Azusa History Overturned: The Parhamite Roots  🔗 **Source:** [Azusa History Overturned: The Parhamite Roots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7FWDQjZs7g#transcript) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [pentecostal-history, new-apostolic-reformation, charles-parham, azusa-street, church-history, religious-discernment] > author: John Collins > source: Leaving the Message (William Branham Historical Research Podcast) > reference: https://read.readwise.io/read/01kx4v5fe1gh6n4hm7ybvs8baq > date created: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} {{time:HH:mm}} > # 🏷️ Title: Azusa History Overturned: The Parhamite Roots (Podcast Episode 650, Leaving the Message) <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - William Branham Historical Research — william-branham.org (host's own source archive, cited throughout) - *Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR* (John Collins, Amazon/Kindle/Audible) - Primary document discussed: *The Apostolic Faith*, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Los Angeles, 1906) ## 📝 Summary - Host John Collins argues that the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is not a new movement but a century-old rebranding of "Parhamism" — the "apostolic faith" theology of Charles Fox Parham, whom he calls the father of modern Pentecostalism. - Why it matters: mainstream Pentecostal history traces the movement's origin to William J. Seymour and the 1906 Azusa Street revival. Collins says that lineage is a deliberate "coverup culture" that erased Parham after his 1907 arrest. - Key stakeholders: Pentecostal/charismatic historians, NAR-adjacent ministries, and the William Branham Historical Research audience (a discernment/ex-movement community). - Risks and tradeoffs: the episode leans heavily on one primary source (the first *Apostolic Faith* issue) plus the host's own prior work, and mixes documented facts with speculation and characterization presented as history. - Bottom line: Collins wants listeners to re-anchor the movement's genealogy on Parham (Dowie → Parham → Seymour → Branham → latter rain → NAR) rather than on Azusa Street. ## 📖 Main Content - **Central thesis.** The NAR is "Parhamite Pentecostal restorationism after a century of evolution." The same DNA — modern apostles, end-times harvest, tongues, dominion/territorial warfare, signs-and-wonders hierarchy — reappears under new labels across each generation. - **Genealogy Collins draws.** John Alexander Dowie (Zion City faith-healing empire, self-styled Elijah/first modern apostle) → Charles Fox Parham (positioned as the "Elisha," second apostle, founder of the Apostolic Faith movement in Topeka, 1900–01) → William J. Seymour (trained under Parham in Houston; led Azusa Street 1906) → the postwar healing revival and William Branham (mentored by Parhamite F.F. Bosworth) → latter rain / manifested sons of God → prophetic networks (Vineyard, Kansas City Prophets, shepherding) → NAR (term coined by C. Peter Wagner, who Collins says described something that already existed). - **Named "Parhamites."** John G. Lake (took apostolic faith missions to Africa) and F.F. Bosworth (Zion City music leader who later mentored Branham) are the connective figures. Gordon Lindsay — founder of Christ for the Nations, Branham's *Voice of Healing* publicist — claimed conversion in a Parham meeting, tying the modern apostolic networks back to Parham. - **The documentary core.** Collins reads from *The Apostolic Faith*, Vol. 1 No. 1 (Los Angeles, 1906): its "Letter from Brother Parham" calls Parham "God's leader in the apostolic faith movement"; the "Old-Time Pentecost" column dates the work to Topeka "about 5 years ago" and reports ~13,000 adherents already; and "Tongues Convict Sinners" clips text "from the Apostolic Faith published by Charles Fox Parham at Baxter, Kansas." Collins uses these to argue Azusa was a continuation, not an origin, and even questions whether the "Vol. 1 No. 1" framing is accurate. - **The "coverup."** Parham was arrested in July 1907 (a year after Azusa broke out in 1906) on charges involving young men; per Collins, parents testified in a Texas trial and Parham's defense was that he could not help what he did in his sleep. Collins says the movement then swapped its public face to Seymour and declared Azusa the "first," erasing Parham. - **Money/scam framing.** Parham is tied to a "rocks into gold" investment scheme, an Ark of the Covenant fundraising claim, and visits to Frank Sanford's Maine commune and Dowie's Zion City. Collins concedes he cannot prove Parham's motives ("whether he was a perpetrator or a true victim... is left open to history"). - **Contested claims to flag.** Much rests on characterization ("the types of circles he ran with," "same DNA"), on the host's uncorroborated prior podcasts/books, and on inference from a single magazine issue. Dates and figures (e.g., Dowie's "$10,000 in 10 years" vs. "half a billion in today's money") are internally inconsistent and unsourced in the episode itself. ### 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ Setup — two Pentecostal origin camps - Some Pentecostals trace the faith to Seymour, others to Parham; the schism decided which "first apostle" you followed. - Collins' stronger-than-usual claim: NAR = another iteration of Parhamism. #### ⏱️ Thesis — apostolic faith → new apostolic reformation - Parham branded his movement the "Apostolic Faith"; the name literally reappears in "New Apostolic Reformation." - Core idea in both: modern apostles have come to prepare the world for the end of days. #### ⏱️ Parham and money - "Rocks into gold from God" investment scheme; framed as victim in newspapers but was also an investor. - Ark of the Covenant fundraising; reportedly mugged near Chicago by an angry follower. - Visited Frank Sanford (Maine cult, boats for global spiritual warfare, one sank) and Dowie's Zion City. #### ⏱️ Zion City and the Parhamite sect - Dowie: "richest man in the West," faith-healing homes where many donors died and were removed quietly at night. - When Dowie's mental decline was published, "prophets" (Parham among them) came to seize Zion City. - Sect members: John G. Lake, F.F. Bosworth; a photo Collins cites even includes Seymour. - Earliest "deliverance ministry" here allegedly killed people (Leticia Krueger cited) by forcibly "casting out demons" — snapping an arthritic woman's bones. #### ⏱️ The genealogy through Branham to NAR - Healing revival (1910s–40s) → celebrity tent-revivalist model. - Branham (40s–60s): prophet-healer model, new revelations, angelic appearances; claimed an "Elijah" ministry (as Dowie and Parham had). - Latter rain merged with postwar healing revival (Oral Roberts, others) → prophetic networks (Vineyard, Kansas City Prophets, shepherding) → NAR; Wagner coined the term for a pre-existing thing. #### ⏱️ The 1906 Apostolic Faith magazine - "Letter from Brother Parham": "God's leader in the apostolic faith movement," planned to visit L.A. Sept 15, "I rejoice in God over you, my children." - "Old-Time Pentecost": work began in Topeka ~5 years earlier; prayer tower (compared to IHOP-KC 24/7 prayer); ~13,000 adherents; churches that reject it "backslide." - "Tongues Convict Sinners": clips from *The Apostolic Faith* "published by Charles Fox Parham at Baxter, Kansas" — a first issue quoting a prior issue. #### ⏱️ Tongues theology - Parham's original intent: xenoglossy — real foreign languages missionaries could use abroad (a China mission failed when no one understood). - Evolved into unknown/unintelligible tongues; Collins calls the original "more biblical" than what followed. #### ⏱️ The arrest, schism, and coverup - Azusa 1906; Parham arrested ~July 1907; defense: "I can't help what I did in my sleep." - 1907 schism: Seymour camp vs. dedicated Parhamites (Lake, Boswort <!-- deep-read:sections end --> 📄 **Full text:** [[Full Document Contents/Articles/Azusa History Overturned The Parhamite Roots.md|Azusa History Overturned: The Parhamite Roots by Leaving the Message]] ## Highlights - the New Apostolic Reformation today is just another iteration of parmism ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kx4veagbdtd5937jpcd68cv9)) - Note: Organizing thesis — NAR as rebranded Parhamism. - Tags: atom/literature/h1 - this is Paramite Christianity that has developed into the New Apostolic Reformation ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kx4vejvthbpp7kzv22w0kf14)) - Note: States the genealogy as proven history rather than opinion. - Tags: atom/literature/h2 - Seymour himself declared Charles Fox Parm was that leader ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kx4ver9a5jajc9h95fygspwr)) - Note: Load-bearing for the coverup thesis — Azusa's own founder named Parham. - Tags: atom/literature/h3 - The very fact that people say that all of our history traces back to Seymour is pure evidence of the coverup culture ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kx4vez2dhrhbcbjt2a6zp4dx)) - Note: Fallacy — unfalsifiable framing: silence read as confirmation of coverup. - Tags: fallacy/unfalsifiable