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Assemblies Of God USA
The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States and the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. The AG reported 2.98 million adherents in 2023. In 2011, it was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. The Assemblies of God is a Finished Work denomination, and it holds to a conservative, evangelical and classical Arminian theology as expressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths and position papers, which emphasize such core Pentecostal doctrines as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The fellowship's polity is a hybrid of presbyterian and congregational models. This tension between local independence and national authority is seen in the AG's historical reluctance to refer to itsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The five solae, five ''solae'' summarize the basic theological beliefs of mainstream Protestantism. Protestants follow the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began in the 16th century with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church from perceived Criticism of the Catholic Church, errors, abuses, and discrepancies. The Reformation began in the Holy Roman Empire in 1517, when Martin Luther published his ''Ninety-five Theses'' as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer the remission of the Purgatory, temporal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finished Work Pentecostalism
Finished Work Pentecostalism is a major branch of Pentecostalism that holds that after conversion, the converted Christian progressively grows in grace though the possibility of entire sanctification is rejected. On the other hand, the other branch of Pentecostalism— Holiness Pentecostalism, while teaching growth in grace that occurs after conversion, affirms the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, which is a necessary prerequisite to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.Synan, Vinson. ''The Holiness–Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century''. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997. , pp. 149-150. Finished Work Pentecostals are generally known to have retained the doctrine of progressive sanctification from their earlier Reformed roots, while Holiness Pentecostals retained their doctrine of entire sanctification from their earlier Wesleyan roots (cf. '' San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons ('' hypostases'') sharing one essence/substance/nature ('' homoousion''). As the Fourth Lateran Council declared, it is the Father who s, the Son who is , and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. In this context, one essence/nature defines God is, while the three persons define God is. This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus, the entire process of creation and grace is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in the Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father", "through the Son", and "in the Holy Spirit". This doctrine is called Trinitarianism, and its adherents are called Trinitarians, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oneness Pentecostalism
Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic Pentecostalism, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Oneness movement) is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian branch of Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Christianity that emphasizes the absolute oneness of God and the full deity of Jesus Christ. It teaches that God is a singular divine spiritundivided and without distinction of personswho reveals himself in various ways, including as God the Father, Father, Son of God (Christianity), Son, and Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit. This theology is often categorized by scholars as a form of Modalistic Monarchianism, though Oneness theologians distinguish their beliefs from historical Sabellianism and Patripassianism. Oneness Pentecostal soteriology emphasizes Repentance in Christianity, repentance, Immersion baptism, full-submersion water baptism in the Baptism in the name of Jesus, name of Jesus Christ, and Baptism with the Holy Spirit, baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of Glo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chi Alpha
Chi Alpha , (sometimes XA, χα, xa, or SfC - Students for Christ, officially known as Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship), is an international and interdenominational, coeducational Christian fellowship, social club, student society, and service organization founded in 1953 on the campus of Missouri State University (then known as Southwest Missouri State College) in Springfield, Missouri. Chi Alpha is sponsored by the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal denomination established after separating from the historically African American Church of God in Christ in 1914 over race and administration. Chi Alpha's stated mission is "to reconcile students to Jesus Christ, thereby transforming the university, the marketplace, and the world..." It describes its core values or pillars as community, creativity, diversity, excellence, integrity, servant-leadership, and evangelism. Its self-described five-fold approach is prayer, worship, fellowship, discipleship, and mission. Its philanth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presbyterian Polity
Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance (" ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (or consistory), though other terms, such as ''church board'', may apply.For example, the Church of the Nazarene, which subscribes to a body of religious doctrines that are quite distinct from those of most properly named Presbyterian denominations (and which instead descends historically from the Wesleyan Holiness Movement), employs a blend of congregationalist, episcopal, and presbyterian polities; its local churches are governed by an elected body known as the church board or simply "board members"; the term elder in the Nazarene Church has a different use entirely, referring to an ordained minister of that denomination. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecclesiastical Polity
Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (Church (congregation), congregational) forms of organization as well as Christian denomination, denominational. A church's polity may describe its Minister (Christianity), ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology, the Christian theology, theological study of the church. History Questions of church government were documented early on in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and "theological debate about the nature, location, and exercise of authority, in the church" has been ongoing ever since. The first act recorded after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the election of Saint Matthias as one of the Twelve Apostles, to replace Judas Iscariot. During the Protestant Reformation, reformers asserted that the New Testament prescribed an ecclesiastical government different from the episcopal polity maintained by the Catholic Church, and cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Coming Of Christ
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (which is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies. In Islamic eschatology, Jesus (''ʿĪsā ibn Maryam'') is also believed to return in the end times. According to Islamic belief, he will descend from Heaven to defeat the false messiah (''al-Masih ad-Dajjal''), restore justice, and reaffirm monotheism. His return is regarded as one of the major signs of the Day of Judgment, and he is viewed as a revered prophet, not divine, in Islamic theology. Other faiths have various interpretations of it. Terminology Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ: In the New Testament, the Greek word ἐπιφάνεια (''epiphaneia'', appearing) is used six times to refer to the retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faith Healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that, according to adherents, can stimulate a divine presence and power. Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on empirical evidence of an evidence-based outcome achieved via faith healing. Virtually all scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience.See also: Claims that "a myriad of techniques" such as prayer, divine intervention, or the ministrations of an individual healer can cure illness have been popular throughout history. There have been claims that faith can cure blindness, deafness, cancer, HIV/AIDS, developmental disorders, anemia, arthritis, corns, defective speech, multiple scle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossolalia
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehensible meaning. In some cases, as part of religious practice, some believe it to be a divine language unknown to the speaker. Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, as well as in other religions. Sometimes a distinction is made between "glossolalia" and "xenolalia", or " xenoglossy", which specifically relates to the belief that the language being spoken is a natural language previously unknown to the speaker. Etymology ''Glossolalia'' is a borrowing of the (), which is a compound of the () and () . The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the New Testament in the books of Acts and First Corinthians. In Acts 2, the followers of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baptism In The Holy Spirit
In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctrines of Salvation (Christianity), salvation and ecclesiology. It is frequently associated with incorporation into the Christian Church, the bestowal of spiritual gifts, and empowerment for Christian ministry. Spirit baptism has been variously defined as part of the sacraments of initiation into the church, as being synonymous with Regeneration (theology), regeneration, or as being synonymous with Christian perfection. The term ''baptism with the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit'' originates in the New Testament, and all Christian traditions accept it as a theological concept. Prior to the 18th century, most denominations believed that Christians received the baptism with the Holy Spirit either upon Conversion to Christianity, conve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assemblies Of God Statement Of Fundamental Truths
The Statement of Fundamental Truths is a confession of faith outlining the 16 essential doctrines adhered to by the Assemblies of God USA. These doctrines are heavily based on other evangelical confessions of faith but differ by being clearly Pentecostal. Margaret M. Poloma and John C. Green, ''The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism'', (New York: New York University Press, 2010), p.7. Of the 16 articles, four are considered core beliefs "due to the key role they play in reaching the lost and building the believer and the church".Assemblies of God (USA)Our Core Doctrines, accessed December 21, 2010. They are the doctrines concerning salvation, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the Second Coming of Christ. The Statement of Fundamental Truths has undergone several permutations since its original adoption in 1916 (when it actually included 17 items) despite common claims that it has remained largely unchanged. Contents ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
