The emergence of modern Pentecostalism stems from an event at the Topeka Bible School in 1901, marked by the experience of the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" and the gift of tongues. The movement, driven by figures like Charles Fox Parham and the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, expanded globally. The summary points out that Pentecostalism is not a single denomination but a transversal phenomenon that manifests in classical forms (like the Assemblies of God), in the charismatic movement within traditional churches, and in Neo-Pentecostalism, the latter often associated with prosperity theology.
The emergence and proliferation of the Pentecostal movement, far from representing an authentic manifestation of the Holy Spirit, in fact constitute a logical consequence and a deepening of the fundamental errors inaugurated by the Protestant rebellion of the 16th century. It is a phenomenon that exacerbates religious subjectivism, naturalism disguised as piety, and indifferentism—principles radically opposed to the Catholic Faith and the divinely established supernatural order.📜The Roots in Protestant Error
To understand the nature of Pentecostalism, it is imperative to return to its origin: Protestantism. The denial of the authority of the Church's Magisterium and the adoption of the "free examination" of Scripture opened the doors for religious truth to cease being an objective given, received from God, and to become an individual and sentimental construction. Protestantism, by rejecting the sacramental mediation of the Church, reduced grace to an abstraction and faith to a subjective act of trust, leading, paradoxically, to a practical naturalism. In this system, human nature, intrinsically corrupt, is not restored by grace but merely covered by a cloak. Consequently, man sinks into his own abilities and feelings, seeking criteria for justification in material success and emotional experiences (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 11).
Pentecostalism is the culmination of this process. The experience of the "baptism in the Holy Spirit," accompanied by manifestations like glossolalia, becomes the new criterion of truth and divine approval, replacing the objective doctrine and the sacraments instituted by Christ. It is the exaltation of individual feeling as the source of religious certainty, one of the pillars of liberalism condemned by the Popes (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 12).
🧠The Primacy of Experience over Truth
The central error of liberalism is the proclamation of man's independence from the objective order. The intellect no longer submits to reality to know the truth, but creates its own truth (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 16). Pentecostalism applies this principle to the religious sphere in a radical way. "Truth" is no longer Our Lord Jesus Christ and the deposit of Faith guarded by the Church, but the personal, intense, and untransferable experience that the individual claims to have.
This primacy of subjectivism destroys the very notion of truth. If each individual is the arbiter of his own experience with the divine, then there can be no single true Faith. All beliefs, as long as they are validated by a strong feeling, become equivalent. Thus, we witness the dissolution of truth into a multiplicity of opinions, which inevitably leads to religious indifferentism, the plague that considers all religions as equally valid paths to salvation (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 45).
💸Naturalism Disguised as Piety
Although Pentecostalism presents itself with an appearance of fervor and supernatural power, it is deeply rooted in naturalism. The focus on physical healings, material prosperity, and earthly success—pillars of Neo-Pentecostalism—reveals a worldview that subordinates man's ultimate end, eternal salvation, to temporal goods. Religion is transformed into a tool for obtaining advantages in this life, a complete inversion of the Christian order, which teaches to seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice.
This materialism is the direct result of the Protestant mentality, which seeks in economic success the sign of divine justification (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 11). It is the organization of a society—and a spiritual life—without the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, where suffering is seen as a curse and wealth as a blessing, a denial of the Gospel.
🤝A False Unity in Indifferentism
The Pentecostalism spread as a "charismatic movement" across various denominations, including historical Protestant ones. This supposed unity is not the unity in the truth of the Catholic Faith, but a confederation of errors based on a common denominator: sentimentalism and subjective experience. It is the concretization of the liberal ideal of pluralism, which places truth and error on the same level and declares them to have equal rights.
This mentality is the same one that, in the political field, demands complete religious neutrality from the State, treating the Church of Christ as just another "opinion" in the marketplace of ideas. Such indifferentism, whether in the individual or in society, is atheism without the name, for it denies the exclusive rights of God and of His one and true Church (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 45).
In short, the Pentecostal phenomenon is not a revival of primitive Christianity, but a contemporary manifestation of the revolutionary principles of subjectivism and naturalism, inherited from Protestantism. By exalting individual experience over objective doctrine and promoting a materialistic vision of salvation, it represents not a work of the Holy Spirit, but a radical departure from the Truth who is Our Lord Jesus Christ.
References
Lefebvre, Marcel. Do liberalismo à apostasia: a tragédia conciliar. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Permanência, 1991.