Marbaniang, Domenic

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND WORLDWIDE GROWTH OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT Domenic Marbaniang The Pentecostal Movement is one of the largest movements within Christianity. Since its beginning in 1901, it has grown to become one of the largest religious groups in the world. By the year 2000, the Pentecostal/Charismatic constituency is considered to have accounted for 8.7 percent of the world’s population, larger than the percentage of all Buddhists, and made up 26.7 percent of all Christendom. [1] This movement has also been called as the “Third Force” and the harbinger of “a revolution comparable in importance with the establishment of the original church and with the Protestant Reformation.” [2] Surprisingly not, this movement was looked at as heretic and fanatical in its incipient period. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1906: Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has star...