Full Gospel Explained

The term Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is an evangelical doctrine that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely the salvation, sanctification, faith healing and Second Coming of Christ. It has been used in various Christian traditions, including Keswickian, Pentecostal, Anabaptist, and Baptist denominations.^[1]

History and usage

This term has its origin in 1887 in a series of sermons called "Fourfold Gospel" by the Canadian pastor Albert Benjamin Simpson, founder of the Alliance World Fellowship, a denomination that teaches a form of Keswickian theology.^{[2] [3]} According to him, this concept represents the four aspects of the ministry of Jesus Christ; Christ the Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and King who will soon return.^[4]

In October 1922, the Canadian evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Foursquare Church, used the expression "Foursquare Gospel" referring to the doctrine in a sermon in Oakland, California, and stated that it would be the center of her teaching.^{[5] [6]} According to her, this concept represented the four aspects of the ministry of Jesus Christ; Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Ghost, Healer, and King. Various other Pentecostal denominations have been influenced by this doctrine, which is sometimes known as the "Full Gospel".^[7] A variety of Pentecostals have further developed the motif of the full gospel, predominantly the five-fold theme of salvation, sanctification, Spirit baptism, divine healing, and the coming kingdom.^[8]

The Missionary Church, an Anabaptist denomination with Radical Pietist and Wesleyan influences holds a commitment to "A. B. Simpson’s fourfold emphasis on Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King".^[9]

See also

• Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
• Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International
• Christian and Missionary Alliance
• Foursquare Church
• Spiritual healing

Notes and References

1. Book: Nel, Marius . An African Pentecostal Hermeneutics: A Distinctive Contribution to Hermeneutics . 27 December 2018 . Wipf and Stock Publishers . 978-1-5326-6086-3 . 42.
2. George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 908: "Fourfold Gospel and Full Gospel: The term "fourfold gospel" known for its four theological tenets-salvation or regeneration, sanctification, healing and the Second Coming (…)", p. 909: "Other so-called "Full Gospel" denominations today adhere to the concepts of the fourfold gospel even though they express their views somewhat differently."
3. Daryn Henry, A. B. Simpson and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism, McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP, Canada, 2019, p. 168.
4. Bernie A. Van De Walle, The Heart of the Gospel: A. B. Simpson, the Fourfold Gospel, and Late Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Theology, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 129
5. Matthew Avery Sutton, Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America, Harvard University Press, USA, 2007, p. 44
6. Allan H. Anderson, To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity, OUP USA, USA, 2013, p. 97
7. George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 909: "Other so-called "Full Gospel" denominations today adhere to the concepts of the fourfold gospel even though they express their views somewhat differently."
8. Book: Thomas . John Christopher . Toward a Pentecostal Ecclesiology: The Church and the Fivefold Gospel. CPT Press . Cleveland, TN . 2010 . 9781935931003.
9. Web site: Planting Churches and Making Disicples . . 1 April 2023.