Criticism of Pentecostals
1️⃣ INTRODUCTION
✅ Foundations in the Holiness Movement (1800s)
Pentecostalism traces its roots to the Holiness Movement, which emerged from the Second Great Awakening (1790s–1840s) and developed within Methodism in the 18th and 19th centuries. This movement was heavily influenced by John Wesley, who taught the doctrine of entire sanctification—the belief that believers could experience a second work of grace that purified them from sin and empowered them for holy living. Over time, Pentecostalism evolved, emphasizing Spirit baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Today, Pentecostalism has diversified, influencing and giving rise to various denominations and movements within Christianity.
The Holiness movement emphasized personal holiness, revivalism, and a deepened spiritual experience.
Key figures like Phoebe Palmer and Charles Finney promoted the idea that Christians could receive an additional experience beyond conversion, which they called "Baptism in the Holy Spirit."
During the late 19th century, this movement expanded across the U.S. and Britain, leading to an expectation of supernatural signs accompanying the Holy Spirit’s work.
✅ Charles Parham and the Topeka Revival (1901)
The modern Pentecostal movement is often said to have begun with Charles Fox Parham, a Holiness preacher who founded a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas.
Parham taught that speaking in tongues was the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit, an idea that shaped Pentecostal theology.
On January 1, 1901, a student named Agnes Ozman reportedly spoke in tongues after receiving prayer.
Parham and his followers saw this as a restoration of the experience of Acts 2, marking the beginning of the Pentecostal revival.
Parham later traveled and spread this teaching, leading to the next major revival.
✅ The Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909)
The most famous event in Pentecostal history is the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, led by William J. Seymour, an African American Holiness preacher.
Seymour was a student of Parham and believed in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues.
In April 1906, a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred at a small mission on Azusa Street, drawing people from all races, classes, and backgrounds.
Eyewitness accounts describe speaking in tongues, healings, prophecies, and interracial worship, which was radical for that time.
This revival quickly spread Pentecostalism across the U.S. and the world.
✅ Denominational Formation (1910s-1940s)
As the movement grew, early Pentecostals began forming denominations and organizations.
Church of God in Christ (COGIC) – 1907: Originally a Holiness church, it became one of the first Pentecostal denominations.
Assemblies of God (1914): One of the largest Pentecostal denominations today, formed to provide doctrinal unity.
Pentecostal Holiness Church (1911): Combined Holiness and Pentecostal beliefs.
Oneness Pentecostalism (1916): A division occurred over the doctrine of the Trinity, leading to groups like the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) that reject the traditional doctrine of the Trinity and baptize only in Jesus' name.
During this period, Pentecostalism spread globally through missionary efforts.
✅ The Charismatic Renewal (1960s-1970s)
In the 1960s, Pentecostal practices spread into mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, leading to the Charismatic Movement.
Unlike classical Pentecostals, Charismatics did not leave their original denominations but embraced the gifts of the Spirit within them.
This renewal brought Pentecostal beliefs into Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, and even Eastern Orthodox churches.
✅ Global Explosion (1980s-Present)
By the 1980s and 1990s, Pentecostalism became one of the fastest-growing Christian movements worldwide, especially in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Today, it is estimated that over 600 million Christians identify with Pentecostal or Charismatic movements.
🔷Core Theological Beliefs of Pentecostalism
Baptism in the Holy Spirit – A post-conversion experience marked by speaking in tongues.
Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14) – Healing, prophecy, miracles, and tongues.
Divine Healing – Many Pentecostals emphasize healing through prayer.
Second Coming of Christ – Strong focus on Jesus' imminent return.
Evangelism & Missions – Passionate spreading of the gospel worldwide
💭 So we can see that Pentecostalism along with many other false religions sprang out of the so-called second great awakening, along with JWs, Mormons and many other modern religions today, and we can see where this trend of Pentecostalism came from, but is it biblical when we breakdown the fruit of Pentecostalism.
2️⃣ Confusion of Salvation
✅ Salvation by Faith Alone
🔷 All these resent religions that sprang out of the Second Great Awakening they all teach a subtle works based salvation saying that we need to repent of our sins and stop sinning which we know is impossible to do with the flesh, and when you ask these people "have they turned from all their sins?" They start to say “well its certain sins” “ok can you show me what sins those are” now at this point they become the requirement for salvation because the Bible doesn’t speak of turning from sin for salvation, because salvation is by faith alone,
📖 Galatians 3:1-14 - “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
💭 So its clear that we aren’t justified by the law, but rather by faith (believing), and a lot of Pentecostals (along with most other so-called denominations) find this hard to understand that salvation is by faith alone, because naturally as a human our flesh wants to be involved, meaning our flesh wants to believe that we need to have some part in Salvation? But the Bible is clear salvation is a gift, this means that Jesus paid for your sins (past, present and future) on the cross, and since its a gift, all we need to do is receive that gift by faith, and faith is not works.
📖 Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
📖 Galatians 2:16 - “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
💭 What we need to understand is that we are saved because of Grace (meaning we didn’t deserve it) and its by faith (believing) that we receive this gift of Eternal life, the Bible makes it very clear that our works aren’t involved because if its of grace then it can’t be of works, because the two cannot coexist.
📖 Romans 11:6 - “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
📌 I will not beat a dead horse into the ground as I’ve mention this in the previous message “criticism of Mormons” & “criticism of JWs” so I digress.
3️⃣ Emphasis on Emotions
✅ Lack of Gods Words
🔷 A lot of pentecostals services is heavily based on emotions, from their worship to their preaching style, and the issue most of these Pentecostals have is the majority of them aren’t doctrinally strong so their conversions mainly come from people who get emotional from their services which will wear off eventually because of a false convert experience.
🔷 Gods words should be the main focus of any service towards God because firstly Jesus is the word…..
📖 John 1:1-2 - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.”
📌 Jesus should have all the glory and he is the word so thats where our focus should be. But to them it’s too boring to be doctrinally sound, it lacks the Spirit so they say? No, their flesh wants some credit because their false faith is based on emotion, lets look at other verses….
📖 John 17:17 – "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
📌 God's Word is the standard of truth, not emotions or traditions.
📖 Isaiah 40:8 – "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
📌 Emotions change, but God's Word remains forever.
📖 Psalm 119:105 – "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
📌 God’s Word should guide us, not feelings or experiences.
✅ Preaching and Teaching Should Be Based on Scripture
📖 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
📌 Preaching must be rooted in the Bible, not human opinions or emotions.
📖 Acts 17:11 – "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
📌 Every teaching should be tested against Scripture.
📖 Colossians 3:16 – "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
📌 True worship involves God’s Word, not just music and emotion.
📖 2 Timothy 4:2-4 – "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
📌 People will prefer emotional or feel-good messages instead of sound doctrine.
✅ Jesus and the Early Church Focused on Scripture
📖 Acts 2:42 – "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
📌 The early church focused on doctrine (teaching from Scripture), not emotional experiences.
📖 John 14:26 - “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
📌 Even the Holy Spirit’s job is to teach us the words of Jesus, not to emphasize the gifts of the Spirit over the word of God.
📖 Luke 24:27 – "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
📌 Jesus Himself taught by explaining the Scriptures, not by creating emotional hype.
📖 Ephesians 5:25-27 - “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
‼️ So we can see that the word of God is the main focus and that we should be learning the doctrines daily as it is the very thing that helps us from sin through the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God working together. And its not less spiritual being doctrinally focused because thats the Holy Spirit’s job is to teach us and encourage us in Gods Word, we are saved by Gods word, and we cleansed by Gods word and we are made perfect by Gods word.
🔷 emotions can be powerful tools for persuasion, and they can be used—either intentionally or unintentionally—to manipulate people psychologically, especially in religious settings. While emotions are not inherently bad (God created emotions), they become dangerous when they override truth, reason, and discernment.
✅ Dangers of Relying on Emotion in Religion
1. Emotionalism Over Truth
Problem: Some churches prioritize emotional experiences (e.g., excitement, crying, or feeling the Spirit) over biblical teaching.
Result: People may mistake emotional highs for genuine spiritual encounters.
📖 Jeremiah 17:9 – "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
📖 Proverbs 14:12 – "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
📖 1 John 4:1 – "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God..."
📌 Key Point: Just because something feels right doesn’t mean it is right.
2. Psychological Manipulation Through Emotionalism
Problem: Some preachers use music, repetition, shouting, or stage tricks to create an emotional frenzy.
Result: Attendees respond emotionally rather than through conviction from God’s Word.
Examples of Emotional Manipulation:
Altar Calls Based on Fear → “If you don’t come forward right now, you might go to hell tonight!”
Mass Hysteria → Loud music, people fainting, screaming, or forced tongues-speaking.
Prosperity Preaching → “If you sow a financial seed, God will bless you with a miracle!”
📌 Key Point: True faith is not based on being hyped up emotionally.
3. Emotion-Based Conversions That Don’t Last
Problem: Many people "convert" in emotional moments but later fall away because they were never truly convicted by truth.
Result: False conversions and spiritual burnout.
📖 Matthew 13:19 - “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.”
📌 Key Point: True salvation is not based on an emotional moment, but by understanding the doctrine of Salvation, by faith alone in Jesus Christ, but these people are too worried about miracles, gifts of the Spirit and catchy emotional highs that aren’t biblical.
4. Emotional Burnout and Disillusionment
Problem: If people expect constant emotional highs, they may doubt their faith when they feel nothing.
Result: Many leave the church when the excitement fades.
2 Corinthians 5:7 – "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
📌 Key Point: Christianity is a daily walk of faith, not a constant emotional high.
5. Wolves Using Emotion to Deceive
Problem: False teachers use emotion to control crowds, make money, or gain power.
Result: People follow leaders instead of Christ.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 – "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
Matthew 24:24 – "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
📌 Key Point: Not every spiritual experience is from God! Test everything against Scripture.
✅ How Emotionalism Can Be Used as Psychological Momentum
1. Crowd Psychology & Peer Pressure
When people see others crying, dancing, or falling, they feel pressure to do the same.
Many join in because they don’t want to feel left out or less spiritual.
2. Repetitive Music & Chanting
Repetitive phrases like "Holy Spirit, come!" or "Let it rain!" can create an emotional trance.
Loud, dramatic music heightens emotions and can override rational thinking.
3. Fear & Guilt Manipulation
Preachers may use guilt, or promises of miracles to control crowds.
Example: “God just told me someone here needs to give $1,000 for their breakthrough!”
📌 Key point: Emotions Must Submit to Truth
💭 Emotions are not bad but they should never replace truth. Christianity is about faith in Christ, not feelings. The Bible warns against being deceived by emotions and calls believers to test everything against Scripture.
4️⃣ Speaking in Tongues
🔷 This is were the Pentecostals get their name in Acts 2 which is a passage about day of Pentecost (which is a Jewish Feast)
🔹 Pentecost (Shavuot) was a Jewish feast commanded in the Old Testament:
It was also called the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10).
It was celebrated 50 days after Passover, hence the Greek name Pentecost, meaning "fiftieth."
It was a harvest festival, thanking God for the first fruits of the wheat harvest.
📖 Leviticus 23:15-16 – "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord."
💭 Symbolism: Pentecost in the Old Testament was about a harvest, and in the New Testament, it became a spiritual harvest of souls when the Holy Spirit came.
📌 In Acts 2 God had allowed a miracle to happen where God out poured the power of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples for the purpose to win some of the Jews that came from different dialects to show that Gods word was backed by miracles and power, and hence many got saved.
‼️ However this is not talking about speaking in a gibberish language?
1. The Biblical Gift of Tongues Was Known Human Languages, Not Gibberish
📖 Acts 2:6-8 – "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
📌 Critique:
The original biblical gift of tongues in Acts 2 was the supernatural ability to speak real, known languages.
In contrast, many Pentecostals practice unintelligible speech, which does not match the biblical example.
The Greek word for "tongues" (γλῶσσαι glōssai) refers to actual human languages, not random sounds.
2. Tongues Were a Sign for Unbelieving Jews, Not for Church Worship
📖 1 Corinthians 14:21-22 – "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not..."
📌 Critique:
Paul states that tongues were meant as a sign for unbelieving Jews—not as a standard practice for Christians and service in the Church.
The gift was a fulfillment of Isaiah 28:11-12, where God warned Israel that He would speak to them in foreign languages as judgment for their unbelief.
3. Tongues Were to Be Interpreted, or They Should Be Kept Silent
📖 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 – "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God."
📌 Critique:
Many modern Pentecostal services ignore Paul’s rules for tongues.
Biblical tongues were always to be interpreted, but in modern services, people often speak without interpretation.
Paul explicitly says that if there’s no interpreter, the speaker should keep silent.
4. Tongues Were Not for Every Believer
📖 1 Corinthians 12:29-30 – "Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?"
📌 Critique:
Paul’s rhetorical questions imply that not all believers are meant to speak in tongues.
However, many Pentecostal groups teach that tongues are necessary for salvation or as proof of having the Holy Spirit, contradicting this passage.
5️⃣ Women Leaders in the Church
✅ Spirit of JEZEBEL
📖 Revelation 2:20-23 - “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
📌 God is clear about women preachers in the church, its ok to teach and preach outside the church service to kids and women and out soul winning but in the main Church service they aren’t allowed to be teachers or preachers or even pastors, as they have there role that allows men to lead and teach in the church.
✅ The Bible Commands Male Leadership in the Church
🔹 1 Timothy 2:11-12 – "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."
📌 Critique:
Paul clearly states that women should not teach or have authority over men in the church.
Many Pentecostal churches ignore this passage by allowing female pastors and preachers.
🔹 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 – "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."
📌 Critique:
Paul again states that women should not speak publicly in church settings.
Pentecostals often reinterpret this to fit their practices, but the passage is clear.
✅ Church Leadership Is Limited to Men
🔹 1 Timothy 3:1-2 – "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach."
🔹 Titus 1:5-6 – "Ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly."
📌 Critique:
Church leadership (pastors, elders, bishops) is always described as male.
The leader must be “the husband of one wife”, meaning only men are qualified.
There are no examples of female pastors or elders in the New Testament.
✅ Conclusion
🎬 Pentecostalism is a modern movement that emerged in the early 1900s, rooted in the Holiness movement from the Second Great Awakening (1790s–1840s). While claiming to follow the Bible, it diverges in several key areas. It misinterprets the gift of tongues, often promoting emotional experiences over biblical teaching (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40). It allows women pastors, contradicting clear Scripture on church leadership (1 Timothy 2:11-12, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). Many Pentecostal groups also teach works-based salvation (baptism or speaking in tongues as proof of salvation), opposing grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 11:6). Overall, Pentecostalism deviates from sound doctrine, relying on personal experiences and unscriptural practices rather than the Word of God.
