portents of the future she of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. but to a which would serve as a sign of Then too, in these days the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon all flesh, and in every land a spiritual company are preparing for the rapture. Surely, surely according to your words, the signs of the times, the coming of Lord must be near at hand, yea, even at our very door.22 Despite the assurance that the last days were at hand, to her credit, she refrained from making predictions event.23 Mrs. McPherson, Fundamentalist cousins especially speaking tion. She developed about the date and hour of the broke ranks with her with the a separate dispensation. redemption.24 tology of the Methodist along with other Pentecostals, in refusing to relegate the gifts of the Spirit, in tongues and prophecy, to an earlier dispensa- a three-fold form of dispensationalism, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each influencing Each of the three dispensations reflected one of the steps in the plan of This dispensational was also seen in the escha- leader John Fletcher, who, in contrast to John pushed program eschatology over postmillennialism. eschatology could easily be Wesley, opted for a premillennial Donald Dayton points out that Fletcher’s in a Pentecostal direction, since he believed that he was living in the age of the Holy Spirit. Thus, this tripartite dispensationalism which had John Fletcher as an antecedent, enabled Pentecostals to transform dispensationalism in such a way as to allow for the continu- ance of spiritual gifts in the present age. 52 The first dispensation encompassed the personal reign of God the Father, and lasted from the fall of Adam to the birth of Christ. Sin and death dominated this period of human history. The fall of Adam and Eve from grace necessitated the provision of a method of reconcilia- tion because God could not look upon sin. Mrs. McPherson wrote: In that fall from grace mankind fell so low and descended to such that nothing short of the combined efforts of the Triune God depths, 2lMcPherson Second Coming, 36-98. McPherson, “Wedding in the Air,” 187. The relationship of the Jews to the second coming is also discussed along similar lines in Aimee Semple McPherson, When the Fig Tree Putteth Forth Her Leaves Los Bridal Call, n.d. Angeles: 22McPherson, This is That, 663-64. 23McPherson, Second Coming, 33-34. “Playing 24McPherson, Lost and Restored, 11-13. McPherson, This is That. 671. Wacker, for Keeps,” 204-5. 25Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism, 145, 149-53. 8 31 could lift him up to reinstate him in the presence of the Father blameless, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.26 The whole of human history following the fall of Adam and Eve, therefore, anticipated the coming of Christ. God had set aside a people, Israel, through whom he would send his Son, “the love gift to sinners.”27 The second dispensation began with the incarnation of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels. The first dispensation was linked to the second through the preaching ministry of John the Baptist, with the second dispensation culminating in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This event, however, was not able to procure salvation by itself, so there was the need of a third force. The second dispensation, the life of Jesus, taking in the birth of Christ- boyhood-baptism in the Jordan-ministry-last supper and garden- crucifixion and burial-and the resurrection of our Lord, while com- pletely spanning the gulf between God and man, salvation from sin through his precious blood, still needed the work and the bringing dispensa- tion of the Holy Spirit, third person of the Trinity, to complete the plan of redemption in its fullest sense.28 She also stated that Jesus’ ministry was limited to the “lost sheep of Israel.” This, too, served as a prelude to the sending of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the work of Christ during the second dispensation served as the foundation for the sending of the Holy Spirit to the church, which was the final step in the plan of redemption. g2 The third dispensation, inaugurated by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church on the day of Pentecost, did not end with the death of the Apostles, as it did in the Fundamentalist dispensational scheme. Whereas the Fundamentalists divided between the age of the Spirit and the church age, McPherson and the Pentecostal dispensa- tionalists conflated them.30 The age of the Apostles was simply the “former rain” of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The “former rain” was accompanied by signs and wonders, including speaking in tongues (Acts 2). Yet, in the centuries following the first outpouring of the heavenly rain a dark age emerged as the church lost the gifts and power of the Spirit. Now, in the closing days of the age of the Spirit, a new rain was falling, thus restoring the blessings of the earliest years of the church. This theme also marked her famous restorationist sermon Lost and Restored. Mrs. McPherson insisted that they would continue to live in this “dispensation of the Holy Ghost” until “Jesus sweeps back the billowy clouds which curtain earth from heaven, and 26McPherson, This is That, 672. 27McPherson, Lost and Restored, 11; McPherson, This is That, 672. 28McPherson, This is That, 672. McPherson, Lost and Restored, 11-12. 29McPherson, Lost and Restored, 12. 30Wacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 203-5. 9 32 takes the bride unto himself.”31 This “latter rain” fell in anticipation of the parousia and the close of human history. We stand today on the verge of the Second Coming of the Lord. Through the of the the Church is restored to the full standard of Pentecostal power Spirit being power and perfection. A little band of overcomers is despised coming through blood and fire, triumphant, purged and made white through the blood of the lamb.32 The restored church, a minority of the population, would do battle in the days preceding the rapture of the church and the millennial reign of Christ on earth. The final stage of history was the great judgment of God the Father. Thus, as Mrs. McPherson points out, the circle was completed, Father-Son-Spirit-Son-Father.33 Later, Mrs. McPherson developed a second, more expanded, form of dispensationalism comprised of six ages. Each dispensation was based on an allegorized interpretation of one of the six days of creation. The six dispensations consisted of the ages of innocence, conscience, law, law and the prophets, Christ, and finally the Millennium.34 While she had earlier distinguished between the age of Christ and that of the church and the Holy Spirit, in this scheme she conflated the church age and that of Christ. The lack of consistency might be a matter of over- sight, but more likely it was a case of sermonic effect. In Aimee’s mind the evidence for a dispensational outline was not limited simply to Biblical accounts. She claimed that the Great Pyramid of Cheops revealed God’s time table of history; the pyramid was designed for the explicit purpose of revealing historical events. The passages within the pyramid gave evidence that world history was nearing its consummation; each passageway revealed aspects of prophetic history, the tribulation, the millennium, judgment, and eter- nal life in heaven. She reported that the Pyramid’s grand gallery ended suddenly at a step; by “measuring from the step to the narrow passage, it was prophesied the date of the World War [I] before a cannon was fired. “35 Though not primary evidence, it did reach out to those readers who found such exotic elements convincing.36 31 McPherson, This is That, 675. 32McPherson, This is That, 675. 33McPherson, This is That, 676-77. 34Aimee Semple McPherson, “Eternities Time Piece,” Bridal Call (June 10. 1929), 35Aimee Semple McPherson, “Prophetic Pyramids,” Bridal Call (June 1929), 10. 36A similar view is expressed in Basil Stewart True Bible Chronology. (London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1930), 1-2, 16. Stewart claimed that other contem- porary to coordinate the Great Pyramid with the biblical chronology had varied widely in their conclusions, but he believed that he had discovered the correct attempts version. Stewart concluded that the design of the pyramid provided corroborative evidence of the biblical chronology. 10 33 Even though Aimee affirmed the “finished work” of Christ on the cross, she seemed to gloss over Christ’s final victory on the cross in order to make room for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Although Christ was the means of salvation, once he ascended into heaven he effectively disappears from the process of salvation. Jesus, like the Father before him, turned his ministry over to the next person of the Godhead. Although she affirmed orthodox trinitarian doctrine, by assigning each of the dispensations to different members of the Trinity she approached what could be seen to be either a modalistic or a tri- theistic view of the Trinity. Limits were placed on the extent to which God as Father, Son, and Spirit, could work in concert. While she did allow for some concerted action, for the most part, she distinguished their ministries to a great extent, as is seen in her insistence that salva- tion and healing came only through the work of Christ and not that of the Father. The Father appears only as creator and judge.37 Mrs. McPherson’s definitions of the Godhead, however, are, as Grant t Wacker has demonstrated, evidence of the lack of a fully developed or understood Pentecostal doctrine of the Trinity. Though they might insist that Father, Son, and Spirit were persons, he notes that the per- son of Jesus essentially eclipsed the person of God the Father in early Pentecostal teaching, while the Holy Spirit was largely seen as an impersonal power, what Aimee refers to as God’s “executive power.”38 There is a lack of precision in her doctrine of God, which, perhaps, can be attributed to theological naivete. Yet, another explana- tion might be found in the sermonic intent of her writings. She was not attempting to teach a developed doctrine of God, rather she was trying to proclaim what she believed was the Gospel, and that focused on Christ’s return to set up his millennial kingdom. This did, however, lead to the down playing of church history, which was at best, in her scheme, exceedingly dark.39 Lost and Restored Restorationism or Primitivism is the common theme of several American religious movements, including Pentecostalism, Mormonism and the Stone-Campbell movement.4? The primitivist impulse seeks to restore the essence of “pure Apostolic Christianity” to the modem 37Aimee Semple McPherson, “The Holy Spirit,” Bridal Call (March 1928), 29. McPherson, “Ministry of Christ,” 9. McPherson, Foursquare Gospel (1969), 272-73. 38Wacker, “Functions of Faith in Primitive Pentecostalism,” 356-57. 39McPherson, This is That, 675-76. 40See essays on restorationism by Grant Wacker (United Methodist), Jan Shipps (Mormon), and Bill J. Humble (Church of Christ), in Richard T. American the Primitive Church. Urban and Hughes, ed. Quest for Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988. Cf. Blumhofer, Assemblies of God, 1:18-22. Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 167-70. 11 34 Church. With the notable exception of Mormonism, the New Testa- ment church, especially as it is found in the book of Acts, serves as the blueprint for the modern church.41 Each movement has elevated certain distinctive elements of the early church to highest priority; while they overlap at some points, at others they diverge from one another. Pentecostals, including Aimee Semple McPherson, made the baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues to be as the primary distinguishing mark of the restored church.42 Mrs. McPherson first enunciated her restorationist position in a sermon she preached in London when she was eighteen years old. The sermon, entitled “Lost and Restored,” purportedly found its origins in a vision. It was one of her first theological statements, and in develop- ing her views of church history, she gave her listeners a glimpse of both her theology and her methodology.43 This vision, like her vision of the “Foursquare Gospel,” rested on an allegorical interpretation of an Old Testament passage. The hermeneutical dangers of a popular nonreflective theology are seen in the method by which she claimed she chose the text for the sermon. The introduction to the published version of the sermon records her recollection of the vision. Before starting to speak, I opened my Bible with eyes closed, trusting God for my text, and my finger was guided to a certain verse, when I and read it, this was the verse the Lord had given me: “That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that opened my eyes which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the hath left hath the caterpillar eaten (Joel 1 :4).”44 The text of Joel provided the biblical proof text for her delineation of the demise of the church in history. The same method was used to find the text to explain the restoration of the church. Just so when I came to the bottom of the circle, and the dark ages were pictured in their horror, my hand automatically turned the page over to the second chapter and placed my finger upon the following verse: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, and the canker- worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25).45 . 4lWacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 199. Mormonism supplemented the New Testa- ment with subsequent revelations, including the Book of Mormon and the ongoing revelations of the president/prophet of the church. Cf. Jan Shipps, “The of the Restoration and the Restoration Ideal in the Mormon Tradition,” in American Reality Quest for the Primitive Church, 182-84; David Edwin Harrell, Jr., “Epilogue,” in American Quest for the Primitive Church, 239-45. 42Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited, 83. Wacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 205. 43McPherson, Lost and Restored, 6-10. The text of the sermon can also be found in McPherson, Foursquare Gospel (1969), 13-38. 44McPherson, Lost and Restored, 9-10. 45McPherson, Lost and Restored, 10. 12 35 The course of church history, first its decline and then its restoration, were then presented in detail. The critical observer must question whether such a method would allow for the presentation of a detailed description of historical events. While historical and doctrinal devel- opment appeared in the course of church history, the method to explain it used by Mrs. McPherson seems both superficial and naive. Also, while the church has allowed for allegorical interpretation of Scripture, one must ask whether or not she did justice to the text. At no point in the sermon did she discuss the original context of the passage, nor did she allow the context to influence her interpretation. The vision, and the resulting sermon, presented the establishment of a pristine church at Pentecost and its gradual decline into impurity. Then a step-by-step restoration of the church was begun with the Reformation and moved forward through history until it reached its culmination in the Pentecostal movement. The movement of restora- tion rested in the hands of God and was worked out supernaturally without human involvement. This view of the restoration of New Testament Christianity differs markedly from that envisioned by Barton Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell in the nineteenth century. The Campbells and Stone saw restoration as the reasonable result of the study of Scripture. Following the methodology espoused by John Locke and by Scottish Common Sense philosophy, they tried to restore the pattern they believed was revealed upon the pages of Scripture. For Mrs. McPherson restoration occurred supernaturally as God unfolded successive stages of development in reverse order from the church’s historical decline.46 The sermon was visually illustrated by a chart presenting a large circle enclosing ten smaller circles. The large circle represented the third dispensation of Mrs. McPherson’s of her dispensational system. Thus, the connection of the eschatological age of the Holy Spirit was linked to her restorationist message. The ten smaller circles symbol- ized the ten stages of church history, which were to end with the last days and the full restoration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.47 Mrs. McPherson’s depiction of church history began with the picture of a tree containing eighteen apples. The apples represented the nine gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-10), and nine fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The first stage encompassed the first century church and pictured the church as a tree in its “perfection, the church 460n the restorationism of the Stone-Campbell movement see: Lester McAllister and William Tucker, Journey in Faith: A flistory of the Christian Church St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1975; Henry E. Webb, In Search (Disciples of Christ) of Christian A Unity: History of the Restoration Movement, Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 1990; Leroy Garrett, The Stone Campbell Movement. Joplin, MO: College Press, 1981. 47The chart can be found in McPherson, Lost and Restored, 4, and in McPherson, This is That, 665. 13 36 Spirit.”48 for, according to perfect power and strength.”49 stood blazing with the full pentecostal power and glory of the Holy The gift of tongues formed the centerpiece for this period; Aimee and most Pentecostals, tongues was the “biblical evidence” of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The first chapter of the history of the church ended, however, “leaving the tree rooted and grounded in the faith of Jesus, every limb, branch, leaf and fruit in The New Testament church, as opposed to the church that existed in the following years, perfectly exhibited all that God desired the church to be. Gradually the pristine nature of the church was lost through a series of historical events. Circle two visualized the palmerworm the gifts and fruit of the spirit. ‘ performed, message mcssages eating away Not so many sick were healed as of yore, not so many miracles were faith was on the wane, when someone in the assembly had a in tongues there was no one who had the gift of in interpretation, prophecy were not so frequent as of yore. The fruits of unselfish love and joy and peace were also attacked by the palmer worm who grew bolder and bolder day by day. tongues, formality of persecution. of both the fruit of the baptism, speaking in meetings and praise developed. She noted that a of the church was the by the increased This period ended with the complete disappearance and the gifts of the Spirit.50 Mrs. McPherson did not stipulate when this stripping away of the church’s power occurred, rather she simply recounts that it happened over time. No reference is made to either Constantine or to the development of the ecclesiastical hierarchy as causes of this decline. The process is simply noted. The third era, the age of the locust, saw further destruction of the tree occur. The locust attacked the leaves of the church, so that wherever it worked the tree was left bare. In stage three the baptism of the Holy Spirit, along with the biblical evidence disappeared. In the place of seeker’s gatherings and sectarianism direct result of the loss of the early simplicity disappearance The Spirit, quenched formalism of the church, withdrew from their presence. Now Chris- tians claimed that the Holy Spirit was received without “the Bible seal or evidence of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. “51 1 the branches of “holiness” leaving the church in a worldly condition; stage five make its nest in the decaying trunk of the once pristine The cankerworm destroyed gifts in stage four saw the caterpillar church. In this 48McPherson, Lost and Restored, 19. It is important to notice that the description of the perfect, Spirit-filled and empowered church neglected the additional lists of found in 1 Corinthians 12:29-30; Romans 12:4-8; and Ephesians 4:11. 49McPherson, Lost and Restored, 20-21. Lost and Restored, 22-24. 51 50McPherson, McPherson, Lost and Restored, 24-25. .. 14 37 period the final aspect of the true church was lost, the doctrine of jus- tification by faith.52 As the church reached the depths of decay with the “Dark Ages” justification by faith was replaced by the cruelties of penance, through which Christians attempted to win a place in heaven. Of this dark age she writes: No wonder they are called the Dark Ages. Ah! dark indeed is the night without Jesus. He is the Light of the world, and when the Church lost sight of Justification by Faith, lost sight of the atonement, the blood of Jesus, there was a total eclipse and the face of the Sun of Righteousness was obscured, and the succeeding years that followed are known as the Dark Ages. Thus, in circle six all was lost and the tree was dead.53 As the church hit bottom, God slowly began to turn the tide upward. First, Martin Luther and John Calvin helped bring about the restoration of justification by faith (circle seven). As the roots of the tree sank deep once again, the destruction wrought by the caterpillar was slowly reversed. This attempt to reconstruct the pure church of the New Testament brought with it persecution, as martyrs were burned at the stake or were tortured by the inquisition.54 Following the restoration of justification by faith at the Reformation, holiness was reestablished in the church. This marked the second stage of restoration (circle eight), as the destruction caused by the cankerworm was repaired. Mrs. McPherson pointed to the important work undertaken by Holiness preachers, such as John Wesley, Charles Finney, and William Booth, in the process of purifying the church. She also stated that signs and wonders were occasionally present in the meetings of some of these leaders. She claimed that speaking in tongues was an accepted element of the Salvation Army. Yet, she insisted that when the followers of these holiness preachers “began to drift into the same cold formal state as the others before them, the power and manifestation of the Spirit began to lift from their presence.”55 Despite the resurgence of holiness and the ardor of groups such as the Salvation Army, in which she had worked, the restoration process was not yet complete.56 Mrs. McPherson made it clear that the restoration of the church would not be complete until all that the caterpillar, the cankerworm, locust and the palmerworm had eaten had been restored. She wrote: “When God . 52McPherson, Lost and Restored, 26-28. 53McPhcrson, Lost and Restored, 28-29. 54McPherson, Lost and Restored, 31-34. 55McPherson, Lost and Restored, 36. 56McPherson, Lost and Restored, 37. Having worked as a solicitor for the Salva- tion Army prior to the start of her evangelistic ministry, she noted the existence of experiences such as being slain in the Spirit and the reception of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues within the Salvation Army movement. Cf. McPherson, 73. Story of My Life, 15 38 precursor says ‘ALL’ does he mean all or only half? Why, he means all. to be sure. “57 She believed that the Holiness movement was a genuine to the Pentecostal movement; still, the world had not yet witnessed the complete restoration of the distinctive Pentecostal doctrines and experiences. In stage nine the leaves eaten by the locust were replaced and once again the baptism with the Spirit, evidenced in tongues, was known in the church. Mrs. McPherson experienced prior to this, but it at large. The “latter world by speaking noted that Christians had . the reception of the Holy Spirit and had spoken in tongues had not been the common experience of the church rain” promised by the prophet Joel, was to be a wide event, one that began, according to Aimee, with the Welsh Revival under the leadership of Evan Roberts. She wrote that never had “such a world-wide revival [been] known to spread so quickly and Not only had the Spirit fallen in the United States and in Wales, but this “latter rain” was also felt by Christians in Africa, China, India, and even in the “Islands of the sea.”58 simultaneously.” of the “latter rain,” restoring opponents The Spirit was poured out upon praying bands in numberless places, who had never heard before of the coming of the Holy Spirit. In every instance, without exception, those who received the Holy Spirit spoke in other tongues exactly as those who had received in Bible days had done. The laucr rain was falling on earth.59 She documented the opposition accorded the preachers but she triumphantly declared that no one could “stop God from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” In fact, the churches of the to the Pentecostal movement had dried up spiritually and ever, had lost their fire for holiness. In the end, no one would dare to oppose the movement of God in the church.? The baptism in the Spirit, how- was not enough, so Christians would have to press on until the restoration was complete. The final stage of God’s program of restoration involved the perfec- tion of the church. The consummation of the age awaited the return of all the apples eaten by the palmerworm. and speaking in tongues were perceived renewal of the church, but the reappearance and fruit of the Spirit throughout if the church was to be perfected. In circle 10 we see the fruit not yet fully mature, perhaps, but as we pray and yield ourselves to the Spirit, He will divide to every man severally spiritual gifts sary 57McPherson., Lost and Restored, 38. The baptism in the Holy Spirit to be the key steps towards of the full expression of the church was neces- 58?,IcPherson, Lost and Restored, 39-40. B.F. Lawrence’s Apostolic Faith Restored, 52-112, also describes the global expansion of the Pentecostal but there message, is no intimation that it was a simultaneous event. 59McPherson, Lost and Restored, 40. 60McPherson, Lost and Restored, 39-43. 16 39 as He will, and cause the gifts and fruits of the Spirit to be visible in our midst.61 The full spiritual perfection of the church, however, awaited the con- summation of the age and the inauguration of the new age of Christ’s s direct rule on earth. In the end the eschatological implications of Mrs. McPherson’s primitivist proclivities are revealed. The restoration of the baptism of the Spirit with the accompanying evidence of speaking in tongues was the key eschatological sign of the “latter rain,” pointing to the “truth” that the church was entering the last days. Joel’s prophecy of the God pouring out the latter rain was being fulfilled before their very eyes (Joel 2:23).62 The arrow that had once been moving downward was now reaching toward the final circle, that is, the reappearance of a per- fect and mature church. Aimee believed that Jesus was going to come quickly to claim his church. Coming for a perfect church, clad in power, in glory, for the perfect tree with every gift and fruit in luscious mellow, tion upon her branches. 0 let us wake hanging developed perfec- up and press on to perfection! The winter is over and gone, the spring with its former rain has passed, the summer is passing and the latter rain has long been falling.63 She perceived that the harvest was at hand but she presumed that Jesus was waiting for fully ripened fruit before he came for the church. She was sure the church was nearing the end and Jesus would return for the church soon. But the church was cautioned to continue to press on until perfection was attained. Those who faltered would be passed over. Aimee Semple McPherson’s sermon, Lost and Restored. provides considerable insight into her theological position as well as her under- standing of church history. First, her primitivism, like that of most other Restorationist groups, leads her to denigrate or ignore the contri- butions of the church of the middle ages and even some aspects of the Reformation. Although there certainly was corruption, and the central- ity of the doctrine of justification by faith was often lost sight of, she appears to be unaware of the important theological work done during the Middle Ages by both church leaders and by reformers, such as Francis of Assisi, John Wycliffe, and John Huss. She fails to recognize the missionary endeavors of this period, which brought the Christian faith to northern Europe, Scandinavia, and to Russia. The medieval church may be rightly critiqued for the places it fell short, but restora- tion minded church leaders also need to recognize the great contribu- tions of this era. 6lMcPherson, Lost and Restored, 46. 62Aimee Semple McPherson, “The Baptism of the Holy Ghost,” in Foursquare Gospel ( 1969), 115. 63McPherson, Lost and Restored, 46. 17 40 The heart of Mrs. McPherson’s restorationist here, whether intended or not, “rejected speaking of the conversion of Cornelius tory scheme, of course, is precedent that there was no the restoration of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. There is a danger for Pentecostalism to see itself as being the apex of Christianity. Of course, this is a problem that plagues all restoration movements who believe that they are restoring the purity of the primitive church. In this case, Christians are divided according to whether or not they have spoken in tongues; those individuals who lack this particular experience are seen as having less spiritual vitality than those who have had this experience. Mrs. McPherson gives evidence of this view when she states that the movements that have the Holy Spirit,” in other words, those who have rejected in tongues, have lost their spiritual power Pentecostals base their insistence on the relationship between tongues and the baptism with the Spirit on the historical found in the book of Acts.65 Mrs. McPherson concludes, on the basis in Acts 10:45-46, alternative but to suppose that speaking in tongues was not a “transi- manifestation which had occurred once for the convincing of the Jews, devout men from every nation under Heaven (Acts 2:5), [but] had been a definite, lasting, conclusive, inimitable outward proof of the incoming of the Holy Ghost.”?6 Yet one could respond, as Frederick Dale Bruner has, that this sign was convincing precisely not because it was expected or required, even the most skeptical would believe that God had chosen to admit Gentiles Jews into the church. Bruner also points out that in the case of Cornelius and his household the experience to conversion but at conversion. John Koenig states, correctly, that the clearly demonstrates that God gives the gifts of the Spirit to whomever he chooses; thus, no spiritual event is required such as prophecy and wisdom. there is so much variety in the manner of unexpected, therefore, New Testament prior to receiving the higher gifts Instead, as Koenig points out, but because it was unusual and Jewish Christians as well as the did not come subsequent Spirit. 64McPherson, Lost and Restored, 42. Aimee Semple McPherson, The Holy (Los Angeles: Challpin Publishing Company, 1931), 172-74. precedent 65See Raymond L. Cox’s article, “Initial Evidence of Spiritual Paraclete 7:4 Development?” (Fall 1973): 15-17, for an expression of historical precedent. Alexan- der Campbell’s plan for the “restoration of the ancient order of New things,” Testament appealed to in his attempt to restore Christianity. Campbell, and those who followed him, have been forced to wrestle with the question of what items are to be considered essential to the faith. The movement he helped found has since tered into three major groups over the extent splin- to which the blue print is to be fol- lowed. This same dilemma also appears to be present in the Pentecostal movement, as they consider the relationship of tongues to the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Cf. Winfred Ernest Garrison and Alfred T. DeGroot, The Disciples of Christ : A 2nd History. ed., (St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1958), 175-76. 66McPherson, Holy Spirit, 144-45. 18 the transmission difficulties its use into question original author that Acts for the development other primitivists, existed Aimee Semple impulses are fully integrated 41 while they do not that there are tradition, and he has also called normative doctrine. be taken in that way. Fee, like position on the means by like and the restorationist is of the Holy Spirit to believers that one “must hesitate to make hard-and-fast rules. “67 These questions, completely demolish the Pentecostal position, do indicate with it. Gordon Fee has dealt with the question of historical precedent from within the Pentecostal as the basis for determining He insists that precedent is not normative unless it was the intent of the the precedent Koenig, does not believe that there is sufficient evidence in the book of of a normative which a Christian is baptized with the Spirit.68 Mrs. McPherson, assumed that the New Testament provided a blue print for the establishment of the modern church, but, as has been pointed out, this idea failed to take into consideration the diversity that in the early church.69 McPherson presented, in dramatic fashion, a gospel message that expressed both the dispensational of early Pentecostalism. One discovers that the two elements with one another, so that her dispensationalism dependent on her primitivist positions. As Grant Wacker has observed, one cannot understand the Pentecostal affirmation without discerning both the eschatological Pentecostalism. The “latter rain,” which of the fullness of the Spirit” and the return of the full reign of the gifts of the Spirit to the church, served notice that the second coming of Christ was at hand. Indeed, Aimee have agreed with Wacker’s assessment that and sisters were “God’s specially second coming] to pass Although both premillennialism and restorationism tend to diminish the role of history in God’s economy, the Pentecostal positions that undergird brought with it the “restoration Semple McPherson would she and her Pentecostal brothers chosen agents for bringing [the of spiritual gifts and the primitivist presup- message of the Press, 1978), 67Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), 191-92. Cf. (Philadelphia: Westminster 119-21. Spittler, position Theology: 68Gordon Fee, “Hermeneutics and Historical Precedent-a Major Problem in Pentecostal Hermeneutics,” in Perspectives on the New Pentecostalism, Russell P. ed., (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1976), 126-27. A is contrasting put forth to be taken as normative by William Menzies who states that the Acts passage intends that the pattern is theology. William Menzies, An “Synoptic Essay on Pentecostal Hermeneutics,” Paraclete 13:1 (Winter 1979): 18-19. equally 1963), 224-21. . 74Wacker, “Playing for Keeps,” 204. 69Ralph Wilburn, a Disciples of Christ theologian, brings this critique to bear on the “Restoration Plea,” espoused by the Stone-Campbell movement, but it to Pentecostalism. applies Ralph Wilburn, “A Critique of the Restoration in The Principle,” Reformation of Tradition. Ronald E. Osborne, ed., (St. Louis: Bethany Press, Cf. McPherson, Foursquare Gospel, 133. 19 42 “latter rain” did offer hope that one could once again find a church that was powerfully endowed with the Holy Spirit. This message had a special appeal, according to Richard Quebedeaux, “to the discouraged and defeated members of the urban lower class, telling them that they were the salt of the earth and would soon reign with the saints in the millennium.”71 In spite of the pessimism of the premillennial world view, this message offered hope of life in a new and perfect world. In the Pentecostal version, however, one could find a preview of the coming kingdom in the restoration of spiritual gifts such as divine healing to the church of the last days. In short, Aimee Semple McPherson offered, in simple yet compelling words, a Gospel of hope that found expression in an eschatological scheme. She proclaimed that if people would put their trust in Christ he would quickly return to take them home. 7 1 Quebedeaux, By What Authority, 31. 20