Spirit Baptism Research Articles

An Assessment of the Recent Change to the Doctrine of Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Australian Christian Churches

This article explores the revisions to the doctrinal statements of the Australian Christian Churches (ACC) completed in 2021. It will first briefly explore the development of the ACC from its inception to the current context, highlighting some of the historical developments in their theology that precipitated the recent review of their doctrinal statements. Second, the process undertaken by the ACC to review its doctrine will be described. Third, the outcome of the doctrinal review will be evaluated through the lens of Simon Chan’s ‘traditioning process’, focusing on the statement regarding the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Chan’s approach requires both retrieval (resourcement) of a community’s early ethos while updating (aggiornamento) their doctrinal statements to meet the needs of the current context. It will be observed that the changes to the ACC’s doctrine of Spirit baptism reflect a weak traditioning process.

Meningkatkan Pemahaman Mengenai Baptisan Kepada Pemuda di GBI Silangkitang

One of the important sacraments in Christianity is the sacrament of baptism. Different denominations or sects also have different understandings of baptism. GBI itself believes that baptism consists of two, namely water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism. In connection with the low understanding of youth at GBI Silangkitang regarding baptism, it is necessary to hold a seminar on the theme of baptism. Before this seminar was held, the writer conducted a literature review, so that the results of the research presented in the seminar had an adequate academic basis. The research results that have been presented in the seminar are that baptism is divided into two, namely water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism. Water baptism is a sign of obedience to God's word, water baptism must follow Christ's example, and water baptism is a sign of being united with the death and resurrection of Christ. Furthermore, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the baptism carried out by the Lord Jesus into the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is God's gift to give power to believers to carry out ministry according to the gifts of the Spirit received by believers and these gifts of the Spirit must be balanced with the fruit of the Spirit. Keywords: ,

Corporate Embodiment as the Pedagogical Foundation of the Pentecostal Tradition

Abstract This article examines the pedagogical foundations of Pentecostal theology that are responsible for shaping and sustaining this theological tradition. The formative mechanisms of the Pentecostal tradition are found in the embodied logic of corporately embedded patterns of spiritual practices formed around the “full gospel” of Jesus Christ. The article traces how the Pentecostal tradition emerges from and yields practices associated with the apostolic experience of Jesus intensified with Pentecost by categorizing the dominant corporate forms of embodying the doctrines of salvation, sanctification, Spirit baptism, divine healing, and the expectation of God’s kingdom. This typology suggests that the corporate embodiment of faith identifies most closely the particular contribution of the Pentecostal movement to the Christian life.

Black Pentecostal reflections on the inward-looking approach in classical Pentecostalism

ABSTRACT This article problematises the inward-looking approach adopted by classical Pentecostalism in a South African context. A literature review on White-led classical Pentecostal churches reveals that in their early development, these churches were inward-looking and only concentrated on their theology of Spirit baptism, evangelism, and eschatological expectations. This inward-looking approach made classical Pentecostalism passive in response to socio-economic and socio-political issues. Issues such as racial segregation and economic challenges are highlighted here to demonstrate classical Pentecostalism’s non-engagement. The aim of this article is the rationale the benefits for classical Pentecostal churches in broadening their ways of engaging with South African society. This can be done by learning from African Independent Pentecostal Churches whose theology on socio-economic and socio-political issues is exceedingly outward-looking. These lessons have implications for Blackness as they demonstrate that Black leaders can change their circumstances without the supervision of Whiteness.

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

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.

Peter Explains Spirit Baptism (Acts 11:13-18)

Spirit baptism is a commonly misunderstood doctrine. Typically, systematic theology provides an explanation of a doctrine by examining all the relevant texts on a topic and offering logical conclusions based upon those texts. However, systematic theology must be built upon sound biblical exegesis using a proper exegetical method. The modest aim of this article, then, is to use a proper exegetical method and provide sound biblical exegesis on one text that must be given its due weight in the debate about Spirit baptism.

“늦은 비 성령”에 대한 역사신학적 이해

This study is a historical-theological analysis of the understanding of the “Latter Rain” developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The understanding of the Latter Rain stems from the Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States in the 19th century. The Latter Rain in
 the Second Great Awakening and the subsequent Holiness Movement was presented as the concept of Holiness or Holy Spirit Baptism. In this process, Holiness-Pentecostalism expected the Latter Rain. Later, in the early 20th century, the Latter Rain Movement took place in the Pentecostal Movement, which was developed along with the gift of the tongue. The Adventists’ understanding of Latter Rain was influenced by the 19th century Holiness-Pentecostalism. White used the term “Latter Rain” without any specific explanation. She emphasized her understanding of the Latter Rain, which differed from Holiness-Pentecostalism, by linking the Latter Rain to the loud cry of the third angel. In the 1880s, the Adventist Church realized that the experience of the third angel's loud cry and the Latter Rain was imminent, and in 1888, the Minneapolis Session of the General Conference understood the announcement as the beginning of a loud cry and the Latter Rain. Consequently, in 1893, the Revival Movement through the Latter Rain took place at Battle Creek Church. The delay in the loud cry reduced the interest in the Latter Rain, and the Adventists waited for the true Latter Rain, defining the tongues and Pentecostal movements that occurred in the 20th century as false Holy Spirit movements. Delaying the achievement of the Latter Rain is becoming an important task in Adventist eschatology.

A Pentecostal Third Article Theology

Abstract This article proposes a pentecostal theology of the Holy Spirit. It argues that the Holy Spirit plays a central role in the narrative of redemption from creation to eschaton. Indeed, the telos of redemption is the outpouring of the Spirit of Pentecost that culminates in the eschatological promise of the new creation. This eschatological work of the Holy Spirit indicates the Spirit’s immanent identity and agency as the divine person who completes the fellowship of the triune God. It begins with detailing areas of traditional pentecostal theology that prevent the development of pentecostal pneumatology that reflects the central place of the Holy Spirit in pentecostal experience and the biblical narrative of redemption. It then builds the case for a pentecostal pneumatology on the Holy Spirit’s role in the narrative of redemption from creation to eschaton. It concludes with a pentecostal account of the Holy Spirit’s identity in the immanent Trinity. Throughout, it articulates this pentecostal pneumatology considering the classical pentecostal theology of Spirit baptism and traditional Western and Eastern trinitarian theologies.

The Spirit of Pentecost and the Future of Creation

Abstract Studebaker’s overarching thesis is that “the Holy Spirit is the telos of redemption and, therefore, the divine person that consummates the fellowship of the triune God.” This thesis reflects not only the trajectory of current pentecostal scholarship, but the very core of Eastern Orthodox pneumatology that has primed the theological imagination and sacramental life of many Eastern European Pentecostals. This present reflection highlights a few questions that invite further engagement and offers a brief contemplation on three related subthemes within the proposal, pointing to some helpful insights from the Orthodox tradition. These subthemes are the event of Pentecost as the theotic telos of creation; the Spirit and the resurrection; and the redemptive significance of Spirit baptism (focusing on the pentecostal experience of glossolalia and xenolalia).

Glossolalia, Spirit baptism and Pentecostals: Revisiting the book of Acts

The debate between cessationists and continuationists is one of the main differences between Protestants and Pentecostals. A central tenet of the discussion is whether the baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by signs such as glossolalia as described by the book of Acts, still occurs today. Most Pentecostals hold that Spirit baptism is distinctive from conversion. The debate is reflected in an article that appeared in HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies by Stevanus. This contribution aimed to reflect on their conclusion that it does not occur, based on the exegesis of relevant passages in Acts, but that Spirit baptism and conversion refer to the same experience. It utilised the hermeneutical lenses of the critical-historical method and Pentecostals’ reading of the biblical text from their metanarrative of God’s ongoing dynamic involvement in the world. Pentecostals emphasise the significance and necessity of continuous authentic charismatic encounters with God to define any doctrine. The study found that a post-conversion experience of the Spirit was normative in Acts and theologically implicit in conversion. It concluded that the Spirit is involved in conversion apart from Spirit baptism, a separate experience empowering disciples for their mission, and the order in which the Spirit reveals divine power to believers does not follow a set pattern.Contribution: The article contributes to a discourse that seldom reaches the academic scene in South Africa but forms a critical element in the difference between Protestant and Pentecostal hermeneutics.

Pentecostals and Premillennialist Dispensationalism

Abstract Early Pentecostals believed their experience of Spirit baptism represented the latter rain of prophecy that introduced Christ’s return. Therefore, their goal was to preach the Pentecostal gospel to all, expecting their success to hasten Christ’s return. They read the Bible through the lens of their charismatic experiences and left room for the Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures to explain its meaning. The next generations adopted a fundamentalist hermeneutical angle and included premillennialist dispensationalism to understand biblical prophecies. The doctrines of rapture, premillennialism, and a distinction between Israel and the church imply that the church belongs to the ‘parenthetical age’, indicating a delay in the prophetic timeline when Jews rejected Jesus. It took the emphasis away from the urgent need to evangelise the world, focusing on explaining the biblical ‘last events’ and setting timetables. It is argued that Pentecostals’ dispensationalism betrayed their unique ethos, values, and hermeneutical angle.

Who’s Your Daddy? In Search of the “Father” of Pentecostalism

The concept of assigning a person the title of father of an ideology or view has its roots in ancient Greek and Roman society where some of the earliest of such references occur. Fatherhood in the context of this paper refers to the originator of the ideas and concepts central to and underpinning Pentecostalism. To determine who the rightful “father” of Pentecostalism is, a closer consideration of the history of the Movement and the contemporary views on the possible contenders, are justified. The four predominant theories in contemporary scholarship seem to be 1) Charles Parham is the father of Pentecostalism thanks to the events in Topeka, Kansas in 1901 and his subsequent doctrine of spirit baptism with accompanied speaking in tongues, 2) William Seymore and the events in Azusa Street Mission from which the global Pentecostal Movement grew, 3) Both Parham and Seymore contributed in a significant way and should thus be equally recognised for their respective roles, 4) The Holy Spirit is the father of Pentecostalism as Spirit Baptism is a Holy Spirit initiated event. There is significant evidence that both Parham and Seymour distanced themselves from what has become common practice among Pentecostals and tenets central to Pentecostalism respectively. This would eliminate both men, and thus three of the four views, with the last option also raising concerns.

Defending the Call to Preach in Shirley Caesar’s Gospel Autobiography

Shirley Caesar, a celebrated, multiple award-winning gospel singer and preacher, used and retold stories about three transformative spiritual experiences to build a case for defending her call to preach. These ritualistic spiritual events included chronicling her conversion, spirit baptism, and call experiences. In this discussion, I examine the contexts of Caesar’s familial and religious backgrounds, Christian Protestant preaching culture and gender, Caesar’s “parable” and “prolegomenon” of purpose, and Caesar’s defense of her call to preach. I conclude by exploring the ways in which, as an “outsider within,” Caesar’s “defense case story” negotiated and dissented from theological narratives about the place of women in Black Holiness-Pentecostal preaching culture. Journeying on her own path, inspired and led by God, Caesar crossed the borders and boundaries of traditional gender roles, standing within (and outside) the margins of gospel singing and gospel preaching.

Daniel W. McManigal. A Baptism of Judgment in the Fire of the Holy Spirit: John’s Eschatological Proclamation in Matthew 3

Daniel W. McManigal. <i>A Baptism of Judgment in the Fire of the Holy Spirit: John’s Eschatological Proclamation in Matthew 3</i>

“Two-Stage” Spirit Reception in the Writings of Paul

Abstract In his 2017 article, “Subsequence in the Pauline Epistles,” Robert Menzies asked, “Is the pentecostal doctrine of subsequence compatible with Paul’s pneumatological perspective?” His answer was yes, based especially on 2 Timothy 1:6–7 and Romans 1:11. However, he notes, “most scholars” reject this position. Building on 1 Corinthians 12:13 and a perceived absence of Spirit reception in Paul’s epistles, these authors would agree with D.A. Carson that “Paul stands positively against” seeing Spirit baptism as “a post-conversion enduement of the Spirit to be pursued by each believer.”1 This article takes up Menzies’ question and builds on his work. It begins with a summary of his article, investigates whether 1 Corinthians 12:13 contradicts a “two-stage” model of Spirit reception, and then examines nine Pauline texts that add more support to Menzies’ proposal. The findings are summarized at the end.

Identity and Political Independence

Identity and Political Independence

SPIRIT BAPTISM: THE PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE IN THEOLOGICAL FOCUS. By DavidPerry. Leiden: Brill, 2017. Pp. xi + 263. Paper, $64.00.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 47, Issue 4 p. 517-517 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: Theology SPIRIT BAPTISM: THE PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE IN THEOLOGICAL FOCUS. By Perry, David. Leiden: Brill, 2017. Pp. xi + 263. Paper, $64.00. First published: 19 January 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15512Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, Issue4New Religious Movements and Documentary FilmsDecember 2021Pages 517-517 RelatedInformation

THE ROLE OF THE SPIRIT BAPTISM IN PAULINE ESCHATOLOGY

This paper presents the eschatological view of the Spirit Baptism in Paul’s writing. The Spirit Baptism and eschatology in Paul’s perspective are thoughts that function hand in hand with each other and cannot be separated. In Paul, Spirit Baptism is the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise in which God declares to His people that He will be with (stay among) His people through the pouring out of His Spirit. This promise is understood by His people as the eschatological promise of God. This pouring out of the Spirit upon God’s people should be understood as the doctrine of Spirit Baptism which has eschatological role in Paul’s theology. This paper will emphasize the background of Paul’s understanding of the Spirit Baptism as it relates to the soteriological dimension work of the Holy Spirit.

Wesley, Fletcher, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Abstract Long regarded as a spiritual grandfather of sorts for the Pentecostal movement, John Wesley has been credited by some as paving the way for their doctrinal distinctive of Spirit baptism through his teaching on entire sanctification. Yet, Wesley’s language surrounding Spirit baptism and the meaning of Pentecost differs significantly from that of classical Pentecostalism, calling into question whether a direct line can be drawn from Wesley himself to this Pentecostal distinctive. This article makes the case that their doctrine of Spirit baptism owes much more to the theology of Wesley’s intended successor John Fletcher and the Holiness movement that followed than Wesley’s doctrine of entire sanctification, and that one may find in Fletcher’s theology the seeds that would culminate in this Pentecostal doctrine easier than one could in Wesley’s theology.

Refiguring Christianity and Black Atlantic Religion: Representation, Essentialism, and Christian Variation in the Southern Caribbean

Abstract This article considers the analytic categories scholars use to conceptualize religious difference in the Caribbean and addresses the relatively sparse theorizing of Christianity in the study of so-called syncretic or creole religions of the African diaspora. I take the Spiritual Baptists of Trinidad and Tobago as a case study to shed light on the significant divergences between vernacular definitions of Christianity and those designations scholars use to parse and make sense of Afro-Creole diversity. I am especially interested in what is at stake analytically. Spiritual Baptists challenge conventional articulations of Christian orthodoxy and Black Atlantic religiosity by reconciling a “fundamentalist” Christian identity with an especially fluid cosmopolitan eclecticism. Drawing on comprehensive ethnographic research, I show how the unique permutations of creole variation within Spiritual Baptist faith unsettle deterministic equations of race and religion and contest the often manufactured oppositions between Christianity and African religion.