PENTECOSTALISM: The Roots of the Movement and the Interpretation of the Last Days

PENTECOSTALISM: The Roots of the Movement and the Interpretation of the Last Days

By: Evangelos Dim. Kepenes (December 10, 2025, 21:10)

1. Historical Roots and Spiritual Emphasis
The roots of Pentecostalism are traced to poor and marginalized communities in the early 20th century, primarily in the United States (e.g., the Azusa Street Revival, Los Angeles). The movement gained mass appeal among people who felt neglected by established churches.

These individuals emphasized the experiential living of the gift of the holy Spirit and the subsequent charismatic New Testament manifestations such as glossolalia, visions, healings, and prophecies for “edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Cor. 14:3), without the absence of extreme phenomena of false prophecy and false teaching, which makes the testing of the spirits necessary (1 John 4:1).Α

However, they did not interpret this experience merely as a diachronic extension of the promise of the holy Spirit – according to the foundational principle “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8) – but, on the contrary, interpreted it as a sign of the beginning of the “last days” of the world and history, invoking the prophet Joel (Acts 2:17-21).

Note: The term “God-fearing” Even in the Apostolic age, the gift of the holy Spirit was given also to non-Hebrews who were “God-fearers” (σεβόμενοι τον Θεόν), such as the Roman centurion Cornelius and Lydia the seller of purple (Acts 10:2, 16:14). The term “God-fearer” was a technical term used in antiquity to describe Gentiles (non-Jews) who sympathized with Judaism and adopted certain of its practices and beliefs, without having fully converted (e.g., men did not undergo circumcision).

This group of people was numerous in the Greco-Roman world and constituted a significant bridge between Judaism and, later, early Christianity. In the synagogues, the Apostle Paul often addressed both Jews, proselytes, and “those who feared God” (Acts 13:43, 17:4).

2. The Biblical Eschatology of the Apostle Peter
The interpretation given by Pentecostalism stands in contrast to the way the apostle Peter analyzed the same prophetic text on the day of the outpouring of the holy Spirit (Pentecost).
During the feast, the holy Spirit fell upon the believers (“and they were all filled with the holy Spirit”) and they began to speak “with other tongues”. This astonishing event caused such a commotion that an international and multilingual crowd gathered at the spot, consisting of:

• Permanent residents of the Diaspora: Devout Jews “from every nation” who had settled permanently (“dwelling”) in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5).

• Pilgrims (παρεπίδημοι): Jews of the Diaspora who had visited the city temporarily as pilgrims (Acts 2:9-11).

• Proselytes: Gentiles (non-Jews) who had fully embraced Judaism, were circumcised, and kept the Law.

• Foreigners/Gentiles: Non-Jewish residents or visitors, subjects of the Roman Empire, who had not embraced Judaism.

To this crowd, Peter proclaimed: “but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days …” (Acts 2:16-17).

Fulfillment of the Last Days
These “last days” are not a distant epoch, but the final phase of the old economy of the age of the Law (Acts 2:16-17) and the typological Jewish system. Their culmination arrived with:

• The Resurrection of the Messiah Jesus.

• The gift of the holy Spirit directly to the people, without the exclusive mediatory role of the Priesthood and outside the space of the Temple.

The call to repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) was the only exit from the impending—and executed in 70 AD—judgment of this Old Age and the entry into the New Age of the Spirit.

As the late Professor Savvas Agouridis also points out in his work “Pyrinos Cheimaros…” pp. 45-46:
“With the development of pneumatology in the Old and New Testament, over the last thirty years, we have understood some things we did not suspect before. The only thing we can say with some certainty is that the preaching of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God, a new interpretation by Jesus concerning the Jewish olam haze (“This Age”) and olam Haba (“The Age to Come”) provides the basis – especially after the death of Jesus – for the further development of the eschatological teaching of the Hebrew prophecy concerning the Spirit: the present age (i.e., in real-time reading it was the age of the Law) relates to the spirit of evil, but the New Age that came with faith in the resurrection of Jesus and the formation of the Church, is certainly connected with the holy Spirit.”
The same professor in his work “The Resurrection of Jesus: Historical…” will say: “The particularity and historical significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus is that it was inextricably linked with the preaching of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God and the Jewish expectation concerning the coming of the Messiah and the end of the old world.” (Agouridis Savvas)

Peter, therefore, developed the eschatology of Hebrew prophecy in relation to the change of epochs/ages within Biblical Judaism (as Jacob had also proclaimed, Gen. 49:1), and not in relation to the definitive end of the material world, as later Pentecostalism perceived it.

In conclusion: The event of the outpouring of the holy Spirit was a unique historical, theological, and soteriological turning point in the change of the ages, which established the foundational principle “Christ is the end of the Law”. The Kingdom of Grace through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:21) is immutable and perpetual unto all the ages of the ages (L'olam Va'ed), for Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Consequently, Grace does not signify the definitive end of the material world, but the end of the epoch of the Law. Sinners of all future ages are entitled to the Kingdom of Grace, for the mediation of Christ is perpetual “to the uttermost… to save” them as they return to God, and the Covenant sealed with the blood of Christ is eternal.

3. The Prefiguration of the Old Testament and the Fulfillment
The Feast of Weeks (Chag Shavuot, Pentecost) was celebrated 50 days after the offering of the “sheaf” (Omer) – as much as a reaper could hold in his hand, primarily the left, the bundle from the first sheaves of the barley harvest which served as a first fruits offering (Leviticus 23:9-11), during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It marked the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest with the offering of the first fruits.

The feast had multiple characteristics as seen in Deuteronomy (16:11-12): “And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the proselyte, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.”

The choice of this day for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit implies a deliberate fulfillment of the characteristics of the feast in the person of Jesus Christ and in the New Age of the Spirit.

Clarification: With [C] the characteristic of the feast (Old Testament) is symbolized, and with [F] the fulfillment in Christ (New Testament / New Age).

• [C]. Agricultural: “the first fruits of wheat harvest” (Ex. 34:22)
  [F]. Spiritual Harvest: Pentecost is the beginning of the harvest of 3000 souls (Acts 2:41) and the Church is characterized as the “first fruits” of God's creatures (James 1:18).

• [C]. Familial: “thou, and thy son, and thy daughter” (Deut. 16:11-12)
  [F]. The New Family of God: The promise of the Spirit is extended to all spiritual “children” of the covenant. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” (Eph. 2:19, cf. also Acts 2:39, Rom. 8:14-17)

• [C]. Joyful: “thou shalt rejoice before the Lord”
  [F]. Joy of the holy Spirit: The internal, spiritual joy becomes the fruit of the Spirit's presence. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Rom. 14:17, cf. also Acts 2:46, Gal. 5:22)

• [C]. Social/Egalitarian: “thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite … the fatherless, and the widow”
  [F]. Community and Equality. In the Spirit, social and religious distinctions are abolished, creating a new community. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26-28, Cf. also Acts 2:44-45, 4:32)

• [C]. Forerunning / Ecumenical: “and the proselyte”
  [F]. Mission to the Nations: The event of Pentecost marks the beginning of the proclamation of the Gospel to all peoples. “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy Ghost.” (Acts 10:45, cf. also Acts 2:5, 11, 39)

• [C]. Liberating: “thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt”
  [F]. Liberation from Sin and the Law. The Spirit brings true, spiritual freedom. “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2)

• [C]. Worshipful/Pilgrimage: “in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there”
  [F]. Worship in Spirit and Truth. The place of worship is no longer geographical, but spiritual – the human heart and the community. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16, John 4:21)

• [C]. Local: “in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen…”
  [F]. The Temple of the Holy Spirit. The “place” of God's dwelling is now the Church itself, the body of believers. “…in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:21-22, 1 Pet. 2:5)

• [C]. Sanctifying: “and thou shalt observe and do these statutes”
  [F]. The Law Written on the Heart. The power to keep the commandments comes from the inner new man. “For if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” And holiness is borne as fruit of the Spirit. The will of God is now written on the heart and not on stone “…I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer. 31:33, Rom. 8:13, Gal. 5:22-23).

4. Critical Consideration and Doctrinal Differences
Critical Consideration of the Movement

"Pentecostalism, in its trajectory, became religified and evolved into a highly fragmented messianic and chiliastic movement (hence its characterization as a Person-centric or leader-centric movement). A central critique is that, while it recognizes the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, it proclaims faith in non-apostolic but philosophical dogmatic positions."

The Critique of the Philosophical Foundation
Particular criticism concerns:

• Trinitarian Dogma: It is considered by critics a connection with ancient triadic deities and philosophy. The recognition of the Trinitarian Dogma introduces an antinomy with the primary authority of the written Word, a position also supported by Oneness Pentecostalism.

• Cappadocian Fathers: Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen. It is argued that their achievement in distinguishing the synonymous terms Hypostasis and Ousia (one ousia in three distinct hypostases) creates a “Philosophical Paradox” and disrupts, in a coup-like manner, the logic of identity and difference.
  More analytically: “To the Fathers of Orthodoxy, who were steeped in Hellenistic learning and had utilized Neoplatonic notions—because Neoplatonism was considered a servant ‘preparatio evangelica’ for the expression of revelatory truth—Aristotle appeared more useful than Plato. Aristotle made a distinction between Primary Ousia and Secondary Ousia. Thus, for the first time, the Greek Cappadocians introduced a change in the meaning of hypostasis. From being identical to ousia, they separated it, and transformed it into something identical to what we call person (Πρόσωπο). From that point on in Theology, we have an identification of ousia and physis (nature) on the one hand, and conversely, of hypostasis and person on the other. This alchemy caused a major reaction in the philosophical currents of the era. The continuous comparison with Hellenistic models constantly gave birth to competitive hybrid systems and heresies that shaped new Christianities: The Neoplatonic identification of the Son with 'Knowledge' (Nous) fed directly into Gnosticism, while the Aristotelian emphasis on the monarchy of God encouraged Arianism. The Trinitarian Dogma, in an attempt to avoid both these deviations, ends up in a position that neither agrees with pure philosophy, nor with the simple, experiential language of apostolic teaching.”

• Christology/Dual Nature: The belief in the dual nature of Jesus is critically linked to idolatrous models of a “hybrid man-god” and ancient religions. This belief abolishes the antinomies “God-Man,” “Heavenly-Earthly,” “Immortality-Mortality” and thus creates a hybrid model of existence.

The Role of Scripture: Absolute Canon and Testing
The critique emphasizes the central principle: Holy Scripture remains the sole, inerrant, and sufficient canon (Sola Scriptura).

• Testing Criterion: The holy Spirit, who inspired Scripture, can never speak contrary to it. Every supposed "revelation" or "guidance" is necessarily and definitively subjected to the testing criterion of the written holy Scripture (1 John 4:1).

• Safeguard against Philosophy: The apostle Paul warns: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Col. 2:8).

Eschatological and Zionist Positions
A significant portion of Pentecostals propagate the theories of Christian Zionism or Dispensationalism, whose father is considered to be John Nelson Darby. This tendency desires:

• A New Covenant with the modern political Israel as the recipient.

• The rebuilding of the earthly Temple of Jerusalem.

• A return to the obsolete typological laws of the Old Testament, reversing the foundational Principle “Christ is the end of the Law” into “The end of Christ is the Law.”

These positions are considered contrary to Christian fullness, ignoring the Scriptural position that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16).

Finally, the critique notes that the teaching concerning the historical Antichrist and his local action in Palestine as a coming World leader, the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ (ignoring the verses concerning the imminent coming for the Apostolic generation), and the belief in the end of the material world (an idea linked to Zoroastrianism), together with the adoption of the Platonic anthropology concerning the immortality of the soul, constitutes a serious deviation from Biblical teaching which is not founded on the foundation laid by the Apostles.

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