Early Pentecostal Biblical Interpretation

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the interpretive methods used by the first generation of Pentecostals. This analysis will demonstrate that the interpretive methods used by the first generation of Pentecostals were similar to those of the Holiness movements (Wesleyan and Keswickian) and like them, the Pentecostals used a premodern ’Bible Reading Method’. The analysis of the Pentecostal interpretive methods will begin by reviewing and challenging what some contemporary scholars have said about the interpretative strategy of the early Pentecostals. Then this article will present a thorough examination of the interpretive methods of the first generation of Pentecostals.