Centennial Notes

Year: 1901
The Holiness Advocate in Clinton, NC had a successful run from 1901 to 1908, the handiwork of A.B. Crumpler.

The Holiness Advocate in Clinton, North Carolina had a successful run from 1901 to 1908, the handiwork of Abner Backmon Crumpler which ended with his unceremonious exit from the Pentecostal Holiness Church. In response to criticism, Crumpler wrote an article titled "The Church of the Holy Refrigerator." In it he quoted Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Candler's remarks in which he ridiculed "perfect love" while "theatre-going, card-playing, godless church members showed their approval by laughing aloud, and to think Mr. Candler gets paid $3,500 per year to fight holiness."⁽⁶⁶⁾ Through his paper, the PHC leader criticized the excessive emotionalism of Pentecostal revivals and argued against the idea that tongues were essential to the baptismal experience, insisting instead that tongues-speech was just one of many gifts of the Spirit that could accompany baptism. But Crumpler was fighting a losing battle. In the same May 15, 1907, issue of the Holiness Advocate in which he unconditionally attacked the new doctrine, over a dozen testimonies from holiness people who had obtained or hoped soon to receive the tongues experience appeared, including one that scolded Crumpler for helping Satan and hurting God's work by denying the essentiality of tongues.