Pentecostalism is a renewal movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, a Greek term describing the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, as described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, and Pentecostals tend to see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power, worship styles and teachings that were found in the early church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term Apostolic or full gospel to describe their movement.
Pentecostalism's emphasis on the charismata places it within Charismatic Christianity, a broad grouping of Christians which have accepted some Pentecostal teachings on Spirit baptism and spiritual gifts. Pentecostalism is theologically and historically close to the charismatic movement as it significantly influenced that movement, and sometimes the terms Pentecostal and charismatic are used interchangeably. Pentecostalism claims more than 250 million adherents worldwide.
Pentecostalism in 1632[]
Reverend John Chalker founded Grantville's Pentecostal Church after the Ring of Fire and introduced Pentecostalism into 17th century Europe. Pentecostalism soon gained popularity among the German population after former Lutheran Dieter Fischer supposedly gained the power to miraculously heal people and became a radio host. People whose lives had been devastated by the Thirty Years' War were drawn to the religion, much as those who'd suffered during the Great Depression and the World Wars turned to Pentecostalism in the original timeline. Many church denominations, especially the Lutheran Church, were very concerned about Pentecostalism when it affected their followers. Also, some people were led to worry that the Pentecostal Church could be a platform for a determined demagogue, and to wonder if it was being used for that purpose. It did not help that adherents of Pentecostalism had adopted the practice of placing their right hands over their hearts and raising them into the air, as that struck some up-timers as being uncomfortably similar to the Nazi salute.
The Pentecostal movement became inflamed when Dieter Fischer prophesied that the USE's war against the League of Ostend would soon be over in 1634, which happened when Denmark was defeated in May 1634. However, the aftermath of the war led to many discontented Germans wondering whether their ally Sweden would end what they saw as its occupation of Germany. This also led many Pentecostal followers to ask Fischer if he would prophesy as to when the Swedish occupation would end. Ultimately, Fischer's negative comments about Gustavus Adolphus caused violent reactions between pro- and anti-Swedish elements in which Pentecostal home churches were being razed to the ground in some German cities. The situation was exacerbated during Fischer's visit to Erfurt, when a survivor of Camburg claimed that "the Swede" was responsible for the death of her family. On hearing that, armed Gustavus loyalists attacked Pentecostal followers and attempted to kill Fischer.