For us to find the true origin of Pentecostalism…..
We have to study Bible history as well as other references. We find that in the book of Genesis, that Methuselah had a son called Lamech, he then had a son called Noah; the builder of the ark. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.Noahs son Ham had sons called, Cush, Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. Cush then had sons, Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabtechah and Nimrod.Nimrod was known as a mighty hunter. He is said to have married his own mother. We find the word Ham to mean, "Warm, hot, also an Egyptian word meaning Black" The meaning of Ham's son's named Cush is, "Black; dark one of double evil."Cush is seen as the original ancestor of the inhabitants of Cush, the land, which was a nation situated south of Egypt with differing boundaries and included different dark-skinned tribes.The Hebrew word Cush , has been traditionally translated "Ethiopia."Nimrod, was the son of Cush, his name means, "we shall rebel". He is known as a mighty hunter and builder of the kingdom of Babel, which was the beginning of his kingdom, which he gradually enlarged.During this time the Bible tells us, the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. Gen. chapter 11, verse 1.The inhabitants of Babel decided to build a city and a tower whose top would reach unto heaven. The Lord came down and saw what they were doing and confounded their language so that they couldn't understand one another's speech.Genesis, chapter 11, verse 9 says, "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."This is where the different languages of the world began; up until this time, everyone spoke the same language.The word babel means, "a confused combinations of sounds; a scene of confusion."The word "babble" is a derative of the word "babel", and means, "to talk incessantly or incoherently; to murmur, to prate, to utter; idle senseless talk; a murmuring sound."
Does this sound similar to what is heard today in some of our pentecostal churches? Do we not hear vain babblings, which have no meaning whatsoever? Has Satan brought a counterfeit gift of tongues into the church? As mentioned previously, the descendants of Ham were of Ethiopian descent; his son Cush became known as the "forefather of the Ethiopians."Nimrod was the son of Cush; as stated previously, he was the founder of Babel, which later came to be called Babylon. Nimrod married his mother and after his death he is said to have become the god Tammuz; his cult were his ritual marriage to the goddess Ishtar, (Nimrod's mother). This god and goddess were first portrayed in idol worship as a mother, either naked or with her prominent breasts exposed, holding her infant child at her breast. (the first Madonna) The African race were descendants of Noah's son Ham;As most everyone knows, some African tribes were, and continue to be involved in voodooism and heathen and paganistic worship of many and different strange Gods. Some African tribes would sacrifice a chicken or goat, sometimes humans as well, and would then dance around a fire for hours at a time; while dancing they would be chanting to the hypnotic rhythm sounds from drums. After a while some of these people would become possessed and begin speaking in demonic languages of the spirits. The witch doctor would then attempt to translate these demonic utterances.Some of these same pratices continue today among people that pratice voodooism.In the early 1800's, some of these heathen practices found their way to America by African slaves that were brought to this country. One form of heathen worship was called the "Spirit Dances" with the spirit possessed person dancing around and muttering demonic phrases given them by the "spirits".These Africans slaves associated this "muttering" with the "gift of tongues" and began to bring it into the church. These services were accompanied by very loud and rhythmic music. This type of service began in the South and those participating in these "services" were mocked and people called them "Holy Rollers", because at times some people would actually roll around on the floor.
Descriptions of early revival meetings of the 1830’s revealed practices similar to those of African rituals. Observers noted loud emotional cries and groans could be heard through out the services. In addition men and women were known to leap out of their seats, scream, jerk, shout, and fall into convulsions speaking in tongues and engage in dance.
There is currently a Charismatic movement that began in darkest Africa and is now sweeping across America in the name of Christianity. There are 100' of thousands of mis-guided people that have become unwittingly involved in a satanic form of worship disguised as Christianity. This movement in America began in Los Angeles in 1906.
The Pentecostal movement among Caucasians started in Los Angeles in 1906. (study "Azusa Street Revival") Its leader was a black former holiness preacher by the name of William Seymour.
Seymour’s impact on the Pentecostal movement stemmed from his Afro-centric roots that evolved from the traditions of radical black slave religion.
William Joseph Seymour was born May 2, 1870, in Centerville, Louisiana, to Simon and Phillis Salabar Seymour, former slaves. Centerville, in St. Mary Parish, is located between Lafayette and Houma, Louisiana, in Bayou Teche country. During the late 1800s, the principal agricultural commodities were cotton, sugar cane, corn, and cattle. Seymour emerged from the womb of black slave religion with its roots in African soil. True leaders are born with potential, but are also made from the cauldron of adversity.
While the importance and significance of African religious culture surviving in the New World has been debated by anthropologists, sociologists, and historians, evidence suggests that Seymour was indeed the fruit of black slave religion, which has its historic roots anchored deep in African and Afro–Caribbean religion. His deep religious yearnings were decisive in the formation of his faith.
Since most of the first slaves who were brought to the American colonies came from the Antillean subregion, it is possible that some of them had already made a partial transition from their native religions to Christianity prior to any systematic evangelization on the American mainland. It was from slave religion that an unstructured black style of worship developed as slaves encountered the almighty God of their fathers. Seymour maintained a deep sense of continuity with his historic roots. One’s identity is bound up in one’s own historicity.
While slaves were not educated in terms of Western standards and cultural ethos, their ancestral religions and the religious consciousness engendered in them were highly complex. Specific religious beliefs salvaged from Africa often came under vigorous assault by Protestant missionaries. It was the slaves’ adaptation to Christianity without being completely divested of their native religious worship style that later impacted black religious lifestyle. This issue became problematic during the post-Azusa Street era.
As previously mentioned, William Seymour was a son of slaves brought to America from Africa where witchcraft and voodism was and continues to be practiced today. He was born in Louisiana where witchcraft and voodoo rituals continue to be practiced. Those involved in this demonic practice, dance around to loud drums or other rythmic instruments, until some demon begins to speak thru them and they begin to mutter in strange voices. (same as in some Pentecostal churches) It is reported that in Haiti, speaking in tongues is a characteristic of both the Pentecostal and Voodoo religion. There is no difference between the tongues spoken in Voodoo religion and Pentecostalism . Voodoo is a satanic religion which traces its origin in Africa. It goes by no surprise that the type strange tongues used by the voodoo and many other satanic religions have no differences at all. When the African slaves were brought to America, they continued to participate in witchcraft and voodoo. These ritual services were brought into the early church by the slave ancestors of African-Americans, which believed them to be the "Gifts of the Spirit". (Gifts of What Spirit?)
Voodoo
Originated from the ancestral religions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Voodoo religions which historically developed within the French- and Creole-speaking African-American population of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is one of many incarnations of African-based religions rooted in the West African Dahomean Vodou tradition and the Central African traditions found in Haitian Vodou. They became syncretized with the Catholic religion as a result of the massive forced migrations and displacements of the slave trade. Louisiana Voodoo is often confused with – but is not completely separable from – Haitian Vodou and southeastern U.S. hoodoo. While it generally shares the same loa as Haitian Vodou, it lays a generally greater emphasis upon folk magic (as does hoodoo). This emphasis has become a spiritocultural marker for southern, Afro Diaspora, francophone Louisiana within the Western media. It was through Louisiana Voodoo that such terms as gris-gris (an Ewe term) and voodoo dolls were introduced into the American lexicon.
History
The Vodou religion was brought to Southeastern America via the many ethnic African groups during the slave trade. Slave owners forbade the Africans from practicing Vodou under penalty of death and, in areas controlled by Catholics, forced many of them to convert to Catholicism. There was syncretization or creolization of the names and aspects of the Voodoo lwa to those of the Christian saints who most closely resembled their particular areas of expertise or power. In the USA, the Vodou is a syncretic religion combining traditional African religions (especially from the Ewe, Fon, Mahi, Nago, Yoruba, Kongo peoples) with Roman Catholicism. Article text. After the Haitian revolution in 1804, many French colonists and free people of color immigrated to Louisiana, some bringing slaves who kept their traditions alive in American soil. Some free people of color also practiced Vodou.
Voodoo and Spiritualism
The Spiritual Churches of New Orleans are a Christian sect founded by Wisconsin-born Mother Leafy Anderson in the early 20th century. These churches incorporate Catholic iconography, ecstatic worship derived from African-American Protestant Pentecostal practices, and a large dose of Spiritualism. A closer examination shows that the hallmark of the New Orleans Spiritual Churches is the honoring of the Native American spirit named Black Hawk, who lived in Illinois and Wisconsin (Anderson's home state), not in Africa, or Haiti. Furthermore, the names of some individual churches in the denomination—such as Divine Israel—bring to mind typical Black Baptist church names more than Catholic ones.
Practitioners combined aspects of Spiritualism and Voodoo in the nineteenth century; the voodoo-influenced "Spiritual Churches" that survive in New Orleans are the result of a mingling of these and other spiritual practices. The New Orleans "Spiritual" religion is a blend of Spiritualism, Voodoo, Catholicism and Pentecostalism. It is unique among African-American "Spiritual" religions in its use of "Spirit Guides" in worship services and in the forms of ritual possession that its adherents practice. It is hardly surprising to find such an interest in Spiritualism. The first issues of L'Union demonstrated the deep interest that Spiritualism held for Creole New Orleans in general and for the Creoles of color in particular. The blending of Spiritualism and Voodoo occurred because of Spiritualism's technical similarities to Voodoo possession. Spiritualism, "as a technique for communication with the dead," was not very different from the forms of ritual possession that were encountered in 1920s New Orleans.
Voodoo today
Due to the suppression of the Vodoun religion in America, most hoodooists are now members of Christian churches, such as the various Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME), Pentecostal, and Holiness denominations. When hoodoo is compared to some of the African religions in the diaspora, the closest parallel is to Cuban and Dominican Palo, a survival of Congo religious beliefs melded with some Catholic forms of worship.
Segregation minimized the number of bi-lingual African Americans (those who spoke basilect and fluent acrolect), and at the same time minimized the number of whites who could translate basilect well enough to discover Voodoo in the spoken, sung, or written words of middle class, working class or working-poor African Americans. In isolated African-American communities, such as the Georgia Sea Islands or in the Mississippi Delta, Voodoo lore could be freely referenced and practices, at least the more subtle ones, were more public.
Louisiana Voodoo
Slave Religion
Slave religion is the beliefs, religious faith, and practices of Africans brought to the New World beginning in 1619 and that African Americans kept until they were emancipated. West Africans believe that there is a high god, who created all things and they believe on lesser gods who follow the high god. Having these lesser gods meant that they would pray to different gods when dealing with rain, fertility, and crops. They also believed that a status with the lesser gods was occupied by the spirits of their ancestors. Africans thought that their ancestors were the living dead because they were both close to the living as well as the ultimate beings. The purpose of them living was to honor the ancestors, recognize the lesser gods, and give all power and admiration to the high god.
Christianity became alive as slaves began to combine their African religious beliefs with Christian beliefs in order to make up what is called slave religion. At the beginning, between 1619 and the early 1700’s, slave owners were not really trying to convert their slaves into Christians. Then, slave owners began to have different thoughts between each other as well. Some believed that slaves were more than inferior so this meant that they should try to acquire Christian redemption. Others believed that converting slaves into Christians would cause many problems because they could start thinking that they were equal to whites since they were sharing the same beliefs. To them, a converted slave would become lazy or even resistant to their white masters.
Then, in 1701, this all began to change when white missionaries and slave masters realized that slaves should be converted into Christians. The formation in London of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) was how this all began. The number of slaves that they converted was limited due to the lack of ministers that were sent to North America and because some slave owners objected for their slaves to be taught Christian beliefs. The SPG was converting slaves as they demanded control of their body instead of African beliefs in which they emphasize on physical movement caused by spirit possession.
This society was fairly effective but it was not until the Great Awakenings (1740 and the early 1800’s) that black slaves began to turn towards Christianity in large numbers. Preachers that were related with the Great Awakening emphasized conversion of the heart, encouraged overjoyed body expressions, and required a simple confession of Jesus Christ’s lordship. These ideas were obviously accepted by slaves because they converted throughout the South, but there were some that still resisted some of the theology and religious practices of the Great Awakenings. White preachers taught the slaves that they had to obey their masters as a sign of being faithful to God. In the other hand, white churches still thought that slaves were not equal because they held segregated religious services and controlled the free worship by slaves. Plantation owners went one step further as they established segregated seating by placing the slaves in the rear, in the balcony, or even outside the church windows.
Slaves prayed secretly to God as their only master and asked for them to be liberated from their owners. They reinterpreted Christianity by adding some of their African religion. Slaves identified themselves with the Old Testament Hebrew slaves as they were liberated by God. If God was able to liberate the Hebrew slaves that meant that if the slaves would pray enough to him; the same thing could take place for them. To them, faith was now a belief in and commitment to a God that helped the poor and judged the arrogant and the strong, their owners. Now, God instead of the plantation owner was the actual master of the slaves. Slaves believed that if God had sided against religious and political powers in the Bible, then he could also help them become free. They believed that Jesus was powerful enough to do anything.
Through their arrangement of God and Jesus, slaves were able to obtain a new meaning in their everyday life. They created things like "discourse of solidarity" in which one slave would never give information about another and even went to the extreme of religious resistance. Rebellion was now taking place. "Invisible Institution" was now clearly shown as slaves were conducting secret worship and prayer far away from the eyes of their masters. They would meet in the woods where they would get ready to receive a visit from the spirit who made them sing, pray, preach, shout, and enjoy their own free religious space in such an enthusiastic manner. In the Invisible Institution slaves learned things as oratorical skill and started to become leaders. Some received food and clothing but also counseling in order to keep in the right stage of mind.
In 1830’s during the religious awakening in the South the slave owners were now bringing the Gospel to the quarters and this served as social control and as a way to convert the slaves. By 1860, about 15 percent of the slaves were members of either the Baptist or Methodist church. There they heard the same sermons, had the same discipline, and shared the communion table with whites. In the other hand, slaves still did not only follow these formal proceedings. Slaves would still listen to their own black preachers and they would also try to translate the Bible in a way in which it showed that they were God’s chosen people and that Judgment Day would castigate their masters. Slaves turned Christianity into their own terms. If their masters did not follow common Christian behavior then the slaves felt a great superiority over their masters.
Now, in the lower Gulf area, around Louisiana, some slaves followed VOODOO. In other places where slaves were imported illegally from Africa, they practiced Islam. Others did not have a religion at all.
RebellionAfrican-American slave religion was very varied and was beyond the master’s observation and knowledge, which was why rebellion began to take place. Slave religion was proven to be dangerous by Nat Turner’s Rebellion of 1831, which was the most important revolt in the 19th century. Nat Turner was a slave in Southampton County, Va., who believed God had called him in a religious vision to deliver his people from enslavement. He used his literacy, articulation, and impulsiveness to preach and gather others who would join him as he planned to strike one night after an eclipse of the sun. He started with six followers but ended with eighty who marched to Jerusalem, in Southampton County, and they killed fifty-seven men, women, and children until white authorities ended the revolt. Turner avoided to be captured for two months before he was caught and was finally executed in November 1831. Some white Southerners saw rebellion starting everywhere and killed as many as two hundred slaves because of fear. They began to be stricter and they showed a closer supervision and religious instruction. The Turner revolt and the aftermath only proved that whites still did not know the slaves.
Works Consulted
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. 2452-2454 and 2465.
Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll. New York: Random House, Inc., 1972. 232-255.
Antebellum Slavery
More links to Slave Religion and the mixing with Christianity and their influence on Music, Worship, and the Western Church must read:
The Use and Performance of Hymnody, Spirituals, and Gospels in the Black Church
Next we will continue our journey and show how the roots of slave religion influences spread by pentecostal churches and has become main line American Christianity.
