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- Neo-Pentecostalism in South Africa: its pneumatological to logical content and ecclesiastical impactOver the last century the Christian Church in South Africa has been exposed to and influenced by pentecostal and neo-pentecostal teachings. At the turn of the century the introduction of pentecostal doctrine caused concern among denominational church executive bodies who spoke out strongly against pentecostalism. This resulted in some ministers leaving their traditional denominations and starting independent pentecostal churches. One such man was P.L. le Roux, who left the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and started the Apostolic Faith Mission. These early pentecostal churches had very definite doctrinal beliefs concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the exercise of spiritual gifts. Their doctrine emphasized that a person could only be baptised in the Holy Spirit subsequent to their conversion experience and not simultaneously as had been taught in the conservative traditional churches. Furthermore, this Spirit baptism had to be authenticated by the person speaking in a spiritual tongue. In the early 1960's, a variation in pentecostal doctrine was taught in Britain and brought to South Africa by Reverend Arthur Wallis and others. Local ministers of the gospel such as Reverend Derek Crumpton, Bishop Bill Burnett and Bishop Alphaeus Zulu accepted this less dogmatic view of pentecostal teaching which did not necessitate a person having to leave their denomination in order to participate in spiritual gifts. Neither did it necessitate a person speaking in tongues as tlte sign of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. This variation became known as the Neo-pentecostal Movement and later as the Charismatic Renewal Movement. It was initially accepted by very few clergy and laity but within a short period of time gained favour in different churches all over the country. By the mid 1980's, another variation was introduced and taught by a certain sector of neo-pentecostals, namely the Rhema Faith Movement, which focused on a realized view of eschatology. They maintained that a healthy mind and body and a prosperous lifestyle were signs of a christian being blessed by God. Not all neo-pentecostal churches agreed with this realized view of eschatology. As the number of independent neo-pentecostal churches increased in South Africa, the Reverend Edmund Roebert of the Hatfield Christian Church saw the necessity of forming an organization which would provide fellowship for these pastors and assist them in aquiring ministerial and marriage officer status. This organization was called the International Fellowship of Christian Churches. With the formation of these neo-pentecostal churches, many members from traditional church backgrounds transferred their membership. Some of the most common reasons given for the transfering of membership were the relaxed social atmosphere, the spontaneous worship and the group participation experienced in the neo-pentecostal church meetings. These transfers have had a negative impact on the traditional churches in South Africa because of the depletion of membership rolls and financial income. The pneumatological content of the neo-pentecostal movement has been questioned by many conservative scholars. Some are more sympathetic towards the movement than others. Martin Lloyd-Jones, a well accepted scholar in conservative theological circles distanced himself from his previous beliefs concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For many years he had believed and taught that the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place at the point of conversion. In an exegetical work of Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus, Lloyd-Jones aligned himself with the neo-pentecostal view of there being a subsequent baptism experience with the Holy Spirit. That people are leaving the traditional model churches in South Africa to join neo pentecostal model churches is without question. The underlying reasons are however not always clear. Are they theological ? Are they sociological ? Are they both? It is the intent of the writer to reach certain conclusions to these questions and to determine the extent to which the neo-pentecostals have formulated their doctrinal beliefs on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
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