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ABSTRACT
This essay reframes the narrative of Oneness Pentecostal origins in Russia, presenting a decentred perspective on the encounter between the Petrograd community and their missionary, Andrew Urshan. Though unaware of the so-called ‘New Issue’ dividing Pentecostals in North America in the 1910s, these Pentecostals convinced Urshan to embrace the untraditional ‘Jesus name’ baptismal formula. This decentring approach creates a narrative of mutuality that recognizes the agency of a people considered recipients of mission. Beginning with a brief overview of Pentecostal origins in Russia, the focus narrows to the emergence of Oneness Pentecostalism in Petrograd. Urshan’s embrace of the Oneness doctrine of God and a general history of the Community of Evangelical Christians in the Apostolic Spirit, which resulted from Urshan’s ministry, will follow. Finally, the essay explores how the double appeal to ‘be baptized now, and baptize us also,’ spoken by a subaltern group, reframes the narrative of Oneness Pentecostal origins in Russia.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Anderson, Spreading Fires, 13.
2 Robeck, Yong, ed., Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism, for an exemplary compilation of essays that argue from this position.
3 Notable recent monographs include French, Early Interracial Oneness Pentecostalism; Segraves, Andrew Urshan; Ramírez, Migrating Faith; and Barba, Sowing the Sacred.
4 See Reed, In Jesus’ Name, 138–39. In pentecostal lore, the ‘New Issue,’ features as the catalyst to the great schism between the trinitarian and oneness camps. Although historians speak in terms of a singular issue, there were two main proposals vying for acceptance from 1913 to 1916. The first was the christocentric baptismal formula, which insisted on invoking the name of Jesus exclusively. The second was the doctrine of God’s absolute oneness, which rejected the traditional trinitarian formulation.
5 Reed, In Jesus’ Name, 174.
6 In this essay, the terms ‘baptism in Jesus’ name,’ and ‘Jesus’ name baptism’ refer to the baptismal practice that became a hallmark of the Oneness Pentecostal tradition. This christocentric baptismal formula was the precursor to the Oneness movement but did not necessarily imply a rejection of the Trinity early on. Even before embracing the Oneness doctrine of God, Andrew Urshan believed the compound name ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’ stood for ‘The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit’: ‘God’s Divine Threeness in One Person’ (See Urshan, ‘Story of My Life, Cont.,’ 4.).
7 Reed, In Jesus’ Name, 174.
8 Anderson, Introduction to Pentecostalism, 48–49.
9 The two issues became one when the General Council adopted the following statement on the ‘Essentials of the Godhead’: ‘The appellation “Lord Jesus Christ” is a proper name. It is never applied, in the New Testament, either to the Father or to the Holy Ghost”’ (see Minutes (1616), 12.). This statement essentially equated insistence on christocentric formula alone as a rejection of the Trinity.
10 Minutes (1916), 8, 1–14.
11 Clanton, United We Stand, 22.
12 Ramírez, Migrating Faith, 62–65.
13 Reed, ‘Then and Now,’ 55–57.
14 Fletcher, Soviet Pentecostals, 27; Wardin, ‘Pentecostals Beginnings,’ 52; Lunkin, ‘Traditional Pentecostals,’ 4; Plüss, ‘Pentecostalism in Europe,’ 98; Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 108.
15 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life,’ 3. Urshan’s first published recounting of the 1916 revival in Russia appears in Urshan’s autobiography, Story of My Life, 103–4. However, his first telling includes neither his rebaptism nor details concerning the baptismal formula, for possible reasons discussed later in this essay. To construct the most comprehensive narrative possible, this essay will rely on the earliest sources available while integrating details from later sources when necessary.
16 Analysis of this group’s history is modest and limited due to my inability to comprehend Russian sources. Readers proficient in Russian may want to consult Stepanov, Rossiya v ogne Pyatidesyatnitsy. Alberto Guarnieri provided translations of relevant sections of this book. I am grateful for his help in making important pieces of this story accessible to me. I am also indebted to Domínguez, Oneness Heroes, loc. 2069, for making me aware of this Russian-language publication.
17 Plüss, ‘Pentecostalism in Europe,’ 93–111; Fletcher, Soviet Charismatics, 11.
18 See Fletcher, Soviet Charismatics, 11–26.
19 Fletcher, Soviet Pentecostals, 17, 25.
20 Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 50.
21 Ibid., 51.
22 See Leonard, Agrarian Reform in Russia.
23 Şcolnic, ‘Pentecostalism in Soviet Union,’ 42.
24 Ibid., 43.
25 See Burgess, Christian Peoples of the Spirit.
26 Robeck, Azusa Street Mission and Revival.
27 Lehtonen, ‘Pentecost in Finland,’ 3.
28 Robeck, ‘A Pentecostal Witness.’ I am grateful to Mel Robeck for sharing with me this unpublished work and for giving me permission to cite it in this essay.
29 See Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 53; Lunkin, ‘Traditional Pentecostals in Russia,’ 4; Plüss, ‘Pentecostalism in Europe,’ 94; Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 108.
30 Fletcher, Soviet Pentecostals, 28, 30; Wardin, ‘Pentecostals Beginnings,’ 59–60; Lunkin, ‘Traditional Pentecostals,’ 4; Plüss, ‘Pentecostalism in Europe,’ 98; Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 106.
31 Löfsted, ‘Pentecostals and Charismatics in Russia,’ 44; Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals.’ This section tracks the development of Pentecostalism in Russia among both streams but leaves discussion of the Oneness tradition for the next segment.
32 Urshan, Story of My Life, 103–05. Russians possibly practiced Jesus name baptism as early as 1890. However, this claim comes from an oral tradition no written primary sources can verify. See Gaxiola, ‘Las Cuatro Vertientes del Pentecostalismo.’
33 Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 108.
34 Ibid.
35 Löfstedt, ‘Pentecostals and Charismatics,’ 45.
36 Marsh and Tonoyan, ‘Routinization of Soviet Pentecostalism,’ 178.
37 Kuzmič, ‘Pentecostal Theology and Communist Europe,’ 344.
38 Löfstedt, ‘Pentecostals and Charismatics,’ 46.
39 Kay, ‘Sociological Perspective,’ 383–401.
40 Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 54.
41 Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 54, citing Klibanov, Isoriya Religioznogo Sektantstva v Rossii, 304. There are some inconsistencies in the literature concerning the dates of Ivanov’s pastorate in Finland. Burdakov, Chronicle, 23, claims Ivanov pastored the Vyborg congregation from 1913 to 1916. Burdakov relies on memoirs and oral histories from the first generation of Russian Oneness Pentecostals. The source from which he dates Ivanov’s pastorate in Vyborg is not clear.
42 Burdakov, Chronicle, 17–23.
43 Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 108. See also Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 54.
44 Stepanov, Rossiya, 458.
45 Ibid., 458–59.
46 Urshan, ‘Urshan Arrives in Persia,’ 6. Writing on April 1, 1914, Urshan reports that he had arrived at his birthplace seventeen days prior. The exact date of his departure from Persia to Russia does not appear in the sources. However, the sources do indicate that Urshan travelled to Tiflis (Tbilsi) from Tabriz (Tehran) on a temporary passport that would most likely have expired in June of 1916.
47 Urshan, Story of My Life, 85.
48 Ibid., 103.
49 Ibid., 102.
50 Urshan departed from England to the U.S. on June 18, 1916 (Ibid., 106).
51 Ibid., 103.
52 Stepanov, Rossiya, 457.
53 Urshan, Story of My Life, 103.
54 Burdakov, Chronicle, 9, citing from the memoirs of his grandmother, Maria Aleksandrovna. See also Stepanov, Rossiya, 457–58.
55 Urshan, ‘Future of Persia and Russia,’ 8.
56 Urshan, Story of My Life, 103.
57 Ibid.
58 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life,’ 2. Upon returning from Persia in June of 1916, the Latter Rain Evangel reports that Urshan had returned from Persia with ‘no desire to enter into the controversy that is engrossing the minds of many.’ See ‘Notes,’ 12.
59 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life,’ 2.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
65 Burdakov, Chronicle, 9.
66 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life,’ 2–3.
67 Urshan had not yet embraced a Oneness Christology fully, as Pentecostals at the time had not yet organizationally articulated such a position. Urshan’s sermon in Petrograd, however, demonstrates that his exegesis already aligned with the Pentecostals who would eventually reject the Trinity based on the notion of ‘the radical unity and singular dispensational name of God’ (Reed, In Jesus’ Name, 178.).
68 Ibid., 3.
69 Ibid.
70 Ibid.
71 Ibid.
72 Ibid.
73 Cf. ibid. and Burdakov, Chronicle, 9.
74 Burdakov, Chronicle, 11.
75 Urshan, Story of My Life, 104.
76 Ibid., 106.
77 Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, which thoroughly chronicles and analyses Urshan’s theological evolution, including apparent inconsistencies reflected in the primary sources, informs the following section.
78 Minutes (1916), 4.
79 Minutes (1917), 38.
80 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life,’ 3.
81 Urshan, ‘Republication,’ 2. Emphasis in original. Regrettably, I was unable to access the original source from 1918 which would include the month of publication. However, according to Bell, ‘Beware of the Concision,’10, Urshan published the Open Letter prior to April 1919.
82 Urshan, ‘Story of My Life, Cont.,’ 4. See also, Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, 79.
83 Bell, ‘Urshan Trouble,’ 6.
84 Bell, ‘The Urshan Trouble,’ 6.
85 Urshan gave this statement the year after Gospel Publishing House, the imprint of the AG, published the first edition of his autobiography. For a more thorough analysis of Urshan’s ‘Confession of Faith,’ see Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, 230–32.
86 Urshan, ‘Confession of Faith,’ 13. Emphasis in original.
87 Ibid.
88 See Bell, ‘The Urshan Trouble,’ 6.
89 Urshan, ‘Confession of Faith,’ 13.
90 For extensive analysis of Urshan’s Christology and Eastern epistemology, see Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, 161–216.
91 Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, 215.
92 Ibid., 157.
93 Urshan disassociated sometime before April of 1919. See Bell, ‘Andrew Urshan’s New Stand,’ 9.
94 Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, 107.
95 Burdakov, Chronicle, 23, quoting from the memoirs of Ivanov. No citation provided.
96 Ibid.
97 Ibid., 24.
98 Stepanov, Rossiya, 473.
99 Ibid.
100 Ibid., 468.
101 Ibid., 504. According to Stepanov, the archive containing the original registration papers does not include the doctrinal statement. However, the statement does appear in the 1923 registration renewal documents, which reads, ‘We believe in one Spirit-God, who has been revealed to men in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, who is also the Saviour of all men, the true God and eternal life’ (St. Petersburg Central State Archive, F. 1001. Op .8. D. 53. L. 11 c об., cited in Stepanov, Rossiya, 549. Translated by Alberto Guarnieri.)
102 Steeves, ‘Smorodinsty,’ 63–65; Fletcher, Soviet Pentecostals, 28–30; Kliueva and Poplavsky, ‘Russian Pentecostals,’ 108.
103 Fletcher, Soviet Pentecostals, 30; Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 60; Stepanov, Rossiya, 608; Reed, ‘Then and Now,’ 59; Bernard, Ends of the Earth, 74.
104 Stepanov, Rossiya, 608.
105 Burdakov, Chronicle, 25.
106 Stepanov, Rossiya, 477.
107 Ibid., 480, 486–87.
108 Wardin, ‘Pentecostal Beginnings,’ 60; Steeves, ‘Smorodinsty,’ 64.
109 Stepanov, Rossiya, 511.
110 Steeves, ‘Smorodinsty,’ 64; Stepanov, Rossiya, 594.
111 Stepanov, Rossiya, 677.
112 Stepanov, Rossiya, 578.
113 Kim and Fitchett-Climenhaga, ‘Introduction to Mission Studies,’ 12.
114 Segraves, ‘Andrew D. Urshan,’ 94–112; Johnson, ‘One God, Many Movements,’ 44–54.
115 Minutes (1916), 4.
116 See Segraves, Andrew D. Urshan, for extensive commentary on Urshan’s unique interpretation of the faith that related theology to spirituality. Urshan’s views derived from his Eastern cultural and theological upbringing, his experiences in the Presbyterian, Holiness, and Pentecostal churches, and his formation in fundamentalist circles in the United States.
117 Urshan, Story of My Life, 11.
118 Ibid., 17.
119 Urshan, ‘Rebaptism?’ 6. Emphasis in original.
120 Urshan, ‘Future of Persia and Russia,’ 8.
121 This essay represents an initial investigation upon which a later dissertation will build. Continued research will apply the decentring and reframing methodology this essay employs to the story of Oneness Pentecostal origins in the Southern Cone of South America.
122 I am indebted to Daniel Segraves and Amos Yong for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this essay. Any remaining weaknesses are my own.
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Jacob A. Palma
Jacob A. Palma is a second year PhD student at Fuller Theological Seminary's Center for Missiological Research. His research focuses on the origins of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Southern Cone of South America.