# Third Wave of the Holy Spirit The **theological framework that supplied the NAR's founding historical narrative**. "Third Wave" is the term [[C. Peter Wagner]] used (and popularized through his 1988 book of that name) to describe what he identified as a distinct, post-Pentecostal, post-charismatic move of the Holy Spirit beginning in the 1980s and continuing into the present. The term divides modern charismatic Christianity into three successive "waves": 1. **First Wave (1901–1960s): Classical Pentecostalism** — the Azusa Street Revival (1906) and the rise of Pentecostal denominations (Assemblies of God, Church of God in Christ, Foursquare). Theology emphasized speaking in tongues as evidence of Spirit baptism. 2. **Second Wave (1960s–1980s): The Charismatic Renewal** — the infusion of Pentecostal experience into mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Theology emphasized the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" as a deepening of ordinary Christian experience available to any believer. 3. **Third Wave (1980s–present)** — Wagner's own categorization: a distinctive move of the Spirit in non-denominational, independent, and evangelical settings that *rejected* the Pentecostal label and *included* the full range of charismatic gifts as normative for ordinary Christian life. Signs, wonders, prophecy, healing, and apostolic authority are central. ## The John Wimber Catalyst The Third Wave's central early figure was **John Wimber** (1934–1997), founder of the Vineyard movement. Wimber's "power evangelism" — evangelism accompanied by signs and wonders — and his MC510 course at Fuller Seminary (co-taught with Wagner) helped catalyze Wagner's framework. Bill Johnson's Bethel theology descends in significant part from the Wimber/Vineyard lineage. The Vineyard movement itself ultimately split over some of the Third Wave's more extreme expressions (the "Toronto Blessing" of 1994 was a particular fracture point), with some streams continuing the Wimber trajectory and others — notably [[Bill Johnson]]'s [[Bethel Church]] — pushing significantly further into signs-and-wonders theology. ## Wagner's Contribution Wagner's book *The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit* (1988) and its successors accomplished several things for the movement: - **Named a phenomenon.** Before Wagner, the various non-Pentecostal charismatic expressions (Vineyard, Calvary Chapel elements, independent charismatic churches) had no shared identity. "Third Wave" gave them one. - **Historicized the movement.** By positioning the new expression as the third step in a century-long providential sequence, Wagner gave the movement a sense of destiny and purpose. - **Distinguished from Pentecostalism.** The Third Wave label explicitly separated the movement from classical Pentecostal denominations — important because many Third Wave participants were middle-class suburban evangelicals who didn't want to identify with the Pentecostal cultural tradition. - **Prepared the ground for the NAR.** The Third Wave framework eventually evolved (in Wagner's own writing) into the [[New Apostolic Reformation]] — the claim that the Third Wave was restoring the *governmental* offices of apostle and prophet, not just the charismatic experience. ## Theological Distinctives The Third Wave as a framework emphasized: - **Signs and wonders as normative**, not exceptional - **The availability of all spiritual gifts to ordinary believers**, not just credentialed clergy - **Experiential encounter with God** as central to Christian life - **Church growth through supernatural power**, not just preaching or programs - **Decentralized, non-denominational institutional form** These features still characterize the post-NAR charismatic landscape. ## Why It Matters for the KB The Third Wave is important for the KB as the **narrative infrastructure** under the NAR. When NAR leaders describe their movement as "the next move of God" or "the restoration of apostolic Christianity," they are working within the Third Wave historical schema. Understanding this frame is essential for reading the movement's self-presentation: it does not describe itself as a *new* religious movement but as a *recovery* of authentic biblical Christianity that had been lost. This framing has significant political implications — the movement positions its political activities as a return to how Christianity is supposed to function, not as a novel departure. It also makes internal critique difficult: opposing NAR innovations is framed as opposing the Spirit's current movement. ## See Also - [[New Apostolic Reformation]] - [[Apostolic-Prophetic Movement]] - [[New Apostolic Reformation Ecosystem]] - [[C. Peter Wagner]] - [[Bill Johnson]] - [[Mike Bickle]]