In 1906, William J. Seymour (1870–1922) preached Pentecostal revival at the Azusa Street mission in Los Angeles. From these and other humble origins the movement has blossomed to 631 million people around the world. Gastón Espinosa provides new insight into the life and ministry of Seymour, the Azusa Street revival, and Seymour's influence on global Pentecostal origins. After defining key terms and concepts, he surveys the changing interpretations of Seymour over the past 100 years, critically engages them in a biography, and then provides an unparalleled collection of primary sources, all in a single volume. He pays particular attention to race relations, Seymour's paradigmatic global influence from 1906 to 1912, and the break between Seymour and Charles Parham, another founder of Pentecostalism. Espinosa's fragmentation thesis argues that the Pentecostal propensity to invoke direct unmediated experiences with the Holy Spirit empowers ordinary people to break the bottle of denominationalism and to rapidly indigenize and spread their message.
The 104 primary sources include all of Seymour's extant writings in full and without alteration and some of Parham's theological, social, and racial writings, which help explain why the two parted company. To capture the revival's diversity and global influence, this book includes Black, Latino, Swedish, and Irish testimonies, along with those of missionaries and leaders who spread Seymour's vision of Pentecostalism globally.
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Seymour Timeline
- Introduction. Definitions and One Hundred Years of Historiography on Seymour
- Part I. Biography
- Chapter 1. American Pentecostal Origins: Parham and Seymour
- Chapter 2. Holy Awe and Indescribable Wonder: The Azusa Street Revival
- Chapter 3. Moses and Mecca: Seymour, Azusa, and Global Origins
- Chapter 4. God Makes No Difference in Color: Azusa’s Transgressive Social Space
- Chapter 5. Wrecking the Spirit of Azusa: Grumbling and the Road to Decline
- Chapter 6. Race War in the Churches: Promoting Peace by Taking the Initiative
- Chapter 7. We Don’t Believe in Relics: Seymour in Ignominy
- Conclusion. Holy Restlessness and Cracking Bottles
- Part II. Documentary History of William J. Seymour, the Azusa Street Revival, and Global Pentecoastal Origins
- A. Seymour’s Spiritual Writings from the Apostolic Faith, 1906–08
- B. Seymour’s Doctrines and Discipline Minister’s Manual (1915)
- C. Azusa Street Revival Accounts in the Apostolic Faith (1906–08)
- D. Historical Overviews and Testimonies of Seymour and the Azusa Revival
- —Historical Overviews
- —Euro-American Testimonies
- —African-American Testimonies
- —Euro-American Immigrant Testimonies
- —Mexican-American and Native American Testimonies
- —Africa Missionary Testimonies
- —Europe and Middle East Missionary Testimonies
- —Asia: India Missionary Testimonies
- —Asia: China Missionary Testimonies
- E. Critics of Seymour and the Revival
- F. Writings of Charles Fox Parham
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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