Empowering love: Spirit baptism, divine power, and the pursuit of gender equity in Pentecostal-charismatic communities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing on feminist perspectives and pentecostal-charismatic pneumatology, this article suggests that understanding God's power as inclusive, life-giving love has the capacity to reshape gender roles and foster a more egalitarian future for both ecclesial and social spaces. It examines theological models that link God's power to hierarchical control as perpetuating gender inequalities and discrimination, suggesting that reframing divine empowerment might contribute to not only personal transformation, but also to oppressive structures or hegemonic control. The article then highlights pneumatological research which shows that the baptism of the Spirit, regarded through the framework of divine power as love, can be retrieved as a source for human flourishing. It concludes with a proposal for examining the connections of Spirit empowerment and divine love in light of gender oppression, suggesting that this may offer possibilities for feminist theological constructions.