The Statement of Fundamental Truths has been the doctrinal standard for the Assemblies of God since 1916. The 16 Fundamental Truths lay out the AG’s positions on its beliefs in short statements of biblical truths. Studying these truths has been an interest of mine for over a decade. Much of my dissertation research on eschatology involved exploring their origins, expression and revision over the years.

Recently, General Superintendent, Doug Clay, sat down with Dr. Allen Tennison, Theological Council, to discuss the SFT. This is one of the best recaps of our doctrine that I have seen. I love the way Dr. Tennison outlines the statements and discusses their importance. Check out the video here:

In addition to these excellent insights, I want to share some interesting insights that are not always well known. Here are some of the facts about the Statement of Fundamental Truths I thought were interesting.

There Were Originally 17 Statements.

When the SFT was ratified in the 1916 General Council, it has 17 statements not 16 as we have today. In 1920, the SFT was revised and the number of statements was shortened from seventeen to sixteen when the “Essentials of the Godhead” was moved to the end as an addendum. Later, in 1933, the addendum was incorporated into the statement on the “Adorable Godhead.” In 1961, several of the articles were combined or separated including Water Baptism and Lord’s Supper were combined into one and Salvation and Fall of Man were broken up into different sections, but kept remained 16 in number.

It Was Intentionally Limited

The founders did not see the SFT as a divinely inspired, inerrant document. Instead, SFT “Preamble” outlines some principles by which the Statement should be understood. First, it emphasized that the list of doctrines was “not intended as a creed for the Church” but to establish unity among the fellowship. Second, it pointed out they were “statements” and not theological treatises intending to outline “all truth in the Bible.” This ensured the liberty of ministers to disagree about issues non-essential to gospel ministry. Third, they were not making infallible statements, and the “human phraseology employed in such statement is not inspired nor contended.” This meant that the statements were subject to shaping and reshaping by the Council as the “present needs” of the fellowship dictated. The limited and contextualized nature of the statement is one of its strong points.

It has been Revised Multiple Times

Although the specific doctrines addressed by this document have remained the same, revisions to the titles, wording, and content took place in 1917, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1961, and 1969, and 2009. In 1920, the number of articles was reduced from 17 to 16. In 1927, the statements were substantially revised with updated titles for several articles and substantial rewording of many of the statements. In 1961, nearly every article was revised in titles and contents based on issues in the modern era. In 1969, another major revision took place to update the language of the Church and Ministry to accommodate the new emphasis on the three-fold mission adopted by the General Council. Other minor changes were made in 1983, 1995, and 1999. So while the doctrine has not changed, the statement itself has been revised and updated quite often. (For more on the history of the changes, see this article from Glenn Ghor.)

Bell and Kerr were the Major Architects

Most histories point to D. W. Kerr as the author of the SFT. However, this is not quite accurate. First, it was a committee of people who put the list of doctrines together including E. N. Bell, S. A. Jamieson, T. K. Leonard, D. W. Kerr, and Stanley Frodsham. Second, while Kerr is credited with the Trinitarian doctrines, my research shows that earlier statements by E. N. Bell in 1914 and A. P. Collins in 1915 contained much of the language and doctrine that encompasses the rest of the statement. Bell, in particular, should be credited with its creation.

The Gifts of the Spirit

One interesting observation is that the SFT has never had a statement on the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12), like it does Spirit-baptism and speaking in tongues. The original statement on Spirit baptism lists it as one of the benefits, along with effective ministry. The statement on Evidence mentions the gifts of the Spirit, but only as differentiated from the evidence of tongues. In 1969, mention of the gifts was added to the greatly expanded statement on Church and its Mission. Even with these, the gifts of the Spirit are mentioned in passing, with little focus on the nature of the gifts themselves.

Positions on the Tribulation and Rapture

Perhaps the most interesting observations about the SFT is what it doesn’t say about eschatology. As I point out in Imagining the Future, the SFT has never had a position on the tribulation. It clearly affirms the premillennial coming of Jesus, but a tribulation position is absent. Second, in 1925, the phrase “rapture of the church” was removed from the Blessed Hope article. I argue the ambiguity was intentional because several of the early AG leaders had diverse rapture views, including Kerr who believed there was a pre, mid, and post tribulation rapture.

There are many other things I could point out, but these give a glimpse into this dynamic document that has guided the AG for over a century.