SUBSEQUENCE, PROPHECY AND CHURCH ORDER IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, NEW ...

332 Pages·2010·2.31 MB·English

by  Luke Worsfold

SUBSEQUENCE, PROPHECY AND CHURCH ORDER
IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

by

W. Luke Worsfold

A thesis
submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington
in fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in Religious Studies

Victoria University of Wellington

2004
ii

To my father, James Evans Worsfold
iii

ABSTRACT
SUBSEQUENCE, PROPHECY AND CHURCH ORDER
IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

The Apostolic Church of New Zealand forms a distinct group within the
pentecostal movement on account of its practice of “divine government.” The
revelation of the restoration of apostle and prophet ministry, which originally
came to the founders in the UK, served to establish a denomination which
espoused prophetic guidance in matters of praxis and doctrine. The purpose of
this thesis has been to critique the Apostolic Church’s understanding of not only
the doctrine of subsequence (i.e. Spirit-baptism is logically distinct from and
subsequent to salvation) but the function of the prophetic and its effect on the
organisational structure and operation of the church.
A major focus of the early Apostolic churchmen was a defence of
subsequence. Widespread mainstream opposition ensured pentecostals
endured an isolation which served to reinforce their determination to validate
the empowerment that they had experienced. As the need for polemic reduced,
the emphasis shifted to promoting the gift of the Spirit as a missionary
endowment.
Methodist-Holiness teaching formed the basis for the early influences on
pentecostal theology and as such promoted a verifiable work of the Spirit given
in response to seeking. The challenge and influence from the Latter Rain and
Charismatic movements saw the bestowal of the gift without an attendant period
of tarrying. While this brought a universality to the experience, it did so at the
expense of depth or intensity, with a resulting weakening in the expression of
prophecy.
iv
An assessment of the view of prophecy held by the early Apostolic
churchmen shows that too high a level of inspiration was often credited to
prophetic utterance. The possibility of human frailty corrupting the purposes of
God was not countenanced to any great degree, with the result that flawed or
outright erroneous decisions proceeded unchallenged: in this the role of the
apostle was under-exercised. The combination of a high view of prophecy and
a decreasing quality of utterance over time affected the level of guidance
available to the movement. The operation of the apostle necessarily changed:
previously concerned with outworking the “Word of the Lord,” the function of the
apostle became limited to that of superintendent minister.
The inability of the first and second generation Apostolics to recognise
their schismatic origins perpetuated the rigid adherence to centralism, believing
it to be the divine pattern. Centralised control manifested in two spheres:
finance and personnel. Initially, when the movement was small, centralism was
an expedient philosophy; however, its usefulness was soon outgrown. A
retarding factor for the Apostolic Church has been the lack of autonomy
afforded local assemblies and the ineptitude of the centralised government,
which frequently mismatched men and their roles. Currently, there exists a
trend towards relationship-based apostleship, utilising the concept of networks.
A particular subset of this system is the church plant where a natural line of
authority exists between it and the parent church. Prophecy operating in this
situation confines itself to expansion, and avoids the problem, evident in
previous years, of centralised revelation initiating the relocation of personnel.
The Apostolic Church will survive the 21st century by allowing greater autonomy,
with the apostolic function and the prophetic voice finding expression primarily
through the local assembly.
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful for the opportunity to have completed this study in a
Religious Studies Department on account of the greater freedom afforded to
investigate the issue, as compared to the constraints inherent in pursuing such
a topic in a purely theological discipline.
This work would not have been possible without the support of many. In
particular I would like to thank: The Julian Literature Trust for supplying a
scholarship; Dr Mark Hutchinson for direction early in the project; Associate
Professor James Veitch for his supervision; the many Apostolic Church pastors
and lay people who willingly provided interviews and loaned their written
resources; my wife, Renée, who read and corrected the entire work; and my
mother, who kept me focussed on the end goal. Lastly, I owe a debt to my late
father, who first stimulated my thinking on the topic.
vi

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v

INTRODUCTION ix
Background to the Term ‘Spirit-baptism’
Pentecostal Proof Texts
Subsequence
Prophecy
Apostolic Function
Purpose
Methodology
Author’s Position

CHAPTER ONE APOSTOLIC CHURCH ORIGINS 1
W. O. Hutchinson and the Apostolic Faith Church
D. P. Williams and the Apostolic Faith Church
Factors in the Formation of the Apostolic Church
The Secession
The Apostolic Church in New Zealand
Summary

CHAPTER TWO SUBSEQUENCE 38
Opposition to Pentecostalism
Pentecostal Apologetic
Apostolic Doctrine
Premillenialism
Tarrying
Summary
vii
CHAPTER THREE CRITIQUE OF SUBSEQUENCE 86
An Issue of Theology
“With” / “In’’ Schema
Differentiation of the Spirit of Christ
from the Holy Spirit
A Related Problem
Tarrying
Latter Rain
The Charismatic Movement
The Present Position
Summary

CHAPTER FOUR PROPHECY 139
The Nature of Prophecy
The Function of Prophecy
Shifts in the Practice of Prophecy
The Process of Prophecy
Summary

CHAPTER FIVE CRITIQUE OF PROPHECY 175
Form of Prophecy
Content of Prophecy
Functioning of Prophecy
Weberian Analysis
Conclusion

CHAPTER SIX CHURCH ORDER 213
Finance
Centralism’s Other Arm
Restructuring the Movement
Maori Issues
Summary

CHAPTER SEVEN SYNTHESIS AND PATHWAY FOR 260
THE FUTURE
Origins to the Present
viii
Specific Findings
The Way Ahead

APPENDIX “BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT” SURVEY 280

SOURCES CONSULTED 281
INTRODUCTION

A distinguishing feature of pentecostalism is that its pneumatology
predicates a post-conversion filling with the Spirit. In fact, it has been rightly
observed that the pentecostal doctrine of the Holy Spirit is essentially the
experience of the Spirit.1 One is not generally referred to as a Pentecostal
because of a belief in, but rather an experience of, the Spirit. Given that an
experience is the fundamental essence of being pentecostal it requires that an
understanding of the event be achieved. In attempting a definition, however,
one is immediately faced with the theological difficulty of postulating an
“additional” work of God in the life of the believer. A first approach to the task
may consist of examining the label and biblical material upon which this
experience is posited.

Background to the Term ‘Spirit-baptism’
The Greek concept of pneu/ma is primarily one of a corporeal reality, which
stands in contrast to the strict spiritual connotation of the NT. In both worlds,
however, there is a parallel understanding of the action of pneu/ma in that it “as a
du,namij fills, generates, catches away, inspires and discloses. It gives the power
to say and do extraordinary things.”2 Secular Greek regards pneu/ma as a thing,
never the persona of the Spirit present in Christian thinking.3 In the NT the

1 F.D. Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and The New
Testament Witness (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1970), 57.
2 H. Kleinknecht, “pneum/ a,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) (1968), 6:357.
3 Kleinknecht, “pneu/ma,” TDNT (1968), 6:359.
essence of pneu/ma is found in the Hebrew equivalent tW; r (ruach) for which a
variety of meanings are evidenced in the OT:4
i. Breath of the Mouth
“My breath is offensive to my wife” (Job 19:17). Another literal use is hard
breathing in anger by man (Is 25:4). Anthropomorphically, Eliphaz has God
breathing angrily (Job 4:9), and the Psalmist has God exercising divine fiat by
the breath of his mouth (Ps 33:6). Metaphorically there is the sense of empty
words as mere breath (Jer 5:13) and breath as the symbol of life (Gen 6:17).
ii. Wind or Breath of Air
“And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Gen
8:1b). In directional terms, wind can be from the east (Ex 10:13), north (Pr
25:23), west (Ex 10:19), the absence of a specific southerly wind being covered
by reference to the four winds (Jer 49:36). In a figurative sense wind connotes
futility (Job 7:7), a striving or grasping for the wind (Ecc 1:14).
iii. Life Principle
“And behold, I myself am bringing the flood of waters on the earth, to destroy
from under heaven all flesh which is the breath of life” (Gen 6:17). Idols lack the
breath of life (Hab 2:19), the entry of which into the bones in Ezekiel's vision
brought life (Ez 37:6). If God takes this life principle away (Ps 104:29) or if it
otherwise returns to him (Ecc 12:17) then men die. The animating action of tW; r
is displayed in personal courage (Ps 76:13), temper (Jud 9:23), impatience (Mic
2:7), bitter disposition (Is 54:6), jealousy (Nu 5:14), and prophetic enablement
(Nu 27:18).

4 The semantic divisions used here follow, with some modification, those used in F. Brown, S.
R. Driver, C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1979), 924-926.
Cf. Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, trans. David Smith (London: Geoffrey Chapman,
1983), 2:3, who finds that ruach can be divided into “three roughly equal groups” viz. (i) wind or
breath of air, (ii) principle of life, (iii) life of God, “the force by which he acts and causes actions.”