Biographies

Pentecostal pioneers 1859–1958

4 authors · 2 books

Preachers of the early twentieth-century Pentecostal revival, who taught the baptism in the Holy Spirit and prayed for the sick. Their sermons are full of bold faith in the promises of God.

The writers

Portrait of Smith Wigglesworth

Smith Wigglesworth 1859–1947

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Smith Wigglesworth (1859–1947) was a Yorkshire plumber who could not read as a boy, worked in a woollen mill from the age of seven, and became one of the best-known evangelists of early Pentecostalism. With his wife Polly he led the Bowland Street Mission in Bradford for many years; after receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit at Sunderland in 1907 he preached faith and divine healing across Europe, America, Australasia, India and Africa, and his sermons were gathered in Ever Increasing Faith and Faith That Prevails.

Portrait of John G. Lake

John G. Lake 1870–1935

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John G. Lake (1870–1935) was a Canadian-born Pentecostal preacher and faith healer who, after his wife’s healing in the circle of John Alexander Dowie, helped found the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (1908–1913). Returning to America, he opened his “Divine Healing Rooms” in Spokane and later worked in Portland, leaving a lasting and much-debated legacy in the healing movement.

CS

Charles S. Price 1887–1947

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Charles S. Price (1887–1947) was an English-born Pentecostal evangelist who, as a liberal Congregational pastor in Lodi, California, went to Aimee Semple McPherson’s 1921 San Jose meetings to expose them and was converted instead. His healing campaigns across North America drew huge crowds, notably in Victoria and Vancouver in 1923, and his book The Real Faith (1940) taught that true faith is not worked up but imparted by God.

Where to start reading

Begin reading
Ever-Increasing Faith
Smith Wigglesworth
18 chapters·4 hr 32 min read
Begin reading
Christ the Healer
F. F. Bosworth
7 chapters·3 hr 30 min read

Questions and Answers

When did the Pentecostal movement begin?

The Pentecostal movement grew from revivals in the first years of the twentieth century, most famously the Azusa Street meetings in Los Angeles from 1906. It spread within a few years to Britain, South Africa and beyond.

What did the Pentecostal pioneers teach about healing?

They taught that Christ still heals the sick in answer to prayer, as in the Gospels. F. F. Bosworth's Christ the Healer is one of the best-known books on the subject.

Who was Smith Wigglesworth?

Smith Wigglesworth was a Yorkshire plumber who could not read as a boy and became one of the best-known Pentecostal preachers in the world, travelling widely to preach faith and pray for the sick.

Biographies