Journal of Ministry Resources and Theology for Pentecostal and Charismatic Ministries & Leaders

Amazon.com Widgets

Across the Lines: Charles Parham’s Contribution to the Inter-Racial Character of Early Pentecostalism, by Eddie Hyatt

| December 20, 2004 | 6 comments

Although Pentecostals have made positive changes in recent years, they have come in the wake of a changing American culture, not as the result of any prophetic voice or vision.

And Parham? It seems obvious that he is not deserving of the criticism that has been heaped upon him. Although he was no crusader for civil rights, he did express a racial openness that transcended the times in which he lived. Parham’s example at this early stage was critical for what followed. It is for this reason that he deserves credit for helping set the tone of inter-racial openness and harmony that prevailed for a time in early Pentecostalism.

PR

Notes

¹ This information was given to the author by a friend who was present at this gathering in Kansas City, KS.
² W. F. Carothers, “The Race Question in the South,” Apostolic Faith vol. 1, no. 8 (Dec. 1905).
³ See B. F. Lawrence, The Apostolic Faith Restored (St. Louis: Gospel Publishing, 1916), 64.
⁴ See Lawrence, The Apostolic Faith Restored, 66.
⁵ James R. Goff, Jr., Fields White Unto Harvest (Fayetteville, AR: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1988), 108.
⁶ Sarah Parham, The Life of Charles F. Parham (Baxter Springs, KS: Apostolic Faith Bible College, 1977), 154.
⁷ Charles F. Parham, The Apostolic Faith, no. 3 (April 1925): 10.
⁸ Sarah Parham, The Life of Charles F. Parham, 246.
⁹ Robert Mapes Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited (New York: Oxford, 1979), 123.
¹⁰ David Lowe, Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.).
¹¹ James R. Goff, Jr., “Charles F. Parham and His Role in the Development of the Pentecostal Movement: A Reevaluation,” Kansas History (Autumn 1984): 236.
¹² Lowe, Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire, 18.
¹³ See Lowe, Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire 19, who says, “Truman had joined during a judgeship campaign, but quickly withdrew and did not receive Klan support when he ran—and lost—the next time.”
¹⁴ Lowe, Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire, 19.
¹⁵ Parham, The Apostolic Faith, no. 3 (January 1927): 3.

Page 7 of 7« First «...3 4 5 67

Tags: character, Charles Parham, contribution, early, pentecostalism, Racial, racism

Category: Church History, Fall 2004, Pneuma Review

About the Author: Eddie L. Hyatt, D.Min. (Regent University), M.Div. and M.A. (Oral Roberts University), serves the body of Christ around the world by teaching with academic excellence and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He has authored several books, including 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity. His passion is to see authentic spiritual awakening transform the Church and impact the world in the Twenty-first century. www.eddiehyatt.com

Rich Palmer says:

April 8, 2015 at 8:52 pm

I am sorry for the sins of our fathers & forefathers…ever since the Garden there has been no perfect person except Jesus. So because of this, the Muslims hate the Christians since the Crusades. Anti-Semites blame the Jews for all the world’s problems since crucifying Jesus. American Indians are upset because we ran them off their land. Earlier days the American citizens dislike the Irish, the Italians…
When do we in the body of Christ stand up and forgive those who have done wrong & love them unconditionally. the Apostle Paul was a murderer and the “chiefest of sinners”. yet God forgave him and called him to ministry. the saints forgave him… Paul himself forgave himself and pressed forward (Phil 3:10) and did not look back. He saw what was done for him at the Cross & the resurrection & ascension and wrote instructing us to do likewise. Unity as Jesus prayed in John 17 will only come as we love & serve others unconditionally.

Tonya Battle says:

March 18, 2015 at 10:06 pm

Once again someone will always try to justify a persons racist behavior. Parham’s racist attitude cannot be justified. No matter the culture and time in history, if he had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding him into all truth then he well knew that his actions were wrong. We make moral and ethical decisions daily, but as a Christian those decisions should be based in light of the scriptures. An ethic is what a person ought to do, a moral is what a person actually does. Every person that has ever committed a racial act or participated in any way was fully aware of their wrong doing. Racism was wrong in the Jim Crowe era and it is wrong today, but the views and perceptions will always be determined by the effects it had on that person and their ancestors. Racism is still alive and strong today, but most people try to be politically correct and know and understand they can suffer consequences at the hands of the victim more so than back in the Jim Crowe era. I truly believe that anyone that will advocate and justify another persons racist behavior is because deep down in the recesses of their souls they a racist tendencies as well.

David Moore says:

March 7, 2015 at 2:06 am

Jesus teaches me to forgive. Please don’t make it harder to forgive by explaining away the offenses. Corporate sin is exponentially more injurious than personal.

Parham was “no crusader for civil rights”… so what is the message of Jesus worth without humanity? Why even claim to represent him. How does this diminish the people who actually were crusaders for civil rights.

Eddie L. Hyatt says:

March 2, 2015 at 10:36 pm

In response to a criticism that I “glossed over the evidence” in the above article, I am not aware of any evidence that was “glossed over.” Very often the problem is that a person in history is judged, not in the context of their own culture and time, but in the context of their critic’s culture and time. If we judge Parham in the context of where American society is today on race, then we could call him a racist. But if we judge Parham in the context of his time when segregation and Jim Crow was a part of the American social fabric, then Parham is seen as acting beyond his time, especially when he ministered in the South. For example, he invited a black woman, his friend Lucy Farrow, to preach in a white campmeeting in Houston, TX in 1906, something most of the participants probably had probably never seen or experienced. Parham’s daughter-in-law, Pauline Parham, who knew him personally, told me that Parham had good relations with the black community in his hometown of Baxter Springs, Kansas and often preached in the black holiness church there. Parham’s granddaughter told me that she was never aware of any racism growing up in the Parham family. There is other evidence included in the above article that demonstrate that it is the evidence of Parham’s racial openness that is being “glossed over” by some.

Chris Mulimba says:

June 5, 2014 at 3:14 am

I love Church history and in particular pentecostalism

Chris Mulimba says:

November 9, 2013 at 9:40 am

I love Church history and in particular pentecostalism

Featured Authors

Amos Yong is Professor of Theology & Mission and director of the Center for Missiological Research at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. His graduate education includes degree...

Jelle Creemers: Theological Dialogue with Classical Pentecostals

Antipas L. Harris, D.Min. (Boston University), S.T.M. (Yale University Divinity School), M.Div. (Emory University), is the president-dean of Jakes Divinity School and associate pasto...

Invitation: Stories about transformation

Craig S. Keener, Ph.D. (Duke University), is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is author of many books<...

Studies in Acts

Daniel A. Brown, PhD, planted The Coastlands, a church near Santa Cruz, California, serving as Senior Pastor for 22 years. Daniel has authored four books and numerous articles, but h...

Will I Still Be Me After Death?

Archives

Across the Lines: Charles Parham’s Contribution to the Inter-Racial Character of Early Pentecostalism, by Eddie Hyatt

Connect with PneumaReview.com

Recent Comments

Featured Authors

Recent Posts

Archives

Across the Lines: Charles Parham’s Contribution to the Inter-Racial Character of Early Pentecostalism, by Eddie Hyatt

Related articles:

Connect with PneumaReview.com

Recent Comments

Featured Authors

Recent Posts

Archives