A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
going to movies, and public swimming. Women did not
cut their hair or wear pants. No one was accepted for
membership if he or she wore any jewelry, including a
wedding band. 173
The Finished Work Trinitarians were not as strict as
the Second Work Trinitarians, but even so the Assemblies
of God was quite conservative on matters of lifestyle,
dress, and amusements in comparison to the rest of society.
Over the years, it has abandoned most of its outward
expressions of holiness, however, as AG historian Edith
Blumhofer has explained: 174
In 1914, Pentecostals generally agreed with other
fundamentalist evangelicals about what separation
meant: modesty in dress and appearance, as well as
abstinence from alcohol, smoking, gambling, dancing,
theater attendance, and other such amusements. . . .
While some matters were left to individual conscience,
there was a general agreement about acceptable
and unacceptable behavior.
As time passed, however, and cultural standards
changed, a new generation in the Assemblies of God
questioned what they saw as “legalism” in the older
generation. Although a range of “acceptable” behavior
(depending to some degree on geographical location)
still exists, Assemblies of God people are less outwardly
conspicuous in society than they once were.
Carl O’Guin, an AG minister in 1915, said the ministers
preached for people to dress modestly, but the people
“wanted to do it anyway; it was their frame of mind.”
Women wore long dresses and long sleeves and did not
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