““behind the preservation of doctrine is that believers require solid answers in the face of erroneous doctrine. When threats to the faith arose after 1916, the General Council moved quickly to resolve doctrinal questions. In 1917 it adapted Article 6 of the Statement of Fundamental Truths to refer to tongues as the “initial physical sign” (emphasis added).49 When the hermeneutical issue over speaking in tongues as necessary evidence of Spirit baptism resurfaced in 1918, the General Council declared it to be “our distinctive testimony.”50 In the next few years, several cogent articles by Kerr appeared in the Pentecostal Evangel, among other published responses.51””
