An Annotated Bibliography (In Process)

IPHC Books
Classics from Pentecostal Holiness Pens:  A Brief Annotated Bibliography of Significant Early IPHC Works.
[A WORK IN PROGRESS]

Compiled by Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS (2008)

Most of the early works of the IPHC can be divided into clear classifications of history, sermons, and doctrinal issues (usually an apologetic for the Pentecostal experience of speaking in tongues).

1898-1946

Joseph Campbell in the first book of IPHC history lists several authors and their works in chapter 11, “Books, Booklets, Tracts and Pamphlets in the Pentecostal Holiness Church”. The works covered there were from 1898 to 1946.

Authors listed by Campbell are G.F. Taylor, J.H. King, G.H. Montgomery, Hubert T. Spence, A.E. Robinson, Dan T. Muse, D.D. Freeman, John W. Warren, J.W. Kelley, May Gould Johnson, N.J. Holmes, F.M. Britton, W.M. Hayes, Paul F. Beacham, Mrs. K.E.M. Spooner, Oral Roberts, W.H. Turner, Sarah Nell Beacham, and Joe E. Campbell.

Although an official publishing house had been established in the IPHC in 1918 in Franklin Springs, Georgia, many of the authors published under other companies or self-published using the Franklin Springs facility as press. For that reason, not all the books here carry the "Pentecostal Holiness Publishing House", “Advocate Press” or other label. In this work, the focus will be on books ranging from the 25 page booklet to more significant lengths.

1947-1970

Updating this list for the time period 1947 to 1970 would add  the names of : R.O. Corvin, Blanche King, O.T. Spence, Margaret Muse Oden, Oscar Moore, Charlene West, Florence Hamilton, Noel Brooks,

1970-2010

After 1970 the number of titles of books written by IPHC people would expand. For the time 1970- 2000 titles would include: Frank Tunstall, Noel Brooks, B.E. Underwood, Vinson Synan, J.A. Synan, J.F. Williams, Garnet Pike, Terry Tramel, Robert Rex, Welch, and others

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1. Britton, F.M. Pentecostal Truths. Royston, GA: Pentecostal Holiness Publishing House, 1919. F. Marion Britton was born Jan 21, 1870, five miles below the Indian –Town Presbyterian Church, South Carolina. He was converted at 18 and joined the M.E. Church and began preaching holiness until church rules forbid itinerant evangelistic preaching without permissions. A stay with a local Baptist group was short lived but an encounter with the Fire Baptized Holiness Church proved a better fit. He received the Baptism of the Spirit with initial evidence of speaking in other tongues and on Feb. 7, 1907. He would soon join with the merged FBHC and the PHC. He and his wife were staunch believers in diving healing and rejected the use of drugs. Britton reported a son had died and been returned to life through prayer. She prophesied in church that she would be ‘with Jesus before the next Christmas’ and died in 1903 ‘without drugs.’ Content of the book reveals the issues and questions of early Pentecostal Holiness people: Salvation through the blood; Justification , the birth of the spirit; Is there sin in believers?; Wesley and the Second blessing; Our kind of holiness; Were old testament saints sanctified?; The decision or choice of Moses; Enduement of Power(sic); Sanctification , a second work of grace; Healing as in the atonement; Holiness; Pentecost to the Gentiles; Christian graces; A picture of the last days; the indwelling spirit; The Holy Spirit a person; Ephesian Pentecost; Samaritan Pentecost; The book of 1 Corinthians and out doctrine; Marriage relation and against divorce and remarriage; Prodigal son; A sermon on the resurrection; A brief sketch of my life.



2. Taylor, G.F. The Rainbow. Franklin Springs, GA: Advocate Press, 1924. 223pg.Taylor (1881-1934) had written a small book in 1907, The Spirit and the Bride, and in 1916 a well-received book, The Bride of Christ and followed up the prophetic theme with this work in 1924. In this work he pulled three chapters from the earlier works as he once more explored the concept of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Basing the title on the Covenant of Noah he uses the rainbow as a theme that arcs across the book from start to finish. In chapter 1, he presents the rainbow as covenant token and understands the colors may be lessons in themselves of God’s love; it is “prophetic” and “symbolic of God’s glory.” As such, the red symbolizes the blood of Christ, orange the fruit of the spirit, yellow is for the gold of divinity, green is the color of “better things ahead”, blue brings the eyes toward heaven and the promises found there, indigo represents the ongoing cycle of the harvest (spiritual and metaphoric), and finally the violet which he equates with the love of God. Included in the book are discussions and comparisons of pre and post millennialism, the restoration of the Jews, the role of the Jews in the Kingdom, wisdom, antichrists, the role of the Bride of Christ, and many other prophetic themes. George F. Taylor was “editor, author, and agent of religious literature” and was an early leader in the IPHC and was significant in the founding of an early college and the publishing house, both in Franklin Springs, Georgia .


3. Montgomery, G.H. Steps to the Upper Room. Franklin Springs: Publishing House of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, n.d.



4. Spence, Hubert T. The Person, work and witness of the Holy Spirit. Franklin Springs, Ga: Pentecostal Holiness Publishing House, 1944. Spence addressed a dearth in literature by addressing the nature of the Holy Spirit in practical lectures designed for the average person in the church. Spence was born August 27, 1898 in Harnett Co., NC. He was converted in 1920 and received ‘the blessed baptism with the holy spirit” Feb. 17, 1921. His interest in the Holy Spirit as a theological issue arose as he was doing special studies at Union Theological Seminary in 1934. This work contains a set of lessons designed to provide instruction for a solid biblical foundation of understanding about the work and nature of the Holy Spirit. It was also an early and very direct apologetic training manual on behalf of the Pentecostal experience. Included were insightful and thought provoking lesson questions and a unique set of questions “For Our Opponents”. An example is the keenly phrased “if the spiritual gifts and supernatural signs of the first century are not intended for the church of today, when and by whom were they revoked? Give at least one scripture.” The content for this collection of studies: The Holy Spirit a person ; The Holy Spirit, His age in particular; The General work of the Holy Spirit; Work of the Holy Spirit in Particular; Work of the Holy spirit in the church; His personal witness; The Pentecostal witness.



5. Brooks, Noel. Scriptural Holiness. Advocate Press, 1967. 70p. Rooted in the Holiness Movement, the IPHC treasured the teachings of Biblical and cultural holiness as it grew in the post Azusa Street years. Pentecostalism was a global event being experienced in Europe, South America, and Australia from an early day. So in 1954 when Noel Brooks (1914-2007), pastor, scholar, biographer and campaign manager of the early revivalist George Jeffreys, joined the IPHC, an author of academic depth and spirituality enriched the denomination. The book emerged from lectures in the King Memorial Lecture series at Emmanuel. The contents of the lectures addressed: Holiness in the Progress of Revelations -1(Old Testament), Holiness in the Progress of Revelation – II (New Testament), Holiness in the Order of Salvation – I (Sanctification as Process), and Holiness in the Order of Salvation - II (Sanctification as Crisis). Brooks notes in his travel he had seen a great hunger for understanding scriptural holiness and the need for people to move more confidently into that level of devotion to God, yet he also was aware that there are both positive and negative aspects to the search for holiness (legalism and works). Brooks skillfully leads the reader through the Bible to uncover the logical and scriptural holiness that God wants us to live for God. “Our time, our strength, our money, our possessions, our all, continually used up in the service of the Lord” (pg. 67), that, for Noel Brooks encapsulated the purpose and meaning of true “Scriptural Holiness.”


6. Campbell, Joe E. The Pentecostal Holiness Church, 1898-1948: Its backgrounds and history. Franklin Springs: Pentecostal Holiness Publishing House, 1951. Until the publication of this work, the only history of the denomination has been in isolated articles in the national publication, The Advocate, or isolated early works by pioneer preachers. Written as part of his academic work, the book’s purpose was to present ‘complete background material which adequately explains the existence of this organization, also the existence of other kindred Pentecostal and Holiness groups, as an essential and integral part of the local church set-up’. In 573 pages the work does just that as the work is divided into major sections: Divisive Forces Giving Rise to New Sects, The Evolution of Denominations; The Formal History of the P.H.C., Background and early beginnings (this section provides crucial information gained from many of those involved in the early birth of the movement and the denomination), Organized Efforts and Expansion, Departmental Developments, History of Education and Publications. Numerous sub-divisions provide history, context, and a good level of detail. No study of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, or Pentecostalism in general, would be complete without a reading of this significant church history.


7. King, J.H. Passover to Pentecost. Franklin Springs, Ga: Pentecostal Holiness Church Publishing, 19 11, 1914, 1955. 208pg. The beloved first Bishop of the IPHC was a man well regarded for his blend of deep spirituality and profound study. He had left the Methodist Church first due to his commitment to the Holiness doctrine being preached in the late 1800’s. He then moved into Pentecostalism with the same balance of mind and heart and under his capable leadership the denomination emerged as a solid and balanced group. In this foundational work of the IPHC, it is required of all new ministers, King argues the case for a clearly seen line connecting the feast of Pentecost to the descent of the Holy Ghost in Jerusalem.


8. Wicks, Mildred. I Knocked – and the door opened unto me. Newman, Ga: 1940.


9. Turner, W.H. Pioneering in China. 1928.


10. Muse, Dan T. The Song of Songs. Advocate Press,1947. 231pg. Dan T. Muse (1882-1949) was a beloved bishop of the IPHC and one of the first significant leaders to emerge in “the west” in the southern based denomination. A man noted for his humility and gentle spirit, he rose to the rank of Bishop in the church and held a passion of missional work. In the 1920’s he pastored the First Pentecostal Holiness Church of Oklahoma City (a church that had begun as a mission in an old saloon) and quickly grew to become a significant church in the region.  Muse called the Old Testament book, The Song of Solomon, one of the “most sublime love stories ever written.” Although some over church history questioned the presence of such a frank and sensual book in scripture, Muse approached it as a ‘distinctively “latter day book”’ that used allegory and symbol to portray the ‘Heavenly Bridegroom’ and the Bride of Christ. The book is thus interpreted, in the words of C.H. Williams in the introduction, as the “preparation necessary for Christians to…be caught away with Him in the pre-tribulation Rapture…”

Presenting the book in a question and answer manner, Muse, explores key texts and then expands on them, utilizing his vast experiences as pastor, denominational leader, and spirit-filled Christian. The book is enriched by an almost poetic level of description as the author discusses the imagery of the text in light of the nature of the relationship of the Church to Jesus Christ. In many ways the work is infused with one man’s deep love for his Lord. Saturating every page is a reflection of the same eagerness and joy found in the Biblical text. When he ends the book quoting, “Make haste, my beloved,” the reader can sense the soul of a man whispering his dearest and most cherished hope.


For further reading on Bishop Muse see Harold Paul’s From Printer’s Devil to Bishop. Advocate Press, 1976.


11. Underwood, B.T. Gifts of the Spirit. Advocate Press, 1967. Despite the long emphasis in the denomination on the work of the Holy Spirit little had been placed in book form that sought to provide teaching until this small volume appeared.

12. Beacham, Paul F. Meat in due season. Advocate Press, 1954.

13. Roberts, Oral. Healing Waters (serial), 1950.

14. Underwood, B.T. The Spirit’s Sword. Advocate Press, 1969.

15. Robinson, A.E. A Layman and the Book. Washington, 1950. 153 pg. This book by Canadian Robinson (1877-1950) with its emphasis on communicating the meaning of the Bible to the person on the pew, was a rare work in its day and in many ways stands the test of time in its sensible, balanced approach.


16. Stewart, Leon.  Too Late!  [                       ]. This work is considered the first fiction work produced within the Pentecostal Holiness Church.  It covers a fictionalized story of the Rapture.






Resources:

Campell

Synan