Power in the Blood: The Significance

of the Blood of Jesus to the Spirituality

of Early British Pentecostalism and its

Precursors

B. A. Pugh

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the

University of Bangor for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

This research was carried out at Regents Theological College, Nantwich.

February 2009
 Abstract.

Pentecostals and charismatics today are not known for placing great emphasis on the

blood of Jesus, yet such was not always the case. Even a cursory reading of the

popular literature produced by the earliest Pentecostals reveals that the atonement

generally, and ‘the blood’ in particular occupied a central place in their spirituality.

Indeed, during the first two years of British Pentecostalism, the mere mention of ‘the

precious blood’ appears to have had, for them, an almost magical power to make the

devil flee and induce the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit. In this thesis, I

have attempted to tell the story of when and how this emphasis on the blood of Christ

began and progressed, culminating in early British Pentecostalism.

The claims of this piece of research are limited to demonstrating, firstly, that there

was continuity. There is an identifiable tradition of this style of spirituality that passed

from generation to generation, especially within Evangelicalism, which reached its

apogee in the earlier years of Pentecostalism. Secondly, I demonstrate that there was

change. The different forms that the tradition took in response to changing conditions

are described and analysed and the gradual disappearance of the tradition from within

Pentecostalism is noted with possible reasons being offered.

I have concluded this thesis by pointing out, firstly, the part these findings could play

in opening up a discussion of the Christological roots of Pentecostalism. This aspect

of Pentecostal origins could speak into current debates about Pentecostal identity that

draw much from its distinctive pneumatology but which presently see less that is

2
distinctive or identity depicting in its Christology. Secondly, this piece of work

supplies resources that may be found useful in the wider Evangelical debate about the

atonement. One common objection raised against the doctrine of penal substitution is

that it does not obviously point the way to the ethical or spiritual transformation of the

individual. In this thesis, a significant body of evidence is presented that shows how

many individuals, almost entirely subscribers to a penal view of the atonement, found

ways of making their atonement theology personally transformative. Thirdly, this

thesis offers a collection of data that may be found useful by those researching the

interaction between Christianity, especially in its more radical forms, and the cultural

forces brought to bear upon it.

3
 Contents.

Acknowledgments………………………………………………. 7

Aims and Introduction……………………………………………. 9

Contributions to
Research…………………………………………………………. 16

Method…………………………………………………………… 18

1. The Origins of Blood-Mysticism…………………………….. 23

1.1. Bernard of Clairvaux…………………………………. 24

1.2. Martin Luther………………………………………….. 28

1.3. Count Zinzendorf……………………………………… 31

1.4. Moravian Spirituality…………………………………. 42

1.5. The Wesleys…………………………………………… 45

1.6. The Olney Hymnists…………………………………… 55

Conclusion……………………………………………………. 56

2. The Origins of the Holiness Message………………………… 60

2.1. The First American Methodists……………………….. 61

2.2. The Rebirth of Methodist Perfectionism:

Phoebe Palmer………………………………………………. 65

2.3. Charles Finney and Oberlin…………………………… 70

2.3. The First British Campaign of James Caughey……….. 72

2.4. Conclusion…………………………………………….. 74

3. Home-grown Holiness………………………………………… 76

4
 3.1. The Salvation Army…………………………………… 79

3.2. The Keswick Conventions……………………………. 91

Conclusion…………………………………………………… 123

4. Evan Roberts, Jessie Penn-Lewis and the Welsh Revival

Introduction…………………………………………………… 128

4.1. Atonement Themes in Evan Roberts

and Jessie Penn-Lewis……………………………………….. 133

4.2. Jessie Penn-Lewis and Pentecostalism……………….. 144

Conclusion………………………………………………….... 148

5. ‘Under the Blood’ at Azusa Street.

Introduction………………………………………………….. 151

5.1. Frank Barlteman’s Account…………………………… 159

5.2. The Apostolic Faith Magazine………………………… 166

5.3. Other American Pentecostal Periodicals………………. 180

5.4. The Influence of Azusa Street on British

Pentecostalism…………………………………………. 184

Conclusion……………………………………………………. 186

6. The Sunderland Story………………………………………….. 190

6.1. ‘Victory’ Through the Blood…………………………... 211

6.2. The Blood as Badge of Orthodoxy…………………….. 214

6.3. 215
The Blood and Baptism in the Holy Spirit ………………….

6.4. Early Sunderland: Some Initial Deductions………… 226

5
 6.5. Is There Power in the Blood? A waning Emphasis……. 228

Conclusion………….………………………………………….. 233

7. Denominational Pentecostalism………………………………... 238

7.1. The Apostolic Faith Church and its

Secessions……………………………………………………… 241

7.2. Elim……………………………………………………….. 247

7.3. Assemblies of God………………………………………... 259

Conclusion………………………………………………………268

8. The Blood and Pentecost

Today…………………………………………………………… 270

8.1. Charismatic Spirituality…………………………………..270

8.2. The Blood and Classical Pentecostalism Today…………..282

8.3. Concluding Remarks…..………………………………… 287

Conclusion………………………………………………………289

Bibliography……………………………………………………. 295

6
 Acknowledgements.

I would like to acknowledge first of all my immediate supervisor, Dr Neil Hudson,

who, even after resigning from the faculty of Regents Theological College,

maintained his commitment to helping me through my research, meeting up with me

regularly and offering invaluable advice. Another important formative influence has

been Dr Keith Warrington, Director of Postgraduate Studies and Research Fellow in

Pentecostal Studies at Regents Theological College. His interjections have been

occasional but powerful, and without him this research would never have begun. Rev

Julian Ward, a retired faculty member of Regents Theological College, has been a

father to me through the earlier stages of this research and has offered his vast

bibliographical knowledge at various points along the way. During the closing stages,

Dr Tim Walsh, Research Assistant at Regents Theological College and a one-time

fellow student, was also kind enough to take the time to read my thesis and offer

comment. Finally, Dr Ian Randall, Research Fellow at the Centre for Baptist and

Anabaptist Studies, Prague, brought his great expertise to bear, in particular, upon the

earlier chapters of this work.

Special thanks are also due to Mr Rhys Morgan, librarian of Regents Theological

College, Evelyn and Christine of St John’s College library, Nottingham, the staff of

Nottingham Central Library, especially the Local Interest department who assisted me

with my research into the Salvation Army, and Dr David Garrard, curator of the

Donald Gee Centre at Mattersey Hall Bible College, Doncaster.

7
On a less academic level, huge thanks are also due to my wife, Pearl, who allowed me

to be a house husband at various crucial times in the writing of my dissertation, thus

enabling me to complete it ahead of time. She never ceased to believe in me. I would

also like to acknowledge her father, Mr Brian Dixon, who, as a close acquaintance of

the late John Nelson Parr, brought alive for me the sitz im leben of an earlier

generation of Pentecostals in Britain. He also had all but one of Mr Parr’s books.

8
 Aims and Introduction.

This thesis aims to tell the story of a spiritual tradition. The tradition to which I refer

is one that has now largely passed away, and with neither mourning nor rejoicing.

Rather, it has been mostly ignored. Part of the burden of this thesis, therefore, and the

reason for the vast number of citations from primary sources,1 is to bring this tradition

to the attention of a wider research community. This tradition, as will be seen, runs

through many centuries and confessions and is, by definition, an emphasis specifically

on the blood of Jesus. That the atonement has been much emphasised in Christianity

is not news.2 That the blood of Christ has been the object of devotion and a source of

spiritual power, especially among Pentecostals, is the subject of this piece of work.

In line with the emerging discipline of the study of spirituality, debate about the

biblical or theological rights and wrongs of the people whose spiritualities I survey

will be kept to a minimum.3 My conviction is that data drawn from almost entirely

1
As well as, following Sheldrake, to, “…reach out for as complete and authentic encounter with the
past as possible.” Sheldrake, P., Spirituality and History Rev. Ed., (London: SPCK, 1995), 97.
2
A competent historical introduction to the emergence of this emphasis and discussion of it would be
Stott, J., The Cross of Christ, (Leicester: IVP, 1986), 17-46.
3
The atonement theology of most of the people cited in this thesis is that of penal substitution. This
perspective on the atonement was inherited by the early Pentecostals from the Evangelicals who, in
turn, inherited it from the Reformers, especially John Calvin. The first use of the term ‘penal
substitution,’ however, is in the work of Princeton theologian Charles Hodge. Outside of theological
circles the phrase is still not in widespread circulation and was not used by the early Pentecostals. Yet,
as the extracts in this thesis will show they believed in a penalty-bearing substitutionary interpretation
of the death of Jesus. If the reader wishes to evaluate the merits or otherwise of this doctrine, there is a
wealth of recent literature that discusses it: McCurdy, L., Attributes and Atonement: The Holy Love of
God in the Theology of P.T. Forsyth, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 1998), Green, J & M. Baker,
Rediscovering the Scandal of the Cross, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003), Boersma, H., Violence,
Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004),
Hill, C.E., & F.A. James III (eds), The Glory of the Atonement, (Downers Grove, IVP, 2004), Finlan,
S., Problems with Atonement: The Origins of, and Controversy About, the Atonement Doctrine,
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2005), Reasoner, M., Romans in Full Circle: A History of

9
non-academic sources, as this is, should be handled with the care and respect due

from those who have had the benefit of theological training towards those who were

largely without it. I am identifying myself with the type of contributions made by

Steven Land4 and Simon Chan5 to the still relatively infant study of Pentecostal

spirituality.6 Here Pentecostalism will be studied as a form of spirituality. It will be

understood as a set of essentially pragmatic beliefs and practices that are deemed to

foster a ‘closer walk with God.’ Pentecostal Christianity is a way of relating to God

that was never academic in its priorities. Pentecostalism, instead, confronts the rest of

the Church with the question, how real is your relationship with God?

By ‘spirituality’, I mean all that is involved with and springs from an individual’s

communion with God.7 Pentecostalism has always advocated a spirituality of

Interpretation, (New York: St Vladimir’s Press, 2006), Madsen, A., The Theology of the Cross in
Historical Perspective, (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2006), Shelton, L., Cross and Covenant:
Interpreting the Atonement in the 21st Century Mission, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006), Heim, M.,
Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), Jeffrey, S., M. Ovey
& A. Sach , Pierced for Our Transgressions, (Leicester: IVP, 2007), Holmes, S., The Wondrous Cross,
(Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2007), Williams, G., “Penal Substitution: A Response to Recent
Criticisms,” JETS 50:1 (2007), 71-86, D. Tidball, D. Hilborn & J. Thacker (eds), The Atonement
Debate, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008). The recent ‘Lost Message’ debate surrounding Steve
Chalke’s comments about penal substitution being comparable to “cosmic child abuse” (Chalke, S &
A. Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 182), is traceable through the
following periodicals, two of which, the ones by Allen and Pugh, are from the pens of Pentecostals:
Sach, A., & Ovey, M., “Have We Lost the Message of Jesus?” Evangelicals Now! (June 2004), 27;
James, R., “Cross Purposes?”, Christian Herald Week 36,(4 September 2004), 1; Chalke, S., “Cross
Purposes”, Christianity, (Sep 2004), 4-5; Haslam, G., “The Lost Cross of Jesus”, Christianity, (Nov
2004), 18-23; Allen, D., “Crossfire”, Joy, Issue 126 (March 2005), 24-26; Peck, A., “Why Did Jesus
Die?” Christianity (September 05), 12-15; Pugh, B., “’The Lost Message of Jesus’ What is all the Fuss
About?” Direction, (Oct 2005), 16-18; James, R., “Atonement and Unity” Idea (March/April 2006),
26-27.
4
Land, S., Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom, (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1993).
5
Chan, S., Pentecostal Theology and the Christian Spiritual Tradition, (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic
Press, 2000).
6
More detailed literature reviews of research carried out on aspects of the study of Pentecostalism will
be presented at the relevant sections in this thesis.
7
Jones, Wainwright and Yarnold, conscious of the vagueness of the word, restrict their definition of
spirituality to “…individual prayer and communion with God,” also recognising “…the outer life
which supports and flows from this devotion,” summing all this up as, “…mystical theology…” Jones,
C., G. Wainwright & E. Yarnold (eds), The Study of Spirituality, (London: SPCK, 1986, 1992), xxii.
Wakefield is more ethical: “…the way in which prayer influences conduct, our behaviour and manner

10
encounter. Things are expected to happen during a Pentecostal meeting. One is

expected to meet God in some tangible way.

In chapter 6.3, for example, I will take reflect on the data available from the very

earliest days of British Pentecostalism. This particular phase of Pentecostalism is

especially distinctive in seeing faith in the blood of Jesus as an essential component in

an individual’s moment of encounter with the Godhead. Issuing from this encounter

comes the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the gift of tongues. This is in marked

contrast with later Pentecostal and Charismatic concepts of Baptism in the Spirit,

which have tended to see the experience as little more than the act of speaking in

tongues for the first time.8 At Sunderland, Britain’s first Pentecostal centre, people

were preparing themselves, night after night, to meet with God.

Elsewhere I will discuss a doctrine that emerges within the pages of Confidence

magazine, Britain’s first Pentecostal periodical, known as ‘pleading the blood.’ In

testimony after testimony, this practice is referred to as being part and parcel of the

Spirit baptism experience, as essential a preliminary to it as speaking in tongues was

its result. The reason why pleading the blood - often simply by saying the word

of life, our attitudes to other people.” Wakefield, G., A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, (London:
SCM, 1983), v.
8
The two ends of the spectrum are vividly represented firstly by Moody’s experience of baptism in the
Spirit, many years prior to the events of Sunderland, in 1871: “I was crying all the time that God would
fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York – oh, what a day! I cannot describe it; I
seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name…I can only say that God revealed
Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand.” Many
years post-Sunderland, in 1960, Dennis Bennett’s experience of Baptism in the Spirit is at the other
extreme: “I began to pray, as he told me, and I prayed very quietly, too. I was not about to get even a
little bit excited! I was simply following instructions. I suppose I must have prayed out loud for about
twenty minutes – at least it seemed to be a long time – and I was just about to give up when a very
strange thing happened. My tongue tripped, just as it might when you are trying to recite a tongue
twister, and I began to speak in a new language!” Full transcripts of both testimonies can be found in
Synan, V., The Century of the Holy Spirit, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 31 and 152.

11
‘blood’ – was deemed so essential was the profoundly felt need to ward off the devil

during the whole encounter.

These Pentecostal nova are just two of the many remarkable moments in the history of

‘blood’- orientated spirituality. Time is taken in this piece of work, not only to trace

the prehistory of the Pentecostal regard for the blood of Jesus, but also to build an

understanding of the various stages reached by devotees of the blood along the way.

Dominant influences have, I hope, been accurately traced so as to suggest to the

reader an unbroken line of continuity, a plausible genealogy of this particular brand of

spirituality.

In focusing on the word ‘blood’ rather than any other words that speak of the death of

Jesus, such as ‘cross’ or ‘atonement,’ I am, firstly, using the term of choice for the

early Pentecostals. As I will show statistically, they used the word ‘blood’ far more

frequently than ‘cross,’ Calvary,’ ‘atoning’ or ‘atonement’ put together. At the

beginning of my research, the sheer preponderance of the word ‘blood’ raised its own

queries concerning origins, which were most likely to be answered by concentrating

on this one word ‘blood’ as it occurred in Pentecostalism’s prehistory. I will show that

the emphasis placed upon the blood at Sunderland, as well as at Azusa Street was in

fact the tail end of a long tradition of spirituality stretching as far back as the medieval

period. This style of spirituality resurfaced with increasing strength, reaching its

climax in early Pentecostalism. This phenomenon, related as it is to the already

recognised medieval phenomenon of ‘passion mysticism,’ I have termed ‘blood

mysticism.’ I will show that Pentecostal spirituality is not only indebted to the

Wesleyan foundation of a second blessing, the precursor of the concept of Baptism in

12
the Spirit,9 but also to this much older tradition of blood veneration. The factors that

were likely to have influenced the rise and, to a significant extent, the demise of blood

mysticism will be identified. My second reason for focusing on this one word ‘blood’

is the need to delimit an otherwise unmanageable research project. Doubtless another

valuable project would be to trace the history of ‘the cross’ or ‘Calvary’ in some

aspect of popular Christian spirituality.

However, the disadvantages of focusing on the blood of Jesus are likely to become

especially apparent to anyone wishing to reintroduce to today’s Church the insights

gained from my research. Firstly, blood is associated with unpleasantness, horror and

gore. Some people cannot bear the sight of blood, and it is not to be expected that they

will have a regard for the word ‘blood’ that is any higher, even if it is the blood of

Jesus. Secondly, the original readers of the New Testament documents, both Jewish

and Gentile, besides doubtless sharing with modern Westerners the above

disadvantage, had the advantage of an additional association: that of blood sacrifices.

Sacrificing slaughtered animals to God or the gods was a widespread practice. For

contemporary (as well as early Pentecostal) Westerners, adopting the word entails the

learning of a new and positive association, a new piece of vocabulary. The

commendation of an idiosyncratic Christian code, a ‘language of Zion’ that has

congregations loudly praising the precious blood of the lamb to the complete

mystification of visitors, is not the purpose of this thesis. Yet, if fidelity to New

9
It is important to note that John Wesley is not the originator of the Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in
the Holy Spirit and seems to have had reservations about John Fletcher’s use of the phrase to denote
the Second Blessing. In fact, McGonigle is of the conviction that neither Wesley nor Fletcher gave due
recognition to the New Testament promise, “You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come
upon you [Acts 1:7].” McGonigle, H., “Pneumatological Nomenclature in Early Methodism,”
Wesleyan Theological Journal 8 (Spring 1973), 71. Nevertheless, it is Fletcher that made the following
statement “adult perfect Christianity…is consequent upon the baptism of the Holy Ghost, administered
by Christ Himself,” and it is the teaching of Fletcher on the subject, rather than that of Wesley, that the
holiness preachers followed: Wessels, R., “The Sprit Baptism: Nineteenth Century Roots,” Pneuma
14:2 (Fall 1992), 131.

13
Testament thought-forms is to be maintained, there does not, at present, seem to be

any way around actually using the word ‘blood’ provided that its symbolic meaning

can be made clear.

Despite the potential difficulties outlined above, a significant underlying aim in this

piece of work will be to provide other researchers with the means to evaluate whether

there is anything useful to Christianity today in this tradition that could, where

relevant, be reinvented and reintroduced. It is of note, for a start, that the blood

mystical tradition is ecumenically rooted, drawing from and shaping both Catholic

and Protestant forms of Christian devotion. Though beyond the scope of this thesis to

fully explore, the ecumenical potential of being atonement centred, thus magnifying

central commonalities and relativising peripheral differences was not lost on Count

Zinzendorf, the father of ecumenism whose spirituality is surveyed in chapter 1.

There are also a kaleidoscopic variety of different idioms and New Testament

metaphors that are invoked within this tradition. Depending on the need of the hour,

Christ’s blood might cleanse, it might redeem, it might defeat Satan, it might provide

access to God, or it might provide any number of other benefits to a devout believer

seeking a closer relationship with God. It is the richness of this tradition that makes it

versatile. It is highly likely that at least one or two of these celebrated uses of the

blood of Christ will be applicable in present day situations and, in a pastoral context,

might be deemed beneficial. On the negative side, much of this emphasis on the blood

appears to be somewhat reactionary. In the Moravians it was part of an anti-rational

revolt against the Enlightenment, amongst the Evangelicals it was an anti-liberal

insistence on continuing to preach, without compromise, a bloody, sacrificial

atonement for sin. Some of this tradition was superstitious. The early Pentecostal

14
practice of pleading the blood for protection against Satan soon came in for much

criticism. And today, this emphasis appears to have become redundant. Changes in

Pentecostal urgencies mean that the repetitive invocation of the power of the blood of

Jesus in song and sermon has now become largely an historical curio.

Nevertheless, of particular interest have been the more recent contributions of Tom

Smail who, as a critical and reluctant charismatic, has spoken of how “the Spirit

comes from the cross.”10 Smail has articulated a theology for reintegrating atonement-

centred spirituality with Spirit-centred spirituality. He seems to point the way towards

reinventing for today the archaic yet valuable traditions of the past that sought in their

own way to keep the Spirit and the blood together.

This thesis, therefore, aims to be a resource for others to use, whether with academic

or pastoral aims in mind. Though the scope of this thesis is necessarily narrow, the

centrality of its subject to so much Christian spirituality means that it touches on a

broad range of interests. It is hoped that there is, in the coming pages, a piece of work

that is both interesting and useful to readers from inside and outside the Pentecostal

tradition.

10
Smail, T., “The Cross and the Spirit: Towards a Theology of Renewal” in Smail, T, A. Walker & N.
Wright (eds.) Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology, (London: SPCK, 1995), 55. Smail is
discussed in chapter 8.1.

15
 Contributions to Research.

This thesis offers a contribution to current knowledge of the origins of Pentecostal

theology by focusing on an aspect of that theology that has not heretofore received

attention as a distinct study in its own right. Many Pentecostal historians have

skimmed over the rather quirky beliefs of the early Pentecostals about the blood,

giving, at best, rather scant attention to an area of belief that was clearly very

important to them. A very worthwhile study has been conducted into the role of

eschatology in early Pentecostal spirituality with Faupel’s The Everlasting Gospel.11

Until now, there has been no study of an equivalent scale into the role of any aspect of

atonement theology in early Pentecostal spirituality.

Secondly, and related to the above, this thesis offers a fresh account of Pentecostal

origins by shifting from the traditional locus of Pentecostal identity: Baptism in the

Holy Spirit. Typical accounts of Pentecostal origins have traced its origins only as far

back as the concept of Baptism in the Spirit can be traced. Here, I analyse a different,

but no less identity-depicting aspect of Pentecostal belief: the blood mystical root.

This root seems to take the history of Pentecostal spirituality much further back than

the traditionally acknowledged Wesleyan starting point, possibly even as far back as

Bernard of Clairvaux and the medieval passionists.

11
Faupel, D.W., The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of
Pentecostal Thought, (Sheffield Academic Press, 1996).

16
Thirdly, this thesis offers the first ever detailed account of the origins of the

Pentecostal and Charismatic practice of pleading the blood, offering an in-depth

analysis of this phenomenon, which, in some quarters, is still practised today.

Fourthly, this thesis makes an important contribution to the study of 19th Century

British Evangelicalism. A number of excellent books have been written on this

subject, most of which include a section on the role of the cross in Evangelical

spirituality. My study concentrates on an aspect of that crucicentrism which has, until

now, been given little attention, and demonstrates helpfully how 19th century

Evangelical spirituality may be joined up to what went before and after it in the area

of devotion to the atonement.

Fifthly, and related to the above, this study makes an implicit contribution to

ecumenical dialogue as it shows the continuity of devotion to the blood that runs

through Catholic and Protestant faith, as well as through the many different branches

of Protestantism.

Lastly, in my analysis of Confidence magazine as well as, The Apostolic Faith, the

Elim Evangel, and Redemption Tidings magazines, I offer a listing of articles on the

four leading theological themes: The Second Coming of Christ, the Holy Spirit and

Spiritual Gifts, Divine Healing and the Atonement. This will be a valuable resource

for future researchers in Pentecostal theology. These listings provide valuable

statistical data on what, in fact, the main theological urgencies of the early

Pentecostals were.

17
 Method.

My method was, first of all, to write an initial probe in order to investigate the

viability of the subject. This took the form of an analysis of the first year of issues of

Confidence magazine, assessing it for the frequency and type of references to the

blood of Jesus. I added to this some tentative conclusions about the origins of early

British Pentecostal blood mysticism in German Pietism, Keswick, the Welsh Revival

and Kilsyth. My findings were then presented at the annual European Pentecostal

Theological Association conference in Basle in April 2005, and subsequently

published under the title, “’There is Power in the Blood’ – The Role of the Blood of

Jesus in the Spirituality of Early British Pentecostalism” in the Journal of the

European Pentecostal Theological Association in January 2006.12

This initial probe was followed by a more detailed search for a possible beginning

point. I had already explored as far back as Count Zinzendorf and 18th century

German Pietism for the EPTA paper and had demonstrated likely dependences. Now

there came the opportunity of searching further back to Zinzendorf’s main influence:

Martin Luther, and Martin Luther’s mentors: the medieval mystics, especially

Bernard. During this phase of the project I followed the already accepted Wesleyan

root to Pentecostalism but attempted to add to this a greater understanding of some of

the influences flowing into Wesleyan theology that pertain to the blood of Christ. This

research produced chapter 1.

12
Pugh, B.,“’There is Power in the Blood’ – The Role of the Blood of Jesus in the Spirituality of Early
British Pentecostalism” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association Vol.XXV
(2006), 54-66.

18
Next, significant documents relating to movements and people within the whole span

of the accepted Pentecostal prehistory from Wesley onwards were consulted for their

use of the word ‘blood’ in relation to Jesus. My aspiration was to have before me a

plausible model of the chronology involved, so as to tentatively begin telling the

‘story’ of the blood. The navigational landmarks used for tracing this story were the

figures and movements already well known to have contributed to the formation of

British Pentecostal theology: the Wesleys, the holiness movement, the Welsh revival,

the Azusa Street revival, as this chronology is well established.13 All that was added

was, firstly, an inevitable change of complexion as attention was focused on those

aspects of this chronology where a particular emphasis on the blood of Jesus could be

seen, besides the already well-noted emphasis on baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, my chronology is longer than the accepted Pentecostal precursor

chronologies. This is because an emphasis on the blood of Jesus can be traced further

back than an emphasis on the baptism in the Holy Spirit can.14

13
There have been pleas for the inclusion of other movements into the chronology of influential
antecedents, principally: Randall, I.M., “Old Time Power: Relationships between Pentecostalism and
Evangelical Spirituality in England,” Pneuma 19:1 (Spring 1997), 53-80; idem, “’Days of Pentecostal
Overflowing’: Baptists and the Shaping of Pentecostalism,” in Bebbington, D.W.(ed), The Gospel in
the World: Studies in Baptist History and Thought, Vol.1.,(Carlisle: Paternoster, 2002), 80-104, and
Waldvogel, E., “The ‘Overcoming’ Life: A Study in the Reformed Evangelical Contribution to
Pentecostalism,” Pneuma 1:1 (Spring 1979), 7-17, yet contra Cartledge, M., “The Early Pentecostal
Theology of Confidence Magazine (1908-1926): A Version of the Five-Fold Gospel?” Journal of the
European Pentecostal Theological Association, 28:2 (2008),117-130. These will be discussed at the
appropriate places. The most widely acknowledged histories are: Nichols, J.T., Pentecostalism, (New
York: Harper & Row, 1966), Hollenweger, W., The Pentecostals, (London: SCM, 1972), Dayton, D.,
The Theological Roots of Pentecostalism, (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1987), and Synan, V.,
The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century, (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1997).
14
Other historiographical methodologies besides the roots approach to the study of Pentecostalism’s
emergence have been used in other studies. The methodology employed by the earlier Pentecostal
historians stressed the providence of God, rather than human influences, as a way of defending the
legitimacy of the fledgling movement: e.g. Bartleman, F., Azusa Street: the Roots of Modern-day
Pentecost, (Plainfield: Bridge Publishing, 1980). Turnball, T.N., What God Hath Wrought, (Bradford:
Puritan Press, 1959). Two further types of Pentecostal historiography are also worthy of note. Firstly,
the racial approach. This method understands the true roots of Pentecostalism to be African-American.
Pentecostalism thus becomes a powerful symbol of black liberation waiting to be reclaimed:
MacRobert, I., The Black Roots and White Racism of Early Pentecostalism in the USA, (Basingstoke:
Macmillan, 1988), Nelson, D., “For Such a Time as This: The Story of Bishop William J. Seymour and
the Azusa Street Revival,” (PhD dissertation: University of Birmingham, 1981). Lastly, there has been

19
The data were drawn from printed sermons, devotional books, hymnbooks and

periodicals. I was looking for continuity between groups and individuals known to

have influenced each other, as well as adaptations of inherited tradition that might

help to explain how and why the tradition could take on the form it did in early British

Pentecostalism. This exercise produced a paper for the Evangelical Review of

Theology entitled, “A Brief History of the Blood: The Blood of Christ in Transatlantic

Evangelical Devotion.”15 I had especially wanted, at this stage, to explain the

continuities so that a plausible story of the blood mystical tradition could be

presented. I particularly wanted to know when and why blood mysticism began, when

and why it flourished and when and why did it ended (if in fact it did end). During

this phase of the project, the dating for blood mysticism’s origins in the medieval

period appeared highly likely, and the time of its greatest intensity in late 19th century

Evangelicalism and early 20th century Pentecostalism now seemed beyond doubt.

However, an idea I had previously held that blood mysticism ended with the first 10

years or so of Pentecostalism was rejected. More and more evidence came to light of

charismatics today who teach in great detail about pleading the blood, and of inter-

War Pentecostals who maintained a high level of interest in the blood of Christ. The

‘why’ aspects of my quest were more complex. An increased emphasis on the

humanity of Christ was cited as the medieval background, with some possible

sociological reasons for that being offered. The reasons for the late Victorian and

the sociological approach. This makes use of a Marxist critique to postulate, from the lower class
background of the earlier Pentecostals, a framework of compensation to the under-privileged that
Pentecostalism offers. This is apparently the reason for its success among the disadvantaged: Anderson,
R.M., Vision of the Disinherited: The Making if American Pentecostalism, (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1979). There is value in all of these approaches but this is a study of roots and,
therefore, interacts most naturally with the other roots studies and owes a great deal to them.
15
Pugh, B.A., “A Brief History of the Blood: the Story of the Blood of Christ in Transatlantic
Evangelical Devotion” Evangelical Review of Theology 31:3 (July 2007), 239-255.

20
early Edwardian flourish were presented within the context of a growing attachment

to a premillennial eschatology. Reasons for the sudden change in the nature of this

tradition to a victory motif at the turn of the 20th century were also offered. Instead of

the demise of the tradition after the first 10 years of Pentecostalism, possible reasons

for the elimination of the victory motif and the reversion to 19th century cleansing and

redeeming motifs in the inter-war period were explored. The need for Pentecostals to

find acceptance within wider Evangelicalism was the main reason given for the inter-

War nostalgic turn.

As to the practicalities of gathering the statistical data, it is worth acknowledging from

the outset the crudity and limitations of the very basic quantitative and qualitative

statistics that are offered in some parts of this thesis. The purpose of my word studies

was merely to provide a supplement to my reviews of the primary literature of a kind

that was mathematical in nature and therefore, arguably, more objective than my

comments on selections of text. These mathematical indicators added an enhanced

sensitivity to the surveying process that picked out propensities within the Azusa

Street revival, for instance, which would not otherwise have been noticed. I also

found that the larger emerging verities of my research were significantly enhanced by

the way these basic statistical surveys confirmed observations that had been made

while reading.

Large amounts of statistical data were collected by simply counting the occurrences of

the word ‘blood’ in a document. Where a CD-ROM of this document was available,16

an electronic word search was carried out. Otherwise, each page was manually
16
Specifically, all issues of Confidence magazine, Redemption Tidings from the first issue to the end of
1938, Elim Evangel from the first issue to end of 1934 and the entire period of The Apostolic Faith that
was consulted for this study.

21
scanned for instances of the word. It is inevitable that some occurrences were missed

and perfect accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The frequency of the word ‘blood’ in the

documents surveyed in this way might, therefore, be marginally greater than my

figures represent, though it is not likely to be any less. My surveying was with the

purpose of detecting content as well as frequency. This being the case, the immediate

context of the word ‘blood’ was noted for the theme it carried: whether redemption,

justification, cleansing or whatever other theme seemed clear from the immediate

context. If more than one theme was found connected to the one instance of the word,

for example, “Redeemed in His cleansing blood,” the dominant verb was chosen:

“Redeemed,” and the participle, “cleansing,” ignored. The word ‘blood’ was only

counted if it was being used to refer directly to the blood of Jesus. This meant that

numerous citations of Hebrews 9:22: “Without shedding of blood there is no

remission,” had to be ignored since at this point in the passage the writer to the

Hebrews is speaking purely of the Old Testament sacrificial system, from which he

would only later draw inferences about Jesus. Similarly, in the numerous articles in

the Pentecostal press that gave a lengthy - and very bloody - pre-amble about the

Levitical sacrifices before going on to talk about the blood of Jesus, all the

occurrences in the pre-amble were ignored since having no direct bearing on Jesus

Himself.

22
 1. The Origins of Blood-Mysticism.

The veneration of the visualised and verbalised blood of Christ with a view to

achieving a richer and fuller relationship with God is a tradition that, in many ways, is

traceable to the New Testament itself. The New Testament writers commonly use ‘the

blood of Jesus’ and similar phrases as shorthand for treasured truths connected with

the death of Christ in its atoning and saving significance.17 In Paul, that death is

gloried in and boasted of and made the hub of apostolic preaching.18 Yet the facts of

history are such that Christian devotion to the blood of Christ has fluctuated wildly

under the influence of factors that often lie outside the two covers of people’s Bibles.

And it is within Evangelicalism in its many forms that this fluctuation is especially

clear. There have been certain periods within this Evangelical tradition with which

frequent references to the blood are especially to be associated. Indeed, at certain

times and in certain people, so frequent are these references to the blood in hymnody

and devotional writing that a new word is necessary to describe it: blood mysticism.19

I will now begin to offer an account of the origins of this tradition. In what follows

there will be a brief, and by no means exhaustive, consideration of the contributions

of Bernard of Clairvaux and Martin Luther to the tradition as a way of setting the

17
The blood of Christ in its saving significance is referred to 34 times in the New Testament, occurring
in 14 of its 27 books, where it is commonest in Paul’s early letters.
18
Gal. 6:14; 1Cor.1:18; 2:2; 15:1-3; Rom.1:16.
19
I have also encountered this phrase in Behm, J., “‘αιµα” in Kittel, G., (ed) Theological Dictionary of
the New Testament Vol.1, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 175, used with reference to the mystery
religions, and in Bynum, C. W., “The Blood of Christ in the Later Middle Ages,” Church History 71:4
(Dec. 2002), 689, n.15, & 713-714 In this piece of work I am using the phrase to refer to what appears
to be an offshoot of passion mysticism. Passion mysticism was the contemplation of Christ’s suffering
and death with a view to achieving union with God. Blood mysticism, in its various forms, is the
contemplation of the shed blood of Christ specifically, rather than his suffering and death generally,
with a view to securing an essentially very similar result.

23
scene for the first major maifestation of blood mysticism within Protestantism,

Zinzendorf, the Moravians and their famous ‘blood-and-wounds’ theology.

1.1. Bernard of Clairvaux.

Crucicentrism is a product of medieval sacramental spirituality.20 By AD1000 the idea

of transubstantiation was widely held, being officially recognised at the 4th Lateran

Council of 1215 and then reaffirmed at the Council of Trent.21 This belief, entailing as

it did the repeated offering of the Lord’s body and blood,22 led to the multiplication of

Masses,23 as well as to the creation of a new feast, the feast of Corpus Christi. “Awe

and veneration”24 surrounded such symbols of sacrifice, as these had become the only

way of salvation. Consequently, the cross, the central feature of the sacramental

system, became the rallying point for monastic and lay worshippers alike. Besides

these developments, the medieval period also witnessed growing devotion to the

Sacred Heart in France as well as to the Five Sacred Wounds in Portugal, and the

creation of ‘Calvaries’: life-size sculptures of scenes depicting the final hours of

Jesus’ life on earth, not to mention the appearance of countless splinters of the cross

and the dissemination of various Holy Grail myths.25

20
Gillett points out that crucicentrism has always been a feature of Western Christianity (as opposed to
Eastern Orthodox). Evangelicalism simply “held more tenaciously to what has always been the heart of
Western Catholicism.” Gillett, D., Trust and Obey: Explorations in Evangelical Spirituality, (London:
Darton, Longman & Todd, 1993), 66.
21
McBrien, R., (ed), The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, (New York: Harper Collins,
1995), 1264.
22
The idea of the Eucharist as a sacrifice presented to God by the worshipping Church goes back at
least as far as Irenaeus Against Heresies IV:18, 4-6.
23
Dillistone, F.W., Christianity and Symbolism, (London: SCM, 1955), 249-250.
24
Dillistone, Christianity and Symbolism, 250.
25
Three recent studies of the body and blood of Christ in medieval spirituality are noteworthy:
Beckwith, S., Christ’s Body: Identity, Culture, and Society in Late Medieval Writings, (London:
Routledge, 1993), Camporesi, P., Tr. R. Barr, Juice of Life: The Symbolic and Magic Significance of
Blood, (New York: Continuum, 1995), Bynum, “The Blood of Christ,” 685-714.

24
Of the many contributors to the passion mysticism of the time, Bernard of Clairvaux

(1090-1153), the highly influential Cistercian monk, was by far the most significant.

Of particular significance to this study is his influence upon the young Luther.26

Bernard was also a source of inspiration to the Pietists. His most prized devotional

classic, from which Luther quotes frequently,27 was his Sermones in Cantica

Canticorum, his sermons on the Song of Songs. Parts of this book displayed a form of

passion mysticism that combined imagery from the cross with the bridegroom

metaphor, a combination that Luther,28 Zinzendorf 29and the Moravians30 would also

show an interest in. In Bernard, the link between the Bridegroom and the passion is

Ephesians 5:23-32 in which Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church saves her by giving

himself up for her, the ultimate demonstration of love.31 This results in a loving union

between the two.

Most of Sermons 61-62 of Bernard’s Cantica are a meditation around the theme of the

beloved in the cleft of the rock. The Rock is pictured as Christ, and the cleft, His

26
Bernard’s works were apparently read out loud at meal times at the Erfurt friary: Tomlin, G., The
Power of the Cross: Theology of the Death of Christ in Paul, Luther and Pascal, (Carlisle: Paternoster,
1999), The Power, 131.
27
Tomlin, The Power, 132.
28
In his Freedom of the Christian Man, he depicts the marriage arranged by the Father between the
sinner and Christ as one necessarily involving shared possessions: the Bridegroom’s “grace, life, and
salvation” become the sinner’s, while the sinner’s “sin’s, death, and damnation” become the
Bridegroom’s: Westerholm, S., Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The ‘Lutheran’ Paul and His
Critics, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 2004), 31.
29
E.g. Forwell, G. (Tr. & Ed), Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures on Important Subjects in Religion,
(Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1973), 24-33. This lecture is an exposition of Matt.22:2/Luke
14:17, the Parable of the Marriage Feast, yet unnaturally introduces the wounds of Christ as a dominant
theme. Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, who will be discussed shortly, is the most famous 18th
century German religious figure and there is an extensive secondary literature on his life and theology,
for which see my discussion at section 1.3.
30
References to “…our souls Bridegroom” survive in English Moravianism until around the end of the
18th Century when the language that had been used by the English Moravians starts becomes more
conventional: Stead, G. & M., The Exotic Plant: A History of the Moravian Church in Great Britain
1742-200, (Peterborough: Epworth, 2003), 325. The Moravians will be discussed at section 1.4.
31
Love, especially divine love, was a preoccupying theme at this time, a significant influence on
Bernard’s view of love being Cicero’s definition of love as disinterested loving for love’s sake, finding
its reward in itself: Gilson, E., The Mystical Theology of St Bernard, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian
Publications, 1990), 8-9. Cf. Bernard of Claivaux, On Loving God, Ed: H. Martin, (London: SCM,
1959), 42-44.

25
“Side Wound.”32 The other four wounds that were venerated besides the side wound,

were the two holes in His feet and the two holes in His hands. The Bride, usually

representing the Church but sometimes the individual,33 is exhorted to dwell in this

and other wounds of Christ by continually meditating upon them: “It is because the

Bride is thus devoted to the Wounds of Christ and meditates on them continually, that

the Bridegroom calls her ‘My dove in the clefts of the rock.’”34 The cleft of the rock is

a womb-like, invincible place of safety and child-like abdication: “…she no longer

occupies herself with lofty matters that are too high for her, but is content, like

unassuming doves that nest in hollows of the rock, to remain hidden in His

wounds…”35

In this place of trusting identification with the sufficient sacrifice of Christ, the merit

of Christ’s sacrifice can be imputed to the ‘dove’:

The mercy of the Lord, then, is my merit; and truly I am not devoid of merit
while His mercies do not fail…Thy broad and endless righteousness will
cover me and Thee alike, cloaking in me a multitude of sins…These are the
things that are laid up for me ‘in the clefts of the rock.’36

In a way that anticipates Zinzendorf’s concept of faith;37 the crucified Christ must be

32
In Cowperian language, the metaphor is extended to include the rock, which Moses struck: “…and
from the Rock there gushes forth the spring, whence they drink the Cup of the Lord.” Bernard, Song,
196-7.
33
E.g. Bernard, Song, 213. Zinzendorf also allows this, in which case, he prefers the term ‘Husband’:
“I believe that my Husband, by His own blood, by His real death on the tree of the cross, has placed me
in a privileged position.” Nine Public Lectures, 70.
34
Bernard, Song, 196.
35
Bernard, Song, 136. There are echoes of this link between sacrifice and abdication, not only in
Moravian spirituality, but also in Jungian psychology in which the attraction to ritual sacrifices in
human societies is about a longing for the womb of death: “This death is no external enemy, but a deep
personal longing for quiet and for the profound peace of non-existence, for a dreamless sleep in the ebb
and flow of the sea of life.” Dillistone, Symbolism, 242-3; Jung, C., Psychology of the Unconscious Tr.
B. Hinkle,(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., 1921), 135.
36
Bernard, Song, 196.
37
On which, see my discussion of his Nine Public Lectures in section 1.3.

26
‘seen’:

You must have Jesus constantly before your eyes. Then you will see clearly
the pains that the Lord endured for you and you will then willingly bear your
own pains through his help…. Nor do I ask Him where He feeds His flock,
as does the Bride; for I behold Him as my Saviour on the cross.38

Already, then, the themes of the visualisation of the wounds and blood of Christ as a

route to faith and the theme of abdication as a route to rest and assurance in the merit

of Christ’s sufferings are clearly discernable in Bernard.39

The factors that gave rise to passion mysticism in the medieval period would appear

to be a shift of emphasis taking place throughout the medieval and renaissance

periods. This was a shift in popular devotion from a kingly exalted Christ in heaven to

a very human Jesus, suffering and dying on a cross.40 After such emphasis on the

divinity of Christ as had been seen in late antiquity, perhaps it was inevitable that the

pendulum would eventually swing the other way. The trigger for this swing of the

pendulum seems to have been the growing misery of ordinary people as the Middle

Ages reached their height. Until the first bubonic plague of 1349-51, population

growth meant that people began to outstrip the natural resources available to sustain

them. There was widespread rural poverty and a massive immigration to the cities

where sanitation was poor and life expectancies short. A suffering human Christ could

38
Sermon 43 on the Song of Songs in Backhouse, H., (ed), The Song of Songs from the Sermons of St
Bernard of Clairvaux, (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990), cited in Mayes, A., Celebrating the
Christian Centuries, (London: SPCK, 1999), 57.
39
Indeed, there was a medieval tradition of “ocular communion,” the idea that merely viewing the
consecrated host on the altar can be a way of receiving the eucharist: Bynum, “Blood of Christ,” 686,
688.
40
Medieval spirituality focused, according to Beckwith, on “…Christ the incarnate God, and more
specifically Christ both as infant and as crucified, the two moments of birth and death, which insist on
the claims of the body most emphatically and obviously.” Beckwith, Christ’s Body, 17.

27
transfigure the deprivations of churchgoers as they beheld the various pictorial

sermons of a Christ who suffered yet overcame death.

1.2. Martin Luther.

By the time of Martin Luther, passion meditation was widespread, being espoused by

Thomas à Kempis, the most widely read of the medieval mystics,41 Johannes von

Paltz (a close friend of Luther’s42) and Johannes von Staupitz (Luther’s superior at

Erfurt43). Meditation on the wounds of Jesus was recommended by Saupitz as a way

out of temptation and anxiety.44 Luther himself recommended it as a route to

conviction of sin. This would be followed by a profound transformation that is like a

new birth.45

The passion mysticism with which Luther was acquainted included various different

styles of meditation on the cross. One style that the early Luther practised, based on

humilitas theology,46 was to meditate in detail on each of the wounds of Jesus. This

was designed to reveal to oneself the true awfulness of one’s sin, inspiring true

41
“If you cannot contemplate high and heavenly things take refuge in the Passion of Christ and love to
dwell within his sacred wounds. For if you devoutly seek the wounds of Jesus and the precious marks
of his passion you will find great strength in all troubles.” Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ,
(London: Penguin, 1987), 68. Kempis was also a direct influence in the forming of John Wesley’s
Perfectionism: Wesley, J., A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, (London: Epworth, nd), 6: “In the
year 1726 I met with Kempis’s Christian’s Pattern. The nature and extent of inward religion, the
religion of the heart, now appeared to me a stronger light than it had done before.”
42
Tomlin, The Power, 135.
43
Tomlin, The Power, 135.
44
Tomlin, The Power, 138.
45
Tomlin, The Power, 140.
46
Ngien, D., The Suffering of God According to Martin Luther’s ‘Theologia Crucis,’(New York: Peter
Lang, 1995), 29.

28
penitence.47 Such penitence afforded Luther some comfort as it lifted his mind from

himself altogether, at least momentarily.48 Luther insists:

Faith must spring up and flow from the blood and wounds and death of
Christ. If you see in these that God is so kindly disposed toward you that he
even gives his own Son for you, then your heart in turn must grow sweet and
disposed toward God.49

Owing to Zinzendorf’s influence, Luther’s theology was probably the dominant

influence upon Moravian liturgy and hymnody.50 Anticipating them, Luther is

unashamed of including such hyperboles as these:

The eye but water doth behold,

As from man’s hand it floweth;
But inward faith the power untold
Of Jesus Christ’s blood knoweth.
Faith sees therein a red flood roll,
With Christ’s blood dyed and blended,
Which hurts of all kinds maketh whole,
From Adam here descended…51

In the mature Luther, the idea of merit is prominent, where “…the merits of Christ

mean the same thing as the work of Christ.”52 There is an especially strong link in

Luther between the blood of Christ and the merit of Christ:

47
Tomlin, The Power, 140.
48
Tomlin, G., Luther and His World, (Oxford: Lion, 2002), 42-44.
49
Luther, M., Good Works 44:38, cited in Westerholm, Perspecctives, 31.
50
The picture is a complex one however. Many of the Moravians identified themselves with the ancient
Unitas Fratrum, even singing the ancestral hymn: “Blessed be the time when I must roam.” Atwood,
C.D., Community of the Cross: Moravian Piety in Colonial Bethlehem, (Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2004), 22. It is also clear that Zinzendorf himself had contact with accounts of the discipline and
practices of the Unitas Fratrum as laid down by the celebrated bishop Comenius (1592-1670):
Podmore, C., The Moravian Church in England 1728-1760, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), 6.
Nevertheless, Atwood records the dominance of Zinzendorfian vocabulary in the Moravian hymnals
that he surveyed, and while remarkable for its uniqueness, this vocabulary, he points out, was clearly
indebted to Luther (as well as Lutheran Pietism): Atwood, Community, 144-5 & 223. See sections 1.3-
1.4 for my discussion of Zinzendorf and the Moravians.
51
Leupold, U., (ed), Luther’s Works Vol 53: Liturgy and Hymns, (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1965), 301,
from the hymn, To Jordan When Our Lord Had Come.

29
 …our place of propitiation is not won by our merits, but in His, Christ’s,
blood, that is, in His suffering, whereby He made satisfaction and merited
propitiation for those who believe in Him… and our sins have been forgiven,
by His blood, that is, by the merit of His blood…53

Luther’s concerted assault upon the high premium placed on the merits of human

works in medieval Christianity may be the true source of the idea of ‘pleading the

blood.’ The phrase ‘plead(ing) the blood,’ however, does not seem to appear until the

Puritans,54 and is not a common phrase until the hymns of Charles Wesley.

From Luther it is clear that a basically Anselmian view of Christ’s death as achieving

a certain surplus of merit with God had remained unchanged with the transition to

Protestantism; it was merely the way this merit could be appropriated that had

changed: from the sacrament of the mass to the sacrament of preaching.

52
Aulén, G., Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of the
Atonement, (London: SPCK, 1931), 134. The soteriology of the Augsburg Confession is largely a
soteriology of merit: Article II: “They [Lutherans] condemn the Pelagians and others who deny that
original depravity is sin, and who, to obscure the glory of Christ’s merit and benefits, argue that man
can be justified before God by his own strength and reason.” Article IV: …men cannot be justified
before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through
faith.” Article VI: “Also they teach…it is necessary to do good works commanded by God, because of
God’s will, but that we should not rely on those works to merit justification before God.” The
Confession of Faith: Which was Submitted to His Imperial Majesty Charles V At the Diet of Augsburg
in the Year 1530 by Philip Melanchthon, 1497-1560, Tr. F. Bente & W. H. T. Dau, (St Louis:
Concordia Publishing House, 1921), 37-95 accessed online at
53
Exposition of Romans 3:25 and Romans 5:8 in Oswald, H., (ed), Luther’s Works, (St Louis:
Concordia, 1972), 32 & 45. (italics original).
54
See especially the four occurrences in Stephen Charnock’s treatise, A Discourse of the Cleansing
Virtue of Christ’s Blood (http://www. accessed online 18 Nov 2008, originally written 1684), 3:
“There is a perpetual pleading of it for us, a continual flowing of it to us. It is a fountain set open for
sin, Zech. xiii. 1.” 27: “Rom. iii. 22, 25, 'Faith in his blood,' faith reaching out to his blood, embracing
his blood, sucking up his propitiating blood and pleading it.” 28: “What reason have any then to expect
remission upon the account of mere compassion, without pleading his blood?” 39: “…it is a blood that
was not drunk up by the earth, but gathered up again into his body to be a living, pleading, cleansing
blood in the presence of God for ever.”

30
 1.3. Count Zinzendorf.

The most distant point in the ancestry of Pentecostal spirituality from which an

unbroken line has been traced is the Pietism of late 17th and early 18th Century

Europe. Voices in favour of doing so appear few and muted, however. This is

possibly because Pentecostals gauge what is part of their history and what is not part

of their history by the criterion of Baptism in the Holy Spirit, an idea that does not

begin to take shape until John Wesley’s Second Blessing. In this thesis I will argue

that there is another root to Pentecostal spirituality that goes much further back but

which was no less formative on Pentecostalism’s earliest days: the blood mystical

root. Anderson is very clear about the Pietist roots of modern Pentecostalism, pointing

to the Pietists’ emphasis on new birth by the Holy Spirit as setting the stage for the

double Spirit reception of Wesleyanism.55 Bundy, an acknowledged expert on

Pietism, cites Pietist ‘biblicism’ and ‘primitivism’ as significant influences, mediated

to American Pentecostalism via Wesley and Fletcher but to European Pentecostalism

directly. Curiously, he extends the term ‘European Pietism’ to include 19th Century

groups as well as the more classically recognised 17th and 18th Century groups.56

Synan, being himself a Pentecostal Holiness pastor, prefers to start with Wesley,57

while Dayton acknowledges the importance of Pietism as an indirect source but

prefers to start with Methodism.58

55
Anderson, A., An Introduction to Pentecostalism, (Cambridge: University Press, 2004), 25.
56
Bundy, D., “European Pietist Roots of Pentecostalism” in Burgess, S & E., Van der Maas (eds) The
New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2002), 611-13.
57
Synan,, The Century of the Holy Spirit, 2, 15, 17.
58
Dayton, D., Theological Roots of Pentecostalism, (London: Scarecrow, 1987), 37.

31
The period in which Pietism emerged was a time of “…a revival of moral and

religious earnestness.”59 Emerging within this earnestness, Pietism had an originating

genius that made it the beginning point of much that is now taken for granted in

Evangelical Protestantism.60 Pietism exhibited a strong desire to move away from

lifeless Lutheran orthodoxy and placed the doctrine of regeneration uppermost in its

soteriology.61 This brought about the desired focus upon the subjective state of the

believer as opposed to his or her objectively justified status.62 Such spiritual rebirth

would lead to a pious and holy life, the longed-for result. Indeed, Halle Pietism, its

earliest form, initiated by Philip Jakob Spener with his book Pia Desideria in 1675,

was so concerned with the imperative of reformation of character that it dramatically

underplayed the Lutheran doctrine of justification. Halle Pietism was thus blamed for

deforming rather than reforming. 63

From 1727 a recognisably new form of Pietism began to emerge, whose leader, Count

Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760),64 actually came to reject the

59
Tappert, T., (Tr. & Ed.), Pia Desideria by Philip Jacob Spener, (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964), 1.
60
Stoeffler cites the holiness orientation of Protestant preaching, the “vastly expanded hymnody” and
Pietism’s vision of “…a world in need of the Gospel of Christ” as Protestant ‘firsts.’ For him, “Pietism
was the most important development in Protestant spirituality,” Stoeffler, F., “Preface” in Erb,, F. (ed),
Pietists: Selected Writings, (London: SPCK, 1983), ix.
61
“…both in Spener and in Francke we read more about regeneration than about justification.”
Stoeffler, F., German Pietism During the Eighteenth Century, (Leiden: Brill, 1973), 10.
62
Erb, Pietists, 6. It also brought the sharp division between ‘head’ and ‘heart’ that became so
characteristic of Pietism and its more modern counterparts: “Let us remember that in the last judgment
we shall not be asked how learned we were…”Tappert, Pia Desideria, 36. This approach would be
especially influential upon Pietism’s North American descendants according to Erb, Pietists, 25.
63
Erb, Pietists, 6. The conflict with Lutheran orthodoxy that this new outlook brought about is covered
in detail in Stoeffler, Pietism, 8-23, 57-71.
64
Among the more recent general works on Zinzendorf’s life and theology are: Beyreuther, E.,
Zinzendorf und die Christenheit, (Marburg an der Lahn: Francke, 1961), Beyreuther, E., Studien zur
Theologie Zinzendorfs, (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag der Buchhandlung des
Erziehungsvereins, 1962), Lewis, A. J., Zinzendorf: The Ecumenical Pioneer: A Study in the Moravian
Contribution to Christian Mission and Unity,, (London: SCM, 1962), Aalen, L., Die Theologie des
jungen Zinzendorf, (Berlin: Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1966), Weinlick, J. R., Count Zinzendorf, (New
York: Abingdon Press, 1956; reprinted Bethlehem, Pa.: Moravian Church in America,1989), Freeman,
J. A., An Ecumenical Theology of the Heart: The Theology of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf,
(Bethlehem, Pa.: Moravian Publications, 1998), D. Meyer and P. Peuker, (eds), Graf Ohne Grenzen:

32
increasingly legalistic Halle Pietism that he had been brought up with. This group,

who would become known in England as the Moravians,65 drew much of its

leadership from Bohemia and Moravia in the present day Czech Republic. Its

membership, a complex mixture of Protestants,66 was one small part of a widespread

emigration from the Protestant heartlands of central Europe in the wake of Catholic

repression. Now, these refugees were safe to practise their religion on Zinzendorf’s

estate in Saxony.

Moravian Pietism displayed all the characteristic marks of Evangelicalism. Among

these Evangelical identity markers was a strong theology of the cross.67 From the

Leben und Werk von Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf, (Herrnhut: Unitätsarchiv im Verlag der
Comeniusbuchhandlung, 2000).
65
Throughout this piece of work, the term most familiar to the non-specialist English-speaking reader:
Moravians, will be used, though, on the Continent the Moravians would have referred to themselves as
the Brüdergemeine, the ‘Brethren’s Congregation.’ Even in Britain, the Moravians of the 18th century
would not normally, according to Stead, have referred to themselves as Moravian but rather as the
‘United Brethren,’ or ‘Brethren.’ The term ‘Moravian Church’ only became official in the British
Province in 1908: Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 3-4.
66
A significant body of research has thrown into serious doubt the traditional historical account of
origins that claims direct continuity with the original Unitas Fratrum. This was a community of proto-
Protestants that broke with Rome in 1457 and was almost destroyed by the Thirty Years’ War (1618-
48). It survived, so the story goes, as an underground church called the ‘Hidden Seed’ from 1627 until
1722 when the first Czech refugees arrived on Zinzendorf’s estate. Then began the time of the
Renewed Brethren. Atwood finds it questionable whether any of the 2000 Czech refugees who came to
Zinzendorf were ever members of the old Unitas Fratrum. He helpfully cites three significant
contributions to the debate that also argue against this traditional understanding: Molnár, E., “The
Pious Fraud of Count Zinzendorf,” Iliff Review 11 (1954), 29-38; Ward, W.R., “The Renewed Unity of
the Brethren: Ancient Church, New Sect, or Transconfessional Movement,” Bulletin of the John
Rylands Library 70 (1988), ixvii-xcii; Sterrick, E., “Mährische Brüder, böhemische Brüder, und die
Brüdergemeine,” Unitas Fratrum 48 (2001), 106-14, cited in Atwood, Community, 21. Zeman makes
clear how complex was the make up of Czech Protestantism both before and after the influence of
Luther and Calvin swept through the region. Distinguishing between Moravian Anabaptists, Hutterite
Brethren and the Unitas Fratrum, he devotes four pages to explaining the terminology alone: Zeman,
J. K., The Anabaptists and the Czech Brethren in Moravia 1526-1628: A Study of Origins and
Contacts, (The Hague: Mouton, 1969), 55-58. Substantial books continue to appear in English,
however, that adhere, at least in part, to the traditional account of Moravian origins, most notably:
Podmore, Moravian Church in England, 5-6, who claims descent from the Unitas Fratrum for the
Moravians but that they had, until Töltschig and the Nitschmanns revived them, “little knowledge of
the traditions of their ancestors.” He is clear, however, that, by April 1727 about a third of the adult
population of Herrnhut (220 in total) was German. The Steads, after an impressive literature review,
arrive at a nuanced position that allows Unitas Fratrum descent for a significant portion of the group,
but emphasises its mixed complexion: Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 13-29.
67
Bebbington identifies the theology of the cross as one component in his now well-used ‘quadrilateral’
of distinctives that has characterised all forms of Evangelicalism, the other three components being

33
Moravians onwards, the subjective dimension in the Christian life, already recovered

by Halle Pietism, was no longer centred upon the new birth; now it was centred on the

personal appropriation of the merits of Christ’s death. This cross-centred spirituality

went on to form a central component of what is now recognised as an essential part of

the ‘vital orthodoxy’ that underlay all the great 18th Century revivals.68 Because of its

essentially subjective nature, the use of the word ‘blood’ became more appropriate

than ‘cross,’ since ‘blood,’ both symbolically speaking and biblically speaking, is the

aspect of a sacrifice that can be most readily manipulated and applied to the

worshipper. It is fluid and distributable. Harking back to Bernard, the side-wound of

Christ would become another point of subjective contact, this time requiring the

worshipper, like Thomas, to approach in faith and touch the wound of the Saviour.

Zinzendorf’s spiritual roots ran deeply into Halle Pietism. Both parents were Pietists.

His schooling from the ages of 10 to 16 was Pietist and when, finally, his widowed

mother left him in the care of his grandmother, it was his grandmother’s Pietist

devotion that would influence him most of all. One incident during his Grand Tour at

the age of 18 is hailed by Lewis69 as especially significant. This moment was his

viewing of Dominico Feti’s Ecce Homo in Düsseldorf Art Gallery on the 22 May

1719. It portrays Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. Beneath the painting is a caption

saying:

bibliocentricity, activism and conversionism, Bebbington, D., Holiness in Nineteenth-Century England,

(Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000),36-41, 53-57, 77-78.
68
Piggin, S., Firestorm of the Lord, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000), 45-49.
69
“There and then the young Count asked the crucified Christ to draw him into ‘the fellowship of his
sufferings’ and to open up a life of service to him.” Lewis, A., Zinzendorf: The Ecumenical Pioneer,
(London: SCM, 1962), 28-29. This was not, however, the moment of Zinzendorf’s conversion: Hutton,
J., A History of the Moravian Church, (London: Moravian Publication Office, 1909), 186. So Atwood,
Community, 98.

34
 Ego pro te haec passus sum; tu vero, quid fecisti pro me?” I for you have
suffered this; truly, what have you done for me?70

This, however is unlikely to be the main origin of Zinzendorf’s peculiar theologia

crucis and is more likely to have been the catalyst that reacted with elements already

present in Zinzendorf’s spirituality. Two other influences would have impacted

Zinzendorf from a much younger age. The aristocracy into which Zinzendorf was

born was itself steeped in passion mysticism, particularly the Five Sacred Wounds

cult. Ferdinand II (1619-37) had significantly influenced the German aristocracy in

this direction. Ferdinand II himself would kneel and, with arms extended, kiss the

floor five times each day in memory of the five wounds of Christ. 71 Secondly,

Zinzendorf’s childhood was already steeped in Luther thanks to his grandmother.

Behind his devout grandmother lay the voice of Martin Luther. She would read aloud

from his works so frequently that Zinzendorf claimed in adult life that he could still

expound Luther on any given topic.72

In 1734, Zinzendorf underwent a ‘conversion’ to Luther (as if that were needed),

becoming especially fond of the Augsburg Confession. Thus it was with the

Moravians that Luther’s emphasis on pure grace merited by Christ’s blood alone

combined with Zinzendorf’s ‘religion of the heart’ to form a particular brand of

Protestantism characterised by devotional warmth, freedom from Pelagianism, an

emphasis on subjective religious experience and ecumenism.73

70
Translation by Freeman, A., An Ecumenical Theology of the Heart: The Theology of Count Nicholas
Ludwig von Zinzendorf, (Bethlehem: The Moravian Church in America, 1998), 63.
71
Saunders, S., Cross, Sword and Lyre: Sacred Music at the Imperial Court of Ferdinand II of
Habsburg, 1619-1637, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1995), 203-4.
72
Freeman, Theology of the Heart,, 53.
73
“One may say that the theological views which are particular to the Moravian Church were formed
by an awareness that Christianity at its heart is relational and devotional, not conceptual.” Freeman,
Theology of the Heart, 5.

35
The Nine Public Lectures of 174674 are significant in that they capture Zinzendorf’s

theology at the height of the so-called ‘Sifting Period.’ This was a period from 1743

to 1750 during which Moravian blood and wounds theology was at its height.

The first distinguishing feature noticeable in these lectures is the sight metaphor.

Zinzendorf’s listeners are encouraged to visualise the wounds of Jesus:

Thus if you have serious thoughts about the Savior, conclude that the
bleeding Savior stands before your hearts, that he is there in person, He
longs to have you glance at His wounds. 75

The reason why Jesus apparently wants his wounds to be so much the focus of the

worshipping mind is the morally transformative power that they hold. Peter Abelard,

who does not appear to have been an influence upon Zinzendorf, famously brought

this aspect of the cross to the fore.76 In the following extract, Zinzendorf has added to

this Lutheran idea Bernard’s Bridegroom metaphor and Zinzendorf’s own particular

fondness for John 20:24-29 (the risen yet still wounded Jesus appearing to Thomas):

74
These were given during Zinzendorf’s residency in England (1746-55) and attended by the Bishop of
Lincoln, John Thomas. Despite the highly unorthodox tone of these lectures, the Bishop went onto
become highly influential in persuading Parliament, and hence the Church of England, to recognise the
Moravians as an “Ancient Episcopal Church,” and accept them into communion with the Church of
England. This formally took place with the passing of the Moravian Act in 1749: Podmore, Moravian
Church in England, 247.
75
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 67.
76
In fact, Bernard, one of Zinzendorf’s significant influences, was opposed to Abelard’s position for
similar reasons that Zinzendorf would have been: “Christ lived and died [according to Abelard’s
position] for no other purpose than that he might teach us how to live by his words and example, and
point out, by his passion and death, to what limits our love should go. Thus he did not communicate
righteousness, but only revealed to us what it is.” Bernard cited in McDade, J., Christian Doctrine,
(University of London Press, 2000), 50.

36
 For the Saviour is never in all eternity without His sign, without His
wounds: the public showing has His holy wounds as its ground…If we,
therefore, want to invite people to the marriage, if we want to describe the
Bridegroom, it must be said like this: ‘I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus as He hung upon the cross (1Cor.2:2), as He was wounded. I
point you to His nail prints, to the side, to the hole which the spear pierced
open in His side…As soon as this look strikes your heart, you run to the
marriage feast.77

Yet this moral influence factor does not mean a mere exemplarist function for the

cross,78 since all true believers are so because they participate in the wounded

Saviour; they have dealt with their doubts, like Thomas, and committed their hearts to

the wounded Christ. They are, henceforth, ein Christ, in vital eternal union with Him:

He who in this moment, in this instant, when the Saviour appears to him and
when he says to him, as to Peter, ‘Do you love me in this figure?’ – he who
can say, ‘You know all things; you know that I love you;’ he who in this
minute, in this instant loses himself in his tormented form and suffering
figure – he remains in him eternally, without interruption…79

In fact, the regenerating Holy Spirit Himself, flows from the wounds of Christ:

And as for the Holy Spirit who constructs himself as it were out of the
matrix of his holy Side’s Wound…He then first, when the spear penetrated
the dear Lamb, gushed out along with the incorruptible blood and life of the
Lamb and with the Source of all, during this time, into human individuals to
restore their little spirit (John 7) and has taken along the whole host of souls
in his πληρώµα.80

77
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 28. cf. Atwood: “Zinzendorf was obviously influenced by the
marriage mysticism of late medieval Europe, but he connects this imagery with the Atonement in a
unique fashion….Zinzendorf connects his marriage mysticism closely to a Lutheran cross theology.”
Atood, Community, 91.
78
There is, as Atwood has pointed out, little direct reference to “morality or purity,” in Moravian
hymns: “The tone is that those who love Jesus are moral and chaste but there is no need to stress moral
behaviour.” Atwood, Community, 147.
79
Erb, Pietists, 320, citing Nine Public Lectures Sept 25 1746. The text was John 21:6.
80
Zinzendorf, Ein und zwanzig Discurse 16 Dec.1747 (parentheses original), cited in Freeman,
Theology, 192.

37
In a way that anticipates the Pentecostals, devotion to the Holy Spirit was a central

aspect of the life of the Moravian community.81 The famous communion service of 13

August 1727, when the Holy Spirit was said to fall upon all those present, melding

them into a unity that had previously been difficult to sustain, has been described as

“quasi-pentecostal.”82 Besides the better-known Litany of the Wounds,83 two litanies

to the Holy Spirit, the Te Matrem, and The Church’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit, were

used every week.84 Until Zinzendorf’s death and the subsequent revision of much

Moravian doctrine, the Holy Spirit was revered as Mother, a simple, accessible

concept that fitted well alongside concepts of Christ as Husband and God as Father –

the three most intimate relations that humans know.85 The above passage is striking

for its conjunction of the Holy Spirit with the blood of Christ, the fuller possibilities

of which would be explored by Andrew Murray.86 The following extract from the Te

Matrem also anticipates Tom Smail87 in its clear vision of the relationship between

81
Devotion to the Holy Spirit as Mother was, according to Zinzendorf, “an extremely important and
essential point…and all our Gemeine and praxis hangs on this point.” Atwood, C., “The Mother of
God’s People: The Adoration of the Holy Spirit in the Eighteenth-Century Brüdergemeine,” Church
History 68:4 (Dec.1999), 887, translating from Zinzendorf’s Eine Rede, vom Mutter-Amte des heiligen
Geistes. Gehalten in London den 19 Oct. 1746. cf. Kinkel, G. S., Our Dear Mother the Spirit: An
Investigation of Count Zinzendorf’s Theology and Praxis, (New York: University Press of America,
1990). Having said this, Atwood’s own survey, in a later piece of research, of a wide range of 18th
century Moravian hymnody yielded a total of only 63 references to “Holy Spirit” and 64 to “Mother.”
This compares, according to a total of his figures, with 295 references to “Lamb,” 273 references to
“wounds,” and 225 references to “blood.” Atwood, Community, 144-5. This somewhat undermines his
claim that the Moravian emphasis on the Spirit is “one of the best kept secrets in the history of
Christianity,” Atwood, “Mother,” 908.
82
Podmore, Moravian Church in England, 6, doubtless referring to Acts 2 rather than 1906.
Zinzendorf’s mother pneumatology does not begin to develop until 1738, however: Atwood, “Mother,”
889.
83
Many Moravians felt considerable attachment to this litany. Zinzendorf himself recommended that if
any outsider wished to understand Moravianism truly, it is to “our hymns, our Litany of the Wounds,
and the homilies upon the same…” that he or she must go: Atwood, Community, 141, translating from
Helpers Conference Minutes of the Moravian Archives, Nov.8 1748, chapter 6. A complete translation
of the Litany appears in Atwood, Community, 233-237. cf. his “Zinzendorf’s Litany of the Wounds of
the Husband,” Lutheran Quarterly 11 (1997), 189-214.
84
Atwood, “Mother,” 900.
85
Atwood, “Mother,” 890-1
86
For a discussion of Andrew Murray’s teachings on the blood, see section 3.2 of this thesis.
87
His attempt at theologically joining together the work of the Spirit with the work of the Son is
discussed in chapter 8.2.

38
the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit: “Divine majesty, who proceeds from

the Father, who praises the Son as the creator and points to his suffering…”88

With regards to the atonement, the note of forgiveness is only sounded in the midst of

extolling the profound moral transformation awakened in the heart by a vision of the

wounded, suffering Christ:

Then I think: Good-bye,

You self-empowered repenting.
Like wax before the fire, I
Want to melt in Jesus’ suffering.
My heart shall see the wrath
In this suffering, pain
And see the cleansing bath
For all my transgressions’ stain.89

The moral influence factor is never far away from Zinzendorf’s thinking: “If only the

power of his blood/Would master my hard heart/Push into every part!”90 To balance

this, the note of Christ’s merit is sounded with equal strength: “May He let you share

in His bloody atonement…may He let His penance for all the world bless you with

grace and pardon of sins; may our Lord bless you with His merits….”91 There is merit

inherent in the wounds themselves: “…the bleeding Husband forms Himself in the

innermost part of the soul. Then the heart stands full of Jesus, full of His wounds and

His sores, full of the Merits of the Lamb”92 ‘Blood’ also appears alongside

‘righteousness’ to convey the same idea.93 The classic example of this would be

Zinzendorf’s most famous hymn, translated by John Wesley:

88
Translation by Atwood, “Mother,” 886.
89
Erb, Pietists, 309.
90
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 56.
91
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 64 & 94.
92
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 94.
93
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 73, 76

39
 Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress.
Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Related to this (and included in verse 3 of the above hymn94) there is the note of

pleading the blood. Here is a remarkably full exposition of the concept:

…we must come to Him entirely natural, in the most wretched form in
which we happen to find ourselves, pleading His blood, His faithfulness, and
His merits, and reminding Him that we men are the reward of His
suffering….95

For Zinzendorf, to plead the blood is to surrender all attempts at the acquisition of

merit before God on one’s own account, to boldly approach God on the basis of

Christ’s merit and to remind God of one’s status as blood-bought.

Throughout the Nine Public Lectures there is an apparent avoidance of the image of

Christ’s blood in its atoning significance. The moral influence factor is amplified and

the language of atonement is exchanged for the language of merit, a concept that,

even with the passing of medieval feudalism, would still have had a certain

immediacy for Zinzendorf’s hearers thanks to the theology of Luther. At any rate,

Zinzendorf, like any good Lutheran, was doubtless assuming the atoning significance

of the blood96 but wanted to move beyond there and use the blood to shore up the

faith of his followers against the onslaughts of the age. Previous to the Nine Public

94
“When from the dust of death I rise / To claim my mansion in the skies / E’en then shall this be all
my plea / ‘Jesus hath lived, and died, for me.’”
95
Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, 101.
96
His orthodoxy as a Lutheran won him his ordination as a Lutheran minister in 1735: Freeman,
Theology of the Heart, 6.

40
Lectures there had been an emphasis on the blood of Christ as a ransom,97 but now the

blood and wounds of Christ were being recruited by Zinzendorf to speak a message of

anti-intellectual fideism to prevailing Enlightenment ideas.98 This use of the blood to

make an essentially non-New Testament point will resurface throughout the history of

blood mysticism as we journey through it. Early Pentecostalism was no exception,

amplifying the Christus Victor theme to a level well beyond New Testament

paradigms. The genius of Zinzendorf was in the highly audacious and sensuous

language with which he enthralled a generation, providing it with “an anatomical,

physiological sieve,”99 through which spiritual truths could pass. Through liturgy,

hymnody and sermon, he made mystical longings expressible and union with the

Godhead conceivable.

97
Hamilton, J. & K., History of the Moravian Church: The Renewed Unitas Fratrum 1722-1957,
(Bethlehem: Moravian Church in America, 1967), 155. As early as 1734, Zinzendorf had been
especially taken with the biblical uses of the word lu/tron. This was, apparently, owing to the influence
of the hymnody of the “Bohemian Brethren” on him: Atwood, Community, 98, translating Zinzendorf’s
sermons to men: Inhalt dererjenigen Reden, welche zu Berlin vom 1ten Januario 1738 bis 27ten Aprilis
in denen Abend-Stunden sonderlich für die Manns-Personen gehalten worden.
98
Freeman provides an incisive overview of Zinzendorf’s engagement with the Enlightenment as its
ideas steadily spread, summing up Zinzendorf’s reaction to it in the words of Pascal: “The heart has its
reasons, which reason does not know.” Freeman, Theology of the Heart, 43 (citing Pascal, B., Pensees,
Section iv.). Zinzendorf anticipated many of the replies of Schleiermacher: feeling instead of
rationalism, religious experience instead of religious hatred and dogma, the difference being that
Zinzendorf drew these answers from the cross rather than the person of Christ. The wounds of Christ
gave Zinzendorf a strong theodicy at a time, especially following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, when
many were asking the ‘why suffering?’ question. Cf. Freeman, Theology of the Heart, 45-46. cf. Faull,
K. M., “Faith and Imagination: Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf’s Anti-Enlightenment Philosophy of
Self,” in K. M. Faull (ed), Anthropology and the German Enlightenment: Perspectives on Humanity,
(Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1995), 23-56.
99
Camporesi, Juice of Life, 70.

41
 1.4. Moravian100 Spirituality.

The use of references to the blood and wounds of Jesus, around which much that was

characteristic of Moravian spirituality was organised, soon became excessive. This

excess reached its peak during the aforementioned ‘Sifting Period.’ At this time,

Zinzendorf had been absent for some time and the Herrnhaag101 community, a plant of

the original Herrnhut, had become dominated by the vibrant spirituality of some of its

younger members. These young people, striving for true intimacy with Jesus, took

some of Zinzendorf’s teachings to extremes. There appear to have been three main

components to this. Firstly, they became enamoured with the teaching of Jesus,

mediated by Zinzendorf, on the importance of becoming like little children. Secondly,

they were steeped in Christ-erotic ways of expressing their love for Jesus as their

souls’ Bridegroom. Thirdly, they displayed an extreme and highly gruesome emphasis

on the wounds of Jesus. It is to this last component of the Sifting Period that we now

turn.

100
Interest in this subject shows no sign of abating There is a wealth of published research about the
Moravians from an American, British and German perspective. The following are among the more
recent general works. From an American perspective: Hamilton & Hamilton, History of the Moravian
Church and Atwood, Community. From a British Perspective: Towlson, C., Moravian and Methodist:
Relationships and Influences in the Eighteenth Century, (London, 1957), Lewis, Zinzendorf, (which,
despite the title is mostly about the Moravians), Podmore, Moravian Church in England, Mason,
Missionary Awakening and Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant. From an American and German perspective:
Gollin, G. L., Moravians in Two Worlds: A Study of Changing Communities, (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1967). For works in German to 1987, see Meyer, D., Bibliographisches Handbuch
zur Zinzendorf-Forschung, (Düsseldorf, 1987).
101
Developments here, leading to its eventual closure, are described in Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 70-
74.

42
It is in the hymns and liturgies of the Moravians that their doctrine comes to full and

vivid expression.102 Communion took on a dimension of spiritual fervour unknown

even among the most passionate of medieval sacramentalists:

Afterwards we sat us down to the Agape with our Spirits watching every
Bloody Drop flowing from our incomparable Friend in Agony, and at last
enjoyed that which words cannot utter without a Holy Shuddering of the
Fraim. The Body and Blood of Christ.103

According to the Steads a strong influence on the Moravians, mediated via

Zinzendorf, was the sacred music of the imperial court of Habsburg alluded to earlier,

as well as some extreme examples of the hymns of Johann Scheffler (1624-77), 79 of

which found their way into an early Moravian collection.104 First to note among the

Moravian hymn collection is the recurrence of the sight metaphor: “Here let me dwell,

and view those wounds/Which life for me procures.”105

Secondly, Lutheran ideas of merit are also prominent:

Jesus, Thee I view in spirit,

Covered o’er with blood and wounds:
Now salvation through Thy merit
For my sin-sick soul abounds…106

Through Thy sufferings, death and merit,

I eternal life inherit.107

102
Zinzendorf himself said, “Liturgists are more important than preachers and teachers.” Atwood,
Community, 141, translating jüngerhaus Diarium Sept. 1, 1759. Cf. “There is more dogma in our
canticles than in our prose.” Moravian saying quoted in Linyard, F., & P. Tovey, Moravian Worship,
(Bramcote: Grove Books, 1994),10.
103
Extract from the diaries of the English Moravian community at Fulneck, cited in Stead, Exotic
Plant, 305. Cf. Stead, G., “Moravian Spirituality and its Propagation in West Yorkshire during the
Eighteenth-Century Evangelical Revival,” Evangelical Quarterly 71:3 (1999), 242-243.
104
Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 331-333.
105
The Moravian Hymn Book, (London: Moravian Publication Office, 1911), No.104.
106
Moravian Hymn Book, No.97.
107
Moravian Hymn Book, No.101.

43
Related to the idea of merit is the picture of Christ as the ascended High Priest

pleading before the Father on the basis of His sacrifice:

All heavenly host adore Thee,

Seated at Thy Father’s side:
There for sinners Thou art pleading…
Help us to sing our Saviour’s merits.108

This is our only plea,

That Thou for us hast died.109

These themes of merit and pleading will re-occur frequently in the hymns of Charles

Wesley.

Thirdly, there is the theme of childlike abdication. It is here that the terminology can

seem, to an outsider, to be strange and perverse:

Now rests my whole mind on

In one nook of the Side-hole,
And dreams of Blood alone:
Sometimes it is as a wide Hall,
Sometimes so close and Deep
As if each Heart in it
Alone did lie and sleep.110

Lovely Side-hole, take in me:

Let me ever be in Thee
O Side-hole’s Wound, My Heart and Soul,
Does pant for thy so lovely Hole.111

So, for both Zinzendorf and the Moravians, the religion of the heart was a religion in

which the sincere heart would gaze upon the wounds of the risen Christ and, like

108
Moravian Hymn Book, No.108.
109
Moravian Hymn Book, No.273.
110
Moravian Hymnal 1748 Part III, No.67, cited in Stead, Exotic Plant, 310.
111
Hymnal 1748, Part III, No.59, Stead, Exotic Plant, 309.

44
Thomas, have its doubts removed. In supra-rational faith, the Moravian souls then live

for Him who died for them. The hearts of the devout are knit to the Saviour in

rapturous love. This love and devotion, that never forgets the blood and wounds that

supply the merit of every true believer, is expressed in language that seems strange

and extreme. Such language is deliberately irrational. It is the language of revolt

against the sterility of Enlightenment thought and scholastic religion.

1.5. The Wesleys.

There is much competition over who or what should take pride of place as the most

influential factor in the formation of John Wesley’s theology. Hempton has pointed

out the tendency of scholars of Wesley to “…compete for the pre-eminent influence

over Wesley,”112 depending on what particular church tradition they represent. He

concludes that rather than any one influence being pre-eminent in Wesley’s theology,

it is “Wesley’s eclecticism” itself that is “pre-eminent.”113 Cracknell and White list

Wesley’s mother, Thomas á Kempis and Jeremy Taylor as his most important early

influences during the period when he was preoccupied with the concept of “purity of

intention.”114 In this study, my one intention is to identify from whence his emphasis

on the blood of Christ most likely came. His journals would appear to reflect a

Moravian point of origin, there being almost no references to the blood of Christ in

Wesley’s journals until after he had made the acquaintance of Peter Böhler in

112
Hempton, D., Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 56-57.
113
Hempton, Empire of the Spirit, 56-57.
114
Cracknell, K,. & S. J., White, An Introduction to World Methodism, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005), 7-9.

45
February 1738, 115 a little over 3 months before his Aldersgate experience (May 24)

which sealed for him the truth of Böhler’s theology. Hence, although Wesley’s

theology of the blood went on to become very different to that of the Moravians, its

point of origin is almost certainly Moravian.116

With the arrival of Moravian Peter Böhler in London, on February 7, 1738, the “more

definite influence” of the Moravian Church on English Christianity began.117 It is

recorded that, “On the very day of his landing Böhler made the acquaintance of John

Wesley.”118 John Wesley was later to become enamoured with the spirituality of

Böhler, who displayed, “…dominion over sin and a constant peace from a sense of

forgiveness,” which Wesley saw as, “…a new gospel.”119 John and Charles Wesley’s

first contact with the Moravians had been in 1737 on a voyage across the Atlantic.

This encounter was to lead to John Wesley becoming aware of his own lack of

115
The first mention of the blood of Christ John Wesley’s journals is on Sunday 14 April 1738 when he
describes preaching, in the wake of prolonged discussions with Böhler, a sermon on the theme of “free
salvation through faith in the blood of Christ,” at St Ann’s, Aldersgate:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal.txt accessed online 20 Nov 2008. However, in his sermons,
there are a number of references to the blood of Christ prior to his exposure to the Moravians. In one,
he even proclaims that, “It is his daily care, by the grace of God in Christ, and through the blood of the
covenant, to purge the inmost recesses of his soul...” His first obviously Böhler influenced sermon was
delivered at St Mary’s, Oxford entitled, Salvation by Faith. According to A. C. Outler’s chronology,
this was delivered 11 June 1738, according to T. L. Smith’s dates, this was 7 June 1738:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/chron.htm accessed online 20 Nov 2008. In this he speaks
for the first time of, “…a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and
resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life…” All his sermons that make
mention of the blood of Christ are as follows (Where Smith’s dating differs from Outler’s, Smith’s is
given after the forward-slash): sermons 101 (1732), 17 (1733), 127 (1735), 1 (1738: Salvation by
Faith), 9 (1739/46), 21 (1739/48), 22 (1739/48), 23 (1739/48), 24 (1740/48), 25 (1740/48), 26
(1740/48). In his letters there is only one reference to the blood of Jesus prior to May 1738. From then
onwards, for the next couple of years, the subject of faith in the blood of Christ becomes an urgent and
recurrent one: http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/letters/index.htm
accessed on line 12 Jan 2009.
116
Other much earlier influences need not be excluded, however. Besides his imbibing of Kempis’
passion mysticism, Wesley was brought up within the Puritan tradition, steeped as it was in atonement
theology. Böhler’s role appears to have been to open Wesley’s eyes to the possibilities of repose by
faith alone in the blood of Christ instead of good works.
117
Skevington Wood, A., The Inextinguishable Blaze, (Exeter: Paternoster, 1960), 85.
118
Hamilton, J., A History of the Church Known as the Moravian Church During the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries, (Bethlehem: The Moravian Church in America, 1900), 85.
119
Weakley, C.G. (ed) The Nature of Revival (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987), 28,citing Wesley,
J., A Letter to the Right Reverend the Bishop of London (London: W. Strahan, 1747).

46
faith.120 Wesley soon became a close companion of Zinzendorf himself. The split

between the two leaders came in 1741 when Wesley and Zinzendorf could not agree

on the issue of sanctification.121 Zinzendorf’s view of the blood was strictly forensic

and firmly Lutheran: “All Christian Perfection is, Faith in the blood of Christ. Our

whole Christian Perfection is imputed, not inherent.”122 Wesley saw the cleansing of

the blood as an inward crisis event leading to a ‘Clean Heart’123 Zinzendorf was, in

the manner of Romans, speaking the language of imputation, while Wesley,

influenced in his thinking more by 1John 1:7, spoke the language of cleansing.

Zinzendorf here appears to be confusing the orthodox Lutheran view of sanctification

with its view of justification. For Zinzendorf sanctification is an outward, imputed

holiness, a hybrid of the two. In Wesley, justification and sanctification are also

confuted, this time to produce the opposite kind of hybrid: an instantaneous inward

perfection. By August 1742, John Wesley’s connections with the Moravians had

become weak enough for him to overtly castigate them for their beliefs about the

blood and wounds of Jesus, in a sermon described as “very furious.”124

The English reaction to Moravian blood and wounds theology widened in 1749 with

the publication of the first English language Moravian hymnal. The English found the

references to the blood and wounds as well as the overt eroticism of the hymns deeply

offensive.125 By 1754, much of the outlandish blood and wounds language had been

edited out of the Moravian Hymn Book of the British Province.126 There is, however,

120
Journal: January 18-30, 1735, Ward, W.R., & R.P. Heitzenrater, (eds) The Works of John Wesley
Vol.18: Journals and Diaries I, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988), 142-143.
121
The Fetter Lane Society had already split over the issue of quietism, the setting up of a new society
at the Foundery on 23 July 1740 marking the beginning of the first Methodist Society.
122
The full conversation is available in English in Freeman, Theology of the Heart, 188.
123
Wesley, Plain Account, 23-27.
124
Podmore, Moravian Church in England, 76.
125
Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 266.
126
Stead & Stead, Exotic Plant, 323.

47
evidence of a strong magnetic power to Moravian spirituality, even in its extreme

forms, which was felt among an increasing number of English Christians.127 There is

also evidence that John Wesley’s soteriology, in the latter half of his years in ministry,

became more Lutheran in its emphasis on the imputed righteousness of Christ.128

Much of his distaste for Moravian beliefs appears originally to have been rooted in

their love of Luther. Wesley linked Luther with the dreaded spectre of antinomianism,

which he saw too often in his converts. Wesley’s passion for holiness of life made

him suspicious of Luther and therefore of Moravian theology.

From the early 1740s onwards, John Wesley’s attitude to the Moravians oscillated

between bitterness over their beliefs and an irresistible admiration for their

spirituality. Charles Wesley, however, maintained a consistently charitable spirit

towards them, even momentarily falling under the spell of their quietist fad.129 His

hymns also contain some overtly Moravian phraseology:

O Thou Eternal Victim slain

A sacrifice for guilty man,
By the Eternal Spirit made
An offering in the sinner’s stead;
Our everlasting Priest art thou,
And plead’st Thy death for sinners now

127
Podmore, Moravian Church in England, 134: “That the spirituality of the Sifting Time provoked
opposition in England is well documented; what has not been accepted is that to many who joined the
Moravians it was deeply attractive and an important reason for their doing so.” Podmore lists “Identity”
(as the truest, best and most favoured church), “Refuge” (allowing an anti-Enlightenment abdication of
both will and reason), “Pastoral Care” (through small groups, home visits and marriage guidance),
“Spirituality”(which among the English Moravians became increasingly focussed on the Eucharist),
“Community Life” (most notably at Fulneck in Yorkshire), “Worship” (solemn, liturgical, powerful
experiences for many), and “Style and Celebration” (highly visual, much use of baroque art), as the
main reasons for the appeal of Moravianism in 18th Century England: Podmore, Moravian Church in
England, 120-158. cf. Stead, “Moravian Spirituality,” 233-259.
128
Piper discusses this, citing strong evidence from the primary literature as well as two recent studies
of Wesley: Piper, J., Counted Righteous in Christ, (Leicester: IVP, 2002), 38.
129
So Podmore: “Charles Wesley was drawn to the Moravians and their teaching much more than
John.” Podmore, Moravian Church in England, 76.

48
 Thy Offering still continues new,
The vesture keeps its bloody hue,
Thou stand’st the ever-Slaughtered Lamb
Thy Priesthood still remains the same…130

On the subject of pleading the death, or blood, of Christ, as early as 1727, the

Brotherly Agreement of Herrnhut stated,

…the greatest perfection in life (were it possible to attain to it, without the
intercession of the Mediator, urged by the plea of his blood and merit) would
be of no avail in the sight of God…131

There is here a strong link between the metaphor of the legal plea and the merit of

Christ expressed by his intercession, an image from Hebrews 7:25.132 The idea of

pleading the merits of Christ’s blood before God’s throne soon became a common

place in Evangelical hymnody, if for no other reason than that ‘plea’ and ‘plead’

rhyme so well with so many other useful words like ‘me’ and ‘need.’ The following

Wesleyan hymn, sung by the early Pentecostals, draws on the Hebrews image of

Abel’s speaking blood:

He ever lives above

For me to intercede
His all-redeeming love
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears,

Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly speak for me;
Forgive him, O forgive! They cry,

130
C. Wesley cited in Davie, D., Christian Verse, (Oxford: University Press, 1981), 159.
131
Article 3 of the Brotherly Union and Agreement at Herrnhut, cited in Erb, Pietists, 325-6.
132
Cf. the hymn by the English Moravian John Cennick: “Opening His pierced hands; Our Priest
abides, and pleads our cause, Transgressors of His righteous laws.” Redemption Hymnal, (Eastbourne:
Elim Publishing House, 1951), No.203.

49
 Nor let that ransomed sinner die!133

The following hymn of Charles Wesley’s speaks of the sinner making the plea:

I see the bar to heaven removed;

And all Thy merits, Lord, are mine…

…Death, hell, and sin are now subdued;

All grace is now to sinners given;
And lo, I plead th’atoning blood,
And in Thy right I claim Thy heaven.134

It could be that out of this rich seam of speaking blood, praying wounds, pleaded

blood and humble dependence on the merit of Christ that such popular hymns as the

following would soon emerge within the 19th Century holiness movement:

Just as I am without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!135

Charles Wesley, like the Moravians, also values the subjective appropriation of

Christ’s blood and wounds: “I feel the life his wounds impart;/I feel my Saviour in my

heart.136 And again: “Come feel with me His blood applied:/My Lord, my Love, is

crucified.137

Charles Wesley’s hymns display a much more soteriological, and arguably more

biblical, emphasis than those of the Moravians, Charles Wesley being especially

interested in the theme of cleansing. This theme, of course, is best expressed in his O

For a Thousand Tongues:

133
Redemption Hymnal, No.200.
134
Redemption Hymnal No.167.
135
By Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871), Redemption Hymnal No.354.
136
Davie, Verse, 159.
137
Redemption Hymnal no.173.

50
 He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the pris’ner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.138

The theme of cleansing through the blood would soon become the predominant theme

in blood mysticism as the 18th Century gave way to the 19th.

John Wesley too, in spite of his caution about the Moravians, may have set a

precedent in his preaching:

At first we preached almost wholly to unbelievers. To those therefore we

spake almost continually of the remission of sins through the death of Christ,
and the nature of faith in his blood.139

J.C. Ryle, extends to all of the 18th Century leaders of the English revival a very

similar definition of what was generally preached:

They loved Christ’s person; they rejoiced in Christ’s promises; they urged
men to walk after Christ’s example. But the one subject, above all others,
concerning Christ, which they delighted to dwell on, was the atoning blood
which Christ shed on the cross.140

This could well have set the scene for the 19th Century Methodist preachers such as

James Caughey, Phoebe Palmer and William Booth.

138
Redemption Hymnal No.8.
139
The Works of the Rev John Wesley Vol. VIII, (1856), 273.
140
Ryle, J.C., The Christian Leaders of England in the Eighteenth Century, (London: Chas.J.Thynne
and Jarvis, 1868), 27.

51
Synan describes John Wesley’ Plain Account as a “veritable manifesto”141 for all the

holiness groups of the 19th century. The most notable feature of the references to the

blood of Jesus in Wesley’s Plain Account is the total dominance of the cleansing

motif. This is in large measure due to the fact that he takes 1John 1:7 as one of a

number of proof texts for his doctrine of Christian perfection, claiming that the

cleansing described is complete and final in this life:

A Christian is so far perfect as not to commit sin…For he sayeth not, The

blood of Christ will cleanse (at the hour of death, or in the day of judgment),
but it ‘cleanseth,’ at the present time, us living Christians ‘from all sin.’ And it
is equally evident, that if any sin remain, we are not cleansed from all sin.142

He held that a process of sanctification was begun in the heart at regeneration but that

a second experience was needed to bring ‘full salvation’, or, ‘entire sanctification.’

This second blessing involved the cleansing away of all sin followed by an influx of

love towards God and man taking its place in the believing heart. Hence entire

sanctification was referred to as ‘perfect love.’ The blood eradicated the negative,

creating space for the inundation of the positive: the continual inclination to do the

will of God. All failings from this point onwards were considered by Wesley to be

unintentional. He preferred to call all subsequent sins, ‘infirmities,’ which the atoning

blood continually covered – its justifying function. In this way, it was necessary for

even the fully sanctified believer to continually lean upon the merits of Christ, just as

a branch must draw sustenance from the tree, even though the believer is now,

technically, perfect. The ambiguity of all this did not go unnoticed by Wesley’s

141
Cf. Synan: “This eighty-one page document has served as a veritable manifesto for all the holiness
and perfectionist groups that have separated from Methodism during the past two centuries.” Synan,
V., The Pentecostal-Holiness Tradition: charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century, (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971, 1997), 6.
142
Wesley, Plain Account, 19-20.

52
critics, the constant shifting of his terminology further adding to the confusion and

misunderstanding.

To illustrate the cleansing dynamic of the blood, he quotes freely from his brother’s

extravagant imagery:

Come, thou dear Lamb, for sinners slain,

Bring in the cleansing flood:
Apply, to wash out every stain,
Thine efficacious blood.
O let it sink into our soul
Deep as the inbred sin;
Make every wounded spirit whole,
And every leper clean!143

The prominent New Testament metaphor of redemption comes second in prominence

in the Plain Account. Again, he quotes from his brother’s hymns:

Didst Thou not die, that I might live

No longer to myself, but Thee?
Might body, soul, and spirit give
To Him who gave Himself for me?
Come then, my Master, and my God,
Take the dear purchase of Thy Blood.144

The Christus Victor theme also features. Here is a report of the experience of Jane

Cooper, a lady who professed to have had an experience of entire sanctification. Hers

was one of a number of testimonies emerging out of the Otley perfectionist revival of

the early 1760s – just the proof that Wesley needed at the height of the perfectionist

controversy,145 “…her face was full of smiles of triumph, and she clapped her hands

143
Wesley, Plain Account, 113-115.
144
Wesley, Plain Account, 31. cf. Lo! On the wings of love He flies / And brings redemption near /
Redemption in His blood…” ibid. 40.
145
McGonigle, H., Sufficient Saving Grace: John Wesley’s Evangelical Arminianism, (Carlisle:
Paternoster, 2001), 255. cf. Tyerman, L., The Life and Times of the Rev Samuel Wesley Vol.2, (London:
1866), 422.

53
for joy. Mrs C. said, ‘My dear, you are more than a conqueror through the blood of

the Lamb.’”146

The theme of merit is present but not linked specifically with the blood: “Every

moment, Lord, I want / The merit of Thy death!”147

Wesley also reminisces about the crucial insight given him by the Moravians

concerning justifying faith in Christ’s blood as the essential preliminary to

sanctification.148 The insight that justification was by faith alone rarefied his doctrine

of perfection into something that could happen to anyone if they were expectant. His

earlier doctrine of Christian Perfection had been decidedly semi-Pelagian, as

expressed in his 1733 sermon, The Circumcision of the Heart, focussing as it did on

the human means of attaining it. 149 His later doctrine of Perfection skirts around the

issue of human good works as a means to sanctification and focuses instead on the

end achieved by it, much of his writing being taken up with defining precisely what

Christian Perfection was in the face of those who misunderstood. His protagonists in

the holiness movement would more than make up for Wesley’s lack of definition

concerning how precisely it was received.

146
Wesley, Plain Account, 67.
147
Wesley, Plain Account, 107.
148
“In August following, I had a long conversation with Arvid Gradin, in Germany. After he had given
me an account of his experience, I desired him to give me, in writing, a definition of ‘the full assurance
of faith,’ which he did in the following words…’Repose in the blood of Christ; a firm confidence in
God, and persuasion of His favour; the highest tranquillity, serenity, and peace of mind; with a
deliverance from every fleshly desire, and a cessation of all, even inward sins.” Wesley, J., A Plain
Account of Christian Perfection, (London: Epworth Press, 1952), 9-10.
149
McGonigle, Sufficient Saving Grace, 243-244.

54
 1.6. The Olney Hymnists.

Finally, no account of blood mystical origins would be complete without a mention of

the Olney Hymns. Late in the 18th Century, Moravian terminology seems to surface

from time to time in these hymns. The Olney Hymns were those of the Anglican

Evangelicals William Cowper and John Newton.150 The tormented soul of William

Cowper clearly found great comfort in the idea of the cleansing power of the blood,

using the language of superabundance to underline its supererogative power to deal

with guilt:

There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.151.

It was their hymns, together with those of the pioneering hymn writer Isaac Watts and

those of Charles Wesley that would have a formative affect on North American

Methodist spirituality.152

150
From around 1773, Newton developed a great interest in the Moravians and had increasing contact
with them. While curate at Olney, he lived only 20 miles from a Moravian settlement in Bedford and
greatly admired their spirituality: “If they have, notwithstanding, some little peculiarities, I apprehend
very few of those societies which are ready to censure them, can exceed them in the real fruits of the
Spirit.” Mason, J. C. S., The Moravian Church and the Missionary Awakening in England, (Royal
Historical Society & Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2001), 69, citing a letter from John Newton to Joshua
Reynolds, 24 June 1774.
151
Redemption Hymnal No.335. Were it not for the adventurous precedent set by references to blood
and veins in the hymnody and litany of the Moravians, it is to be doubted whether Cowper’s hymn
would have been written.
152
On the role of hymnody in colonial, revolutionary and antebellum America and the dominance in it
of hymns by Watts and Wesley see: Marini, S., “Hymns as History: Early Evangelical Hymns and the
Rceovery of American Popular Religion,” Church History 71:2 (2002), 273-306.

55
Conclusion.

I have here attempted to trace a scarlet thread of blood mysticism that originated in

the medieval mystics that were Luther’s spiritual mentors. Through Lutheran Pietism

the line is traceable to Zinzendorf and his followers and then on to the Wesleys.

Amongst the Moravians there was a fervent desire for intellectual and emotional

abdication to Jesus. Moravian spirituality was a spirituality of utter, unqualified

devotion to Christ in the tradition of the medieval mystics. It was mysticism taken out

of the monasteries and exported throughout the world. It was a radically anti-

Enlightenment movement. For them, the blood was all about faith rather than

rationality. Further, they reckoned that if they were devoted enough to Jesus, there

would be no need for self-denial, mortification, or asceticism. Indeed, their paintings

showed a certain opulence that was entirely in keeping with certain aspects of the

German aristocracy of which Zinzendorf was a part. Like the baroque of Zinzendorf’s

home, their language was flowery, extravagant, and hyperbolic. When this extreme

devotional language was applied to the blood and wounds of Jesus, the result was

shocking. Charles Wesley was able to soften the vulgarities and present Evangelical

blood mysticism to a wider public, and bequeath it to subsequent generations. Other

hymn writers also appear to have been indebted to the Moravians and their devout

language of faith in the blood and wounds of the Lamb. In spite of John Wesley’s

repudiation of Moravian blood mysticism, the theological system he created made the

blood of Jesus logically essential to his whole doctrine of the Second Blessing. Being

permanently and completely cleansed by the blood was an essential preliminary to

receiving the sanctifying grace of the Spirit.

56
Five legacies of spirituality appear to have been bequeathed to the Evangelical

tradition that would eventually feed into Pentecostalism from this period. Firstly, the

tendency towards visualisation as a stimulant to faith causes the physical symbols of

the medieval sacrament to live on just as vividly in the minds of the non-sacerdotal

Moravians. For them, God now infuses the mental image of the crucified Christ with

His real presence rather than the physical elements. This mental imaging will progress

more and more into verbal affirmation, the repeated oral invocation of the power of

the blood.153 Secondly, the attitude of childlike surrender and abdication to all that the

blood has achieved will continue to run deep into the religious psychology of the

holiness and Pentecostal Movements. This was the act of faith, a moment of supra-

rational response to the wounded Christ. This fideism will prove useful as a pre-

modern fortress against the besieging modernism of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

An authenticating sign of God’s presence – tongues - was all that was needed to make

this fortress of faith impregnable. Thirdly, there is the motive to devotion that

dwelling on the cross, blood and wounds of Christ in this way could bring. Faith in a

visualised blood and wounds melts the heart and inspires repentance. The motif of

redemption, of the price that was paid, would yet be explored in order to reinforce this

sense of indebted zeal for God. Fourthly, the plea of the blood and merit of Christ as a

means of confidently approaching God becomes a lasting and powerful legacy,

traceable ultimately to Luther, which would prove useful during times of encounter

153
A similar progression from a mental process to an oral affirmation is in evidence in New Thought
philosophy, which existed at the same time as the holiness movement, and had some relationship to the
Faith Cure aspect of it. In New Thought, the positive thinking of P.P. Quimby soon evolved into the
oral affirmations of Henry Wood: Wood, H., New Thought Simplified, (accessed online 26 Jun 03
http://website.lineone.net/~cornerstone/ntstitle.htm,original dated 1902). Arguably, the beliefs of
Kenyon, Hagin and Copeland about Positive Confession are indebted to this externalisation process
from positive thinking to positive confession that initially took place within New Thought. Many of
these ideas are explored in McConnell, D., A Different Gospel,(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988),
and Neuman, H. T., “Cultic Origins of the Word-Faith Theology Within the Charismatic Movement”,
Pneuma 12:1 (1990), 40

57
with the numinous in revival. Lastly, and most importantly, the cleansing theme, so

central to Wesley’s theological system, would prove to be a powerful motif. This

system was then rationalised by John Fletcher and radicalised in various forms by the

holiness movement, insuring a decidedly Wesleyan flavour to the spirituality of

American revivalism in the 19th Century, to which we will shortly turn.

There is much about Moravian spirituality that has a contemporary significance.

Firstly, the cultural context of the Moravians was one characterised by the Post-

Reformation collapse of religious consensus. This collapse of consensus opened the

way for essentially unreligious definitions of reality such as empiricism and

rationalism to fight it out on the bourgeois academic stage. The way the Moravians

dealt with this was by taking an anti-intellectual turn back to a medieval style of

mysticism invested with strongly emotive and intuitive avenues to knowing. Via the

ex-Moravian Schleiermacher, with his emphasis on religious feeling, the spirituality

of Moravianism was prophetic of and contributory towards the onset of the Romantic

era. Both of the above: the collapse of epistemological consensus and the rush

towards non-cognitive ways of knowing are also characteristic of the post-modern

age. What a Moravian style of blood mysticism achieves in such a context might be

described as the expulsive power of a higher affection. Its fostering of religious

affection is the key to its success. Spiritual indebtedness is its sole sanctifying power.

It holds intellectual argument in derision and appears to be in a state of rational revolt.

Having turned down the volume on argument, it turns up the volume on feeling,

feeling that was deemed to achieve all that was essential to the holy life.

58
Religious feeling is already fully exploited in contemporary approaches to worship

yet seldom is the atonement central to the experience. For the Moravians, as well as

for many of those who influenced them, the primary way of experiencing now the

historical event of the atonement was via a wholehearted abandonment of the self to it

in worship. The adoring heart then discovers that the object of worship is not a

crucified Jesus hanging limp and helpless but a glorified Lamb still bearing His

wounds and still appearing to His disciples. It is at this central point, according to the

Moravian understanding, that feeling runs deep enough for sin to be cast out. The

Moravians entertained no self-righteous asceticism. Their ideal was a devoted heart.

These concepts already chime with contemporary approaches to the Christian life.

The atonement-centredness of the Moravian variety of heart religion is a resource

waiting to be used as an aid, for instance, to those seeking radical severance from a

life of addictions.

59
 2. The Origins of the Holiness

Message.

The holiness tradition of the 19th century is not uniformly blood mystical. Indeed

there is little that is uniform about it. In particular, the post American Civil War

holiness crusade, dating from 1867-94, splintered increasingly into a bewildering

array of sects. During this time, the holiness movement also became a transatlantic

phenomenon, taking on mostly non-Weslyan forms on the Anglo-European side of the

Atlantic. Among the preachers of the holiness movement, blood mysticism seems to

become prominent only in certain individuals – and these are just as likely to be

Wesleyan as not. However, the hymnbooks of the movement tell a different story.

These, especially those more influenced by the Wesleyan holiness message, such as

the Salvation Army Songbook, are more uniformly saturated in blood-veneration.

Beginning with early Methodism in Britain and America, I will focus on the two most

influential versions of the holiness tradition, one Wesleyan and the other not, and both

arising in America, and compare the two. These two types are those emanating from

Phoebe Palmer and Charles Finney respectively.

60
 2.1. The First American Methodists.

The Pentecostal story typically parts company with British Methodism at this point

and moves across the Atlantic to the beginnings within American Methodism of the

pre-American Civil War holiness movement.154 Michael Harper, following Dayton, is

one of the most recent historians of Pentecostalism to have done so. Speaking at the

centenary celebration of the arrival of Pentecostalism in Britain, he points out that

Methodism, “…was to find its real destiny in America.”155 While there is a great deal

of truth in this, it is important not to miss the continued growth and vibrancy of

Methodism in Britain after the death of Wesley,156 as well as the constant trans-

Atlantic borrowing that took place within English-speaking Evangelicalism

throughout the 19th century.157 To a significant extent, therefore, the theological raw

materials of British Pentecostalism, when it began in 1907, did not need to be

imported from America and neither were the 19th century antecedents of it in Britain

an entirely American import. These antecedents were not, in any case, as dominantly

Wesleyan as Pentecostal antecedents were in North America but were of a much more

Reformed flavour.158 The key difference between British and American

154
This precedent has been set by the predominance of American scholarship that has been brought to
bear on the subject, e.g. Dayton’s Theological Roots.
155
Harper, M., “The Waves Keep Coming,” The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological
Association 28:2 (2008), 106.
156
“…we may speak of Wesleyan Methodism at the turn of the nineteenth century as a community
with well-functioning institutional bases, considerable spiritual strength and vitality, and with many of
the elements of a full church order.” Cracknell & White, World Methodism, 31. By the time of the
Census of Religious Worship of 1851, 3% of the adult population of England and Wales was
Methodist: Cracknell & White, World Methodism, 34. At the jubilee of the Methodist New Connexion
in 1848, the movement described itself as having “an active, fervid, and joyous piety.” Bebbington,
Holiness, 53, citing The Jubilee of the Methodist New Connexion, (London, 1848), 398. Only later in
that century did the Methodist insistence on conversion and the centality of the atonement begin to be
played down: Bebbington, Holiness, 54-55.
157
See Carwardine, R., Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America
1790-1865, (Carlisle: paternoster, 1978), passim, and, Kent, J., Holding the Fort: Studies in Victorian
Revivalism, (London: Epworth Press, 1978), passim.
158
The case that Randall makes for the strong Brethren flavour of early Pentecostal meetings is
especially compelling: Randall, I. M., “‘Outside  the  Camp’:  Brethren  Spirituality  and  Wider  

61
Evangelicalism in the 19th century was the extent to which revivalism was embraced.

In America, a crisis-orientated revivalistic approach, both inside and outside

Methodism, became widely accepted while in Britain, under the watchful eye of an

established church, revivalism never became mainstream.159 And it was the

revivalistic atmosphere that allowed Methodism and the holiness message to thrive,

and proved essential for the fire of Pentecostalism to actually begin.

The first Methodist sermon ever to be preached in America came from the mouth of

Capt Thomas Webb in New York City in 1766.160 During 1773-76, Methodism took

firm hold in Virginia by means of a significant revival.161 The founding of the

Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784162 was followed, in 1787 by the founding of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church, which, of all the Methodist groups in North

America, would prove to be the most consistently loyal to Wesleyan perfectionism.163

By 1800, Methodism, with its attendant doctrine of Christian Perfection, was a major

denominational block and began tipping the theological scales of popular religion

away from the Calvinism of the puritan settlers. In 1801, the hysterical Cane Ridge

camp meeting revival in Bourbon County, Kentucky, was a significant event

attracting tens of thousands of people164 of partly Baptist and partly Methodist

Evangelicalism  in  the  1920s,”  Brethren Educational Network article (BAHNR  2:17-­‐33):  
http://www.benrff.org/documents/Outside%20the%20camp.pdf accessed online 13 Jan 2009.  See  also  
his, “Old Time Power,”53-80. Wessels convincingly demonstrates that, even in America, the Reformed
contribution to the development of the doctrine of Baptism in the Holy Spirit was substantial: Wessels,
R., “The Spirit Baptism, Nineteenth Century Roots” Pneuma 1:14 (Fall 1992), 131-157.
159
Carwardine, Transatlantic Revivalism, xiv.
160
Synan, Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 7.
161
Synan, Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 9.
162
Cracknesll & White, World Methodism, 32. Baker cites this early denominationalisation of the
movement in America as the main reason for its strength relative to British Methodism that was slow to
make the break with Anglicanism complete and final: Baker, F., From Wesley to Asbury: Studies in
Early American Methodism, (Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press, 1976), 18.
163
Synan, Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 28.
164
Murray cites eye-witness estimates of between 10,000 and 21,000 at any one time: Murray, I.,
Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858,
(Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994), 152-3.

62
complexion. By 1812, the Methodists were holding at least 400 camp meetings

annually throughout the United States.165 By mid-century, Methodism was the

dominant religion of North America.

Dayton166 has observed that the early preaching of the Methodists in America was

inevitably salvation orientated, the vast majority of people attending the camp

meetings being unchurched. The new emphasis on Christian Perfection that took hold

during the 1830s coincided with a change in the make up of Methodist churches from

first to second generation Christians. People no longer needed to know how to be

saved but how to become better Christians, and this in the face of the advances of

German liberalism, Deism, Unitarianism and many other challenges to Evangelical

faith.

The style of spirituality underwent a change also. Those attending the early camp

meetings, as well as those preaching to them, were still mostly of a Calvinist

spirituality:

…there appears to be in the subjects of this work [the Kentucky Revival] a

deep heart-humbling sense of the great unreasonableness, abominable
nature, pernicious effects and deadly consequences of sin; and the absolute
unworthiness in the sinful creature of the smallest crumb of mercy from the
hand of a holy God.167

These early revivals could produce a “profound conviction of sin,”168 in keeping with

the Calvinist emphasis on total depravity. They could also bring “the happiness which

165
Murray, Revival and Revivalism, 183.
166
Dayton, Theological Roots, 65.
167
Murray, citing the Presbyterian David Rice, in, Revival and Revivalism, 157.
168
Murray, Revival and Revivalism, 163.

63
he has purchased with his own blood.”169 The Calvinist mindset of throwing oneself

utterly upon the mercy of a sovereign and holy God was set to change dramatically as

the century unfolded. This change involved the democratisation of Christianity and its

reduction to the individual’s response to the call of the gospel. In Calvinist

Christianity, the blood was of great value in easing the sting of a stricken conscience

before an Almighty God who, in the manner of Jonathan Edwards, holds sinners by a

mere thread over the flames of Hell.170 To the Calvinists, the blood propitiated an

angry God. To the Arminians of the generation following, the blood cleansed the

responsive and consecrated heart. To the Calvinists, the blood was something that

God chose, over against the penitent sinner’s eternal damnation. To the Arminians,

the blood was something that man chose in his decision to renounce the world and all

its allurements and follow God with all his heart.

The events at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, popularly termed the Second Great Awakening,

embodied much that was becoming distinctive in the life of the infant nation. In the

political realm, with the election Thomas Jefferson to power in 1801, the full

democratisation of American life began. American Christianity went through an

exactly parallel democratisation process that would soon be given formal expression

in Charles Finney’s Arminianising ‘New Measures.’ In Continental Europe,

Enlightenment ideas were destroying religion in public life, producing freedom from

belief. In America these same libertarian ideas were granting the freedom to believe,

and to believe with passion, with wild enthusiasm. French libertarian ideals could

produce a blood bath in France, revivals in America. The mood of the nation was so

optimistic and aspirational that Old World thinking was quickly transfigured into New

169
Diary of Edward Payson, cited in Murray, Revival and Revivalism, 218.
170
Edwards, J., Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 1992), 19.

64
World thinking. This was a way of thinking that was idealistic enough to envisage a

perfection that would not only see Christ fully formed in the heart but the millennial

kingdom established in the earth.

2.2. The Rebirth of Methodist Perfectionism: Phoebe Palmer.

Dayton171 agrees with Dieter172 that by around 1830 American Methodism had begun

to neglect its own cardinal doctrine, that of Christian Perfection, but that throughout

this decade, movements were afoot to revive the doctrine. Phoebe Palmer, and her

sister, Sarah Lankford, represented the first major thrust in the direction of reviving

Perfectionism within American Methodism.173 The result of this was that by the end

of the decade, the movement was two-pronged. There was the spread of interest in the

doctrine amongst the Presbyterians and Congregationalists instigated by Finney and

Mahan at Oberlin, and there was the ‘Tuesday Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness’

held at the Palmers’ home, soon to be augmented by the magazine, Guide to Holiness,

which reached a readership of up to 30,000.174 These meetings plus the magazine

revived Perfectionism within the Methodist fold. The 1840s would see “a veritable

flood of perfectionistic teaching in the Methodist Church.”175 It is to the blood

171
Dayton, D., “From ‘Christian Perfection’ to the ‘Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” in Synan, V., (ed)
Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins, (Plainfield: Logos, 1975), 42
172
Dieter, M., The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century 2nd Ed., (Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996), 22
173
In the last 25 years, there has been some interesting research on Phoebe Palmer. In particular, a
strong link has been made between her proto-Pentecostal pneumatology and her role as a female
preacher. Her doctrine of the Spirit was to base itself increasingly on Acts 2:17-21 (Peter’s quotation of
Joel 2:28-32LXX on the Day of Pentecost). This passage makes an explicit link between Spirit
reception and the power (and implicit right) as a ‘maidservant’ to ‘prophecy.’ This shift from a Pauline
to a Lukan pneumatology was widespread in Evangelicalism by mid-century and, “opened up new
possibilities for women: McFadden, M., “The Ironies of Pentecost: Phoebe Palmer, World Evangelism,
and Female Networks,” Methodist History 31:2 (Jan 1993), 63. Based on the same passage, a further
link was made between the ‘last days’ and female ministry: McFadden, “Ironies,” 65.
174
Synan, Pentecostal-Holiness Tradition, 18.
175
Synan, Pentecostal-Holiness Tradition, 17.

65
mysticism evident within this Wesleyan strand of the pre-Civil War holiness crusade

that we now turn.

Palmer’s experience of sanctification began with “an enlarged appreciation of the

Atonement”176 in the light of her own inability to be holy. Once her experience of

sanctification was complete, she appears to have drawn two principal lessons from it

that would go on to dominate her preaching on the subject. Firstly, she came to

understand the importance of testimony. She felt that her side of her “covenant” with

the Lord would be that she would agree to tell others of her experience “perhaps

before hundreds.”177 Failure to do this would lead to the dreaded loss of sanctification

such as that experienced famously by Wesley’s successor John Fletcher, who lost the

blessing five times due to a reluctance to testify.178 From here onwards she would

always preach “the binding nature of the obligation to profess the blessing.”179

Secondly, Palmer’s experience appears to have taught her to live in a continual

experience of cleansing:

“Realizing that God had enabled her to present herself as a living, or

continual, sacrifice, she deduced that Jesus cleansed the offering thus
continuously presented from all unrighteousness.”180

She thus recovers, quite correctly, the present tense of 1John1:7 (kaqari/zei) that

Wesley, by claiming a once-and-for-all cleansing, had effectively turned into an

aorist. From this realisation, as well as from the theology of a certain Adam Clarke,

176
White, C.E., The Beauty of Holiness: Phoebe Palmer as Theologian, Revivalist, Feminist, and
Humanitarian, (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1986), 19-20, citing Phoebe Palmer’s diary of
July 27, 1837.
177
White, Beauty of Holiness, 20-21.
178
White, Beauty of Holiness, 139.
179
White, Beauty of Holiness, 139, citing Palmer’s Faith and its Effects: Or Fragments from my
Portfolio, (New York: Joseph Long king, 1852), 89.
180
White, Beauty of Holiness, 23.

66
and his exposition of Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 13:10 and Exodus 29:37, comes her

‘altar theology’:

This, I was given to see, was in verity placing all upon the altar that sanctifieth
the gift, and I felt that, so long as my heart assured me that I did thus offer all,
that it was a solemn duty as well as a high and holy privilege, to believe that
the blood of Jesus cleanseth at the present and each succeeding moment so
long as the offering is continued.181

Her altar theology was an adaptation of Wesley’s system that made the experience of

the second blessing more readily accessible via a threefold process of consecration,

faith and testimony.182 If her listeners followed these steps, they could assure

themselves that they possessed this blessing, regardless of any evidence to the

contrary. The whole process was thus becoming fairly mechanised. The agony and

soul-searching was removed and holiness was now a blessing that was simply there

for the taking:

When the Savior said, ‘It is finished!’ then this full salvation was wrought out
for you. All that remains is for you to come complying with the conditions and
claim it…it is already yours.183

The immediacy of the experience is celebrated in her hymn The Cleansing Wave:

Oh, now I see the cleansing wave,

The fountain deep and wide!
Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save,
Points to His wounded side.

The cleansing stream I see, I see!

I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me!
Oh, praise the Lord: it cleanseth me;
It cleanseth me, yes, it cleanseth me.

181
Palmer, P., Guide to Holiness 1 (1839-40), 210.
182
White, Beauty of Holiness, 136.
183
Palmer, P., Faith and its Effects, or, Fragments from my Portfolio, (New York: palmer & Hughes,
1867), 52ff.

67
 I see the new creation rise;
I hear the speaking blood!
It speaks polluted nature dies!
Sinks ‘neath the cleansing flood.

I rise to walk in heaven’s own light,

Above the world and sin,
With heart made pure and garment white,
And Christ enthroned within.184

As can be seen from this hymn, the switch from a once-and-for-all cleansing to a

continuous cleansing is, in practice, fairly academic. She clearly has the same

eradicationist view of sanctification as Wesley, so that even if the cleansing is not

final, as Wesley understood it to be, it is so overwhelmingly effective that it “speaks

polluted nature dies,” and enables the believer to live “above the world and sin.” It is,

nonetheless, only a small step from this to the suppressionist position of Keswick,

which, as we will see, also espoused a continuous cleansing. This would then slowly

revert to a more Reformed style of cleansing, namely a continuously cleansed status

in the eyes of God, not dissimilar to Zinzendorf’s understanding of a merely imputed

holiness.

Later, Palmer demonstrated once again her ability to incorporate the ideas of others to

great effect in her ministry. Dayton points out that the publication of William Arthur’s

The Tongue of Fire in 1856185 significantly influenced Palmer, to the extent that

during the revivals of 1857-60, her speech became dominated by the concept of

Baptism in the Holy Spirit.186 The language of Pentecost thus adopted was the shape

of things to come for the holiness movement and beyond.

184
Redemption Hymnal No.342.
185
Arthur, W., The Tongue of Fire, (New York: Harper, 1856).
186
Dayton, “From ‘Christian Perfection,’” 44.

68
The recovery of the Wesleyan message of Christian Perfection in American

Methodism went hand-in-hand with the full recovery of the voluntarist element in

Christian devotion. This democratisation process was indebted to American culture

and the widespread appropriation of republican values that had been imported from

France during the War of Independence. Yet this voluntarist thread in American

Christianity also had its own heritage. The need for a personal, heart-felt commitment

to Christ was, of course, a process that had begun in earnest with German Pietism.

This was then further developed in the Methodist societies in Britain, and finally, with

the planting of Methodism in American soil, Christian voluntarism reached its apogee

in American 19th century revivalism. Over the course of this process, the subjective

appropriation of the atonement, lost for a while among Protestants with their rejection

of transubstantiation and sacerdotalism, was recovered. The mode of appropriation

was faith. The new object of faith was not simply a distant cross, it was now “the

blood applied.” At first the language was devotional, like that of the Catholics. Now it

had become the language of personal hygiene: “It cleanseth me.” This thought of a

powerful, personal cleansing, available to anyone willing to follow the necessary

steps, captured the imaginations of a generation of revivalists. It served to feed the

idealism of a generation that thought they would see the world utterly cleansed of evil

and the millennial dawn appear.

69
 2.5. Charles Finney and Oberlin.

…revivals are always associated with the preaching of the gospel, which is the
message of the cross.187

Revival always takes the church back to Calvary. Revival brings a new focus
on the cross.188

If the above is true then the great revivalist Charles Finney (1792-1875) would appear

to be something of an anomaly, or else that the revivals that took place under him

were not true revivals. Despite the controversy that took place between Finney and

those who were not keen on his active encouragement of emotional excesses much

19th Century Evangelical spirituality drew great inspiration from the revivalism of

Charles Finney. It was fundamentally his insight that a touch from God’s Spirit was

there for the taking and available to anyone who was willing to remove the obstacles

to revival, that revolutionised and Arminianised American Christianity. It was this

insight that provided the flavour of the 19th Century holiness movement. It was an

essentially revivalist movement, fired increasingly by Finney’s preferred term:

baptism in the Holy Spirit rather than classically Wesleyan terminology. This

terminology was much broader and opened the door to an enduement of power for

service as well as the experience of sanctification.

Charles Finney’s theology is decidedly not blood mystical. His Revivals of religion

contains only two references to the blood of Christ in the whole book. Both of these

appear in the context of the need for ardent prayer as a precondition of revival. Here,

the sole purpose seems to be to add drama and vividness to what he is saying: “…He

187
Piggin, Firestorm, 17.
188
Whittaker, C., Great Revivals, (Eastbourne: Victor, 2005), 12-13.

70
offered up His blood for souls, offered up also, as their High Priest, strong crying and

tears…”189

In his Systematic Theology, in the section on the atonement, there are twelve

references to the blood of Christ spread over 24 pages.190 These, however, are mostly

in direct citations of Scripture,191 When not quoting Scripture, he once uses the phrase

“redemption through his blood,”192 he once employs the phrase, “…expenditure of the

blood and suffering of Christ,”193 and he speaks of the shedding of Christ’s blood as a

“satisfaction to public justice for our sins.”194 Finney, like a number of others in his

day, held to the governmental theory of Grotius, whereby Jesus is the supreme

governor of the universe who has done everything necessary to uphold the law. It is

now each individual’s responsibility to elect Him as his or her Governor.195 In his

section on sanctification he plainly does not share Wesley’s view of a cleansing from

inbred sin by the blood of Jesus but sees sanctification as a work of the Holy Spirit

alone.196 He reserves a mention of 1 John 1:7 for his section on justification,197 a

reflection, perhaps, of his Reformed heritage.

189
Finney, C., Revivals of Religion 2nd Ed., Ed: W.H. Harding, (London: Morgan & Scott, 1913), 61.
Cf. “’His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground’ (Luke 22:44). I have never
known a person sweat blood; but I have known a person pray till the blood started from his nose.”
Finney, Revivals
190
Finney, C., Lectures on Systematic Theology 2nd Ed., , Ed: J.H. Fairchild, (Whittier: Colporter
Kemp, 1946), 264 (x2), 266 (x1), 267 (x2), 268 (x3), 269 (x2), 271 (x1), 281 (x1).
191
These cover the themes of propitiation and justification (he quotes directly from Rom.3:24-26 three
times), the Mosaic law in relation to blood sacrifice (citing Heb.9:22-23), purchasing with blood (citing
Acts 20:28), being brought near (citing Eph.2:13), and a huge chunk of Hebrews is quoted verbatim
(Heb.9:12-14, 22-28; 10:10-14).
192
ibid, 267.
193
Ibid, 281.
194
Ibid, 266.
195
Cf. Murray, Revival, 262.
196
Ibid, 402-481.
197
Ibid, 389.

71
The main question remaining is that of why Palmer’s holiness theology was blood

mystical while Finney’s holiness theology was not. The answer would appear to lie in

the radically differing theologies of the two with respect to the atonement. Both felt

the same urgency respecting the response of faith in the individual to the invitation of

the preacher. Both did not share a belief in the appropriation of the blood in this

process. Finney held to the governmental theory of the atonement in which God

assumed the role of governor whom the people elect into power over their lives. No

transaction is involved. Palmer held to the penal substitutionary theory of the

atonement in which the fact that Christ has taken one’s place in death must be

acknowledged before divine favour may be appropriated. The one theory, that

underlying Finney’s preaching, did not require a grateful devotion to or personal

appropriation of the blood, the other, at least in the hands of Palmer, did.

2.6. The First British Campaign of James Caughey.

The crusade across Britain in 1841-47 of the Irish-American Methodist Preacher

James Caughey, was historically significant. It followed the efforts of the outlandish

camp meeting revivalist Lorenzo Dow in 1805-7 and 1818-19, and preceded the

campaign of D.L.Moody that would sweep the British Isles thirty-two years later. As

Carwardine has pointed out, however, the overshadowing of Caughey by those who

came after him in history is unfortunate.198 In his day, Caughey was enormously

popular and highly influential, particularly upon William Booth, then a fiery young

evangelist. During his tour, which included Finney style ‘new measures revivals,’

most of the urban centres of the Midlands and North were included: Liverpool,

198
Carwardine, Transatlantic Revivalism, 102. Along with Charles Finney, Caughey was a household
name among British nonconformists of the mid 19th Century: idem., xiv.

72
Birmingham, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Huddersfield, York, Nottingham, Lincoln,

Sunderland and Chesterfield. Caughey could boast at least 20,000 new converts and

9,000 cases of ‘entire sanctification’ during his first British crusade 199

Caughey fully adopted Palmer’s insistence upon a present continuous cleansing:

It does not say that God has cleansed you from sin in time past. You may
believe that, and not be saved. It does not say that He will cleanse you in some
time to come, but that He doeth it – cleanseth, that is the word, in the present
tense.200

Christian Perfection, as well as salvation was urged upon his readers. Here, perfection

is construed as a ‘victory’: “Go on to perfection; and may you all at last be enabled to

shout, ‘Victory, victory, in the blood of the Lamb!”201 Anticipating Moody, the

“master sin” for Caughey was “the sin of trampling on the precious blood of

Christ.”202

Thanks to Caughey, a precedent was set in Britain that allowed further American

itinerants to visit and bring the effusions of their holiness ideals to British

Evangelicalism. The challenge remained, however, which would not be overcome

until Moody came, of the general disdain of the middle and upper classes for

republican America,203 reeking as it did of hated and much feared French

republicanism. Both Dow and Caughey had appealed mostly to working class

nonconformists, a success that must have seemed somewhat incendiary in the

revolutionary climate of the times.

199
Carwardine, Revivalism, 111.
200
Caughey, J., Revival Sermons and Addresses, (London: Richard D. Dickinson, 1891), 85.
201
Caughey, Sermons, 41.
202
Caughey, Sermons, 103.
203
Kent, Holding the Fort, 50, 63,

73
Conclusion.

Within this Pre-war phase of the holiness movement that we have examined, three

strains are discernable. The first and most deeply rooted strain is the Methodist vision

of Phoebe Palmer’s. Palmer was expounding classical Wesleyanism using the self-

help framework of her altar theology. This proved to be a wise way of popularising a

message among a people whose self-confidence was such that they had come to

believe that God helps those who help themselves. Gone was the determinism of the

Puritan settlers and their belief in electing sovereignty. The second strain was the

Reformed strain, inspired by Finney. This sought to minimise the Wesleyan notes of

entire sanctification and was apt instead to use the term ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit,’ a

phrase that Palmer would also later adopt. This baptism in the Holy Spirit could

encompass the Pauline emphasis on sanctification as well as the Lukan emphasis on

empowerment. Yet the heart of the message was much the same: the seeker must

decide, he or she must choose God now. The pressure to make an immediate response

to the altar call proved to be as controversial as it was influential. The third strain was

holiness as an export. Pioneered by Lorenzo Dow, this was perfected by James

Caughey. He took the best of both: the success of his British campaigns were

measured by the number of sanctifications – the Methodist strain – as well as the

number of decisions for Christ – the Reformed strain. He successfully combined

Palmer’s mechanical sanctifications with Finney’s immediate decisions.

The role of the blood throughout this formative period stays fairly monochrome.

There is little departure from Wesley’s main proof text when teaching on a Clean

Heart: 1John 1:7, although Wesley’s falsely aorist interpretation of the passage is

74
thrown out. Soon, this preoccupation with the cleansing power of the blood would fill

the hymns of the late 19th century, Palmer having blazed a trail with her The

Cleansing Wave.

By the time British Evangelicals began to generate their own holiness emphasis, they

were still drawing much from the Americans. They were indebted to Palmer, Finney

and Caughey, but still more to those on the very edge of the movement such William

Boardman and the Smiths who were seeking to make holiness teaching palatable to

those completely exterior to the movement. It was their voices that would prove the

most effective at planting the message in the hearts of British Evangelicals.

75
 3. Home-Grown Holiness.

In the 1851 Census of Religious Worship204 it was revealed that overall church

attendance figures for Britain stood at a national average of around 60% of the

population.205 More recent scholarship has surmised that 1851 in fact represented the

most significant peak in church attendance in England since Norman times and was

never to be repeated.206 Later, a variety of factors contributed to the widely recognised

Victorian crisis of faith so that as early as 1864, Lord Shaftesbury was lamenting that

the “Protestant feeling” of the nation was not what it was.207 The evidence suggests

that overall church attendance was in more or less continuous decline from 1851

onwards.208 For reasons that are still far from certain, America would weather the

204
This took place on 30 March 1851 and was published in two reports, one covering England and
Wales,(published 1853) and the other covering Scotland (published 1854). See Wolffe, J., The
Expansion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Wilberforce, More, Chalmers and Finney, (Leicester: IVP,
2006), 220-224 who gives a usefully succinct and cautious review of its findings but focuses only on
Evangelicalism. See also the groundbreaking work on a computerised analysis of the census in Snell,
K. D. M., & P. S. Ell, Rival Jerusalems: The Geography of Victorian Religion, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000), 23, 32.
205
Out of a population of 17,927,609, there were 5,292,551 attending Anglican churches, 4,536,265
Dissenters and 383,630 Roman Catholic worshippers: 10,212,446 worshippers altogether. Figures
reproduced in Harvie, C., “Revolution and the Rule of Law,” in Morgan, K., (ed), The Oxford History
of Britain, (Oxford University Press, 1988),519. There were, nonetheless, enormous discrepancies
between the relatively unchurched urban populations and rural church going. Snell and Ell have
produced an excellent analysis of the geographical factors that later contributed to declines in church
attendance. Many people, uprooted from their regional rural brand of faith (most often of a
nonconformist hue), were faced with attending large urban Anglican congregations, and many lost their
faith altogether: Snell & Ell, Rival Jerusalems, 1.
206
Gill, R., The ‘Empty’ Church Revisited, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), 212. For a more traditional
view of this decline than Gill’s, attributing it largely to a lack of church buildings in urban areas
combined with class struggle, see May, T., An Economic and Social History of Britain 1760-1970,
(London: Longman, nd), 137-8. Wood identifies the high Victorian peak in attendance as being also the
time of Evangelicalism’s greatest strength, stating that at this time it was the “chief formative influence
on Victorianism”: Wood, A., Nineteenth Century Britain 1815-1914, (Harlow: Longman, 1982), 188.
Bebbington agrees, dating the contraction of Evangelicalism’s influence to the 1870s: Bebbington, D.,
Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, A History from the 1730s to the 1980s, (Grand Rapids: Baker,
1989), 141
207
Bebbington, Evangelicalism, 141
208
This picture needs to be nuanced by reference to the gains made by nonconformists until reaching a
peak in the 1880s, as well as by reference to the considerably bleaker picture that most urban areas
presented with as opposed to the much slower proportional declines in rural areas, and finally, by
reference to the building of far too many chapels by competing denominations in areas where overall

76
secularising209 storm that gathered with the turn of the century, while Britain would

never recover from the steady decline in church attendance that went on to empty its

churches and chapels in the twentieth century. Democratisation may be a key concept

in unravelling the discrepancy.210 It appears that only to the extent that voluntarist,

participationist, democratic brands of Christianity successfully emerged did the

church in Britain survive the onslaughts of the age. Martin accurately identifies

Britain as a kind of halfway staging post in the Westward progress of religious

population was in decline, leading to half-empty church buildings even when overall recruitment was
up. Gill postulates a kind of snowball effect whereby the very sight of half-empty churches discouraged
church going. Gill, The ‘Empty’ Church, 7-8, 169-202.
209
In a landmark study, Currie, Gilbert and Horsley identified secularisation as “a diminished resort to
supernatural means.” Currie, R., A. Gilbert & L. Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of
Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700, (Cambridge: University Press, 1977), 99. Bryan
Wilson’s initial study on secularisation: Sects and Society, (London, 1961) has had many gainsayers
amongst more recent sociologists of religion. Three are of note: Hammond, P.E., (ed), The Sacred in a
Secular Age, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), Wilson’s own more recent The Social
Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society, (Oxford:
University Press, 1990) and Gill’s The ‘Empty’ Church Revisited of 2003. Cox laments his initial
confidence in the secularisation hypothesis when he wrote The Secular City. A radical revision of his
earlier views, assuming as he had that the total demise of all religion was imminent, took place in his
encounter with Pentecostalism’s worldwide success: Cox, H., Fire From Heaven: The Rise of
Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century, (London: Cassell,
1996), xv-xvii. The consensus appears to be a moderated secularisation hypothesis that seeks to correct
the Euro-centricity of the earlier views and takes into account the worldwide proliferation of all forms
of religiosity outside of Europe.
210
Carwardine contrasts British and American attitudes to revival, the very life-blood of 19th Century
Evangelicalism, in a way that is very telling: “In one country [USA], under a voluntaristic church
system, revivals became an orthodoxy; in the other [UK], under the critical eye of a church
establishment, they never achieved total respectability.” Transatlantic Revivalism, xiv. An even greater
contrast may be seen between republican France and republican America. In France, the Church was
hopelessly identified with the monarchy and aristocracy and lumped together with them as the over-
powerful, monolithic bourgeoisie. The disenfranchised, in their desire for democracy, demolished both
Church and monarchy in France. In America, democratisation in the church – its Arminianisation –
went on hand-in-hand with the democratisation of politics. In between, there was class-ridden Britain,
not by any means an autocracy but unwilling to fully embrace democracy in either the political or
religious spheres, a position bolstered in the high Victorian period by a lingering hatred for Napoleonic
France. The contrast between France and America, and, by extension, between Latin Catholic and
North Atlantic Protestant Christianity is a major plank in Martin’s moderation of the secularisation
hypothesis. Using the example of Enlightenment France, he draws a distinction between “…a Catholic,
communitarian, organic and heteronomous relation to modernity and a Protestant relation rooted in
voluntarism, individualism and autonomy…” Martin. D., On Secularization: Towards a Revised
General Theory, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), 143. The most recent English Church Census (2005)
supports this general view of what kind of Christianity thrives in the modern West and what kind does
not: “Of particular note, forms of Christianity which emphasise the Holy Spirit are resisting the ebbing
tide. Often associated with small groups, these are forms of religion which interplay serving the unique
individual with the overarching structure of tradition. In contrast, forms of Christianity which
emphasise the ‘good’ of humanity in general whilst downplaying the transformative experience of the
unique person, are those which are flowing with the ebbing tide.” Prof Paul Heelas in Foreword to
Brierly, P.,(ed), UK Christian Handbook Religious Trends 6: Pulling Out of the Nosedive, (London:
Christian Research, 2006), 0.3.

77
voluntarism from Lutheran Pietism to American revivalism and ultimately

Pentecostalism, describing it, with characteristic succinctness, as a journey “from

Halle to Los Angeles.”211 The halfway stage was, presumably, the 18th century

religious societies under Wesley, Whitefield and the British Province of the

Moravians. Devotion to the blood of Jesus appears to travel alongside that Westward

journey supplying a useful symbol for the subjective appropriation of the cross as a

symbol of cleansing power against the moral and religious pollutions of the age.

By the time of Samuel Butler’s 1903 novel, The Way of all Flesh,212 an

autobiographical snipe at Victorian religion and family life, the honest doubts of

“High-minded Victorian agnosticism had given way to the brasher notes of self-

confident progressivism.”213 The age of faith in scientific progress had dawned in

Britain at least as early as Darwin’s On the Origin of Species of 1859.214 Faced with

widespread questioning of Christian explanations for the universe in which God was

fast becoming nothing more than a “grand Perhaps,”215 all Christians faced a choice.

Either they could accommodate themselves to the prevailing cultural and intellectual

mood, which rejected the perceived barbarism of transactional ideas of the

211
Martin, Secularization, 144, 151.
212
Bulter, S., The Way of all Flesh, (London: Penguin, 1966).
213
Jay, E., Faith and Doubt in Victorian Britain, (Basingstoke: MacMillan, 1986), 125.
214
MacDonald provides an illuminating anthology of contemporary comment, e.g. “The scientific
interpretation of natural phenomena has made the interest of God more remote, God’s existence more
problematical, and the idea of God unnecessary,” “…the Doctrine of Evolution has once and for all
deprived natural theology of the materials upon which until lately it subsisted.” McDonald, H.D., Ideas
of Revelation: An Historical Study AD 1700 to AD 1860, (London: Macmillan, 1959), 8.
215
Browning, R., “Bishop Bougram’s Apology,” in Jack, I. (ed), Browning: The Poetical Works 1833-
64, (London: 1970), 650 (verse 190). Speaking of the late Victorian crisis of faith and its popularisation
via the press, Gilbert comments: “…the fact remains that doubt and theological uncertainty percolated
downwards into the ranks of ordinary believers to an extent unprecedented.” Gilbert, A.D., Religion
and Society in Industrial England: Church, Chapel and Social Change 1740-1914, (London: Longman,
1976), 177. The period of this age of doubt is identified as “…the last forty years of the century…” in
Jay, Faith and Doubt, 99.

78
atonement,216 or they could radicalise their Christianity. This radicalisation process

spawned a number of new dimensions to the holiness movement in which blood

mysticism flourished, some more sectarian than others.217 Two of them are

noteworthy: the Salvation Army and the Keswick Conventions. To the first of these

we now turn.

3.1. The Salvation Army.218

The theology of William and Catherine Booth was profoundly influenced by Phoebe

Palmer’s altar theology.219 Besides her, the preaching of James Caughey had a

powerful impact on William during his youth. The Booths went on to extend their

eradicationist theology of Christian Perfection into the social sphere, engaging in a

216
Two major Evangelical theological volleys were launched at this time against the liberalism of Baur
and others, the first by Smeaton, G., The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement, (Edinburgh: Banner of
Truth, 1991, first published in 1870), and the second by the Keswick sympathiser, Dale, R.W., The
Atonement:The Congregational Union Lecture for 1875, (London: Congrgational Union of England
and Wales, 1897, first published 1875). By 1897, at the annual Fernley Lecture in Leeds, John Scott-
Lidgett is, in spite of his high regard for Dale’s work, lamenting the neglect of the atonement in
theological circles owing in part to, “…repulsion from many of the accounts hitherto given by
theologians,” leading to the atonement having been “…taken out of the hands of the living God and
committed to certain of His attributes, especially justice and mercy, which, at least in popular usage,
have been almost personified and set bargaining one with the other as to what should be demanded and
offered as a satisfaction for sin.” The transactional approach, “…whether this view be stated in the
language of the law court or in that of the market…” was alienating, he felt, not only the theologians
but was “…remote from…distasteful to the common mind, carrying us into a sphere which is felt to be
foreign and even antagonistic to both the simple life of faith and the graciousness of the gospel.” Scott-
Lidgett, J., The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement as a Satisfaction made to God for the Sins of the
World, (London: Charles H. Kelly, 1898), 6-7.
217
Kent highlights the dimension of protest that contributed to the late Victorian proliferation of sects.
It was a protest as much against the older churches as to the growing secularism of the world. It was a
protest that was, “partly doctrinal, partly structural.” Kent, J., Holding the Fort: Studies in Victorian
Revivalism, (London: Epworth, 1978), 301.
218
Besides Moyles, R.G. A Bibliography of Salvation Army Literature in English, 1865-1987
(Lewiston, N.Y.: Mellon Press, 1988), see Coutts, F., The History of the Salvation Army, 7 Vols.,
(London: Salvation Army, 1979), Murdoch, N. H., “Evangelical Sources of Salvation Army Doctrine,”
Evangelical Quarterly 59:3 (July 1987), 235-44, idem, Origins of the Salvation Army, (Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press, 1994), Walker, P. J., Pulling the Devil’s Kingdom Down: the Salvation
Army in Victorian Britain, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), as reliable sources.
Walker’s work, though substantial, concentrates a great deal on gender issues: 22-31, 106-113, 123-
127.
219
Catherine Booth said of Palmer’s books that they, “…have done me more good than anything else I
have ever met with,” Walker, Pulling the Devil’s Kingdom Down, 23, citing a letter to her mother dated
January 21, 1861.

79
widening campaign against all the social evils of working class Britain. As opposition

mounted against the Booths and their followers, this holiness crusade was seen

increasingly as a spiritual warfare. An article in the Sunday Telegraph written in

commemoration of the Salvation Army’s centenary puts it aptly: ‘To the Booths, and

especially to Catherine Booth, the Devil was a personal opponent and as real as one’s

next door neighbour.’220

In the face of this enemy, the Booths were utterly defiant and completely confident of

the power of Christ to defeat sin and Satan. And, more particularly, this strong faith

was faith in the power of Christ’s blood. As the Christian Mission took on the name

of the Salvation Army, and William Booth took the title of general, the cleansing of

the blood would be coupled with his belief in baptism in the Spirit to produce the now

famous piece of branding: Blood and Fire. Through Blood and Fire all the forces of

‘Darkest England’ would be overcome.

William Booth’s theology has been described as the theology of Wesley, Whitefield

and George Fox.221 Of these, Wesley222 would have to be singled out as the greatest

influence upon his theology,223 albeit mediated via Caughey, with whom he was often

compared. One of Booth’s earliest letters reveals the blood mystical nature of his

220
‘History of the Salvation Army,’ Sunday Telegraph (30 May 1965), cutting, Nottingham City
Archives.
221
Begbie, H., Life of William Booth, the Founder of the Salvation Army, Vol.1., (London: MacMillan,
1920), 79.
222
Amongst his words of advice to his future wife was to, “Read one or two of John Wesley’s sermons
now and then.” Letter to Catherine, dated 17 November 1852. Begbie, Booth Vol.1., 159
223
“He was emphatic from those early days to the end of his life on this doctrine of persistent faith, on
this doctrine of Entire Sanctification. He never changed his mind in this respect.” Begbie, Booth Vol.1.,
86-87.

80
spirituality: “I want to be a devoted, simple, and sincere follower of the Bleeding

Lamb.”224

The formative contribution of Catherine Booth as co-founder of the Salvation Army

has received due attention in recent years.225 Her role, along with a number of other

Evangelical women in the 19th century in the elevation of women is rightly

celebrated.226As early as the 1850s, the conviction grew within her of the legitimacy

of female ministry227 and she was a powerful speaker in her own right. The Wesleyan

Times of March 1865, compared Catherine’s preaching to “Finney and the

revivalists.”228 This would be a reference to her insistence on preaching for a verdict,

an immediate decision for Christ, a conviction that she and William shared:

‘Tis done, Thou dost this moment save,

With full salvation bless,
Redemption through Thy Blood I have
And spotless love and peace.229

224
Extract from a letter written from London to a friend in Nottingham, dated 1850. Begbie, Booth
Vol.1., 115. cf. a resolution made by the struggling young Booth in London, dated 9 December 1849:
“3rd That I will endeavour in my conduct and deportment before the world and my fellow servants
especially to conduct myself as a humble, meek, and zealous follower of the bleeding Lamb…
“I feel my own weakness and without God’s help I shall not keep these resolutions a day. The Lord
have mercy upon my soul. I claim the Blood. Yes, oh Yes, Jesus died for me.” Begbie, Booth Vol.1.,
105-106.
225
The most substantial study of this kind is Walker, Pulling the Devil’s Kingdom Down.
226
McFadden, “Ironies of Pentecost,” 66, 72; Murdoch, “Female Ministry,” passim, Walker, Pulling
the Devil’s Kingdom Down, 243. Cf. Hattersley, R., Blood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and
Their Salvation Army, (London: Little, Brown & Co., 1999), He surmises, in line with some recent
scholarship, that, “It was Phoebe Palmer’s gender as much as her ideology which attracted Catherine
Booth: 106-7.
227
Murdoch, “Female Ministry,” 349.
228
Wesleyan Times (13 March 1865) quoted in Hattersley, Blood and Fire, 147.
229
Letter to Catherine, dated 17 November 1852. Begbie, Booth Vol.1., 159. This hymn is repeated in
another letter to Catherine dated September 1853: “I am seeking purity of heart. Seek it with me. You
believe in it, that Jesus’ Blood can cleanse and keep clean, and it is by faith.” Begbie, Booth Vol.1.,
212.

81
Among the Booths’ closest allies was an able defender of Wesleyanism, Mrs Jane

Short. In her controversy with the Calvinist Plymouth Brethren, she castigated one of

their number for his belief in a dual nature in the converted and in doing so reveals

something of the direct and unpretentious theology of the Salvationists:

If L.H.B.’s doctrine be true, will he inform us what becomes of this ‘old,

wicked, black soul’ of man at death? If it is immortal, it cannot die. If it
forever remains unclean, it cannot enter Heaven. If it is not redeemed or
washed in the Blood, it must go to Hell. So that a real believer, according to
L.H.B.’s school, will have one soul in Hell and another in Heaven.230

During the 1870s, while the first Keswick Conventions were taking place among the

middle classes, the Salvation Army were on the streets, bravely singing and testifying

their way into the hearts of the poor and wretched. This decade was the time of their

stiffest opposition. Until the police took a firmer stand, the mocking Skeleton Army

represented a fairly organised attempt at disrupting the Salvation Army wherever they

went. They were assisted by members of the public, especially publicans who felt that

their trade was threatened by the way that drunkards were being overtly targeted by

the Army’s evangelistic efforts. Their message was the message of the cleansing

blood:

After one or two had spoken, the publican on the left opened his window and
pitched a pail of water on to the crowd below. Immediately the people moved;
but though the sisters were principally upon that side, and the water fell upon
their Sunday hats plentifully, the ring was not broken for a moment, and every
one heard the hearty Amen that burst from all as the dear sister who was
speaking wiped the water from her face, and cried, ‘May the Lord save that
dear man.’ In the meantime the crowd had tremendously increased, and God
230
Ervine, J., God’s Soldier: General William Booth Vol.1, (London: William Heinemann, 1934), 290.
cf. Begbie, Booth Vol.1., 283. “He believed that every living soul, by its sins and rebellion, merited
destruction; that destruction must infallibly be its lot but for the Atonement of Christ; there his
theology ended and his humanity began.” Cf. “We belong to God. Jesus is our Saviour, His Blood is
for our Salvation.” Letter to Catherine dated 29 January 1855. Begbie, Booth, Vol.1., 243.

82
 came into our midst. Then the publican gave us another pail of water; but still
we kept believing and the ring was unbroken. There was a solemn influence;
no one spoke a word while we sang –

But till washed in the Blood of a crucified Lord

We can never be ready to die.231

Even when confronted by the police, they remained defiant and kept testifying and

singing about the blood:

So soon as our brethren commenced the open-air service, a policeman came

and ordered them away, saying he would take them to the station if they did
not desist. Brother R. said that he should deem it an honour to be locked up for
his Master, whereupon the policeman took them off. By this time a great
crowd had gathered, and as they went along they sang:

I will sing for Jesus

With His blood he bought me…232

Surprisingly, as will be seen from my survey of the Salvation Army Song Book, the

victory theme is not prominent in the hymn singing of the Salvationists. Rather it was

the cleansing that mattered. It was by that cleansing that the devil would be overcome

and victory over sin and evil achieved. There appeared to be something emotive for

the singers in the mere mention of the word “Blood,” especially when coupled with

“Fire”:

Hark, hark, my soul, what warlike songs are swelling,

Through Britain’s streets and on from door to door;
How grand the truths those burning strains are telling
Of that great war till sin shall be no more!
Salvation Army, Army of God!
Onward to conquer the world with Fire and Blood…233

231
Report from Chatham, 1877. Begbie, Booth Vol.1., 424.
232
“History of the Salvation Army,” Sunday Telegraph (30 May 1965), cutting, Nottingham City
Archives.
233
Begbie, Booth Vol.1, 451-2.

83
Begbie comments:

…The phrase ‘with Fire and Blood’ was sung, or rather roared, again and
again, until perspiration ran down the faces of the soldiery as they clasped one
another’s hands and beamed.234

Three considerable collections of hymns emerged out of the holiness movement that

had a significant impact upon British Christianity. These all drew from the same 18th

Century, Watts-Wesley dominated pool of hymns and each adding new hymns of

their own, often imitating the phraseology and imagery of 18th Century hymnody. All

three collections represented spiritualities that matured contemporaneously with each

other during the 1860s to 1880s. The theology appears similar. The main discernable

difference, where their treatment of the atonement is concerned, is in the degree of

evangelistic focus. Keswick’s Hymns of Consecration and Faith, is the most

introspective hymnbook. It has no “warning and entreaty” section and only a fairly

small “Missionary Hymns” section comprising 33 hymns (hymns 420-453, 5.4% of

the total collection). The Salvation Army Song Book, by contrast, with its “Salvation”

section comprising 22% of its hymns (hymns 1-198) the majority of which are

addressed to sinners,235 is the most overtly evangelistic. In the middle there is Ira

Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos, which, like the Salvation Army Song Book, was

compiled with inquirers in mind. Its section of hymns on “The Gospel,” all addressed

to unbelievers and backsliders236 comprises 12% of the total compilation (hymns 353-

499).

234
Begbie, Booth Vol.1, 451-2.
235
E.g., No.76: “Come, sinners, to the Gospel feast; Oh, come without delay, For there is room on
Jesus’ breast, For all who will obey.”
236
E.g.,No.429: “Where will you spend Eternity? This question comes to you and me! Tell me, what
shall your answer be – Where will you spend Eternity?”

84
The Salvation Army Song Book is one of the most blood mystical of the holiness

hymnals with an average of 1 in 4 of its songs carrying at least one mention of the

blood (454 references to Christ’s blood distributed through 1733 songs). Sacred Songs

and Solos is the least blood mystical, having an average of 1 in 6 of its songs touching

on the theme (193 references in 1200 songs). Hymns of Consecration and Faith is

even more blood mystical than the Salvation Army Song Book with an average of

almost 1 in 3 of its hymns referring to the blood of Jesus at least once (178 references

in 604 hymns). The arguably more mainstream Hymns Ancient and Modern was first

published in 1861.237 The ratio of hymns containing at least one reference to the blood

in this hymnal is 1in 8 (76 out of 638), and in its successor, the English Hymnal of

1906,238 the figure is down to 1 in 9 (80 out of 744). In these broad church hymnals,

most of the references to the blood are restricted to the Eucharistic hymns, the hymns

for the seasons of Lent and Passion tide and the section for “Mission Services.” It is

clear that the blood theme was generally much more important to worshippers with

some level of holiness background or influence than to worshippers who were outside

the sweep holiness influence. It will also become clear that hymns and poems

generally are more prone to the repetitive use of ‘blood’ and other pieces of

atonement shorthand than other forms of published writing such as magazine articles

and sermon transcripts. This is attributable to the tendency within poetic writing to

condense. In the Salvation Army Song Book, in particular, a range of theological

urgencies are packed into one word, ‘blood.’ The significance of the word in each

case, such as cleansing or sanctification, is revealed by the context. Each usage carries

a dominant theme. The relative prominence of each major theme that is attached to

the word in this hymnbook will be explored shortly.

237
Hymns Ancient and Modern, (London: William Clowes, 1861).
238
The English Hymnal, (London: Oxford University Press, 1906).

85
In the 1930 edition of the Salvation Army Song Book, not only does the word Blood

always receive capitalisation, but all adjectives and metaphors associated with it do

too: Precious,239 Purple,240 Flood,241 Fountain,242 River243 and so on. Of the total

references to Christ’s Blood, 191 (42%) express the idea of cleansing and washing. In

order to aid the worshippers as they appropriate this cleansing, every imaginable

liquid image is employed. The worshipper lives in the Cleansing Fountain and dwells

in the Saviour’s side.244 He or she plunges beneath the Precious Blood, beneath that

cleansing Flood, while the hand takes hold of Jesus.245 Alternatively, they may prefer

to “dip”246 in the blood or to fling themselves at the cross “For the Blood is flowing

there.”247 All sorrows248 and doubts249 are swept away in the River that is

“streaming”250 and “flows.”251 It is a “sin-cleansing wave,”252 a “Crimson Tide,”253 a

“Blood-current.”254 It is construed either as flowing from the cross255 or flowing or

gushing from the riven side of Jesus.256 It is a Purple Flood,257 a sin-cleansing

wave,258 a cleansing Fountain in which garments may be washed,259 sin destroyed,260

239
No.293
240
No.831
241
No.831
242
No.552
243
No.239
244
No.552
245
No.421
246
No.293
247
No.356
248
No.222
249
No.417
250
No.34
251
No.75
252
Chorus No.298
253
No.62
254
No.379
255
No. 356
256
No.377; 275
257
No.831
258
No.298
259
No.409
260
No.590

86
guilt removed261 and souls cured262 as the Precious Blood is applied.263 That blood

may now “Flood and cleanse” the heart itself.264

The cleansing motif is far and away the most dominant. The second most common

theme is way down the league. It is redemption. Under this heading I have included

all references to being redeemed, bought, purchased, set free and rescued. These make

up a mere 7.2% of the total (33 occurrences). The fact of the Master’s ownership

rights as purchaser of the redeemed is given a dual function, as in the Hymns of

Consecration and Faith. Firstly, believers owe it to Jesus to live their whole lives in

consecrated service to Him.265 The singer has been claimed by “His life’s Blood”266 to

be “a jewel in His sight.”267 Secondly, the lost are already purchased by Jesus’ blood

and must be claimed for Him. These “brands” plucked from the fire must be quenched

in Jesus’ Blood.268

Next in line, and perhaps unsurprisingly for Salvationists, is the theme of being

“saved,” or receiving “Full Salvation” through the Blood. Of the total, these make up

7% (32 occurrences). Of note is the appeal to drunkards and other severe sinners in

many of these hymns.269 When addressing them, much is made of the theme of

guilt,270 a word that is otherwise quite rare in hymnbooks of the period. Unlike Sacred

Songs and Solos, no effort is made to tone down the blood language when singing to

261
No.538
262
No.325
263
No.32
264
No.410
265
E.g., No.467: “All I have, by thy Blood Thou dost claim, Blessed Lord, who for me once was slain.”
266
No.262
267
No.262
268
No.501
269
e.g., No.66: “We have a message, a message from Jesus, A message of love to the poor drunkard’s
soul; The love of my Jesus will snap all his fetters, The Blood of my Saviour makes perfectly whole.”
270
E.g., No.27: “Come, come to His feet and lay open your story of suffering and sorrow, of guilt and
of shame.” No.30: “Come, sinner, wash your guilty soul in your Redeemer’s Blood.”

87
sinners. Only in the hymns for young people (nos.803-847) is the word blood

completely omitted, as is the case with Sacred Songs.

Fourth in prominence is Justification. Under this heading, I have included all

references to being justified, having guilt removed, having righteousness or merit

imputed, and all references to pleading in association with the merit of the Blood.

These comprise 5% of the total (23x). The blood speaks on behalf of the believing

sinner, its cry, in the words of John Wesley, passing “through earth and skies” to

plead God for mercy upon the supplicant.271 In one hymn, mercy and justice are both

personified, Justice bearing a bloodstained sword. By the end of the hymn, it is clear

whose Blood this is.272 The singer can assure him- or herself that this blood “speaks

me justified.”273 The Blood was “spilt” for “guilt.”274

When not witnessing on the streets, the style of spirituality that the Salvationists

exhibited was even more extravagant. Holiness meetings were frequent and were

clearly very powerful experiences for many, foreshadowing in many ways the

meetings of the first Pentecostals. Once again, it was the Blood that appeared to take

theological pride of place. The following is an extract from The Salvationist:

Good times all day on Sunday. Saints jumping, dancing, crying, shouting, and
rolling on the ground. We disgusted some people…Then came the power. All
got down after Mr Ballington said a few words; then came the glory…A
young man who rushed out of his seat, fell at the penitent-form and cried for
mercy – which he soon obtained as soon as he ventured his all on the Blood –
being so overpowered with the glory, for we had it down and no mistake, got
up, and looking in my face with his hands on his breast, said, ‘I think I am
going to die, but the Blood cleanseth me.’…After this, over twenty more

271
No.496
272
No.270
273
No.159.
274
E.g. No. 561

88
 rushed forward, while those who had obtained the blissful peace stood round
singing, with faces of rapture and tears of joy, ‘I am sure, I am sure Jesus
saves, Jesus saves, and His Blood makes me whiter than snow.275

The religious context of high Victorian Britain, with its propensities towards

formalism and ritualism exacerbated by the Tractarian movement, partly explains the

outlandish revivalism of these meetings. Other factors may be the class of people

attending. These were mostly lower middle and working class people for whom

decorum and respectability never had been of such a high priority as it was for the

middle and upper classes. Thirdly, the influence of American revivalism, mediated via

Caughey and Palmer, ran deeply into the religious complexion of the Army’s

leadership. Booth himself defended sensationalism by reference to the thunder and

lightning of Sinai and the tabernacle regalia, concluding that: “The only religion God

cared about was one that continually moved the worshippers in the most sensational

manner conceivable.”276

Not everyone, however, subscribed to William Booth’s doctrine of entire

sanctification. Booth addressed the issue in a speech, concluding with the thought

simply that the experience is described in the Bible and has been experienced by

“thousands of saints.”277

275
Begbie, Booth Vol 1, 454-6.
276
Ervine, Booth Vol., 535, (italics original).
277
Booth’s ‘Holiness Address’ at the 1877 Conference, cited in Hattersley, Blood and Fire, 228.
Hattersley describes this compromise, unjustifiably, as self-contradictory “gibberish.” The Booths
themselves had dropped their Palmerite theology of sanctification in 1863 only to take it up again
under the influence of Robert and Hannah Pearsall Smith in 1873: Murdoch, “Evangelical Sources,”
242.

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Writing some time later, one soldier who did subscribe to Perfectionism was Col.

Brengle.278 He was a dedicated eradicationist and wrote a manual on how to receive

the blessing called, Heart Talks on Holiness. His exposition of 1John 1:7 focuses on

the spatial rather than the temporal: “John says, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son

cleanseth from all sin, not part or some sin, but 'all' sin’” 279

Classic holiness use of the redemption metaphor is also invoked, believers must

recognise themselves to be no longer their own but “…His, by the purchase of His

blood…”280 He makes clear that even the fully sanctified must go on depending on the

blood, saying “The Blood, the Blood, is all my plea.”281

In the Salvation Army then, the cleansing motif reaches a climax. In an extreme

movement, this motif is used to an extreme. This is not for the sake of drama, neither

is it about arousing devotional fervour. Rather, it is a defiant cry of victory over all

forms of sin and evil, whether addictions, deprivations, religiosity or worldliness. All

of these are rendered powerless by the eradication of inbred sin. The agents of this

eradication are Blood and Fire: the touch of the atonement upon all who believe and

the life of the Spirit within all who believe.

278
Brengle was “…the most influential Army holiness writer of the early twentieth century.” Randall,
“Old Time Power,” 66.
279
Brengle, S.L., Heart Talks on Holiness, (London: the Salvatinist Publishing & Supplies, 1925), 4.
280
Brengle, Heart Talks, 32.
281
Brengle, Heart Talks, 31.

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3.2. The Keswick Conventions.

The Keswick Convention came into being as a result of the visits of Robert and

Hannah Pearsall Smith from America in September 1874 to a conference at Oxford.

This conference was entitled “The Oxford Convention for the Promotion of Scriptural

Holiness.”282 Similar meetings had been held in London in May 1873, at which Evan

Hopkins had become convinced of the holiness message, as well as at Chamonix in

the French Alps later in the Summer of that year, at which Hopkins and Pearsall

Smith were present, and at Hampton-on-Thames on New Year’s day 1874. At

Mildmay on January 20-21 of 1874, a further conference had been held “for the

promotion of the spiritual life.”283 It was reported in Pearsall Smith’s magazine, The

Christian’s Pathway of Power284 that many at the Mildmay conference were impacted

by the realisation that there was now presented to them the possibility of “practical

victory over all known sin, and of maintained communion with their Lord.”285 In June

1874 meetings were held in the home of Sir Thomas Beauchamp in Norfolk, out of

which was borne the desire for “a more public effort.”286

Before this was followed up in the form of the Oxford Convention in the autumn,

there was still another significant conference in July of 1874 at Broadlands Park near

the New Forest in Hampshire. The aims of this event were, like at Mildmay, to

282
The term ‘convention’ as opposed to ‘conference’ appears to have come into vogue because of
Pearsall Smith’s usage of the term. In essence, a convention was held to have an object, while a
conference gathered around a mere subject: Pollock, J., The Keswick Story: The Authorized History of
the Keswick Convention, (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1964), 50.
283
Sloan, W., These Sixty Years: The Story of the Keswick Convention, (London: Pickering & Inglis,
1935),9-10. Sloan was an eye witness of the early Keswick Conventions and was commissioned with
writing the first ever complete history of the movement to mark its 60th anniversary.
284
This later became the Life of Faith which began to be edited by Evan Hopkins in 1879: Pollock,
Keswick Story, 54.
285
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 10.
286
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 11.

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promote a “maintained communion with the Lord and victory over all known sin.”287

This attracted about 60 people288 and was held in the manner of a camp meeting – a

suggestion Pearsall Smith had made amongst some Cambridge students in the May of

that year.289 This event was also reported in the Pathway of Power:

A new range of the possibilities of faith opened up to them, with the

confidence that they should henceforth not merely admire ‘the way of
holiness,’ but by faith ‘walk therein.’290

At this conference sufficient finance was raised for the Oxford Convention, held in

the August and September of that year, and led by Robert Pearsall Smith. His wife

also played a significant role in the meetings, the couple having been resident in the

UK for the previous year. Canon Harford-Battersby, the vicar of St John’s, Keswick,

and the organiser of the first Keswick conventions, came into an experience of the

“all-sufficiency of Christ”291 at the Oxford Convention. About a thousand people were

present,292 some, such as Otto Stockmeyer and Theodore Monod having travelled

from Continental Europe.

In the May and June of 1875, the Brighton Convention was held, which drew

delegates from all over the world amounting to an estimated 7,000 people.293 Again,

Pearsall-Smith presided. Speakers included H.W. Webb-Peploe and Evan Hopkins,

287
Barabas, S., So Great Salvation: The History and Message of the Keswick Convention, (London:
Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1952), 20.
288
Pollock puts the figure at a “hundred or so men and women.” Pollock, Keswick Story, 20.
289
Pollock, Keswick Story, 19.
290
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 12-13.
291
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 17.
292
Webb-Peploe. H.W., “Early Keswick Conventions” in Harford, C., (ed), The Keswick Convention:
Its Message, Its Method and Its Men, (London: Marshall Brothers, 1907), 37.
293
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 18. Webb-Peploe puts the figure at 8,000: Webb-Peploe, “Early Keswick,”
41.

92
while D.L. Moody finished his evangelistic tour at the London Opera House by

offering prayer for the event.

On the 29 June of that year the first Keswick Convention for the Promotion of

Practical Holiness began. The Pearsall Smiths were not present. A number of other

speakers also had to cancel, necessitating the invitation of Webb-Peploe and others to

speak instead. The numbers for the first Keswick Conventions were modest. The total

seating capacity of the tent used for the first two years was only 600.294 Most of those

attending the first Conventions were “middle-aged or elderly”295 and these attended

with the feeling that they were losing their reputations in doing so.296 A deeply held

suspicion of ‘enthusiasm’ was still a powerful inhibiting factor in the Church of

England. The influence of even of this first Keswick Convention, however, was

considerable. As early as August 1875, a convention modelled on Keswick was held

in Melbourne, Australia. Many others followed throughout the English speaking

world, perhaps most notably at Wellington, South Africa from 1889 under Andrew

Murray and at Llandrindod Wells from 1903 under Jessie Penn-Lewis. By 1879, the

seating capacity was about a thousand.297 By 1885, the Keswick Convention was

attracting crowds of 1,500. By 1907, there were 6,000 in attendance. During the

1920s, numbers averaged at around the 5,000 mark, a very large proportion of whom

were now under 30 years of age.298 Young people had begun flocking to Keswick

294
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 22. Pollock prefers a seating capacity of “nearly a thousand,” Pollock,
Keswick Story, 11.
295
Pollock, Keswick Story, 45.
296
Pollock, Keswick Story, 49. The first conventions attracted widespread suspicion of wrong doctrine,
allegations of Christian Perfection being the most common.
297
Based on the eye-witness account of Australian Keswick speaker H. B. Macartney: Pollock,
Keswick Story, 51.
298
Randall, I., Evangelical Experiences: A Study in the Spirituality of English Evangelicalism 1918-
1939, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999), 14, 16.

93
from the 1880s onwards leading eventually to the formation of the Inter-Varsity

Fellowship by Norman Grubb in 1919.

Bebbington holds that the Keswick doctrine of sanctification held normative power

amongst conservative Evangelicals until the 1950s and 60s.299 The expectation of a

crisis experience in Keswick thought, however, faded quite rapidly. By no means least

among the chorus of voices pressuring Keswick to drop this element in its teaching by

the turn of the 20th Century was the Bishop of Liverpool, J.C.Ryle:

That there is a vast difference between one degree of grace and another…all
this I fully concede. But the theory of a sudden, mysterious transition of a
believer into a state of blessedness and entire consecration, at one mighty
bound, I cannot receive.300

Even by the time of the first Keswick Conventions many aspects of the Wesleyan

message, especially its doctrine of Perfection had fallen on bad times in Britain,

although it remained strong among the working classes. 301 Christian Perfection had

not acquired the same critical mass of adherents in Britain as it had in America.

Further, the middle classes who attended the Keswick Conventions were particularly

keen to distance themselves from fanatical Perfectionist teaching.302 Yet it is clear

that American Methodism Perfectionism re-interpreted by the Pearsall Smiths and by

299
Bebbington, D., “Holiness in the Evangelical Tradition” in Barton, S. (ed), Holiness Past and
Present, (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2003), 309.
300
Ryle, J.C., Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, (London: Cas.J.Thynne, 1900),
xxiv. Ryle was one of few Anglicans who remained “self-conscious Calvinists” at the end of the 19th
century: Bebbington, “Holiness,” 302. Alexander Whyte was also opposed to any suddenness in
sanctification: “The new heart of a saint of God was never attained at a bound.” Cited in Gordon,
Evangelical Spirituality, 246. Scottish Calvinist Horatius Bonar, whose hymns were often sung at
Keswick, came out against Keswick teaching almost immediately: Pollock, Keswick Story, 47.
301
Bebbington, Holiness in Nineteenth Century Britain, 71.
302
See especially Elder Cumming, J., “What We Teach”, in Stevenson, H.F.(ed), Keswick’s
Triumphant Voice, (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1963), 19-20. Having said this, Keswick was
never dogmatic about its theologies and Bebbington sees Keswick as a synthesis of the Calvinistic and
Wesleyan approaches: Bebbington, Holiness, 73.

94
William Boardman, played their part in the formation of early Keswick expectations

of a second blessing. Their slogan was “Holiness by faith in Jesus, Not by effort of

my own.”303 It was a holiness performed by the risen Christ Himself within the human

heart in response to the believer’s full surrender and identification with Christ in death

and resurrection.304 The expectation of an identifiable divine response was the logical

corollary of the act of perfect surrender to Him. Something dramatic must surely

result, and, just as for the Wesleyans, the stain-removing blood of Jesus was the

medium in which this immersion into God became possible.

Keswick represented the height of the transatlantic phase of the holiness movement,

influenced initially by American speakers, then developing distinctives of its own,

which in turn fed back into the American holiness movement. This led to a steady

abandonment of the Wesleyan doctrine of Perfection in America, except amongst the

black Holiness groups.

It is to the American origins of Keswick spirituality that we now turn.

303
Aldis, W.H., The Message of Keswick and its Meaning, (London:Marshall, Morgan & Scott, nd), 39.
304
Most Keswick speakers spoke at considerable length about Christ being the one with whom
believers are crucified, rendering them dead to sin, as well as the more traditional message of Christ
crucified for us. The doctrine of co-crucifixion was also a very popular teaching in Confidence,e.g.
Boddy, A., “Divine Necrosis: Or the Deadness of the Lord Jesus”, in Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 3-7.
Pastor Polman saw 3 steps to Pentecost: “ (1) Justification through the Blood, (2) Sanctification by
union with Him in Death and Burial, and (3) the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with this helpful sign as a
divine encouragement.” Polman, G., “The Pentecostal Conference in Germany”, Confidencee 2:2 (Feb
09), 33.

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3.2.1. Early Days: William E. Boardman & The Smiths.

The Presbyterian minister William E. Boardman wrote his book, The Higher

Christian Life,305 first published in Britain in 1860, as a fresh attempt at making an

essentially Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification intelligible to those who were, like

himself, outside the Methodist tradition.306 His book proved to be especially

influential in England.307

At first sight, Boardman appears to close up the gulf opened up by Luther between an

extrinsic justification and an inward sanctification, something very uncharacteristic of

holiness teachers:

Whether the question relates to justification or sanctification the answer is the

same. The way to freedom from sin is the very same, as the way of freedom
from condemnation.308

This ability of Boardman’s to see more in Christ’s blood than mere cleansing,

provoked Warfield to question whether there might have been more to Boardman than

met the eye.309 Warfield spotted, however, the familiar lines of demarcation in

Boardman, noting how he describes being “reckoned” righteous and being “made”

righteous as separable in essence and in Christian experience.310 Elsewhere,

305
Boardman, W., The Higher Christian Life, (Boston: Henry Hoyt, 1859).
306
So Synan, Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 18.
307
Pollock reckons its influence extended to “tens of thousands on both sides of the Atlantic.” Pollock,
Keswick Story, 13.
308
Boardman, Higher Life, 94.
309
“Whether he himself understood more to be included in the cleansing wrought by Christ’s blood
may require further investigation.” Warfield, B.B., Perfectionism, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian &
Reformed,1858), 230.
310
Warfield, Perfectionism, 231.

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Boardman overtly says: “Forgiveness did not satisfy me, I wanted the dominion of sin

destroyed. Purification, not less than pardon, I saw to be required.”311

The conviction that mere salvation, mere justification, mere forgiveness was not

enough and that there had to be more to the Christian life than persistent defeat was

pivotal throughout the holiness movements. The dissatisfaction was widespread, as

the wording of the invitation to the Oxford Convention indicates: “In every part of the

country, the God of all grace has given many of His children a feeling of deep

dissatisfaction with their spiritual state.”312

This underlying dissatisfaction continued in different forms into the age of

Pentecostalism. Protestant Christianity was seen to be deficient. It could be argued

that part of that deficiency was precisely the gulf opened up from the Lutheran

Reformation onwards between a justification that must not sanctify and a

sanctification that must not be complete or final. Following the Reformation,

sanctification then fell increasingly under the spell of the gradualism that was part and

parcel of Enlightenment thought, thus helping to fuel the impatience of holiness

advocates as they sought a real and lasting victory over sin, not a protracted struggle.

The holiness movement left justification where it was, utterly distinct from

sanctification, but brought sanctification forward into the matrix of Christian initiation

so that it could, like justification and regeneration, be understood as complete and

final. Boardman, for instance, had an attractive pragmatism about his belief in a

311
Boardman, Higher Life, 140.
312
Cited in Pollock, Keswick Story, 22.

97
“present Saviour” who “does actually deliver the trusting soul from the cruel bondage

of its chains under sin, now in this present time.”313

Hannah Whittall Smith and her husband Robert Pearsall Smith were significant

during the very earliest days of Keswick before the scandal involving Robert Pearsall

Smith abruptly ended the English ministry of the couple.314 Both Robert and Hannah

were from a Quaker background. Robert testified to having been “a ‘religious man’

for ten long and toilsome years,” before discovering from the Bible in a railway

carriage what the blood of Christ had done for him.315 Hannah had gone through a

period of religious doubt earlier in her life that caused her to question, in particular,

the doctrine of the atonement.316 By the time of her extremely popular and highly

influential book, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, published in 1888,317 this

low view of the atonement had clearly been corrected. Most of her first chapter is

devoted to proving that the purpose of the cross was to set people free not just from

the guilt of sin but also from its power. This she does very convincingly: “Is He called

a Redeemer? So, then, I do expect the benefit of my redemption, and that I shall go

out of my captivity.”318

The entire book has the feel of an apologetic. It is clear of anything that might alienate

or cause offence to an outsider, including any mention of the blood of Jesus. On page

313
Boardman, Higher Life, 266.
314
The reasons for this were made known for the first time in Pollock’s Keswick Story, 35.
315
Pearsall Smith, R., Account of the Union Meeting, in Warfield, Perfectionism, 253.
316
Dieter, Holiness Revival, 132.
317
Smith, Mrs P., The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, (London: Nisbet & Co., 1888, 1941). By
1941, it had sold 100,000 copies according to the publisher. The American publisher, Fleming H.
Revel, claim 2 Million for their “authorized edition” : Smith, Hannah Whitall, The Christian’s Secret of
a Happy Life, (Westwood: Fleming H. Revel, 1952).
318
Smith, Christian’s Secret (1888, 1941), 23.

98
146, she can even speak of cleansing without mentioning it.319 The relative absence of

references to the blood of Jesus in this book, as well as in many other holiness

guidebooks, when compared to the hymnbooks of the holiness movement might also

be explained by the demands of prose over poetry. Prose does not require the

terseness of poetry. Instead it demands a fuller explication of the significance of

Christ’s atonement with less of a need for such symbol-laden brevities as ‘blood.’

Warfield critiqued the Smiths using the same criteria as for Boardman:

The hinge on which the whole system of Mr and Mrs Pearsall Smith’s Higher
Life teaching turns is the separation of sanctification from justification as a
distinct attainment in Christ.320

3.2.2. The Theologians of Keswick: Evan Hopkins, H.W. Webb-Peploe, Handley

Moule & F.B.Meyer

Evan Hopkins, one-time curate of the Portman Chapel in London where Lord

Shaftesbury worshipped, entered into an experience of the all-sufficiency of an

indwelling Christ during the same year as many other of the leaders of Keswick:

1873. He brought a scientific mind to Keswick theology and soon became the

acknowledged leader of the movement. His wife edited the second edition of the

Hymns of Consecration and Faith, first appearing in 1891, while he himself was a

regular speaker and writer for the movement, and remained its Chairman until 1916.

319
Smith, Mrs P., The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, (London: Nisbet & Co., 1888, 1941), 146.
320
Warfield, Perfectionism, 264.

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Of a similarly apologetic tone and purpose to Smith’s The Christian’s Secret is his

Henceforth. Like The Christian’s Secret, it is an excellent read. It is filled with

interesting exegetical details, quotations, real-life stories and personal anecdotes, all

vividly retold. It is written in a warm humane style. It is a guidebook for the new

Christian, teaching him or her how to progress in the Christian life. Its dominant

theme is the cross, in particular the subject of 2 Corinthians 5: 15, that Jesus died for

all so that believers should ‘henceforth’ live for Him and no longer for themselves.

Like Hannah Whittall Smith, the concern of Hopkins is that, “in Christ Jesus He has

provided freedom from sin – from its guilt; but also from its power.”321 Amongst his

stories are two highly crucicentric conversions: that of Bishop Handley Moule322 and

that of C.T. Studd.323 As with many of the Keswick teachers, there is a favourable

reference to Zinzendorf and the Moravians.324 It is not until page 41, (of an 89 page

book) that Hopkins introduces the blood of Jesus. This he does in connection with

redemption in a passage that captures something of the whole burden of the book, and

of Keswick itself, that the condition to receiving holiness by faith was unconditional

surrender325 to “the One who shed His blood to redeem us.”326 In this work, he

321
Hopkins, E., Henceforth, (London: IVF, 1942), 36.
322
Hopkins, Henceforth, 13-14: “That dark time ended in a full and conscious acceptance of our
crucified Redeemer in His complete atonement as peace and life.”
323
Hopkins, Henceforth, 23:”I had known about Jesus dying for me, but I had never understood that if
He had died for me, then I didn’t belong to myself. Redemption means buying back, so that if I belong
to Him, either I had to be a thief and keep what wasn’t mine, or else I had to give up everything to God.
When I came to see that Jesus Christ had died for me, it didn’t seem hard to give up all for Him.”
324
“We need something of the spirit of Count Zinzendorf and his Moravian missionaries, who used to
sing: ‘What shall I do for Thee, my Lord? / As long as I have breath / Deep in my heart will I record /
The memory of Thy death.’”
Hopkins, Henceforth, 83. cf. Meyer, F.B., Five ‘Musts’ of the Christian Life, (London: Marshall,
Morgan & Scott, 1932), 47: “It was said of Count Zinzendorf, the friend of the Moravians, that he had
one passion, and one passion only – ‘the love of Christ’!”
325
Hopkins saw surrender as working together with faith as the two ‘feet’ upon which the victorious
Christian must walk: Pollock, Keswick Story, 55.
326
Hopkins, E., Henceforth, (London: IVF, 1954), 41

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connects the blood with redemption twice,327 with cleansing twice,328 with sacrifice

once329 and with forgiveness once.330

His The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life, a significant influence upon Handley

Moule, includes a novel exposition of the red heifer regulations of Numbers 19,

saying that because the ashes of the heifer contained the blood, albeit in burned form,

those ashes contained the “indestructible residue of the victim.”331 For this reason,

when mixed with the water and sprinkled on the unclean Israelite, the ashes could

have an ongoing cleansing power, without the need for further sacrificial victims

being offered. The water itself, however, is symbolic of the Word:

As the water carried the ashes, the ashes that contained the blood, and brought
the unclean person in contact with the blood, so now, it is the word that brings
us to the blood of Christ.332

He goes on to make mention of one of the favourite Scriptures of the hymn-writers

when speaking about the blood, the inspiration behind There is a Fountain, Zechariah

13:1: “There is but one Fountain for sin and for uncleanness – the Cross of Christ.”333

Hopkins also offers further insight on 1 John 1:7. Taking cleansing to mean separation

from defilement, he posits:

327
Hopkins, Henceforth, 41 & 82.
328
Hopkins, Henceforth, 55 & 56, both in the context of prayer.
329
“…we must show our repentance by confessing the sin which has been holding us back, and then
claim cleansing and forgiveness through the shed blood of our great Sacrifice.” Hopkins, Henceforth,
56.
330
“Such is the Bible teaching of the forgiveness that God’s children find in the heart of their loving
Father, and on the ground of the blood that Christ shed on the cross.” Hopkins, Henceforth, 61.
331
Hopkins, E., The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life, (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott), 15.
332
Hopkins, Law of Liberty, 15.
333
Hopkins, Law of Liberty, 15.

101
 …the ‘blood of Christ cleanseth,’ – i.e. the death of Christ separates – ‘from
every sin.’ The more thoroughly we are brought into oneness with that death,
the more fully shall we know what it is to be ‘cleansed from all
unrighteousness….Taking the ‘blood of Christ’, as equivalent to His death,
and the effect of the death to be separation, we can understand how it is that
the Blood is continually cleansing us from every sin.334

The one-time athletic Cambridge don, the Rev Hanmer William Webb-Peploe, who

spoke at the very first main meeting at Keswick, adds his voice to the insistence that

pardon and justification are not enough:

It suffices not that we be cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb…we still
need something more than this…if the Lord Jehovah be indeed my
Righteousness, then He communicates to me that second great attribute,
namely, Holiness…335

His experience, in common with many others, had been one of dissatisfaction and

failure. His existence had been one of “constant watching, waiting and struggling to

do right…I had no joy for every moment, no rest in the midst of trouble, no calm

amid the burdens of this life; I was strained and overstrained until I felt I was breaking

down.”336 Finally, in the wake of the Oxford Convention in 1874, he was transformed

by the word “is” in the biblical verse, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2Cor.12:9).337

His understanding of 1 John 1:7 is of a continuous, divinely reckoned, cleansing:

…the provision that Christ Jesus made for sinners and for sin, keeps the man –
if my doctrine be right – moment by moment cleansed from his guilt…the

334
Hopkins, Law of Liberty, 78 & 81.
335
Webb-Peploe, H.W., The Titles of Jehovah, (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1901), 167-8.
336
Quoted in Pollock, Keswick Story, 41.
337
Pollock, Keswick Story, 42.

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 man finds, by the grace of God, that he is kept cleansed, instant by instant,
through the operation of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in God’s sight.338

The phrase, “in God’s sight” is important as it signals the first stage in the passing of

the blood from the realm of sanctification back into the realm of justification whence

it came.

Bishop Handley Moule was brought into Keswick thinking largely through the

influence of Hopkins.339 Whereas Hopkins was the theological figurehead of the

movement through the 1870s, guiding it through its time of opposition, Handley

Moule was its theological mentor through the 1880s, protecting it from the rising tide

of extreme Salvation Army style holiness teachings. This protective role was

especially important at Cambridge University where many of his students were

vulnerable to extreme holiness teachings. The pinnacle of his influence upon Keswick

was his 1885 book Thoughts on Christian Sanctity. In this book he carefully weaves

together the objective with the subjective dimensions so as to ensure the objective is

never finally abandoned: “Christ our righteousness upon Calvary, received by faith, is

also Christ our holiness, in the heart that submits to Him and relies upon Him.”340

Moule shares Hopkins’s thinking about redemption:

As those who are not their own, but bought, and who accordingly, in the
strictest sense, belong to Him all through, our aim is, it must be, across any
amount of counterthoughts, ‘never to grieve Him, never to stray.’341

338
Webb-Peploe, H.W., “Sin” in H. Stevenson (ed), Keswick’s Authentic Voice, (London: Marshall,
Morgan & Scott, 1959), 34 (sermon by Webb-Peploe delivered at the 1885 Convention.
339
Smellie, A., Evan Henry Hopkins, A Memoir, (London: Marshall Brothers, 1920), 9-15, “Some
Recollections” is written by Moule.
340
Moule, H., Thoughts on Christian Sanctity, (London: Seely & Co., 1888),
341
Moule, Christian Sanctity, 14. Cf. “’Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God; ‘Ye were
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.’” Ibid., 98. “Add to the precious views of my intense

103
Moule remained cautious of ever straying into the territory of Christian Perfection, or

any doctrine of sanctification that undermined the finished work of Christ:

The soul is directed for its repose and its life far from the subjective
bewilderments of thought to things objective altogether, because altogether
His, not ours; to the blood of His Cross.342

In line with his emphasis on the once-for-all sufficiency of the atonement, he is one of

very few Holiness preachers to make much of the link between the idea of ‘covenant’

and ‘blood’:

…will you adjure them, to come ‘into the bond of the covenant,’ holding up
before them the marvel of the work wrought and the price paid to make it
valid, preaching it as ‘the New Covenant in the Lord’s blood, shed for the
remission of sins’?343

In a novel turn of phrase, he points out that, “The ‘innumerable benefits’ are all

grouped within the blood-besprinkled precinct of the Passion.”344 Like the other

Keswick teachers, he also pays tribute to the Moravians.345

The theologian who entered Keswick circles by degrees but became the dominant

theological voice during the 1890s was Frederick Brotherton Meyer. Meyer, president

connexion with Him, as His property, His implement, His vassal, the fact that I am His friend…”
ibid.77 Speaking for Christ: “…you are my property, bought with a price and branded with my
stigma.” Ibid.75.
342
Moule, H., The Secret of His Presence, (London: Seely & Co., 1901), 25. Cf. “…there is guaranteed
to faith the blissful acceptance of the guilty by reason of the once-offered Blood.” Moule, H., The
Secret of the Presence, (London: Seely & Co., 1901), 190. “It is all the Cross; it is only and altogether
the precious Death and Burial.” Moule, Secret, 137. Pollock reckons that it was the sustained
objectivity of Keswick that preserved it from the shipwreck experienced by more subjectively
orientated holiness groups: Pollock, Keswick Story, 50.
343
Moule, Secret, 190.
344
Moule, Secret, 239.
345
“’From error and misunderstanding,’ so runs the Litany of the Moravians, ‘from the loss of our
glory in Thee, from coldness to Thy merits and Thy death, preserve us, gracious Lord and God.’”
Moule, Secret, 243.

104
of the Free Church Federal Council and of the Baptist Union346 was one of a growing

number of nonconformists attending the Convention during the 1890s, gradually de-

Anglicanising the movement.

His contribution is in his flashes of originality as he meditates upon the significance

of the blood.347 In one place he pictures the disc-like red blood corpuscles that flowed

in Jesus’ veins as the coinage with which Jesus bought mankind. Superimposing the

age of the microscope onto the world of the New Testament, he expounds 1Peter 1:18

and 2Peter 2:1 thus:

He [Peter] speaks emphatically of our redemption…In his thought each disc in

the blood of Jesus was a coin of priceless value, purchasing us to be His
slaves…He came there [to the slave market] with blood as His purchase-
money, and bought us to make us bond-slaves to Himself.348

An equally novel metaphor occurs in his The Life and Light of Men. Speaking of a

new pollution-reducing invention349 involving chimney smoke passing through water

so as to absorb the carbon and other toxins, he says:

One may dare to imagine how glad the smoke itself must be to be freed from
that which made it harmful to men, to pursue its glad way now into the upper
air. And here surely is an illustration of how sinful souls, laden with crime and
the deleterious products of evil, may be made free by the Son of God, ‘loosed
from their sins’ (as the R.V. puts it, in Rev.i.5), in his blood.350

346
Pollock, Keswick Story, 102. The definitive account of his life is Randall, I. M., Spirituality and
Social Change: The Contribution of F. B. Meyer (1847-1929), (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003).
347
Meyer was reluctant to offer any particular theory of the atonement, however, and later in life would
go on to repudiate any emphasis on the wrath of God, preferring to see the atonement as originating in
the love of God, a love that does not require any prior assuaging of wrath before it can be expressed:
Randall, Spirituality and Social Change, 36-37.
348
Meyer, F.B., From Calvary to Pentecost, (London: Marshall Brothers, nd), 13.
349
Randall notes Meyer’s consistent interest in and openness towards scientific innovation: Randall,
Spirituality and Social Change, 55.
350
Meyer, F.B., The Life and Light of Men, (London: Morgan and Scott, nd), 173.

105
At one point, he uses uncannily Zinzendorfian language:“…the Bride of Christ, built

up as Eve of old from her Bridegroom’s wounded side, shall be brought to Him to

share his authority and glory.”351Meyer shares the belief of Boardman that the blood

only works when one becomes conscious of a sin: “That blood never loses its virtue;

and whenever, in our walk in the light, we are sensible of the least soil of evil, we

may wash and be clean.”352

His was very much the two-stage Christian initiation, sharply distinguishing

sanctification from justification. In language reminiscent of the Salvation Army, he

asserts:

Not the blood without the fire, not the fire apart from the blood. Not the Christ
of Calvary only, but the Christ of the throne. Not pardon alone, but
deliverance and salvation.353

Here again, the role of the blood is seen as belonging to some prior preparatory

moment in Christian initiation – conversion, justification. Its role in the experience of

sanctification is no longer as defining as it was for the Wesleyans. Yet there is as yet

no apparent diminution of emphasis on the blood of Jesus, as will be seen from the

following.

351
Meyer, Light, 85.
352
Meyer, Calvary to Pentecost, 17-18. Cf. Boardman:“Sin cannot be abandoned until it is known. The
instant we know it, we lay it on Christ, and the blood cleanseth.” Boardman, W., Account of the Union
Meeting for the Promotion of Scriptural Holiness, Held at Oxford, August 29 to September 7, 1874,
120-121, cited in Warfield, Perfectionism, 239.
353
Meyer, Light, 47-48.

106
3.4.3. The Hymns of Keswick.

Hymns of Consecration and Faith,354 alongside the magazine, The Life of Faith, was

the propagating organ of Keswick spirituality around the world. The Hymns are, of

course, a compilation of hymns originating both from within and from outside the

movement, but the inclusion of a particular range of hymns does reveal something

about the spiritual priorities of Keswick-goers.

The subject of the atonement is very prominent throughout the Hymns. Almost every

hymn revels in some aspect of the cross and drains it dry of every drop of blessing it

might yield for the holiness and consecration cause. Worshippers are “Clinging,

clinging, clinging to the Cross,”355 harking back to the Moravians, they shelter in the

“wounded side” of Jesus,356 and, they take their stand “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.”357

It is a “wounded hand” that knocks on the door of their hearts358 as they sing “Glory

to the bleeding Lamb!”359 They long to reach out to the straying lambs “for whom the

Shepherd bled,”360 and sing for the lost who “die in darkness” as they themselves

have “the life which has been purchased with the Saviour’s precious blood,”361 and

must share it with the heathen so that they too might know the “balm that’s found at

Calvary.”362 The white harvest fields themselves have already been purchased by “the

354
I am here using Hopkins, E., (ed) Hymns of Consecration and Faith, (London: Marshall, Morgan &
Scott, nd). This is the second, enlarged edition, arranged by Mrs Evan Hopkins. The original version
edited by Robert Pearsall Smith and worship leader James Mountain came out of circulation in 1890.
355
No.84.
356
No.33.
357
No.100.
358
No.159.
359
No.216.
360
No.333.
361
No.428.
362
No.449.

107
precious blood” of God’s beloved Son.363 They begin to see a relationship between

the Holy Spirit and the cross when they sing: “By Thy Holy Spirit’s teaching,

Calvary’s healing stream we know,”364 and, “His Spirit and His blood make my

cleansing complete.”365 They ask the Holy Spirit to “Convince us of our sin, then lead

to Jesu’s blood.”366 They thus learn to “bathe in the crimson tide.”367 It is then that, in

language clearly at home in the Romantic era, the worshippers can appreciate the love

of Jesus:

There for me the Saviour stands,

Shows His wounds, and spreads His hands;
God is love I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps, and loves me still.368

Altogether, the word ‘blood’ in connection with Jesus is mentioned 178 times in a

hymnbook of 604 hymns. This means that, apart from the almost constantly recurring

motifs of the cross, Calvary, the wounds, the bleeding and the death of Christ, an

average of one in every three hymns refers to the noun ‘blood’ in connection with the

death of Christ.

51% (90 in total) of these references refer directly to the ‘cleansing’ and ‘washing’

efficacy of the blood. Borrowing a hymn from the Salvation Army, the worshippers

“plunge beneath the precious blood,”369 they rejoice that “the cleansing blood hath

reach’d me!”370

Trusting, trusting every moment;

Feeling now the blood applied;

363
No.451.
364
No.411.
365
No.204.
366
No.170.
367
No.534.
368
No.603.
369
No.462.
370
No.201.

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 Lying in the cleansing fountain,
Dwelling in my Saviour’s side.371

Rhyming euphemisms are frequently used: “I am trusting Thee for cleansing in the

crimson flood…”372 Hymn number 199 is of note in this regard. The first two verses

of this hymn are entirely about the cleansing power of the blood yet the word ‘blood’

never appears anywhere in the hymn. It speaks instead of “the fountain open’d

wide…From the Saviour’s wounded side…an endless crimson tide,” and invites the

worshipper to “See the cleansing current flow, washing stains of condemnation whiter

than the driven snow.”373 Such subtleties set this apart as a peculiarly English kind of

blood mysticism, in contrast to the vulgarities of the first Moravian hymnal that

aroused so much disgust with the English.

Of the 34 references to ‘αιµα in direct connection with Christ in the New Testament,

only 6 of these (5 if Rev.1:5 is excluded) refer to cleansing (these are: Heb.9:14;

12:24; 1Pet.1:2; 1John 1:7; Rev.1:5; 7:14), which is 18% of the total. The New

Testament writers are more even handed in their use of the blood metaphor than most

hymn writers. There is no single theme that rises to such dominance as the cleansing

theme does in the Hymns. In the New Testament, the theme of covenant is the

commonest,374 followed by cleansing. The idea of covenant with respect to the blood

is neglected by holiness adherents probably for the same reasons that they only rarely

describe themselves as justified by the blood. Such ideas would certainly have been

important to Christians during the Reformation who were seeking assurance of

371
ibid.
372
No.138.
373
No.199.
374
occurs seven times (constituting 21% of the total): Matt.26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20;
1Cor.11:25; 27; Heb.10:29; 13:20. This, of course, is due to all the Synoptic parallels and Paul’s
citation of Jesus in 1Cor.11:25. Nevertheless, the importance of this theme to New Testament theology
is picked up on by Behm, “‘αιµα,” 174-5

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salvation in the face of Roman Catholic religiosity. But Keswick-goers were not

seeking assurance. To the contrary they wanted to aim higher. To be justified and in

an everlasting covenant is perhaps little consolation to someone hankering after

lasting victory over all known sin.

The second most common theme associated with the blood in the Hymns is the

redemption theme. By this I mean the use of the words ‘redeemed,’ ‘bought’ and

‘purchased’ in connection with the blood. These comprise 13% of all references (24 in

total). This theme, already laden with pastoral implications ripe for the picking in the

New Testament itself, is fully utilised in the Hymns to bring out the self-evident

necessity of utter dedication to the Master who bought the believer at such cost.

Redemption, as already noted, is also applied to the mission field. The lost are, by

rights, already the blood-bought property of the Redeemer. Evangelism merely claims

what is rightfully His. In the New Testament, redemption is the third commonest

theme to be associated with the blood, comprising 15% of the total.375

Next in order of prominence in the Hymns are love (12x), justification (9x including

two references to pleading the blood), atonement (9x), salvation (6x), healing (4x),

access (4x), praise/veneration (4x),376 sanctification (3x), victory (2x), and peace (2x).

The blood is linked once to power, once to “hope and comfort,”377 it is once said to be

simply “applied,”378 it is once the means of ‘sealing’ the worshipper’s friendship with

375
Occurring five times: Acts 20:28; Eph.1: 7; Col.1:14; 1Pet.1:19; Rev.5:9
376
E.g. Hymn No. 390: “Louder still and louder praise the precious blood.” Of interest also is Hymn
No.513 by Horatius Bonar: “I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood; I see the mighty sacrifice,
and I have peace with God.”
377
Hymn No.247: “Thy precious blood must be my only hope and comfort, my glory and my plea.”
378
Hymn no.271: “In the promises I trust; Now I feel the blood applied; I am prostrate in the dust; I
with Christ am crucified.”

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God,379 and once related to the giving of the Holy Spirit.380 Of these themes,

justification, atonement, access, sanctification, victory and peace pass as New

Testament uses of the blood metaphor while the remaining uses are certainly implied

in the New Testament but are never directly associated with the blood.381

Despite the allegedly non-Wesleyan nature of the Keswick view of holiness, the uses

to which the blood is put are similar to Wesley’s Plain Account. 54% of Wesley’s

references to the blood in the Plain Account are about cleansing. Second to this, 27%

are about redemption. Keswick shares these two priorities, with cleansing at 51% and

redemption at 13%.

3.2.3. The Expansion of Keswick Influence: Andrew Murray, D.L. Moody &

R.A. Torrey.

“No other speaker, in the long history of the Convention, made so deep an impression

and left so profound an impact upon Keswick in one visit.”382 Such was the acclaim

379
Hymn No.513: “This blood-sealed friendship changes not, the cross is ever nigh.”
380
Hymn No.177: “The altar sanctifies the gift; the blood insures the boon divine: My outstretched
hands to heaven I lift, and claim the Father’s promise mine.”
381
The New Testament themes altogether are: covenant (7x), cleansing (including ‘sprinkling’, 6x),
redemption (5x), the suffering and humanity of Christ (5x), life (4x, all in John 6:53-56), access (2x,
Eph.2:13; Heb.10:19), propitiation/atonement (1x, Rom.3:25), justification (1x, Rom.5:9),
communion/fellowship (1x, 1Cor.10:16), reconciliation/peace (1x, Col.1:20), and victory (1x,
Rev.12:11). Here I am including Luke 22:44, John 19:34 and the three occurrences in 1John 5:6-8. The
‘water and blood’ both of John’s passion narrative and his first letter are seen by a fair consensus of
scholars as an anti-docetistic polemic, hence my reference to the humanity of Christ in these contexts.
See especially Carson, D. A., The Gospel According to John, (Leicester: IVP, 1991), 621, and Bruce,
F.F., The Epistles of John, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 118-121. The four most comprehensive
surveys of the blood of Jesus in the NT in English are Behm, op cit., Stibbs, A., The Meaning of the
Word ‘Blood’ in Scripture, (London: Tyndale, 1947), Morris, L., The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross
3rd Rev.Ed.,, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 112-128 (based on his “The Biblical Use of the Term
‘Blood’” Journal of Theological Studies 3 (1952), 216-27) and Laubach, F., “Blood” in New
International Dictionary of New Testament Theology Vol.1., (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1976, 1986), 220-
224.
382
Stevenson H.F.(ed), Keswick’s Triumphant Voice, (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1963), 81,
referring to Murray’s visit of 1895.

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that grew up around the South African born Andrew Murray (1828-1917). His name

first became known to Keswick-goers in 1882 with the publication of the English

edition of his book Abide in Christ. He also visited the conference that year as a

listener while he received treatment for a throat problem at a healing home run by

William Boardman in London. Boardman was by now resident in the UK and was

himself a regular Keswick-goer. On the Wednesday of Murray’s week at Keswick he

had a breakthrough: “I saw it all, Jesus cleansing, Jesus filling, Jesus keeping.”383

This, however, was one of many experiences, both before and after his contact with

Keswick that caused him to see holiness the same way that Keswick did.384

Murray was an eclectic reader, mostly of mystical sources, counting J.T.Beck, a

German theologian, Jan van Ruusbroec, a medieval mystic, William Law, selections

from whose works he edited, Madam Guyon and Count Zinzendorf among his

influences.385 Yet he remained a devout Calvinist minister of the Dutch Reformed

Church in South Africa. He had been brought up to pray for revival every Friday,386 a

prayer that he saw answered in his own ministry in 1859. Abide in Christ had been

written to help establish the converts of this revival. His ministry centred on a 50,000

square-mile parish in Blumfontain in which there lived some 7,000 Boer farmers.387

It was not until 1895 that Murray spoke at Keswick. When he did so, he

overshadowed the entire convention. 3,000 people were present at the opening night

383
This experience came as a result of hearing the song, “Oh. Wonderful cleansing, oh, wonderful
filling, oh, wonderful keeping,” (No.492 in the Hymns) and was published in Life of Faith. Sloan,
These Sixty Years, 26.
384
His most recent biographer goes as far as to say, “That which became known as ‘Keswick’ teaching,
had, in fact been part of Andrew’s inner experience and spiritual life-style throughout most of his life.”
Choy, L., Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love, (Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade,
1978), 224.
385
Choy, Murray, 217-218.
386
Choy, Murray, 27.
387
Choy, Murray, 27.

112
to hear him open with the prayer, “God in heaven, dwell on earth among us.”388 By

the Friday night, with his address entitled “That God may be all in all,” Sloan reported

that, in what can be assumed to be metaphorical language, “the heavens were opened

and we saw visions of God!”389

Murray insisted that before opening oneself to the Spirit in order to acquire holiness

by faith, the blood must be applied to cleanse the heart.390 Likewise, when the Spirit

comes, he points back to the blood and applies its benefits to the heart.391 So, the

blood brings the Spirit, and the Spirit brings the blood.392 Because of this union of

Blood and Spirit, both susceptible of the ‘liquid’ terminology of washing, flowing and

flooding, the Blood was understood by Murray to be alive, still fresh, still flowing,

still efficacious before the throne of God in heaven.393 Of all the Keswick speakers, it

is Murray that displays the strongest similarities to the blood mysticism of

Sunderland’s Confidence magazine.394

388
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 43.
389
Sloan, These Sixty Years, 43. By the time he left the tent to catch a train that would take him and
F.B. Meyer to a boat that would take them to D.L.Moody’s church in Northfeld, Connecticut, everyone
stood up and sang “God be with you till we meet again.” Pollock, Keswick Story, 109; Sloan, These
Sixty Years, 43. Pollock mentions the singing (gleaned from an eye-witness), while Sloan has “reverent
silence.”
390
“The sprinkling of the blood, which sanctifies man unto God and takes possession of him for God,
bestows at the same time the right of intimacy.” Murray, A., The Power of the Blood of Jesus,
(Springdale: Whitaker House, 1993), 93.
391
“Where the blood is honoured, preached, and believed in as the power of full redemption, there the
way is opened for the fullness of the Spirit’s blessing.” Murray, A., The Blood of the Cross,
(Springdale: Whitaker House, 1981), 16.
392
“We must once again notice the two sides of this truth: the blood exercises its full power through the
Spirit, and the Spirit manifests His full power through the blood.” Murray, The Blood, 16.
393
Dependence on the Hebrews imagery of the great High Priest sprinkling His own blood in the true
and eternal tabernacle of heaven was frequent: “It is as the Holy Spirit reveals this to the soul, the
heavenly power of the blood, as ministered by our Melchizedek, the minister of the heavenly sanctuary,
that we see what power that blood must have, as so sprinkled on us from heaven, in the power of the
Holy Spirit.” (italics original) Murray, A., The Holiest of All, (London: Oliphants, 1960), 297.
394
E.g. “…the Oil of the Spirit comes where the Blood of Calvary has been trusted, honoured, and
applied.” Boddy, A., “Pleading the Blood”, Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08),4. cf. Boddy, M., “His Own
Blood” Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 3

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Of note is the sheer range of different applications that Murray finds for the blood. He

holds a possibly unique place in the holiness movement in being able to relate the

blood of Jesus to every aspect of the Christian life. He is able to make the blood of

Christ the centre of the Christian universe. First and foremost, and in order for the

blood to bear this immense theological and spiritual weight, Murray links the word

‘blood’ with the word ‘power’ in a way that is entirely unprecedented. For him, as for

the early Pentecostals of Sunderland, the blood was to be honoured because it was

powerful. In his book, The Power of the Blood of Jesus, he speaks of, “…the glorious

power of the blood of Jesus and the wonderful blessings procured for us by it,”395

and, “… the superlative glory of that blood as the power of redemption.”396

Elsewhere he says, “As ‘the blood of the Lamb’ it possesses virtue and power for

complete redemption.”397 He urges the reader to, “Remember that the blood is the

power that binds us to Jesus in bonds that cannot be loosened.”398

This power lay primarily in the fact that it was shed by a High Priest who now lives

by the power of an endless life. As already mentioned, His blood, now offered in

heaven, is still fresh and has eternal efficacy: “Our Lord is a High Priest ‘in the power

of an endless life,’ and thus the cleansing power of the blood of the Son of God is

unceasingly conveyed to us.”399 The Holy Spirit applies this everlastingly powerful

blood to the heart: “…it is through the Spirit alone that the blood has its power.”400

395
Murray, The Power, 8.
396
Murray, The Power, 8.
397
Murray, The Blood, 71.
398
Murray, The Blood, 114
399
Murray, The Blood, 131. cf. “The power of the blood is eternally active. There is no single moment
in which the blood is not exerting its full power. In the heavenly Holy of Holies where the blood is
before the throne, everything exists in the power of eternity, without cessation or diminution. All
activities in the heavenly Temple are on our behalf, and the effects are conveyed to us by the Holy
Spirit.” Murray, The Blood, 62-63.
400
Murray, The Blood, 10.

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The Spirit then reminds the believer of its power: “So the Holy Spirit will in prayer

constantly remind us of Christ, of His blood and name, as the sure ground of our

being heard.”401

Henceforth, heaven is opened.402As a result, an array of heavenly blessings descends

upon the believer. He or she is justified,403 cleansed,404 sanctified,405 enjoys

fellowship with God,406 becomes aware of the price paid for his or her redemption,407

becomes aware of Christ’s love,408 enjoys victory over prayerlessness,409 sin410 and

401
Murray, Prayer, 56.
402
“The blood of Jesus has opened heaven.” Murray, The Power, 31. “His blood procured an entrance.”
Murray, The Power, 117. “Through the blood He has entered, through the blood He brings us also in."
ibid.
403
“You are familiar with the blessed truth of justification by faith…Paul had taught what its ever
blessed foundation was – the atonement of the blood of Christ.” Murray, A., The School of Obedience,
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1899), 27
404
“…just as in proportion as the heart is cleansed, so the entire life is cleansed, the whole man
inwardly and outwardly is cleansed by the power of the blood.” Murray, The Blood, 131.
405
“To a superficial observer it might seem that there is little difference between cleansing and
sanctification…Cleansing has to do chiefly with the old life, and the stain of sin which must be
removed, and is only preparatory. Sanctification concerns the new life…Sanctification, which means
union with God, is the peculiar fullness of blessing purchased for us by the blood.” Murray, The Power,
73.
406
“…no fellowship with Him by faith, no enjoyment of His favour, apart from the blood.” Murray,
The Power, 9.
407
“Meditate upon and adore God for this divine wonder, that you have been bought by the blood of
the Son of God.” Murray, The Blood, 114
408
“I see it! What we need is a right view of Jesus Himself, and His all-conquering, eternal love. The
blood is the earthly token of the heavenly glory of that love; the blood points to that love.” Murray, The
Blood, 34.
409
“In His blood and grace there is complete deliverance from all unrighteousness, and from all
prayerlessness.” Murray, A., The Prayer Life, (London: Morgan & Scott, 1920), 27.
410
“Let him take time, so that the blood and love of the Cross may exercise their full influence on him,
and let him think of sin as nothing less than giving his hand to Satan, and his power.” Murray, Prayer,
61.

115
Satan,411 receives a new motive to evangelise,412 to give financially413 and to live for

the benefit of others,414 and becomes ready to be filled with the Spirit.415

These benefits overflow to the entire Church so long as the Church honours the blood:

Since the days of the Reformation, it is still apparent that in proportion as the
blood is gloried in, the church is constantly inspired by a new life to obtain
victory over deadness or error.416

Murray’s theological framework with respect to the atonement is the penal

substitutionary view,417 but he hints mysteriously at the implications of the atonement

for the whole cosmos:

Notice, however, that the new earth must be baptized also with blood, and the
first recorded act of Noah, after he had left the ark, was the offering of a burnt
sacrifice to God.418

Like Zinzendorf, he also displays a mystical sacramentalism. In his exposition of John

6 he says these words:

…when the heart of anyone is filled with a sense of the preciousness and
power of the blood, when he with real joy is lost in the contemplation of it,
when he with whole-hearted faith takes it for himself and seeks to be

411
“What avails for the church is available also for each Christian. In ‘the blood of the Lamb,’ he
always has victory…it is, I say, when the soul lives in the power of the blood that the temptations of
Satan cease to ensnare.” Murray, The Power, 158.
412
“As you live by the blood, live also only for the blood, and give yourself no rest till all His purchased
ones know of His glory.” Murray, The Blood, 87.
413
“Christ has bought me with His blood…The believer to whom the right which the purchase price of
the blood has acquired has been revealed by the Holy Spirit, delights to know that he is the bond slave
of redeeming love, and to lay everything he has at his Master’s feet, because he belongs to him.” (said
in the context of financial giving). Murray, Obedience, 113-4.
414
“As priests through the blood of Christ we live for others…” Murray, The Blood, 134.
415
“Oh, ye children of God, come and let the precious blood prepare you for being filled with His
Spirit.” Murray, The Blood, 22.
416
Murray, The Power,158.
417
E.g. his exposition of the Exodus: “…the punishment of the sin of each Israelite home had to be
warded off by the blood of the paschal lamb. (…it is a foreshadowing of the Paschal Lamb which is
Jesus Christ).” Murray, The Blood, 90.
418
Murray, The Power, 9-10.

116
 convinced in his inner being of the life-giving power of that blood, then it may
be rightly said that he ‘drinks the blood of Jesus.’419

So, with Murray, a new theme emerges that would go on to become a much-loved

theme of the Pentecostals: power. There is, for Murray, power in the blood. He

elucidates numerous reasons why the blood is powerful and expounds these in detail.

For the Pentecostals at Sunderland, it would become adequate simply to affirm that

‘there is power in the blood.’

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) had an ambiguous relationship with the doctrine

of Keswick. His famed baptism in the Spirit experience of 1871 would place him well

within the holiness tradition in general terms, yet, doubtless out of his concern to

reach as wide an audience as possible,420 he never formally identified himself as

such.421 Nevertheless, after his first contact with Keswick in 1892, it is possible that

he had begun importing some aspects of Keswick into Northfield. F.B. Meyer, after

his visit to Northfield in 1895 reckoned Moody to be “in love with Keswick.” By

1897 he was rumoured by some to be trying to turn Northfield into another Keswick,

and from 1899 onwards, the year of Moody’s death, at least one Keswick speaker

appeared at every Northfield Convention. As early as 1872, a statement by Moody’s

friend Henry Varley: “the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully

consecrated to Him,” had brought forth the response, “By the Holy Spirit in me I’ll be

that man.”422

419
Murray, The Power, 137.
420
Moody even had an openness to Catholics that, for his time was “remarkable”: George, T.,
“Introduction: Remembering Mr Moody,” in George, T., (ed) Mr Moody and the Evangelical
Tradition, (Edinburgh: T & T Clark,. 2005), 6.
421
During Moody’s London campaign of 1883, Moody was at a meal in which he refused to state
outright that he had been sanctified: Pollock, Keswick Story, 67.
422
Pollock, J., Moody Without Sankey, (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1963), 94.

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Moody had a particular emphasis on the need to honour the blood of Jesus. When

expounding the story of the exodus, his reason for the directive to smear blood only

on the doorposts and lintels and not on the threshold was that, “God would not have

them trample upon the blood.”423 In the same vein, he frankly confronts the listener

with the realities of the death-bed: “May God forbid that when death draws nigh it

should find you making light of the precious blood of Christ!”424

This theme, only implicit in Caughey and Murray, appears to be a new one introduced

by Moody. The horrors awaiting those who dishonour the blood is more than made up

for by the fact that whenever much is made of the blood, whenever the blood is

celebrated with emphasis, God honours the efforts of those who do it. Moody speaks

reverently of the “scarlet thread” that runs through all of the most timeless hymns that

were sung in his meetings. Specifically, he singles out, There is a Fountain, Rock of

Ages and Just as I Am for special praise, reserving highest honour for There is a

Fountain. Singing this hymn, Moody claims, produced excitement in him even before

he was converted.425 All such hymns, he says, will never wear out. He does not go

into any mechanical detail however, as to why they have a special power: “I tell you

why these hymns are so precious, it is because they tell us about the blood.”426 Where

the blood is honoured, Moody has great faith that it will work even for those who feel

they are too sinful ever to come to God. This he illustrates in a novel way:

423
Moody, D.L., Where Art Thou? And Other Addresses,(London: Morgan & Scott, nd), 103.
424
Moody, Where Art Thou?110. Cf. “Men look on the blood of Christ with scorn and contempt, but
the time is coming when the blood of Christ will be worth more than all the kingdoms of the
world…The blood has two cries…If I reject the blood of Christ, it cries out for my condemnation, if I
accept it, it cries out for pardon and peace.” Moody, Where Art Thou? 113.
425
Moody, Where Art Thou? 115-6.
426
Moody, Where Art Thou? 116.

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 Look at that Roman soldier as he pushed his spear into the very heart of the
God-man. What a hellish deed! But what was the next thing that took place?
Blood covered the spear! Oh! Thank God, the blood covers sin.427

Ira D. Sankey’s ministry began with an impromptu rendering of There is a Fountain

at a YMCA Convention in Indianapolis in 1870 where Moody noticed his exceptional

singing abilities. His compilation Sacred Songs and Solos, first appearing as a

pamphlet in 1873, is very similar to the Keswick Hymns but with the added note of

the emotional evangelistic appeal. In the final 1903 version of Sacred Songs and

Solos, an accumulation of some 1200 songs, references to the blood of Christ number

193, 16%, or approximately one in every 6 of the songs having at least one reference

to it. Of these, 67% (78x) carry a cleansing, washing or sprinkling motif, 18% (30x)

speak of being redeemed, bought, purchased, set free or rescued, 6% (11x) use the

word ‘atonement,’ ‘atone’ or ‘atoning’ in connection with the blood, and 5% (10x)

use the language of substitution: either ‘substitute,’ ‘substitution,’ ‘for us’ or ‘for me.’

Other themes are love (5%), salvation (4%), justification (4%), pardon (4%), peace

(3%), sanctification (3%), victory (3%), power, the Passover, mercy, comfort,

wholeness, sealing, “applied”, treasure, hope and peace.

An often-observed feature of Sankey’s songs is the emotive content. Most famous of

all is his There were Ninety and Nine, a song that had a remarkably moving effect

upon audiences.428 Sankey first discovered the lyrics in a newspaper on a train

between Glasgow and Edinburgh during Moody and Sankey’s Scottish tour:

427
Moody, Where Art Thou? 114. Maria Woodworth-Etta has arrows dipped in the blood: “Through
the Holy Ghost, His Words come like coals of fire, burning in the brains and the hearts of men. They
are shot out, like arrows dipped in the blood of Jesus.” Maria Woodworth-Etta: Her Life and Ministry,
(Dallas: Christ for the Nations, 1992), 42. She also, in Salvation Army style, speaks of “the blood-
stained banner of King Emmanuel,” ibid., 55.
428
Pollock quotes an eye-witness to its performance: “A deathly hush came over the room, and I felt
my eyes fill with tears; his [Sankey’s] physical repulsiveness slipped from him and left a sincere

119
 Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?
They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could brink them back…429

There is also a considerable volume of personal eschatology. Hymns 907-1047, 140

hymns in all (11.6% of the total) are about the theme of facing death and entering

Heaven.

Reuben Archer Torrey, Moody’s successor on the world stage, came to Keswick in

1904 as a listener, before being unexpectedly asked to deliver a series of Bible

teachings. His subject was the Holy Spirit. Like Moody, he travelled with a singer,

Charles M. Alexander, beginning a two-and-half year tour of the British Isles in

January 1903, and returning in 1911. In 1904, Torrey also wrote an encouraging letter

to Evan Roberts upon hearing of the revival that had broken out under his ministry.

Torrey was also a revered figure among the early Pentecostals, being cited in

Confidence magazine more than once.430

R.A. Torrey appears to place just as much emphasis on the blood as Moody. Like

Moody, he placed a high value upon the blood hymns, especially when witnessing.

On one occasion, he sang Nothing but the Blood of Jesus by the bedside of a dying

impulsive Christian, whose simple music spoke straight to the soul.” Pollock, J., A Fistful of Heroes:
Great Reformers and Evangelists, (Basingstoke: Marshall Pickering, 1988), 116.
429
No.97 verse 4.
430
Five times in the first 10 years: Mrs Barratt, “The Conference in Sunderland,” Confidence 1:4 (July
’08), 4; Boddy, A., “Scenes in Denmark,” Confidence 3:10 (Oct. ’10), 5; Edel, P., “The Task of the
Pentecostal Movement,” Confidence 6:9 (Sep.’13), 14; Miss Patrick, “Russia,” Confidence 7:12
(Dec.’14), 9; Boddy, A., “On the Tibetan Borderland,” Confidence 8:3 (Mar.’15), 19.

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man, seemingly, to great effect.431 On another occasion, he was again offering some

deathbed counsel when he found himself singing Just as I am to a dying man, who

promptly joined in with the last verse.432 Torrey was academically trained, having

spent a year learning from the liberal scholars in Germany, eventually becoming

Principal of the Moody Bible Institute.

He joins his voice to the rising Fundamentalist movement of early 20th Century in

America:

Years ago I pumped my head full of a lot of evolutionary and other un-proven
and senseless philosophy, but even that was not able to drown out what I
knew, that the blood of Jesus had cleansed me from all sin.433

He, like the Keswick teachers, is very fond of 1John1:7. In a chapter of 11 double-

spaced, large type, pages, devoted to this passage, there are no less than 15 straight

repetitions of the phrase, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all

sin.”434 The reason for such repetition when compared to many other holiness books is

the fact that this is a transcribed sermon, and a sermon clearly delivered in a style that

demanded constant reiteration.

He expounds the meaning of this cleansing by asking the question whether the

cleansing refers to the guilt of sin or the presence of sin, thus giving himself an

opportunity to distinguish himself from the eradicationist Wesleyans.435 He

431
Torrey, R.A., Revival Addresses, (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1903), 165-6.
432
Torrey, R.A., Real Salvation and Whole-Hearted Service, (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1905),
268-9.
433
Torrey, R.A., How to be Saved, (New York: Fleming H.Revell, 1923), 145.
434
Torrey, Saved,
435
Torrey, Saved, 146.

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concludes, on the basis of the way the words “blood” and “cleansing” in conjunction

with one another are used throughout the rest of the Bible, that the cleansing is from

the guilt of sin.436 This is a continuous cleansing, depending on God’s continuous

“reckoning”: “There may be still in moments of weakness and failure sin in their

conduct, but there is not one smallest sin upon them in God’s reckoning.”437

Sanctification is something entirely different. As in Meyer, the distinction hinges

upon a dichotomy between the intrinsic and the extrinsic: “It is not the blood of the

crucified Jesus, but the indwelling life of the risen Jesus that saves from the power of

sin.”438

In this way, the Christian Perfection of Wesley and Palmer, which sparked the whole

holiness movement of the 19th Century, now comes full circle to a quasi-Lutheran

understanding of the benefits of Christ’s death being merely imputed to the believer.

The doctrines of the atonement and justification are thus gradually put back into an

objective, historical and extrinsic box while the doctrine of sanctification takes on

new subjective, experiential and intrinsic dimensions. For the moment, the shift in

emphasis merely meant shifting focus from a Christ crucified ‘for us’ to a Christ risen

‘within us.’ In time, the inwardly empowering Spirit would replace the inwardly

sanctifying Christ.

Outside of the holiness movement, the blood was highly valued among all

Evangelicals, non-holiness groups tending towards a somewhat polemical usage of it.

Against the tide of liberal scholarship, Charles Spurgeon declared that he would rather

436
Torrey, Saved, 146.
437
Torrey, Saved, 147.
438
Torrey, Saved, 147.

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have his tongue cut out than ever agree to stop preaching about the blood.439

Preaching the once-for-all atoning blood was a way of opposing the perceived

watering-down of the gospel that the liberals had brought with their penchant for the

life and teachings of Jesus; it was also a way of countering the perceived replacement

of the gospel that the revival in Catholic sacramentalism had brought in the wake of

the Oxford movement. In the non-holiness context, therefore, the blood often served

as an identity marker, identifying Evangelicals as anti-liberal and anti-ritualist.440

Conclusion.

Blood mysticism over the period so far covered appears to go through two phases,

which will be followed in time by a third.

The first phase is that embodied by the Moravians. In essence it represents only a

small development on medieval passion mysticism. Its dominating note is that of

personal, heart-felt devotion. At the dawn of the Enlightenment, at the start of the

modern era, the Moravians drank deeply from a pre-modern well. In an age of

growing infidelity towards religion, the blood of Christ was calling the Moravians to

give themselves utterly to Him who gave His life for them. The spirituality of the

medieval mystics was now transfigured within a profoundly Lutheran and non-

sacerdotal community.

439
C.H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Vol.32, (Original:1886. Banner of Truth, 1991), 129.
440
Cf. Rennie, I. S., “Fundamentalism and the Varieties of North Atlantic Evangelicalism,” in M. Noll
et al (eds), Evangelicalism: Comparative Studies of Popular Protestantism in North America, The
British Isles, and Beyond 1700-1990, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 333: “fear of
liberalism,” and “fear of resurgent Catholicism” were formative of Anglican Evangelicalism as early as
the 1820s.

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The second phase begins with and remains completely dominated by the Wesleys.

Charles provides the devotional language while John supplies the theological

framework. Thanks to them, the great blood mystical theme bequeathed to a huge

body of 19th Century devotion is that of holiness through the blood. The role of the

blood in personal holiness is twofold. First and foremost, it cleanses the heart,

Wesleyans would say permanently, from ‘inbred’ sin. For non-Wesleyans, it

continuously removes the guiltiness of ongoing sins before God, setting to work as

soon as the believer has become conscious of wrongdoing and acknowledges it.

Secondly, it purchases men for God. To be bought at such a price is, as for the

Moravians, a devotional summons to a higher Christian life.

A new strand of thought emerges with Andrew Murray and his emphasis on the power

of the blood, a likely source for some of the teachings that would later dominate

Sunderland Pentecostalism. Another new strand comes through D.L.Moody and his

insistence on honouring the blood. This, seemingly, generates an ethos that would yet

reach new heights during the Azusa Street revival that links the invocation of the

Blood, in prayer, sermon and song, with the release of the Holy Spirit’s witness-

bearing activity.

Stibbs, in his masterful study of the word ‘blood’ in Scripture, concluded his

monograph with the insight that blood is:

…a sign of life either given or taken in death. Such giving or taking of life is
in this world the extreme, both of gift or price and of crime or penalty. Man
knows no greater.441

441
Stibbs, ‘Blood,’ 33.

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So the phrase, ‘the blood of Christ’ is by nature susceptible of hyperbolic usage. It is

by nature extreme language. No greater gift and no higher price is possible; and no

worse a crime or exacting a penalty is conceivable than all that is involved in the

death of the Son of God at the hands of sinners on behalf of sinners. Desperate times

call for desperate measures and it is in precisely those times when sincere believers

feel desperate that their routine cross-centredness erupts into a ‘fountain’ of blood

mysticism. Accordingly, over this period, the type and variety of metaphors used in

conjunction with the blood is as much an indicator of an outspoken emphasis upon it

as are the bare frequency of references. In some writers, such as F.B.Meyer, the

frequency is low, yet the novelty of the metaphors is symptomatic of a similar

dwelling-to-the-point-of-exhaustion on this one subject. Over the 19th century, there

were blood corpuscles used as coinage, spears covered in the blood, arrows dipped in

blood, blood-stained banners and molten brands quenched in the blood, not to

mention fountains of blood, rivers of blood, purple floods of blood and blood-

currents, in which people drink, dip, plunge, lie, bathe, wash themselves and wash

their garments. These peaks of blood mysticism are thus an extension of

Evangelicalism’s routine crucicentrism recruited in the cause of some specific fight:

the fight against apostasy or against inbred sin. In a world increasingly seething with

anti-Christian beliefs, nothing, it was hoped, could stand against the all-cleansing, all-

converting Blood.

This fight will continue into the Welsh Revival, Azusa Street and Sunderland. In fact,

it will grow more intense and take on a further dominant theme. Devotion and

cleansing will still be strongly represented but alongside these themes there will

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emerge something that ought to have been quite at home in the holiness meetings of

the Salvation Army. For in early Pentecostalism, the blood becomes a war cry. These

believers felt themselves to be no longer battling with human secularisation or with

the enemy within, now it is Satan himself who is enemy number one. Consequently,

they must now be ‘covered’ by the blood. They must stay ‘under’ it. They must loudly

and repetitiously invoke the justifying, cleansing accomplishments of the blood in

order to see the Devil flee. The desire for purity thus gives way to the desire for

victory and power. And it is the blood mysticism of the Welsh Revival that represents

something of a bridge to this.

Before moving on to this, however, it seems important to not lose the main drift of the

narrative so far covered. The main point of the holiness movements was to point the

way towards reconciling a believer’s status with their actual state. The urgency of

Hannah Whitall-Smith can be felt in her The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. The

cross must be an actual redemption from sin, a real deliverance from both its guilt and

power, or it is no redemption at all. In America, the increasing challenges to ethical

purity that a post-bellum world of pleasure and plenty was presenting meant that the

traditional lines of Protestant soteriology, drawn to make the demarcation between

law and gospel absolutely clear, were now creaking under the strain. The only way

forward was in developing the thought of Wesley and presenting this revised Wesley

to a non-Wesleyan audience.

To speak in Hegelian terms, it was the thesis of a justified life being contradicted by

the antithesis of an unsanctified lifestyle that was leading to the blood as the resolving

synthesis. This blood was a symbol of Christ’s atonement that brought His death

126
within reach. It could be pictured as being applied to the unclean. For this reason,

1John 1:7 was much proclaimed as the scripture that pointed the way from purely

forensic categories to more experiential ones. This was a provisional synthesis,

however. Soon Baptism in the Holy Spirit would take on a new eschatological

function that catered to the desire both for a special status and a sanctified state. The

Blood and the Spirit could and did occupy the same spiritual territory, as was

explored by Andrew Murray, but not for long. The pneumatological emphasis was in

the ascendancy. The end time empowerment of the Holy Spirit given specially to

those watchful of the Lord’s return was on the way to becoming the sine qua non of

revivalist spirituality, replacing roles previously ascribed to the blood. The blood

would increasingly be appropriated in new ways as a tool of spiritual warfare against

Satan.

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4. Evan Roberts, Jessie Penn-Lewis

and the Welsh Revival.

Introduction.

Evan John Roberts was born in 1878.442 He became a communicant of the Calvinistic

Methodist Church at age 12. From around this time he was encouraged never to miss

a prayer meeting in case the Spirit came and he was found to be absent, like doubting

Thomas when the risen Jesus had appeared. The chapels were influenced by the fiery

evangelism of the Salvation Army, who had conducted highly successful campaigns

in the Rhondda.443 The chapels were also influenced by the techniques of Moody and

Sankey, by such Keswick speakers as F.B. Meyer, who himself tried to claim some

credit for starting the revival, and by R.A.Torrey who visited Cardiff in 1902.

Accordingly, Roberts’ theology was basically a Keswick-style, pneumatological

spirituality of personal victory over sin and power for service:

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the essence of revival, for revival comes
from a knowledge of the Holy Spirit…The primary condition of revival is
therefore that believers should individually know the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.444

442
The definitive work on his life is Jones, B. P., An Instrument of Revival: The Complete Life of Evan
Roberts 1878-1951, (South Plainfield, NJ.: Bridge Publishing, 1995).
443
A profound influence on Seth Joshua in particular, Evans, 1904, 53.
444
Whittaker, Great Revivals,103.

128
A long history of Welsh revivals gave Roberts an intense hunger for revival. Powerful

nighttime experiences of communion with God further amplified this. He had a great

desire for the Spirit:

I said to myself: ‘I will have the Spirit.’ And through all weather, and in spite
of difficulties, I went to the meetings… For ten or eleven years I have prayed
for a revival. I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals. It was the
Spirit that moved me to think about a revival.

His prayer was “Bend the Church; save the people,” a phrase inspired by a significant

moment when Seth Joshua happened to finish a prayer with the throw away line,

“…and Bend us, O Lord…” at the end of an early morning prayer meeting just prior

to the beginning of a three day Keswick style convention for the deepening of the

spiritual life. As Roberts thought about this phrase, he became overcome by it as the

morning’s devotions progressed: “I cried, ‘Bend me! Bend me! Bend me! Bend us!’

Perspiration poured down my face and tears streamed …a great burden came upon me

for the salvation of lost souls.”445

Thus was birthed Roberts’ plan to evangelise the whole Principality using a small

team of other young people who would share in the preaching and singing.

All of this was set against a background of decreasing vigour in Welsh Christianity. In

Britain as a whole, two forces were combining to undermine Evangelical faith. One of

these was the spread of Darwinism; the other was the influence of Higher Criticism.

In 1889, both of these forces had combined in the form of Charles Gore’s highly

influential book, Lux Mundi. This work emphasised the incarnation rather than the

445
AWSTIN (extracts from the Western Mail) 3:30 (Jan. 1905). Accessed via the CD-ROM Welsh
Revival Library (Bishop Stortford: The King’s Church, nd).

129
atonement as the true heart of Christian faith, the insights of Darwin were conceded

and the Spirit’s role in the inspiration of Scripture was relativised.446

Another blow against Welsh religion, rooted as it was one’s personal experience of

God, was the rise of psychological ways of interpreting religious experience,

culminating in William James’ book of 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experience,

which seemed to discredit conversions and revivals as the product of enfeebled and

morbid minds.447 During the 1890s, the Presbyterian Church of Wales lost 12,844

members.448 By the time of the revival, Welsh Evangelicalism was on the

defensive.449

Roberts’ ministry began at the age of 26 while training for the ministry. His plan to

evangelise the whole of Wales was augmented by a vision of all Wales being lifted up

to heaven. Seth Joshua was also keen to see Roberts preaching.450 His preaching in

late October and early November 1904 among the young people of his home church

in Loughor led to some remarkable occurrences.451 He encouraged the young people

446
Gore, C. (ed), Lux Mundi: A Series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation 13th Ed., (London:
John Murray, 1892), esp 247-266 which discusses inspiration. The chapter on the Atonement itself
(pp201-229) says little that would have been controversial.
447
E.g. “…with their manufacture of fears and preoccupation with every unwholesome kind of misery,
there is something obscene about these children of wrath and cravers of second birth.” James, W., The
Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature, being the Gifford Lectures on Natural
Religion Delivered at Edinburgh in 1901-1902 18th Impression, (London: Longmans, Green & Co.,
1910), 162-3. He addresses revival directly in similar fashion: “…you must first be nailed on the cross
of natural despair and agony, and then in the twinkling of an eye be miraculously released.” Idem, 228.
cf. Hayward, R., “Popular Mysticism and the Origins of the New Psychology, 1880-1910,”(PhD
Dissertation: University of Lancaster, 1995).
448
Evans, 1904, 45.
449
For an especially interesting study of the Welsh Revival’s interaction with modernity see Gitre, E.
J., “The 1904-05 Welsh Revival: Modernization, Technologies, and Techniques of the Self,” Church
History 73:4 (Dec. 2004), 759-827.
450
“At the turn of the century Seth Joshua had felt the danger of the prevailing emphasis upon
educational rather than spiritual attainments, and…had it laid upon his heart to pray God to go and take
a lad from the coal-mine or from the field, even as He took Elisha from the plough, to revive His
work.” Evans, 1904, 63.
451
In a recent study, Tudur supported the idea, however, that the Revival was already under way before
Roberts began his ministry and proposes that for the press to have made Roberts into the figurehead of

130
to pray in unison: ‘Send now the Holy Ghost, for Jesus Christ’s sake.’ On 8

November 1904, the whole town flocked to the 6.00am prayer meeting, following a

relatively unspectacular meeting the previous night. Soon, his meetings were packed

with young people, and these often continued until late into the night. Eyewitnesses

sometimes reported the total absence of preaching.452 At other times, Roberts’

abilities as an eloquent and powerful speaker were very apparent.453 It was at this time

that Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean became the favourite hymn of the revival. This

was often sung solo by Anne Davies who accompanied Roberts’ on his missions.

Roberts soon took his preaching to the surrounding towns and into North Wales. His

ministry became associated with wild manifestations such as laughter, shouting,

falling to the ground and constant interruptions from people bursting into song.

Chapels were packed. Hundreds of people shut up shop early just to get to the prayer

meetings. The newspapers carried stories every day and before long people from all

over the world were visiting Roberts’ meetings: notably Joseph Smale from Los

Angeles and Alexander Boddy from Sunderland.

By the end of 1904, there were more than 34,000 converts. It was not long before a

significant social impact throughout Wales was felt, especially in drink related

the Revival was “…to move the emphasis away from [the] true font of the Revival’s energy,” causing
the Revival to decline too soon. Tudur, G., “Evan Roberts and the 1904-5 Revival,” Journal of Welsh
Religious History, 4 (2004), 95
452
“Suffice it to say that throughout that service there was singing and praying, and personal testimony,
but no preaching.” “In connection with the Welsh revival there is no preaching, no order, no
hymnbooks, no choirs, no organs, no collections, and, finally, no advertising.” “Evan Roberts is hardly
more than a boy, simple and natural, no orator, no leader of men.”
http://www.welshrevival.org/histories/goodrich/03.htm accessed online 13 Jan 2009.
453
“The preacher soon after launches out into a fervent and at times impassioned oration. His
statements have most stirring effects upon his listeners, many who have disbelieved Christianity for
years again returning to the fold of their younger days. One night so great was the enthusiasm invoked
by the young revivalist that after a sermon lasting two hours the vast congregation remained praying
and singing until half-past two o’clock next morning.” Report from the Western Mail dated Nov 10
1904: http://www.welshrevival.org/histories/awstin1/01.htm accessed online 13 Jan 2009.

131
crime.454 Pubs emptied, dance halls were deserted, courts had few cases, whole

football and rugby teams were converted and started praying instead of playing,455

and the chapels and churches filled up.

The total converts recorded between 8 November and 31 December 1904 was at least

34,131. The figure for the month of January 1905 alone stands at 65,319, and for

February 1905: 83,936.456 Partly thanks to the travels of Jessie Penn-Lewis, news of

the revival spread far and wide, igniting, with varying degrees of intensity, revivals in

Switzerland, Germany, England, Korea, China, Japan, South Africa, Latin America,

the Pacific Islands and India. Global press coverage of the meetings was

unprecedented for Welsh revivals, despite services being held mostly in Welsh.457

At the 1905 Keswick Convention, a detachment of Welsh prayer-warriors attempted

to bring revival to the Convention. The Convention, however, had no place for the

emotional excesses of the Welsh. At the same time, however, Frank Bartleman began

writing to Evan Roberts asking him to pray for Los Angeles.458 Already two booklets

about the revival were in circulation in Los Angeles.459 These, combined with reports

of Joseph Smale’s visit to the revival, were creating a heightened expectation.

Converts of the Revival, known as ‘Children of the Revival’ gathered in mission halls

and many went on to became Pentecostal. Among them were George and Stephen

454
See drink-related crime figures in Edwards, B., Revival: A People Saturated with God, (Evangelical
Press, 1990),183.
455
AWSTIN 3:1 (Jan 1905). Accessed in Cauchi, T.(ed), The Welsh Revival Library, (Bishops
Waltham: Revival Library CD-ROM, nd).
456
Phillips, D., Evan Roberts: The Great Welsh Revivalist and his Work, (London: Marshall Brothers,
1906), 455-462, taken from returns published in the Western Mail Revival Pamphlets.
457
Evans, 1904, 36.
458
Bartleman, F., Azusa Street: The Roots of Modern-day Pentecost, (Plainfield: Bridge, 1980), 15.
459
These were, The Great Revival in Wales by S.B. Shaw, and Revival in Wales by G. Campbell
Morgan.

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Jeffreys, who were also associated with Sunderland for a short time. George Jeffreys

went on to found the Elim Pentecostal churches. Evan Roberts himself resisted the

Pentecostal movement, possibly because of the overweening influence of Mrs Jessie

Penn-Lewis with whom he spent most of his life between 1906 and 1926.460

After the revival, Roberts was burnt out. He had rarely taken any rest. For some two

years he had taken barely 3 hours sleep a night. He suffered a series of four severe

breakdowns and was confined to bed for some time. From August 1906 until his

death, with a brief and powerful interlude in 1926-7, he lived in relative obscurity. He

died in 1951.461

4.1. Atonement Themes in Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis.

Evan Roberts’ most important early influence was the Calvinistic Methodist

Hymnbook, which was “…the origin of many of his sublimest ideas.”462 He himself

wrote many lines of beautiful poetry that were inspired by this hymnal. Besides this,

he read the Calvinist systematician A.A. Hodge, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

and C.M. Sheldon’s, In His Steps. He was also an admirer of George Müller whose

example made him “…strongly desirous of being able to rest completely through faith

in God.”463 Aside from the very obvious pneumatological emphasis in Roberts’

preaching, a product of the Keswick teaching on baptism in the Holy Spirit, a further

notable theme develops.

460
Jones, Instrument of Revival, chapters 17-20.
461
Jones, Instrument of Revival, 250.
462
Phillips, Roberts, 67.
463
Phillips, Roberts, 68. cf. Evans, 1904, 64.

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Roberts’ emphasis on atonement themes was part of a long revival tradition in Wales.

Gethsemane had been a favourite theme ever since its significant role in the very first

Welsh revival sermon. Thomas Phillips testifies:

Not far from this place [Llandrindon Wells] a great revival broke out as Daniel
Rowland was reading from the Litany in Church: ‘By thy agony and bloody
sweat’, and people broke down and the life of Wales was altered…464

Nantlais Williams received an assurance of salvation by way of Gethsemane:

I realized…it is by believing we receive salvation; not through effort and

anguish in prayer all night on my part, but through the wrestling of Another
for me in the Garden, and on the cross; yes, by relying on him and his bloody
sweat and dying agony.465

It was noted by H.Elvet, writing to The British Weekly, that “the unveiling of the cross

and the rediscovery of intercessory prayer” were notable characteristics of the 1904

revival, drawing particular attention to the hymns:

The most effective hymns of the present Revival are in the key either of the
sufferings of Jesus in the Garden or on Calvary, or of the gracious wonder of
His atoning love…466

Evans draws attention to the type of hymns that were sung as evidence that the Welsh

Revival was not as influenced by Keswick as has often been claimed,467 saying that

464
Sermon by Rev Thomas Phillips at the Welsh Keswick of 1912: Jones, B., The Spiritual History of
Keswick in Wales 1903-1983, (Cwmbran: Christian Literature Press, 1989), 23.
465
Testimony of Nantlais Williams’ conversion while singing hymns at a Saturday night meeting,
Evans, 1904, 106.
466
An article entitled “The Heart of the Revival” The British Weekly (2 Feb 1905), Evans, 1904, 167.
467
He cites in particular, Jessie Penn-Lewis’ book, The Awakening in Wales 1904-5 and R.B.Jones’
Rent Heavens: “Keswick had not a little to do with the birth of the Revival, and many have wondered
how it happened that, when it was born, the nurse did not seem to welcome her child.” (p28), Evans,
1904, 168. F.B.Meyer was lambasted for claiming personal credit for the origins of the Revival, dating

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those affected sang songs about “redemption and assurance” drawing from 18th

Century Calvinistic Methodism, not the hymns of “holiness and consecration” that

were sung at Keswick.468 Those impacted saw themselves in a direct lineage with

previous Welsh Revivals, not “a novel English holiness movement.”469An example of

the assurance theme is found in this popular hymn:

Jesus’ blood exalts the feeble,

Makes their victory complete;
Jesus’ blood brings down the mighty,
Lays them humble at His feet.
Heavenly breezes!
Breathe on me from Calvary.470

Added to the soul-stirring portrayals of Gethsemane and the wonders of full assurance

of faith that one’s sins were forgiven, a theology of blood-bought victory developed in

Roberts that goes one stage beyond this. The new emphasis was demonological in its

orientation. A victory theme with reference to besetting sins was common currency in

the wake of the numerous Keswick-style conferences for the deepening of the

spiritual life held all over Wales, one of which had been the catalyst for the revival.

Blood-bought victory over the devil, however, is an apparent novum. This victory,

initially linked to the ascended Jesus,471 (hence one of Roberts’ favourite hymns:

the decisive moment all the way back to a highly charged meeting he had held in August of 1904:
Evans, 1904, 169.
468
Evans, 1904, 170.
469
Evans, 1904, 170.
470
Hymn by William Williams (1717-91), Jones, Voices, 158. There is a history of hymns by William
Williams being instrumental in revivals. In a revival at Bontuchel in 1821 was this hymn had particular
impact: “Let the gospel reach every land, And wash multitudes in Thy blood.” Evans, E., When He is
Come: The 1858-60 Revival in Wales, (London: Evangelical Press, 1967), 16. The first appearance of a
collection of his hymns, The Songs of Those who Stand on the Sea of Glass, led to an outbreak of
revival under Daniel Rowland in 1762. Evans, 1858-60, 10.
471
Evans also records a vision that Roberts experienced of the ascended Christ based on Rev.6:2 & 4
that he received during the very first week of the revival: “The Son of God was going forth to conquer
with irresistible power.” Evans, 1904, 87.

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Onward March, All-Conquering Jesus), became more and more linked to the cross

and blood of Jesus as Roberts’ years of revival ministry progressed.

Following his “bend us” experience, which Phillips designates as his baptism in the

Holy Spirit, Roberts describes the results of this experience in his diary in the form of

poetry:

Now, I am singing all day long

The praises of His blood
No other theme awakes my song
Like Calvary’s crimson flood.472

The theme of assurance soon emerges:

Clothe us with Thy heavenly power,

Show to us the strength of guilt;
Show its darts on Calvary gleaming
When the Surety’s blood was spilt…473

By 11 October 1904, the beginning of his devil-consciousness has shown itself. The

answer to the devil is the blood:

…the devil is at his best these days. He attacks me with all his might; and he
also ploughs up the past of my life. But I rejoice that all has been done away
with by the virtue of the Blood…474

By 27 January 1905, Roberts became very conscious of attacks from the devil in

which he was tempted to speak his own words instead of God’s.475 Evans locates a

turning point in the ministry of Roberts that took place in the wake of a hostile article

472
Diary entry dated 29 September 1904, Phillips, Roberts, 132.
473
Phillips, Roberts, 537.
474
Letter to Mr Davies dated October 11 1904, Phillips, D., Evan Roberts, the Great Welsh Revivalist
and his Work, (London: Marshall Brothers, 1906), 142.
475
Letter to Sydney Evans dated 27 January 1905, reproduced in Phillips, Roberts, 353. Tudur ascribes
a definite change in Roberts’ mental state to as early as December 1904 at which point there was
already “…clear evidence in Roberts of the stresses and strains imposed upon him as his attitude
toward his congregations began to change.” Tudur, “Evan Roberts,” 95.

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about him in the Western Mail that appeared on January 31 1905. This article wrote

off his meetings as a “sham” revival. From this time, Roberts was prone to detecting

“hindrances” in the meetings, culminating in a meeting on 21 February 1905 in which

he professed to have detected a person in the meeting who was damned beyond the

point of recovery.476

It was his increasingly unstable behaviour that first provoked the intervention of

revival chronicler Jessie Penn-Lewis, who met up with him for the first time over this

period, apparently to counsel him over how to discern between the genuine guidance

of God and counterfeit promptings.477

At this time he was also being advised by his doctor to take more rest.478 During a

week of rest in which he, after four months of constant work, withdrew into complete

seclusion to seek God, he continued to be aware of the attacks of the devil. This

prompted him to seek God’s protection upon others as well as himself: “May the

powers and light of the Eternal Spirit…keep their persons from the venomous darts of

the enemy.”479 The following day, he writes, “Satan came, but he was driven to flight.

Satan, the father of lies, the accuser, away to the everlasting burnings.” 480

During this week of seclusion, a very strong emphasis on the atonement is also

detectable:

476
Jones, Instrument of Revival, 90-91.
477
Jones, B.P., The Trials and Triumphs of Mrs Jessie Penn-Lewis, (North Brunswick: Bridge-Logos,
1997),157. Even before the revival, Penn-Lewis had spoken of the need to “’prove all things’ along the
line of spiritual experiences,” warning of “the possibility of a Christian being deceived.” Penn-Lewis,
J., Life in the Spirit, (Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1991 (original nd but pp8 & 16
indicate a date between August 1903 and August 1904)), 77.
478
Evans, 1904, 131-135.
479
Note written for his two friends B.T. Jones and J.R. Evans as they attempt to visit him but are turned
away by his host. Dated 24 February 1905, in Phillips, Roberts, 367.
480
Diary entry dated 25 February 1905, reproduced in Phillips, Roberts, 368.

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 Keep my hands clean, so that they may not desecrate Thy work – work which
cost Divine blood – work hallowed by sweat, yea, and tears, yea, and the
heart-blood of my God…own Thy work these days; own it for the sake of the
Atonement481

The following day, he writes, “Wait not until thou goest unto heaven before beginning

to praise the Blood. To praise the Blood in heaven cannot bring one soul to accept

it.”482

On 6 March, he is again in retirement with a severe cold but insists:

…I shall again be strong to carry the Great Banner – the Great Banner of the
Cross – a Banner without ‘Retreat’ to be seen anywhere on it. ‘Victory,’ and
this written with the Divine blood of my God!483

Meanwhile Jessie Penn-Lewis had continued to write to Roberts, having heard reports

of him lashing out at the crowds upon his return to public ministry in Newquay. She

writes to a friend at this time saying, “Evan Roberts is in much need of prayer.”484

In the summer of 1905, Roberts’ devil-consciousness is clearly still with him:

The devil came to me, but I did not know at the time it was the devil. He said
to me, ‘Thou art unworthy to be with this great and holy work.’485

481
Prayer dated 25 February 1905, reproduced from Roberts’ diary in Phillips, Roberts, 368.
482
Diary entry dated 26 February 1905, Phillips, Roberts, 372-3.
483
Letter to Ambrose Williams dated 6 March 1905, Phillips, Roberts, 375.
484
Letter to a friend dated 29 March 1905, cited in Jones, Penn-Lewis, 157.
485
Address given to 80 theological college students in Bala on 5 July 1905, reproduced from students’
notes in Phillips, Roberts, 432.

138
He goes on to speak at length about the devil, but this time with no mention of the

Blood.486

It was over the summer of 1905 that regular contact with a determined Penn-Lewis

began. By the time of his attendance at her Llandrindod Convention in August, he had

begun to speak her language, talking much about “entering into the sufferings of the

Cross.”487 In the wake of the Convention, she writes to him, convinced that she and

her husband have received insight into God’s destiny for the young man: “If you

have no light for future steps yet, OUR house is YOURS for as long as He wills.”488

Jessie Penn-Lewis, born in 1861 into a Calvinistic Methodist home in Neath, South

Wales, and was converted in 1882 whereupon she and her husband William moved to

Richmond, Surrey. Here they were impacted by the ministry of Evan Hopkins

leading, in 1884, to Jessie Penn-Lewis making a solemn consecration of her life to

Christ’s service.489 Jessie Penn-Lewis had frequent health problems and it became

clear from a very early stage that she would not be able to have children.490 She

appears instead to have channelled her motherly instincts into caring for wayward and

troubled souls via her involvement with the YWCA, and later with the confused and

broken Evan Roberts. From 1892, Penn-Lewis became involved with the Keswick

Conventions and would later be the tireless organiser of countless local conventions

modelled along similar lines. Between 1899 and 1901 was her period of

“humiliation”491 during which her travels across Russia were curtailed by a severe

486
Phillips, Roberts, 432-34.
487
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 158.
488
Letter leaked to the secular press dated 1 Sep 1905, quoted in Jones, Penn-Lewis, 158.
489
Evans, 1904, 29.
490
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 8.
491
Chronicled in Jones, Penn-Lewis, 86-95.

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bout of respiratory problems. It was out of this time that her theology of the cross

reached maturity. She appears to have emerged from this time much stronger and,

from 1903, becomes the organiser of Wales’s own full-blown Keswick, located at

Llandrindod Wells. This convention would go on to draw the praise of one who

commented, “Now at Llandrindod Wells the doctrines of Rowlands and Keswick have

come together. The Cross and the Holy Spirit; Calvary and Pentecost…”492

Penn-Lewis herself, however, would be increasingly criticised for her “one-tracked”

insistence on preaching the cross.493 She appears to have majored, increasingly, on co-

crucifixion.494

She developed a strong demonological emphasis as early as 1897 when a series of

addresses were given at the China Inland Mission Hall in London, later collected

together under the title Conflict in the Heavenlies.495 By the time of the first

Llandrindod conventions, she appears to have developed a fairly detailed doctrine of

spiritual warfare, speaking in language more familiar in late 20th Century charismatic

meetings, urging upon her hearers the need to “…bind the devil…”496 She appears to

be extending the Keswick message concerning victory over internal troubles to

include victory over the “wickednesses that are spirits.”497 This functioned alongside

492
Sermon by Rev Thomas Phillips at the Welsh Keswick of 1912: Jones, B., The Spiritual History of
Keswick in Wales 1903-1983, (Cwmbran: Christian Literature Press, 1989), 23.
493
Evans, 1904, 30.
494
Ibid. A fairly typical sample is this exposition of her beloved text, Romans 6:1-14: “The work of
deliverance from the guilt and bondage of sin was wrought out at Calvary, and the Apostle calls upon
the Roman Christians to enter upon the fruit of Christ’s death, by a decisive act of faith. With Christ
upon the Cross they died, and in His death they were cut off from their old life.” Penn-Lewis, J., The
Cross of Calvary and its Message, (London: Morgan & Scott, 1903), 33-34.
495
Garrard, M., Mrs Penn-Lewis: A Memoir, (Westbourne: Overcomer Book Room, 1947), 228-9.
496
Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 19 (italics original).
497
Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 13.

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her pre-occupation with the need to be rooted in the death of Christ and to count

oneself dead with Him. Victory over the “unseen forces of the powers of darkness”498

would not be possible without “an intelligent understanding of our death with Christ

on Calvary.”499 Her interest in the blood was mostly in relation to the book of

Revelation, with its triumphal imagery of the Lamb.500 All of this was against the

background of a virulent premillennialism in which it was expected that the Deceiver

was prowling around seeking to lead astray any who were not under the Blood.501

As the revival came and then subsided, Penn-Lewis’ consciousness of a spiritual

conflict appeared to heighten:

The Church throughout the world was more or less awakened…and now all
who know anything of the Spirit-filled life find themselves in a spiritual
conflict with the hosts of wickedness in high places, and are discovering that
every manifestation of the Holy Spirit is being met by a counterfeit evil one.
502

In February 1906503 she wrote again to Roberts, this time more persuasively, inviting

him to the Penn-Lewises’ home in Great Glen, Leicester: “I am waiting for the Lord

to show you His will and His time for coming here…”504 By March 1906, the month

in which the exhausted Roberts would finally take up the offer of a home with the

498
Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 23.
499
Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 23.
500
“’They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb’ (Revelation 12:11). It does not say here that Jesus
overcame him, but that the believer overcomes on the ground of the blood…It means no self-
indulgence, no grasping of anything for yourself. It means that it will take the whole force of the divine
life in you to stand, and to overcome.” Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 74 (parenthesis & italics
original). Cf. Penn-Lewis, The Cross of Calvary, 121-129.
501
Her interaction with premillennialism is surveyed in Jones, Penn-Lewis, 281-290.
502
Garrard, Memoir, 229, quoting from Penn-Lewis’s booklet The Warfare with Satan and the Way of
Victory.
503
By this time, Roberts had finished the last of his six preaching tours, the last one being a tour of the
North and ending on 4 January 1906. Public attention was already being drawn away from revival to
the coming General Election: Tudur, “Evan Roberts,” 94, 96.
504
Letter to Evan Roberts dated 19 Feb.1906, in Jones, Penn-Lewis, 159.

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Penn-Lewises, Roberts’ language has become still more demonological, and shows

signs of Penn-Lewis’ influence:

When I heard that the devil or the evil spirit attacked him, I could not but
exclaim “O Lord, put him under the sign of the blood…Remember the blood.
Count yourself dead. Count, and then what will the enemy do with dead
ones?…My regards to you. May God abide in you, for the Blood’s sake…505

From the point of his having taken up residence at Great Glen, much of Evan Roberts’

mail was intercepted and contact with him was forbidden to most, an act of control

that was much criticised, and remains so506 yet appears to have been from honest

motives, eager as the Penn-Lewises were to see Roberts make a full recovery from his

exhaustion.

Roberts was no recluse over this time, however, and appeared, at his own insistence,

at an Easter convention organised by Penn-Lewis in Bangor. Attendance was high

owing to leaked information about Roberts’ planned appearance there. On 24 April

1906, he opened a meeting in Bangor at which Penn-Lewis was presiding with a

prayer that so impressed her that she had it published in the Life of Faith:

Put us all under the Blood. O Lord, place the Blood on all our past up to this
moment. We thank Thee for the Blood. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
bind the devil this moment. …Reveal the Cross for the sake of Jesus – the
Cross that is to conquer the world. Place us under the Blood…507

505
Letter to David Roberts dated 13 March 1906, reproduced in Phillips, Roberts, 453-4.
506
The latest detractor is the popular historical writer Roberts Liardon in his book, God’s Generals:
Why They Succeded and Why Some Failed, (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1996), 95-102: Here
she is vilified as a “Jezebel” and portrayed as anxious to have a share in Roberts’ fame.
507
Prayer offered April 24th 1906, reproduced in Phillips, Roberts, 476.

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At this convention, Roberts preached two “passionate exhortations” about facing the

cross508 and apologised for all his “unbelief in the power of the Blood.”509 It is here

that he publicly adopted Penn-Lewis’s theology of the cross.510

At another convention in Porth in the June of that year, it appears that the Penn-

Lewisization of Roberts’ language has become complete. He is asked to open in

prayer:

Claim victory for Thy Son now, Lord. He is worthy to have the victory. Thou
art the all-powerful God. Oh, claim victory. We give all the glory to Thy
name. No one else has a right to glory…Oh, Holy Spirit – do Thou work
through us and in us now. Sanctify us. Bring us all under the blood of Calvary.
Take Thy handmaid and speak through her…511

The following day, Roberts was preaching. In this sermon, he is utterly cross-centred,

speaking throughout of being “face-to-face with the Cross of Christ,” and of

“following Christ to Calvary.”512 He assures his listeners that “It is possible through

Him to have God to cleanse the past with the Blood,” and recites 1John1:7.513 He

speaks freely about “Full Deliverance,” “The Power of the Blood,” and, “Getting

Authority over the Enemy.”514

Roberts went on to give four addresses at his first (and last) Keswick convention in

July 1906, following this with an appearance at the Llandrindod convention in August

at which he claimed that it had been the “Father of Lies” that had persuaded him not

508
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 152-3.
509
Ibid.
510
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 160.
511
Prayer offered on 28 June 1906 and taken down by David Phillips, reproduced in his, Roberts, 478
512
Sermon dated 29 June 1906, reproduced in Phillips, Roberts, 478-483.
513
Ibid.
514
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 161.

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to preach about the cross, implying, much to the chagrin of those present, that anyone

who likewise failed to preach the cross as much as Penn-Lewis did had been listening

to the same lying spirit.515 The hostile response to him at Llandrindod brought on

another severe mental and physical breakdown, forcing him to spend the next year

recovering at the Penn-Lewises’ home.

4.2. Jessie Penn-Lewis and Pentecostalism.

From 1908, Penn-Lewis’s campaign against demonic counterfeit power was stepped

up as news of the spread of Pentecostalism around the world reached her. To the

applause of F.B. Meyer,516 she began a series of articles in The Christian entitled “An

Hour of Peril.”517 These articles reach an estimated 250,000 Christian workers

worldwide and provoked a mixed response. It is at this time that correspondence with

Alexander Boddy at Sunderland began.518 Penn-Lewis took the trouble to attend at

least one of the Pentecostal meetings at Sunderland - on 11 October 1907 - and

endeavoured to maintain an eirenic spirit towards Boddy. She expressed concern in

her first letter, which was never sent, that “…there are other spirits at work in your

midst,” and that no amount of “claiming the Blood” will help.519 Following a far

515
Jones, Penn-Lewis, 161.
516
Like Penn-Lewis, Meyer would go on to become more definitely anti-Pentecostal, in his case, owing
to the influence of Keswick speaker W. Graham Scroggie. By the end of his life, in 1929, however,
Meyer’s position would become more moderate: Randall, Spirituality and Social Change, 42.
517
Garrard, Memoir, 227.
518
Boddy seems to have initiated the correspondence on 1 June 1907. He was already concerned that
Penn-Lewis’s writings were putting people off: “…at present there seems a mighty effort to keep out of
Great Britain this sign which the Lord is giving and which He promised.” Letter to Jessie Penn-Lewis
held at Donald Gee Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies.
519
Unsent letter to Alexander Boddy dated 28 Oct. 1907. She goes on: “…unless the message of the
Cross in its full objective power is follwed by the deepest experimental talking (sic.) to death of the
‘soulish’ life – that the soulish life is the vehicle for Satan’s subtle usage…”

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friendlier version of this letter sent a few days later,520 Boddy wrote back lamenting

that people had become so over-concerned about the possibility of counterfeit

manifestations they needed to be reminded that “the Holy Spirit can and does

manifest Himself more powerfully and wonderfully.”521 Penn-Lewis replied in graver

tones than before, voicing her concerns that Barratt was under the influence of

“animal magnetism” through which evil spirits could operate but promises to

“qualify” the contents of her forthcoming book on condition that Boddy and his wife

(for whom she was especially concerned) agree to meet her.522 The next piece of

correspondence was from the pen of Mary Boddy. In this letter, she assured Penn-

Lewis that “…we definitely put every meeting under the shelter of the precious Blood

and ‘bound the strong man.”523 She then went on to testify of her brother’s positive

experience of the meetings in which he had a “vision of the power of the blood,” and

exclaimed, “Oh, the victory of the Blood…”524 Penn-Lewis’s response to this appears

to have been saved up for her forthcoming book.

During the years 1907-12, Penn-Lewis’s attitude towards the Pentecostals clearly

hardened. The book that emerged out of that period is nowhere near as eirenic as her

initial correspondence with Boddy had been. This book was “War on the Saints.”A

Text Book on the Work of Deceiving Spirits Among the Children of God, and the Way

of Deliverance. This first appeared in October 1912 with the endorsement of Evan

Roberts on the inside cover: “As a key to a lock so is the truth in this book to

NEED…” During her days as the organiser of the Llandrindod convention, from 1903

520
Dated 31 Oct 1907.
521
Letter to Jessie Penn-Lewis dated 4 Nov. 1907. In this letter, Boddy is even so bold as to invite
Evan Roberts to come and preach at Sunderland.
522
Letter to Boddy dated 9 Nov. 1907.
523
Letter to Jessie Penn-Lewis dated 12 Nov. 1907.
524
Ibid.

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to 1909, her preoccupation had been with the doctrine of co-crucifixion as the true

key to a higher Christian life. Now she turned her attention more fully to ‘deceiving

spirits,’ portraying in great detail, with diagrams and appendices, how it is that

demons can deceive Christians into a pseudo-baptism in the Spirit experience. The

deception comes in by way of the senses, causing a Christian to be led away by

various supernatural phenomena that can be seen and felt. This, apparently, detracts

from pure faith. The object of her attack would appear to be entirely the Pentecostal

movement, which was drawing in a large number of converts from the Welsh Revival.

Penn-Lewis has much to say about the blood of Christ in this volume. First, she

denounces the “mistaken conception concerning the ‘shelter of the Blood,’ claimed

upon an assembly as a guarantee of absolute protection from the workings of the

powers of darkness.”525 Here, she clearly has the Sunderland meetings in mind. She

corrects this “mistaken conception” by pointing out that, according to the New

Testament, the functions of the Blood are to cleanse from sin,526 provide access into

the Holiest of All and to provide the ground for victory over Satan.527 She points out

that this victory is not automatic:

…we do not read that any can be put ‘under the Blood’ apart from their own
volition, and individual condition before God; e.g., if the ‘shelter of the Blood’
is claimed over an assembly of people, and one present is giving ground for

525
Penn-Lewis, J., “War on the Saints” 3rd Ed., (Leicester: Overcomer Book Room, 1922), 61. Italics
original.
526
She expounds 1John 1:7 with the accent on “scrutiny”: “Evil spirits hate scrutiny…The Blood of
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin, if we walk in the light; but the light must shine in for
the soul to walk in it.” Penn-Lewis, “War”, 206. This cleansing is the second of four conditions to
receiving the Holy Spirit, the other three being: “1. putting away of every known sin…3.obedience
right up to the edge of light through the Word of God; 4. full surrender to God as His entirely, with not
one thing clung to and withheld from Him…” Penn-Lewis, “War”, 290. This cleansing is “…needed
continuously…” Penn-Lewis, “War”, 234.
527
Penn-Lewis, “War”, 61.

146
 Satan, the ‘claiming of the Blood’ does not avail to prevent Satan working on
the ground which he has a right to in that person.528

She offers the warning, as she had to Boddy years previously, that people present at a

meeting where both God and Satan are at work may mistakenly believe that they are

safe under the Blood.529

The way in which she recommends claiming protection by the Blood involves linking

the idea to her co-crucifixion doctrine:

To resist the enemy on the ground of the blood of Christ, means wielding the
weapon of the finished work of Christ, by faith; i.e., His death for sin, freeing
the trusting believer from the guilt of sin; His death to sin on the cross and the
believer’s death with Him, freeing the man from the power of sin, and His
death victory on Calvary freeing the believer from the power of Satan.530

Both Alexander Boddy and Penn-Lewis felt that there was value in a demonocentric

blood mysticism. Both agreed that the blood was essential to protect an individual or a

gathering from coming under the control of a deceiving spirit as the experience of

Pentecost is sought. They differed only in their view of the appropriation of it. For

Boddy, the Blood worked, like the sacrament of the Eucharist itself, ex opera operato.

For Penn-Lewis, the Blood only worked like a sacramental, it worked ex opera

operantis, although she perhaps would not have put it in such terms. For Boddy, the

blood worked automatically, while for Penn-Lewis, it worked only in conjunction

528
Penn-Lewis, “War”, 61.
529
Penn-Lewis, “War”, 62.
530
Penn-Lewis, “War”, 199. This resistance must be ongoing: “Keep claiming the power of the blood
(Rev.xii.11)…” Penn-Lewis, “War”, 198. It must also be vocal: “The believer must now insist on
EXPRESSING HIMSELF IN VOICE, until the spirit breaks through into liberty. This is ‘the word of
testimony’ which is said, in Rev.xii.11, to be part of the overcoming power over the dragon. The
wrestling believer stands on the (1) ground of the Blood of the Lamb, which includes all that the
finished work of Calvary means in victory over sin and Satan…” Penn-Lewis, “War”, 248.

147
with the consecrated attitude of the believer. And, of course, for Penn-Lewis, the mere

fact that the Pentecostals were looking for visible, physical or sensual signs of the

Spirit moving, placed them well outside the Blood’s protection in any event.

Conclusion.

With Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis, a new dimension of blood mysticism

appears to have emerged. Until them, blood mysticism was first theocentric, it was

merit before God and a motive to devotion. Then, with the advent of Christian

Perfection and the need for a personal cleansing, it became anthropocentric. Now,

with Roberts and Penn-Lewis, blood veneration took on a quasi-magical dimension. It

was now demonocentric. It is the blood mysticism of spiritual paranoia; it is the kind

of belief that develops in the breasts of those who feel themselves to be inhabiting a

world torn between God and Satan, and praying through a heaven clouded with

demons.

It is difficult to identify with precision at what point this brand of spirituality begins to

develop. Whether or not Jessie Penn-Lewis is the true originator of the more recent

terminology of spiritual warfare, such as ‘binding the devil,’ and claiming ‘authority

over the enemy’ is not clear. Neither is it clear whether she is the originator of the

usage of the blood in spiritual warfare. She does not appear to be the originator of

devil and demon consciousness in Roberts, neither is she the originator of his

understanding that the Blood was the key to victory, but she certainly appears to have

had the effect of confirming and deepening his convictions about the cross and blood

148
of Jesus. Roberts himself was clearly conscious, after moving in with the Penn-

Lewises, of a change in his own thinking about the importance and power of the

atonement.

There are remarkable similarities between early Pentecostalism and the Roberts-Penn-

Lewis approach. As we will see, Jessie Penn-Lewis and Alexander Boddy both saw

the Blood in a similar light. They both understood it to procure the believer’s victory

over Satan, and that this victory must be appropriated in faith. They differed only in

the methodology for exercising this confidence in the blood. We will also encounter

further similarities between the language used by Roberts-Penn-Lewis and the

language that William Seymour used as he sought to reassure people of the apotropeic

power of staying ‘under the blood,’ a phrase first noticeable in Evan Roberts.

Thinking biblically, this pneumatic demon-consciousness might, on first sight, appear

to be very different to the forms of spirituality evident in the 1st century. The highly

pneumatic churches of the Gentile world do not appear to have been preoccupied with

the devil. Neither is there any evidence that any in the early church developed a

methodology based on the atonement for dealing with the devil.531 It seems, instead,

to have been the name of Christ that was invoked in encounters with demons, rather

than the blood of Christ.532 What Paul’s charismatic churches had in common with the

pneumatically-inclined of the 20th century was a strong anticipation of the return of

Christ. In the 20th century, world events were such as to produce a kind of

eschatological gloom amongst many Christians. The premillennial vision of an

imminent return of Christ, the thought that Christ could come at any moment, further

531
Notwithstanding Col.2:15; Heb.2:14 and Rev.12:11.
532
In Philippi: Acts 16:18, cf.Phil.2:9-10, and in Ephesus: Acts 19:13, cf. Eph. 1:21.

149
intensified the apocalyptic mindset. And it was this mindset, fundamentally

pessimistic as it was about the world’s trajectory and thoroughly convinced as it was

that there was a personal evil agent behind it, that supplied the context in which

demon-minded blood mysticism took shape.

A third direct influence on Sunderland after Keswick and the Welsh Revival, namely

the Azusa Street Revival of 1906, will now be examined.

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 5. ‘Under the Blood’ at Azusa

Street.

Introduction.

The events of April 1906 in Los Angeles under the leadership of the one-eyed Afro-

American holiness preacher, William J. Seymour, are still considered by most to be

the beginnings of worldwide Pentecostalism.533 This is a consensus borne of two

factors. Firstly, the fact that Frank Bartleman’s account of the revival at Los Angeles,

published in 1925, was the first to reach a wide audience. His version of events places

Los Angeles at centre stage as far as Pentecostal beginnings are concerned, though he

acknowledges the preparatory stages of the Welsh Revival and the Mukti Mission

Revival in India. 534 Secondly, as early as January 1907, Charles Parham, the chief

contender for the title of true originator of modern tongues speaking, fell from grace

in the eyes of the public, being unable to fend off unsubstantiated rumours of

homosexuality.535 Further, his doctrine of tongues-speaking led him to be more

cautious than Seymour about its use as a missionary tool. In contrast to Parham’s
533
The main detractor of this perception has been Creech who cites “Azusa’s journalistic boosters” as
being the main contributors to the elevation of happenings at Azusa to the level of “apocalyptic events
of international magnitude.” Creech, J., “Visions of Glory: the Place of the Azusa Street Revival in
Pentecostal History,” Church History 65:3 (1996), 407. A recent study by Van Der Laan, however,
places beyond doubt the historical, and not merely the symbolical, importance of Azusa Street as the
prime point of origin for international Pentecostalism: Van Der Laan, C., “What Good Can Come From
Los Angeles? Changing Perceptions of the North American Pentecostal Origins in Early Western
European Pentecostal Periodicals,” in Hunter, H.D., & C. Robeck (eds), The Azusa Street Revival and
its Legacy, (Cleveland: Pathway Press, 2006), 141-159.
534
Bartleman, F., Azusa Street: the Roots of Modern-day Pentecost, (Plainfield: Bridge Publishing,
1980), 90.
535
Goff, J., Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles F. Parham and the Missionary Origins of
Pentecostalism, (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1988), 136-142.

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followers, Azusa Street missionaries held that tongues-speaking was a God-given way

of communicating with foreign peoples. Excitement about this meant that Azusa

Street produced far more overseas missionaries than Parham’s Bible school produced.

This international footprint of the Mission inevitably raised its profile above other

Pentecostal centres in the USA at that time.536 Parham’s importance to the movement

has only recently been acknowledged.537 The place of Azusa Street, and therefore

William Seymour’s place, in history as the chief point of origin of global

Pentecostalism seems undeniable.538

536
For Robeck, this is a major reason why Azusa Street is the “birthplace of global Pentecostalism.”
Robeck, Azusa Street Revival and Mission: The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement, (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson, 2006), 239. cf. 240. A number of highly influential missionaries went to various
destinations from Azusa Street: In November 1906, T.B.Barratt was baptized in the Holy Spirit in New
York following correspondence with Azusa Street and took his experience back to Oslo with him. In
December 1906, on the same ship as Barratt on his way back to Norway, Lucy Farrow, who had been
assisting Seymour for some months, together with the now repentant Julia Hutchins and four others,
sailed for North Africa. In January 1907 Alfred and Lillian Garr sailed for India and later went on to
Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. In the October 1907-January 1908 issue of the Apostolic Faith it was
claimed that “Spirit-filled missionaries have gone out from Los Angeles to Monrovia, Liberia, Africa,
two sisters to South China and a band of nine missionaries to North China.” In January 1908, Cecil
Polhill received his baptism in the Holy Spirit at Azusa Street and went on to found the first
Pentecostal missionary society: the Pentecostal Missionary Union. In the same year, John G. Lake
visited Azusa and was inspired by Seymour. Lake went on to name his new South African Pentecostal
denomination after Azusa Street: the Apostolic Faith Mission. Owen Adams brought the blessing of
Azusa to Robert Semple, husband of Aimee Semple, who both then travelled to Hong Kong. After her
husband’s death, Aimee went on to make Los Angeles the base for her ministry. Robeck estimates that
“nearly two dozen” missionaries went out from Azusa Street within the fist year, followed by about the
same number over the following two years. Synan, Century of the Holy Spirit, 69-95; “Testimonies of
Outgoing Missionaries,” Apostolic Faith 1:2 (October 1906), 8-9; “From Los Angeles to Home and
Foreign Fields,” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec. 1906), 42; 54; “Pentecostal Missionary Reports,” Apostolic
Faith 1:11 (Oct-Jan. 1908), 8; Robeck, Azusa, 250.
537
German Pentecostals, however, were exceptional in seeing Parham and not Seymour as the founding
father: Van Der Laan, “What Good can Come From Los Angeles?” 155-159. From the Berlin
Declaration of 1907 until 1919 when some correspondence began with Los Angeles, German
Christians took exception to the fanatical and demonic “Los Angeles spirit.” Ibid., 158.
538
One of Seymour’s most ardent biographers, himself an African-American, would strongly support
this but is slightly idiosyncratic in claiming that too much place has been given by historians to Parham
due to “the influence of American racism on subsequent historical records,” a view that seems difficult
to sustain in the light of most of the published work of the past 40 years on the subject. Sanders, R.,
William Joseph Seymour: Black Father of the 20th Century Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement,
(Sandusky: Alexandria Publications, 2003), viii. Some significant work done on Seymour and Azusa
Street in the past 40 years would include: Kendrick, K., The Promise Fulfilled: A History of the
American Pentecostal Movement, (Springfield: Gospel Publishing House, 1961), Nichols, J.,
Pentecostalism, (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), Synan, V., The Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in
the United States, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), Hollenweger, W., The Pentecostals: The
Charismatic Movement in the Churches, (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1972), Anderson, R., Vision of
the Disinherited, (Oxford University Press, 1979), Nelson, D., “For Such a Time as This: The Story of
Bishop William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival,” (Unpublished PhD dissertation: University
of Birmingham, 1981), Owen, R., Speak to the Rock: The Azusa Street Revival: Its Roots and Its

152
Born in 1870 in Los Angeles, William Joseph Seymour was the son of freed slaves.

As a result of the Black Code of 1724, Seymour’s parents would have been required

to become Catholics. The Catholicism that developed among the slaves, however, was

really a form of West African spirituality clothed outwardly in a Christian garb.539

Indeed, some have noted the similarity between the Pentecostal concept of baptism in

the Holy Spirit and the West African concept of spirit possession.540 Seymour was

raised in an atmosphere that made him very open to the existence of good and evil

spirits and their beneficent or malicious affect upon people, as well as to the

possibility of direct communication with the spirit world. The existence of and need

for special revelation – messages received directly from God - seems to have become

an important doctrine for Seymour not long after his conversion in 1895. It was

possibly in connection with this subject that he developed a lifelong friendship with

Charles Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ.541

Seymour was converted at an African Methodist Episcopal church in Indianapolis but

soon joined the Evening Light Saints, a radical Wesleyan holiness group, as these

were more sympathetic to his penchant for special revelation and his preference for

premillennialism.542 He was invited in 1905 by Lucy Farrow to pastor a holiness

Message, (Lanham: University Press of America, 1998), Robeck, C., “The International Significance of
Azusa Street,” Pneuma (Spring 1986) and Robeck’s already cited book of 2006.
539
Robeck speaks illuminatingly of, “Seymour’s formative years in the context where the supernatural
was taken for granted, where spirits, both ‘good’ and ‘evil’ were commonly discussed, and where
dreams and visions were understood to contain messages that sometimes foretold the future…”
Robeck, Azusa, 21.
540
Lovett, L., “Black Origins of the Pentecostal Movement” in Synan, V., (ed) Aspects of Pentecostal-
Charismatic Origins, (Plainfield: Logos, 1975),
541
Robeck, Azusa, 35-37.
542
Robeck, Azusa, 30. Martin Wells Knapp, founder of God’s Bible School in Cincinatti, at which
Seymour studied for a time in 1900, may also have contributed to Seymour’s theology of special
revelation. Knapp wrote a book entitled Impressions, aiming at providing guidelines for distinguishing
between true God-given impressions and counterfeit, demonic ones. Robeck, Azusa, 33.

153
mission near Houston. There, in Houston, he was introduced for the first time to

Charles Parham and his Bible school. Early in 1906, Seymour was permitted, thanks

to Lucy Farrow’s mediation, to attend Parham’s all white Bible school by sitting

outside the window of the classroom. Seymour soon fell under the spell of Parham’s

teaching on tongues as the initial evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit, although

neither he nor Parham had experienced the gift at this stage. Lucy Farrow had this

gift, however, and was able to help convince Seymour of its reality. This latter-day

restoration of the gift of tongues to the Church was described by Parham, an ardent

Zionist, British-Israelist and premillennialist, as the Apostolic Faith. The faith and

practice of the churches of the New Testament apostles was being restored in

preparation for the return of Christ. Parham styled himself as the Projector of this

Apostolic Faith Movement.543

Parham soon arranged for Seymour to do some preaching in Houston, being

particularly keen that Seymour should be used to reach the African-Americans with

the Apostolic Faith message. Seymour’s competent preaching in Houston was

witnessed by a member of a small black majority holiness group that was based in

Los Angeles. This group was under the provisional leadership of Julia Hutchins.

Wishing to appoint a male leader, Hutchins promptly invited Seymour to leave

Houston to become the pastor of the group. Joseph Smale, a zealous Baptist preacher

determined to bring the Welsh Revival to Los Angeles, and Frank Bartleman, the

earliest chronicler of the Azusa Street revival, had both previously preached to this

small gathering of nine families. When Seymour came, however, he brought a

traditional Wesleyan holiness message combined with Parham’s tongues emphasis,

543
Robeck, Azusa, 45.

154
stating overtly that unless one spoke in tongues one could not claim to be baptised in

the Spirit. A number in Hutchins’s congregation were quite willing to accept this

message. Hutchins herself, however, considered herself to be already baptized in the

Spirit because she had experienced entire sanctification. She had no need of a

confirming sign. Still less did she want to be told that, without this sign, she was not

in fact baptized in the Spirit at all. She was so offended by Seymour’s teaching that

she famously padlocked the door to him in time for his return for the evening

service.544

Seymour then began his own work with a handful of sympathetic followers,

beginning with a nightly prayer meeting at 214 North Bonnie Brae Street. On April 6

1906 a 10 day fast was inaugurated. On April 9, Edward Lee was healed and spoke in

tongues. On the same day, Jennie Evans Moore (later to become Seymour’s wife),

spoke in tongues and miraculously played the piano. Soon, the meetings at North

Bonnie Brae Street were attracting the attention of the whole neighbourhood:

They shouted three days and nights. It was Easter season. The people came
from everywhere. By the next morning there was no way of getting near the
house. As people came in they would fall under God’s power; and the whole
city was stirred. They shouted until the foundation of the house gave way, but
no one was hurt.545

On April 12 Seymour himself spoke in tongues. By April 14, owing to all the

publicity, the group had grown so large, it had to move to an abandoned building: 312

Azusa Street. The first of many less than flattering newspaper reports appeared on

April 18 1906, the day before the portentous San Francisco earthquake. In a matter of

544
His text had been Acts 2:4: Cox, Fire from Heaven, 45, Synan, Century of the Spirit, 46-47.
545
Pentecostal Evangel 6:4 (1946), 6.

155
months, this old fly-ridden building became a world centre for Pentecostal activity,

and was open for prayer and preaching around the clock for three years until 1909.

The publication of The Apostolic Faith helped spread the Pentecostal message

throughout the USA and the world. Beginning with a distribution list of 10,000

addresses,546 The Apostolic Faith reached a readership of 50,000 within three years.547

When, in October 1906, Charles Parham came to see the mission for himself, he was

disgusted at the racial intermingling and the unbridled fanaticism. Parham tried to

take over the work but Seymour’s followers were loyal. Parham then started a

competing mission nearby. By June 1908, Clara Lum, the editor of The Apostolic

Faith, appears to have stolen the mailing list548 and moved to Portland, Oregon, where

she teamed up with a former church member, Florence Crawford, where they ran an

independent mission, and, at the same time, claimed the paper as their own. In 1911,

while Seymour was away preaching, William Durham attempted to take over the

Mission but was repelled by Seymour’s board of trustees and was locked out by

Seymour himself.549 Like Parham before him, Durham then also started his own

mission nearby. In 1913, Seymour was not invited to the Arroyo Seco camp meeting –

the meeting of the very organisation he had founded, the Apostolic Faith Mission. In

1915, Seymour concluded that, since all these people who had sought to undermine

his ministry were white, the problem was racism.550 As a result, he developed a policy

546
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 15.
547
Cauchi, T., “William J. Seymour and the History of the Azusa Street Mission” in The Apostolic
Faith: the Original Azusa Street Editions 1-13 Plus Editions 19 & 20 From Portland, Oregon, (CD-
ROM, Bishops Waltham: Tony Cauchi, 2004), 15.
548
This was initially under the guise of taking the mailing list with her to a conference so that she could
continue her editorial responsibilities while away from the mission.
549
Bartleman, Azusa, 143, 150-52.
550
Seymour seldom publicly resisted anyone, however, and frequently invited his enemies to take the
pulpit. Liardon points out that this might not have been down to his humility so much as his belief that
if he lost the right attitude and became angry, he would lose his salvation. He cites this extract from the
Apostolic Faith: “If you get angry, or speak evil, or backbite, I care not how many tongues you may

156
of forbidding anyone white from being appointed to leadership. The congregation

gradually dwindled. Seymour himself died in 1922. One more takeover attempt was

made by Ruthford Griffith in 1930, resulting in a protracted legal battle, in the middle

of which the mission was demolished in 1932. After the loss of their building, the

original Azusa Street congregation returned to their original home at North Bonnie

Brae Street. Mrs Seymour died in 1936.551

An emphasis on the blood at the Azusa Street mission is indicated in what has now

become the most famous quotation from the early ministry of that church: “The color

line has been washed away in the blood.”552 Frank Bartleman relates how “…the

‘blood’ songs” were very popular” in the meetings.553 Some of the most popular songs

at the meetings included Under the Blood, The Blood is all my Plea, Are you Washed

in the Blood, Saved by the Blood of the Crucified One, Hallelujah! ‘Tis Done, and, Oh

The Blood, The Blood, The Blood Done Sign my Name.554 William Durham, admiring

what he saw at Azusa, reflected that, “The Holy Spirit always exalts Jesus, and His

precious blood. As He is exalted and faithfully preached, God is restoring the old time

power.”555 New Testament scholar A.S. Worrell wrote approvingly of Azusa in the

holiness periodical Way of Faith, “ The blood of Jesus is exalted in these meetings as

I have rarely known elsewhere.”556 Wacker believes that, due to a declining emphasis

on the atonement among most churches, some people were attracted to the

have, you have not the baptism with the Holy Spirit. You have lost your salvation.” Apostolic Faith 1:
9 (June 1907), 12, Liardon, God’s Generals, 159.
551
The only published study devoted to her life is Robeck, C. M., “Moore, Jennie Evans (1883-1936)”
NIDPCM, 906-907.
552
F. Bartleman, Azusa Street: the Roots of Modern-day Pentecost, (Plainfield: Bridge Publishing,
1980), xviii.
553
Bartleman, Azusa, 57.
554
Robeck, Azusa, 146-7.
555
Bartleman, Azusa, 156.
556
Bartleman, Azusa, 86.

157
Pentecostals precisely because they “constantly talked about the saving efficacy of

Jesus’ blood.”557 This declining emphasis on the atonement as a sacrifice for sin was,

as intimated in earlier chapters, the result of theological liberalism. Among

Evangelicals this was encouraging a radicalisation process that meant that many

Evangelicals defiantly emphasised the death of Christ all the more.

Partly because of his refusal to be tied down to any one denominational group, and

partly because of his prolific literary output that included some 550 articles for the

Christian press,558 Frank Bartleman became hugely significant as the bearer of

Pentecostal tidings across the English speaking world and beyond. Goff accords him

the credit for so publicising the Azusa Street Mission over the late summer of 1906

that it rapidly grew from a congregation of about 150 regular attendees to an assembly

that was packed to capacity (about 600) by nightly visitors from all across America.559

As alluded to earlier, Bartleman is also credited with having written the first complete

history of the emergence of Pentecostalism in a book that first appeared in 1925 under

the title, How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles – As it Was in the Beginning. I will be

using a recent edition that includes a useful foreword by Vinson Synan: Azusa Street:

The Roots of Modern-Day Pentecost.560 Bartleman’s account is significant to this

study because of his detail regarding the continuity of the Los Angeles revival with
557
Wacker, G., Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture, (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 2001), 88. This is certainly borne out in later British Pentecostalism. Regarding the
Oxford Group, one defector to Pentecostalism comments: “In all the meetings of the Group I have ever
attended or heard about there has never been any mention of the blood of Christ in its expiatory
character.” Commons, Harold, “My Experience with the Oxford Group,” Redemption Tidings 9:4
(April 1933), 3.
558
Robeck, C., “Bartleman, Frank” in Burgess, S., & E. Van Der Maas, (eds), The New International
Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 366.
559
Goff, Fields White, 113-5.
560
Publication details as at note 473. Another, slightly more recent edition has an epilogue by Arthur
Wallis. In this he gives a church history survey from a Restorationist perspective, claiming exclusively
the Welsh Revival of 1904 as the event “…out of which came the world-wide Pentecostal
Movement…” without even a mention of Azusa Street, an extremely odd piece of work to use as a
foreword for a book on precisely that subject, but which makes a useful point nonetheless: Bartleman,
F., Azusa Street, (New Kensington: Whitaker, 1982), 165.

158
the Welsh Revival, thus providing the opportunity for an assessment of any possible

dependencies with regards to atonement terminology. To his account we now turn.

5.1. Frank Bartleman’s Account.

Frank Bartleman was born in 1871, the son of a “stern Roman Catholic”561 and grew

up on a farm.562 He lived with perpetual poor health with the thought of death never

far away. Following his conversion in 1893 at the age of 22, his zeal for the pulpit

began.563 He was theologically somewhat better educated than many other early

Pentecostal leaders, having studied at Temple College and Moody Bible Institute. 564

He was a denominational drifter, allying himself at different stages with the Salvation

Army and the Wesleyans in Pennsylvania, Pillar of Fire in Denver and Peniel Mission

in Sacramento, before finally arriving in Los Angeles in December 1904.565 Here,

after the tragic loss of his eldest child, Esther, at the tender age of three and a half, he

made friends with Joseph Smale at First Baptist Church. After news broke of the

Welsh Revival, lengthy prayer meetings were held at this church for revival to come

to Los Angeles.566 These were heady days of expectation when all across the city

many churches and holiness groups were stirred to pray for Welsh Revival

phenomena to be seen in Los Angeles. Bartleman’s account begins with his arrival in

Los Angeles.

561
Robeck, “Bartleman,”366.
562
Synan, V., “Frank Bartleman and Azusa Street” in Bartleman, Azusa, xii.
563
Synan, “Bartleman,” xii.
564
Robeck, “Bartleman,” 366.
565
Robeck, “Bartleman,” 366; Synan, “Bartleman,” xii-xv.
566
Synan, “Bartleman,” xv-xvi.

159
The Welsh Revival looms large throughout the early chapters of his book. Bartleman

had a keen sense of Christian history and was clearly well taught on all the important

names and movements of Protestant church history.567 Bartleman possibly saw

himself as a Melanchthon:

Luther himself declared he was but a rough woodsman, to fell the trees.
Pioneers are of that nature. God has polished Melanchthons, to follow up and
trim and shape the timber symmetrically.568

He puts forward a biblical-historical framework for understanding the revival then

taking place:

Wales was but intended as the cradle for this worldwide restoration of the
power of God, India [the Mukti Mission revival] but the Nazareth where He
was ‘brought up’569

He has an Old Testament framework for Joseph Smale and William Seymour:

…Brother Smale was God’s Moses, to lead the people as far as the Jordan,
though he himself never got across [Smale never accepted tongues]. Brother
Seymour led them over.570

567
He mentions John Wesley 11 x (pp.4, 16, 45, 75, 89, 99, 152, 168-9, Martin Luther 11x (pp.9, 62,
75, 80, 151, 165, 170, 171), Zwingli 4x (pp.102, 170, 171), Charles Finney 4x (pp.27, 137, 162, 173),
Melanchthon 3x (pp.62, 80, 160), John Bunyan 1x (p.171), Fryth 1x (p.172), Cranmer 1x (p.172), and
John Fletcher 1x (p.27). These suffering, misunderstood reformers of Protestant history are used by
Bartleman as an interpretational matrix that helps him to make sense the good and the bad that he saw
happening around him: “Cranmer, another of the reformers, did not embrace any particular party or
age…” (p.172), “They wanted ‘Pentecostal’ meetings. The leader wrote me they were hungry for
‘Pentecost.’ …The letter seemed full of enthusiasm, the thing John Wesley so strongly discouraged and
depreciated…They had to learn that ‘Pentecost’ meant the dying out of the self-life…A man once
asked Luther to recommend to him a book both agreeable and useful. ‘Agreeable and useful!’ replied
Luther, ‘Such a question is beyond my ability. The better things are the less they please.’” (p.99).
Bartleman, Azusa.
568
Bartleman, Azusa, 62.
569
Bartleman, Azusa, 90: extract from an article of his written for the Apostolic Light in October 1906.
570
Bartleman, Azusa, 62. Cf. “God found His Moses, in the person of Brother Smale, to lead us to the
Jordan crossing. But He chose Brother Seymour, for our Joshua to lead us over.” Bartleman, Azsua, 46.

160
Like Melanchthon, Bartleman was a follower rather than a leader. He fully embraced

each successive wave of doctrine that swept through the holiness ranks: first tongues,

then William Durham’s ‘finished work’ teaching of 1911, finally embracing the

‘oneness’ fad in 1913. It was through this latter move that he began to lose his

influence.571 One significant way in which he followed others was in his interest in

the Welsh Revival, which he seems to have caught from Smale.572 Bartleman’s

enthusiasm for the Welsh Revival reached its height in the months immediately

following his acquisition of two books in May 1905.573

After Smale’s visit to the Welsh Revival, from which he returned in June 1905,

Bartleman was emboldened to make contact with Evan Roberts personally. Over the

summer and autumn of 1905, he wrote to Roberts three times. Roberts’ first two

replies are polite and unexceptional. The third one, however, is decidedly combative:

Loughor, Wales, Nov.14, ’05. My dear comrade: What can I say that will
encourage you in this terrible fight. I find it is a most awful one. The kingdom
of the evil one is being besieged on every side. Oh, the millions of prayers –
not simply the form of prayer – but the soul finding its way right to the White
Throne!…I pray God to hear your prayer, to keep your faith strong, and to
save California. I remain, your brother in the fight. Evan Roberts. 574

This would have chimed well with Bartleman’s own obsession with the devil and all

things Satanic. In particular, he frequently equates bodily sickness, whether his own

or that of a family member, as an attack of the devil: “Then the devil attacked me with

571
Synan, “Bartleman,” xxiii.
572
He also records hearing F.B. Meyer speaking of it in April 1905: Bartleman, Azusa, 7.
573
“May 1905, I wrote in an article ‘My soul is on fire as I read of the glorious work of grace in
Wales.’” Bartleman, Azusa, 12. The two books were Revival in Wales by G. Campbell Morgan, and,
The Great Revival in Wales by S.B. Shaw.
574
Bartleman, Azusa, 33.

161
a terrible stomach neuralgia.”575 Similarly: “Little John was taken with convulsions

and the devil tried to kill him.”576

Second to this, any disruptiveness in a meeting, especially if it hindered him from

preaching, was, likewise, seen as the devil fighting hard to prevent God’s Word from

being proclaimed: “I preached a number of times at the convention. But we had a

great battle.”577 Likewise here: “They subjected me to an attempted severe

censorship…the devil tried to hinder my messages.”578

In spite of this, he claims, “We try to keep from magnifying Satan’s power.”579 There

appear to be two episodes in his life when he was especially conscious of demonic

activity, the first being the time of his founding of the Eighth and Maple Mission in

the Autumn of 1906, chronicled in chapter 4. This mission he then hands over to

William Pemberton due to exhaustion. Even before he hands over to Pemberton,

Bartleman testifies that throughout that time, “…the opposition steadily increased

from the churches.”580 This chapter of 33 pages581 has 11 references to the word

“devil” besides the other epithets he uses.582 The second peak in references to the

devil comes in the chapter describing his return, after much travelling, to the West

Coast in the spring of 1908. He then travels east again. This episode is described in

the 22 pages of chapter 6. At this time, on one occasion, he reports, “…I seldom if

ever had felt such a wonderful flow of the Spirit before.”583 This chapter also has 11

575
Bartleman, Azusa, 94
576
Bartleman, Azusa, 119.
577
Bartleman, Azusa, 124.
578
Bartleman, Azusa, 129.
579
Bartleman, Azusa, 71.
580
Bartleman, Azusa, 68.
581
The average length of the 8 chapters that make up the main narrative is 19 pages.
582
E.g. “Satan” 3x, “the enemy” 2x.
583
Bartleman, Azusa, 125.

162
references to the word ‘devil’ besides references to “the enemy” and the “forces of

evil”584 Bartleman’s devil-consciousness appears to rise and fall with the degree of

intensity with which he feels conscious of the power of God. At such times, he often

feels that he is breaking new ground, taking territory from the “enemy”:

I was under special illumination of the Spirit at this place, capturing new
territory from the devil. One can always tell in preaching when they have
gotten onto new territory, not before recovered. The enemy is always
discovered, and generally makes a furious attack upon you.585

Bartleman’s experience thus gives us something of a window into the wider devil-

consciousness that, as we shall see, was very visible in a wide range of revival

participants. Why such devil-consciousness had not arisen in the similarly heightened

supernaturalism of revivals prior to the Welsh Revival of ’04-05 is mysterious. It

would also seem to be the case that 19th Century revivals did not attract as much

human opposition as was experienced by the early Pentecostals, and often it is human

opposition that is being described in terms of the ‘devil,’ ‘Satan,’ ‘the enemy’ and the

‘forces of evil.’ It is also possible that at the tail end of the holiness movement in its

various dimensions, there was an attempt being made to move the scene of battle from

sin within to the devil without. The pugnata spiritualis was changing shape. It could

be that the whole sanctification project, in both its Wesleyan and non-Wesleyan

forms, was failing and a new enemy was needed to pin this failure on. Jessie Penn-

Lewis appears to have been at the vanguard of this shift of focus from inbred sin to

the “unseen forces of the powers of darkness”586 This shift to a more demonological

584
Once each. “Devil” occurs once in chapter 1 (13 pages long), three times in chapter 2 (30 pages),
five times in chapter 3 (24 pages), eleven times in chapter 4 (32 pages), five times in chapter 5 (19
pages), eleven times in chapter 6 (22 pages), once in chapters 7 (22 pages) & 8 (12 pages) and none at
all in chapters 9 & 10.
585
Bartleman, Azusa, 119-20.
586
Penn-Lewis, Life in the Spirit, 23.

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worldview was also of a piece with the rise of the premillennial outlook and the

conviction that these were the Last Days. The Tribulation was just around the corner.

The imminent rise of the antichrist provided the milieu in which the devil was much

more likely than before to be blamed for many other things besides personal sin. He

could be blamed for disruption and fanaticism in meetings, persecution from the

wider Church as well as bodily sickness.587

To continue with the Melanchthon likeness, Bartleman, was not only a follower of the

pioneers and of spiritual fashions. He was also a ‘trimmer’ and ‘shaper’ of what the

pioneers had cut. His criticism of unworthy elements in what he saw was virulent and

unflattering. He had a keen eye for selfish ambition in preachers588 and lamented the

disunity of the Church.589 Also of concern to him was the potential loss of a

christological centre within Pentecostalism:

In the beginning of the ‘Pentecostal’ work I became very much exercised in

the Spirit that Jesus should not be slighted, ‘lost in the temple,’ by the
exaltation of the Holy Ghost, of the ‘gifts’ of the Spirit. There seemed great
danger of losing sight of the fact that Jesus was ‘all, and in all.’…The work of
Calvary, the atonement, must be the center of our consideration.590

587
Anderson’s comment, “The extraordinary activity of evil spirits, Pentecostals believed, was
evidence of a wholesale counter-movement of the demonic world against its impending destruction,”
would seem to support the idea that Pentecostal demonology was bound up with their eschatology:
Anderson, R.M., Vision of the Disinherited: The Making if American Pentecostalism, (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1979), 96.
588
Describing events at Eighth and Maple: “We had the greatest trouble with strange preachers, who
wanted to preach. Of all the people they seemed to have the least sense…They liked to hear
themselves. But many a preacher died in these meetings.” Bartleman, Azusa, 70.
589
“The work had become one more rival party…” “Surely a ‘party spirit’ cannot be ‘Pentecostal.’
There can be no divisions in a true Pentecost.” Bartleman, Azusa, 68.
590
Bartleman, Azusa, 85. cf. “Any mission that exalts even the Holy Ghost above the Lord Jesus Christ
is bound for the rocks of error and fanaticism.” Bartleman, Azusa, 106.

164
He mentions the blood of Jesus 13 times in his account, (never in direct connection

with the devil). His main concern is that it be “exalted”591 and “magnified,”592 and

laments that at one point in his own ministry, due to “self-pride,” the line of the hymn

“nothing but the blood of Jesus,” had been somewhat “lost sight of.”593

While being strongly in support of the emphasis on the blood at Azusa Street, he only

once proffers any explanation for this emphasis. Apparently, the Spirit Himself was

the One ‘lifting up’ the Blood:

Great emphasis was placed on the ‘blood’ for cleansing etc. A high standard
was held up for a clean life. ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.’594

There does not appear to be any obvious link between an emphasis on the blood in the

Welsh Revival and an emphasis on it in Bartleman’s ministry. The link between the

Welsh Revival and the Azusa Street revival as a whole is weaker still since

Bartleman, like many other whites among the rank and file of the early Azusa

congregation, is likely to have had little influence upon the mission, their somewhat

stifled ministries leading to the founding of the Eighth and Maple and Upper Room

missions in the Autumn of ’06. Seymour himself had no contact with the Welsh

Revival and does not appear to have drawn much inspiration from it.595

591
Bartleman, Azusa, 86 & 156.
592
Bartleman, Azusa, 64.
593
Bartleman, Azusa, 79.
594
Bartleman, Azusa, 54.
595
The only mention of the Welsh Revival in the Apostolic Faith is an excerpt from Alexander
Boddy’s account of his visit to Norway in which he compares it to his visit to the Welsh Revival: “New
Scandinavian Revival: The Witness of ‘Tongues’ Manifested in Christiania” Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-
Mar.1907), 8

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An emphasis on the devil and spiritual warfare may well have been becoming a

commonplace amongst turn-of-the-century holiness groups on both sides of the

Atlantic. This emphasis was then given a new role in the midst of the virulent

opposition, much of which was from other Christians against them. Fellow

millenarians were denouncing them as the “last vomit of Satan.”596 For the

Pentecostals’ part, they also blamed the devil for the enmity of other Christians, only

with a much less bitter tone than was being used against them. It appears that at Azusa

Street a strong link between the blood and spiritual warfare appears for the first time.

For Seymour, this link was plain to see in the story of the Exodus. The use of such

Exodus typology, as well as all the other uses to which the blood of Christ was put,

will be explored in what follows.

5.2. The Apostolic Faith Magazine.

The impression that visitors had that the blood of Jesus was emphasised a lot at Azusa

Street meetings is supported by even a cursory reading of the early issues of The

Apostolic Faith, a magazine first issued in September 1906, distributed for free and

acquiring a worldwide readership of 50,000 before being transferred to Portland,

Oregon. So great was the spontaneous prayer and financial support of all those on the

mailing list, that the transfer of all but the local mailing list to Portland in the June of

1908, is credited with sucking the life out of the Azusa Mission leading to the cooling

off of the revival by early 1909.597

596
Nichol, J.T., Pentecostalism, (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 70.
597
Cauchi, “William J. Seymour,”15-16.

166
For this study, I will be concentrating on issues 1:1 (September 1906) to 1:12

(January 1908)598 which were all written and sent from Azusa Street and reflect the

situation there. In these first 12 issues, there are an average of 27.5 references to the

blood of Jesus per issue, each issue averaging at 42 pages in length,599 with a total of

7 articles devoted entirely to the subject of the atonement.600 There are a grand total of

331 references to the blood of Jesus in the first 12 issues. Needless to say, references

to the blood, though extraordinarily high in comparison with much later periodicals,

are no match for the number of references to the Holy Spirit. “Holy Ghost” is by far

the most popular pneumatological term, used a total of 1,039 times. “Holy Spirit”

occurs 228 times and “Anointing” features 52 times. These total a staggering 1, 319,

averaging at 112 occurrences per issue, over four times the number of references to

the blood of Jesus.

598
I have taken the first 12 issues not only because these capture the movement at its most effervescent
and definitive but also for the purposes of comparison with other periodicals for which I will use the
same sample of the first 12 issues. You will note from my graphs (overleaf) that the dating is uneven.
This reflects the irregularity with which Apostolic Faith went to press. It was a monthly only for the
first 5 issues.
599
Issues 1:4-1:6 are all unusually long: 1:4 & 1:5 each being 56 pages long, and 1:6, 72 pages long.
All other issues from the Azusa period range between 34 and 38 pages. Because of these variations I
have averaged out the figures on a ‘per page’ basis for the graph.
600
Seymour, W.J., “The Precious Atonement,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 11-12; Anon., “The
Spirit Follows the Blood,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 22; Anon., “Victory Follows
Crucifixion,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 29; Anon., “The Spotless Lamb of God,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 46-47; Anon., “Bearing His Reproach,” The Apostolic Faith 1:5
(Jan.’07), 27-28; Anon., “Virtue in the Perfect Body,” The Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.’07), 13-14;

167
Among the teaching articles,601 pneumatology is top priority. There are a total of 26

articles giving teaching on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts,602 besides numerous

601
My methodology in selecting only ‘teaching articles’ and excluding all testimonies is the same here
as in all my analyses of periodicals. My intention is to create a level playing field of data. Figures for
the Holy Spirit and for divine healing for instance could be swelled by testimonies yet this is not fair to
the data on the Second Coming and the Atonement, which are subjects that do not attract testimonies. I
have, however, recorded all poetry as I found that poems were often written by early Pentecostals on all
four of these subjects.
602
Anon., “Tongues as a Sign,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 12-15; Anon., “The Promise Still
Good,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 23-24; Allen, H.M., “When the Holy Ghost Speaks,” The

168
testimonies of baptism in the Holy Spirit (BHS from here on). The Second Coming of

Christ is the second most dominant doctrinal urgency, there being 14 articles on this

subject, showing a steady decline in prominence throughout the brief segment of time

covered by this analysis.603 There are, as mentioned, 7 articles on the atonement.

These show a very sharp decline in frequency while casual references to the Blood

show an overall increase as shown on the graph. There are only 3 articles giving

teaching on divine healing,604 while testimonies of healing, often very brief, are

common.

Working with the hypothesis, based on Bartleman’s account, that devil-consciousness,

and, perhaps an attendant emphasis on the Blood go hand in hand with heightened

Apostolic Faith 1:2 (Oct.’06), 17-18; Hall, A., “Honor the Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:2
(Oct.’06), 35-36; Cook, G.A., “Receiving the Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:3 (Nov.’06), 18-19;
Anon., “The Ten Virgins,” The Apostolic Faith 1:3 (Nov.’06), 35; Hill, F.E., “Baptized with the Holy
Ghost,” [song] The Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 17-18; Anon., “The Enduement of Power,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 18-19; Anon., “The Baptism with the Holy Ghost Foreshadowed,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 21-22; Anon., “The True Pentecost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06),
25-27; Anon., “The Sin Against the Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 51-52; Ellison,
J.W., “Pentecost Restored,” [poem] The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.07), 24; Stewart, S., “Holy Spirit Be
My Guest,” The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 24; Seymour, W.J., “Receive Ye the Holy Ghost,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 24-25; idem, “Gifts of the Spirit,” The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 26-
27; Anon., “God is His Own Interpretation,” The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 28-29; Seymour, W.J.,
“The Baptism With the Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.’07), 56-57; Anon., “Type of
Pentecost. II Chron.5,” The Apostolic Faith 1:7 (Apr.’07), 18-20; Lupton, L., “This is That,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:7 (Apr.’07), 22-24; Anon., “To the Baptized Saints,” The Apostolic Faith 1:9
(Sep.’07), 19-22; Seymour, W.J., “Letter to One Seeling the Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:9
(Sep.’07), 23-25; Anon., “Pentecostal Notes,” The Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.-7), 24-26; Anon.,
“Questions Answered,” The Apostolic Faith 1:11 (Oct.07-Jan.’08), 10; Anon., “The Baptism with the
Holy Ghost,” The Apostolic Faith 1:11 (Oct.07-Jan.08), 26-29; Anon., “Who May Prophesy?” The
Apostolic Faith 1:12 (Jan.08), 16-17.
603
Anon., “The Millenium,” The Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 21-22; Anon., “Jesus is Coming,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.’06), 29-30; Keyes, L., “A Message Concerning His Coming,” The Apostolic
Faith 1:2 (Oct.’06), 24; Kilbeun, D., “A Message Concerning Christ’s Coming,” [poem] The Apostolic
Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 52-53; Hezmalhalch, T., “Jesus is Coming,” The Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06),
55-56; Beck, A., “When Jesus Comes,” [poem] The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 15-17; Seymour,
W.J., “Behold the Bridegroom Cometh,” The Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.’07), 17-19; Beck, A., “The
Warfare, The Rapture and Afterwards,” The Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.’07), 28-31; Anon., “Signs
of His Coming,” The Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.07), 52-54; Kent, C.E., “Signs of the Times,”
[poem] The Apostolic Faith 1:7 (Apr.’07), 17-18; Beck, A., “The First Resurrection,” [poem] The
Apostolic Faith 1:8 (May ’07), 12-13; Anon., “Jesus is Coming,” [poem] The Apostolic Faith 1:8 (May
’07), 14; Hezmelhalch, T., “Type of the Coming of Jesus,” The Apostolic Faith 1:9 (Sep.07), 31-33;
Anon., “Notes on the Coming of Jesus,” The Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.’07), 31-35.
604
Anon., “he Bore Our Sicknesses,” The Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.’06), 27-28; Anon., “Healing,” The
Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.’07), 49-51; Anon., “Healing,” The Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.’07), 11-
12;

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awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit, I have compared references to the Blood

with references to the Spirit. Further comparisons will be made with references to the

Devil. Overall, an emphasis on the Spirit seems fairly consistent, yet where

fluctuations are apparent, references to the blood and the Spirit appear to rise and fall

together. They rise together from October ’06 through to January ’07. Very loosely,

there is a joint peak in the spring of 1907 and both themes reach their highest peaks in

the New Year of 1908. There is also a joint slump in January 1907. The Autumn of

1906, during which there is a steady rise in Blood and Spirit speak, saw an evacuation

of parishioners to the neighbouring Eighth and Maple and Upper Room missions as

well as a painful and acrimonious split between Seymour and Parham in October.

This period also shows the most coverage of opposition from other churches. Issue

1:2 (October 1906) carries two articles on the subject,605 and issue 1:4 (December

1906), a further one.606 It could be that this was a time when the Mission needed to

affirm itself by recourse to its most cherished identity markers. It is more important,

however, to note the way that the evidence, especially from the joint risings and

fallings of October ’06 to January ’07, supports the idea that the blood and the Spirit

were together in the experience of Pentecost as far as the Azusa Street worshippers

were concerned. To mention the one was to imply the other. This conjoining of

Christology and pneumatology can be seen in such pithy sayings as this: “After we

get the Holy Ghost on our souls, we need the Blood just as much, because the Blood

605
“One Church,” Apostolic Faith 1:2 (Oct.1906), 25; “Spreads the Fire,” Apostolic Faith 1:2
(Oct.1906), 31-32. These both cover the events surrounding the expulsion of William Pendleton and 35
church members from their denomination (the Baptists).
606
“Pentecost with Signs Following,” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 1-4. During this month also, an
anti-Pentecostal article by Phineas Bresee is published: “The Gift of Tongues,” Nazarene Messenger
(Dec.13, 1906). This article in turn was preceded by an article for Rocky Mountain Pillar of Fire in
June: Bridwell, C., “Fanatical Sect in Los Angeles Claims Gift of Tongues,” Rocky Mountain Pillar of
Fire, (June 13, 1906).

170
brings life and sweetness,”607 and this: “…the only way to get right is to be born of

the Spirit through the Blood of Calvary.”608

The same principle works in reverse: the Spirit brings a new realisation of the

importance of the blood: “I seemed to have a conception of the mighty efficacy of the

Blood of Christ, and His omnipresence in Spirit as never before.”609 And, quoting

from a British BHS testimony: “The Holy Spirit came upon me on Sunday night,

showing me the mighty power in the blood of Jesus.”610

In terms of composition, cleansing is, in true Wesleyan holiness tradition, top of the

list of themes, with 1John 1:7 frequently quoted and paraphrased throughout. 19% (64

instances) of all references to the blood in the Azusa Street Apostolic Faith are about

being cleansed and washed. Sayings like “How I worship Him today. How I praise

Him for the all-cleansing blood!” 611 were common at Azusa Street services: “A

colored brother arose and sang the verses of a hymn, the people joining in the chorus:

‘The Blood, the Blood, is all my plea; Hallelujah, it cleanseth me.”612

The theme of sanctification is also very prominent in references to the Blood. In

Wesleyan theology, this is virtually synonymous with the idea of cleansing, and

comes out at 9% (29 instances). The second blessing of sanctification was clearly

separated from the third blessing of BHS:

607
Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.1907), 47.
608
Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.1907), 55.
609
Mead, S.J., “New-Tongued Missionaries for Africa,” Apostolic Faith 1:3 (Nov.’06), 20.
610
Anon., “Testimony of a Yorkshire Farmer,” Apostolic Faith 1:11 (Jan.’08), 8.
611
Apostolic Faith 1:3 (Nov.1906), 14.
612
Apostolic Faith 1:7 (April 1907), 12.

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 So in the first chapter of Acts, Jesus taught His disciples to wait for the
promise of the Father. This was not to wait for sanctification. His blood had
been spilt on Calvary’s cross. He was not going to send His blood to cleanse
them from carnality but His Spirit to endue them with power.613

Yet both the Holy Spirit and the blood are sanctifying agents:

The next step for us is to have a clear knowledge, by the Holy Spirit, of the
second work of grace wrought in our hearts by the power of the Blood and the
Holy Ghost.614

And, as with traditional Wesleyanism, this second blessing of sanctification was

sought and remembered as a nameable, datable experience: “The 30th day of October

1897, I was wholly sanctified through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.”615

A distinguishing mark of Azusa Street blood mysticism is the recurring imperative to

stay ‘under,’ or ‘covered’ by the blood. This is similar to Roberts and Penn-Lewis

terminology but, for reasons already discussed, is not likely to have originated from

them. References to being covered by or being under the blood comprise 10.5% (35

instances) of the total in the first 12 issues of The Apostolic Faith: “As long as we live

under the Blood we will have life and be preserved…”616 Readers are exhorted to,

“Tell the saints to love one another and keep united in love, and under the Blood

every day, and humble.”617 “Under the blood” becomes a standard way for

contributors to sign off their articles by issue number 5 (Jan 1907).

613
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 23.
614
Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.1907).
615
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), article by H.M. Turney of San Jose.
616
Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.1907) 47.
617
Apostolic Faith 1:7 (Apr.1907), from Andrew G. Johnson of Sweden.

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Another distinguishing mark, besides the ‘covering’ theme, and one that would come

to dominate Pentecostal blood mysticism, is the victory theme. If the themes of

covering and victory by the blood are combined, these work out at 20.5%. If the

themes of cleansing and sanctification through the blood618 are combined these

amount to 28%. Thus Azusa Street references to the blood are steeped in combative

terminology almost to the same extent that they are steeped in 19th century holiness

terminology.

The number of times the blood is described as a victory over “Satan,” “the enemy,” or

the “devil” is considerable, amounting to 10% of the total (33x): “The blood of Jesus

prevails against every force and power of the enemy. Glory to God.”619 Readers are

assured that, “…Satan is not able to make his way through the blood,”620 and may be

confident that, “The Blood conquers all the forces of hell.”621

There seems to have been a real fear amongst some, that a counterfeit miracle might

take place when they were seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the sign of

tongues. This is when it became useful to know that one was ‘covered’ by the blood.

inspired by Luke 11:9-13, Seymour reassures his readers: “Do you think when I get

down covered with the blood of Jesus, and seek Him to baptize me with the Holy

Ghost that He is going to give me a serpent?”622

618
The two are virtually synonymous in the Apostolic Faith, as seen in the passage cited earlier: “This
was not to wait for sanctification. ..He was not going to send His blood to cleanse them from
carnality…” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 23 (emphasis mine).
619
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 3.
620
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 16, another possible reference to the Red Sea.
621
Apostolic Faith 1:6 (Feb.-Mar.1907), 47.
622
Apostolic Faith 1:2 (Oct.1906), 30.

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 Never let the hosts of hell make you believe that while you live under the
blood, honouring the blood, and pleading through the blood for blessings from
the throne, that God will let Satan get through the blood, and put a serpent into
you.623

In later issues, the imagery becomes more defiant: “We can stand before the very

gatling guns of hell and tell them that the Blood cleanseth.”624

The October 1907 - January 1908 issue (1:11) contains what might be the first

recorded use of the phrase ‘plead the blood’ within Pentecostalism:625

Remember, when the Lord works, the devil works too, but when satan
presents anything to you, just tell him you are under the Blood. Just plead the
Blood, and he will flee….So, when the Holy Ghost is working, keep your eyes
centered upon Jesus, and when the devil presents a thought just rebuke him
and plead the Blood.626

An additional dimension to the data is discovered when the use of Exodus typology is

recorded. Throughout the magazine, I have found that Passover, Red Sea and Exodus

language occurs alongside many of the blood themes. The malicious presence of

Satan and his hosts (typified by Pharaoh and the Egyptians) is something of a

common denominator among such references, though in some cases the thought has

more to do with salvation from a sinful past:

623
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 37.
624
Apostolic Faith 1:12 (Jan.1908), 17.
625
The phrase “pleading through the Blood” occurs much earlier: Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 37.
After that, Apostolic Faith 1:7 (April 1907), 18, features a poem by Bro. C.E. Kent entitled “The Signs
of the Times” that has the phrase, “’The Blood,’ they cry, ‘is all our need.’/ His are the merits that they
plead.” This, however, is traditional Wesleyan hymnodic language.
626
Anon., “Jesus, O How Sweet the Name!” Apostolic Faith 1:11 (Jan.1908), 30.

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 The Passover Lamb was a type of Christ…The blood stood for salvation to
save them from the destroyer. So the blood of Jesus saves us from sin, for
Satan is not able to make his way through the blood.627

…evil spirits cannot come under the Blood any more than the Egyptians could
pass through the Red Sea - the Red Sea represents the Blood of Jesus Christ.
The Blood gives you power over all the power of the enemy.628

…and the passing over the Red Sea, which was a type of the Blood of Jesus
Christ that gives us victory over all the powers of the enemy.629

The night when they ate the Passover in Egypt was the type of a sinner coming
out of darkness, through the Blood of Jesus. Hallelujah!630

It was the blood that saved the people from the awful destruction in Egypt, and
it takes the Blood to save us today from sin.631

In terms of volume, the occurrence of Exodus typology alongside blood references is

meagre – there are a total of 12 instances - yet I would suggest that these are

significant.632 The Exodus story had been a deeply rooted cultural metanarrative

among African Americans since the days of slavery.633 It is the most likely underlying

meaning to them of the phrase ‘under the blood.’ This phrase is almost certainly

rooted in Exodus 12-14, a favourite Old Testament text, which pictures the Israelites

being shielded from the destroying angel because of the blood of the lamb daubed

upon their doorposts and lintels. They were thus ‘under’ the protection of the blood.

627
“Salvation and Healing,” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 16.
628
“Questions Answered: Can a child of God be possessed by evil spirits?” Apostolic Faith 1:11
(Jan.1908), 15.
629
Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.1907), 14.
630
“Old Testament Feasts Fulfilled in our Souls Today,” Apostolic Faith 1:9 (Sep.1907), 13.
631
“Who May Prophesy?” Apostolic Faith 1:12 (Jan.1908), 17.
632
These peak in December ’06 (4x), June-September ’07 (3x), and October ’07-January ’08 (3x).
633
There have been a number of studies on African-American Pentecostalism, a number of which make
reference to the widespread use of the Exodus narrative, e.g. “Africans in the ‘New World’ identified
with the Israelites under Egyptian Bondage…non-violent victory over enemies and Pentecost, became
the theological symbolic imagery for a people with whom God wandered through the desert…”
Gerloff, R., “The Holy Spirit and the African Diaspora: Spiritual, Cultural and Social Roots of Black
Pentecostal Churches,” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association XIV (1995), 91

175
The Red Sea is further recruited as a “type” of the blood of Christ.634 Just as the

Egyptians were covered by the Red Sea, so the past is under the blood, and just as the

Israelites were cut off from the enemy by the sea, so the believer is cut off from sin

and Satan by the blood.

However, there are surprising results when references to the Devil, Satan and the

Enemy are compared with all references to being covered by the blood or having

victory by the blood (including the Exodus type):

634
Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.1907), 14.

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These graphs seem to suggest remarkably little relationship between demon-

awareness and appeals to stay under the blood. The most striking instance is the April

’07 issue: a peak in references to being under the blood and gaining victory by the

blood (the very next issue also shows a peak in Exodus typology) and yet a slump in

references to the Devil. It is possible that the real threat was a very human one and

that the image of the Israelites battening down the hatches for a night under the blood,

followed by their glorious liberation from oppression was a powerful one for the

readers as they faced persecution. And there may indeed be a racial dimension to this

as most of the opposition, as we saw in the introduction, was white. The ex-slaves

were still not really free. The blood may have became a symbol of their spiritual

emancipation.

Many other themes are represented. The blood is, of course, the means of ‘salvation’:

6% (20x). The need to ‘honour,’ ‘hold up,’ ‘magnify’ and ‘exalt’ the blood is seen as

very important. Such references constitute 4% (15 instances) of the total. Indeed, God

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Himself honours the blood: “God honours nothing but the Blood. This world is a mass

of corruption, and there is nothing that keeps satanic power out of people but the

blood of the Lamb.”635 Honouring the blood is a particular office of the Holy Spirit:

“The Holy Spirit has not time to magnify anything else but the Blood of our Lord

Jesus Christ.”636

The remaining functions of the blood in the first 12 issues of The Apostolic Faith are

many and extremely varied. The blood is linked strongly with the work of the Holy

Spirit (13x).637 It is the means of being redeemed, purchased or bought by God (9x), it

has power and efficacy (9x). It is to be simply ‘applied’ (3x), so that it is ‘in’ our

hearts and souls (3x). From then on, all that believers are and do is in some vague

sense “through” the blood (8x). For instance, one may eat swine’s flesh “through the

blood”638 and one may claim one’s Pentecost “through the blood.” It is and gives life

(5x), and it inaugurated the new covenant (5x). It is, significantly, the key to racial

and denominational unity (4x): “This work is carried on by the people of Los Angeles

that God has united by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of

the Holy Spirit.”639

A number of very vivid prophetic visions of the cross are recorded in which the cross

is “dripping with fresh blood,”640 blood which also runs down from Christ’s pierced

635
Apostolic Faith 1:8 (May 1907), 17.
636
Apostolic Faith 1:5 (Jan.1907), 20. The capitalisation of the word ‘blood’ becomes more or less
standard from this issue onwards.
637
E.g. “The Spirit follows the blood.” Apostolic Faith 1:1 (Sep.1906), 22. “We are tried and molded
and purged and chastened and cleansed by the Holy Ghost, through the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Apostolic Faith 1:8. “I have the sweet consciousness that my heart is clean through Jesus’ Blood and
the Comforter abides in it and speaks for Himself.” Apostolic Faith 1:8 (May 1907), 29, testimony
from D.M.Sellers of Dunn, North Carolina, April 24 1907.
638
Anon, “Question of Meats,” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 46.
639
Apostolic Faith, 1:4 (Dec.1906), 3.
640
Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 49.

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hand as he writes someone’s name in the book of life (these and similar visions, 5x).

If the blood is ‘accepted’ (2x), our sins will be ‘blotted out’ (4x). The blood “flows”

(2x) and is “poured out” (1x). At Gethsemane it “gushed,” and was “forced through”

the flesh.641 It is precious (3x), it was shed for sins (3x), If it is not honoured, it can be

‘denied’ (3x), strayed from (1x), left out (1x), lost (1x), rejected (1x) and trampled

upon (2x), or counted an unholy thing (1x), all of which will lead to ruin and loss.642

If not treated in this way, it preserves (1x), it brings justification (2x), and peace with

God (2x). It atones (2x), it brings physical healing (1x), it can be pleaded against

Satan (2x), ‘pleaded through’ (1x) and pleaded as merit before God (1x). Yet it ‘calls

for’ a certain standard of life (1x), and should be ‘testified to’ (1x) and preached (1x).

It is also, somehow, the means of knowing that God is really speaking (1x).643

Although most of the articles written for the Apostolic Faith during its Los Angeles

years were kept anonymous in order to minimise selfish ambitious elements, yet the

main voice behind the teaching found in its pages is likely to be that of William

Seymour. The origins of his pneumatology have been vigorously researched and are

easily traced to Parham and to Seymour’s African-American spiritual heritage. The

origins of Seymour’s Christology, however, and in particular, his colossal emphasis

on the shed blood of Christ, have not been investigated as rigorously. The options

available to us are the Evening Light Saints, Martin Wells Knapp, Charles Mason,

Charles Price-Jones, and Charles Parham. A likely early influence upon his Christian

basics was the Evening Light group, with whom he was discipled. This radical

641
Apostolic Faith 1:10 (Sep.1907), 8.
642
e.g. “When we leave the Blood out, Satan has power to switch us to fanaticism, but no powers of
hell are able to make their way through the Blood.” Apostolic Faith 1:1. “If we get out of the Word of
God and believe a lie, we lose the Blood and lose the life out of our souls.” Apostolic Faith 1:5.
“Beloved, if you reject Christ, if you reject His precious Blood, if you reject the Holy Ghost, ye shall
be devoured with the sword…” Apostolic Faith 1:7 (Apr.1907), 14.
643
“He will witness by the Blood that He is speaking.” Apostolic Faith 1:9 (June-Sep.1907), 12.

179
Wesleyan holiness group, later Pentecostalised and renamed the Church of God

(Anderson, IN), inherited the altar theology of Phoebe Palmer that laid great stress on

the need to be washed in the blood as part and parcel of the second blessing

experience.

It may be, however, that much of Seymour’s theological framework predates his

conversion. As already mentioned, there was a strong Exodus tradition amongst

African American slaves. There were many African-Americans in the Evening Light

Saints who would have been conversant in this typology, as would Charles Mason and

Charles Price-Jones have been. Doubtless, as Seymour continued to encounter racism

throughout his ministry, such imagery would have been a comfort. It is worth noting

the privacy involved in African-American coded speech. Christian imagery was used

by them in a way that sounded the same as white Christian imagery but which had an

additional meaning hidden in the only place a black slave knew of that was free of the

white man’s control – his heart. Originally, of course, the Egyptians would have been

a type of the white man, and it is possible that on occasions when invasive, over-

ambitious whites threatened to take over the mission, this typology would have

reverted to its original usage. At any rate, all human opposition was read as satanic

opposition, and to this the only answer was to take shelter in God’s provision: the

Blood.

In addition to the factor of human opposition, the demonological streak may have

emerged as strongly as it did at Azusa Street due to the heightened spiritual awareness

180
that came with the many supernatural encounters that were taking place.644 Robeck

reviews six personal testimonies from people at Azusa Street who experienced BHS.

Somewhat appropriately, the best word that Robeck can find that describes these

experiences is the word “encounter,” a word he uses 16 times in 9 pages as he

describes the six personal testimonies.645 Judging from what appears on the pages of

the Apostolic Faith, it appears that, arising from such encounters, there was a felt

sense of danger. There was an anxiety about the possibilities of demonic activity

masquerading as divine activity. Faith was then placed in the covering of the blood

for its apotropeic power.646

5.3. Other American Pentecostal Periodicals.

It was not long before Pentecostal centres were starting up all over the United States,

many of which, for a time, issued their own monthly papers647 along the lines of The

Apostolic Faith and the many holiness periodicals in circulation. One of the earliest of

these was J. Roswell Flower’s The Pentecost, published in Indianapolis from August

1908 until 1910 when, under a new editor, it became Grace and Glory.648 Its flavour

is similar in many respects to the Apostolic Faith:

Satan cannot put His hands on God’s anointed, for the blood covers and that is
sufficient to keep away every power of the enemy.649

644
The West African spirituality in which African-American spirituality was rooted has always been a
spirituality of conflict in which the realities of Ephesians 6: 12 are self-evident long before conversion
to Christianity: Temi Kpogho, a Nigerian, informal interview, 31 July 2007.
645
Robeck, Azusa, 177-186. cf. 10: “They were expected to pursue God, and then to be overwhelmed
and transformed by God in the resulting encounter. The initial proof of this encounter, though by no
means the only thing expected to bear witness to it, was speaking in ‘other tongues as the Spirit gave
them utterance.’”
646
Sacrificial blood has a role in the “spiritual bulletproofing” of a West African community: Temi
Kpogho, op.cit.
647
As many as 22 are listed in Warner, W.E., “Periodicals” in NIDPCM, 975-6.
648
Warner, “Periodicals,” 976.
649
Anon, Untitled, The Pentecost 1:1 (Aug.1908), 4.

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Halsey Fisher signs off her “Testimony for Jesus” with the phrase “under the

blood”650

The Latter Rain Evangel was founded in Chicago in October 1908 with William H.

Piper as its editor and continued for over 30 years.651 Here we find the blood strongly

associated with divine healing for the first time:652 “there are two very essential truths

that light the path of divine healing; one is the power of the blood and the other is the

power of the Holy Ghost.”653 These two truths are compared to a bird’s essential “two

wings.”654 The blood ‘cuts off’ a person from hereditary sickness:

‘If any man be in Christ there is a new heredity.’ Our heredity now is the life
of our Lord and by the power of the blood and the power of the Holy Ghost
we are cut off from that old consumption and we are delivered from fear.655

The blood can even bring victory over death itself: “…is there not power in the blood

of our Savior to give us victory over physical death?”656 When at death’s door

himself, the writer of the article records that his victory over death came when he said

“Read to me the twelfth chapter of Exodus.” Once the line “when I see the blood” was

mentioned, he was ready to get out of bed.657

650
Fisher, H., “Testimony for Jesus,” The Pentecost 1:4 (Dec.1908), 15.
651
Warner, W.E., “Periodicals” in NIDPCM, 977.
652
Healing in the atonement was widely held in holiness circles from the mid 1880s. In 1882, R.L.
Stanton first explicitly made a link between Isaiah 53, Matt. 8:16-17 and miraculous bodily healing.
The idea was then popularised by Robert Kelso Carter, A.J.Gordon and A.B. Simpson: Petts, D.,
Healing and the Atonement, (unpublished PhD dissertation, University pf Nottingham, 1993)52;
Dayton, Theological Roots, 126-7. This article by Moorhead is the earliest reference that I have found
that links healing specifically to the blood.
653
Moorhead, M.W., “Five Aspects of Divine Healing: Scriptural Truths Confirmed by Personal
Experiences” The Latter Rain Evangel 6:6 (Mar.1914), 6.
654
Ibid.
655
Moorhead, “Five Aspects,” 7.
656
Moorhead, “Five Aspects,” 8. Wacker has found an instance when a certain Olive Mills was raised
from the dead when a group of Pentecostals in Durham, Maine, shouted “The blood! The blood of
Christ.” Wacker, Heaven Below, 88.
657
Ibid.

182
The link between the covering of the blood and the image of the Exodus is made

equally explicit in an article entitled “Latter Rain Sermon – Go Forward”:

Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. Go forward, go onward,
go upward. Plunge deeper into that crimson flood. Go deeper. His blood will
cover all. The blood of Jesus will cover all.658

An eschatological and demonological dimension is given to the idea of the Red Sea:

Do you know what our Red Sea is? We are marching day by day…until we
are brought face to face with the days of tribulation, and then when Satan’s
power seems about to burst upon us…Jesus will come with the voice of the
archangel…659

There is also a reference to pleading the blood as early as December 1908. It comes

from the pen of the renowned healing evangelist F.F.Bosworth. He describes his

experience of praying for the Holy Spirit to come to Plymouth, Indianapolis:

Realizing that we ‘wrestle not against flesh and blood…’ during the early part
of the meetings God put upon me a great burden of prayer to plead the blood
of Jesus and pray that He would send a stream of power upon the city.660

There is also a need to honour the blood if the power is to flow: “Jesus was lifted up,

His precious blood honoured, and the Holy Spirit began His mighty movings in our

midst.”661

William Piper himself defines Pentecost as the “power to serve the living God by

exalting the blood of Jesus Christ.”662

658
Anon., “Latter Rain Sermon - Go Forward,” Latter Rain Evangel 1:1 (Oct.1908), 11.
659
Ibid.
660
Bosworth, F.F., “Confirming the Word by Sings Following,” The Latter Rain Evangel 1:3
(Dec.1908), 7.
661
Lee, B.C., “They Were All With One Accord in One Place: Convention Jottings by One Who Saw
and Heard” The Latter Rain Evangel 1:9 (June 1909), 2.

183
These periodicals shed a good deal of light upon Azusa Street and indicate that by the

Autumn of 1908, the key themes of Azusa Street spirituality, including its blood

mysticism, had been widely propagated throughout the American centres, a process

brought about by the dissemination of the Apostolic Faith and of personnel from

Azusa Street. A significant difference is that the contributors to these periodicals do

not seem to be as dogged by fear and the need for protection as the Azusa Street

worshippers were. Their demonology is more subdued.663 Yet the Exodus typology of

being “under the blood” is clearly present, as are the beginnings of the Pentecostal

practice of pleading the blood, which was first advocated in the Apostolic Faith in

January 1908, and then appears in the December of that year in the Latter Rain

Evangel. Healing through the blood is intimated in the Apostolic Faith in December

1906664 and becomes explicit in Moorhead’s article in October 1908.

5.4. The Influence of Azusa Street on British Pentecostalism.

Early correspondence has been preserved between T.B. Barratt, the man whose

ministry is credited with the very first outbreaks of tongues speaking in Europe, and

some letter writers at Azusa Street in 1906. Barratt, at this time was based in New

York. In a complex and puzzling fundraising debacle, the Methodist bishops in

America would not allow him to leave the country and return to Norway, yet the

662
Piper, W.H., “Tarry, Tarry for the Promise,” The Latter Rain Evangel 1:3 (Dec.1908), 17.
663
All four of the 1908 issues of The Pentecost together have only one reference to the blood as a
victory over Satan out of a total of 15 references to the blood of Jesus, and both of the extant 1908
issues of The Latter Rain Evangel also have only one demonologically orientated reference to the
blood out of a total of 21 occurrences.
664
“The marks that were made on that perfect body of our Savior, the blood that ran down in Pilate’s
judgment hall from His stripes, reach our infirmities and cleanse us from all sickness and disease and
make us every whit whole.” Anon., “Salvation and Healing,” Apostolic Faith 1:4 (Dec.1906), 16.

184
Methodist Mission Board of America had refused to give him the funds he had come,

on the invitation of the bishops, to raise.665 Barratt could do nothing but wait in New

York. While he was there, he received the very first edition of The Apostolic Faith

newspaper in September.666 He sought and experienced BHS with the help of the

spiritual counsel he obtained by corresponding with the Azusa Street Mission in Los

Angeles.667 Three of the five letters written to him were signed off with the phrase,

“Under the Blood.”668 Other letters contain the phrase in the text.669 This phrase is

expanded upon at only one point where Barratt is assured by a Mrs I. May Throop

that, “…no matter what workings go on in your body, continually let, and ask, God to

have his own way with you. You need have no fear while you keep under the

blood”.670

The considerable influence that Barratt went on to exert has earned him the name the

apostle of European Pentecostalism.671 Barratt went on to bring the experience of

Pentecost with tongues to his congregation in Oslo in December 1906. Alexander

Boddy’s life-changing visit to Barratt’s congregation took place in March 1907.672

One of Boddy’s congregation spoke in tongues as early as that summer.673 Finally,

Barratt himself arrived in Sunderland on 31 August 1907 for his whirlwind mission,

leaving on 18 October.

665
Bundy, D., “Spiritual Advice to a Seeker: Letters to T.B.Barratt from Azusa Street, 1906”, Pneuma
1:14 (Fall 1992), 159-160.
666
Wakefield, G., The First Pentecostal Anglican: The Life and Legacy of Alexander Boddy,
(Cambridge: Grove Books, 2001), 7.
667
Bundy, “Spiritual Advice”, 160.
668
See transcripts of letters from G.A.Cook in Bundy, “Spiritual Advice”, 163-165
669
See letters from I. May Throop and Clara Lum in Bundy, “Spiritual Advice, 162 and 166
670
Bundy, “Spiritual Advice”, 162.
671
Bundy, “Spiritual Advice”, 159.
672
Boddy, A., “Some Sacred Memories,” Confidence 7:2 (1914), 24.
673
Confidence 9:10 (1916), 169.

185
Cecil Polhill, another man with significant links to Sunderland, came to Los Angeles

in January 1908 at the invitation of his Cambridge friend George B. Studd. Polhill

donated a large sum of money towards the Azusa Street mission in February, and

received his BHS with tongues the following day.674 In January 1909, Polhill became

the founder of the first Pentecostal missionary society, the Pentecostal Missionary

Union. He remained Boddy’s loyal ally, just as Barratt also carried on contributing to

the movement in Britain through his attendance at the Whitsuntide conferences and

his articles in Confidence magazine.

Conclusion.

Many at Azusa Street used language that appears very similar to that of Roberts-Penn-

Lewis. Yet it would appear that this similarity is little more than coincidental. In fact,

it was those participants in the Los Angeles revival who did have direct contact with

the Welsh Revival that used Roberts-Penn-Lewis-type language the least, even

though, in the case of Bartleman, they shared Evan Roberts’ obsession with the devil.

Seymour, on the other hand, who had no links with the Welsh Revival, used some

similar language, invoking the Blood for covering and victory. Yet the similarities are

superficial. Roberts’ blood mysticism had a Calvinistic source that emphasised

assurance of salvation. Seymour’s blood mysticism had a Wesleyan root that offered

no such assurance. Inevitably, Seymour’s awareness of vulnerability to Satan, a

powerful and clever being who might even counterfeit God’s good gifts, was greater

than that seen in Roberts even at his most paranoid.675 What is evident in the

Apostolic Faith is a deeply rooted African-American Exodus tradition married to a

674
Robeck, Azusa, 289.
675
Admittedly, it is precisely this worry, that of Satanic counterfeiting, that became the focus of Jessie
Penn-Lewis. Interestingly, she never arrived at the same Exodus typographical solution that Seymour
did, preferring Rev.12:11 as her main precedent for linking the Blood with victory over and protection
from demons.

186
radical Phoebe Palmer style Wesleyan holiness theology. The Wesleyanism provides

the emphasis on cleansing, the essential preliminary to BHS, while the Exodus

typology provides the demonological dimension and perpetuates a possible racial

dimension to the quest for liberation.

At Azusa Street it can be seen that Pentecostalism was birthed as a theology of

liberation. The liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by the blood of the

lamb was a significant biblical precedent. The Exodus narrative supplied the focal

point for the Christology of early American Pentecostalism, while the Day of

Pentecost narrative provided the pneumatology. And this Pentecostal liberation was

only understood to work if both theologies were in place. Pentecostalism was birthed

not only out of a unique pneumatological experience but a unique Christological

experience also. Time and again, the early Pentecostals (on both sides of the Atlantic,

as will be seen), showed themselves to be at pains to maintain that their message was

not about the Spirit only, but about the Spirit and the Blood together, something that

Bartleman was especially anxious to guard.

However distasteful or difficult to understand it may be at times, the Blood is almost

as definitive of Pentecostal origins as the Spirit is. Bartleman’s fear that error and

fanaticism ensue whenever this precarious equilibrium is lost has resurfaced in the

writings of Tom Smail as recently as 1995.676 Dabney has lamented similarly.677 This

indicates that the tendency to veer away from this equilibrium in the direction of a

monolithic pneumatology has continued to show itself, inviting occasional scholarly

676
Smail, T., “The Cross and the Spirit: Towards a Theology of Renewal” in Smail, T., A. Walker &
N. Wright (eds) Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology, (London: SPCK, 1995), 49-70.
677
Dabney, L., “Pneumatologia Crucis: Reclaiming Theologia Crucis for a Theology of the Spirit
Today”, Scottish Journal of Theology 53:4 (2000), 514

187
attempts at its correction. From an historiographical viewpoint, it is not entirely

satisfactory that so much scholarship on Pentecostal beginnings has focused on only

one of these twin soteriological themes, something that, had death not silenced them,

the pioneers themselves would want to correct.

Empowerment continues to be the main selling point of Pentecostalism the world over

and the story of the beginning of Pentecostalism reveals a spirituality of

empowerment that involved being freed from something as well as being freed for

something. The redeeming motif of Christ as Passover Lamb originally provided the

means to be freed from everything that disempowers: darkness, sin and the demonic.

This was the indispensable preliminary to receiving power for service: Pentecost, gifts

and a missionary anointing.

The word ‘Blood,’ reverently capitalised and mentioned as often as possible by the

pioneers of the Pentecostal vision of life, was more than a mere fetish or incantation.

It was, just as it is in the New Testament itself, a kind of shorthand for experiences of

profound safety in God’s presence, encounters of great power, overwhelming love, of

cleansing and of liberation. For the participants in this revival emphasising the Blood

provided access to beneficial experiences that, it was felt, would not be experienced

without this emphasis. Indeed, to neglect the Blood would be to place oneself at the

disposal of the forces of spiritual anomy. In fact, rarefied experiences demanded,

seemingly, a greater atonement-centredness than would have been normal among

non-Pentecostals.

188
With regards to the significance of Azusa Street to the birth of British Pentecostalism,

it seems likely, given that T.B. Barratt had corresponded with Azusa Street members,

and Alexander Boddy himself also appears to have kept in touch with Frank

Bartleman,678 that the spirituality of Azusa Street had at least some influence on

Sunderland Pentecostalism. It would, after all, have been perfectly natural for those

newly experiencing Spirit Baptism at Sunderland to look to those who had led the

way in the things of Pentecost at Azusa Street. There are some similarities in the

spiritualities of both centres. As will become apparent, Sunderland clearly shared with

Azusa Street a fundamental anxiety about Satan. Indeed, it is perhaps surprising that

the birth of the most remarkable phenomenon in modern religious history should

begin with groups of people who at times seemed to be living with a siege mentality.

For Azusa Street worshippers, victory was all about making sure that one is in the

right position: under the Blood. The Sunderland worshippers, who were even more

obsessed with the theme of victory, went further and developed a mechanical means

of invoking the Blood when seeking BHS. This, and more besides, will be the subject

of the next chapter in the story.

678
Bartleman, Azusa, 148.

189
 6. The Sunderland Story.

The closing years of Victoria’s reign, during which she remained in perpetual

mourning for Albert, were dour times. The Naughty Nineties – the stuff of suggestive

seaside postcards – had been a subversive response to this.679 With the accession of

Edward VII in 1901 the atmosphere changed. King Edward pursued a relatively

hedonistic lifestyle. A new permissiveness swept the country. Even the working

classes now had more spare income and leisure time than ever: and more ways than

ever of enjoying both.680 As Sunday was still the only full day off in the week for a

working man, many such activities could replace going to church. Whatever the

causes, church attendance dropped to 25%,681 the greatest losses being amongst adult

males.682 Chief of the new mass entertainments was football. The FA cup final of

1888 had attracted a crowd of 17,000. The same event of 1913 attracted 120,000.683

Alcohol was an increasing problem. Until the Licensing Act of 1921, public houses

could, and often did, open as early as 6am and not close until long after midnight. By

1915, Lloyd George despaired: “We are fighting Germany, Austria and Drink”.684

Sexual promiscuity did not become a problem until the First World War, many

679
This minor moral rebellion was somewhat stemmed in 1895 by the trial of Oscar Wilde for his
homosexuality, Briggs, A., A Social History of England 3rd Ed., (London: Penguin, 1999), 267.
680
This was not universal, however. Briggs notes that farm labourers at this time were worse off than
the casual labourers who worked in the docks. Briggs, Social History, 263
681
Thompson, P., The Edwardians: The Remaking of British Society, (London: Routledge, 1975, 1992),
173-4. Church membership in Britain, however, reached its peak at this time, estimated at 19.3% of the
total population in 1910: Brown, C., The Death of Christian Britain, (London: Routledge, 2001), 163.
682
Brown has traced the gender-specific dimension to church decline in the 20th century, beginning
with adult males, female piety declining considerably later. This is the focus of his Death of Christian
Britain, esp.145-169, but is also a thread running through his more recent Religion and Society in
Twentieth-Century Britain, (Harlow: Pearson, 2006), passim. Judging from contributions to Confidence
magazine, a considerable proportion of participants in Sunderland Pentecostalism were, likewise,
female.
683
Hibbert, C., The English: A Social History 1066-1945, (London: Harper Collins, 1987), 624.
684
Hibbert, The English, 700 citing a speech made by Lloyd George in March 1915.

190
soldiers returning home having caught venereal diseases. Illegitimacy rates also rose

slightly during the war, before returning to the pre-War figure of around 0.5% of all

births.685 There was also a brief rise in the otherwise extremely low divorce rate in the

wake of the war, as imprudent marriages were hurriedly dissolved.686 On the whole,

however, compared to more recent times, moral standards were still very high. Most

British people had retained a Christian ethic even though many had abandoned

Christian belief. There was a scrupulous honesty in business dealings and tax fraud

was virtually unthinkable. Discontent was stirring, however. Queen Victoria had once

provided a cultural rallying point that had brought national unity in an otherwise

deeply stratified society as well as continuity through changing times.687 Now, the

causes of future social unrest were more patent than before and from 1906, the new

Liberal government made social reform a priority. Churchill introduced labour

exchanges in 1909 and Lloyd George initiated national health insurance in 1911.688

These changes were tentative, however, and would prove insufficient to stave off the

miseries of the ’20s and ’30s. For conscientious Christians, the trajectory of society

was set in an alarming direction: away from a living faith in God and in the direction

of moral decay, away from duty and respect and in the direction of self-interest and

revolt.

Within the Church of England, there was a tendency towards ritualism. Anglo-

Catholicism would achieve new levels of acceptance during and in the wake of the

First World War. The Anglo-Catholic practices of praying for the dead and holding

685
Brown, C., Religion and Society, 32.
686
Hibbert, The English, 701.
687
Briggs, Social History, 263-4.
688
At this time, TB alone was killing 75,000 people every year, May, Economic and Social History,
309. There was also concern that some 40% of recruits for the Boer War were turned away on the
grounds of being physically unfit. Further, the minimum height for an infantryman, already lowered in
1883, had to be lowered again in 1902, May, Economic and Social History, 303.

191
requiem masses gave it a particular appeal post-1918.689 Evangelicalism had, by now,

lost its Victorian pre-eminence and post First World War Protestantism would come

to be seen by many as bigoted and having no real answers for a nation in grief.690

On the radicalised margins of the Church, millennial expectations reached fever pitch

with the turn of the new century, interest in the Second Advent being then further

bolstered by the outbreak of the First World War.691 The social and political unrest of

the 1920s and 30s would go on to give such expectations a further boost.692 These

were presumed by many to be the “perilous times” foretold in Scripture (2Tim.3:1) in

which the love of many would grow cold and Satan would set out to deceive

Christians. Not so the Pentecostals. They were red hot in their conviction that the

outpouring of the Spirit upon them with signs and wonders was the promised Latter

Rain of Joel (Joel 2:23 cf.28-32), the final deluge of the Spirit just prior to the Lord’s

689
Pickering, W. S. F., Anglo-Catholicism: A Study in Religious Ambiguity, (London: Routledge,
1989), 46-47; Hylson-Smith, K., High Churchmanship in the Church of England: From the Sixteenth
Century to the Late Twentieth Century, (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1993), 246.
690
“Churches which had something comforting and hopeful to offer, some action that could be
embarked upon, were at a great advantage over those which remained silent and only proclaimed
doctrines that seemed cold and remote.” Pickering, Anglo-Catholicism, 47. Nevertheless, having
originated as the Oxford Movement of the mid-19th century, it shared with Evangelicalism a desire to
“turn back the tide of history,” and was “a crusade to resist secular trends in a desparate rearguard
action…” Hylson-Smith, High Churchmanship, 123, 125. cf. Nichols, A., The Panther and the Hind: A
Theological History of Anglicanism, (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1993), 114-129. Evangelicals and
Anglo-Catholics had in common a commitment to seriousness in the face of apathy and liberalism:
Hylson-Smith, High Churchmanship, 207. Some Anglo-Catholics could even sound like Evangelicals:
“Never be ashamed of the Blood of Christ. I know it is not the popular religion of the day…you are
Blood-bought Christians…” Hylson-Smith, High Churchmanship, 206. In common with Keswick,
Anglo-Catholicism was romantic in outlook, having had as its celebrity champion, the great poet and
philosopher, Samuel Coleridge. See Hylson-Smith, High Churchmanship, 129. Pentecostalism’s appeal
to intuition and the imagination as brought out by Cox, (Cox, H., Fire From Heaven: The Rise of
Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century, London: Cassell,
1996, passim) also paradoxically gives it a lot in common with Anglo-Catholic spirituality. On this
aspect High Church spirituality see especially, Bebbington, Holiness, 13-25.
691
Premilliennialism began to gain popularity in the 1870s but the apocalyptic events of First World
War helped to give credence to the Advent Testimony and Preparation Movement which was launched
by F. B. Meyer in 1917: Bebbington, D., “The Advent Hope in British Evangelicalism Since 1800,”
Scottish Journal of Religious Studies 9:2 (1988), 105, 107. The Balfour Declaration on 2 November
1917 in which Britain pledged to create a homeland for the Jews caused “…tremendous excitement
among students of the ‘end times.’” Randall, I. M., “Cultural Change and Future Hope:
premillennialism in Britain Following the First World War,” Christianity and History 13 (1994), 19.
692
See Randall, “Cultural Change and Future Hope,” 21.

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return.693 Indeed, it is difficult to exaggerate the importance of eschatology to the

fledgling Pentecostal movement’s view of itself.694 premillennialism creates the

theological framework, informs the religious language and supplies the spiritual

atmosphere for everything the early Pentecostals believed, including, as will be seen,

their view of the Blood.695

693
One example of this teaching is a thoughtful and persuasive sermon by Boddy himself, reproduced
in Confidence: “The former rain falls in November and December, but that prepares the crops, but the
latter rain is needed in the spring-time to finish the work. Without the latter rain the crops would dry
up, and now God in His wonderful providence each year lately, until about 1906 or 1907, He caused it
to become normal again. To-day is the day of the latter rain….Very soon we will see Israel possessing
their own land again .’Ask ye of the Lord rain in the days of the latter rain.’ We live in the days of the
latter rain.” Boddy, A., “The Latter Rain,” Confidence 6:9 (Sep.’13), 172-3. The paradox of this
situation, the constant despair of any final answers other than the Lord’s return on the one hand and the
feverish expectation of an in-breaking of God in the here and now as a great revival sweeps the globe,
is a confusing one and endures to the present day among charismatics. One reason why this
contradiction was seemingly never harmonised would be the biblical literalism that was driving both
interpretations of the end times. Because, as far as the Pentecostals were concerned, the Bible presented
this twofold picture of both revival and deepening gloom without resolving it, so did the Pentecostals.
Besides this, the dispensationalism of J. N. Darby that had been widely embraced by Pentecostals, had
always affirmed that each new dispensation (including that of the End Times) begins with a show of
miraculous power. See Smith, J. C., “Signs of the Times” in Brewster, P. S., (ed) Pentecostal Doctrine,
(self-published:1976), 381-390 for something approaching a definitive outline of the Elim
understanding of dispensationalism current at that time. According to Smith, the signs of the times –
whether good or evil, are “…part of His plan for the present era,” and, “…clearly spelt out as such in
His Word.” Smith, “Signs of the Times,” 382. Despite seeing it as, in some ways, an evil age, Smith
defines the era in which the last quarter of the 20th century fell as the “Age of Grace.” Smith, “Signs of
the Times,” 382.
694
So Faupel, Everlasting Gospel, passim. He tells the American story of how the postmillennial
dreams among Perfectionists in the wake of the 1957-59 revival were dashed by the American Civil
War, and the evils of urbanization, industrialization and mass immigration. The vision then changed to
a more pessimistic premillennial one that involved warning the world of impending judgement and
preparing the Church for the return of the Bridegroom. A final outpouring of the Spirit that would
parallel the first Pentecost was eagerly anticipated. The quality that would set this final outpouring
apart from a run-of-the-mill revival would be the gift of tongues, as at the very first Pentecost. The
Welsh Revival raised hopes to a new height. Finally, Azusa Street was accepted by some as the longed
for outpouring. Faupel helpfully summarises all of this in his conclusion: Everlasting Gospel, 307-9.
The British transition to premillennialism among holiness groups, beginning at Keswick, mirrored this
story in many respects. Among the causes of the increasingly premillennial outlook among all holiness
groups in Britain towards the turn of the 20th century, Glass highlights, “…changing social conditions
and the increasing antagonism that orthodox Christian theology generated in circles of social, religious
and academic sophistication.” Glass, J., “Eschatology: A Clear and Present Danger – A Sure and
Certain Hope” in Warrington, K., (ed), Pentecostal Perspectives, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998), 133.
695
So Cartledge: “It is arguable that the expectation of the imminent return of Christ was the significant
aspect to the theology of Confidence and that the other features must be seen as fitting into this
overarching concern.” Cartledge, “Early Pentecostal Theology,” 126. Anderson ascribes all things
central to Pentecostalism past and present as part and parcel of a realized eschatology and adds, “A
‘realized eschatology’ which sees the ‘not yet’ as ‘already’ is no worse than one that sees the ‘not yet’
always as ‘not yet.’” Anderson, A., “Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology,” in Ford, D., (ed), The
Modern Theologians 3rd Ed., (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), 600.

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Promising a long-awaited rekindling of dying embers, Pentecost arrived in Britain696

at All Saints Church Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, in September 1907, 18 months

after the beginning of the Azusa Street revival, and almost 3 years after the start of the

Welsh Revival, but was an event deeply indebted to both.697 The figurehead of the

initial pre-World War I phase of British Pentecostalism was the energetic and broad-

minded Anglican vicar, Alexander Alfred Boddy (1854-1930).698 He drew inspiration

696
A number of very good histories of British Pentecostalism have now been written. The first and only
book devoted to the history of all the British Pentecostal denominations is the oft-quoted Gee, D., The
Pentecostal Movement: A Short History and an Interpretation for British Readers, (Luton: Redemption
Tidings Bookroom, 1941), revised and enlarged under the title, Wind and Flame, (Nottingham:
Assemblies of God Publishing House, 1967). Besides this, Hollenweger’s chapter on British
Pentecostalism in his magisterial The Pentecostals, (London: SCM, 1972), 176-217 is very extensive.
There is also the much smaller study, Hudson, N., “The Earliest Days of British Pentecostalism,”
JEPTA XXI, (2001), 49-67. Four histories of the Apostolic Church have been written to date: White,
K., The Word of God Coming Again, (Apostolic Faith Church: Bournemouth, 1919), Turnbull, What
God Hath Wrought, (Bradford: Puritan Press, 1959), Worsfold, J., The Origins of the Apostolic Church
in Great Britain, (Wellington: Julian Literature Trust, 1991) and Weeks, G., Chapter Thirty-Two – Part
Of, (Barnsley: Gordon Weeks, 2003), Three histories of the British Assemblies of God have been
written: Massey, R., “A Sound and Scriptural Union: An Examination of the Origins of the Assemblies
of God in Great Britain and Ireland 1920-25, (Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of
Birmingham, 1987) Kay, W., “A History of British Assemblies of God,” (PhD dissertation: University
of Nottingham, 1989), subsequently published as Inside Story: A History of British Assemblies of God,
(Doncaster: Assemblies of God Bible College, 1990), and Allen, D., “Signs and Wonders: the Origins,
Growth, Development and Significance of Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland 1900-1980
(Unpublished PhD dissertation: University of London, 1990), besides the more recent article, Kay, W.,
“Assemblies if God in Great Britain and Ireland” in Burgess & Van der Maas (eds) NIDPCM, (2002),
340-1. Curiously, besides E.C.W. Boulton’s biography of George Jeffreys: George Jeffreys: A Ministry
of the Miraculous, (now edited by Chris Cartwright and published by Sovereign World, 1999) the only
histories of the Elim movement are Hathaway, M., “The Elim Pentecostal Church: Origins,
Development and Distinctives” in Warrington, K., (ed), Pentecostal Perspectives, (Milton Keynes:
paternoster, 1998), 1-39 and Cartwright, D., “Elim Pentecostal Church,” in Burgess & Van der Maas
(eds), NIDPCM, (2002), 598-599. Besides the foregoing, two highly specialised but very substantial
studies deserve mention: Taylor, M., “Publish and be Blessed: A Case Study in Early Pentecostal
Publishing History 1906-1926,” (Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 1994) and
Hudson, D. N., “A Schism and its Aftermath: An Historical Analysis of Denominational Discerption in
the Elim Pentecostal Church, 1939-40”, (Unpublished PhD Dissertation, King’s College, London).
697
Although Pentecostalism as a movement did not begin in Britain until the September of 1907 with
the seven week mission of T.B. Barratt, there were much earlier signs of what was to come in the form
of the experience of Mrs Price of Brixton in the New Year and the experiences of a group of about six
people who subsequently gathered in her home. All of these, according to Boddy’s pamphlet,
“Pentecost for England” had spoken in tongues by the summer of that year. Gee, Pentecostal
Movement, 22.
698
To date there have been seven studies devoted to Alexander Boddy and his role in Pentecostalism:
Boddy, J.V., “Alexander Alfred Boddy, 1854-1930” (unpublished memoir, c.1970), Robinson, M.,
“The Charismatic Anglican: Historical and Contemporary. A Comparison of Alexander Boddy and
Michael C Harper,” (Unpublished M.Litt. Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1976), Kay, W.,
“Alexander Boddy and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Sunderland,” EPTA Bulletin 5:2 (1986),
44-56; Lavin, P., Alexander Boddy: Pastor and Prophet, (Monkwearmouth: WHCG, 1986), Wakefield,
G., The First Pentecostal Anglican: The Life and Legacy of Alexander Boddy, (Cambridge: Grove
Books, 2001), Blumhofer, E., “Alexander Boddy and the Rise of Pentecostalism in Britain,” Pneuma

194
from Azusa Street and the Welsh Revival while drawing more deeply still from the

theology of Keswick and from the mentoring of the two bishops of Durham who

oversaw his training and the earlier part of his ministry: J.B. Lightfoot (bishop from

1879 to 1890), one time Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and a

celebrated expert on Paul, and B.F. Westcott (bishop from 1890 to 1901),699 another

New Testament scholar, best known for his work on the Westcott & Hort edition of

the Greek New Testament.700 Boddy eventually became vicar of All Saints

Monkwearmouth, Sunderland in 1886. Fortunately for Boddy, the sympathetic

Handley Moule succeeded Westcott. Were it not for Moule, it is doubtful whether

Boddy would have been allowed to promote Pentecostalism within his parish.

Boddy’s first contact with Keswick had been at the Convention of 1876. This

convention proved to be the moment of his conversion from nominal Christianity.701

This conversion experience led to his training for ordination at University College,

Durham beginning in 1878. He was ordained to the priesthood on 18 December 1881

at the age of 26, a little over a year after his marriage to Mary.702 From then on,

Boddy entered what he describes as a time when the attractive and interesting things

8:1 (Spring 1986), 31-40, and Wakefield, G., Alexander Boddy: Pentecostal Anglican Pioneer, (Milton
Keynes: Authentic, 2007).
699
According to Kay, these were the two biggest influences on Boddy: Kay, Inside Story, 17. Of these,
Lightfoot clearly had the greater impact, see Wakefield, Boddy, 24-27. Kay quotes Boddy’s daughter as
saying “Bishop Lightfoot was one of the great influences in my father’s life.” Westcott, of course, is
known for his distinctive view of the blood as life released rather than life taken, first expressed in his
commentary on 1 John of 1892 but Boddy does not appear to have been influenced by this. Indeed, in
1880, Boddy was criticised during his ministerial training for having ignored Westcott’s commentary
on the Gospel of John in an essay: Wakefield, Boddy, 24.
700
Westcott, B.F., & Hort, F.J.A., (eds), The New Testament in the Original Greek, (Cambridge &
London: Macmillan & Co., 1891).
701
Wakefield, Boddy, 19-20, citing the memoirs of Boddy’s daughter, Jane Vazeille. While there is no
evidence of any subsequent visits to Keswick until 1907, there is a broad though not rigorously
substantiated consensus that Keswick theology was very influential upon him: See especially
Blumhofer, “Rise of Pentecostalism,” 31-32, 35, 37, but also Wakefield, Boddy, 20-21, Wakefield,
Pentecostal Anglican, 6, and Kay, “Outpouring,” 46-47.
702
Wakefield, Boddy, 25; Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 9.

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of the world “crept in and took the first place.”703 In particular, he developed an

interest in travel, an interest that, in fact, never left him. Travelling abroad provided

much needed “pauses”704 when the pressures of ministry in the most industrialised

part of Britain began to take their toll. His vast exposure to people of other cultures,

creeds and classes was one of the factors that gave him his tolerant and eirenic

approach to ministry.705 Boddy’s worldly period ended in 1892 when he had the

second of seven significant spiritual experiences.706 It was the 6th anniversary of his

appointment as vicar of All Saints Church, an event that he always celebrated by

having a communion service. While officiating, Boddy describes how the Holy Spirit

came upon him in “infinite love.”707 Another period of declining spiritual vigour

followed, like the earlier one in 1881-92, this time culminating in a breakdown in

1897.708 Following a trip to the Holy Land and a time in Egypt during which he

recovered, another formative experience for Boddy occurred. This was the healing of

his wife, Mary, from asthma in 1899. This seems to have contributed to a progressive

opening up to the work of the Holy Spirit for both him and his wife. In 1904, news

reached Boddy of the Welsh Revival. He promptly went to see the revival for himself

and even shared a pulpit with Evan Roberts. Boddy returned from Wales determined

to bring revival to England. Roberts refused an invitation to conduct a campaign in

703
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,”9
704
Wakefield, Boddy, 47 citing Boddy’s own By Ocean, Prairie and Peak: Four Journeys to British
Columbia and Eastern Canada, (London: SPCK, 1896), 7.
705
Wakefield devotes a chapter to Boddy’s travel writings and his adventures in North Africa (1883),
Russia (1886) and North America (1889-91). Wakefield, Boddy, 34-54. The tolerance this bred in him
supplies a major plank in Wakefield’s thesis about the essentially pastoral contribution of Boddy to the
fledgling Pentecostal movement. Wakefield concludes with the stained glass window made in memory
of him that still adorns All Saints Church Monkwearmouth today: it is of a shepherd carrying a lamb in
his arms: Wakefield, Boddy, 208, 221
706
The first five of these, ending in his first experience of fluently speaking in tongues, are vividly
retold in the article “Pentecost in Sunderland: Story of a Vicar of the Church of England” Latter Rain
Evangel (Feb 1909), 9-10. The first was while still an infant in his cot when he had an encounter with
Jesus and the apostles: ibid., 9.
707
Boddy, A., “Some Sacred Memories,” Confidence 2:7 (Feb 1914), 24. cf. Boddy, A., “From
Sunderland to Pittington”, Confidence No.132 (Jan-Mar.1923), 72.
708
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 9.

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Sunderland but offered the following typically combative advice to Boddy’s by now

very zealous little flock: “’Tell them to believe the promises, believe the Lord. They

must fight Heaven down, they must fight it down.’”709

Accordingly, in 1906, regular prayer meetings were being held at the vestry as well as

a number of fervent open-air meetings, one of which, held at the Roker Football

Ground, attracted a crowd of 15,000.710 The revival fervour was further added to by

news of Azusa Street, and, shortly thereafter, of how the manifestations seen at Azusa

Street had now “travelled over the Atlantic to Norway.”711 It was on March 5, 1907,

while visiting T.B. Barratt’s church in Christiania (Oslo), that Boddy experienced

another significant “inflow of the blessed Holy Spirit,”712 yet, so far, without the gift

of tongues.

In the summer of that year Boddy was made aware of what he later considered to be

the first BHS with the sign of tongues in Britain. This was the experience of Mrs Price

of Brixton whose testimony Boddy published in a pamphlet entitled Pentecost for

England that he went on to distribute at the Keswick Convention of that year.

Interestingly, as with so many other BHS testimonies of the time, Mrs Price’s

experience included a dramatic vision of Jesus on the cross. She also gave a tongue

interpretation, which was: “Glory to Jesus – the bleeding Lamb.”713

709
Boddy, A., “The Pentecostal Movement: The Story of its Beginnings at Sunderland and its Present
Position in Great Britain,” Confidence 3:8 (August 1910), 193.
710
Boddy, “The Pentecostal Movement,” 194.
711
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 9.
712
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 9.
713
Boddy, “The Pentecostal Movement,” 195.

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Meanwhile, at Monkwearmouth, the prayer meetings continued. During one evening

meeting, held this time in the Vicarage, a light filled the room. Looking out of the

window, Boddy and the others could see that this same light was now hovering over

All Saints Church itself. For a reason that is not entirely clear, one of those present

spontaneously cried out, “It’s the blood. Oh, it’s the blood.”714

Thomas Ball Barratt (1862-1940), the Methodist minister from Cornwall who was

responsible for the revival happenings in Norway, eventually agreed to come to

Sunderland. He arrived on 31 August 1907 and stayed for seven weeks. Meetings

began on 1 September and within two weeks, 17 people had received an experience of

BHS accompanied by the gift of tongues. Mrs Boddy’s experience was on 11

September and was immediately followed by a “wonderful revelation as to the

blood.”715 Boddy’s two daughters received the experience on 21 September. Finally,

Boddy himself spoke in tongues for the first time on 2 December, the 50th person at

All Saints to do so.716

News of these events quickly spread, the first national newspaper reports appearing in

October.717 These reports were largely cynical but had the positive effect of attracting

ever-increasing numbers of visitors to Sunderland. Christian opposition was prompt

714
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 10.
715
Boddy, “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 10. In her ’Pentecost’ at Sunderland 1: the Testimony of a
Vicar’s Wife, (Published by the “Secretary,” Roker, Sunderland), 6: she gives her own account of this
“vision of the Blood” saying, “Oh, the efficacy, the power of the Blood. In one moment, what I had
believed for years was illuminated as a reality.” (italics original) This indicates that her theology of the
atonement was already well established from other sources, the “vision” acting to corroborate her view
of the Blood. This testimony is also reproduced in The Apostolic Faith 1:11 (Oct.07-Jan.08), 6-7.
716
Boddy. “Pentecost in Sunderland,” 10.
717
Kay, Inside Story, 23-24; The Sunderland Echo printed a story as early as 30 September: Wakefield,
Boddy, 89.

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and severe and came mostly from Reader Harris (1847-1909)718 and the Pentecostal

League of Prayer.719 The League was very strong in the area and Boddy himself had

been an active member.720 Their denunciation of tongues first appeared in print in

November.721 Harris also objected to the “rolling on the floor” and the “loosening of

the marriage tie” that he perceived to have been going on at the meetings that Barratt

had led.722 Jessie Penn-Lewis, initially not as strident, was equally unhesitating in

voicing her concerns. As noted in chapter 4, Mary Boddy’s attempt to allay her fears

by saying that everything was “under the blood,”723 a phrase possibly learned from

Barratt,724 did not work. In fact, this provoked a further discussion about invoking the

covering of the blood in Pentecostal gatherings such that the blood as well as tongues

appears to have been at the centre of controversy in the correspondence. Curiously,

718
Harris, an Anglican with Wesleyan sympathies, would initially have had a vision that chimed
perfectly with that of Boddy: “What is the remedy for the individual, for the Church, for the nation, for
the world? It is this. An individual, ecclesiastical, national, and universal Pentecost. Let every believer
be filled with the Spirit of God, and you will see a revival that would shake the powers of darkness and
set millions free.” Harris, R., Power for Service 6th Ed., (London: Christian Literature Crusade, 1953),
40. Boddy himself was the secretary for the Monkwearmouth League of Prayer group: Wakefield,
Boddy, 92.
719
Founded in 1891, this was an organisation with a mission to revive Wesleyan spirituality: Randall,
I.M., “The Pentecostal League of Prayer: A Transdenominational British Wesleyan-Holiness
Movement,” Wesleyan Journal of Theology (1998), 1-2.
(http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyantheology/theojrnl31-35/33-1-10htm accessed online 20 November
2008).
720
Robinson, “Charismatic Anglican,” 35, reckons their strength at five centres in Sunderland alone.
721
Harris, R., “The Gift of Tongues,” Tongues of Fire, (Nov 1907), 1-2. According to Robinson (op
cit.) this would have enjoyed a distribution of some 800 in Sunderland alone, more than any other town
in Britain according to Cartwright’s reckoning: Cartwright, D., The Real Smith Wigglesworth: The
Man, The Myth, The Message, (Tonbridge: Sovereign World, 2000), 25. The League’s strength
nationally at the turn of the 20th century was around 150 groups containing 17,000 members: Randall,
“Pentecostal League of Prayer,” 2-3.
722
Harris, “The Gift of Tongues” 1-2. That they may indeed have been some rolling on the floor and
similar wild behaviour might have been a factor behind Boddy’s resolve to maintain fairly strict order
in the meetings from then on: Kay, Inside Story, 24.
723
Letter dated Nov 12 1907.
724
See my discussion of Barratt’s correspondence with I., May Throop of Azusa Street in chapter 6.
Besides this, in his book In the Days of the Latter Rain, (Rev. Ed: London: Elim Publishing House,
1928), Barratt uses the phrase in ways highly reminiscent of Azusa: “Even if he [the devil] did try to
make use of ‘tongues’ when we, in seeking our Pentecost, are UNDER THE BLOOD…God would be
no better than the gods of the heathen, if He delivered us to the cruel tyranny of our most bitter enemy
the Devil.” Latter Rain, 97 (also appears in Confidence 1:8 (Nov.’08), 7-9); “When these people are
living under the blood of Christ, it seems much like an insult to Him to say that the holy visions and
signs that they receive, that stimulate to purer lives and worship and service, are of Satanic origin.”
Latter Rain, 100; “Place yourself under the Blood of Jesus, trust your heavenly Father’s grace and
power, lift up the shield of faith against the enemy, and open all the avenues of your being to the Holy
Ghost…” Latter Rain, 204. (italics and capitalisation original throughout).

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when Boddy finally did speak in tongues himself, it was first of all to her that he

wrote to testify of it, expecting, it seems, a joyous response.725 To the contrary, Penn-

Lewis’s antagonistic position became progressively more entrenched, culminating in

her famous book of 1912, War on the Saints.

By November 1908 there were as many as 50 Pentecostal centres across the UK726

and Boddy found himself not only receiving visitors from further and further a field,

but also in demand as a speaker elsewhere. On 3-4 January 1908, Boddy helped to

found the Bonnington Toll assembly in Edinburgh, placing it under the care of Mr and

Mrs Beruldsen. Of this assembly Donald Gee would later become the pastor. Just

north of there, in Kilsyth, was another Pentecostal centre, Andrew Murdoch’s church

in Westport Hall.727 Whether Boddy visited it at that time is not clear. A significant

event took place there, in the absence of Boddy, on January 31 1908. On that day, a

man by the name of John Reid “raised his hand and cried ‘Blood! Blood! Blood!”

Immediately following this, 13 young people received the Baptism in the Spirit and

spoke in tongues. 728 From this point onwards, this repetition of the word ‘blood’,

which was referred to as ‘pleading the blood’, became standard practice at Kilsyth as

people sought the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, 43 people at Westport

Hall received BHS over a single weekend of continuously crying out “the Blood!”729

It was not long before Westport Hall was receiving a flood of visitors from England,

Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Africa and North America. These visitors experienced

exactly the same thing: they received BHS by ‘pleading the blood.’ Meetings were

725
Letter to Jessie Penn-Lewis dated 3 Dec. 1907.
726
Boddy, A., “Speaking in Tongues: Is this if God?” Confidence 1:8 (Nov ’08), 9.
727
This church had initially been founded in 1896 by the Kilsyth United Evangelical Society in an
effort to reach local miners with the gospel: Hutchison, J., “The Kilsyth Religious Revivals” (accessed
online: 10 Jul 2007, http//:www.kilsythcommunity/history
728
Weeks, Chapter Thirty-Two, 19.
729
Worsfold, Origins, 46.

200
held every day for a period of 9 months.730 Before long, 28 young people had offered

themselves for missionary service, causing these events to take their place in local

history as the fourth significant revival to have taken place in Kilsyth.731 The pastor,

Andrew Murdoch, whose wife experienced BHS likewise through the cry of “Blood!

Blood!” went on to become the apostle for Scotland in the Apostolic Faith Church,

which made the blood-cry one of its cardinal doctrines.732 White and Worsfold are

probably quite correct in crediting the John Reid incident of January 1908 with being

the start of the pleading the blood doctrine.733

Murdoch himself went on to defend the doctrine against detractors using the same

argument that Hutchinson would later use: that the dedication of Solomon’s Temple

required the sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 122,000 sheep. It was a repetitious offering

of blood. Likewise, in pleading the blood, the blood of Jesus is repetitiously offered to

God as the believer seeks the gift of the Holy Spirit.734 It is a verbal equivalent of the

mass: offering the sacrifice of Christ to the Father again and again. There does not, in

fact, appear to be a strong demonological dimension to the doctrine in its Kilsyth

730
Worsfold, Origins, 46.
731
The previous three revivals were under John Livingstone, 1627, James Robe 1742-3 and William
Chalmers Burns in 1839: Hutchison, “’Kilsyth’ Religious Revivals.”
732
William Oliver Hutchinson, himself baptised in the Holy Spirit after 2 hours of pleading the blood
in May 1908. He laid down pleading the blood as one of his cardinal truths alongside water baptism,
the Lord’s Supper and paying tithes, with the founding of Emmanuel Mission Hall in November 1908.
Worsfold, Origins, 34, 47, 49.
733
Worsfold, Origins, 45. He bases his information on White, Word of God, 83-134. I have so far
found one prior reference to something resembling the practice, in the bizarre writings of Ellen G.
White. In this instance, it is Jesus Himself doing the pleading on behalf of sinners: “My Blood, Father,
My Blood, My Blood, My Blood.” Present Truth Aug 1, 1849. In Present Truth, Dec.1, 1849, she
states, “I saw that Jesus was pleading His blood for Bro.Rhodes.” accessed online at
http://www.ellenwhite.org/ visited 19 Feb 05.
734
Worsfold, Origins, 46. Note also the language used in a prophecy that was given at Kilsyth that was
intended to explain the unusually precocious behaviour of a 5 year-old child who caused wonder by her
praying and weeping and pleading of the blood: “I have a purpose in that I might show the innocence
of the child being in the plan. For the little one verily was unconscious of My glory and could not take
the glory unto the little heart that was praying, presenting the Blood of My Son…” Worsfold, Origins,
46-47.

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form. Rather, an awareness of God’s holiness in the process of encounter appears to

be the main stimulus.

Boddy visited Kilsyth at the end of March 1908 and witnessed the now well-

established practice of pleading the Blood before receiving Spirit Baptism. Whilst

there he also experienced an intensity of power in the meetings that he described as

greater that anything he had seen under T.B. Barratt in Norway.735 As a result, he

carried this doctrine of pleading the Blood back to Sunderland where he and his wife

Mary began to teach the doctrine as standard practice. One thing that appears to have

made an impression on Boddy during his visit to Kilsyth was the power of the blood –

power that is in putting faith in its benefits and vocalising that faith in the ways he

saw demonstrated. His wife Mary, having already had a vision of the blood during her

BHS, was equally convinced of this, and both were happy to promote the practice of

pleading the blood in Sunderland for well over a year after Boddy’s visit to Kilsyth.

The very first issue of Confidence, published in April 1908, carries an article, written

by Mary Boddy, which is devoted to the subject of the Blood. It is called, “His Own

Blood” and opens with the laudation, “We praise our God that He is teaching us in

these days the wonderful depth, efficacy, and power of the Blood.”736

Confidence was a monthly periodical (distributed free of charge due to the generous

funding of Cecil Polhill737) that quickly acquired both national and global

735
White, Word of God, 83-85. He had previously said exactly the same thing about T.B. Barratt’s
ministry in Oslo in comparison to the Welsh Revival: Gee, Wind and Flame, 20. This shows either a
tendency towards sensational language on his part (something that can be traced to his travel writings if
looked for), or else that his experience of Kilsyth was truly quite exceptional, surpassing even the
Welsh Revival.
736
Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 4.
737
The best study of Polhill’s role in early Pentecostalism is still: Hocken, P., “Cecil H Polhill:
Pentecostal Layman, Pneuma 10:2 (Fall 1988), 116-140.

202
significance.738 Taylor points out that, given the prevailing climate of decreasing

interest in religious matters that was prevalent throughout the Edwardian period, for

Confidence to have reached a circulation of 6,000, with an estimated readership of

20,000, is a remarkable achievement.739 Within two years, Boddy himself could claim

concerning Confidence, “It travels to almost every part of the world where English is

understood.”740

From the first issue in April 1908 until the March of the following year, Confidence

magazine can boast no fewer than 302 references to the word “blood” in relation to

Jesus in its pages. This is far in excess of all the many other ways of referring to the

atonement with words such as, “Cross”(80x), “Calvary”(47x), “crucified”(30x),

“atoning”(6x), and “atonement”(4x), a fact which, to a lesser degree, is also true of

the New Testament itself. 741 This high rating of ‘blood,’ however, is far outstripped

by the understandably high pneumatological stress of Confidence, which boasts 657

references to the word “Spirit” (with capitalisation), 421 references to “tongues”, 325

uses of the phrase “Holy Ghost”, and 21 uses of “Anointing” over the same year long

period. This makes articles published in Confidence about half as pneumatological-

orientated as those published in The Apostolic Faith, but ranking about the same in its

emphasis on the atonement. This first year of Confidence carries 6 teaching articles on

the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, 4 articles on the atonement, 3 articles about the

Second Coming and 2 articles giving teaching on divine healing. Figures for the

738
In Taylor’s reckoning, “It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of Confidence.” Taylor, “Publish
and be Blessed,” 119. By August 1908, donations towards the printing costs were arriving from 7
foreign countries: two from Australia, two from Holland, two from USA (Oklahoma and Seattle), one
from Halifax (Canada), one from France (Paris), one from Sweden and one from South Africa
(Johannesburg): Anon., “Offerings for Printing etc., July 9th to August 9th” Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 2.
739
Taylor, “Publish and be Blessed,” 123.
740
Taylor, “Publish and be Blessed,” 124. Original source not known.
741
See Stibbes, The Meaning of the Word ‘Blood,’ 3-4.

203
Apostolic Faith were much higher owing to the far shorter length of each article,

making up in numbers what was lacking in length. These figures can be compared as

follows, the numbers indicating the total number of articles on the subject indicated

found in the first 12 issues of each periodical:

Confidence Apostolic Faith

Holy Spirit/Gifts 6 26

Atonement 4 7

Second Coming 3 14

Healing 2 3

This shows that the Azusa Street worshippers initially had a far more heightened

sense of their place in time as the harbingers of the Lord’s imminent return. Those

who contributed to The Apostolic Faith were also, as already noted, even more

preoccupied with the person and work of the Holy Spirit than the contributors to

Confidence magazine. By contrast, the contributors to The Apostolic Faith

(principally Seymour) do not appear to have felt inclined to teach very much on the

subject of the atonement compared to those who wrote teaching articles for

Confidence (despite casual references to the blood being about the same, at 331 and

302 respectively). This could be due to the need at Sunderland to manage carefully

the arrival of a brand new doctrine: the pleading of the blood.

A slightly different picture emerges when the dominant themes of the teaching articles

are analysed over the entire length of Confidence magazine’s publication, something

that was not possible to do for Azusa Street as the magazine moved to Portland,

204
Oregon, after the 13th issue in June 1908 and thus very soon ceases to reflect the

situation there or the urgencies of Seymour.742 When such a complete survey is

carried out with regard to Confidence magazine, the leading theme and, reportedly

one of Boddy’s favourite preaching topics743 is the second coming of Christ.

Throughout the total 18-year run of 140 issues of Confidence magazine, from 1908 to

1926, the magazine carries 61 articles and poems devoted to the parousia and events

surrounding it, peaking in 1910-14 and petering out after the first 10-11 years of the

movement.744 In comparison to this, there are a total of 54 articles giving teaching on

742
Admittedly, the last 10 issues of Confidence are not issued from Sunderland but from Boddy’s new
parish of Pittington in County Durham, yet the single editor that Confidence had throughout its life
provides the continuity that The Apostolic Faith did not have with the change of editor to Clara Lum.
743
Wakefield, Boddy, 140.
744
Anon., “The Bridegroom Cometh,” Confidence 1:1 (April ’08), 19; Boddy, A., “The Near Coming
of the Lord,” Confidence 1:3 (June ’08), “The Bride is Getting Ready,” Confidence 1:6 (Sep.’08), 3;
17-18; Smith, A., “Caught Up,” [poem] Confidence 2:4 (April ’09), 80; Anon., “The Midnight Cry”
[poem] Confidence 3:4 (April ’10), 73; Jeffreys, S., “The Parousia or ‘Appearing’ of the Lord,”
Confidence 3:6 (June ’10), 149-151; Anon., “The Day Star: A Meditation Upon Some Sacred
Mysteries,” Confidence 3:9 (Sep.,’10), 212-215; Anon., “How He May Come: A Vision,” Confidence
3:12 (Dec.’10), 278-81; Boddy, M., “Seven Signs of His Coming,” Confidence 3:12 (Dec.’10), 281-83
& 287-88; Anon., “The Day of the Lord,” Confidence 3:12 (Dec.’10), 288-9; Boddy, A., “The Great
Pyramid and the Coming of the Lord,” Confidence 4:1 (Jan.,’11), 15-16; Pastor Niblock, “An
Abundant Entrance,” Confidence 4:2 (Feb.,’11), 33-35; Boddy, A., “The Great Pyramid and the
Coming of the Lord: Uncertainty as to the Date February 22nd-23rd” Confidence 4:2 (Feb.,’11), 36-38;
Beecher-Stowe, H., “A Remarkable Story,” Confidence 4:7 (July ’11), 147-150; Booth-Clibborn, A.,
“The Final Great Rejection: Which has probably already commenced, and which marks the close of
this age,” Confidence 4:7 (July ’11), 150-152; Pastor Paul, “The Bride and Her Heavenly Bridegroom,”
Confidence 4:7 (July ’11), 152-153; Boddy, M., “The Coming Rapture,” Confidence 4:7 (July ’11),
153-55 & 158; Anon., “The Coming of the Lord,” Confidence 4:7 (July ’11), 156; Booth-Clibborn, A.,
“The Final Great Rejection: Part II” Confidence 4:8 (Aug., ’11), E.S.J.M., “Be Ye Also Ready,”
[poem] Confidence 4:9 (Sep.,’11), 195; Booth-Clibborn, A., “The Final Great Rejection: Part III”
Confidence 4:10 (Oct.,’11), 224-6; 174-6; Anon., “The Second Advent” Confidence 4:10 (Oct.,’11),
228-9; Hinchcliffe, E.A., “He is Coming,” [poem] Confidence 4:11 (Nov.,’11), 243; Booth-Clibborn,
A., “The Final Great Rejection: Part IV,” Confidence 4:12 (Dec.,’11), 274-5 & 278-9; idem, M., “The
Final Great Rejection Part V,” Confidence 5:1 (Jan.’12), 6-8; idem, “The Final Great Rejection Part
VI” Confidence 5:2 (Feb.’12), 33-35; Anon., “The Date of the ‘Rapture’” Confidence 5:3 (Mar.’12),
56; Watson, S., “In the Twinkling of an Eye,” Confidence 5:3 (Mar.’12), 51-56; Watson, S., “After the
Rapture,” Confidence 5:4 (Apr.’12), 78-83 & 86; Crawfurd, E., “Surely, I Come Quickly,” [poem]
Confidence 6:5 (May, ’13), 87; Edel, P., “Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh!” Confidence 7:1 (Jan.’14),
9 & 13-14; Edel, P., “The Coming of the Lord,” Confidence 7:3 (Mar.’14), 43; Anon., “How are the
Dead Raised and with what Body do they Come?” Confidence 7:3 (Mar.’14), 47-49; Anon., “A Chart
of the World’s Ages and the Coming of the Lord,” Confidence 7:4 (Apr.’14), 70-71; Boddy, M.,
“Death Swallowed up Victoriously,” Confidence 7:5 (May’14), 90-91; Booth-Clibborn, A., “Ripening
for Rapture,” Confidence 7:5 (Jun.’14), 103-6; Weaver, A., “The Antichrist and his System,”
Confidence 7:9 (Sep.’14), 167-9; Boddy, M., “The War: Zecharia’s Horses,” Confidence 7:9 (Sep.’14),
170-71; Pastor Paul, “The Day-Star,” Confidence 7:10 (Oct.’14), 190-1; Humburg, P., “The Coming of
the Lord,” Confidence 7:10 (Nov.’14), 210-212; Sidford, A.E., “Behold, I Come!” [poem] Confidence
8:1 (Jan.’15), 3; Anon., “When Our King Comes,” [poem] Confidence 8:2 (Feb.’15), 23; Anon., “A
Great Earthquake,” Confidence 8:3 (Mar.’15), 54; Watt, A., “Signs of the Times,” Confidence 8:4

205
the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts,745 aside from numerous BHS testimonies. Articles

on this subject start to decline in frequency from around the middle of the First World

(Apr.’15), 72-73; Titterington, E., “The War and Prophecy,” Confidence 8:9 (Sep.’15), 175-6; Anon.,
“How Will Christ Come?” Confidence 9:1 (Jan.’16), 8-9 & 11-12; Boddy, M., “With Patience Wait for
it,” Confidence 9:2 (Feb.’16), 30-31; Murray, M., “The Career of the Antichrist,” Confidence 9:3
(Mar.’16), 44-47; Salmon, T.H., “The Last Generation,” Confidence 9:3 (Mar.’16), 48-49 & 52-55;
Murray, M., “The Career of the Antichrist Continued,” Confidence 9:5 (May ’16), 88-9; Anon., “The
Lord is Coming: Message from a Soldier in France,” Confidence 10:3 (May-Jun.’17), 39; Anon., “The
World in Travail,” Confidence 10:3 (May-Jun.’17), 41; Boddy, A., “Prophetic Items,” Confidence 10:6
(Nov-Dec.’17), 91; Conway, L., “The Morning Cometh!” Confidence 11:2 (April-Jun.’18), 28-30;
Rader, P., “Armageddon,” Confidence 11:3 (Jul-Sep.’18), 43-48; Pettingill, W., “Caught up to Christ,”
Confidence 11:3(Jul.-Sep.’18), 48-49; Moule, H., “The Hope of the Approach of the Lord’s Return and
its Influence Upon Life,” Confidence 12:3 (Jul.-Sep.’19), 39-43 & 45-46; Jeffreys, T., “Pastor Jeffreys
on the Rapture,” Confidence 13:4 (Oct.-Dec.’20), 59; Boddy, A., “The Coming Deliverer: The Hope of
Christians and Jews,” Confidence 124 (Jan-Mar.,’21), 5-7; Titterington, E., “The Coming Kingdom on
Earth,” Confidence 124 (Jan.-Mar.’21), 8-11; Boddy, M., “Death Swallowed Up Victoriously,”
Confidence 137 (Apr.-Jun.’24), 130-131.
745
Anon., “The Promise of the Father,” Confidence 1:8 (Nov.’08), 3-6; Boddy, A., “Speaking in
Tongues: Is this if God?” Confidence 1:8 (Nov.’08), 9-10; Boddy, A., “Tongues as a Sign,” Confidence
2:2 (Feb.’09), 33-35; Boddy et al., “Discussion on Tongues,” Confidence 2:2 (Feb.’09), 37-41; Boddy,
A., “Prophetic Messages and their Trustworthiness,” Confidence 2:2 (Feb.’09), 42-45; Reiman, O.,
“The Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Fruits of the Holy Spirit,” Confidence 2:2 (Feb.’09), 45-47;
Boddy, A., “Seven Hall-Marks of Heaven upon the Pentecostal Baptism with the Sign of Tongues,”
Confidence 2:8 (Aug.’09), 180-183; Barratt.T.B., “The Baptism of the Holy Ghost – What is it?”
Confidence 2:10 (Oct.’09), 221-223; Mundell, T.H., “This is of God,” Confidence 2:10 (Oct.’09), 233-
5; Judd-Montgomery, C., “A Year with the Comforter,” Confidence 2:11 (Nov.’09), 249-251; Boddy,
A., “Speaking in Tongues: What is it?” Confidence 3:5 (May ’10), 99-104; Pastor Paul, “The Scriptural
Baptism of the Holy Ghost and its Results,” Confidence 3:6 (Jun.’10), 140-142; Carothers, W.F., “The
Gift of Interpretation: Is it Intended to be a Means of Guidance?” Confidence 3:11 (Nov.’10), 255-257;
Boddy, A., “Tongues: The Pentecostal Sign: Love the Evidence of Continuance,” Confidence 3:11
(Nov.’10), 260-61; Beyerhaus, E., “The Spirit of Pentecost and His Gifts,” Confidence 3:12 (Dec.’10),
289-291; Boddy, A., “The Pentecostal Baptism: Counsel to Leaders and others,” Confidence 4:1
(Jan’11), 5-8; Mundell, T.H., “False Prophets and Messages,” Confidence 4:1 (Jan.’11), 11 & 14-15;
Pastor Edel, “A Greater Pentecost,” Confidence 4:3 (Mar.’11), 58-59 & 61; White, N., “A Song in
‘Tongues;” Confidence (Jul.’11), 147; Boddy, A., “The Place of Tongues in the Pentecostal
Movement,” Confidence 4:8 (Aug.’11), 176-179; Anon., “Tongues in the ‘Air’” Confidence 4:9
(Sep.’11), 204; Berg, G., “Some Thoughts on Prophetic Utterances,” Confidence 4:11 (Nov.’11), 248;
Pastor Paul, “Advice as to Prophecy,” Confidence 4:11 (Nov.’11), 249; Beyerhaus, E., “The Baptism in
the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 4:11 (Nov.’11), 252-4; Anon., £The Holy Ghost for Us,” Confidence 5:1
(Jan.’12), 11 & 19-21; Judd-Montgomery, C., “Sanctification and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit,”
Confidence 5:10 (Oct.’12), 228-9; idem, “The Residue of the Oil,” Confidence 5:11 (Nov.’12), 252-
255; Myerscough, T. & H. Hall, “The Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 6:1 (Jan.’13), 5-8;
Barratt, T.B., et al, “Thoughts as to the Grace-Gifts,” Confidence 6:2 (Feb.’13), 30-31; Anon., “What is
Pentecost?” Confidence 6:5 (May ’13), 89-93 & 96-97; Mrs Polman, “Speaking in Tongues,”
Confidence 6:8 (Aug.’13), 151-2; Pastor Edel, “Continue in the Spirit,” Confidence 6:9 (Sep.’13), 173-
176; Anon., “The Fire of the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 6:9 (Sep.’13), 178-80; Tetchner, J., “The
Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 7:1 (Jan.’14), 4-6; A. Boddy et al, “Tongues in the Public
Assembly: Conference of Leaders at the Sunderland Convention,” Confidence 8:1 (Jan.’14), 12-14;
Dixon, W.T., “About Tongues: A Word in Season,” Confidence 7:2 (Feb.’14), 26-28; Pastor Paul,
“How to Get the Baptism,” Confidence 7:2 (Feb.’14), 30-31; Pastor Edel, “The Gifts and Their Uses,”
Confidence 7:3 (Mar.’14), 44-45; C.E.D. de L., “The Glossalalia in the Early Church,” Confidence 7:5
(May ’14), 85-89; A. Boddy, et al, “Tongues in the Public Assembly: Conference of Leaders at the
Sunderland Convention,” Confidence 7:12 (Dec.’14), 233-6; Knight, K., “The Baptism in the Holy
Spirit – Continued” Confidence 8:7 (Jul.’15), 120 & 133-4; Anon., “ A Well-Known Missionary on
Tongues,” Confidence 8:9 (Sep.’15), 174-5; idem, “A Well-Known Missionary on Tongues
Continued,” Confidence 8:10 (Oct.’15), 193-5; Anon., “Brought to God Through Tongues,”

206
War, possibly indicating a mild case of the ‘routinisation of charisma.’ There are a

relatively meagre 22 articles devoted to the atonement746 over the same period despite

casual references to the blood being extremely numerous. The atonement is a very

early theme, very soon fading to little more than a yearly Easter message. Casual

references to the blood fade less quickly. Finally, there are 18 articles giving teaching

on the subject of healing, 747 besides numerous testimonies. The subject of healing

seems to become slightly more prominent with time, especially after the War when

the great healing ministries of the Jeffreys brothers and Wigglesworth start to rise to

fame.

Confidence 9:1 (Jan.’16), 15-16; Bartleman, F., “With Other Tongues,” Confidence 9:4 (Apr.’16), 63-
66; Wigglesworth, S., “Our Great Need: Paul’s Vision and the Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” Confidence
10:6 (Nov.-Dec.’17), 84-87 & 90; Boddy, M., “Faith in God the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 11:4 (Oct.-
Dec.’18), 68-69; A. Boddy et al, “The True Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 12:2 (Apr.-
Jun.’19), 19-21; Wigglesworth, S., “Immersed in the Holy Ghost,” Confidence 13:3 (Jul-Sep.’20), 42-
43; C.P., “Torrents of Water, John vii,38” Confidence 13:4 (Oct-Dec.’20), 56; Moule, H., “The Holy
Spirit,” Confidence 124 (Jan-Mar.’21), 8; Wigglesworth, S., “The Word of Knowledge and of Faith,”
Confidence 136 (Jan.-Mar.’24), 117-120 & 122.
746
Boddy, M., “His Own Blood,” Confidence 1:1 (Apr.’08), 4; Anon., “Pleading the Blood,”
Confidence 1:5 (Aug.’08), 3-6; Boddy, M., “See the Blood from Calv’ry Flowing [poem]” Confidence
1:8 (Nov.’08), 3; Boddy, A., “Divine Necrosis, or the Deadness of the Lord Jesus,” Confidence 1:9
(Dec.’08), 3-7; Boddy, A., “’Christ in His Holy Land’: The Story of Calvary,” Confidence 3:3
(Mar.’10), 51-57; Anon., “The Great Victory,” Confidence 3:3 (Mar.’10), 60; Anon., “The Precious
Blood of Christ,” Confidence 4:2 (Feb.’11), 36; Boddy, A., “The Good Friday Story,” Confidence 4:3
(Mar.’11), 51-58; Booth-Clibborn, A., “A Hymn of the Blood (What ‘the Blood’ Means),!” Confidence
4:6 (Jun.’11), 123; Anon., “Faith in His Blood,” Confidence 4:8 (Aug.’11), 185-7; H.A.M., “The
Precious Blood of Christ [poem],” Confidence 4:10 (Oct.’11), 219; Anon., “The Blood of Jesus in the
Old testament,” Confidence 4:12 (Dec.’11), 272-4; Boddy, A., “Gethsemane,” Confidence 7:3
(Mar’14), 72-75; Trussell, E.R., “The Lord’s Supper: Medicine for His Children,” Confidence 8:4
(Apr.’14), 70-71; Anon., “The Precious Blood of Christ,” Confidence 9:4 (Apr.’16), 69-72; Boddy, A.,
“A Glorious Hymn of the Blood,” Confidence 137 (Apr.-Jun.’24), 127-129; Sisson, E., “The Lamb
Slain for the Wild Ass,” Confidence 139 (Nov.-Dec.’24), 151-2.
747
Judd-Montgomery, C., “Christ’s Quickening Life for the Mortal Body,” Confidence 1:8 (Nov.’08),
6-7; Boddy, A., “The Gifts of the Spirit in the Light of History,” Confidence 2:1 (Jan.’09), 11 & 16;
Boddy, A., “Faith Healing’” Confidence 3:1 (Jan.’10), 8-11 & 14-15; Boddy, A., “’Health in Christ’”
Confidence 3:9 (Sep.’10), 211 & 216; Pastor Paul, “Divine Healing and Health,” Confidence 3:10
(Oct.’10), 227-228; Sister J.C.G., & Brother Moorhead, “I am the Lord that HEALETH Thee,” [poem]
Confidence 4:5 (May ’11), 99; Pastor Paul, “Discerning the Lord’s Body,” Confidence 4:8 (Aug.’11),
185-7; Pastor Edel, “Preaching and Healing,” Confidence 7:2, (Feb.’14), 28-29 & 31; Anon., “Healing
by Faith,” Confidence 7:6 (Jun.’14), 110-111 & 113-114; Pastor Paul, “What Shall we Preach to the
Sick?” Confidence 8:3 (Mar.’15), 47-48; idem, “What Shall we Preach to the Sick?” Confidence 8:4
(Apr.’15), 73-74; Judd-Montgomery, C., “A Message to the Sick,” Confidence 8:5 (May ’15), 87-88;
Sisson, E., “Our Health His Wealth,” Confidence 9:10 (Oct.’16), 164-7; Pritchard, W., “Healing by
Faith in Christ,” Confidence 124 (Jan.-Mar.’21), 12; Butlin, J., “Divine Healing,” Confidence 125
(Apr.-Jun.’21), 22-23 & 27-28; Boddy, A., “The Anointing with Oil: James v., 13-16,” Confidence 129
(Apr-Jun.’22), 21-22; Wigglesworth, S., “’Ever-Increasing Faith’ A Valuable Work on Divine
Healing,” Confidence 140 (May ’25), 163-166; Boddy, M., “Spiritual Healing: Spiritual and Bodily
Vitality, A powerful Plea,” Confidence 140 (May ’25), 166-167.

207
The Second Coming, the Holy Spirit, the Atonement and Divine Healing constitute

the four dominant, and closely interwoven theological preoccupations of British

Pentecostalism in its earliest stages.748 The reoccurrence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

was the supreme sign that the Lord was coming soon: these were the long-promised

days of the Latter Rain. Aside from the spiritual gifts, other miraculous occurrences,

as in the days of the first outpouring - the Former Rain - could therefore be expected,

and chief of these was healing.749 So the movement had a forward-looking and

backwards-looking dimension: the Last Days were also days of apostolic restoration.

Because these were the Last Days, an increase in anti-Christian satanic activity could

also be anticipated, just as the Scriptures foretold:

In these last days God is permitting His children to be tried. ‘Satan has asked
for us to be sifted as wheat,’ not only in (sic.) Satanic fury trying to overcome
us and devour us, but God is proving us…750

premillennialism was not optimistic about the state of the world.751 Because of this,

the Blood of Christ, in the manner of the Exodus story, was needed over the door-

posts and lintels of the human heart. An especially interesting article appears that

shows a diagram of the heart (pictured as a house) with the Blood on its doorposts and

748
In a recent study, Cartledge adds sanctification to this list to adduce a Wesleyan-Holiness five-fold
gospel implicit in the theology of Confidence: Cartledge, M., “The Early Penteocostal Theology of
Confidence Magazine (1908-1926): A Version of the Five-Fold Gospel?” Journal of the European
Pentecostal Theological Association, 28:2 (2008), 117-130.
749
The campaign of George and Stephen Jeffreys in Swansea was hailed as an “Apostolic Revival”
precisely because of the healings that were taking place, as well as the tongues, of course. George
Jeffreys writes to Boddy, reporting, “The work here is deepening, and numerous conversions are taking
place [a run-of-the-mill revival], and many have received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the Signs
following. Praise the Lord! Some miraculous cases of healing have also taken place, and it is a real
Apostolic Revival…” Boddy, A., “An Apostolic Welsh Revival,” Confidence 6:2 (Feb.’13), 28.
750
Boddy, M., “Life out of Death,” Confidence 5:4 (May ’12), 110.
751
“…they expect things to go from bad to worse, and frankly tell me they have no hope of
amelioration.” Bebbington, D., “The Advent Hope in British Evangelicalism since 1800” Scottish
Journal of Religious Studies 9:2 (1988), 106, citing a Postmillennial Methodist’s comments on the
mood of premillennialists. On the contradiction entailed in the parallel expectation of a worldwide
outpouring of the Spirit see my discussion at note 690, p. 192.

208
lintels with, “Satan and his aerial hosts,” written just above the house. These aerial

hosts are unable to penetrate through the blood.752 Such hosts as these were looking

for opportunities to attack Christians that were earnestly seeking their own personal

Pentecost. And so it was that pleading the blood, and a significant proportion of all

other references to the blood at this time, took on a combative, demonological flavour.

The magazine was soon augmented by an annual Whitsuntide conference that was

held a total of seven times before the First World War put a stop to them. Over the

duration of the seven conferences a total of 42 foreign (mainly USA and Continental

Europe) and 23 British leaders attended.753 Highlights from these conferences, as well

as from many other conferences that Boddy attended often made up the bulk of the

articles from June 1908 until the War. Mrs Barratt describes the atmosphere of the

first conference:

A large part of the meetings was spent on our knees, praying, singing, or in
silence praying to God’s Lamb, whose Blood was so precious, in that the
Spirit’s Light fell over it, and we experienced that it cleansed us wholly.754

Throughout this time, besides the Pentecostal after-meetings in the vestry, Boddy

conducted normal church services at All Saints, merely noting in his 1908 Visitation

Return to Bishop Moule that, “The preaching of a Victorious Christ-Victory over the

works of the devil through the Cross proves to be most attractive.”755

752
Anon., “Faith in His Blood,” Confidence, 4:8 (Aug.’11), 188.
753
Wakefield, Boddy, 120. Many of the British delegates went on to become prominent. Thomas
Myerscough came in 1909, where he received his BHS, John Nelson Parr attended for the first time in
1910, John and Howard Carter attended from 1912, Kay, Inside Story, 30. George Jeffreys was invited
by Boddy to speak at the conference of 1913: Boddy, A., “The Welsh Revivalists Revisited,”
Confidence 6:2 (Feb., 1913), 47-49.
754
Barratt, T.B., “The Conference in Sunderland,” Confidence 1:4 (July ’08), 5.
755
Wakefield, Boddy, 127.

209
It is now time to analyse the Blood theme at Sunderland, establishing, as in previous

chapters in this thesis, the roles attributed to it by the people. Judging from the first

year of issues of Confidence magazine, the 9 leading themes were: pleading:17%,

victory:15%, protection:10%, cleansing:10%, power:9%, redemption:6%, honouring,

magnifying, being loyal to, praising and adoring the blood:5%, sanctification, 4% and

conjoinings of the work of the blood with the work of the Spirit:3%.

It is useful to compare these figures with the equivalent data on Azusa Street. The

percentages listed indicate the proportion of the total of all references to the blood in

the first 12 issues of each periodical that have reference to the theme indicated. I have

listed only the top 9 themes connected with the blood in Confidence. Increases of

more than 1% I have highlighted in bold. Decreases of more than 1% I have reduced

to a 10-point font in order to highlight the changes:

Confidence Apostolic Faith

Pleading 17% 1%

Victory 15% 10%

Cleansing 10% 20%

Protection 10% 10%

Power 9% 3%

Redemption 7% 3%

Honouring 5% 4%

Sanctification 4% 9%

+ Spirit 3% 4%

210
The most notable thing about these figures is the dramatic rise in occurrences of

pleading the blood, reflecting its promotion from a devotional theme inspired by

Wesleyan hymnody to a technical term with a developed methodology, almost

certainly deriving from Kilsyth. In the language of Durkheim, this piece of

terminology had now passed from a “religious” sphere without defined outcomes into

a “magical” role in which something specific was expected to happen.756 In effect, the

use of the word blood had now become a speech-act. As part and parcel of this

development, it also seems very clear that with the change of provenance to the UK

(as well as from Kilsyth to Sunderland) there is a dramatic increase in demon-

mindedness, so much so that the new practice from Kilsyth is commandeered in order

to cope with it: the mechanical and repetitious pleading of the blood. There has been a

concomitant reduction in the Wesleyan elements of cleansing and sanctification

reflective of the more Keswick-orientated make-up of those that gathered at

Sunderland. Moreover, it is clear that, in contrast to the Salvation Army, cleansing

from sin was by no means synonymous with victory over the devil. Blood-orientated

spiritual warfare was now becoming an art in itself.

6.1. ‘Victory’ Through the Blood.

The uses to which the word ‘blood’ was put over this period display an excessive

Christus Victor theme when compared to the New Testament. As noted above, the

victory theme accounts for 15% of all occurrences during the first year of Confidence.

If combined with all other demonologically-orientated references, including every

756
Durkheim also made the interesting suggestion that magic develops out of religion and that it leads
in the direction of lay participation: Durkheim, E., The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life,
(London: George Allen & Unwin), 36-47.

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reference to pleading the blood (17%) and being protected by, under, covered by,

sheltered by or safe beneath the blood (10%), then the demonological emphasis is

extremely strong, totalling 42%. Salvation-related themes, including cleansing,

forgiveness, justification, redemption, atonement, access, sanctification, salvation,

life, finished work of, faith or trust in, peace through, merit of, birthright because of,

and restoration of the image of God through, account for a further 34%. By contrast,

in the New Testament, only 1 out of the 34 uses of ‘blood’ with reference to the death

of Jesus actually speaks of victory over the devil (Rev.12:11).The remainder all carry

soteriological subject matter. Yet in Confidence, gaining a decisive victory over

Satan, and thereafter staying protected from him, was essential to all spiritual progress

towards and beyond one’s personal Pentecost. On one occasion, the victory that is to

be enjoyed through the blood is expressed in the form of a vision:

She saw a River of Blood going out, and on either bank men and women stood
hesitating, but some stepped into it. Then Jesus on a white horse seemed to
ride down the centre, and as he raised His sword the hosts of Hell fell into the
abyss, and many stepped into the stream and followed Him on to certain
victory.757

An aspect of this victory was, of course, the practice of pleading the blood. Testimony

after testimony describes the breakthrough moment, when Satan was overcome and

the Spirit entered in, as being the moment when the seeker used such a phrase as “The

precious blood of Jesus”, or just “Blood!Blood!Blood!” Boddy recollects his visit to

Kilsyth in this way:

…there is great Spiritual Power in the meetings. Sometimes, in the after-

meetings, everyone will be earnestly engaged in prayer. Strong men wrestling
with God, and especially pleading the Blood of the Lord Jesus, His finished
work through the Blood, the victory obtained through the Blood. All this they

757
Boddy, A., “A Visit to Holland,” Confidence 1: 6 (Sep 1908), 12.

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 mean when they just rapidly repeat, ‘Blood, Blood, Blood,’ and often they find
the Spirit falling upon them and speaking with other tongues.758

Boddy elsewhere teaches emphatically: “The pleading of the Blood in the power of

the Holy Spirit will put to flight all the powers of darkness.”759 Smith Wigglesworth

was very soon enamoured with the idea of pleading the blood. Writing in from

Bradford, he enthuses:

We are realising the blessing that comes to us through pleading the Blood.
There is certain victory if the pleader keeps the precious Jesus before him.
Then the Holy Ghost commences to plead through him. This is the
commencement of signs.760

From Pontesford, Mr George Beady writes in, following a visit by Wigglesworth,

giving his testimony of BHS:

…from early morning I claimed God’s promises and continuously pleaded

‘the precious Blood of Jesus,’ until about 1 p.m. in the afternoon when there
came such a strong inspiration to go upstairs; so, saying nothing to anyone, I
went by myself and knelt down by the bedside, still pleading ‘the precious
Blood of Jesus,’ until suddenly the Holy Ghost came upon me, and I found
myself glorifying God in an unknown tongue as the Spirit gave utterance.761

It is clear that by this time, some vocal expression of faith or trust in the blood of

Jesus was seen as an essential part of the whole experience of Spirit baptism. This was

the case both at Sunderland and at the various other Pentecostal centres that were

mushrooming throughout the UK that were aligning themselves with Sunderland.

These centres were beginning to contribute regularly to Confidence magazine,

758
Boddy, A., “A Visit to Kilsyth,” Confidence 1:1 (April 1908), 10.
759
Boddy, A., “Our Faithful God,” Confidence 1:2 (May ’08), 4.
760
Wigglesworth, S., “Bradford,” Confidence 1:2 (May 1908), 9.
761
Beady, G., “Pontesford. Good News from the Shrewsbury District,” Confidence 1:8 (Nov 1908), 13.

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enriching it with their own accounts, which will be analysed shortly, of how certain

individuals received their Pentecostal Baptism.

6.2. The Blood as Badge of Evangelical Orthodoxy.

There is a trait within early Pentecostalism that can be seen in embryonic form in

Azusa Street and which will yet reach new heights of urgency during the inter-war

years. This trait is a development on the apotropeic motif. In other words, if being

under the blood wards off the devil during the event of BHS, then BHS cannot

therefore be of the devil and must be of God. Further, the affect of BHS is that people

instinctively want to honour the blood more, not less, than they did before. Therefore,

in their view, the Pentecostals rightfully belong to the wider blood-bathed Evangelical

community. Events surrounding the founding of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship will

suffice to illustrate the blood-centredness of non-Pentecostal Evangelicals at that time.

Relations between the Evangelically-minded Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian

Union founded in 1910, and the more liberal Student Christian Movement came to a

head in 1918. Norman Grubb describes the moment:

After an hour’s talk, I asked Rollo [head of SCM] point-blank, ‘Does SCM put
the atoning blood of Jesus Christ central?’ He hesitated, and then said, ‘Well,
we acknowledge it, but not necessarily central.’ Dan Dick [head of CICCU]
and I then said that this settled the matter for us in the CICCU. We could
never join something that did not maintain the atoning blood of Jesus Christ as
its centre, and we parted company.762

Thus, at the 1919 Keswick Convention, IVF was born, defined by its attitude to the

blood. Charles Spurgeon’s claim that he would rather have his tongue cut out than

ever agree to stop preaching about the blood has already been noted. Evangelical

762
Grubb, N., Once Caught, No Escape: My Life Story, (Lutterworth, 1969), 56.

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resistance to all things liberal, especially liberalism’s revulsion at a penal sacrificial

concept of the atonement, was a major identity marker. And so increasingly, the fact

that the BHS experience would have the affect of magnifying a Pentecostal’s

appreciation for the blood was cited time and again as an apologetic device:

Christ and His precious Blood was honoured. Surely these were the fruits of
the Spirit and nothing else. Those who deny this because old forms of worship
were broken are to deplored and pitied and prayed for.763

6.3. The Blood and Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The significance of the blood was clearly amplified for Pentecostals, even compared

to other holiness groups. As already stated, BHS would have the effect of increasing a

person’s appreciation for the blood. Not only was this so, but the blood had an

essential practical role in BHS for Pentecostals that it did not have in the BHS

experiences of non-Pentecostal holiness groups. As an example of this, Reader Harris

sums up the steps that are necessary in order to receive the Holy Spirit as power for

service:

1. Separate yourself from all evil

2. Separate yourself to God

3. Believe God

4. Do not wait for feelings764

5. Obey God.765

763
Barratt, T.B., “In Syria,” Confidence 1:7 (Oct,’08), 21.
764
This was the issue that left Pentecostals totally unsatisfied by Keswick: Hudson, D. N., “Strange
Words and Their Impact on Early Pentecostals: A Historical Perspective,” in Cartledge, M., (ed),
Speaking in Tongues: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006), 55-56.
765
Harris, R., Power for Service, 47.

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There is no mention of the blood of Jesus. T.B. Barratt, by contrast, also sums up his

advice on how to receive the Spirit:

1. Seek it now

2. Seek it through the blood

3. Seek it after perfect cleansing

4. Seek it without anxiety, trusting the Word of God.766

It is to this subject of the blood of Jesus in the BHS experience that we now turn.

Over the course of Confidence magazine’s first year of issue: April 1908-March 1909,

a total of 25 personal testimonies were published. These were from people, both at the

first Whitsuntide conference and at other times and places, who received the baptism

in the Holy Spirit. These records are invaluable as a case study for understanding the

anatomy of early Pentecostal spirituality. The Pentecostalism recorded here is part of

a movement that, by the time of the publication of the first issue, was barely six

months old. It is not surprising, therefore, that the testimonies related here display all

the effervescence that Poloma describes as characteristic of the defining first stage in

a social movement.767

BHS testimonies in Confidence fall broadly into a fourfold pattern: Aspiration,

Consecration, Encounter, Results. I have, therefore, analysed the data as follows:

766
Barratt, Latter Rain, 97. Also appears in “Is Satan Divided?” in Redemption Tidings 3:6 (June
1927), 6.
767
Poloma, M., “Toronto Blessing” in NIDPCM, 1150-1152.

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i) Aspiration.

This is the stage at which the seeker first becomes aware that he or she lacks

something. This is described as “hungering and thirsting,”768 “…soul-hunger…”769

and “…a deep longing after Himself.”770 Boddy’s friend, Pastor Polman from Berlin,

longed for “…power from on high, to be a witness for Christ.”771

Sometimes, this hunger was generated by a sense of failure in some area of sin:

“Many seemed to get a great blessing and were able to say, ‘He has broken my

fetters,’ but I could not sing these words, I felt I was bound.”772 At other times the

longing was generated by news of Pentecostal revival breaking out elsewhere: “The

Lord caused to be sent to us Pentecostal news from America.”773 One man records an

inner witness when he “…heard of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Los

Angeles.”774 These factors would lead to “…a holy, devout expectation…”775

The expectations that seekers had of what benefit the experience would give them

may, to a significant degree, be summed up under two Keswick ideals. These were

adumbrated at the Broadlands conference in 1874 as, ‘maintained communion with

the Lord and victory over all known sin.”776 John Miller, for instance, gave his BHS

testimony in the hope that, “…others may be helped into a fuller Life of Victory and

768
Mrs Elvin, Confidence 1:6 (Sep 08), 12
769
Mr W.H.S: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 9
770
Ms A.S. Kenyon: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08),
771
Pastor Polman: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08).
772
Ms Beruldsen: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 11.
773
Mrs Elvin: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 12.
774
Mr W.H.S: Confidence1:5 (Aug 08), 9.
775
Mr W.H.S: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 8.
776
Barabas, So Great Salvation, 20.

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Power…”777 Signora Malan of Turin describes a similar longing: “I have, year after

year, had an increasing desire for complete deliverance from sin and self.”778 The

above statements mostly reflect the middle ground of the early Oberlin and Keswick

theories.779 These saw BHS as having to do with both holiness and power for service,

with the note of ‘victory’ uniting the two concepts.780

In addition to these aspirations towards personal victory, there was a further, and

arguably more compelling, more dangerous, expectation. This was the desire for what

today we might term as the ‘Wow!’ factor. They were after, “THE REAL

PENTECOST,”781 “…the manifest baptism of the Holy Ghost.”782 They had come to

Sunderland, “…to wait upon God for full Pentecost with Signs.”783 It was this element

of “with Signs” that was the defining feature of the new Pentecostals. This

differentiated them sharply from their Holiness contemporaries such as Reader Harris.

He, together with many other Holiness adherents, believed that BHS was to be

received quietly and accepted by faith, regardless of the presence or absence of any

emotional or physical evidences. And so it was by 1912, that this “with Signs”

element provoked Jessie Penn-Lewis into writing War on the Saints, in which she

claimed that all such manifestations were demonic.784 It appears that the blood was

pleaded much of the time in order to insure against this very thing. There appears to
777
Confidence 1:2 (May 08), 11.
778
Confidence 1:4 (Jul 08), 6.
779
David Leigh, in his testimony, quotes both R.A.Torrey and Hannah Pearsall Smith with approval:
Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 8. Torrey and Smith’s teachings on how to obtain BHS and what it was for
differed in quite significant ways (See Wesseis, R., “The Spirit Baptism, Nineteenth Century Roots”
Pneuma 1:14 (Fall 1992), 133-157), yet both were Keswick speakers.
780
Similarly, Mary Boddy’s testimony, which appears in a separate tract, includes the expectation of
“the Power to love and believe and witness.” Boddy, M., “Testimony of a Vicar’s Wife,” 6.
781
Reverend C.W.D: Confidence 1:2 (May 08), 7.
782
J.W: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 10.
783
Ms Williams: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 14.
784
This book was responded to at the Whitsuntide Conference of 1913 and denounced in a
“Declaration” recorded in Confidence 6:7 (Jul 1913), 135. This ably contradicts Penn-Lewis’s
surprisingly Cartesian insistence that any manifestation which can be registered by the physical senses
must be demonic.

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have been a real fear amongst the seekers of Sunderland, which Penn-Lewis was

perhaps attempting to capitalise on, that they would be overtaken by a deceptive

demonic power rather than experiencing a genuine Baptism with God-given tongues.

The blood was, therefore, invoked for protection.785 One man, wishing to go along to

William Oliver Hutchinson’s church in Bournemouth, notorious for its excesses, was

reportedly told to plead the blood of Christ and he would be “safe.”786

ii) Consecration.

The baptism in the Spirit was not seen as something that could be lightly given by

God. It was seen as holy and precious. The experience was seen as a meeting with

God Himself. To prepare for this, it was necessary to confess all known sin and to

surrender one’s whole self to God.

The element of confession leading to a deep inward cleansing was important: “All

known hindrances in the past were to be mutually owned in the presence of the

searcher of all hearts.”787 This was because, “God can only fill the cleansed

Temple.”788 The cooperation of the seeker with God was therefore essential: “While

waiting, the Lord led us to surrender at every point, and to WORK while we

waited…”789

785
E.g. “But if a Seeker has humbly looked to God to give him this sign as a token of his Baptism, and
if he is trusting the finished work of the Lord on the Cross (the Blood), then we are pressed into the
belief that God would not allow him to be deceived.” A. Boddy, “The German Conference”,
Confidence 2:1 (Jan 09), 6 (italics and parentheses original).
786
Worsfold, Origins, 37.
787
Reverend C.W.D: Confidence 1:2 (May 08), 7.
788
Margaret Howell & Mabel Scott: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 5.
789
Margaret Howell & Mabel Scott: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 5.

219
The human side of the act of consecration is made clear in Mrs Beruldsen’s testimony

as she is asked some tough questions by Mary Boddy: “Do you know of anything

between you and God, or any person, that would need to be put right?”790

The cleansing power of the blood of Jesus was essential at this point: “We entered in

through the precious Blood, the only way of perfect cleansing.”791 In the testimonies

as a whole, however, the cleansing power of the blood is not as prominent a feature as

one might expect at this stage.

As seekers prepared themselves in this way, many appear to have undergone a

definite sanctification experience, prior to what they would have identified as their

Baptism in the Spirit:

After 14 days’ fasting and longing to receive the Holy Ghost, I asked the Lord
one evening so to purge me that I might not continue in sin. I asked the Lord
to make it a reality, and a wonderful joy and purity streamed through my body
and lit up all things around me.792

Mrs Kenyon, likewise, reports a “…willingness to give up things that hindered from

finding full satisfaction in Christ, the Holy Spirit then took fuller possession.”793

Some, at this point would experience ‘holy laughter’ as a token of this fuller

possession and the cleansing of the blood.794 Indeed, Alexander Boddy himself was

790
Mrs Beruldsen: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 12.
791
Margaret Howell and Mabel Scott: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 5.
792
Herr Beyerhaus: Confidence 2:1 (Jan 09), 6.
793
Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 9
794
Mrs Elvin: Confidence 1:6 (Sep 08), 12; David Leigh: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 8; Anon.,
Confidence 1:7 (Oct 08), 6

220
clear that sanctification was a definite Second Blessing preconditional for the Third

Blessing of BHS with tongues.795

Consecration appears to have been a salient feature of the ‘tarrying’ experience and

possibly seen as the main purpose of the tarrying meetings: “The Master had much to

do in me – subduing, humbling, teaching – oh, so lovingly and tenderly, often during

the waiting-time, giving sweet touches of love…”796 Smith Wigglesworth expresses

all the elements and purposes of the Consecration stage well:

As the blood is applied through separation and holy surrender, the fire falls,
the Spirit’s clothing comes on to a pure spirit. What I am, what I have been,
must be lost in Him.797

iii) Encounter.

It was anticipated that the encounter would be not only an encounter with God, but

also an encounter with the opposition of Satan. The devil did not want God’s child to

experience the blessing, and may even give a counterfeit blessing. Hence Carrie Judd-

Montgomery’s testimony:

I asked them to pray for me, which they did. I said ‘By the Blood of Jesus my
whole being is open to the fullness of God, and by that same precious blood I
am closed to any power of the enemy.798

795
At a conference in Germany Boddy is asked, “Was sanctification a condition for receiving such a
Pentecost?” To which he answers, “Yes, most emphatically. Teaching as to the Clean Heart has always
been on the lines of Romans vi., 6 and 11. Union with Christ in His Crucifixion, His Death and Burial,
then Union with Him in Resurrection and Ascension, followed by Pentecost with the same tokens as at
Caesarea (Acts x., 44-46).” Confidence 2:1 (Jan.’09), 5. Cf. “Tongues as a Sign,” Confidence 2:2
(Feb.’09), 33.
796
Ms J.H: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 8.
797
S. Wigglesworth: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 9.
798
Confidence 1:8 (Nov 08), 13.

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It was necessary, not to try to fight him on one’s own merits, but to plead the blood of

Jesus. Only the invocation of the blood could make the devil flee. John Martin was

flat on his back in Andrew Murdoch’s kitchen seeking the BHS when he reports:

I found I had spiritual enemies hindering my getting through. I felt them. They
were like an atmosphere in front of me. I BEGAN TO PLEAD THE BLOOD.
I assured myself and Satan that it was the all-atoning Blood, and that Jesus
was both Lord and Christ.799

Moments later, he was swept “…in to the sea of Pentecostal Fulness with its

unmistakable seal.”800

The devil was believed to detest the subject of the blood of Jesus more than anything

else, to the point where opposition to the Apostolic Faith Church’s use of the blood

cry was itself seen by some as demonic.801

The mechanics of pleading the blood, as far as the seekers were concerned were

rooted in the Scriptural description of Satan in Revelation 12:10 as the accuser of the

brethren, hence the legal metaphor of pleading before a prosecution.802 When a seeker

approaches God in a waiting meeting, seeking the Baptism in the Spirit, he or she can

expect to be buffeted by the accuser with reference to his or her lack of personal

799
John Martin: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 12-13
800
John Martin: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 13.
801
Hathaway, “Hutchinson” 44.
802
Boddy is quoted in a report of the December 1908 Hamburg conference: “A.A.B. said subsequently
that Rev.xii warned them that the Dragon was always ready to devour any movement specially born of
God in His Church. It seemed as if he succeeded each time, but now they must keep their eyes on the
Blood of the Lamb; they must exalt Jesus and His finished work. Then we may expect to overcome
(v.11) and in due time to be caught up to Heaven,” “The Gifts of the Spirit in the Light of History,”
Confidence 2:1 (Jan.’09), 16.

222
holiness and therefore unworthiness before God.803 This is designed to turn the

believer away from God shame-faced and empty-handed. The implication seems to be

that the believer is justified by the blood (Rom 5:9) and can therefore rest in what it

has accomplished to make the seeker acceptable in the eyes of a holy God804 The role

of the blood in the encounter stage, therefore, serves as a confidence booster as the

seeker finds him or herself standing before the manifest presence of both Satan and

God. This type of pleading the blood was markedly different to that which Zinzendorf

would have commended or which Charles Wesley might have invoked in his hymns.

For them, pleading the blood was theocentric. They appealed to the merits of the

sacrifice of Christ as they contemplated approaching God in His holiness. For the

Pentecostals, pleading the blood was, for the most part, intended for Satan’s ears

rather than God’s.

The climax of the encounter was, of course, the moment when the seeker spoke in

tongues:

I cannot tell how long elapsed, for I remembered nothing until I found myself
prostrate, felt my tongue moving, and heard Mr Taylor say gladly to the
others, ‘It’s Tongues!’805

Probably drawing not a little inspiration from Kilsyth, John Martin of Motherwell,

could describe how tongues came when, “…I began to lose all my English save the

one word ‘Blood’”806

803
“Satan will come to accuse, but steadfastly point him to the blood of that victorious life on high.”
Boddy, A., “The Way to Your ‘Pentecost’”, Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 24.
804
“We are apt to look at the matter critically, forgetting that, even when we stand at Heaven’s gate, we
shall have no other plea for entrance but the Precious Blood.” Victor Wilson, “A Letter from
Motherwell”, Confidence 1:6 (Sep 08), 13
805
David Leigh: Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 8.
806
Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 13.

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A man writing in from Pretoria had already received “sanctification by the power of

the blood” and was lying on a sofa reading a travel book,

…when the power of God came upon me, and I was put upon the floor face
down. I was two hours down there before I could let Jesus have His way.
Praise Jesus, He did have His way, and I praised Him in the tongue He gave
me.807

In every case, the encounter stage, just as with the Aspiration and Consecration stage,

was very dramatic. The stories told are gripping and spectacular. Often manifesting

severe shaking and prostrations, there is no doubt that these people were experiencing

a little more than what was normally expected of a BHS experience in holiness

circles. They appear to have been experiencing the mysterium tremendum, the

numinous. They were experiencing, it seems, the awe of a creature before its Creator.

iv) Results.

Without exception, where long-term results were described, every expectation had

been met. Besides the signs of ‘Full Pentecost’ – the tongues, prostrations and other

signs - there was reportedly, a much greater victory over sin and a much closer

relationship with God.

The victory theme was still associated with the blood even long after the experience

of Pentecost. Indeed, one result of BHS appears to have been a new revelation of, and

confidence in, the power of the blood: “There is victory where there was defeat, there

807
Thos J. Armstrong: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 20.

224
is liberty where I was bound…He has given me such faith in the power of the

Blood.”808

I do praise Him for the power He has given me in my life to overcome. It was
just what I needed. Oh, I was so tired of trying…He has overcome, and so do
we by the power of the blood. I find that I have begun a new life of power…I
am not ashamed to own Him before men.809

There is also a much deeper communion with God:

What is the outcome in my life? Just this – more of the Lord Jesus, more of
His love, His tenderness, His prayerfulness, His love for the written Word,
more desire to see others saved and love Him too.810

Alexander and Mary Boddy’s daughter, Jane, was clearly enamoured with Jesus as a

result of her experience: “Since then Christ is my one aim, life is not worth living

without Him, He is such a wonderful reality.”811

Only occasionally is there a power for service motif. This may be reflective of the fact

that most of the contributors were not in full time Christian ministry. Carrie Judd-

Montgomery freely testifies to the new power at work in her ministry:

We have experienced and taught Divine healing for many years, but never
have we personally known such a constant indwelling of the Healer as since
we first received our Pentecostal baptism.812

Mrs Kenyon sums up beautifully, saying her BHS was,

808
J.W: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 10.
809
Thos. J. Armstrong: Confidence 1:9 (Dec 08), 20-21.
810
John Martin: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 13.
811
Jane Boddy: Confidence 1:2 (May 08), 7.
812
Confidence 1:8 (Nov 08), 7.

225
 …not a goal…but an entrance gate into a fullness of life in Christ. A life of
wondrous possibilities lived on a plane few have an adequate conception of, a
life growing in fullness, a life of communion with the Eternal God through the
Holy Spirit.813

The blood of Jesus played a part, to varying degrees, in every phase of early British

Pentecostal spirituality as the BHS was sought. Expectations of BHS were that it

would be not merely the act of speaking in tongues for the first time but a life-

changing encounter with God, for which faith in the blood would be essential. While

the seekers prepared themselves for this encounter, the blood was important in the

often-lengthy process of confession and cleansing that was part and parcel of the act

of consecration. During their encounter with the dimension of the numinous, the blood

became vital to bring assurance as the seeker came face to face with unearthly powers

greater than him or her-self. So disconcerting was this experience it seemingly

became necessary at this point to vocalise one’s faith in the blood. Finally, one result

of BHS, which contributed to the fuller life of victory, communion and power, was a

new appreciation of the blood of Jesus as an ongoing source of confidence and

freedom that made it possible to go on enjoying life in the Spirit.

6.4. Early Sunderland: Some Initial Deductions.

A firm faith in the blood of Jesus in a more general sense, as with the Moravians,

seems to have been of some genuine value in fostering assurance. Encounters with the

holiness and awesomeness of God and with the finger-pointing malice of Satan could

only be undertaken productively by invoking, not one’s own personal track record at

living a good Christian life, but by trusting in the sin-cleansing blood of Jesus. This

alone could make it possible for a sinner to be baptized in the holy power of the Holy

813
Confidence 1:5 (Aug 08), 9.

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Spirit. Verbalising one’s faith in the blood meant, more than anything, to be brought

beneath the symbol of God-given victory. The blood was code for the promise of

deliverance from a miserable life of failure and ineffectiveness into the realm of Holy

Spirit possession and safety from the Devil.

While searching for theological language to make sense of and spiritual techniques to

foster their own personal Pentecosts, the pioneers of Sunderland used what they knew

best – the teachings and perspectives of Keswick. They then added the new insights

about the blood gleaned from the Kilsyth revival. The early Pentecostal writers thus

used, in the main, the supposedly inadequate theological framework of 19th Century

holiness and Higher Life ideas to interpret Pentecostal experiences. Yet in view of the

data presented here, such language seems entirely consonant. In 25 personal

testimonies, it was holiness aspirations of victory that were fulfilled in the form of

holier, more victorious lives.

A crucial difference exists, however, between the spirituality of Keswick and the

spirituality of Sunderland. Keswick had been offering an alternative to worldly

compromise in the form of an authentic Christian life. They held out the promise of a

self-vindicating authenticity in the midst of a world that was no longer finding the

claims of Christianity as credible as once it did. By simple faith, a Christ-like life was

possible – a life of personal purity and power for service. Such a lifestyle was deemed

sufficient to show that the message of Christianity was true and worked. Sunderland

developed a spirituality, not of authenticity only, but also of direct divine

authentication. Now, the expectation was that the seeker’s faith could be legitimated

by a powerful personal encounter with God, evidenced by the gift of tongues. This

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goes beyond the quietism of Keswick, shy as it was of any dramatic manifestations.

This transition from ‘authentic’ to ‘authenticated’ represents the possibility of a

transition from holiness to power, from ethical vindication to miraculous

intervention.814 In time, power could take over from holiness, and an obsession with

the miraculous, could overshadow a concern for how a sinner can come before God.

But for the time being, the happy seekers of Sunderland were at a crossover point

between Keswick’s Higher Life and later Pentecostalism’s power-filled life. The early

Pentecostals, sending in their testimonies to Confidence magazine, were seeking both

a holier life and a more powerful life. The blood was seen as the gateway to both. But

the blood was already being invested with some of the power language that would

characterise much later phases in Pentecostal and charismatic spirituality. There was

power in the blood: power not to become a nicer Christian, but power to overcome the

unseen forces of darkness.

6.5. Is There Power in the Blood? A Waning Emphasis.

As time went on, with some notable exceptions,815 references to the blood of Jesus in

Confidence magazine fell into gradual decline. This process is illustrated below. It is

worth noting that all of the sharp peaks in the graph are the result of significant

articles appearing that are devoted to the subject of the atonement in 1908, 1911, 1916

814
So Randall: “It was an outward sign or manifestation of the Spirit, not a life of holiness, which was
integral to much Pentecostal understanding of Spirit baptism.” Randall, “Old Time Power,” 63.
815
1916 shows a peak in references to the blood due to the repeat issue of an article in the April issue
about pleading the blood, which originally appeared in August 1908. This article advocates the
articulation of set prayers that expound the significance of the shed blood of Jesus. In 1924 and 1926,
Alexander Boddy himself, who died in 1930, seems to be trying to recapture something of his earlier
days in what, in comparison with then, had now become little more than a personal newsletter.
Wakefield, likewise notes the nostalgic tone of the issues written after Boddy’s move to Pittington in
December 1922: Wakefield, Boddy, 201.

228
and 1924. Casual references to the blood display a more uniform decline. The single

1926 issue is unusual. It is only 6 pages long yet has 8 references to the blood largely

due to an article about salvation. It is also worth noting that the July-September issue

of 1921 is missing.

One factor in the overall decline is likely to have been the secession of the Welsh in

1916 from the Apostolic Faith Church to form what would later be named the Welsh

Apostolic Church. This split may have had the effect of highlighting the extremes of

William Oliver Hutchinson, the leader of the Apostolic Faith Church. The Welsh were

reacting against a number of his doctrines, including his penchant for the pleading of

the blood. Once the stabilising influence of the Welsh Apostolics was gone, what was

left is perhaps best described as the ‘lunatic fringe.’ Clinging in fanatical loyalty to

Hutchinson, these later suffered a further secession, the breakaway group naming

themselves, ironically, the United Apostolic Faith Church. Over time, Hutchinson, an

ardent and vocal champion of the practice of pleading the blood, had come to believe

that he was a messianic figure (the ‘Man-Child’ of Rev.12:5) who would usher in the

229
Kingdom of God under the flag of his rather unique version of British-Israelism.816

Hutchinson had already developed a sophisticated Old Testament theology in defence

of pleading the blood. This theology was based, in particular, on the repetitious blood

sacrifices made by Solomon at the dedication of the Temple,817 as well as the story of

Abel’s righteous blood sacrifice over against Cain’s wicked bloodless one.

By 1916, most Pentecostals would have wished to distance themselves from

Hutchinson and his beliefs. As early as July 09 there appears in Confidence a rather

incidental cautionary note:

He [Anton Reuss of Florence] had learned to plead the Blood – not by

repetition of the word “Blood,” but by presenting the Atonement to the Father
in the power of the Holy Ghost.818

However, even Hutchinson wanted to distance himself from the repetition of the word

“Blood” as a tongue-twisting device to aid talking in tongues: “We do not plead the

Blood for a tongue, as some suppose, but we do plead the Blood against the foe which

opposes us.”819 There does not appear to be any evidence that saying the word ‘blood’

again and again to help bring on tongues was ever a widespread practice yet the

instances when “blood, blood, blood” would suddenly give way to fluent tongues-

speaking were sufficiently common for observers to deduce that this was the case.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, in Confidence, from the September 1909 issue

onwards, the words ‘plead’, ‘pleading’, ‘pleaded’ and ‘pleader’ when used in

816
Hathaway, M., “The Role of William Oliver Hutchinson and the Apostolic Faith Church in the
Formation of British Pentecostal Churches,” JEPTA 16 (1996), 46-51.
817
Hathaway, “Hutchinson”, 44.
818
A. Boddy et al, “Sunderland International Pentecostal Congress, Whitsuntide 1909: A record in
Detail,” Confidence 2: 4 (July 09), 159.
819
Hutchinson, W.O., Showers of Blessing 5 (Aug-Sep 1910), 5.

230
conjunction with ‘blood’ almost completely disappear, never to rise again. The

doctrine of pleading the blood seems to have been dropped at Sunderland as quickly

as it was taken up, and this long before Hutchinson’s eccentricities brought the

doctrine into disrepute. Polman added his own caution in 1911 speaking against the

need for “…any methods to bring people into the Pentecostal Baptism of the

Spirit,”820 yet any explicit teaching condemning the practice is nowhere to be found in

the pages of Confidence.

Minus the language of pleading, a view of the blood as having the power to protect

against Satan did continue to be supported by Confidence, as an earlier cited article in

1911 entitled “Faith in His Blood” shows.821 This article proffers an Exodus typology

for the protective power of the blood. Nevertheless, the rejection of the lunatic

element in Pentecostal spirituality that followed the marginalisation of Hutchinson in

1916, represents the beginning of an eclipse of the whole blood-orientated approach

to Pentecostal spirituality. This was despite the strenuous insistences, of both Boddy

and Barratt, that the Holy Spirit only ever works in conjunction with the blood.822

Another factor in the relative decline of blood mysticism at Sunderland may be what

Chan identifies as the loss of sanctification from the Pentecostal schema. In America,

after the first 10 years of Pentecostalism, Baptism in the Spirit tended no longer to be

820
“The Place of Tongues in the Pentecostal Movement” in Confidence 4:8 (Aug 11), 177.
821
Confidence 4:8 (Aug 11), 187-189.
822
In a way that anticipates the Trinitarian urgencies of Tom Smail some 80 years later, Boddy, writing
in Confidence 2:5(Aug 09), 180-181, insists: “The Pentecostal Blessing…is claimed and received only
because of the Cross. The Oil follows the Blood (Lev.xiv.,17). Absolute trust in the Atoning work, and
the Substitutionary work of the Son of God at Calvary, is one of the HALL-MARKS of this Blessing.”
Cf. Barratt on p187: “The Holy Spirit never works outside of the Blood, but always in connection and
in unison with it.”(capitalisation and italics original, so throughout)

231
identified as the third blessing but as the second.823 Sanctification had been dropped

and so was no longer seen as an essential preliminary to being filled with the Spirit

and speaking in tongues.824 In America this difference of belief created an enormous

rift between the Holiness Pentecostals who retained three blessings and the ‘Finished

Work’ Pentecostals who held to only two. In Britain, where the Wesleyan

Perfectionist influence was weaker there was no such rift. Yet the influence of

Keswick also insured that there would be a strong holiness ethos to early

Pentecostalism in Britain, even though it tended less and less to be articulated in the

form of a distinct blessing.825 But even this holiness ethos faded over time.826

Outside of Pentecostalism, a contemporaneous recession of interest in sanctification

as a distinct crisis event took place among all the holiness groups in Britain. The

Keswick Conventions came under considerable pressure from the Calvinists to stop

advocating the need for sanctification as a second blessing distinct from conversion.

By 1906, this belief had been largely excised from the teaching programme at

Keswick.827 Within the Salvation Army there had never been unanimity with regards

to Christian Perfection. Disagreements came to a head as early as 1877, resulting in a

823
Chan, Pentecostal Theology, 67, cf.7. Chan identifies the first 10 years as “the heart of
Pentecostalism.”
824
Chan, S., Pentecostal Theology, 68.
825
Boddy himself, however, clearly did hold to a three-stage view but his concern to maintain unity
meant that he never insisted on it.
826
Hudson traces the gradual shift within Elim away from an emphasis on sanctification as a condition
to being filled with the Spirit, culminating in Lancaster’s declaration in 1976: “Holiness is not a
condition of the baptism in the Spirit.” Hudson, N., Roots and History of Pentecostal and Charismatic
Movements: The British Background to the Pentecostal Movement (Notes from a lecture given June
2004, Regents Theological College), 4, citing Lancaster, J., The Spirit Filled Church, (Cheltenham:
Greenhurst Press, 1976), 28.
827
Bebbington, Evangelicalism, 169. Celebrated Bible expositor at Keswick, W. Graham Scroggie led
the way in opposing the idea of a baptism in the Holy Spirit, in both its non-Pentecostal and its
Pentecostal forms. See his, The Baptism of the Spirit and Speaking with Tongues, (London: Pickering
and Inglis, nd). He was insistent that baptism in the Spirit occurred at the point of conversion not in
some later crisis event: Randall, “Old Time Power,” 61.

232
compromise.828 Reader Harris’s League of Prayer, from which the word ‘Pentecostal’

was officially dropped in 1943,829 and Jessie Penn-Lewis’s Overcoming Life likewise

lessened their stress on the experience in an effort to distance themselves from the

Pentecostals. The cleansing of the blood had been an essential component to a crisis

experience of sanctification. Remove the crisis experience and cleansing is still

needed, especially as BHS is sought, but its place in blood mysticism becomes much

more limited.

Conclusion.

In this episode of the story, a further intensification of the kind of spiritual warfare

that was already in evidence in Evan Roberts, Penn-Lewis, Frank Bartleman and

William Seymour has developed. A number of factors may have been contributing to

this heightened devil-consciousness at Sunderland. First and foremost would be their

virulent premillennial eschatology, which, according to my article survey, grew more

intense with the approach of war. These were perilous times in which it was essential

to stay under the blood. Secondly, in the face of allegations, for instance from Jessie

Penn-Lewis, that they were succumbing to the power of demons, Pentecostals had to

be sure themselves that, in these Last Days, they were not being deceived by false

signs and lying wonders. Carrie Judd-Montgomery’s phrase that we saw was a classic

example of this ‘just in case’ mentality: “By the Blood of Jesus my whole being is

828
More recently than that, a comparison of the Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine for the years
1935 and 1969 reveals a stark change. The section on Sanctification the 1935 Handbook is boldly
titled, “Entire Sanctification” and proceeds to devote 25 pages to a traditional Wesleyan exposition:
Anon., The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, (London: International Headquarters, 1935), 122-
146. By contrast, the 1969 edition drops the word “Entire,” extends to 21 pages and prefers to define
the word holy and give teaching on the call to a morally holy life: Anon., The Salvation Army
Handbook of Doctrine, (London: International Headquarters, 1969), 145-165.
829
Randall, “Pentecostal League of Prayer,” 9.

233
open to the fullness of God, and by that same precious blood I am closed to any power

of the enemy.” 830

Thirdly, and at this point it cannot be known for sure what they were experiencing,

many seekers appear to have actually encountered Satan during their BHS experience.

A striking example was John Martin, one of at least two people who received their

BHS while lying on Andrew Murdoch’s kitchen floor: “I found I had spiritual

enemies hindering my getting through. I felt them. They were like an atmosphere in

front of me.” 831 Mr Martin here testifies that the hindrances that he encountered were

very real and personal. Neither was there only one of them, but a number of “spiritual

enemies” were trying to make it difficult for him to get through to his BHS. His

answer? “I BEGAN TO PLEAD THE BLOOD.”832

The recruitment of the blood of Jesus in the service of spiritual warfare at Sunderland

was initially inspired by events taking place during the remarkable revival at Kilsyth

during the early months of 1908. Even though at Kilsyth there does not appear to have

been a strong demonological dimension to their pleading of the blood, yet soon the

blood as a weapon of spiritual warfare was being used widely at Sunderland. Two

things then happened at more or less the same time. Firstly, William Oliver

Hutchinson took pleading the blood to new extremes, and secondly, pleading the

blood quite suddenly fell from the agenda at Sunderland. Although there is no

evidence to connect the two developments, in all likelihood, Hutchinson was reason

enough to drop the pleading of the blood. While his extremes had not yet by any

means reached the heights of notoriety that they would by 1919, he was already
830
Confidence 1:8 (Nov 08), 13.
831
John Martin: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 12-13.
832
John Martin: Confidence 1:1 (Apr 08), 12-13.

234
known for his dangerously high view of directive prophesy and his elevation of the

blood cry to a cardinal truth. And so, from September 1909, no more mention is made

of pleading the blood, other than in a very moderate article on the subject that is

repeated in 1916. Not only does pleading the blood disappear, the blood itself starts to

vanish from the pages of Confidence. As will be seen, the Elim Evangel that began in

1919, and Redemption Tidings that started in 1924, supported this trend away from

blood mysticism, maintaining, throughout the inter-war period, a frequency of Blood-

referencing that was about two-thirds that of early Sunderland.

And so, before the next episode in the story of the blood even begins, sanctification

by the blood as a crisis event, a classic holiness theme, has been dropped, never to rise

again, and the pursuit of victory over Satan by the blood has been tempered by the

need of a movement already up to its eyes in bad press to avoid being associated with

the extremes of Hutchinson.

In attempting to draw positive lessons from Sunderland, the practice of pleading the

blood is the most problematic. The lack of any clear biblical precedent for the practice

of pleading the blood before Spirit baptism seems most prohibitive.833 Many

833
For a start, there is no clear precedent in the book of Acts for the practice of pleading the blood at
all, let alone as a precursor to BHS. This is an especially important consideration given the increasing
scholarly consensus that has emerged since I. Howard Marshall’s commentary of 1970, Luke:
Historian and Theologian (Exeter: Paternoster). Many Lukan scholars, especially those who are
Pentecostals, have, since that time, begun to assert that Luke was tying to teach his readers something
and not merely narrate or describe. A significant name in Pentecostal Lukan scholarship is Stronstad
who insists that “Luke always gives an interpreted narration,” Stronstad, R., The Charismatic Theology
of St.Luke, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1984), 8. Against Stronstad, Turner has scorned the
“democratising, idealising and individualising spectacles” with which people too often read Acts:
Turner, M., “Does Luke Believe Reception of the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ makes all ‘Prophets’? Inviting
Dialogue with Roger Stronstad”, Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 20,
(2000), 10. Among the most recent non-Pentecostals to take the Howard Marshall line would be
Ryken, who describes “the impulse to teach religious truth” as one of the three main impulses
governing the Acts narrative: Ryken, L., Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1992), 419. If Luke’s didactic purpose is granted, Acts 10:43-44 (Peter speaking to the
household of Cornelius) and 14:3 (God bearing witness to “the word of his grace” with signs and

235
Pentecostals and charismatics have continued to see themselves as inhabiting a world

filled with demons. Spiritual warfare methodologies have been developed, most

notably by the late John Wimber, Peter Wagner, Peter Horrobin and Charles Kraft,834

that see the conducting of strategic prayer warfare as indispensable to successful

evangelism. The main difference when compared with the early Pentecostals is that

the field of conflict has now widened from the individual believer seeking his or her

BHS to the claiming of whole cities and nations for God (although pleading the blood

itself still tends to be a private matter). The contemporary significance of pleading the

blood will be explored in my final chapter. One aspect of Sunderland blood mysticism

that could have some contemporary significance is worth pursuing at this point.

In the post-modern world, in which language is to be deconstructed and the idea of

truth is suspect, pragmatism is favoured as the best way of dealing with the general

loss of consensus.835 In much contemporary Christianity also, pragmatism seems to be

here to stay. The Christian press carries regular adverts for conferences in which

mega-church leaders share their insights with the masses. Korean-style all-night

prayer meetings, Willow Creek-style seeker-friendly services, the G12 model of Cell

Church and the ‘vintage Christianity’ of the Emerging Church all compete for the

wonders) might perhaps be adduced, though only very tenuously, to indicate a coming of the Spirit that
is normatively associated with the proclamation of atonement and forgiveness. More weightily,
however, the blood plays no obvious part in any of the four BHS experiences recorded by Luke: Acts
2:1-4; 8:14-18; 10:44-46; 19:2-6. Were pleading the blood essential to BHS, one might expect Luke to
‘teach’ us this when he comes to describe the BHS experience.
834
Advice from the latter on “ground level,” and “cosmic level” spiritual warfare as well as the
cartographical delights of “spiritual mapping” has surprisingly found its way into the scholarly New
International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Kraft, C., “Spiritual Warfare: A
Neocharismatic Perspective,” NIDPCM, 1091-6.
835
In schools, for example, the synthetic phonics approach to teaching children how to read has now
acquired dominance over the former pluralistic approach because it has been shown to work the best:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/why+our+children+cant+read/937947, accessed
online 17 June 2008.

236
attention of desperate leaders of small churches.836 In this kind of ecclesiastical and

cultural atmosphere, impatient as it is with theory, everything must be shown to have

worked.

Of significance is the insistence at Sunderland, already seen in the analysis of Azusa

Street, on conjoining the work of the Spirit with the work of Christ. At Sunderland,

the participants in the after meetings appear, according to their own testimonies, to

have been experiencing an intensification of the Spirit’s witness-bearing activity. The

intensity of their experiences appears to be the thing they are most eager to put across.

These were people who would claim to have had a life-transforming encounter with

God by His Spirit through the blood of His Son. They affirmed that an active leaning

by faith on what the blood of Christ had accomplished was utterly central to the whole

experience, without which the power and intensity of the encounter, or indeed the

possibility of any encounter at all, would have been greatly impaired. Biblically, the

fact that, in Paul, ‘Christ’ and the ‘Spirit’ are used almost synonymously in some

places has been much discussed by Dunn.837 Furthermore, there is evidence from the

New Testament that the Spirit’s witness-bearing activity, especially with regards to

signs and wonders, was intensified when the atonement-forgiveness nexus of the

gospel of Christ was proclaimed.838 With the backing of Scriptural precedent, there

might, therefore, be some pragmatic resources from the very beginnings of

Pentecostalism waiting to be plundered.

836
A recent competent review of these developments can be found in Gibbs, E., “Church Responses to
Cultural Changes Since 1985,” Missiology XXXV:2 (April 2007),157-168.
837
See especially Dunn, J.D.G., Jesus and the Spirit, (London: SCM, 1975), 318-326. Especially: “The
character of the Christ event is the hallmark if the Spirit. Whatever religious experience fails to
reproduce this character in the individual or community, it is thereby condemned as delusory or
demonic; it is not the work of the eschatological Spirit. For the eschatological Spirit is no more and no
less than the Spirit of Christ.” Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, 321-2.
838
e.g. Acts 10:43-44;14:3 Acts 10:43-44;14:3; Rom.15:18-19; Heb.2:2-3, as well as the teaching of
the Upper Room Discourse: John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:13-15.

237
 7. Denominational Pentecostalism.

British Pentecostalism came of age during hard times. After an initial economic boom

brought about by the rebuilding that followed the end of the First World War, things

went from bad to worse. In 1922-3, unemployment rose to nearly 3 Million and never

dropped below 1 Million (which constituted a quarter of the working population)

throughout the inter-war years.839 The total dejection of such a significant section of

the British population prompted J.B. Priestly to comment vividly on the dole queues,

“Their self-respect was shredding away. Their very manhood was going.”840

Depression, boredom and lack of food led to a general apathy among many.841 Times

could be just as hard for those in work depending on what kind of job one had, yet for

the majority of those in worthwhile employment, a paradoxical increase in the

standard of living and in the amount of leisure time was enjoyed throughout the 1920s

and 30s.842 Spare income went on insurance, medical care, trade union subscriptions

and pleasure.843 With the new licensing laws, the problem of alcohol did not

significantly raise its head at this time. To the contrary, drunkenness came to be seen

as “squalid and rather ridiculous.”844 With the increasing use of contraceptives and the

decline in Christian influence, sexual moorings were gradually eroded. Female

fashion became more liberated and sexual encounters before marriage were becoming

839
Hibbert, C., The English: A Social History 1066-1945, (London: Harper Collins, 1987), 696.
840
Priestly, J.B., An English Journey: Being a rambling but truthful account of what one man saw and
heard and felt and thought during a journey through England in the autumn of the year 1933, (London:
the Folio Society, 1997), 329.
841
Hibbert, The English, 697.
842
“Per capita income grew faster than at any time since the 1880s” May, Economic and Social
History, 315.
843
Hibbert, The English, 699.
844
Hibbert, The English, 701, citing the New Survey of London Life and Labour IX, (1935), 245.

238
more common.845 In the wake of the First World War, spiritualism also saw a sudden

but fairly short-lived rise in popularity as bereaved relatives sought comfort from

those believed to be able to contact their loved ones.

On the whole, however, there seems to have been a fairly swift return to the high

moral standards that were the norm before the war. The lasting legacy of the war,

ending as it had in a precarious and bitterly resented armistice, was the destabilisation

of Europe both economically and politically. There was no escaping the apocalyptic

gloom that deepened with economic depression and the rise of Stalin, Mussolini and

Hitler. Vivid dystopias of the future were invented with remarkable prescience by

Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. They saw in the 20th Century’s defiant fascination

with progress and the huge upheavals that were resulting, the beginnings of a world in

which people would be variously dehumanised either through state control,

mechanisation, excessive pleasure or a combination of these. Yet this was also the era

of vast mock Tudor suburbs: architecturally and culturally safe havens for white collar

middle England. The mood of the period was thus a “confused haze of nostalgia and

innovation,”846 the note of nostalgia proving to be the dominant one within the

Pentecostalism of the period.

Within the Christian fold, life was tough for the scattered Pentecostal congregations

that had struggled to survive often without a pastor during the First World War.

During the 1920s and 30s, they faced almost universal hostility from the churches.

Donald Gee reminisced that he doubted whether any Pentecostals anywhere in the

845
Hibbert, The English, 701.
846
Morgan, K., “The Twentieth Century (1914-2000),” in Morgan, K. (ed), The Oxford History of
Britain, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 608.

239
world had to endure hostility that was so “determined, capable and prejudiced.”847

Despite this, growth was steady and sometimes, as in the wake of George Jeffreys’

campaigns, spectacular. However, by the mid-1930s, all the Pentecostal

denominations were moving into a time of consolidation when relatively few new

churches were planted, a time that Gee compares to the second journey of Paul to

Asia Minor to strengthen the churches already established.848 For this consolidation to

take place, permanent buildings were required yet the Great Depression meant that

mortgage payments and maintenance costs on what were often very old disused

chapels and gospel halls, proved a constant strain. Wages for full-time pastors were

whatever was left over after these costs had been met.849 It is no surprise then that the

leaders who rose to prominence at this time were strong personalities, people who

thrived on opposition and hardship.850

The doctrine of the blood at this time was becoming less prominent in Pentecostal

discourse. The language surrounding the veneration of the ‘precious blood’ could

often sound the same, yet the meanings had either evaporated with over-use or else

had changed into something quite different. For one thing, the Spirit by Himself,

without reference to the blood, was seen increasingly as the sole sanctifying agent.

Moreover, a new generation was now emerging that never knew that sanctification as

a precondition to BHS was ever part of the original Pentecostal package.

847
Gee, D., These Men I Knew, (Nottingham: Assemblies of God Publishing House, 1965), 88-89.
848
Gee, Wind and Flame, 163.
849
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church”16.
850
This fact is clearly brought out by Whittaker’s survey: Seven Pentecostal Pioneers, passim, which
covers Stephen Jeffreys, Smith Wigglesworth, Harold Horton, Howard Carter, John Carter, Donald
Gee and Harold Hodgson, by no means an exhaustive selection.

240
The main role for the blood at this time was as a badge of orthodoxy. The need to

prove to the wider Evangelical community Pentecostalism’s doctrinal legitimacy

remained an urgent one.851 Pentecostals truly were rooted in historic Protestantism,

especially in its Anglican and Methodist forms, and they were not as defiantly anti-

clerical as the Brethren-influenced House Church movement of the generation

following. Pentecostals, it seems, having begun their journey with ecumenical

intentions, needed to belong and were never comfortable with a sectarian status. It

was only with considerable deliberation that Elim and Assemblies of God, the two

largest groups, finally emerged as denominations.852 One group, however, lacked such

hesitation and became the first Pentecostal denomination in the UK, soon further

dividing into three. This was the Apostolic Faith Church.

7.1. The Apostolic Faith Church and its Secessions.

As early as 1908, three leading centres of Pentecostalism had emerged in Britain

besides Sunderland: Kilsyth, under Andrew Murdoch, Waunllwyd, under Thomas

Jeffreys (no relation to Stephen or George) and, the first purpose built Pentecostal

church: Emmanuel Mission Hall in Bournemouth, under William Oliver Hutchinson

(1864-1928). It was Hutchinson’s church in Bournemouth that, by the Summer of

1911, having already launched its own magazine, Showers of Blessing (January 1910)

and its own annual convention (Summer 1910), was named the Apostolic Faith

Church, a term probably inspired by Azusa Street. By the Autumn of 1912,

Hutchinson was recognised as the Apostle of the Apostolic Faith Church, which, by

851
So Randall’s general thesis that inter-war Pentecostalism was at pains to portray itself as in
continuity with traditional Evangelicalism: Randall, Evangelical Experiences, 206-30. cf. idem, “Old
Time Power,” 57.
852
Even today, Elim prefers to call itself a “movement”: Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 32.

241
now included a number of satellite churches, all experiencing increasing isolation

from other Pentecostals owing to the increasingly high value that this group placed on

directive prophecy. In 1914, Hutchinson publicly ordained Daniel P. Williams,853 the

leader of a Pentecostal assembly in Penygroes, as the Apostle for Wales and Andrew

Murdoch of Kilsyth as the Apostle for Scotland, both acts being the result of a

prophetic word. The result was the prompt expulsion of both Williams and Murdoch

from their churches.854

By 1915, tensions between the Welsh Apostolics, under D.P Williams, who by now

made up the vast bulk of the denomination, and the mother church in Bournemouth

were coming to a head. The complaints were rooted in a combination of Welsh

nationalism and Hutchinson’s excessive authoritarianism. Among other things, the

Welsh flatly rejected the practice of pleading the blood.855 Hutchinson’s dismissive

rejection of D.P Williams’ advice to appoint a treasurer to oversee a large gift of

money that the denomination had received was the straw that broke the camel’s back,

leading to the secession of the Welsh in January 1916. These then became the Welsh

Apostolic Church, later changing their name simply to the Apostolic Church, which is

their name today.

Those who were loyal to Hutchinson were now even more isolated from other

Pentecostals. Gradually, Hutchinson’s teaching became more and more extreme.

853
His conversion experience on Christmas Day 1904 under Evan Roberts is noteworthy: “…he heard
a young woman singing, ‘The gates of heaven are open wide, I see a sea of blood.’ As the song
continued there came to him a vision of Christ on the cross and the blood flowing from His side. It was
revealed to him that he had been a sinner but was now made white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Worsfold, Origins, 12.
854
Hathaway, “William Oliver Hutchinson, 45.
855
Hathaway, “William Oliver Hutchinson, 50. As early as 1914, this doctrine had already been
excised by the Welsh, their 12 Basic Truths making no mention of it. Worsfold, Origins, 96-101.

242
Greater and greater weight was placed on prophetic words. It was his firm belief that

these carried just as much authority as Scripture itself. This belief opened the door to

cult-like developments. By 1919, Hutchinson had become deeply involved with

British Israelism and had declared himself the Chief Apostle, the head of the spiritual

Kingdom of God, paralleling the King of England’s title as head of the earthly

Kingdom of Great Britain. He began strongly hinting that he was himself the Man-

Child of Revelation 12:1-6. Some were caught up in this hysteria. By 1925, William

Hathaway was saying some remarkable things:

I rejoice in the name of Hutchinson…God is giving us a name by which we

can overcome…it is the name of the chief apostle…I feel there is a holy power
present at the conference that makes you want to dedicate yourself afresh to
this revelation of Christ through William Oliver Hutchinson.856

The following year, the Apostolic Faith Church suffered a second secession when

James Brooke, one of Hutchinson’s leading ministers, together with William

Hathaway and Kent White, confronted Hutchinson over financial concerns,

authoritarianism and administrative issues.857 This resulted in the formation of the

United Apostolic Faith Church, leaving only a few churches still relating to

Hutchinson. Soon Hutchinson was the leader, once again, only of his original church

in Bournemouth, the ‘Root Church,’ still hoping for the breakaway churches to one

day be grafted back into the Root. From 1971, the United AFC based itself in London.

It has a large following in South Africa and still, albeit very mutedly, espouses British

Israelism.858

856
Hathaway, “William Oliver Hutchinson,” 49, citing the proceedings of the Bournemouth conference
of 1925 in Showers of Blessing 48, p187.
857
Hathaway, “William Oliver Hutchinson,” 49; Worsfild, Origins, 31, n.3.
858
Worsfold, Origins, 31, n.3.

243
The voice of this particularly interesting, and sometimes shocking, phase in early

British Pentecostalism was the magazine Showers of Blessing. Edited by Hutchinson,

this magazine, once launched in January 1910, quickly reached an annual circulation

of 10,000, although it was published quite irregularly. Further to this, not all copies

were available for research so a comprehensive survey of references to the blood of

Jesus has not been undertaken in this instance.

In its pages, Hutchinson’s 3-fold Wesleyan approach (in spite of his Baptist

background) with its emphasis on confession and cleansing by the blood is evident,

especially in the earlier issues:

If after the baptism of the Holy Spirit a persons (sic.) speaks evil or back-bites
it is clear they have fallen from the sanctification and the Holy Ghost is
grieved. They must come back to the blood after confession…859

This warning is reinforced by a tongue interpretation: “No man can worship Me with

enmity in his heart, with unbelief, with impure thoughts – be ye pure. Pray ye that ye

might be washed by My Blood”860 Worsfold points out that sanctification was

important enough in the early AFC to be given creedal status.861 Alongside this

emphasis on sanctification, there was, in parallel with Sunderland, a strong

demonological urgency to pleading the blood. Reasons are hinted at:

859
Anon., “Evil Speaking,” Showers of Blessing 3 (Apr-May 1910), 5. Hutchinson’s Wesleyan
approach to sanctification probably came to him through Reader Harris, through whose ministry he
came into an experience of a “clean heart,” Worsfold, Origins, 33. By about 1914, however,
Hutchinson came to believe in a two-stage Christian initiation that omits sanctification: Hathaway,
“William Oliver Hutchinson,” 43, 56.
860
Anon., “Tongue Interpretation,” Showers of Blessing 3 (Apr-May 1910), 2.
861
Worsfold, Origins, 45, n.1. cf. Anon., “What we Believe and Teach,” Showers of Blessing 3 (Apr-
May 1910), 5: “…Repentance, Confession, and Restitution, justification by faith in the Lord Jesus,
Water Baptism by immersion, sanctification, that act of Grace through which the Blood of Jesus
cleanses us from all sin and makes holy; the Baptism of the Holy Ghost as received on the day of
Pentecost (Acts ii.4) with signs following (Mark xvi.18); Divine Healing; the Lord’s Supper, the soon
coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

244
 …like as Daniel was opposed by the enemy (Daniel 10, 11, 12 and 13) and
had to pray for twenty-one days before he got the answer, even though he was
heard at the beginning of his petition, so we have to contend with wicked
spirits in heavenly places who hinder us receiving the fullness of blessing.
These cause us at times to doubt God, or we will have to wait etc. If a person
with a true heart pleads the blood against these unseen forces, victory would
soon come, Hallelujah!862

It would appear that the tarrying experience itself was the locus for all manner of

apparently demonic activity that was designed to maximise the delay in receiving the

longed-for BHS experience.

Five years later, the teaching of the AFC on pleading the blood against demonic

attack appears unswerving yet has been balanced by a more theocentric emphasis,

possibly in the face of increasing opposition from the Welsh:

We teach the pleading of the Blood of Jesus for acceptance before God, for the
fulfilment of a promise, and also the use of it as a weapon against the powers
of darkness.863

As the AFC begins to plunge into the Man-Child period Kent White, the first of many

historians of the denomination, credits pleading the blood with the release of ministry

gifts in their midst:

I believe these gifts [the giftedness of their prophets] have come through faith,
in deep humiliations and sufferings with Christ, and through the pleading of the
Blood before the throne of God.864

862
Showers of Blessing 5 (Aug-Sep 1910), 5.
863
Anon., “The Doctrine of the Apostolic Faith Church,” Showers of Blessing 13 (March 1915), 10.
864
White, K., “The Faith of Abraham Needed for the Latter Rain,” Showers of Blessing 2:24 (Mar-Apr
1918), 4.

245
By 1922 references to the blood of Jesus have all but disappeared from Showers of

Blessing, the movement now being more caught up in an eschatology surrounding the

name of Hutchinson himself. Hutchinson looked back on the pleading the blood years

as a season of preparation:

I often think of the pleading of the blood; it seemed unnecessary, yet we

followed on as we were led, and when I look back and read scriptures like
these [Rev.12:11], speaking of the overcoming by the blood and of garments
dyed red in the blood of the Lamb that was slain…I can see that in it God
accomplished a great preparatory work. It was the fountain opened for sin and
uncleanness in the house of David.865

By now the movement is steeped in British Israelism and in a cult surrounding

Hutchinson himself, in which he is severally identified as Melchizedek, the Mediator

and the God-Man.866 Little interest in the blood of Jesus is evident at this stage.

The Apostolic Faith Church preserved for a long time the earliest phase in Pentecostal

development: strongly Wesleyan, obsessively premillennial and intensely

demonological. The AFC appears not only to have preserved this phase but also to

have intensified it as it carried this heady mixture of doctrines forward into the war

years. In the end, the mixture became so unstable that the denomination split and then

split again, Hutchinson having made himself the focal point of the premillennial

vision of the church. It is precisely because of this threefold intensity of feeling about

holiness, eschatology and demonology that the pleading of the blood thrived for so

much longer in the AFC than it did in the wider Pentecostal movement. The

eschatology of the AFC was what brought urgency to its need to be washed in the

865
Hutchinson, W.O., “The Throne of God – the Throne of Israel: The Throne of Britain is the Throne
of David,” Showers of Blessing 40 Vol IV (July-Aug 1924), 123. Italics original.
866
Thomas, A.G., “The Mediator,” Showers of Blessing 50 Vol VI (1926), 203; White, K., “God in
Man,” Showers of Blessing 50 Vol VI (1926), 205.

246
blood and to overcome the devil by the blood. The Bride had to get ready for the

Bridegroom. All of these beliefs were given a highly destabilising fluidity by regular

contributions of directive prophetic utterances that were accepted as unquestionably

authoritative.

In the other denominations that were formed, the story of the blood is very different:

7.2. Elim.

Open air work is the special feature, and while they stand for the Full Gospel,
and unfurl the Blood-Stained Banner of the Cross, amid much opposition, God
has wonderfully enabled them to remember their motto, ‘whatsoever ye do, do
it heartily as to the Lord,’ and not be discouraged.867

Elim owes its origins to a single very powerful personality whose evangelistic

campaigns across the British Isles and beyond made him by far the most successful

British evangelist of modern times. That man, of course, was George Jeffreys (1889-

1962), yet his brother Stephen (1876-1943), who went on to join the Assemblies of

God in 1926, was also a notable healing evangelist. Both men saw outstanding

miracles during their crusades. The often favourable newspaper coverage of a

noteworthy healing was frequently the catalyst that drew people in their thousands to

hear the message.

George and Stephen Jeffreys were both converted during the Welsh Revival868 and

both were initially hostile to the new Pentecostalism. The Jeffreys’ interest in BHS

867
Anon., “Elim Evangelistic Band General Reports: Elim Crusaders at Grimsby,” Elim Evangel 6:12
(June 15, 1925), 144.
868
Elim therefore represents the strongest direct linkage between the Welsh Revival and British
Pentecostalism. Through its founder, Elim is firmly rooted in the events of 1904-5 in Wales, while the
American influence on the movement is datable from the time of George Jeffreys’ visit to Aimee

247
stems originally from a family holiday in 1910, during which Stephen Jeffreys’ 10

year old son, Edward, was heard to speak in tongues. This was followed, a few days

later, by George himself singing in tongues.869 In 1912, Cecil Polhill sponsored

George Jeffreys through the mission school in Preston where he sat under the teaching

of Thomas Myerscough. Before he could complete his studies there, he received an

urgent call from his exhausted brother to come and help in an unexpectedly successful

evangelistic campaign in Swansea. This campaign was then reported in Cecil Polhill’s

Flames of Fire magazine, which publicised the work of the Pentecostal Missionary

Union. Boddy also ran an article in Confidence, as did Penn-Lewis and Meyer in The

Life of Faith. As a result of this publicity, George Jeffreys was invited to speak at the

Whitsuntide convention at Sunderland in 1913. An Irishman, William Gillespie, was

present at the conference and was so impressed with Jeffreys that he invited both

brothers to Belfast to conduct a campaign there. Their work in Belfast led to the

formation, in January 1915, of the Elim Evangelistic Band. By the June of that year,

the very first Elim Pentecostal Church had been planted. In October 1918, the success

of the Elim Evangelistic Band led to the official coming into being of the Elim

denomination, called the Elim Pentecostal Alliance. By 1922, there were 22 Elim

churches across Northern Ireland.870 From 1921, however, Irish unrest made it

necessary for the Jeffreys to return to the mainland. Continued evangelism on the

mainland led to the first English Elim church being opened at Leigh-on-Sea in 1921.

Semple McPherson’s Angelus Temple in Los Angeles in 1924. So Hathaway: “…the revival was the
fire which ignited the flame of the British Pentecostal movement.” Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal
Church,” 2. (Other early Pentecostal leaders also converted during the revival were D.P Williams and
Donald Gee). Hudson also points out the continuity in the Spirit-led style of services that carried over
from the Welsh Revival into early Pentecostalism: Hudson, D.N., “Worship: Singing a New Song in a
Strange Land, “ in Pentecostal Perspectives, 178-9.
869
Cartwright, C, (ed), Boulton, E.C.W., George Jeffreys: A Ministry of the Miraculous, (Tonbridge:
Sovereign World, 1999), 12. William Oliver Hutchinson also appears to have had a part to play in
Jeffreys’ BHS in 1910, as well as his ordination, probably into the Apostolic Church in Maesteg:
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 10-11, although Jeffreys never publicly admitted to his earlier
links with Hutchinson.
870
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 13.

248
By 1933, there were 153 Elim churches in Great Britain. George Jeffreys’ most

successful period was 1926-1934,871 culminating in his famous Birmingham

campaign of 1930 that saw 10,000 people converted. Each Easter, the Royal Albert

Hall was the location for the Elim annual conference during which hundreds of new

converts received water baptism.

Owing to its roots in the Welsh Revival, Elim saw itself more as a revivalistic or

missions organisation than a Pentecostal one. The focus on Christ rather than on

tongues was further enhanced from 1926 by means of the Foursquare Gospel

advocated by George Jeffreys.872 It was this “Christocentric interpretation of Spirit

Baptism” that consolidated Elim’s identity as an evangelistic organisation.873 Tongues

were never written into the constitution as the sole initial evidence for BHS. One

significant factor that was lost through the adoption of this fourfold formula, however,

was the early Pentecostal emphasis on sanctification. Christ was the Saviour, Healer,

Baptiser in the Holy Spirit and the Soon Coming King. He was not the Sanctifier. As

a result, the loss of sanctification, whether as a condition for BHS or as its result,

happened earlier in Elim than in the Assemblies of God. In the AoG John Nelson

Parr’s holiness background meant that holiness was written into the constitution – not,

however, as a Second Blessing but as a matter of lifestyle.874

871
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 1.
872
He claimed divine inspiration for this yet without doubt, borrowed the foursquare formula from
McPherson. She herself also claimed divine inspiration for it in 1922, yet almost certainly borrowed it
from A.B. Simpson’s motto of 1890, merely substituting “sanctifier” for “baptizer in the Holy Spirit.”
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Movement,” 6. In addition, much of Simspon’s Christian and Missionary
Alliance had now been Pentecostalised and Jeffreys drew possibly as much inspiration from CMA as
he did from McPerson: Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 8.
873
Hathaway, “Elim Pentecostal Church,” 7.
874
This led not so much to a Salvation Army style emphasis on cleansing floods and crimson tides as
the persistence well into the 1970s of holiness codes. My father-in-law, served under Parr at the
Bethshan Tabernacle in Manchester. My wife can testify that during her childhood in this church in the
70s, wearing make-up, watching TV on a Sunday and going to the cinema were still frowned upon.

249
In terms of the blood, Jeffreys retained an affection for phrases like, “…the cleansing

efficacy of the precious blood” but the orientation, in his case, was evangelistic; we

are “saved” by the blood: “Forgiveness, pardon, cleansing are the words that certainly

belong to the vernacular of those who have been saved through the blood of the

Lamb.”875 Interestingly, as late as 1933, Jeffreys is still espousing the old

sanctification formula:“…our contention is that the Holy Spirit does not deliver or

cleanse from sin of any kind. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, but it is the Blood that

cleanses.”876 As will be seen, it is open to question whether this belief was widely

held in Elim at that time.

The first issue of the Elim Evangel went to press in December 1919. From then on, it

continued as a quarterly, appearing every December, March, June and September,

until it became a monthly in January 1922 and was issued fortnightly from January

1925. The success of George Jeffreys' campaigns was such that, by June 1929, the

Elim Evangel had enough to report for it to become a weekly. It was not until 1989

that it changed its name and appearance to become the glossy monthly, Direction.

The first twelve issues spanned from December 1919 to March 1922. These contain a

total of 44 references to the blood of Christ, compared with the 302 references found

in the first year of Confidence. To give an approximate parallel, the 12 issues of

Confidence that span 1920-22, contain 42 references to the blood, indicating that both

periodicals have reached the same level of emphasis at the same time. During this

same period there are seven articles on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts,877 five

875
Jeffreys, G., Healing Rays 4th Ed., (Worthing: Henry E. Walter, 1985), 24
876
Jeffreys, G., Pentecostal Rays, (London: Elim Publishing, 1933), 35.
877
Mrs Crisp, “The Uplifting Spirit,” EE 1:1 (Dec.’19), 3-5; Hackett, T.E., “The Baptism in the Holy
Ghost and Gifts of the Spirit – Why Now?” EE 2:1 (Dec.’20), 10-12; Saxby, A.E., “Signpost Bible

250
articles on the Second Coming,878 four articles teaching about divine healing879 and

three articles on the atonement.880 Confidence had six, three, two and four

respectively, reflecting a drop from second to fourth in priority for the subject of the

atonement on the part of the Elim Evangel .

The composition of references in EE may also be analysed by comparison with

Confidence over the same period. As before, a theme that has shown an increase of

more than 1% I have highlighted in bold. Decreases of more than 1% are in a 10 point

font:

Elim Evangel Confidence

Redemption 28% 3%

Cleansing 18% 10%

Covenant881 11% 0%

Victory and Protection 9% 25%

Salvation 9% 2%

Studies: Notes on 1 Corinthians: Spiritual Gifts,” EE 2:1 (Dec.’20), 13-15; idem, “The Gift of
Tongues,” EE 2:2 (Mar,’21), 32-34; Anon, “The Baptism in the Holy Ghost,” EE 2:3 (Jun.’21), 49-50;
Lake, W.L., “A Present Day Message,” EE 3:1 (Jan.’22), 13-14.
878
Myerscough, T., “Things to Come Shortly,” EE 1:3 (Jun.’20), 40-44; Panton, D.M., “Praying for the
Lord’s Return,” EE 2:1 (Dec.’20), 15-18; Hackett, T.E., “The Nearing Advent of our Lord,” EE 2:3
(Jun.’21), 42-44; Boulton, E.C., “Studies in a Life of Faith: Translation – or the Climax of Faith,” EE
2:5 (Dec.’21), 78-81; Sel., “The Last Prayer-Meeting,” EE 3:1 (Jan.’22).
879
Wheeler, T., “Why we Believe in Divine Healing,” EE 1:1 (Dec.’19), 13-15; Anon, “Divine
Healing,” EE 2:1 (Dec.’20), 7-9; D.M., “Why Not Healed?” EE 2:3 (Jun.’21), 39-42; Boulton, E.C.,
“Divine Healing,” EE 2:4 (Sep.’21), 62-65.
880
Booth-Clibborn, A., “Glory…in the Cross,” [poem] EE 1:2 (Mar.’20), 21; Booth-Clibborn, A.,
“Glory…in the Cross Part II,”[poem] EE 1:4 (Jun.’20), 37; Leech, J., “The New Covenant,” EE 1:4
(Sep.’20), 55-58.
881
The prominence of this theme is traceable to the following article on the subject of communion:
Leech, J., “The New Covenant,” EE 1:4 (Sep.’20), 55-58, a theme that does not seem especially
prominent in subsequent years.

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The remaining uses occurring in Elim Evangel: substitution (2x), innocent blood of

(2x), oneness with Christ by the blood (1x), power (1x), blood “between” (1x)882

access (1x), value of (1x), physical healing (1x),883 “and Gospel” (1x) and atonement

(1x) are too negligible to be worth comparing in this way.

These figures represent a dramatic switch to Evangelical orthodoxy on the part of

Elim. This drive towards the resurrection of 19th century language about the blood

continued throughout the inter-war years, as will be seen from both the title and

content of AoG’s Redemption Tidings. Perhaps to reinforce the point, modernism, the

common enemy of conservative Evangelical and Pentecostal alike is rigorously

attacked (a feature that also rises to still greater prominence RT):

After singing and prayer, Mr Leech rises, and the audience listens with close
attention as he extols the Cross of Christ, unmasks the subtle attempt on the
part of many modern teachers to deprive the Gospel of the Blood.884

Attacks on bloodless gospel preaching are virulent:

It is damnable to tell a man to save himself by works, and finally be lost, when
the Word positively says, ‘There is no remission of sins without the shedding
of blood.’ Such doctrine is as heartless as it is bloodless.885

Going on into the ‘30s, illustrations of the central importance of the blood are quainter

than ever:

882
“I put the blood of Jesus between the person and that wrong thing.” Mrs Nuzum, “Loosed” EE 1:4
(Sep ’20), 65.
883
“The Lord Jesus PURCHASED DIVINE HEALING WHEN HE WENT TO THE CROSS, His
precious blood being the purchase price.” Boulton, E.C.W., “Divine Healing,” EE 2:4 (Sep.’21), 63.
884
E.W.H., “Ballymena,” EE 3:2 (Feb.’21), 28.
885
Fletcher, G., “The Three Future Judgments,” EE 8:5 (March 1, ’27), 71/

252
 Through every inch of the cordage of the British Navy runs a scarlet cord, so
through every book of the Bible runs the story of salvation from Divine
judgment by the shedding of blood.886

Picture Rahab fastening that cord. How careful she was! How firmly she fixed
it!…Our scarlet cord can never fall. It is immovably fixed. The scarlet cord is
the blood of Christ. Hiding behind it we are safe.887

Attacks on bloodless preaching are still just as passionate: “Pity the poor, polite

preachers who are too polite to preach the blood from the pulpit!”888 The object

appears to be to underline the power and virility of blood preaching over against the

weakness and innocuousness of bloodless preaching. D.L. Moody’s success in

preaching is elsewhere attributed, on Moody’s own admission, to his emphasis on the

blood.889 Billy Bray is also cited for support. On one occasion, he reputedly cried out

“The Blood!” at the top of his voice three times, resulting in the power of God falling

upon the meeting.890

A significant motive, though surely a fading hope, still appears to be acceptance with

other Evangelical denominations: “Evangelical denominations have no quarrel with

us over preaching salvation through the blood, immersion of believers, or the breaking

of bread…”891 The only stumbling block was this: “…but when we tell them that

there is a sign accompanying the baptism of the Holy Spirit, what a change.”892

Yet, aside from this sore point, contributors to Elim Evangel (EE from here on) seem

to quite genuinely share the concern of Evangelicals at the prevalence of modernist

886
Anon., “Sheltered by Blood,” EE 12:33 (Aug.14,’31), 526.
887
Parker, P., “Family Altar: Sunday January 3rd,” EE 13:1 (Jan 1,’32), 7.
888
Lacey, R.L., “Where Love and Justice Meet,” EE 14:32 (Aug 11, ’33), 509.
889
Gortner, J.N., “The Blood,” EE 14:47 (Nov 24’33), 742.
890
Frodsham, S., “The Blood that Speaketh,” EE 14:21 (May 26’33), 322.
891
Anon, “Signs,” EE 15:9 (Mar.’34), 133.
892
Anon, “Signs,” EE 15:9 (Mar.’34), 133.

253
theology893 and its popularisation at that time via the pulpits: “There is no biblical

doctrine which is more fiercely combated to-day, even from the pulpit, than the

doctrine of the Blood.”894

Pleading the blood is still referred to occasionally at this time, and with approval. Its

power in fighting off demonic attack is explained in a way that echoes Bartleman:

“The blood is the standard of the Spirit, and when the enemy comes in like a flood the

Spirit of the Lord shall raise up the standard against him.”895

Over the entire inter-war period, the frequency of references to the blood in EE

initially fluctuates wildly, then stabilises, showing an overall decline through the

1930s:

893
Specifically, this took the form of a commitment, on the part of Evangelicals to verbal inspiration,
premillennialism and holiness, but especially the defence of the verbal inspiration of Scripture. There
were strong links with North American fundamentalism at this time: Rennie, “Fundamentalism,” 337-
339.
894
Proctor, H., “The Precious Blood,” EE 12:34 (Aug 21, ’31), 532.
895
Scurrah, E., “Voices,” EE 11:34 (Aug.’30), 540.

254
Emerging out of the Elim movement, in 1951, came the famous Redemption Hymnal.

This hymnbook captures the spirituality of inter-war Pentecostalism. The priorities of

the Redemption Hymnal are similar to those of the Hymns of Consecration and Faith.

However, this hymnal displays a much wider frame of reference than the Hymns,

lacking its complete obsession with cleansing. In a hymnbook of 800 hymns, there are

227 references to the blood of Christ, an average of well over one in every four hymns

boasting at least one reference to the blood. 28% of these carry a cleansing, washing,

‘made pure’ or ‘purging’ motif:

We thank Thee for the precious blood

255
 That purged our sins and brought us nigh.896

Come, believing, cleanse your garments

In the blood on Calv’ry shed…897

22% are about being redeemed, bought, purchased, paid for or set free:

Let us know the full redemption

Purchased for us by the blood.898

Let the power of the highest

Be upon us today;
For this world dearly purchased
By the blood of God’s Son,
Back from Satan’s dominion
And from sin must be won.899

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.900

References to Christ’s blood shed ‘for us’, as a ‘sacrifice,’ as sprinkled on the

“blood-stained mercy seat,”901 as an ‘atonement’ and to the blood as having ‘atoning’

significance constitute 9%:

Oh, the precious Blood of Christ,

All I need, all I need,
It’s the perfect sacrifice,
He is all I need.902

Let your will to God be given,

Trust in Christ’s atoning blood.903

896
Redemption Hymnal, (Eastbourne: Elim Publishing House, 1951), Hymn No.67.
897
Hymn No.218.
898
Hymn No.224.
899
Hymn No.248.
900
Hymn No.601.
901
Hymn No.535.
902
Hymn No.642.

256
References to the blood as procuring our pardon, forgiveness or freedom from guilt,

as being our righteousness or our plea constitute 7%.

He like a victim stood,

And poured His sacred blood,
To set the guilty captives free.904

The theme of pleading the blood, merit, death or person of Jesus still has a place but

has reverted to its Wesleyan, theocentric origins:905

His death is my plea;

My Advocate see,
And hear the blood speak that answered for me.906

Other themes include: sanctification (7x), victory (6x), power (6x), eternal life (5x),

and salvation (5x). The blood is mentioned in conjunction with the work of the Spirit

4 times. The blood is also the believer’s evidence of God’s love (4x), and his or her

source of wholeness (4x) and healing (3x). The blood is the believers “surety”(3x),

peace (2x), “hope and peace” (1x, No.333), “hope and comfort” (1x, No.468), and

“mercy” (2x, Nos.389 & 701), so that to him or her it is “precious” (2x, No.352), a

treasure (1x, No.387), a stimulus to prayer (1x, No.539), the seal of God’s promises

903
Hymn No.358.
904
Hymn No.23.
905
Hymn No.366 by Zinzendorf: “E’en then shall this be all my plea, ‘Jesus hath lived, and died, for
me.” Hymn No.377: “I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, And
that He died for me.” Hymn No. 463:”Only in Thee, dear Saviour slain, Losing Thy life my own to
gain; Trusting, I’m cleansed from every stain – Thou art my only plea!” Hymn No.468: “Thy
righteousness, Thy pardon, Thy precious blood must be, My only hope and comfort, My glory and my
plea.” Hymn No.539, by John Newton: “That rich atoning blood, Which sprinkled round I see,
Provides for those who come to God, An all-prevailing plea.” Hymn No.602, by E.C.W.Boulton: “Now
in Christ we’re chosen kings and priests to be, Living off’rings bringing, His own blood our plea.”
Hymn No.642: “Jesus Christ is made to me, All I need, all I need, He alone is all my plea, He is all I
need.” Hymn No.701: “Here I rest, for ever viewing, Mercy poured in streams of blood: Precious
drops, my soul bedewing, Plead, and claim my peace with God.”
906
Hymn No.275, by Charles Wesley.

257
(1x, No.494) and friendship (1x, No.707), the revelation of His will (1x, No.452). The

worshipper’s heart “feels” the blood (1x, No.607), visualises it (1x, No.330) and sings

of it (1x, No.297) so that it stays “under” the blood (1x, No.411), the source of

reconciliation (1x, No.386) and covenant (1x, No.378) and hopes for this blood to be

revealed to sinners (1x, No.336).

Bloodless, euphemistic hymns have continued since Keswick: “All my sin-stains

vanished in the crimson flow / And He’ll keep me ev’ry hour, I know.”907 To offset

this, there are numerous hymns and choruses that are devoted entirely to the subject of

the blood,908 the most famous ones being the holiness classics: There is Power,

Power, Wonder working Power (No.288), Nothing But the Blood (No.333), and Are

You Washed? (No.309).

The general picture, however, is of a tradition, preserved at its richest in the

Redemption Hymnal, which has moved back to its holiness roots in language but

moved away from them in practice. Despite the statement of Jeffreys in 1933, there

does not appear to be any widespread return to 19th century thought concerning

sanctification. The purpose of the nostalgic language was not to resurrect old

doctrines but to stave off Evangelical attack – in spite of the fact that 19th century

cleansing floods of sanctification were no longer being plunged into either by the

Pentecostals or their attackers.

907
Hymn No.525.
908
Hymn Nos. 288, 309, 329, 333, 335, 342, 352, 369, 411, 598 and 788.

258
7.3. Assemblies of God.

The Assemblies of God of Great Britain and Ireland came into being on the 1st of

February 1924 in a room above a garage in Aston.909 After the bitter experience of the

conscienceous objectors during the war who were imprisoned because they were not

part of a registered denomination, Parr was particularly keen to organise all the

remaining independent Pentecostal assemblies into a denomination. Another factor

was that Parr had been alerted to the fact that the Welsh Apostolic assemblies had

approached the Assemblies of God in the US with a view to becoming a British wing

to an American denomination. American domination of British Pentecostals was seen

as unnecessary and undesirable.

The early leaders of Assemblies of God came from a variety of denominational

backgrounds: independent Holiness (John Nelson Parr), Anglican (John and Howard

Carter) Wesleyan Methodist (Wigglesworth), Methodist (Fred Watson, Harold Horton

and Tom Woods) Congregationalist (Donald Gee), Plymouth Brethren (Thomas

Myerscough), and Welsh Congregational (the Jeffreyses).910 Reflected in this

diversity is the fundamental independence of all AoG assemblies. The statement of

Fundamental Truths that Parr drew up was in no way intended to impinge upon that

closely guarded independence but rather to serve as a basis for administering

discipline when needed.911 These Fundamental Truths included tongues as initial

909
Those present, 12 men and 1 woman: J.N. Parr, R.C. Bell, Charles Buckley, Howard Carter, John
Carter, Mrs Cantel, J. Douglas, Donald Gee, Tom Hicks, Arthur Inman, E.W. Moser, Fred Watson and
Arthur Watkinson: Kay, inside Story, 73.
910
Kay, Inside Story, 67.
911
Kay has since shown that a significant proportion of AoG ministers today do not comply with the
statement even in its amended form: Kay, W., “Assemblies of God: Distinctive Continuity and
Distinctive Change,” in Warrington, K (ed), Pentecostal Perspectives, (Carlisle: paternoster, 1998), 60-
63. cf. Kay’s extended piece of empirical research on Pentecostal ministers in idem., Pentecostals in

259
evidence and the need for holiness of life, healing in the Atonement and the

premillennial Return of Christ.912 To help disseminate these ideas through the

denomination, the Fundamental Truths were soon expounded in a long-running series

of teachings initiated by John Carter in Redemption Tidings.

Gee states the main reasons for going ahead with denominational formation:

This two-fold menace, as it was felt to be, both erroneous doctrine and
practice, to the scores of little Pentecostal Assemblies scattered throughout the
British Isles, produced an increasing desire for some form of organised
fellowship among themselves that could safeguard the whole.913

What Gee probably had in mind were, first and foremost, the extremes of William

Oliver Hutchinson and the personality cult that had been growing up around him since

around 1919. This was the most serious example of erroneous practice. Secondly,

A.E. Saxby, (initially involved with the early moves towards forming AoG but not

present at the inaugural meeting), was teaching universalism, or, ‘Ultimate

Reconciliation.’ This was the most serious erroneous doctrine.

The multitude of independent Pentecostal assemblies that were not either founded by

or affiliated to Elim soon joined the new denomination so that by 1929, AoG had 200

congregations, compared to Elim’s 70.914

Britain, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000), passim. David Petts’ PhD thesis: “Healing and the Atonement,”
represented the first significant questioning at an academic level by an AoG minister of one of the
Fundamental Truths: the doctrine that healing is available through the atonement on the same basis that
forgiveness is available. At a local church level, the belief is still widely, but not universally, held: Kay,
Pentecostals in Britain, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000), .
912
There are 12 points altogether, all recorded in the “Minutes of the Assemblies of God in Great
Britain and Ireland January-May 1924” held at the Donald Gee Centre.
913
Gee, Pentecostal Movement, 140.
914
70 is an approximate figure as it dates to 1928 rather than 1929. The figures are derived from Kay,
“Distinctive Continuity,” 42. Following George Jeffreys’ campaigns in the ‘30s Elim quickly grew to
much the same size as AoG.

260
At the meeting above the garage in Aston, one of the items agreed on was the launch

of the magazine Redemption Tidings, of which Parr would become the editor. The

first issues were quarterly: July, October and December 1924 and January and April

1925, then becoming a monthly from June 1925, by which time it was already

enjoying a circulation of 5,000. 915 Redemption Tidings, as its nostalgic name suggests

came into being as a vehicle to articulate a widespread concern for “biblical truth in a

time of uncertainty and error.”916 Accordingly, this magazine boasts the phrase,

“Redemption through the Precious Blood of Christ” on every title page and

“Redemption through the blood of Christ” as its “Message.”917

Reflecting Parr’s evangelistic concerns, the first few issues seem to be addressed, at

least in part, to the interested non-Christian inquirer:

Make thy choice now, for there is no hope beyond the grave, therefore in the
Name of the Lord Jesus escape now by accepting the Salvation purchased for
you by the blood of Christ.918

There is a seamless continuity with the rear guard action mounted by EE to defend the

blood-soaked Evangelical orthodoxy of Pentecostalism. John Carter makes his appeal:

What an evidence of the Divine origin of this present-day out-pouring of the

‘latter-rain’ upon believers is afforded by the testimony they give to the blood
of Christ when filled with the Holy Ghost.919

915
Kay, “Distinctive Continuity,” 42.
916
Redemption Tidings 1:1 (July 1924), 17.
917
Anon., “Editorial”, Redemption Tidings 1:1 (July 1924), 8: “Our Message will be Redemption
through the blood of Christ – full and complete for Spirit, Soul and Body.”
918
Anon., (possibly Parr) “Bible Study: Where are the Dead? Or The Destiny of the Human Race,” RT
1:3 (Dec.’24), 18.
919
Carter, J., “Studies on the Fundamental Truths No.4: Salvation through faith in Christ, who
died…and through His blood we have redemption,” RT 2:4 (Apr.’26), 13.

261
His brother Howard joins him:

Let us examine the fruit of the experience that so many reject…There is a joy
in the Holy Ghost, a love of the Word of God, a magnifying of the precious
Blood, and an atmosphere if praise.920

As in EE, this Evangelical apologetic is combined with virile attacks on ‘modernism.’

Its elimination of “Blood redemption and Substitution”921 is described as

“Blasphemous and anti-Christian teaching.”922 Kay also has noted how Redemption

Tidings (RT from here on) self-consciously stood against “modernistic

Christianity.”923 At the heart of this stance was the denunciation of ‘bloodless’

preaching as a “pernicious anaemia.”924 John Carter explains the situation:

These are days when the doctrine of the precious blood is being ridiculed, and
the gospel of Redemption by substitution is treated with contempt. It is termed
‘Slaughter-house religion’925

Against this background of contempt for sacrificial atonement doctrine, the need,

originating at least as far back as D.L. Moody, to honour the blood, is again restated:

“Exalt the Precious Blood and the marvellous Man of Calvary!”926 The Oxford Group

provides one contributor with an opportunity to assert, once again, the old-time

920
Carter, H., “The Fruit of the Land,” RT 10:16 (Aug.15 ‘35), 3.
921
Boughton, R.H., “Converging Signs of the Advent,” RT 11:23 (Dec.’35), 14.
922
Ibid.
923
Kay, Inside Story, 80.
924
Anon, “Says a Missionary,” RT 12:24 (Dec.’36), 6.
925
Carter, “Studies on the Fundamental Truths,” 13.cf. Price,C., “God’s Irresistible Plan,” RT 10:10
(May 15, ’34), 2: “Churches to-day are coming up with a new plan, a new method, a new message.
They have taken the Blood out of the hymns and services…”
926
Jeffreys, Stephen, “Separation and Revelation”, RT 2:8 (Aug 1926), 2.

262
gospel: “In all the meetings of the Group, I have ever attended or heard about there

has never been any mention of the blood of Christ in its expiatory character.”927

An observer from Poland adds his weight: “The proof of the divine origin of this

movement in Poland is that Christ is honoured and the Blood of the Cross

extolled.”928

Stanley Frodsham also joins the chorus. As evidence that the Pentecostal movement is

of God, he describes his own first encounter with Pentecostal preaching:

How that preacher magnified the cleansing, purifying, all-blotting-out blood of

the Lord Jesus Christ that day!… I could not but feel as I left that Church, ‘I
wish other preachers would exalt the precious blood of Christ as that
Pentecostal man does.’929

Old Testament sacrificial typology was a constant theme in RT just as it is in EE.

Thomas Myerscough offered a long-running series of articles on Hebrews, while John

Carter, with a contribution from his brother Howard, began to unfold his Tabernacle

teaching.930 Almost every detail of the tabernacle furnishings is interpreted in

typological terms. In John Carter’s book summarising the teaching, even the fact that

the cherubim were made of “beaten work” is seen as a type of Christ’s sufferings,931

927
Commons, H., “My Experience with eth Oxford Group,” RT 9:4 (Apr.’33), 3.
928
Greenstreet, W.T., “Revival Tidings From Far and Near: Pentecost in Poland,” RT 9:5 (May ’33),
15.
929
Frodsham, S., “Is the Present Pentecostal Revival of God?” RT 9:9 (Sep.’33), 1-2.
930
Myerscough, T., “Bible Study: The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, Study No. 1,” RT
1:9 (Sep.’25), 14-15; idem, “Bible Study: Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Bible Study No. 2,” RT 1:10
(Oct.’25), 15-16; idem, “Bible Study: St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Bible Study No. 3,” RT 1:12
(Dec.’25), 14-15; Anon., “How to Study the Scriptures Part VI: Seven Methods of Bible Study (Contd)
No. 4 – The ‘Typical’ Method,” RT 2:1 (Jan.’26), 4-5: “…the blood-stained Mercy-Seat speaks of His
propitiatory death.” (p.5); Myerscough, T., “Bible Study: St Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Bible Study
No.4,” RT 2:2 (Feb.’26), 14-15; idem, “Bible Study: St Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Bible Study no.
5,” RT 2:3 (Mar.’26), 13-14; Carter, J., “Christ – His Ministry,” RT 4:8 (Aug.’28), 4-5; Carter, H.,
“Meditations for Meditation,” RT 8:8 (Aug.’32), 5.
931
Carter, J., God’s Tabernacle in the Wilderness and its Principal Offerings, (Nottingham:
Assemblies of God, 1970), 77.

263
while the horns of the altar were where the fugitive “clung to the blood.”932 The

frequent recourse that writers make to the Old Testament in an effort to explain and

reaffirm the significance of the blood, is indicative of a tired theology in need of

repristination from its original sources.

The total number of references to the blood of Jesus in the first 12 issues of RT,

spanning July 1924 to December 1925 is almost identical to that of EE, standing at

45. The Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts ranks uppermost in the articles, with a total of

seven articles.933 There are six articles on the Second Coming,934 one article on the

atonement935 and none on at all healing.

The composition of references to the blood may compared with EE thus:

Redemption Tidings Elim Evangel

Redemption936 40% 28%

Cleansing937 18% 18%

932
Carter, God’s Tabernacle, 24.
933
Anon, “Speaking with Tongues and Other Gifts: Pentecost to 1924,” RT 1:1 (Jul.’24), 11-14; Corry,
P., “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” RT 1:4 (Jan.’25), 2-3; Gee, D., “Shall We Give up Tongues?” RT
1:4 (Jan.’25), 9-10; Anon, “The Right Use of the Gift of Tongues,” RT 1:5 (Apr.’25), 12; Gee, D.,
“Spiritual Gifts,” RT 1:8 (Aug.’25), 5-7; Carothers, W.F with A.W. Frodsham, “The Gift of
Interpretation and Prophecy: Are They Intended for Guidance?” RT 1:10 (Oct.’25), 5-7; Burton,
W.F.P., “Did St Paul Disobey the Holy Spirit in Going to Jerusalem,” RT (Oct.’25), 9-10; Gee, D.,
“Speaking with Tongues the Initial Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” RT (Dec.’25), 5-7.
934
Gee, D., “Jesus is Coming Again!” RT 1:1 (Jul.’24), 9-10; Anon, “The Last Days,” RT 1:1 (Jul.’24);
Marvin, E.P., et al, “Signs of the Times,” RT (Oct.’24), 6-9; Anon, “Jesus is Coming Soon,” RT 1:6
(Jun.’25), 11; Anon, “Bible Study: Where are the Dead or the Destiny of the Human Race,” RT 1:6
(Jun.’26), 18-19; Buist, F.C., “Behold I Come Quickly,”
935
Anon, “Christ our Passover,” RT 1:5 (Apr.’25), 11-12.
936
Including ideas of “freedom from sin” and “deliverance from sin” as well as “redeemed,” “bought”
etc.
937
e.g. “Have we finished with the guilt and pollution of sin? If not, there is sufficient power in the
blood to make us clean: There’s power in Jesus blood / To wash me white as snow.” Thomas, W, J.,
“Free From Sin,” RT 1:8 (Aug.’25), 10.

264
All remaining themes never occur more than twice. These include: “Merit(s) of,”938

and access (to the Holy Place) via, each occurring twice, plus all the following

occurring only once: Faith in, justification by, refuge in, salvation by, reconciliation

by, healing through, putting away sin by, atoning, under, obedience to,939 and

conjoining with Holy Spirit.940

The frequency of references to the blood over the entire inter-war period in RT is as

follows:

The rise from 1933 is difficult to explain. This was the year that Hitler came to power

and political events are reported frequently in RT, generally interpreted as signs of the

938
“Praise God the Blood avails, and prayers to our God through the merits of the Blood WILL be
answered.” Bell, R.C., “P.M.U. Notes” RT 1:9 (Sep.’25), 14.
939
“Absolute obedience to the blood of the Lamb will keep me free from the tyranny of sin.” Thomas,
W.J., “Free From Sin,” RT 1:8 (Aug.’25), 10.
940
“When the blood has finished his work, the Holy Ghost does His work. Amen.” Thomas, W.J.,
“Free From Sin,” RT 1:8 (Aug. ’25), 10.

265
Lord’s return. There is an ongoing affection for OT typology of the blood throughout

this time, particularly the Exodus typology in which the believer is pictured as

dwelling safely beneath the blood regardless of events taking place in the world.

Outside of RT similar themes emerge in the writings of prominent AoG leaders.

Howard Carter’s BHS for instance, is yet another example of a crucicentric

experience of the Spirit, much as Mrs Price’s had been at the very beginning: “…the

cross of Calvary seemed so wonderfully great to me and the atonement so much more

wonderful than ever before.”941 Harold Horton in his teaching on homiletics was

insistent that: “We must keep the cross in the forefront, the blood-soaked, sin-clearing

cross. We must ever emphasise the Atonement.”942

John Nelson Parr (1886-1976)943 set great store on preaching the blood. His church,

the Bethshan Tabernacle in Longsight, Manchester, opened in 1928, and grew to

become the largest Pentecostal church in Britain, the result both of a very successful

campaign there by Stephen Jeffreys in1927 and his own preaching efforts. My father-

in-law, Mr Brian Dixon, was, at one time one of Mr Parr’s workers, serving in

evangelism and Sunday School at Bethshan Tabernacle. He has given a number of

insights into Parr’s theology of the blood that reveal him to be absolutely typical of

the Pentecostal leaders of his generation. Here, Mr Dixon speaks of Parr’s attitude to

941
Whittaker, C., Seven Pentecostal Pioneers, (Basingstoke: Marshall Morgan & Scott), 104.
942
Whittaker, Pioneers, 139, citing Horton’s Preaching and Homiletics of 1946.
943
Besides his autobiography, Incredible, (Leamington Spa: Full Gospel Publishing House,1972), the
definitive work on Parr is an unpublished PhD thesis: Letson, H., “Keeper of the Flame: The Story of
John Nelson Parr in the Context of Pentecostal Origins, (Unpublished PhD dissertation: University of
Wales, Bangor, 2005).

266
the liberal Methodist minister, Dr Leslie Weatherhead, author of A Plain Man Looks

at the Cross:944

He would condemn anybody who preached a bloodless gospel. He would call

Dr Weatherhead ‘Leatherhead’ because he would not subscribe to his teaching
on a bloodless cross…I can well remember him sending Leslie Knowles to
London when Billy Graham came to London. He had been told that Billy
Graham was a bloodless preacher…On the night that Billy Graham was
preaching, he preached on First Peter: ‘We are redeemed not by corruptible
things like silver and gold but by the precious blood of the Lamb.’ And when
Leslie Knowles came back and told him about it, he was thrilled and he
thought, ‘This is the man. This is what we want.’945

The apotropeic dimension was also in evidence. As part of his evangelistic work, Mr

Dixon did a lot of open-air evangelism and door-knocking for Parr:

He believed in being covered by the blood….I can remember once knocking

on a door and a spiritualist answered the door and he would encourage us that
if we went to such a person that we would emphasise the blood of Jesus. He
would warn us that they wouldn’t like the idea. He made it clear that we must
cover ourselves with the protection by mentioning the blood.946

So, once again, the mere mention of the blood was perceived as carrying a weight of

spiritual significance with it that only demons fully understood and were duly terrified

of.

In Parr’s written work, the cleansing theme dominates. In his Death’s Mystery Solved,

cleansing, and especially washing, is the subject of 8 out of the 9 occurrences.947 In

944
Weatherhead, L., A Plain Man Looks at the Cross: An Attempt to explain in simple language for the
modern man, the significance of the Death of Christ, (London: Independent Press, 1945). The bone of
contention would appear to be chapter 8: “’Saved by His Precious Blood,’” which begins affirmatively
enough but then proceeds subtly to debunk traditional Evangelical understandings, converting Christ’s
blood into a “symbol” of his “self-giving”: pp144-5 & 152.
945
Dixon, B., recorded interview, 12 Aug 2007.
946
Dixon, ibid. I, unfortunately, neglected to draw out of Mr Dixon what the reaction was of the
spiritualist when confronted in this way.
947
Parr, J.N., Death’s Mystery Solved, (Leamington Spa: Full Gospel Publishing House, nd.), passim.

267
Divine Healing, he teaches that it is necessary to ward off the devil in order for a

person who has been ministered to not to lose their healing: “Accept not his

accusations; the way of victory is through the blood of the lamb and the word of

testimony.”948 The way to discern between a false, demonic healing and a divine

healing is the blood:

…there is one great acid test for all seducing spirits, cults and movements…it
is their attitude towards that great foundation truth of Divine revelation, i.e.,
their attitude towards ‘The Atoning Power of the precious blood of
Christ…the sole and only ground for the justification of sinners.’949

Conclusion.

In this last chapter, we have seen the return to 19th century thought forms about the

blood of Christ as a cleansing and redeeming power, the only difference being that the

order has been reversed. Cleansing now takes second place as understandings of BHS

have moved on and the acquisition a Clean Heart by way of a Second Blessing is

simply not on anyone’s agenda anymore. Redemption, instead of cleansing, has, by

default, taken first position.

The reason for this U-turn away from the more new fangled blood mystical

phenomena of Kilsyth, Sunderland and Bournemouth was the total isolation that the

often tiny and scattered Pentecostal assemblies experienced. Their formation into

denominations had been of little comfort to them. George Jeffreys, endeavouring, as

948
Parr, J.N., Divine Healing, (Springfield: Gospel Publishing House, 1955), 61.
949
Parr, Divine Healing, 45, cf. 43-44

268
Moody had before him, to gain a hearing with as wide an audience as possible, was

perhaps the most keen of them all to be seen not as the leader of some strange new

sect but as an old-time Welsh revivalist. The Pentecostals may have added something,

namely tongues, but they were eager at this stage to stress that they had taken nothing

away. They were orthodox Evangelical Protestants. The isolation felt was exacerbated

by the continued opposition experienced, especially from other churches, and the

financial hardships of trying to plant churches and acquire and maintain real estate

during a massive financial depression.

The inter-War period brings us into a situation in which the blood is no longer as self-

evidently integral to Pentecostal theology as it had been when it was seen as the

essential sanctifying agent prior to BHS. The urgency with which it was invoked for

protection from Satan all but disappears. The enemy during this period is not the devil

but the liberals. And so it is during this time that the blood is in danger of becoming a

mantra that is theologically and spiritually emptied of meaning and is nothing more

than a badge of orthodoxy. The efforts of John Carter, in his tabernacle teachings, to

recover the biblical theory behind all the blood-soaked preaching and singing is

probably an attempt at mitigating precisely this danger. This situation in which a

tradition has all but lost its inner logic, its necessity, its life, yet remains intact for

purely external reasons, sets the scene for the next chapter in the story.

269
 8. The Blood and Pentecost Today.

After World War II, the religious scene in Britain began to change. By the 1960s,

more and more people in the older, non-Pentecostal denominations were beginning to

experience BHS. Initially sceptical, especially when Roman Catholics professed the

experience, Pentecostals soon began to realize their own need for renewal. Donald

Gee’s sermon of 1960 calling for “Another Springtime” was becoming more than

merely desirable. As numbers of Pentecostal churches left Elim and AoG to join the

emerging House Church movement, renewal within classical Pentecostalism became

essential if it was to survive. And so, in their search for renewal, Pentecostals began to

look and sound more and more like charismatics. The dominance, in particular, of

charismatic songs and worship styles soon became absolute. And so it is at this point

that a brief survey of charismatic attitudes to atonement themes in general, and the

blood in particular, is important in setting the scene for the present time.

8.1. Charismatic Spirituality.

The place that the cross occupies in charismatic church life has been described as

“…a kind of natural background music.”950 It has often enough been observed that the

charismatic movement’s emphasis on immediacy951 leaves little place for a theology

of the cross, or indeed any theology at all.952 Terry Virgo, who has now emerged as

950
Runia, K., “The Preaching of the Cross Today,” European Revue of Theology 25:1 (2001), 53.
951
This word “immediacy” is the linchpin of Yves Congar’s critique of the charismatic movement,
Congar, Y., I Believe in the Holy Spirit Vol. II, (London: Goeffrey Chapman, 1983), 165.
952
Tom Smail bemoans the fact that the charismatic movement not only lacks a theology but is not
even looking for one. Smail, T., “The Cross and the Spirit: Towards a Theology of Renewal” in Smail,
T., A. Walker & N. Wright (eds.) Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology, (London: SPCK,

270
the leading light of the apostolic networks in Britain, is himself concerned about

“…the neglect of essential apostolic doctrine by charismatics...”953 stating that he has

“…tried hard to arrest the drift wherever possible.”954 Many have identified the

danger of a one-sided emphasis on the things of the Spirit. Smail warns that where

such one-sidedness exists, “Christless mysticism” and “Charismatic excess” are

among the dangers to be faced.955 John Goldingay is sure that only as the charismatic

emphasis on the experience of Pentecost is “systematically linked to the cross” can

charismatic spirituality avoid being “a baptizing of the spirit of the age.”956 It is

perhaps not for nothing that one branch of charismatic Christianity has been described

as “Charismatic Humanism.”957 Tom Smail, though a leading light in the Renewal,

was relentless in his criticism of the Charismatic Renewal as having failed to

adequately integrate the message of the cross with the message of Pentecost.958 He

derisively describes Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian initiation as taking place in

two-stages: ‘O’ Level, corresponding to an Easter faith, and ‘A’ Level – a fully

fledged faith in Pentecost.959 Dabney has observed a pendulum at work in the history

of Protestantism, the lack of place given to the Spirit in Protestant orthodoxy leading

1995), 49. Pawson ably highlights the same weakness: Pawson, D., The Fourth Wave: Charismatics
and Evangelicals: Are we Ready to Come Together? (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), 65-71.
953
Letter to the author, dated 13 Aug 2004.
954
Ibid.
955
Smail, T., The Giving Gift: The Holy Spirit in Person, (London: Darton Longman & Todd, 1994),
132.
956
Goldingay, J., “Charismatic Spirituality: Some Theological Reflections”, Theology (May/June
1996), 7.
957
Farah, C., “A Critical Analysis: The ‘Roots and Fruits’ of Faith-Formula Theology” Pneuma 3
(Spring 1981), 6.
958
This critique began, in book form, with his Reflected Glory (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1975).
The book was written, says Smail, “…in reaction to the tendency in Pentecostalist teaching to cut loose
the work of the Spirit from the work of the Son.” Smail, Giving Gift, 44.
959
Smail, “The Cross and the Spirit”, 57. The pastoral problem created by there being, by implication,
two classes of Christian was, of course, close to the heart of James Dunn’s famous work, Baptism in
the Holy Spirit, (London: SCM, 1970). By the time of his Jesus and the Spirit, (London: SCM, 1975),
it was clear that he had begun to think along the lines of Spirit-Christology, much as Smail would go
on to articulate in his The Giving Gift of 1988. Among Pentecostals, Gordon Fee, likewise rejected the
doctrine of separability and subsequence: Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics,
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991),105-119.

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inevitably to periodical “Spirit-movements” by way of reaction.960 These are then

checked with another dose of Reformed orthodoxy. The result is that, with a few

notable exceptions, no equilibrium is ever reached between a “’Spiritless’ theology of

the Word” on the one hand, and a “’Wordless’ theology of the Spirit” on the other. 961

When the charismatic movement has focused on the atonement, it tends to have

centred on the concepts of victory and healing.962 The charismatic concept of sin is

that it is a disorder requiring healing,963 or, as in the case of the Restorationists, a

disorder requiring the discipline of spiritual authority.964 In these ways, the atonement

is certainly seen as a substitution – Jesus experiences defeat so that others may share

in his ultimate victory; Jesus bears the sicknesses and psychological problems of

others so that they can be made whole,965 but it is not necessarily a penal substitution.

Indeed, Tom Smail and others who spoke at the 1995 St John’s College Symposium

960
Dabney, L., “Pneumatologia Crucis: Reclaiming Theologia Crucis for a Theology of the Spirit
Today”, Scottish Journal of Theology 53:4 (2000), 514. This is a piece of work that deserves attention,
offering a significant synthesis at a theological level of the kind of dichotomy here discussed. Classical
Pentecostalism, however, is historically less guilty of this estrangement between the work of Christ and
the work of the Spirit. We have already observed early Pentecostalism’s complete integration of faith
in the blood with the experience of BHS. Indeed, Kärkkäinen does not feel that the Pentecostal
tradition, with its four-fold gospel radiating from the person of Christ, is anything like pneumatological
enough. To the contrary, he claims that “Pentecostal spirituality is shaped by Christ-centredness.”
Kärkkäinen, V., “The Doctrine of Theosis and its Ecumenical Potential” Sobornost 23:2 (2001), 46, 62.
961
Dabney, “Pneumatologia Crucis,”514.
962
Not at all a bad thing in itself. There is now a wide consensus among Evangelicals that the cross is a
many faceted work and must be allowed to speak to the contemporary world in ways other than ‘penal
substitution’. See McGrath, A., The Enigma of the Cross, (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987)
passim; Morris, L., The Cross of Jesus, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988) passim; Smail, T., Windows
on the Cross, (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1995) paasim; Goldingay, J., (ed) Atonement Today,
(London: SPCK, 1995), 131-253; Tidball, D., The Message of the Cross, (Leicester: IVP, 2001), 184-
185: the cross has “…a substitutionary and redemptive significance which Paul could capture only by
using a ‘dazzling array of colours’ for his portrait of the cross…How sad that, in our desire for
systematic neatness, we have frequently reduced his brilliantly varied portrait to a two-dimensional,
monochrome picture!”
963
Bebbington notes the “drift away from concepts like ‘sin’ and ‘salvation’ to less abstract terms like
‘healing’ and ‘life’” in charismatic hymnody yet concludes that there is an essential continuity with
Evangelical vocabulary: Bebbington, Evangelicals, 247, citing Hopkinson, B., “Changes in the
Emphases of Evangelical Belief, 1970-1980: Evidence from the New Hymnody,” Churchman 95:2
(1981), 130 & 134.
964
So Walker, A., Restoring the Kingdom, (Hodder & Stoughton, 1985, 1988), 153-162.
965
See Prince, D., The Divine Exchange: The Sacrificial Death of Jesus Christ on the Cross,
(Harpenden: Derek Prince Ministries, 1995), 20.

272
on the atonement, are vehemently against the idea of penal substitution.966 As a result,

what Evangelicalism has customarily seen as the reason for the absolute centrality of

the blood of Christ to the preaching and life of the church, namely that Christ bore an

otherwise inescapable penalty, is gone. If it is not absolutely necessary, it need not be

absolutely central.

Among native British charismatics I have so far found no evidence of blood pleading.

Its insipient occurrence in that context, however, may form the background to a small

booklet that was produced by the King’s Churches, based in Aldershot in 1989. The

author, Trevor Martin, provides a very similar assessment of the practice to that given

by Donald Gee in 1957.967 Martin, like Gee, begins by debunking the superstition

involved in pleading the blood, for example, before crossing the road in busy traffic,

before making a journey, before casting out a demon or for protection over a

household. Like Gee, he points out the erroneous appeal to the Exodus narrative, and,

like Gee, advocates invoking the name of Jesus rather than His blood as a more

Scriptural paradigm when confronting the devil.968

At a more global level, it seems clear that pleading the blood, both among

charismatics and Pentecostals, is a practice that has survived from early

Pentecostalism and is alive and well. Some Pentecostal African students I recently

taught, who belonged to the Apostolic Faith Mission founded by John G. Lake, say

966
Goldingay, Atonement, 3-127. Cf. The Forgotten Father, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1980)129: Smail
rejects the view of the cross as a satisfaction for sin, saying that it leaves us with “...a cringing guilt-
ridden religion which has to hide behind the love of Jesus in order to be saved from the only just
contained wrath of an angry God.” The St John’s College Symposium was replied to 5 years later at the
Oak Hill College annual School of Theology in a conference entitled “Proclaiming Christ Crucified
Today”, later published as Petersen, D., (ed) Where Wrath and Mercy Meet: Proclaiming the
Atonement Today, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2001).
967
Gee, D., “Under the Blood,” The Pentecostal Evangel (Dec 8 1957), 4. This article will also be
discussed shortly
968
Martin, T., The Power of the Blood, (Aldershot: Fruitful Word Publications, 1989), passim.

273
that their preachers will routinely plead the protection of the blood of Jesus over a

meeting before they begin. Benny Hinn recommends similar practices. For him, this

takes the form of a simple daily prayer for his family: “Lord, cover Suzanne, Jessica,

Natasha, Joshua and Eleasha with Your blood.”969 He has written in detail about the

subject, offering the story of the Passover as his chief biblical precedent.970 Joyce

Meyer has also taught extensively on this subject.971 While the provenance of such

teaching tends to be the USA, a huge shop window for it is British Christian

bookshops and the God Channel where Hinn and especially Meyer are currently

extremely popular.

Within the charismatic movement, there have arisen occasional speakers who profess

to have been given special insight into the importance of the idea of ‘covenant’ in the

Bible. Rooted in the idea that Christ’s shed blood was life released rather than life

violently taken, an idea that goes back at least as far as B.F.Wescott’s late 19th

Century commentary on the epistles of John, blood covenant teachers bring to their

subject insights that are drawn mostly from native American culture. In other words,

when God “cut the covenant” with man, He became his blood brother. The dominant

motif is the intermingling of life rather than the substitution of life for life.972

In Abram’s day, the blood covenant signified an absolute and unbreakable

guarantee of a man’s word. Nothing short of a blood agreement could have
convinced Abram of God’s desire to bless him….By making a blood covenant

969
Hinn, B., Power in the Blood: the Biblical Significance of the Blood from Genesis to Jesus to the
Modern Believer, (Lake Mary: Creation House, 1993), 75.
970
Hinn, Power in the Blood, passim.
971
E.g. Meyer, J., The Word, The Name, The Blood, (Lebanon: Time Warner, 2003), 115-138.
972
As early as 1932, something very similar was taught in EE: “Behold that crimson stream, God and
man’s blood mingling and flowing together. God’s blood flowing manward and satisfying man, man’s
blood flowing Godward, satisfying God, and eternally sealing our union in an everlasting covenant.”
Stephens, F.R., “The Blood Covenant Part II” EE 13:39 (Sep. 23’32), 371.

274
 with him, Almighty God proved that He wanted to exchange His strength, His
weapons and His authority with Abram.973

Copeland’s source appears to have been a book by H. Clay Trumbull, of 1885, called

The Blood Covenant.974 Trumbull acknowledges Westcott but the main ideas seem to

have been arrived at independently of him through contact with Native American

Indians. So far, this intermingling of blood idea does not appear to have received very

widespread acceptance in Britain, possibly because of our great remove from cultures

in which this is practised.

The blood is not a prominent theme in contemporary charismatic worship. Two

sources of new songs, however, are noteworthy for their relatively high emphasis on

atonement themes, including the blood. The first is Terry Virgo’s New Frontiers

International, which, until 2004, was producing a new worship compilation every

year, recorded at the Stoneleigh Bible Week held at the National Agricultural Centre

in Stoneleigh, Staffordshire. Of particular interest is Stoneleigh’s interaction with the

Toronto Blessing. Ruach: Holy Wind of God came out in 1994 during the height of

the Toronto Blessing at which time some 14,000 people attended the Bible week. Out

of a total of 15 tracks there are two references to the blood, one in a revamping of

William Booth’s hymn God of Burning, Cleansing Flame (Send the Fire), the other in

the song Great is the Lord. Its mildly Calvinist grace theme is reflective of the

theological tastes of NFI’s leader and main speaker at the Bible week, Terry Virgo:

By the power of Jesus’ name

You have raised me up from sin and shame…
973
Copeland, K., Covenant of Blood, (Fort Worth: KCP, 1987), 7, 11.
974
Trumbull, H.C., The Blood Covenant: A Primitive Rite and its bearings on Scripture 2nd
Ed.,(Jefferson: Impact Books, 1975).

275
 By grace I’m saved through faith in God
Not by works alone but by Jesus’ blood…975

The 1997 Stoneleigh was notably different. Attendance figures reached 20,000. Ken

Gott from Sunderland976 was invited to bring some prophetic input, some of which is

recorded in between songs. By now, the Toronto Blessing had clearly not brought

about the revival that many thought it would and the unusual manifestations were

petering out almost everywhere except at the Sunderland Christian Centre. The album

begins with an optimistic song from Sunderland, the last ray of hope:

This is the time

This is the place
We’re living in a season of amazing grace
We are the people
Born for this hour
And we will be willing in the day of His power.977

The blood becomes an unusually prominent theme on this album. The motif is access

to God:

By Your blood I can enter the holiest place,

To the throne of my Father and King…
Far away from the stress and turmoil of life,
I now come to seek Your face.978

I come by the blood, I come by the cross,

Where Your mercy flows
975
David & Nathan Fellingham, Great is the Lord, (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1994),
track 6 on Ruach: Holy Wind of God.
976
His involvement with the arrival of the Toronto Blessing at the Sunderland Christian Centre is
related in Fitz-Gibbon, A & J., Something Extraordinary is Happening: The Sunderland Experience of
the Holy Spirit, (Crowborough: Monarch, 1995), 11-21.
977
I still recall this being sung almost every Sunday with great enthusiasm at Derek Brown’s King’s
Church long after Toronto manifestations and the special meetings to promote them had ceased.
978
Fellingham, D., By Your Blood, (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music/MCPS), track 8 on
Love’s Compelling Power.

276
 From hands pierced for me.
For I dare not stand on my righteousness,
My every hope rests on what Christ has done,
And I come by the blood.979

In spite of the Toronto anticlimax, the Stoneleigh Bible week of 1998 saw the

attendance figures break the record again with 22,000 in attendance. The inside cover

of the album that resulted from it, Beautiful Saviour, describes the event as a time of

“re-envisioning.”980 The title song uses the blood theme to re-align the worshipper

with long-held Evangelical tradition:

I will trust in the cross of my Redeemer,

I will sing of the blood that never fails,
Of sins forgiven, of conscience cleansed,
Of death defeated and life without end.981

This trend away from prophetic progressivism in the direction a more traditional

approach in both content and musicality in NFI has continued. Two songs in

particular have been written that are, both musically and lyrically, in the style of a

hymn. The language is theologically rich, emotive and atonement centred. One is In

Christ Alone:982

And as He stands in victory

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine-
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.983

The other song is Oh, To See the Dawn:984

979
Cook, Steve & Vikki, You are the Perfect and Righteous God (I Come by the Blood), (People of
Destiny/Word Music), track 9 on Love’s Compelling Power.
980
Townend, S (producer), Beautiful Saviour, (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1998).
981
Townend, S., All my Days (Beautiful Saviour), (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1998),
track 4 on Beautiful Saviour.
982
Words and music by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, (Eastbourne: Thankyou Music, 2001).
983
Verse 3 ibid.

277
 Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning your bloodstained brow.

The second source of new British worship songs that is of interest is Matt Redman

and Soul Survivor. Redman sings that his “every road leads to the cross.” He uses the

word ‘cross’ far more commonly than blood and writes of it with emotion in Jesus

Christ (Once Again): “I’m humbled by Your mercy and I’m broken inside.”985

However, Redman is by no means squeamish about using the word ‘blood,’ and does

so in some interesting ways:

Death that brought me life;

Blood that brought me home.986

Thank You, thank You for the blood that You shed
Standing in its blessing we sing these freedom songs…
You have opened the way to the Father.987

In charismatic worship then, the blood, in these few examples, often takes on a

function similar to the inter-war years of Pentecostalism, in which 19th century

language was employed to portray the blood’s cleansing and redeeming power. Added

to this is the hitherto recessive theme of access: the blood making a way for the child

of God to have unlimited access to the Father. This would tie in with the charismatic

love of immediacy, its penchant for imminence over transcendence.

984
Words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, (Eastbourne: Thankyou Music, 2005).
985
Redman, M., Jesus Christ (Once Again), (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1995).
986
Redman, M., For the Cross, (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1998).
987
Redman, M., Thank You for the Blood, (Eastbourne: Kingsway’s Thankyou Music, 1999), track 11
on The Father’s Song.

278
Throughout the literature and hymnody of early British Pentecostalism and its

precursors, beginning especially with Andrew Murray, the blood’s relationship to the

Spirit is a subplot that never quite rises to the prominence of other themes. Tom Smail

(1928- ) is the first thinker in British Pentecostal and Charismatic circles to analyse

this relationship in depth. He is clearly heavily indebted to, though not uncritical of,

Karl Barth and spent a year in Basel being taught by him. He is especially receptive to

Barthian thought that has been modified through the filters of T.F.Torrance and

Jürgen Moltmann. Though receiving his BHS under Dennis Bennett, his Reformed

theology compelled him to reject Bennett’s Pentecostal framework by which to

interpret charismatic experience.988 This questioning of Pentecostalist two-stage

concepts of Christian initiation was confirmed by an experience he had not long after

receiving his BHS. It happened when Smail exercised the gift of tongues in public for

the first time: “The interpretation was given by a young woman, and I have never

forgotten what she said, ‘The way to Pentecost is Calvary; the Spirit comes from the

cross.”989

All of his thinking from that time on appears to have been an exploration of this idea.

In his writings, he works his way back from the cross into the Trinitarian life of God

Himself, and then back out to Calvary again. Much of this reflection took place during

his time as Chairman of the Fountain Trust, editor of Renewal magazine and of the

doomed, Theological Renewal,990 and as Vice-Principal of the Anglican St John’s

988
Smail, “Cross and Spirit,” 53.
989
Smail, “Cross and Spirit,” 55.Cf. Reflected Glory, 105: “…the interpretation was given by a young
woman, unknown to me before or since, who said, ‘There is no way to Pentecost except by Calvary;
the Spirit is given from the cross.’”
990
This ran from 1975 to 1980 and was scrapped through what Wright considers to be a very telling
lack of interest in theology on the part of charismatics at that time: Wright, N., “The Charismatic
Theology of Thomas Smail,” JEPTA XVI (1996), 6. cf. Stibbe, M., “The Theology of renewal and the
Renewal of Theology,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 3 (1993), 71.

279
College, Nottingham. The result of his thinking was a trilogy of books on each

member of the Trinity from a critically charismatic perspective written between 1975

and 1988: Reflected Glory, Forgotten Father and The Giving Gift. In these works, his

greatest concern is how best to integrate the work of the Spirit with the work of the

Son. Having worked his way back from Calvary to the Trinity, he discovers the

statement of Jesus concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 16:14: “He will

glorify me, for he will take of mine and declare it to you.” As he admits in Giving

Gift,991 Smail was initially so keen on this thought as a way of correcting faults that he

perceived in Pentecostalism992 that he emphasised it almost to the point of minimising

the full personhood of the Spirit in Reflected Glory. By the time he writes Giving Gift,

his thinking has matured and is expressed thus:

On the one hand, the Spirit depends upon the Son for the content that he
conveys to us: without the Son the Spirit would have nothing to convey,
because he brings no content of his own. On the other hand, without the Spirit,
what the Son has would be shut up in himself…993

On that basis, the work of the Son is utterly definitive of the work of the Spirit. The

Spirit’s mission is to reveal the cross. And so, working back from the Trinity to the

cross again, this idea is communicated throughout his writings in the form of various

different slogans:

The Spirit reveals himself not as a new object of our knowledge, but as the one
who makes it possible for us to know and receive Christ crucified.994

991
Giving Gift, 44.
992
Wright has a point, however, in querying whether or not this apparently Christless pneumatology in
Pentecostalism that Smail has such a problem with might actually be a straw man: “…very rarely, if at
all, does he cite Pentecostal authors…Instead there is an assumption concerning what Pentecostal
theology might claim.” Wright, “Thomas Smail,” 10
993
Smail, Giving Gift, 51
994
Smail, Giving Gift, 63

280
 The deed done on Calvary long ago has its contemporary effect in the present
inrushing of Pentecostal power.995

The cross and its liberating effect makes possible the movement of the Spirit
from the Father to us.996

The Holy Spirit is himself the living water that flows from the side of
Christ.997

On the basis of this arguing from the cross to the Trinity and back again, Smail

produces his critique of charismatic renewal: “If in our thinking we loosen the

connection between Christ and the Spirit, we are in danger of severing one of the

nerve-centres of the New Testament gospel.”998

The more the renewal relates itself to the central things of the gospel, e.g. the
person and work of Christ rather than just tongues or healing, the more its
contribution becomes recognisable and receivable by the rest of the Church,
and the more it is delivered from its own idiosyncrasies and eccentricities.999

I present Smail here then, not as someone who has contributed to the kind of blood

mysticism that I have described elsewhere in this thesis: he would doubtless be

repulsed by much of it. Rather, I present him as someone who has been able to

articulate very ably thoughts that have often occurred to many of the Pentecostals and

holiness adherents named in this thesis. In articulating these ideas of Spirit-Son

mutuality and relating them to the atonement, Smail provides a theological framework

in which a great deal of the irrational-sounding material I have presented can be made

995
Smail, Giving Gift, 134.
996
Smail, The Forgotten Father, 123.
997
Smail, Giving Gift, 81.
998
Smail, Giving Gift, 125.
999
Smail, Giving Gift, 18.

281
safe, sensible and beneficial. He provides a way back to the Christ-centredness of

historic Pentecostalism in such a way as makes clear the reasons why the cross and

blood of Christ ought to be emphasised by those who profess to be given to the Spirit.

The reason is that the cross is on the mind of that very Holy Ghost that a Pentecostal

or charismatic would claim to be filled with. Smail helps to define a true Pentecostal

as someone who knows what the Spirit’s greatest boast is, what His greatest concern

is, what His mission in the church and in the world actually is: to glorify Christ and

His work.

8.2. The Blood and Classical Pentecostalism Today.

By the 1950s, within classical Pentecostalism, the climate had so changed that in

1957, Donald Gee could write an article for the American periodical, The Pentecostal

Evangel, in which he claimed that in the early days of Pentecostalism, exhortations to

plead the blood had always “perplexed” him.1000 The importance that early

Pentecostals placed on the blood he sympathetically put down to the “truculent

modernism of fifty years ago”1001 with its scorn of Evangelical “’slaughterhouse

religion,’”1002 yet he regarded much of the reaction to it as a superstitious “fetish.”1003

He went on to debunk the pleading of the of the blood as a means of invoking God’s

protection prior to making a journey by train, car or boat, or over a house or a person

or when encountering demons. He pointed out that appeals made to the Exodus story,

the commonest Scriptural justification adduced by blood-pleaders, are moot seeing as

the protection obtained through the blood on that occasion was from the wrath of

1000
Gee, “Under the Blood,’ 4.
1001
Gee, “Under the Blood,’ 4.
1002
Gee, “Under the Blood,’ 4.
1003
Gee, “Under the Blood,’ 4.

282
God, not from the devil. He goes on to suggest that the name of Jesus rather than his

blood ought to be invoked for victory over the devil.1004

As though to buck the trend, Percy Brewster (1908-80), converted under George

Jeffreys before eventually becoming Secretary-General of Elim in 1974, preserved an

earlier phase in Pentecostal blood mysticism. He was proud of maintaining the

practice of pleading the blood: “I must confess, and quite unashamedly, that I plead

the blood of Christ in prayer every day of my life…”1005 The very fact, however, that

he has to shrug of the possibility of feeling shame in making this statement, reveals

something about the changes that had taken place in attitudes towards the blood.

Whether Brewster’s blood-pleading is directed at God or Satan is not clear, but he

goes on to defend the practice thus: “These are terms that have sprung into daily use

from the types and symbols of the Old Testament.” In a unique phrase, he summarises

the content of Hebrews 9:14 as describing “Pentecostal blood,” going on to devote

one of his longest chapters to the subject of “Blood and Fire.”1006

In AoG, John Carter (1893-1981), having written a series of articles on Tabernacle

typology for RT, went on to release a book in 1970 devoted to the subject: God’s

Tabernacle in the Wilderness and its Principal Offerings.1007 In this volume, he also

appears to have held on to the doctrine of pleading the blood. In his case, it is clearly

theocentric:

1004
Gee, “Under the Blood,’ 4.
1005
Brewster, P., The Spreading Flame of Pentecost, (London: Elim Publishing House, 1970), 57.
1006
Brewster, Spreading Flame, 65.
1007
Carter, J., God’s Tabernacle in the Wilderness and its Principal Offerings, (Nottingham:
Assemblies of God, 1970).

283
 There can be no true worship except through Christ’s death. The shed blood is
the foundation of our acceptance and of our worship. We plead His blood for
every blessing.1008

As for the present day, the most recent complete year of data available at the time of

writing on EE and RT’s successors, Direction and Joy respectively was 2006.

Surveying Direction and Joy for that year yielded almost no occurrences of the word

blood in relation to Jesus. Direction had five references to the blood of Jesus,

including the ideas of covering, healing and redemption. This compares with EE’s 44

references to it in the 12 issues from 1919-22. Joy had six references to the blood of

Jesus, including the motifs of covering, cleansing, transubstantiation, Gethsemane,

covenant and love. This compares with the 45 occurrences recorded in RT in its first

12 issues from 1924-5. So, on average, there were about as many references to the

blood of Jesus in a single issue of EE and RT as there were in a whole year of

Direction and Joy.

In Direction there were five articles about divine healing,1009 three articles on the

Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts,1010 three articles on the atonement1011 and no articles on

the Second Coming. In Joy there were three articles on the Holy Spirit and spiritual

gifts,1012 two articles on the atonement,1013 no articles on healing (other than

1008
Carter, God’s Tabernacle, 90.
1009
Warrington, K., “Healing Matters,” Direction 52 (Jan.’06), 36-7; idem, ibid, Direction 53
(Feb.’06), 20-21; idem, ibid, Direction 54 (Mar.’06), 30-31; idem, ibid, Direction 55 (Apr.’06), 37;
idem, ibid, Direction 56 (May’06), 33-35.
1010
Lancaster, J., “And Finally: Though sometimes we find it hard to accept, the Holy Spirit knows
best,” Direction 53 (Feb.’06), 54; Dye, C., “Working with the Holy Spirit in Preaching,” Direction 60
(Sep.’06), 34-36; Lancaster, J., “Watch out – Pentecostal punctures can be dangerous,” Direction 61
(Oct.’06), 50.
1011
Dyer, M., “How we are Blessed Through Communion,” Direction 53 (Feb.’06), 32-34; Price, K.,
“Father Forgive Them,” [poem] Direction 55 (Apr.’06), 34; Vines, J., “My Brother for Whom Christ
Died,” [poem] Direction 55 (Apr.’06), 34.
1012
Littlewood, D., “Pioneers of Charismata and Healing,” Joy 143 (Aug.’06), 41; idem, “Gift of
Tongues Sparks a Century of Pentecost,” Joy 145 (Oct.’06), 40; Ralphs, V., “Agabus – A Gifted
Prophet,” Joy 147 (Dec.’06), 22.

284
testimonies) and no articles on the Second Coming. The main interests of Direction in

2006 were the debate with atheism sparked off by Richard Dawkins’ book, The God

Delusion, the evolution versus intelligent design debate, personal suffering,

retirement, the middle east and worship. It appeared to be a magazine aimed at older,

well-educated people and was much more interested in current affairs than Joy. It

lacked any interest in the traditional gospel themes of early EE, two of the three

articles on the atonement being very short Easter poems sent in by readers. Its

commemoration of Easter was otherwise non-existent. Joy in 2006 was a magazine

very interested in celebrity. This being the case, the magazine was probably aimed at

much younger people than Direction’s readership. Besides celebrities, its main

interest by far was church growth and church planting, other interests being personal

guidance and how to cope with suffering. “Redemption through the Precious Blood of

Christ,” the avowed chief interest of RT in 1924 appeared very far away from the

concerns of Joy’s contributors in 2006, despite the increase in the number of articles

on the subject compared to 1924-5. As is plain from the figures given above, all

interest in the Second Coming of Christ had completely evaporated from both

magazines in 2006, the greatest concerns being how to live the Christian life in the

present.

All these figures may be compared as follows. The numbers indicate the total number

of articles recorded on the theme specified on the left:

1013
Keith, C., “Forgiving Others as God Forgave Us,” Joy 139 (Apr.’06); Allen, D., “We Neglect the
Brealing of Bread at Our Peril,” Joy 139 (Apr.’06), 20-23.

285
 EE Direction

Holy Spirit/Gifts 7 3

Second Coming 5 0

Healing 4 5

Atonement 3 3

RT Joy

Holy Spirit/Gifts 8 3

Second Coming 6 0

Atonement 1 2

Healing 0 0

The figures display a steady erosion of classical Pentecostal beliefs, suggesting that

Pentecostals are not as charismatic as they were, and not at all expecting the Lord to

return at any time in the near future.1014 The casual use of Atonement language in

Pentecostal discourse, which held its own in the inter-war years, had almost

completely vanished, while the number of articles on the subject was, surprisingly,

comparable to the earliest issues.

1014
The main reason for this trend among Western Pentecostals is suggested by Anderson, who,
agreeing with Land (Passion for the Kingdom, 76), cites the upward mobility of Western Pentecostals
who now see the world as getting a little better: Anderson, “Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology,”
598.

286
All in all, British Pentecostalism appears to have moved on. Its self-conscious

ecclesiology and contemporary existential concerns, together with its down-playing of

Pentecostal distinctives means that it has begun to merge and will continue to merge

with wider Evangelicalism – the very thing that the inter-war leaders longed for.

The Christological heart of Pentecostalism that was once preserved so vocally and so

ardently, to the tune of “Nothing but the Blood,” in which there was “Power, power,

wonder-working power” appears not to be beating as strongly as once it did.

Concluding Remarks.

All the above have been snapshots of the role of the blood in post-War Pentecostalism

up to the present time. The pleading of the blood still appears to be practised in some

quarters but has clearly never regained the place it had in the very earliest days of

Kilsyth and Sunderland. The idea of a Native American style blood covenant is one

that could yet capture the imaginations of some in this country but does not yet appear

to have done so. In contemporary hymnody, the all-important mode of expression for

popular spirituality, there is little attachment to the blood of Christ.1015 When it is

mentioned, the aim appears to be to invoke tradition, to remind worshippers that they

are part of something time-honoured and venerable. The language, therefore, tends

not to be straight from the Bible. Rather it has the feel of something lifted straight

from a hymnbook. Tom Smail has attempted, perhaps in vain, to reconnect

charismatics with the Christological and crucicentric heart of their faith. This he has

done by demonstrating in a legion of different ways that “The Spirit comes from the
1015
This may be part of a wider Evangelical perception of the subject as contentious. According to
Marini, even early American Evangelical hymnals tended to omit hymns on contentious subjects:
Marini, “Hymnody as History,” 280-284. Warner has noted the increasing polarity within wider
Evangelicalism on the issue of the atonement: Warner, R., Reinventing English Evangelicalism, 1966-
2001, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2007), 225-227.

287
cross.” Because of this, the cross is the focus of the Spirit’s Christ-centred ministry. A

brief look at the successors of Elim Evangel and Redemption Tidings has confirmed

the relative lack of interest in all matters connected with the atonement in

contemporary classical Pentecostalism. There has been an even more striking loss of

interest in the Second Advent compared with the earliest days. An interest in healing

and in the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts have continued but not to anything like the

extent that one would expect of two denominations whose identity is so closely bound

up with baptism in the Holy Spirit. In place of these classical urgencies,

ecclesiological and existential issues have taken first place.

288
 Conclusion.

The New Testament appears to supply the original reason why Christians felt that all

matters to do with the cross ought to be given a special emphasis. As the history of the

Church unfolds, this emphasis appears to progressively deepen. The cross soon took

over from the fish as the symbol of Christianity and the communion table soon

became the point around which its people gathered to show their allegiance to Christ.

Before long, the wine was holy blood and the bread was sacred flesh. The mystique

surrounding the elements seems to have greatly inspired those who wrote from within

the monastic tradition. There was soon a body of devotional literature all about the

passion. The suffering human Christ stumbling as he carries His cross through the

streets of Jerusalem was an image that caught the imaginations of the devout across

medieval Europe. This human Christ perhaps served as a welcome and accessible

counterbalance to the divine and exalted Christ of Chalcedon. All of the Reformers, of

course, emerged from a Catholic tradition already steeped in passion meditation.

Luther was no exception, forming his own theologia crucis that insisted on the

absolute merit and centrality of the blood of Jesus. The man described as Luther come

back to life was Count Zinzendorf whose Moravian community went on to acquire a

degree of notoriety due to the vulgarity with which they gloried in the blood and

wounds of Christ. The Moravians in turn, influenced the Wesleys, Charles Wesley in

particular, adopted much of their devotional language in his hymns. For John Wesley,

the cleansing of the blood was part of a datable crisis event subsequent to conversion

that he called entire sanctification, terminology he would spend his life debating and

defending. In the hands of Phoebe Palmer and the American holiness movement,

289
Wesleyan concepts of sanctification were simplified and mechanised into a 3-step

altar theology, a way of obtaining sanctification by faith without the need for any

evidence that it had happened. Under the influence of American holiness teachers,

Britain raised up two significant holiness movements of its own: Keswick and the

Salvation Army. Both of these movements placed great emphasis on the cleansing

power of the blood of Christ. The blood, in the minds of the devout, had now

progressed from an awesome mystery and catalyst of deeper devotion into something

that does something. It “cleanseth.”

As the 20th century approached, premillennial eschatology promised to explain the

unrest of nations and the apostasy of the Church: the Lord was about to come but first

there would be one final outpouring of the Spirit, one last, great big revival. Yet

Christians would need to be on their guard: these were perilous times. The devil was

very active and the Christian’s only sure defence was the blood of Christ, daubed on

the lintel and doorposts of the heart. The blood of the Lamb would overcome the

accuser. The Welsh Revival happened: could this be the final outpouring? Azusa

Street happened. This time there were spiritual gifts, as foretold in Joel’s prophecy.

Soon, thanks to T.B.Barratt, the phenomena experienced at Azusa Street travelled

across the Atlantic to Norway. From thence, thanks to the persuasiveness and

enthusiasm of Alexander Boddy, it came to Sunderland. From then on “the eyes of the

religious millions of Great Britain…” were “…fixed upon Sunderland.”1016 It was

there that the blood as a tool of spiritual warfare, already pioneered by Evan Roberts

and Jessie Penn-Lewis, was finally honed and perfected. In time, the effervescence

subsided, and along with it the millennial fever - and the blood mysticism. Inter-War

1016
The words of T.B. Barratt: Gee, Wind and Flame, 22.

290
Pentecostals preserved the blood mystical tradition in a nostalgic way, using 19th

century phraseology to identify themselves, in the face of bitter opposition, as rooted

in the old-time gospel. However, it soon became time, as Donald Gee put it, for

“another Springtime.” By the 1950s, Pentecostalism was losing its vitality. With the

rise of the charismatic movement in the 1960s that Springtime seemed to have come

for many, yet the Pentecostal themes of the Second Coming, divine healing, the power

of the blood, even Baptism in the Holy Spirit itself, the defining doctrines of the early

days, were never fully recovered.

What remains of the blood theme has been taken up by some charismatics, among

whom, largely under the influence of American speakers (who have also retained the

premillennial focus) the pleading of the blood is still practised. The Pentecostals, in an

effort not to be passed by when the charismatic renewal happened, adopted much of

the popular theology of the charismatics. The ecclesial structures of Pentecostal

churches have been self-consciously adjusted – modernised even – to emulate the

apostolic networks. Their worship is more or less dominated by charismatic liturgy

and hymnody. Such historical curios as Elim’s foursquare gospel lie muffled beneath

these adaptations. One only need imagine how out of place an article would look now

in the pages of the blindingly high-gloss Direction magazine that made continual

reference to the blood-stained banner of the cross or the precious blood of the Lamb.

Outmoded though it is, this aspect of Pentecostal origins could speak into current

debates about Pentecostal identity that draw much from its distinctive pneumatology

and eschatology but which presently see less that is distinctive or identity-depicting in

its Christology. Tom Smail has already provided a theological framework that makes

291
the reintegration of Pentecostal-charismatic pneumatology and Christology

imaginable. No one as yet seems to have made any use, academically or otherwise, of

these insights. The early Pentecostals, like Smail, were at pains to maintain the

mutuality of blood and Spirit as central to their spirituality. They insisted that the

Spirit points to the blood of Christ. Putting faith in that blood in turn was, for them,

the only reliable way to receive a genuine experience of the Spirit. The early 20th

century, much like the present time, was a pragmatic era, intolerant of impractical

theories.1017 In that context, the Pentecostals were convinced that their spirituality was

centred on a methodology that worked. Great claims were made, not only for the

power of being baptized in the Spirit but also for the efficacy of the blood in

providing both initial and ongoing access to that power. If this tradition in its

completeness is to be rejected by present day Pentecostals, perhaps some pragmatic

reasons should be advanced for so doing.

This piece of work also supplies resources that may be found useful in the wider

Evangelical debate about the atonement. One common objection raised against the

doctrine of penal substitution is that it does not obviously point the way to the ethical

or spiritual transformation of the individual. In this thesis is a significant body of

evidence that shows that many individuals, mostly of Evangelical persuasion and

almost entirely subscribers to a penal view of the atonement, found ways of

subjectivising the atonement. This they did by making a simple adjustment in their

terminology from ‘cross’ to ‘blood.’ The subjective appropriation of the blood of

Christ seems to have enabled many of the Evangelicals and Pentecostals cited in this

volume to overcome the dialectic between status and state. Further, it was the penal
1017
The pragmatic philosophers of that era: John Dewey and William James, have provided the main
inspiration behind the contemporary explorations of pragmatism by leading thinker in this field,
Richard Rorty, e.g. Rorty, R., Philosophy and Social Hope, (London: Penguin, 1999), xii-xv.

292
substitutionary doctrine itself that offered, from within its own internal logic, the very

kind of symbolic language (of blood sacrifice) that believers seem to have found so

useful. This same body of historical data, however, could also be used on the other

side of the debate. It could prove that there was a difficulty inherent in the atonement

theology of those cited that was overcome in this way. This adaptation, it could be

argued, would not have been necessary had their atonement theology been more

satisfying to them in the first place. Both interpretations of the data could doubtless

produce some worthwhile results for the debate.

The demonological turn that is so visible in early Pentecostalism is but one example

of how understandings of the role of the blood of Jesus changed in response to a

changing cultural climate. This piece of work offers a collection of data that may be

found useful by those researching the interaction between Christianity, especially in

its more radical forms, and the cultural forces brought to bear upon it. It is in

surveying the many uses to which the blood was put, depending on the need of the

hour, that an unexpectedly colourful range of Christian responses to culture can be

seen. Indeed, it is noteworthy that even within a culture that was identifiably

Christian, the people cited in this work were desperate to be cleansed and were, for

the most part, hostile to the Christianity of Christendom. Carter’s recent revisiting of

Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture1018 provides a stimulating starting point for reflecting on

what kind of interaction with culture is possible post-Christendom. Alan Mann’s

1018
Carter, C., Rethinking Christ and Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective, (Grand Rapids: Brazos
Press, 2006).

293
Atonement for a Sinless Society1019 relates the contemporary situation to the

atonement specifically.

And so, with much work that could yet be done, I commend this attempt at telling a

previously untold story to the wider research community.

1019
Mann, A., Atonement for a ‘Sinless’ Society: Engaging with an Emerging Culture, (Milton Keynes:
Paternoster, 2005). See also, Green, J & M. Baker, Rediscovering the Scandal of the Cross, (Carlisle:
Paternoster, 2003).

294
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