What distunguishes the pentacostal denomination from other Christian denominations?

Question

In terms of worship, traditions, practices, etc...

Thanks.

Answer 1

I have been a member of a Pentecostal Church of God for 25 years now,and I have yet to see anyone handle snakes as a way to prove their faith in God.That is a total misconception concerning the Pentecostal faith. Admittedly,there are a few people who call themselves Pentecosts who do handle snakes,but they are extremists,and on the whole,a Pentecostal church isn't like that.As a Pentecost, I worship God as the one true God who sent His only begotten Son,Jesus Christ,to die on the cross so that mankind may be saved from their sins.To be saved,you must accept Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior,and ask forgiveness of your sins.Once you do this,you are a whole new person,like being born again spiritually.We then are baptised in water to signify that our sins have been forgiven and our souls cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus.Then,we ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.I don't believe one has to have the Holy Spirit to get to Heaven,but receiving the Holy Spirit is truly a gift from God. The Holy Spirit guides us through life like a divine conscience,if you will,and gives us the strength and ability to keep our faith in God strong as we go through trials and tribulations. The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues,which is a language that only God can decipher.God gives messages to us through this speaking of tongues,and He gives the interpretation of His messages through a member of our church whom He has given the gift of interpretation. We live our lives by the Word of God,the Bible,for it is by His word that gives faith and hope to all to receive everlasting life in Heaven after our journey in this world is over.God Himself wrote the Bible through the Holy Spirit by the hand of man.The Bible instructs us on how to live a holy life as best we can,and it is our only real proof that God exists other than our own daily experiences with God.Many choose to believe that the Bible is simply a book written by man without Divine Intervention,but as a Pentecost,I believe every word as the Word of God,and I live my life according to what He has written.Also as a Pentecostal Christian,I do not believe that Christians are the only religious group who are going to make it to Heaven.Anyone who accepts Jesus as their Savior,asks forgiveness of their sins,and lives for God can make it,no matter what religion you follow.

Answer 2

It has been said by some that Pentecostal denominations rely on "emotionalism" in their religious practices. This would include raising of hands in worship, jumping around when singing in worship, and speaking in tongues as well as interpretation, and laying of hands or being slain in the Spirit.

Pentecostals are very BIble-believing Christians who take the Bible literally from cover to cover.

Other Christian denominations are more subdued in worshipping practices, more conservative. But their beliefs about Jesus, that He was crucified to die for their sins and that He provides salvation, are the same.

Answer 3

Pentecostals believe that one must be saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sins and to be made acceptable to God. Being descended from Methodism and the Methodist Holiness Movement, Pentecostal soteriology is mostly Arminian rather than Calvinist, believing that the ability to believe in Jesus is a power of the human free will.

Pentecostals believe in water baptism as an outward sign of conversion, and that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a distinct spiritual experience that all who have believed in Jesus should receive. To be more precise, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate and distinct "second grace" received in a personal subjective and often emotional religious experience. All classical Pentecostals believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is always accompanied initially by the outward evidence of speaking in tongues. It is considered a liberalizing tendency to teach contrary to this historic position. This is a major difference between Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, who believe that a Christian who is baptized in the Holy Spirit may exhibit certain supernatural signs, which may include speaking in tongues,"being slain in the spirit" (where people fall to the ground as if asleep or in convulsions), prophecy(i.e. a vision or a word of God, spoken or felt in the spirit), miraculous healings, miraculous signs, etc. Most major Pentecostal denominations reject any connection between personal salvation or conversion and the Pentecostal Baptism in the Holy Spirit and teach that it is not necessary for salvation, but a gift from God available to all Christians. Many early Pentecostals believed that the revival of the gifts of the spirit were a sign from God of the latter rain, a period of restoration before the end of the age and the coming millennial reign of Christ. Traditional Protestants believe that one is baptized with or in the Holy Spirit upon Regeneration, the work of the Holy Spirit that enables faith and belief in the unbelieving heart. They most often reject such concepts as a "second grace" though not rejecting the idea of periodic or even weekly renewal in the sacraments. Pentecostals also typically believe, like most other evangelicals, that the Bible has definitive authority in matters of faith.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I can give you my impressions as an outsider.

The main difference seems to be that Pentecostals believe that salvation alone is not enough for one to be fully Christian. Pentecostals teach that one needs a second blessing called "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" in order to be filled with the power of God so that one can live a holy life. Usually they have a prayer service where the pastor and others "lay hands" on the person to be baptized and pray for him. Usually "speaking in tongues" is considered to be a sign of the baptism.

They seem to have a strong belief in the miraculous -- they assume that miracles are supposed to be a normal part of everyday Christian life. To an outsider, their services often seem chaotic, with random people speaking in tongues, singing, shouting, dancing, praising God, or giving random prophecies during the service. This varies from church to church.

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Poll Says Many Pentecostals Don't Speak in Tongues
Divine healing more prominent marker, 10-country survey finds
October 6, 2006

Speaking in tongues, long a hallmark of Pentecostalism, is not practiced by a significant number of charismatic and Pentecostal Christians, a new 10-country survey shows.

The survey, released Thursday by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that experiences of divine healing of physical ailments were far more prominent for those who affiliate with the vibrant and growing segment of Christianity.

Researchers found that many Pentecostals and charismatics attend worship services where speaking in tongues and other signs of the Holy Spirit are evident. But in six of the 10 countries surveyed, at least 40 percent of Pentecostals said they never pray or speak in tongues.

"I think that the classic Pentecostal belief that speaking in tongues was the real evidence of the second baptism of the Holy Spirit is, at least in practice, not widely accepted around the world," said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum and a longtime observer of religion and politics....

Answer 5

I am a Baptist.
Pentecostal speak in jibberish and flop on floor like dead fish out of water. Not saying these people are not saved but they sure lack knowing the truth of what tongues is. They have went on traditions of men instead of studying it for them self. Other than that not sure what else they teach that could be wrong. If some think cause the women dress like women is wrong well I commend them for that. I have nothing against there long dresses. I think more churches should pattern themselves after how the pentecostals dress.

Answer 6

Doctor Plum,

I am formerly from a highly Pentecostal church. As the name suggest, Pentecostal is derived fron the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts when the disciples are baptised by the Holy Spirit with fire & tongues of different languages. The Pentecostals are the one today who have this gift of baptism & speaking in tongues.

Other churches like the Apostolic church I am currently attending also operates with the gift of tongues, just not as highly emphasied. Apostolic church seek to be a close resemblance of the early church led by the apostles before denominations & institutionism set in the church.

Answer 7

They think they are the only ones who know Christ. They talk in tongues and roll around on the floor and watch TV evangelists and believe everything they are told. They think George Bush is the greatest thing since Jesus Himself, and a lot of them (not all, but a lot) think Bush will start the war in the middle east, the battle of Armageddon prophesized in the Bible, that, they think, will bring back Jesus. They look down on everyone else in the world, not just Muslims and Jews and Bhuddists, but also Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians--everybody, and say they are all going to hell. They want to control everybodys lives by getting Bush to appoint their judges on the supreme court so anybody who breaks any of their religious laws goes to jail. They are very popular now.

Answer 8

the way we take and use the scraments , the use of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the pratice of fasting and tithing and using full emotions during worship. the Service is led by the Holy Spirit as the sevice has not set Literagy and schedule so that jesus and the Holy Spirit can work during it and speak through us there.

Answer 9

They base their faith on a single event in the bible vs the entire teachings thereof....the day of pentecost

Answer 10

their practice of rituals and proof of their faith may not be acceptable to those who first go there as their belief system does take some getting used to if one wants to join.