Stanley Horton — shaper of Pentecostal theology
By Lois E. Olena
Dr. Stanley M. Horton’s life falls squarely within the last century of Pentecostalism and has profoundly impacted it. In 1916, just two years after the Assemblies of God was organized as a fellowship in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Horton was born to Harry and Myrle Horton in Huntington Park, California. Stanley’s mother was filled with the Spirit at age 11 in 1906 while visiting the Azusa Street Mission with her parents—Elmer Kirk Fisher and Clara Daisy Sanford Fisher—who eventually founded the Upper Room Mission just blocks from Azusa.
That same year, Stanley Horton’s father, Harry, was traveling across the country in an attempt to run from God. His travels brought him to California where he gloriously rededicated his life to God. After working with A. H. Argue in Winnipeg, Canada, and attending Bible school in Ohio, Harry traveled the country for three years as an evangelist—ending up in Los Angeles, where he served as associate to Fisher at the Upper Room Mission. Fisher turned over the Mission to Harry in 1914, and the next year Harry and Fisher’s daughter, Myrle, were married.
It was into this environment of early Pentecostalism that Stanley Horton was born. His earliest memories were of hearing “songs of joy, shouts of ‘Hallelujah!’ and much prayer” in that upstairs hall on Los Angeles Street. The Pentecostal fervor that characterized his early years has continued to be a hallmark of his nine decades. As Dr. George O. Wood noted at this year’s Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting where Horton was honored, “Stanley Horton’s life of service emerged from his deep involvement in the life of the Pentecostal church. … [he] was immersed in the cultural and religious milieu of the emerging Pentecostal movement.”
Not only was Horton immersed in Pentecostalism, but he continued to influence it in remarkable ways. Called to teach in 1940, Horton earned degrees at Gordon Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School; he went on to teach from 1945 to 1948 at Metropolitan Bible Institute, 1948 to 1978 at Central Bible College, and 1978 to 1991 at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS)—playing a central role in the evolution of AG higher education. The years since his “retirement” have witnessed his continued energies spent on Kingdom purposes.
Not one to sit back and pine away for the “good old days,” Horton has continued to address issues of concern to Pentecostals in each new generation, providing practical, biblical answers for tough questions. Dr. Robert Cooley, president emeritus and professor of Biblical Archaeology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has remarked that in his writings, Horton “modeled a biblical scholarship that was practically applied … a technical understanding of the biblical text but a remarkable way of translating that into a body of applied theology.”
In his writings, teachings and interaction with others, Horton became a quiet advocate for issues that were not always popular at the time, such as pacifism, higher education, improving race relations and encouraging women in ministry. Horton also supported Israel’s ongoing role in salvation history and took a non-dispensationalist approach to eschatology.
2008-2009 has been a year of recognition for this humble servant of God — an endowment at AGTS established in his honor (agts.edu/more/horton), the 2009 AG Heritage issue dedicated to him (ifphc.org/horton), the launching of a Horton lectureship series at Evangel University (evangel.edu/News/PressReleases/2008/0330HortonS.asp), the honors given him at the Society for Pentecostal Studies and numerous other venues. But to those who have been affected most by Stanley Horton, it is not his writings or teachings that mattered most; it was the acceptance, encouragement and love he showed.
Throughout the years, in addition to authoring many Pentecostal resources as well as influencing countless lives through his teaching, Horton has also lived what he espouses. Countless times he has stepped aside from his role as a leading Pentecostal scholar to be an encourager, enabler, advisor or simply a friend.
Because of Horton’s life of commitment to the God of Pentecost, personal integrity and life of graciousness, countless others are thriving in ministry today. With an influence multiplied exponentially around the globe, Stanley Horton stands as an example to this generation of a leader worth following. As Dr. Byron D. Klaus, AGTS president, has noted, in Horton’s story you see what “a long obedience in the same direction can yield.”
Editor’s note: Olena is the author of the newly released biography, Stanley M. Horton: Shaper of Pentecostal Theology. See ifphc.org/Horton for a free 39-page bibliography of Stanley Horton’s writings, compiled in conjunction with his newly released biography, available through Gospel Publishing House.