Fire-Baptized Holiness Church
The Fire-Baptized Holiness Church was a
The Fire-Baptized Holiness Church was founded in 1896, mainly from a Methodist background, with Benjamin Wesley Young and Benjamin Hardin Irwin serving as leaders. Irwin, a Wesleyan Methodist elder taught belief in a baptism by fire (known in short as "the fire"), influenced by his reading of John William Fletcher, an early Methodist divine.[3]
The Southeastern Kansas Fire Baptized Holiness Association dissolved its relationship with the rest of the denomination in 1898 after Irwin began to preach the necessity of maintaining Jewish dietary laws; the Southeastern Kansas Fire Baptized Holiness Association renamed itself as the Fire Baptized Holiness Association of Southeastern Kansas in 1904 and then the Fire Baptized Holiness Church in 1945 and then the present-day name of Bible Holiness Church in 1995.[3]
In 1908, most of the
History
The church was founded in 1896 by Rev.
Irwin became convinced that there was an experience beyond sanctification called the "baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire" or simply "the fire". After receiving this experience in October 1895, he began to preach this "third blessing" among holiness adherents in the Midwest, particularly among Wesleyan Methodists and
Because of opposition, Irwin formed an organization in 1895 called the Iowa Fire-Baptized Holiness Association at
In 1900, Irwin confessed to "open and gross sin", which brought "great reproach" to the church. He resigned as general overseer and was replaced by Joseph H. King, a 31-year-old former
The Southeastern Kansas Fire Baptized Holiness Association dissolved its relationship with the rest of the denomination in 1898 after Irwin began to preach the necessity of maintaining Jewish dietary laws; the Southeastern Kansas Fire Baptized Holiness Association renamed itself as the Fire Baptized Holiness Association of Southeastern Kansas in 1904 and then the Fire Baptized Holiness Church in 1945 and then the present-day name of Bible Holiness Church in 1995.
By 1906, King led the majority of the original Fire Baptized Holiness Church into third-blessing Pentecostalism, taking the line that the
Theological distinctives
The church's beliefs were largely consistent with the
Other doctrines held by Irwin were also rejected after his departure. He, like other holiness Christians, opposed women wearing "needless ornamentation". However, he also applied this prohibition to men, claiming that the wearing of neckties was sinful. He also said it was a sin to eat anything forbidden by the dietary laws of the Old Testament. As a result, the church was sometimes called "the no ties, no hog-meat people."[15]
The belief in a
Structure
At the First General Council in Anderson, South Carolina, the church was organized with authority centralized in the General Overseer who held office for life. The General Overseer appointed Ruling Elders to oversee the churches in each state, and he could also make pastoral appointments.[16]
For several decades, there has continued to be a Pentecostal Fire Baptized Holiness Church. There are churches in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
The Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church operates with a General Conference comprising five State Conferences (Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia). There is a General Moderator who serves two-year terms, while a State Moderator serves one-year terms, with both having term limits. There also are Assistants at both the General and State Conference Levels.
The faction of the Fire Baptized Holiness Church that now calls itself the Bible Holiness Church is headquartered in Independence, Kansas. It had forty-five congregations and eighty-three ministers in 2002.[3] Its periodical, which has been in existence since 1934, is called The Flaming Sword.[3] The Bible Holiness Church runs Independence Bible School and Troy Holiness School, established in 1948 and 1973, respectively.[3] The Bible Holiness Church has missions in New Guinea.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-6318-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-0703-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-4103-2.
- ^ a b Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 52.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 53.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 53–4.
- ^ a b "The Pentecostal Holiness Church". Retrieved February 15, 2009.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 54.
- ^ a b Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 55.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 183–184.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 58–59.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 55–56.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 57.
- ^ Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, 58.
- ^ Hunter, Harold D. (2007). "Year:1879 Iowa Holiness Association Formed". Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
- ISBN 978-1-6094-7115-6.