Читать книгу The World's Christians - Douglas Jacobsen - Страница 70

William J. Seymour (1870–1922) was the leader of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, one of the key events that gave rise to the Pentecostal movement. Born in Louisiana to Catholic parents, he slowly made his way through the “holiness” or “sanctified” wing of the black Baptist church to Pentecostalism. Called to be the pastor of a small Holiness Church in Los Angeles, Seymour began preaching Pentecostalism, and the congregation’s leaders locked him out of the church. Seymour persisted, however, holding services at a friend’s home and later in a rented warehouse on Azusa Street. Soon people were flocking to Los Angeles from all over the world, seeking the Holy Spirit’s baptism. In the following passage taken from the Azusa Street Mission’s newspaper The Apostolic Faith, Seymour explains how the baptism with the Holy Spirit fits into the overall progression of the Christian life. The first two experiences that he mentions (conversion and sanctification) would be typical for many Christians and not just Pentecostals. It is the third experience, the baptism with the Spirit, that differentiates Pentecostalism.