FOUNDED: 1901 C.E.
RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 8.5 percent

Overview

Pentecostals are Christians who believe in an experience called "baptism with the Holy Spirit." This form of baptism refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon a person, allowing the person to speak in tongues and to manifest other spiritual gifts. It is mentioned several times in the New Testament, including the following passage from Matthew 3:11: "I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire." The name Pentecostalism comes from the Pentecost, which is the day, discussed in the Acts of the Apostles, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus' apostles.

Pentecostalism began in the United States in January 1901, when Charles Fox Parham, an independent Holiness evangelist...