2 of 3

"The power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him, filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy."

Embarking on an evangelistic tour of England, Moody now found that "the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches." Always after that, Moody urged his friend, "Torrey, I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost."

None of these evangelical forefathers stressed the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 2 Corinthians 12 and taught in the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. None even dwelled on the Spirit's work of sanctification (Christian holiness or "fruit of the Spirit")—long the theme of the Wesleyans and arguably the primary focus of scriptural and traditional teaching on the Spirit.

But each of them sought an experience of "Holy Spirit baptism" subsequent to conversion that would provide boldness and power in ministry—reflecting the Spirit-led boldness of the apostles (Acts 4:8, 13, 29, 31).

Those who wonder at the rapid global spread of Christian "Spirit movements" should not overlook this spiritual explanation. And those who are deeply committed to the worldwide preaching of the gospel, yet feel little affinity with charismatic Christianity, might wish to recall this deeper, shared meaning of the Holy Spirit's baptism: Though Scripture and tradition join in insisting that the Holy Spirit does far more in the lives of ordinary Christians than equip them "to boldly go" and spread the gospel, it appears that He does do at least this—and does it surpassing well.

The basic idea of this article and several of the examples come from an essay by Richard Lovelace, emeritus professor of church history at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary: "Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the Evangelical Tradition," Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 7:2 (Fall, 1985), 101-123.

Chris Armstrong is managing editor of Christian History magazine.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More Christian History, including a list of events that occurred this week in the church's past, is available at ChristianHistory.net.Subscriptions to the quarterly print magazine are also available.

Christian History Corner appears every Friday at ChristianityToday.com. Previous editions include:

Standing Alone for Unity | The attempt to bring European Christians together forced one reformer, Caspar Schwenckfeld, straight to the fringe. (Sept. 20, 2002)

9/11, History, and the True Story | Wartime authors J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis help put 9/11 in perspective. (Sept. 13, 2002)

Evangelicalism's Decades of Fire | New historical survey highlights twentieth-century evangelicalism's impassioned middle decades. (Sept. 6, 2002)

A Protestant Bishop Speaks Out on the Stakes of Public Education | Why concerned parents should read the 17th-century Moravian educational reformer Jan Amos Comenius. (Aug. 30, 2002)

Spurgeon on Jabez | What history's most prolific preacher said, in 1871, about the Prayer of Jabez (Aug. 23, 2002)

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

September (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46