A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
affirmed by majority vote, “The new birth (being ‘born
again’) includes a genuine repentance, water baptism in
Jesus’ name, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, evidenced
by speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.” 130
Let us turn to the two organizations that merged to
form the UPCI: the PCI and the PAJC. The first doctrinal
statement of the PMA, later renamed PCI, said, “The Bible
way of salvation is repentance toward God, faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ, obedience to the Word of God by
baptism in water (in Jesus’ name), and receiving the gift
of the Holy Ghost, as in Acts 2:4, 38.” 131 In the September
1929 issue of the Apostolic Herald, the voice of the PMA,
Goss stated that to be in the Christian church “one must
be baptized in the Holy Spirit,” but he felt that sins were
remitted before water baptism. 132 In the August 1930
issue of the Apostolic Herald, Farrow wrote that Acts
2:38 is the new birth. 133
In 1936, when discussing a possible merger with the
PCI, the PAJC convention insisted that the basis of union
be the following: “that baptism in water in Jesus’ name,
and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, with the initial evidence
of speaking in other tongues, be recognized as constituting
the new birth, and be accepted as one of our
fundamental doctrines.” A committee of PCI leaders
responded, however, that “the matter of the new birth be
left open to personal conviction.” 134
At the merger of these two groups in 1945, there were
still some differences of opinion on the new birth, but a
strong majority believed that the complete Acts 2:38
experience was necessary for salvation. S. W. Chambers,
who was elected general secretary at the merger, said
most ministers believed in the necessity of both water
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