Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impa... more Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impasse in the triumphalism that has driven the development of Pentecostalism and proposes a critique of that triumphalism through the application of Martin Luther's theology of the cross. This work is intended primarily as a project of constructive theology. It comprises three movements. The first is principally historical, in which I survey the emergence of Pentecostalism. Chapter 1 finds that its development was driven by forces of restorationism and perfectionism, two dynamics that have a long history in American Protestantism. Together these two impulses account for the triumphalism that coloured not only the formation of Pentecostalism, but Evangelicalism, generally. The second chapter traces the development of Pentecostal triumphalism historically from Azusa Street, through the institutionalizing process and defines Pentecostal triumphalism as a form of spiritual immediacy. The second movement is an exploration in historical theology. Chapter 3 considers Luther as a resource for Pentecostal theology by situating him historically in his theological conflict with Roman Catholicism and the Radical Reformation and discovering resonances between his thought and that of Pentecostals. Turning to a contemplation of Luther's theologia crucis, chapter 4 establishes its value as a critique of both personal and institutional IV triumphalism. Furthermore, it considers the resurrection as an often undeveloped dimension of the theology of the cross. Connecting cross and resurrection in Luther's thought sets up the third movement, which is essentially an endeavour in constructive theology. Assisted by the work of Jiirgen Moltmann, chapter 5 expresses the theology of the cross in terms of two component dynamics, a pneumatologia crucis, and an eschatologia crucis, the nexus of which accounts for Spirit baptism, the central feature of Pentecostalism. In the final chapter, this model is applied to a variety of issues in Pentecostal theology including spiritual experience, sanctification, and the supernatural, with a view to mitigating its underlying triumphalism. Doing so establishes the basis of Pentecostalism on theological grounds rather than the two historical dynamics of restorationism and perfectionism, which appear to have driven its development. v Preface I was not born a Pentecostal. I suppose the pioneers of Azusa might say, "No one was. After, all, God has no grandchildren!" I came to Pentecostalism after a dramatic conversion experience at the age of nineteen, which, like the best testimonies, rescued me from a life of sin, degradation and eventual oblivion. At that point, I had never heard of Pentecostals, and when the fellow who had picked me up as I was hitchhiking shared his experience of Christ with me something life-changing took place. When he prayed with me and spoke in tongues, I just assumed it was a foreign language. It literally sounded like Greek to me! Early in my Christian experience I had been warned to stay away from Pentecostals. All manner of spiritual havoc could ensue. But the first time I walked into a Pentecostal service, about a year and half after my conversion, I knew I had come home. The tears that streamed down Winfred Anderson and Ethel Neal's cheeks as they sang "It is Well with My Soul;" the outstretched arms peppered around the small auditorium; the abandon of passionate worship-these all seemed commensurate with the experience in that Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 401. From that moment I began an intense search for what made this church different from others. These were the heady days of charismatic renewal. It was 1976 and there were Full Gospel Businessmen's breakfasts to attend, Bob Mumford and Judson Cornwall tapes to hear, and especially books from Logos Press. Real Holy Spirit stuff like Dennis Bennett's Nine O'clock in the Morning, and especially Harold Hill's How to Live Like a King's Kid, let alone the Pentecostal classics like Smith Wigglesworth's Ever Increasing Faith from Gospel Publishing House. But beneath the zeal and palpable vi X XI PART II Chapter 3 Chapter 4 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Identity Crisis in Contemporary Pentecostalism 2.3 Defining a Revivalist Hermeneutic
Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impa... more Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impasse in the triumphalism that has driven the development of Pentecostalism and proposes a critique of that triumphalism through the application of Martin Luther's theology of the cross. This work is intended primarily as a project of constructive theology. It comprises three movements. The first is principally historical, in which I survey the emergence of Pentecostalism. Chapter 1 finds that its development was driven by forces of restorationism and perfectionism, two dynamics that have a long history in American Protestantism. Together these two impulses account for the triumphalism that coloured not only the formation of Pentecostalism, but Evangelicalism, generally. The second chapter traces the development of Pentecostal triumphalism historically from Azusa Street, through the institutionalizing process and defines Pentecostal triumphalism as a form of spiritual immediacy. The second movement is an exploration in historical theology. Chapter 3 considers Luther as a resource for Pentecostal theology by situating him historically in his theological conflict with Roman Catholicism and the Radical Reformation and discovering resonances between his thought and that of Pentecostals. Turning to a contemplation of Luther's theologia crucis, chapter 4 establishes its value as a critique of both personal and institutional IV triumphalism. Furthermore, it considers the resurrection as an often undeveloped dimension of the theology of the cross. Connecting cross and resurrection in Luther's thought sets up the third movement, which is essentially an endeavour in constructive theology. Assisted by the work of Jiirgen Moltmann, chapter 5 expresses the theology of the cross in terms of two component dynamics, a pneumatologia crucis, and an eschatologia crucis, the nexus of which accounts for Spirit baptism, the central feature of Pentecostalism. In the final chapter, this model is applied to a variety of issues in Pentecostal theology including spiritual experience, sanctification, and the supernatural, with a view to mitigating its underlying triumphalism. Doing so establishes the basis of Pentecostalism on theological grounds rather than the two historical dynamics of restorationism and perfectionism, which appear to have driven its development. v Preface I was not born a Pentecostal. I suppose the pioneers of Azusa might say, "No one was. After, all, God has no grandchildren!" I came to Pentecostalism after a dramatic conversion experience at the age of nineteen, which, like the best testimonies, rescued me from a life of sin, degradation and eventual oblivion. At that point, I had never heard of Pentecostals, and when the fellow who had picked me up as I was hitchhiking shared his experience of Christ with me something life-changing took place. When he prayed with me and spoke in tongues, I just assumed it was a foreign language. It literally sounded like Greek to me! Early in my Christian experience I had been warned to stay away from Pentecostals. All manner of spiritual havoc could ensue. But the first time I walked into a Pentecostal service, about a year and half after my conversion, I knew I had come home. The tears that streamed down Winfred Anderson and Ethel Neal's cheeks as they sang "It is Well with My Soul;" the outstretched arms peppered around the small auditorium; the abandon of passionate worship-these all seemed commensurate with the experience in that Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 401. From that moment I began an intense search for what made this church different from others. These were the heady days of charismatic renewal. It was 1976 and there were Full Gospel Businessmen's breakfasts to attend, Bob Mumford and Judson Cornwall tapes to hear, and especially books from Logos Press. Real Holy Spirit stuff like Dennis Bennett's Nine O'clock in the Morning, and especially Harold Hill's How to Live Like a King's Kid, let alone the Pentecostal classics like Smith Wigglesworth's Ever Increasing Faith from Gospel Publishing House. But beneath the zeal and palpable vi X XI PART II Chapter 3 Chapter 4 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Identity Crisis in Contemporary Pentecostalism 2.3 Defining a Revivalist Hermeneutic
Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 2016
ABSTRACT Secularism is a difficult concept to pin down. European secularity, however, is neither ... more ABSTRACT Secularism is a difficult concept to pin down. European secularity, however, is neither homogeneous nor straightforward. Indeed, the emerging post-secular climate suggests that the recovery of a usable Christian past may play an essential role in European self-definition. The twin phenomena of persistence and memory offer mechanisms for such a recovery. This is illustrated in a consideration of the Josianic reform which probes how Jan Assman’s notion of cultural memory, and the persistence of transcendence functioned for Josiah, and later for the Deuteronomistic Historian as he recounted the story. These principles are reapplied to the contemporary situation in (post-)secular Europe to explore the potential of a Christian retelling of the European narrative.
Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impa... more Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impasse in the triumphalism that has driven the development of Pentecostalism and proposes a critique of that triumphalism through the application of Martin Luther's theology of the cross. This work is intended primarily as a project of constructive theology. It comprises three movements. The first is principally historical, in which I survey the emergence of Pentecostalism. Chapter 1 finds that its development was driven by forces of restorationism and perfectionism, two dynamics that have a long history in American Protestantism. Together these two impulses account for the triumphalism that coloured not only the formation of Pentecostalism, but Evangelicalism, generally. The second chapter traces the development of Pentecostal triumphalism historically from Azusa Street, through the institutionalizing process and defines Pentecostal triumphalism as a form of spiritual immediacy. The second movement is an exploration in historical theology. Chapter 3 considers Luther as a resource for Pentecostal theology by situating him historically in his theological conflict with Roman Catholicism and the Radical Reformation and discovering resonances between his thought and that of Pentecostals. Turning to a contemplation of Luther's theologia crucis, chapter 4 establishes its value as a critique of both personal and institutional IV triumphalism. Furthermore, it considers the resurrection as an often undeveloped dimension of the theology of the cross. Connecting cross and resurrection in Luther's thought sets up the third movement, which is essentially an endeavour in constructive theology. Assisted by the work of Jiirgen Moltmann, chapter 5 expresses the theology of the cross in terms of two component dynamics, a pneumatologia crucis, and an eschatologia crucis, the nexus of which accounts for Spirit baptism, the central feature of Pentecostalism. In the final chapter, this model is applied to a variety of issues in Pentecostal theology including spiritual experience, sanctification, and the supernatural, with a view to mitigating its underlying triumphalism. Doing so establishes the basis of Pentecostalism on theological grounds rather than the two historical dynamics of restorationism and perfectionism, which appear to have driven its development. v Preface I was not born a Pentecostal. I suppose the pioneers of Azusa might say, "No one was. After, all, God has no grandchildren!" I came to Pentecostalism after a dramatic conversion experience at the age of nineteen, which, like the best testimonies, rescued me from a life of sin, degradation and eventual oblivion. At that point, I had never heard of Pentecostals, and when the fellow who had picked me up as I was hitchhiking shared his experience of Christ with me something life-changing took place. When he prayed with me and spoke in tongues, I just assumed it was a foreign language. It literally sounded like Greek to me! Early in my Christian experience I had been warned to stay away from Pentecostals. All manner of spiritual havoc could ensue. But the first time I walked into a Pentecostal service, about a year and half after my conversion, I knew I had come home. The tears that streamed down Winfred Anderson and Ethel Neal's cheeks as they sang "It is Well with My Soul;" the outstretched arms peppered around the small auditorium; the abandon of passionate worship-these all seemed commensurate with the experience in that Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 401. From that moment I began an intense search for what made this church different from others. These were the heady days of charismatic renewal. It was 1976 and there were Full Gospel Businessmen's breakfasts to attend, Bob Mumford and Judson Cornwall tapes to hear, and especially books from Logos Press. Real Holy Spirit stuff like Dennis Bennett's Nine O'clock in the Morning, and especially Harold Hill's How to Live Like a King's Kid, let alone the Pentecostal classics like Smith Wigglesworth's Ever Increasing Faith from Gospel Publishing House. But beneath the zeal and palpable vi X XI PART II Chapter 3 Chapter 4 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Identity Crisis in Contemporary Pentecostalism 2.3 Defining a Revivalist Hermeneutic
Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impa... more Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impasse in the triumphalism that has driven the development of Pentecostalism and proposes a critique of that triumphalism through the application of Martin Luther's theology of the cross. This work is intended primarily as a project of constructive theology. It comprises three movements. The first is principally historical, in which I survey the emergence of Pentecostalism. Chapter 1 finds that its development was driven by forces of restorationism and perfectionism, two dynamics that have a long history in American Protestantism. Together these two impulses account for the triumphalism that coloured not only the formation of Pentecostalism, but Evangelicalism, generally. The second chapter traces the development of Pentecostal triumphalism historically from Azusa Street, through the institutionalizing process and defines Pentecostal triumphalism as a form of spiritual immediacy. The second movement is an exploration in historical theology. Chapter 3 considers Luther as a resource for Pentecostal theology by situating him historically in his theological conflict with Roman Catholicism and the Radical Reformation and discovering resonances between his thought and that of Pentecostals. Turning to a contemplation of Luther's theologia crucis, chapter 4 establishes its value as a critique of both personal and institutional IV triumphalism. Furthermore, it considers the resurrection as an often undeveloped dimension of the theology of the cross. Connecting cross and resurrection in Luther's thought sets up the third movement, which is essentially an endeavour in constructive theology. Assisted by the work of Jiirgen Moltmann, chapter 5 expresses the theology of the cross in terms of two component dynamics, a pneumatologia crucis, and an eschatologia crucis, the nexus of which accounts for Spirit baptism, the central feature of Pentecostalism. In the final chapter, this model is applied to a variety of issues in Pentecostal theology including spiritual experience, sanctification, and the supernatural, with a view to mitigating its underlying triumphalism. Doing so establishes the basis of Pentecostalism on theological grounds rather than the two historical dynamics of restorationism and perfectionism, which appear to have driven its development. v Preface I was not born a Pentecostal. I suppose the pioneers of Azusa might say, "No one was. After, all, God has no grandchildren!" I came to Pentecostalism after a dramatic conversion experience at the age of nineteen, which, like the best testimonies, rescued me from a life of sin, degradation and eventual oblivion. At that point, I had never heard of Pentecostals, and when the fellow who had picked me up as I was hitchhiking shared his experience of Christ with me something life-changing took place. When he prayed with me and spoke in tongues, I just assumed it was a foreign language. It literally sounded like Greek to me! Early in my Christian experience I had been warned to stay away from Pentecostals. All manner of spiritual havoc could ensue. But the first time I walked into a Pentecostal service, about a year and half after my conversion, I knew I had come home. The tears that streamed down Winfred Anderson and Ethel Neal's cheeks as they sang "It is Well with My Soul;" the outstretched arms peppered around the small auditorium; the abandon of passionate worship-these all seemed commensurate with the experience in that Volkswagen Beetle on Highway 401. From that moment I began an intense search for what made this church different from others. These were the heady days of charismatic renewal. It was 1976 and there were Full Gospel Businessmen's breakfasts to attend, Bob Mumford and Judson Cornwall tapes to hear, and especially books from Logos Press. Real Holy Spirit stuff like Dennis Bennett's Nine O'clock in the Morning, and especially Harold Hill's How to Live Like a King's Kid, let alone the Pentecostal classics like Smith Wigglesworth's Ever Increasing Faith from Gospel Publishing House. But beneath the zeal and palpable vi X XI PART II Chapter 3 Chapter 4 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Identity Crisis in Contemporary Pentecostalism 2.3 Defining a Revivalist Hermeneutic
Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 2016
ABSTRACT Secularism is a difficult concept to pin down. European secularity, however, is neither ... more ABSTRACT Secularism is a difficult concept to pin down. European secularity, however, is neither homogeneous nor straightforward. Indeed, the emerging post-secular climate suggests that the recovery of a usable Christian past may play an essential role in European self-definition. The twin phenomena of persistence and memory offer mechanisms for such a recovery. This is illustrated in a consideration of the Josianic reform which probes how Jan Assman’s notion of cultural memory, and the persistence of transcendence functioned for Josiah, and later for the Deuteronomistic Historian as he recounted the story. These principles are reapplied to the contemporary situation in (post-)secular Europe to explore the potential of a Christian retelling of the European narrative.
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