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Charles Fox Parham:

The Unlikely Father of Modern Pentecostalism

Dr. Larry Martin

P.O. Box 5, Duncan OK 73534

mail@drlarrymartin.org

drlarrymartin.org

ISBN: 978-1-64123-801-4

eBook ISBN: 978-1-64123-802-1

Whitaker House

1030 Hunt Valley Circle

New Kensington, PA 15068

www.whitakerhouse.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022931232

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Preface

As I have studied the life of Charles Fox Parham, I have often thought of “He Chose Me,” a gospel song penned by prolific hymn writer Mosie Lister. Lister wrote, “There were so many others that He might have chosen.”

The question that keeps coming to me is, why did God choose Charles Parham as the unlikely founder of a great spiritual movement? As you read this book, you may ask the same question. Parham was a very flawed man. Surely, there were others God might have chosen. But, in His sovereignty, He chose Parham.

A Baptist friend of mine frequently defined sovereignty as “God is God, and you ain’t.” Maybe that says everything that needs to be said. God, who knows everything, selected a marred vessel. That should remind us that we are all marred in some way. The glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is entrusted to vessels made of clay. If that is the greatest lesson of this book, so be it.

For over twenty-five years, I have collected materials for this biography. There were times when I was not sure if I would write it. There were other times when I was ...

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About Charles Fox Parham: The Unlikely Father of Modern Pentecostalism

Charles Fox Parham is an absorbing and perhaps controversial biography of the founder of modern Pentecostalism. Parham was a deeply flawed individual who nevertheless was used by God to initiate and establish one of the greatest spiritual movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, helping to restore the power of Pentecost to the church and being a catalyst for numerous healings and conversions.

Author Dr. Larry Martin is a lifelong Pentecostal with decades of ministry as a pastor, educator, and evangelist. He researched the life of this complicated and contradictory figure for over twenty-five years before writing this book—with a certain degree of hesitancy. By disclosing the whole truth about Parham’s life—which has never fully been done before—would it give excessive ammunition to the critics of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements?

Martin uncompromisingly exposes Parham’s weaknesses, faulty thinking, and transgressions while disassociating his behavior from the movement as a whole, writing with an inside understanding of Pentecostalism and a thoughtful analysis of Parham’s life that goes beyond the acknowledgment of human frailty to reveal the work of a sovereign God.

If we don’t confront the faults of our spiritual fathers, Martin says, we will fail to address the truth in the way the Bible lays bare the faults of some of our greatest biblical heroes of the faith. We must recognize and learn from the weaknesses of others, as well as their achievements.

The author of several books on the Azusa Street Revival, the history of early Pentecostals, and the Pentecostal Church of God, Martin presents a much-needed exploration of the life of one of the most influential religious figures of the twentieth century, whose impact is still widely felt today.

Includes photos of Parham’s life and ministry.

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