The modern Pentecostal movement in Christianity dates to 1901, although its followers believe it simply restores the miraculous nature of the early Church. To an outsider, the main beliefs and practices of Pentecostals, such as speaking in tongues, divine healing and prophecy, may appear strange, but to Pentecostal Christians, it's just the way Christianity is meant to be: a supernatural encounter with God.
Pentecostal Doctrine of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The main teaching that sets Pentecostals apart from other Christians is the belief that every believer should seek a one-time experience of God's power following conversion. According to mainstream Pentecostals, every Christian receives the indwelling Holy Spirit when she is born again, but there is another event--the Baptism in the Holy Spirit--in which the believer is given "power from on high" (Luke 24:29). In traditional (or classical) Pentecostalism, the definitive sign or "initial evidence" of receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.
What is Speaking in Tongues?
In the second chapter of the book of Acts, Jesus' disciples speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit. On this occasion, tongues were real foreign languages, recognized by international visitors in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. The experience is repeated several times throughout Acts, as the gospel spreads throughout the ancient Mediterranean. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul describes the gift of tongues as "the tongues of men and of angels," which leads most Pentecostals to conclude that tongues may be either foreign languages or heavenly languages, not known to humans.
Pentecostal Doctrine of the Gifts of the Spirit
Pentecostals believe that as well as tongues, several other miraculous gifts of the Spirit (or spiritual gifts) are available to Christians today. These include prophecy, when a person speaks or gives a message on behalf of God (including but not limited to predictions), healing, when a person brings physical health to another person through prayer or an act such as the "laying on of hands," and the discerning of spirits, when God gives a person insight into the presence and nature of a demon or evil spirit. Pentecostals believe in exercising these gifts, along with others mentioned by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, during worship and in their daily lives.
Do Pentecostals Believe in the Trinity?
Mainstream Christians have historically believed that one God exists simultaneously and eternally as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each is equally God, according to the doctrine of the Trinity. Most Pentecostals accept this teaching, with the notable exception of Oneness Pentecostals. They broke away from the Pentecostal movement in the 1920s because of their belief that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were just different names or manifestations of one person, God. They also believed that baptism should be conducted with the formula "In the name of Jesus," rather than "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." The largest denomination of Oneness Pentecostals today is the United Pentecostal Church.
Beliefs Pentecostals Have in Common with Other Christians
Other than their distinctive beliefs about the work and gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostals tend to share traditional beliefs with orthodox and mainstream Protestant Christians. They believe in Jesus' death on the cross to atone for sins, the Resurrection, the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation and the reality of Heaven and Hell. They believe the Bible is divinely inspired and without error, and look to it as the only absolutely authoritative source of teaching. In common with Baptists and most other evangelicals, they baptize only believers (adults or children old enough to understand), and by full immersion in water.
Pentecostal Links
Assemblies of God - the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States
Elim Pentecostal Church - one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in Great Britain
Wikipedia: Pentecostalism - encyclopedia entry on Pentecostalism
