HISTORY AND THEOLOGY OF PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT By: Paominlen Kipgen INTRODUCTION The Pentecostals related their name and identity to the first followers of Jesus who were filled with the promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They believe that the Holy Spirit and His gifts which include also speaking in tongues were not only available to all those who believed in Jesus then, but also to all those who believe in Him now. 1 Abraham said, “There is no mistake in calling ‘Pentecostal Church’, the Christian Church which was originated on the day of Pentecost.” 2 The term Pentecostal is derived from the Greek word pentekosté, which literally means ‘fifty’. It is the Greek name for the Jewish festival known as the ‘Feast of Weeks’ in the Old Testament, which celebrates the fiftieth day after Passover observances. The New Testament used the term to refer to the established Jewish feast. However, since the gift of the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Christians re-interpreted the meaning of it in terms of this event. 3 After the Reformation had begun to shake up the religious world, conflicting groups found it easier to break away from the established norm - some for the better and some for the worse. Forgetting about the second, movement for the better that result to the outcome of Pentecostal Movement/Church are: The Anabaptist (1525), The Society of Friends (Quakers, 1652), The French Prophets (Camisards, Cevenols, 1688), The Methodists (1730), The Jansenists/Convulsionaires (1726-1790), The New Light Prophets (1742), The Shakers (1770), Joanna Southcott 1792, The Cane Ridge Revival (1801) & Camp Meetings (early 1800’s), Charles Finney (1824), Edward Irving (1827), Phoebe Palmer 1830’s, The Mormons (1830), The Seventh Day Adventists (1840’s), The Skye Revival of 1841-2, 1 Janet Everts Powers, “Pentecostalism 101: Your Doughters Shall Prophesy” Philip’s Daughters: Women in Pentecostal-Charismatic Leadership, eds. Estrelda Alexander and Amos Yong (Oregen: Pickwick Publication, 2011), 133. 2 T.S. Abraham, Pentecostal Movement (Kumbanad: K.E. Abraham Foundation, 1969), 17. 3 J.C. Rylaarsdam, ‘Pentecost’ in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Edited by. George Arthur Buttrick, et.al. (New York, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), 727.