Origins
Main article:
General Council of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America
The Assemblies of God has its roots in the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century. This revival is generally traced to a
prayer meeting held under the leadership of
Charles Parham, at
Bethel Bible College in
Topeka, Kansas, on January 1, 1901. It spread rapidly to
Missouri,
Texas,
California and elsewhere. In 1906, a three-year
revival meeting under the leadership of William Seymour began at the
Azusa Street Mission in
Los Angeles that attracted believers from around the world. The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by established churches, and participants in the movement soon found themselves forced outside existing religious bodies. These people sought out their own places of worship and founded hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.
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Charles Fox Parham (4 June 1873 - c. 29 January 1929
[2]) was an American preacher who was instrumental in the formation of
Pentecostalism.
[3] Also an Apostolic Faith movement of independent churches (initially called "missions") grew across the southern and western US from meetings Parham held there. While press reports were initially favorable in some of the areas Parham ministered, some of the large main line churches, and church hierarchy in Zion City, were not pleased with his ministry and did what they could to discourage furtherance of his teachings. As a result some of the press reports became more negative as his ministry approached its peak in 1906 and 1907.
There were also allegations of racism against Parham. Although Parham received criticism from Southerners at the time for going against culture in not conforming with segregation, because of a few comments and his endorsement of some aspects of
British Israelitism, many have tried to brand Parham as a racist.
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British Israelism (also called
Anglo-Israelism) is the belief that people of
Western European descent, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the
Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The concept often includes the belief that the
British Royal Family is directly descended from the line of
King David.
[1][2] There has never been a single head or an organisational structure to the movement. Adherents may hold a diverse set of beliefs and claims that are ancillary to the core genealogical theory.
Many believe the central tenets of British Israelism contradict modern
genetic,
linguistic,
archeological and
historical evidence. They are considered by some without scientific credibility.
[3][4] The concept and theory details have been thoroughly
criticized.
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British Israelism variant
Main article:
British Israelism
British Israelism (also known as 'Anglo-Israelism') is the theory that people of Western European descent, especially Britain and the United States, are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. Adherents argue that the deported Israelites became Scythians / Cimmerians who are ancestors of the
Celts /
Anglo-Saxons of Western Europe.
[37] The theory arose in England, whence it spread to the United States.
[38] During the 20th Century, British Israelism was promoted by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God.
[39] Armstrong argued that this theory provided a 'key' to understanding biblical prophecy, and that he was called to proclaim these prophecies to the 'lost tribes' of Israel before the coming of the 'end-times'
[40]. The
Worldwide Church of God no longer teaches the theory
[41], but some offshoot churches such as the
Philadelphia Church of God, the
United Church of God, and the
Living Church of God continue to teach it even though British Israelism is inconsistent with the findings of modern genetics.