Pentecostal Perspective Research Articles

Kärkkäinen's spirit and salvation: A female pentecostal appraisal

AbstractSpirit and Salvation is the fourth volume of a constructive theology series by Professor Veli‐Matti Kärkkäinen. It is a continuation of Kärkkäinen's impressive scholarship in Pneumatology and offers a fine example of his inclusive methodology. Especially important and informative is the section regarding spiritual powers and cosmology, which provides for an ecumenical audience a healthy understanding of demonic powers. Experience is one epistemological factor in Kärkkäinen's work, which is observed through methodology. An alternative way to approach theological method, from the female pentecostal perspective, which regards experience as important, is offered as an option or a continuation to Kärkkäinen's scholarship.

A European theological pentecostal perspective to bivocational ministry

ABSTRACT The practice where ordained ministers carryout their vocation role alongside another non-ministry oriented vocation is common in many church traditions today. Much of the existing dialogue and literature on the subject of bivocational ministry stems from the perspective of the Church of England and American Baptist churches. In this paper, the author adds to the conversation offer some insights on contemporary Pentecostal perspectives from a European context by drawing from the findings of an empirical survey involving European Pentecostals scholars. The essay sheds light on the label of bivocational ministry, its biblical and theological basis, and practices in the context of the European Pentecostal Theological Association.

‘Pentecost with signs’: historical and theological reflections on Spirit baptism from a British and wider European perspective

ABSTRACT Baptism in the Holy Spirit has been central to classical Pentecostal traditions, but its ongoing importance in Pentecostal theology and practice is increasingly questioned. This article explores the common three ideas associated with the classical Pentecostal doctrine, namely, the beliefs that it is (1) a subsequent experience to conversion, (2) accompanied by tongues as initial evidence and (3) given for the purpose of empowerment for witness. The article does so by looking at the broader nature, signs, and purpose of Spirit baptism from a British and wider European classical Pentecostal perspective. The underlying argument is that the fullness of the Spirit experienced by the first generation of Pentecostals in Europe seems to have been spiritually deeper, theologically richer, and practically more inclusive than stated by some of the later doctrinal articulations. This has important theological implications for contemporary formulations of the Pentecostal doctrine of Spirit baptism.

Introduction to the Special Theme: Pentecostalism and Spiritual Formation

The last thirty years have seen significant developments in Pentecostal studies. Among them are a broader understanding of key Pentecostal symbols such as Spirit baptism, glossolalia, and eschatology; the grounding of Pentecostal experience in the larger spiritual tradition; and the development of pneumatological perspectives on various theological and practical concerns. The articles dealing with spiritual formation from a Pentecostal perspective are examples of some of these new developments.

Pentecost as Facet of the Church-in-Mission or Culmination of the Missio Dei? A Pentecostal Renewing of Bosch’s (Reformed) Mission Theology

David Bosch’s Transforming Mission remains a landmark work now over a quarter of a century after its initial publication. With only one formal missiological response from the Pentecostal scholarly community to date, this essay seeks further reconsideration perhaps less from a strictly classical Pentecostal perspective than from one that takes the Day of Pentecost as a starting point for mission theology in the present ecclesial dispensation. Hermeneutical, historiographical, and theological contributions are offered, each intended to enrich and perhaps even fulfill the practically inexhaustible potential of our Reformed South African New Testament scholar’s legacy.

Early High Christology in Oneness Pentecostal Perspective

Abstract There is a substantial consensus for the emergence of a high or divine Christology very early and from a Jewish context. Based on insights from Oneness Pentecostalism, the New Testament evidence for early high Christology is best explained within the context of exclusive monotheism by a robust concept of incarnation and a duality of divine transcendence and immanence rather than incipient binitarianism or trinitarianism.

A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets: A Pentecostal Perspective, by Rick Wadholm, Jr

A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets: A Pentecostal Perspective, by Rick Wadholm, Jr

Water Baptism in Pentecostal Perspective: A Bibliographic Evaluation

Situated within the larger conversation surrounding Pentecostal sacramentality, this study seeks to trace the development of water baptism throughout Pentecostal scholarship by reviewing the major voices within the field. Th is review also seeks to expose prevailing themes, key influences, and new developments. Th e outcome is a recommendation that interests and concerns have changed over time, offering Pentecostal theology new opportunities.

Review of Wolfgang Vondey’s Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel

Wolfgang Vondey’s Pentecostal Theology is a creative, constructive, and far ranging contribution to the development of Pentecostal theology. Grounded in the Pentecostal experience of the full gospel, it provides both a fundamental Pentecostal theology and a Pentecostal perspective on major categories of systematic theology. The book marks a new phase of efforts to develop a comprehensive or systematic Pentecostal theology by starting with Pentecostal concerns and developing a theology in terms of them. This review focuses on Vondey’s discussions of creation (ch. 7) and theological anthropology (ch. 8), in which he argues that a Pentecostal theology of creation and eschatology does not conclude with God razing the world, but with the Spirit’s renewing creation. Furthermore, although Spirit baptism transforms the individual, the purpose of that individual transformation is to lead beyond the self and to create a community of sanctified life. Spirit baptism leads those who receive it into the world to live for all people.

Dreams and Visions as Welcoming Spaces for Interfaith Dialogue

This essay argues for the missiological significance of dreams and visions (D/Vs) as mediators of new, welcoming spaces for engaging the religious other. The discussion suggests a correlation between two important conversations, that of the church envisioning the role of Christianity in the midst of religious plurality, and that of anthropologists and dream researchers who point to D/Vs as valued experiences in religions of the world. In light of the research on the value of dreams and visions in spirituality, how might D/V experiences, narrations, and interpretations provide bridges for interfaith dialogue? Keeping in view the value of D/Vs for spirituality, this paper offers a distinctly Pentecostal perspective with the following thesis: When D/V experiences are assessed for their spiritual value within a pneumatological re-envisioning of missiology and soteriology, the possibility of their significance for fostering welcoming spaces for interfaith dialogue becomes apparent.

Prophetic witness in weakness: A response to Prof Robert Vosloo from a Pentecostal perspective

In his article about the prophetic witness of the church, Vosloo emphasises the necessity that it should always be done in solidarity with society to represent the perspective of weakness as a form of performative resistance. In response to Vosloo, this article utilises a Pentecostal perspective to think about the church’s prophetic witness. ‘Prophecy’ means something else for Pentecostals. They hold a non-cessationist or continuationist approach to the Bible, implying that they are committed to a Spirit-centred, miracle-affirming, praise-oriented version of Christian faith where prophets still play an important role. The role of the prophet is defined in two ways: bringing a word from God related to the present situation, and engaging in prophetic politics to help solve society’s challenges.

Kvinnelige ledere i kirken

Female Leadership in the Church. A Pentecostal Perspective 
 This study discusses the question of whether women may lead on every level in a Christian church, from a Pentecostal hermeneutical perspective. It offers a short historical introduction to how female leadership has been understood and practiced in the Pentecostal movement, with a particular focus on the Norwegian context. The study argues that a theological debate regarding female leadership is still both necessary and fruitful for both sociological and theological reasons. The authors suggest that in general, a Pentecostal hermeneutic should not only accentuate propositional theology but also give weight to narrative theology, including paradigmatic experiences that may be identified in the biblical stories. Through an examination of female leaders in the biblical narratives, it is demonstrated that female leadership is both described and encouraged. The study also discusses objections to female leadership based on certain Pauline texts and concludes that these texts do not represent a general rejection of female leadership in the church.

The Wind Blows Gently and Fiercely: A Pentecostal Perspective on Love and Anger

The Wind Blows Gently and Fiercely: A Pentecostal Perspective on Love and Anger

Greening the Apocalypse

While Pentecostal theologians have lately begun examining the relationship between Pentecostal theology and ecology, little attention has been devoted to exploring the relationship between Pentecostal eschatology and ecotheology. In response, this study explores how wider Pentecostal eschatology can provide fresh opportunities for developing a Pentecostal eco-eschatology. In sum, I converge the eschatological contributions of Peter Althouse, Frank Macchia, and Larry McQueen on the point that the old earth is not annihilated at Christ's second coming, but is it is transformed into the new earth. I take ecotheological matters further by addressing the issues that emerge from a distinctly Pentecostal perspective - thoroughly pneumatological and praxis oriented. The result is an original, constructive eco-eschatological contribution to Pentecostal scholarship.

Baptized in the Spirit and Fire Christology and Pneumatology in Pentecostal Perspective

Baptized in the Spirit and Fire Christology and Pneumatology in Pentecostal Perspective

Prayer for Rain: A Pentecostal Perspective from Kenya

AbstractNairobi, the capital city of Kenya, has a population of 3.5 million people. The concentration of Pentecostal and charismatic churches in Nairobi, as in other African cities, has more than doubled since the 1970s. The Kenya meteorological department in June 2016 forecast poor short rains in 2016. By December 2016, the Thika Dam (Ndakaini), which provides 85 percent of the water used in Nairobi, was below the 50 percent level. This led the Nairobi water and sewerage company to issue detailed water‐rationing programmes effective 1 January 2017. With dry taps across the city, actual effects of depressed rains were visible. Using fieldwork data, this paper examines the response, if any, of three Pentecostal churches in Nairobi in two separate month‐long periods, July 2016 and January 2017, to the meteorological department and Nairobi water and sewerage alerts. Three services for each Pentecostal church were sampled, bringing the total number of church services to nine. From fieldwork data, a vibrant African Pentecostal eco‐theology emerges, which is the greening of all of God's creation on earth. Using typologies available for defining the relationship between human beings and nonhuman nature identified within public theology discourse, I find that two of the congregations align themselves with utilitarian anthropocentrism and nature‐centred approaches, while the other defies plausible positioning.

Model of theological education and pastoral formation: A Pentecostal perspective

This paper seeks to outline and evaluate four models of theological education in the history of the Church. It then focuses on recent developments in theological education in Ghana that exposes the tension and challenges among the various models. After this the paper introduces a fifth model which is being developed at the Pentecost Theological Seminary in Ghana.

The notion of the Holy Spirit as Paraclete from a Pentecostal perspective

Pentecostals share an interest in the work and person of the Holy Spirit although not at the cost of a well-developed Christology. The term Paraclete (παράκλητος) appears four times in the Gospel according to John in reference to the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), and once in 1 John 2:1 in reference to Jesus. The question the article asks is: What is meant by the notion of the Spirit as Paraclete from a primarily Pentecostal perspective? To answer the question it is necessary to ask where John’s Paraclete fits into the pneumatology of the early Christian Church before investigating the different contexts in the Johannine literature and what they suggest about the Spirit (and Jesus) as Paraclete. Lastly the meaning of the term in the Graeco-Roman world of the 1st century CE is observed before some suggestions are made for interpreting Paraclete, specifically in forensic terms.

Cultivating Disciples in The Way of Jesus Christ

In this essay Christian education is described as a Spirit-filled pattern of cultivating disciples of Jesus Christ. Drawing upon the insights of Dr. Yonggi Cho as well as the theology of the Reformed and Eastern Orthodox traditions, this essay develops a Christocentric, pneumatological ecclesiology that is particularly well-suited to a Pentecostal perspective. To think of the church as the ‘body of Christ’ helps us understand what discipleship is most fundamentally so we can organize educational efforts to cultivate disciples in the power of the Spirit. The process of cultivating discipleship is theologically reframed as Incarnational and Trinitarian. That is, the content and practices of Christian education are derived directly from the life of Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Logos of the Triune God. As a unique contribution to Pentecostal ecclesiology, it is proposed that the Eucharist provides a clear and historical pattern of the structure, order, and meaning of the divine life by which discipleship can be cultivated. A Eucharistic pattern?gathering, offering, sharing, extending?is developed as a way to understand and organize the myriad ways that we educate and develop disciples so that our educational efforts are more theologically coherent, practically consistent, and missionally fruitful.

Kirke og menighed i Grundtvigs teologi og kirkepolitik 1806-61

Kirke og menighed i Grundtvigs teologi og kirkepolitik 1806-61