The retelling of the modern Pentecostal movement seldom emphasizes the impact of William Joseph Seymour enough. As a one-eyed Black man in the early 1900s, Seymour offered a deeply divided society an eschatological view of the kingdom that struck at the very heart of prejudice that stained most of the primary institutions of America. It is shocking that the role Seymour played, both religiously and societally, does not take center stage amongst many of the other Black figureheads of the 19th and 20th centuries.
More astounding is how many Pentecostal historians have sought to minimize Seymour’s role by maligning him in favor of Charles Parham, who, though very instrumental to the genesis of varying facets of the movement, was a controversial figure who became a vehement opponent of the Azusa Street revival and the burgeoning leadership of Seymour at its helm.
Womack, in The Wellsprings of the Pentecostal Movement, scarcely mentions the events at Azusa Street and, when discussing the resurgence of Apostolic life, describes the events that occurred at Parham’s school in Topeka, Kansas writes, “from this beginning, the Pentecostal Movement spread quickly around the world.” [i] This overabundant emphasis upon Parham and subtle dismissal of Seymour is not unique to Womack alone, but a major theme of many Pentecostal historiographies.
John Goff, in his celebrated biography of Charles Parham[ii], is quick to make the case that Parham alone was the founder of Pentecostalism, yet, as Walter Hollenweger points out, “Goff dismisses W.J. Seymour as the pioneer of Pentecostalism because his ecumenical, race-and class-transcending understanding of Pentecost was by and largely unsuccessful in the United States.” [iii] Though Hollenweger—and others—rightly address this dismissal, it is Gaston Espinosa, in William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism, that the scope of Seymour’s influence is brought into focus.
Espinosa’s historical masterpiece not only provides a compelling biography of Seymour and the events at Azusa Street, but he also compiles over 100 extant writings of Seymour, Parham, and many other men and women that were associated with the Pentecostal movement of the early 1900s. [iv] These documents also include a rare look into the multicultural testimonies of Latino, Swedish, Irish, and varied other nationalities who were deeply influenced by Seymour and Azusa Street. One example of this is found in Espinosa’s retelling of the Latino response to the revival on Azusa Street.
“Mexicans were not only involved in the first supernatural manifestations of the Spirit at Azusa, but also in its first healing…. Latino participation, along with that of other immigrants, helped transform a largely biracial, national, English-language prayer meeting on Bonnie Brae Street into a multiracial, international, and multilinguistic revival on Azusa.” [v]
Few books deserve more of a spotlight than Espinosa’s biography and documentary history on William J. Seymour and the revival on Azusa Street. It is a must-have book for anyone desiring to investigate the origins of modern-day Pentecostalism that recognizes Seymour as a pivotal pioneer of that self-same movement. In an era where accuracy matters, every Apostolic institution of higher education needs to incorporate this work into discussions and historical studies.
[i] Womack, David A. (1968). The Wellsprings of the Pentecostal Movement. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, pp. 84-85
[ii] Goff, James R. (1988) Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles F. Parham and the Missionary Origins of Pentecostalism. Fayetteville, AR. and London: University of Arkansas Press
[iii] Hollenweger, Walter J. (1997). Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, p. 21
[iv] Letters from Jennie Evans Moore Seymour, Emma Cummings, Florence Crawford, Clar Lum, A.E. Robinson, William Durham, Gaston Barnabas Cashwell, ‘Mother’ Emma Cotton, and many others, are included.
[v] Espinosa, Gaston. (2014) William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism. Durham and London: Duke University Press, pgs. 59-60