The Charismatic Renewal
[7] Time, August 15, 1960.
[8]Bennett, Nine O’clock, 59
[9] Initially called “Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship’ it changed its name to Episcopal Renewal Ministries to avoid complications with the word “charismatic” had in the eyes of many of the more traditional Episcopalians. In 2001 it changed its name again to “Act 29 Ministries” as the Episcopal Church imploded in heresy and apostasy.
[10] On this see my work, Agnes Sanford, chapter 5, “From Cessationism to Secularism,” and chapter 23, “The Villains in the Story.”
[11]For instance, Dr. Howard Irvin, one of the earliest charismatic theologians, was a Northern Baptist pastor.
[12] On this theological atrocity, which I identify by its acronym, “DOG theology,” see my work, Agnes Sanford, chapter 5.
[13] This opinion is not entirely dissipated even to this day. The influential charismatic televangelist and pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio (19,000 members), John Hagee subscribes to this opinion. He is more widely known for his irregular idea that Jews are still under the Old Testament covenant of God and do not need to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah to be saved.
[14]On the strictness of this Pentecostal-Holiness code of life see the brief description in Synan, Eyewitness, chapter 1, “A child of Azusa.” For a week in the mid-1980s Carolyn and I were on vacation in the North Georgia section of Appalachia, and one Sunday we worshiped at a classical Pentecostal/Holiness church. The woman pastor welcomed us warmly enough, but some of the elder woman made it a point to tell Carolyn that they were very strict and did not wear pantsuits or makeup. It really was a nice church in spite of the fact that the music was from the 1930s (significantly, there were no youths attending). We went back the next week with Carolyn wearing a dress and only a bit of rouge. At this church everyone in the congregation is invited to come to the microphone and sing “unto the Lord.” In this they were in obedience to 1 Cor. 14:26, although I did not recognize that, and thought it was a peculiar local custom. We were invited to sing, and had a great time belting out one of the new charismatic praise songs.
[15] It is my opinion that the annoying, “overdone” makeup and hairdos famous with Tammy Faye Bakker and Jan Crouch, the wives and co-hosts of the Christian TV pioneers, stems from their Holiness Pentecostal upbringing. Once they observed that being gifted and filled with the Spirit did not depend on their long hair being bundled on top or wearing flat heels, they went full tilt into “glamour.” But they lacked having the moderating effects of a mother or elder sister saying “Dearie, that color rouge is too much…”
[16] A good description of the beginnings is found in René Laurentin’s book, Catholic Pentecostalism (Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1977), chapter 1, “The Birth of Catholic Pentecostalism.”
[17] David Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade (New York: Pyramid Books, 1970). This book is about a small town Pentecostal pastor who obeys God’s prompting to go to New York City and minister to the youth gangs. It is one of those books, like Agnes Sanford’s The Healing Light (St. Paul: Macalaster Park, 1947) that has a special anointing to it. It has made an impact on many persons throughout the world. For its impact on the charismatic movement in Great Britain see: Peter Hocken’s Streams of Renewal, 148-149.
[18] John Sherrill, They Speak With Other Tongues, (Old Tappen: Fleming H. Revell, 1964).
[19] Keven Ranaghan and his wife Dorothy became perhaps the single most influential lay Catholic charismatics of the renewal. They have written numerous books on the renewal, including Kevin’s seminal The Catholic Pentecostals (New York: Paulist Press, 1969). I am proud to call them my friends, and we meet yearly at the Charismatic Leaders’ Fellowship.
[20] Edward D. O’Connor, The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1971), 47.
[21] For Cardinal Suenens’ understanding of how the Council prepared for the Catholic charismatic renewal, see Léon Joseph Suenens, A New Pentecost? (New York: Seabury Press, 1975, Translated by Francis Martin) 40-41.
[22] He was the principal author of an important early booklet, Theological and Pastoral Orientations on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (Notre Dame: Word of Life, 1974). Perhaps his masterpiece is a work he coauthored with George Montague, Christian Initiation and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Evidence from the First Eight Centuries (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991).
[23] On MacNutt’s long term influence, and the importance of his Christian Healing Ministries on Jacksonville, Florida, see my work, Agnes Sanford, chapter 20 “Two Ministries Carry On.” The web page for the still very active CHM is found at: https://www.christianhealingmin.org/
[24] Website for the Word of God community at Ann Arbor is: http://www.thewordofgodcommunity.org/index.html, and for People of Praise: http://www.peopleofpraise.org/ Another important and influential covenant community is the Alleluia community in Augusta, Georgia, http://www.yeslord.com/
[25] Raphael Gasson, The Challenging Counterfeit, (Plainfield: Logos International, 1966).
[26] Nicky Cruz, Run, Baby Run (Plainfield: Logos International, 1968).
[27] Dennis Bennett, Nine O’clock in the Morning, (Plainfield: Logos International, 1970).
[28] To glimpse this huge output, now mostly resident in used book stores, go to www.abebooks.com and under advanced search choose “publisher” and type in “Logos International” My recent search brought up over 3000 entries – many of course repeated, but certainly hundreds of titles.
[29] Harold Hill, How to Live Like a King’s Kid (Plainfield: Logos International, 1974), 157-159. This work was a best seller, and Hill proceeded to churn out a whole bevy of books for both Logos International, and from 1980, with Fleming H. Revell, which had begun publishing charismatic books. Hill’s Logos works included: How to Live in High Victory (1977), How to Filp Your Flab – Forever (1979) and Instant Answers for King’s Kids in Training (1978). His Revell books included: How to Live the Bible Like a King’s Kid (1980), God’s in Charge Here (1982), Bible Answers for King’s Kids (1984), The Money book for King’s Kids (1984), The Impossible Takes a Little Longer (1985).
[30] Harold Hill, How to Live Like a King’s Kid (Plainfield: Logos International, 1974) 157-159. It should be noted that there is reason to think that some of Mr. Hill’s stories are exaggerations or even inventions. Hill, who at one point was a consultant for NASA, is famous for claiming that computers in NASA did an astronomical regression and authenticated the “long day” when the earth stood still in the Bible (Jos. 10:12-14). He never offered documentation for this incredible story and died in 1986 still vouching for it. NASA spokesmen denied the story.
[31]Patricia Banta Kreml, Slim for Him (Plainsfield: Logos International, 1976) H. Page Williams, X-Rated Marriages (Logos International, 1977)
[32] On the Puritan’s biblically based (non-exaggerated) prosperity doctrine, see my Quenching the Spirit (Lake Mary: Creation House, 1996).
[33] Agnes Twice Seven Words (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1971). Note also, Sealed Orders (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1972), Route 1 (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1975), Creation Waits (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1978).
[34] Jamie Buckingham, “End of an Era, Final Chapter of the Logos Era,” Charisma (Dec. 1981), 48-55.
[35] For example, Ted Olsen, “Why the Oral Roberts Obituaries are Wrong,” Christianity Today, posted 12/16/2009.
Category: Church History, Summer 2016
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