Paul Bettex

[This text is largely from Rodgers 2015 (see sources), to which the reader is directed]

Paul Bettex (1864-1916) was a leading pentecostal linguist and missionary. Born in Switzerland, Bettex was the son of a distinguished Christian educator and theologian, Jean Frederick Bettex. The elder Bettex, an evangelical Huguenot, contributed a chapter to the noted series of books, The Fundamentals (1910-1915), which affirmed orthodox Protestant beliefs against the emergence of theological liberalism. Despite his evangelical heritage, Paul Bettex did not make a personal commitment to Christ in his youth. Bettex studied at the University of Geneva, various Italian schools, and the Sorbonne. He studied ancient languages and political science, intending to enter the French diplomatic corps.

While at the Sorbonne, Bettex was struck by the courage displayed by young women associated with the Salvation Army in Paris. He began attending Salvation Army meetings and converted to the Salvation Army under Catherine Booth’s persuasion. Following in his father’s footsteps, Bettex felt drawn to ministry. He moved to America, where he attended Princeton Theological Seminary and pastored several churches. According to Frodsham, Bettex spoke in tongues while consecrating his life to God at Princeton in 1890. (King 2009) He also served as a missionary in Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil in the 1890s.

Bettex’s linguistic training served him well on the mission field; he was proficient in 13 languages. He put his scholarly and theological abilities into practice by living amongst the people to whom he ministered. Stories of the hardships he faced in South America circulated among American Christians, and he returned in 1903 as a missionary hero.

Upon his return to America, Bettex taught at Central Holiness University (Oskaloosa, Iowa). He attended meetings at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, joined the ranks of the Pentecostals, and in 1910 headed for China as a missionary. Bettex published a periodical, Canton Pentecost, of which there are no known surviving copies. His wife, Nellie, died in China in 1912. In 1916, Bettex disappeared and was never again seen alive. Chinese Christians expended great energies in searching for Bettex and finally found his body, buried six feet under the ground with three bullet holes in his chest.

During his missionary work in South America, Bettex wrote, “And the more truly a Christian is a Christian the hotter rages the battle about him. All heaven and hell take part in his fate. Here there is no place for amateur Christians. It is a fight for life and death … Few are the martyrs on whose heads crowns have been lighted while they were asleep. Their preparatory school has ever been sorrow, suffering, poverty, year-long fulfilment of duty.” For Bettex, these were not mere words. He lived and died in absolute surrender to Jesus Christ.

Stanley Frodsham, long-time editor of the Pentecostal Evangel, took it upon himself to document the life story of Bettex, the fallen Pentecostal missionary hero. Frodsham wrote a tribute to Bettex in the February 25, 1928, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel and later wrote a book, Wholly for God: A Call to Complete Consecration, Illustrated by the Story of Paul Bettex, a Truly Consecrated Soul (Gospel Publishing House, 1934).

Sources

King, Gerald Wayne, Disfellowshiped: Pentecostal Responses to Fundamentalism in the United States, 1906-1943, University of Birmingham, 2009.

Rodgers, Darrin, 'Paul Bettex: Early Pentecostal Linguist, Missionary, Martyr', Flower Pentecostal Heritage Centre Blog, 26 Feburary 2015, https://ifphc.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/paul-bettex-early-pentecostal-linguist-missionary-martyr/ and 'This week in AG History', https://news.ag.org/Features/This-Week-in-AG-History-Feb-25-1928

Strippoli, Giuseppe. Paul Bettex: missionario Pentecostale, martire in Cina. [Italy : s.n.], 2022.