CYBERJOURNAL FOR PENTECOSTAL-CHARISMATIC RESEARCH
Willis Collins Hoover, History of the Pentecostal Revival
in Chile translation and personal memoir by Mario G. Hoover (Santiago: Imprenta Eben-Ezer, 2000). 293 pps.
ISBN: 0-9678759-0-0.
The Pentecostal revival in Chile
was one of the defining moments for several groups. For the Methodist Episcopal Church, it marked a definitive
missiological decision to avoid revivalism and Pentecostalism and to exorcise those
elements from its midst; for Chileans, it demonstrated that a Chilean church
could survive and prosper; for Pentecostals it was proof that Pentecostalism
was more complex than a formula of American revivalist experience. In the midst of the events of 1909-1911 (and
until his death in 1936) was the towering figure of Willis Collins Hoover. Hoover had gone to Chile as a missionary
with the Holiness “Self-Supporting Mission of William Taylor.” This was a
Wesleyan/Holiness mission enterprise that was later incorporated into the
Methodist Episcopal Church under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Mission
Board. After the revival broke out,
Hoover was forced to leave the Methodist Episcopal Church. Then, influenced by the Chileans who had
experienced Pentecostal Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and encouraged by his wife,
Hoover accepted the call to pastor the fledgling Pentecostal church and to
guide it in its new reality.
Despite the
worldwide fame of Hoover and the importance of the revival, his book discussing
those events, published in Spanish in 1930, was not translated for seventy
years! There are probably interesting
reasons why that translation was delayed, but now thanks to Hoover’s grandson,
Mario G. Hoover, those whose Spanish is not sufficient to read the original can
not have access to the narrative. Parts
of that text were published as contributions to the periodical El Chile
Pentecostal before they were gathered into a book. The book is rich in primary sources. Extensive quotations are provided from the
documents that deal with Hoover’s judgement and condemnation by the Bishop,
Methodist Episcopal missionaries and Mission Board of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
However, this book is far more than
a translation of Hoover’s Avivamiento.
Also included are translations of five theological articles written by
Hoover and published in Chile. Three of
these were editorials in the periodical El Chile Pentecostal. These essays deal with theological
themes. The first, “Ecclesia—Church
(pps. 130-137), defends the separation of the Pentecostal churches from the
other churches. The second, “Christian
Love,” (pps. 138-144) argues against ecumenical involvement with those who
belittle the Pentecostal revival. The
third, “The Poison of the Old Serpent,” (pps. 145-151) argues that the upper
classes are not privileged with either regard to goodness or evangelism. He summarized his thesis: “[God] always wants that our faith be not in
the wisdom of men but in the power of God (p. 150).” The other two articles are translations of articles published in
the periodical Fuego de Pentecostes.
The first, entitled “El Chile Pentecostal,” discussed the origin and
development of the periodical that served as the primary Pentecostal organ of
communication and theological reflection for decades. The second article, “Who Are these Pentecostals,” gives Hoover’s
perspective on the Pentecostal movement as well as autobiographical data.
Finally, and most importantly,
there is the personal reflection of Mario Hoover on his Grandfather Willis
Hoover. Mario’s father was Carlos A.
Gómez who married Hoover’s oldest daughter, Helen. When Mario was but a child his father died and he and his siblings
were raised as the children of Willis Hoover and adopted his name. Thus Mario Hoover’s first seventeen years
were spent in the home of Willis Hoover.
The recollections, some telling, others poignant, others ordinary,
reveal aspects of Willis Hoover that we could otherwise not know. The resulting picture does not change the standard
historiography, but it does nuance the figure of Hoover. Willis Hoover died on Mario’s eighteenth
birthday. A useful selection of photographs is included (pp. 276-288).
While the
book is of significant usefulness, the true added value of this translation is
the memoirs of Mario G. Hoover. These
add significantly to our knowledge both of the Pentecostal revival in Chile and
of the revivalist. The translated
volume will now hopefully find its way to the desks of scholars of
Pentecostalism. Despite the fact that
it has been available for seven decades, North American or European scholars
have rarely cited it. It is hoped that
this will now be changed. These same
scholars will be frustrated at the lack of full citations for the articles
translated. It will also perhaps give
impetus to new scholarly work on the beginnings of Pentecostalism in
Chile. North American and European
scholars who seek to classify all of Pentecostalism as an American export need
to learn from this volume that the issue of the origins of Pentecostalism is
quite more complicated than has generally been allowed.
Dr. David Bundy
Christian Theological Seminary
Indianapolis, IN 46308
USA