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CONCLUSION
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Pent ecostalism began as a P r otestant, ecstatin, mi l l e n­
a r ian religious move ment i n which the practice of s peaking i n
tongues was a d i s t inc t i v e feat ure of pers onal spirituality.
A co mposite app r oa ch t o the movement's origins detects
tongues-speaking only i nt e r mit t e ntly in history, observes a
d i verse co ntribu t ion of e mphas e s f r om the American Wesleya n
Holiness rev iva l o f t he nineteenth century, and plac es it i n
the l arge r t raditi on of American popular evangelical ism. Its
s ocial r oo t s lie i n t h e America of the late nineteenth and t he
early tw entieth ce nt uri e s , a pe riod marked by profound change .
Arising partly as a reaction against institutionalization, i t
promi sed s po ntaneity. I t s early development i s a pri me
e xamp l e of a marginal religion, one that is on t he p e riphery .
It a ppealed to t he poor a nd forsaken, whet her living in a
r u r al o r a n urban sett i ng, wi th i t s offe r of salvation
includ ing mea n i ng i n l i f e . Historians poin t t o the l ower
s oc i oe c onomic class s tructure of the early moven.ent; .
The moveme nt was i nt r od uc ed to New f oundl a nd Ln 1910 by a
single Ameri can woma n , no ins i gn i f i cant fe at. At t he turn of