Assemblies of God
Publié le 22/02/2012
Extrait du document
An American denomination
in the PENTECOSTAL tradition. The church was
founded in 1914 under the leadership of Eudorus
Bell (1866–1923), formerly a Southern Baptist and
then a Pentecostal preacher who believed, with many others, that the diverse and largely independent
Pentecostal churches formed since the movement
began in 1906 should come together. Beginning
with 531 groups and 6,000 members by the
end of 1914, the Assemblies of God have grown
rapidly to embrace some 2.3 million members in
the United States in 2004 and more than 30 million
worldwide. The movement has been particularly
successful among Hispanic populations. Headquarters
are in Springfi eld, Missouri.
The Assemblies believe in the divine inspiration
of the Bible (see BIBLE, BIBLICAL LITERATURE) and
traditional Christian teachings about the TRINITY
and JESUS Christ as Savior. As a Pentecostal group,
they put special emphasis on a BAPTISM of the Holy
Spirit, which they believe follows conversion and
baptism with water. The coming of the Spirit is
made known by the believer's ability to "speak
in tongues," that is, utter words in unknown languages
held to be divinely inspired.
In church, the "tongues" are usually interpreted
by others who can understand them. WORSHIP
consists not only of hymns, scripture reading,
PRAYERS, and sermon in the usual Protestant manner
but typically also includes spontaneous "amens,"
prayers, tongues, interpretations of tongues, and
even dancelike body movements. Spiritual healing
is also important. The power to heal is considered a
signifi cant gift of the Spirit. These spiritual endowments
are thought to be clearly demonstrated in
the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES and other NEW TESTAMENT
sources. As in Pentecostalism generally, the revival
of such powers and practices in the church today
is widely regarded as a sign we are entering the
End Times, that is, that the Second Coming of
Christ and the Final Judgment will occur in the
near future. The vitality and rapid growth of the
Assemblies of God can be taken as an example of
the dynamic of Pentecostalism worldwide in the
20th and 21st centuries.
Liens utiles
- Io Greek The beautiful daughter of the river god Inachus, and a priestess of Hera.
- Jupiter (Iupiter; Jove) (Jove) Roman The supreme god of the Roman pantheon; son of Saturn and Ops; husband of Juno.
- Pythian Games Greek A sacred rite enacted in ancient Greece to honor the ancient serpentmonster, Python, slain by the god Apollo.
- Liber (Free) Roman An ancient god of fertility and procreation, particularly of seeds and plants.
- Quirinus (Quirinius) Roman An ancient god, perhaps of warfare or of citizenship.