Instead of being a wealthy man, Lake was an insurance salesman, concludes Morton a, Morton's use of available resources is limited to a few newspaper articles to prove that Lake exaggerated or lied about his business ventures. No primary research was done to find data from available banks and local authorities and Morton's conclusion is based on a lack of any mentioning of Lake in available newspapers. However, as will be ascertained at a later stage, Lake was prone to exaggerate and it might be the case that his involvement in certain business ventures might have been limited. Morton a, alleges that Lake who settled in Zion City in order to acquaint himself better with the doctrine and practice of divine healing, fled in from Zion City after his 'involvement in highly unsavoury affairs' and that he used his story of a direct communication and revelation from the Spirit to depart for Africa in order to justify his leaving of Zion City as a means to remove attention from the 'real facts'.

What occurred, according to Morton, is that Lake became embroiled in the polarisation that occurred in Zion City after the death of Dowie, and the resulting split of his church into various factions. Charles Parham resided intermittently in Zion City in late and he used the opportunity to preach his Pentecostal message of speaking in tongues as initial evidence for being baptised in the Spirit Friesen , 45; Hudson , Approximately 3 Zionists joined his faction as a result of the revival services that he held in , and they were baptised with the Spirit, with Lake and Hezmalhalch as prominent members Parham , , Lake' Synan , Parham left Zion City and never returned when a water tower collapsed and destroyed his revival tent.

Tom Hezmalhalch, one of the leaders of the Pentecostal followers in Zion City, invited William Seymour to visit the city Morton a, Parham's followers continued to support him financially and they stayed loyal to him, even in the face of opposition from the other inhabitants of Zion City. The Parhamites' services were characterised by an 'apparent descent into a collective frenzy of insanity, demon possession, and murder' Morton a, Morton connects it to Parham's arrest in Texas for the alleged soliciting of sex from a teenager that confirmed rumours that had been circulating about Parham's pederastic tendencies.

Morton does not provide any evidence of these charges against Parham, although he admits that Goff's , , research did not yield any proven facts about the charges. That the Parhamites became demon-possessed and insane was a charge laid by Voliva and utilised by Morton to prove that Lake became part of an unstable group. The Parhamites ministered to what they perceived to be demon-possessed persons.

Because the undertaker was a Parhamite he did not register the deaths as unnatural. However, these deaths should have occurred in Morton's chronology in when he claims that Lake and Hezmalhalch fled from Zion City due to possible prosecution resulting from these deaths, although it is clear that they were not involved with any of the cases. Morton also refers to the case of Letitia Greenhaulgh who died during an exorcism rite; although Lake was not involved with this case either. It was reported widely in the American press.

Morton's contention that Lake did not leave Zion City in response to divine calling but to escape popular justice, is not reflected by the available facts but by a biased reading of the facts.

Antigua and Barbuda

Again, Morton a, finds in the narratives describing the missionary party's coming to southern Africa 'fraud and misrepresentation' that were 'central to the early spread' of Pentecostalism and Zionism in South Africa. Le Roux's contribution Wessels , , and the eventual establishment of a Zionist branch of the AFM from some of these black Zionist assemblies - and in time also the African Pentecostal churches Burger , Eventually, Hezmalhalch and Lake would leave for South Africa with 17 members including three other missionaries.

However, Morton a, argues that Lake told fellow passengers and the wider Pentecostal community of his mission and that he desperately needed funds to complete it. He concludes that Lake defrauded the steamship company and even stole existing funds, but does not provide any evidence at all for the assertions.

In this way he implies that the coming of the missionaries to South Africa was based on and driven by dishonesty and fraudulence, throwing their missionary endeavours as well the result of their work in a bad light. Morton a, contends that Lake and Bryant had dealings even before Bryant decided to leave South Africa. Bryant was one of Dowie's missionaries to South Africa and he had developed the biggest foreign Zionist congregation in Doornfontein, Johannesburg as well as in other cities Oosthuizen , ; Sundkler , Bryant contended for Zionist leadership when Dowie died and when he was succeeded by his hated rival Voliva, Bryant and his South African congregations left the Zionist church Morton a, When Bryant returned to California, Lake and Hezmalhalch were invited to take the services at his church in Doornfontein, and when the AFM was founded, these three Zionist assemblies became the first AFM assemblies Burger , ; , Morton's a, contention, 'Everything points to a carefully-orchestrated move to South Africa, rather than an impulsive, divinely-inspired one', does not hold water as it is based on abstractions without any facts to support it.

Morton a, states that Lake as well as the early leadership of the AFM made himself guilty of fraudulent and lying behaviour in order to attract members to their church that would pay tithes.

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Lake's advertising promised that people attending the meetings will be baptised in the Spirit with signs following and that the sick will experience miraculous healings cf. Ehrman and Licona ; Lataster , When she died Lake prayed for her and she was restored to life diary of Lake, 6 December However, in her account she does not refer to any minister by name and the inference is that Lake may have been a part of the team ministering to the daughter. Lastly, Morton claims that Lake utilised precognition, which proved particularly successful in rural areas.

The lady would announce what she perceived as a message of the Lord. When the missionaries arrived they would be met with great expectations and their message accepted Blake , Morton's a, judgment is that these events were arranged by the missionaries and that it did not occur in fact, a supposition that is not supported by available facts. When miracles take place, there is always the danger that expectations will reach such a pitch that human factors of ecstasy and mass suggestion may somehow enter the picture.

Already on 22 January the Executive Council, the newly found church's highest controlling body, read a letter from a brother Schneiderman that states his reasons for having dissociated himself from the church. He points out that 'a great deal of very sad exaggerations in cases of healing had been made; that messages had been given not by God, etc. After a lengthy discussion the Council concluded that 'there was only too much truth in the letter', and resolved 'in future to use the utmost caution and to do all in our power with the help of God to eliminate from the work whatsoever was not of God; and to admit to the public that many mistakes had been made, even if such a confession cost humiliation' Minutes of the Executive Council, 22 January It is true that the early AFM suffered from deficiencies and imperfections, although an attitude of honourableness and sincerity seems to be present Burger and Nel , The emphasis on divine healing as a part of the atonement led during the first decades to rejection of medical help in any form Dayton , To trust in medicine or other help prescribed by doctors was even seen as a form of unbelief and sin, 'to lean on the arm of the flesh' Burger , ; cf.

Cartledge , Members of the church would often witness that they had not been to a doctor for many years.

Remarks and Statements

It is deeply tragic and not justifiable in any way that some people, including children, suffered and even died due to the lack of medical help. For instance, in a couple of the AFM Krugersdorp under the leadership of Eva Stuart was charged because they had refused medical help for their child who was under age. The child died and the state claimed that the child could have been saved if the parents had allowed hospitalisation and medical care. The Botha couple was found guilty on the charge of culpable homicide and wilful neglect of the child and was given a fine.

Members were at the same time requested to donate toward meeting the costs of a pounds of the Appeal Court case. The reason for the rejection of medical help is formulated in a remark in the Minutes of the Workers' Conference of 2 April It was pointed out that Divine Healing excludes the use of medicine and that we should take a strong stand against those who made a habit of the practice Several testified to the power of God in healing their bodies because they put their entire trust in Him Nel , Morton a, refers to complaints about and accusations against Lake from South African co-workers that 'led to the secession of many white Pentecostals from the AFM'.

However, the many secessions reported are not documented by Morton except for a reference to Burpeau , It is true that there were some accusations but these did not lead to secessions of groups leaving the AFM. The first accusation that Morton discusses is the 'propaganda' that Lake published in America witnessing about incredible events that were occurring in South Africa with 'desperate pleas for money'. When other missionaries from America arrived they found that Lake's Pentecostal campaign was based on false reports and they sent 'very disquieting reports' back to America and Europe about Lake.

Morton a, acknowledges that none of these reports or letters were published and none of them are extant. No record of these missionaries or their disappointment with the 'Pentecostal campaign' in South Africa exists in records kept by the AFM in their books of minutes of meetings or their monthly magazine, leading to the conclusion that the assertion is a result of Morton's prejudice against the Pentecostal revival that originated in the work of the missionary company of which Lake was a member.

Only Lake and his party had access to cash, according to Morton a, However, the minutes of the meetings in the early AFM indicate that the church elected a treasurer and secretary at its earliest meetings and that individuals did not have access to money without the knowledge of the rest of the executive Burger and Nel , It is true that the workers in assemblies earned little; however, it is also true that Lake, Hezmalhalch and the other American missionaries earned very little Burger , Morton a, refers to 'Lake's penchant for deceit' that led him to install his brother-in-law as AFM treasurer, a remark that betrays the historian's prejudiced evaluation of Lake's character without providing the necessary evidence for such a sweeping statement 47 ; ' However, Lake was not even the chairperson; Hezmalhalch served as president and chairperson and Lake was elected to serve as vice-president Burger and Nel , Morton b, 15 also states that a large portion of the white membership seceded from the AFM when the church did not act against Lake, which is factually not true Burger , A last statement that Morton b, 15 makes is that Lake was arrested following his return to the United States and sued for using his 'undue influence' to sell worthless securities to members of his congregation, and again the historian does not provide any evidence of such a court case and its outcome.

Other accusations stated by Morton a, are that Lake acted dictatorially in the same tradition as Dowie 'a second Dowie' , 49 that he exaggerated the scope and nature of his Pentecostal campaign as stated above , and that Lake was a 'con man', 'an untrue man', who used occult powers in his activities. However, the newspaper reported about the quibble between Bowie and Lake, and presented Bowie's opinion that is accepted by Morton as facts in order to discredit Lake.

Instead of cultivating friendship with spiritualists and hypnotists, Lake at several instances confronted them in public and humiliated their supposed powers Lindsay, , Morton also does not provide any documentation for the 'rumblings in AFM circles' and no such documentation exists. After his wife's death several accusations against Lake were made of conducting adulterous relationships with women in his congregation Burger and Nel , Morton a, is correct in stating that the leadership of the AFM investigated these rumours and accusations against Lake.

The results of the investigations were noted in minutes of the AFM and Lake was exonerated on all counts Burger and Nel , Morton's a, contention is that as a result of these accusations Lake lost significant support when many Pentecostal newspapers refused to print witnesses about healings from his office, and many white members of the AFM left to join other Pentecostal churches.

None of these remarks are documented by Morton in any way, an unacceptable practice of making conclusions without any proof.

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As was shown, Morton utilises sources from newspapers that were critical about Dowie and newspaper reports about the opinion of Bowie when he left Lake. In most instances statements are not substantiated by any historical references. In this way the historian discredits Lake as well as the churches that flow from his work, as demonstrated by the way Morton a, ends his article, with a reference from the atheist journalist Christopher Hitchens , that such a story about the founder of a religious movement demonstrates what happens when a plain racket turns into a serious religion before our eyes.

Allen, D.

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Revival: A classic Pentecostal view. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 27 2 : Alvarsson, J. The Bible, Pentecostalism, and magic. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association. Anderson, A.

Moya: The Holy Spirit in an African context. Pretoria: Unisa. Bazalwane: African Pentecostals in South Africa. African Pentecostal churches and concepts of power.

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African Initiatives in Christian Mission. Pretoria: University of South Africa. African Reformation: African initiated churches in the 20th century. Anderson , A. Towards a Pentecostal missiology for the majority world. Spreading fires: The missionary nature of early Pentecostalism. London: SCM. African Pentecostalism. In Handbook of Pentecostal spirituality.

Edited by A. Stewart, William Joseph Seymour.