Few theologians or educators made a greater impact on the Assemblies of God than Peter Christopher (“P.C.”) Nelson (1868–1942).

Nelson was born in Denmark, immigrating to the U.S. with his family at age 4. He graduated from Rochester Theological Seminary in New York and became a leading Baptist evangelist, pastor and writer.

Following his Spirit baptism in 1920, Nelson joined the Assemblies of God. He founded Southwestern Bible School (now Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas) and emerged as one of the most articulate Pentecostal theologians of his era.

The Early Years

Nelson did not become a theological powerhouse overnight. Difficult years of ministry and education stirred his heart and cultivated his abilities.

Sensing a calling to preach at age 20, Nelson enrolled at Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago. However, Nelson struggled because of a weak academic foundation, so he switched to a university program that would help prepare him for seminary.

After his marriage in 1893, Nelson dropped out of school and took a pastorate in Iowa to support his wife. Yet he continued to feel a tug toward furthering his education, which Nelson believed was necessary for effective preaching.

In 1899, Nelson resigned his pastorate and took his wife and three small children to New York, where he attended Rochester Theological Seminary. There Nelson studied theology and languages and became missionary department editor of The Baptist Record magazine.

Nelson studied under Augustus Strong, one of the most notable Baptist theologians of the time. He adopted Strong’s beliefs that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and a Christian needs the Holy Spirit to understand Scripture.

Anointed Ministry

Although his ministry did not always go according to plan, Nelson learned to pivot and place his future in God’s hands. Upon graduating seminary in 1902, Nelson sought to become a missionary. Finding no open door for missions, however, he accepted another pastorate in Iowa.

In 1904, Nelson launched into evangelistic ministry and became a leading Baptist evangelist in the Midwest. He assembled an entourage of evangelists and musicians known as the Nelson Evangelistic Party and held large, extended revival campaigns in churches, city auditoriums, opera houses, and tents across dozens of states. God anointed Nelson’s ministry, and local newspapers reported that thousands of people converted to Christ.

World War I brought Nelson’s revival ministry to a close. In 1917, Nelson became a camp pastor at an army base in Michigan. Two years later, he returned to local church ministry, assuming the pastorate of Conley Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit.

Biblical Foundations

A group of Baptist elders interviewing Nelson as a pastoral candidate once asked him, “Would you stay with the Baptists or stand on the Bible?”

Nelson responded, “I will stick with the Bible, no matter what becomes of the Baptists!”

At the time, Nelson had no intention of leaving the Baptists. However, it was Nelson’s bedrock belief in the authority of Scripture that eventually led him to embrace Pentecostalism.

Following a miraculous healing, Nelson made a promise to God that he would tell the world about what happened to him.

Two experiences during 1920 challenged Nelson’s assumptions about how he read the Bible. Like many evangelicals at the time, Nelson read his experiences — or lack of experiences — into Scripture, assuming the cessation of certain biblical spiritual gifts and doubting the existence of modern-day miracles.

While having dinner with friends, Nelson heard someone speaking in an unknown tongue. Afterward, Nelson began to search the Scriptures and concluded he could not biblically support his belief that such gifts had ceased.

Several months later, an automobile struck Nelson and severely injured him. Following a miraculous healing, Nelson made a promise to God that he would tell the world about what happened to him.

Pentecostal Evangelist

Nelson kept his promise. Within a few weeks, he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Nelson resigned his pastorate and returned to evangelistic ministry.

Hundreds of people accepted Christ or experienced healing at Nelson’s first campaign in Wichita, Kansas, during the spring of 1921.

Nelson was not alone in his spiritual pilgrimage. Several other well-known Baptist ministers became Pentecostal at about this time, including William Keeney Towner, J.N. Hoover, and Mae Eleanor Frey. Nelson’s ministry received widespread support from Baptists, Pentecostals, and Christians from other denominations.

After engaging in energetic ministry as an independent evangelist for several years, Nelson recognized the value of belonging to an organization that could provide networking opportunities and structures to help advance the young Pentecostal movement.

Upon joining the Assemblies of God in 1925, Nelson almost immediately began providing leadership within the Fellowship, which had formed only 11 years earlier.

Pentecostal Educator

A long-standing advocate of solid biblical training for ministers, Nelson started Southwestern Bible School in Enid, Oklahoma, in 1927. He also operated Southwestern Press, a publishing house that churned out numerous theological books for his students and the broader Pentecostal movement.

Nelson’s linguistic abilities were legendary. As a child of immigrants, he learned English and several Scandinavian languages at a young age. In college and seminary, Nelson concentrated on the study of foreign languages. He believed learning languages would help him get close to immigrants and provide opportunities for sharing the gospel.

According to a 1915 biographical sketch, Nelson had a reading knowledge of 25 languages (primarily biblical, classical, and European) and could conduct religious services in several of them.

The difficult years of training paid off. Nelson’s theological training and mastery of Hebrew and Greek provided Pentecostals with solid biblical scholarship. His prolific pen yielded seven major theological works, many of which were published in multiple editions, and a number of smaller booklets.

Nelson’s 1934 translation of Eric Lund’s Hermeneutics from Spanish into English remained a standard Bible college text for decades.

Most of Nelson’s writings were first published in the midst of the Great Depression, during the final 10 years of his life. Bible Doctrines (1934), the most influential of Nelson’s books, aimed to provide a simple explanation of the AG Statement of Fundamental Truths.

Eighty-eight years later and now in its eighth English-language edition, Bible Doctrines holds the distinction of remaining continuously in print longer than any other current Gospel Publishing House title. The volume has also been translated into numerous other languages, making it one of the most widely read AG theological textbooks around the world.

Nelson worked long hours and slept little, dedicating himself to preaching, teaching, writing, and carrying out his administrative duties. These labors took a toll on his health, and Nelson literally worked himself to death. He died on Oct. 26, 1942, but Nelson’s influence continues through the people his ministry touched, his writings, and Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

This article appears in the Winter 2023 issue of Influence magazine.