Full Gospel
The termFull GospelorFourfold Gospelis anevangelicaldoctrine that summarizes theGospelin four aspects, namely thesalvation,sanctification,faith healingandSecond Coming of Christ.It has been used in various Christian traditions, includingKeswickian,Pentecostal,Anabaptist,andBaptistdenominations.[1][2]
History and usage
[edit]This term has its origin in 1887 in a series of sermons called "Fourfold Gospel" by theCanadianpastorAlbert Benjamin Simpson,founder of theAlliance World Fellowship,a denomination that teaches a form ofKeswickian theology.[3][4]According to him, this concept represents the four aspects of the ministry ofJesus Christ;Christ the Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and King who will soon return.[5]
In October 1922, theCanadianevangelistAimee Semple McPherson,founder of theFoursquare Church,used the expression "Foursquare Gospel" referring to the doctrine in a sermon inOakland, California,and stated that it would be the center of her teaching.[6][7]According to her, this concept represented the four aspects of the ministry ofJesus Christ;Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Ghost, Healer, and King. Various other Pentecostal denominations have been influenced by this doctrine, which is sometimes known as the "Full Gospel".[8]A variety of Pentecostals have further developed the motif of the full gospel, predominantly the five-fold theme of salvation, sanctification, Spirit baptism, divine healing, and the coming kingdom.[9]
TheMissionary Church,an Anabaptist denomination with Radical Pietist and Wesleyan influences holds a commitment to "A. B. Simpson’s fourfold emphasis on Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King".[2]
See also
[edit]- Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
- Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International
- Christian and Missionary Alliance
- Foursquare Church
- Spiritual healing
References
[edit]- ^Nel, Marius (27 December 2018).An African Pentecostal Hermeneutics: A Distinctive Contribution to Hermeneutics.Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 42.ISBN978-1-5326-6086-3.
- ^ab"Planting Churches and Making Disicples".The Missionary Church.Retrieved1 April2023.
- ^George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport,Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States,Volume 5,Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 908: "Fourfold Gospel and Full Gospel: The term" fourfold gospel "known for its four theological tenets-salvation or regeneration, sanctification, healing and the Second Coming (…)", p. 909: "Other so-called" Full Gospel "denominations today adhere to the concepts of the fourfold gospel even though they express their views somewhat differently."
- ^Daryn Henry,A. B. Simpson and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism,McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP, Canada, 2019, p. 168.
- ^Bernie A. Van De Walle,The Heart of the Gospel: A. B. Simpson, the Fourfold Gospel, and Late Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Theology,Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 129
- ^Matthew Avery Sutton,Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America,Harvard University Press,USA, 2007, p. 44
- ^Allan H. Anderson,To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity,OUP USA, USA, 2013, p. 97
- ^George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport,Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5,Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 909: "Other so-called" Full Gospel "denominations today adhere to the concepts of the fourfold gospel even though they express their views somewhat differently."
- ^Thomas, John Christopher, ed. (2010).Toward a Pentecostal Ecclesiology: The Church and the Fivefold Gospel.Cleveland, TN: CPT Press.ISBN9781935931003.