RedGage

Pentecostalism traces its origin from this man; in the early 1900s Parham had a small Bible college (Bethel Bible College) in which he taught the need for a restoration of the New Testament teachings based on the book of the Acts. He laid down the foundation of Pentecostalism and he is the founder and father of the movement.

Parham deceived his followers that missionaries would go to the ends of the earth and would not have to learn the languages but would speak in the tongues which the natives would understand. In fact, most of the early Pentecostals believed this. It didn't work that way, though. When A.G. Garr traveled to India and attempted to speak to the people in supernatural tongues, he quickly found that he could not communicate.¹

Parham, the founder of Pentecostalism, was riddled with doctrinal heresies. He taught that there were two separate creations, and that Adam and Eve were of a different race than people who allegedly lived outside of the Garden of Eden. He believed in a partial rapture composed of tongues speakers. All those teachings were not Biblical but from the mind of Parham.

In spite of his teaching that it was always God's will to heal and that medicine and doctors must be shunned, one of Parham's sons died at age 16 of a sickness which was not healed. His other son died at age 37. Most of those who attended Parham's meetings were not healed. In October 1904 a nine-year-old girl named Nettie Smith died. Her father was an avid follower of Parham and refused medical treatment for his daughter. Nettie's death turned local public opinion against Parham because the little girl's sickness was treatable and the community therefore considered her death unnecessary. Parham himself suffered various sicknesses throughout his life and at times was too sick to preach or travel. For example, he spent the entire winter of 1904-05 sick and bedridden²

In spite of his own preaching that healing is guaranteed in the atonement. Parham was the first Pentecostal preacher to pray over handkerchiefs and mail them to those who desired his ministrations³

In 1908 Parham raised funds to travel to the Holy Land on an archaeological expedition to search for the lost ark of the covenant. He claimed to the press that he had information about its location and that his finding the ark would fit into the end times biblical scheme. By December he announced that he had sufficient funds and he traveled to New York allegedly to begin his journey to Jerusalem. He never purchased a ticket to the Middle East and returned home dejectedly in January, claiming he was robbed after arriving in New York.⁴

In 1907 Charles was arrested and charged with sodomy (homosexuality) in Texas⁵. I believe it is simply impossible for God to use such a man to set up His church.