A Pentecostal Paradigm for Emerging Generations

International Review of Mission, 1998

The context As the 21st century draws near, Latin America is leaving behind a long period of authoritarian governments and military dictatorships inspired by the ideology of National Security. Beside the peculiar situation of Cuba, formal democracies are more or less firmly established in all Latin American countries. In nations long divided by bloody civil confrontations, hopeful peace processes are now taking place. Some Latin American countries are exhibiting successful macro-economical results. To what extent this new scenario means good news for the majorities of the Latin American people is not easy to say. The other side of the coin is the increasingly deep gap between the many poor and the few rich. While in most Latin American cities the few rich enjoy as many of the benefits of modernity as the most affluent people of the North, misery continues to be the daily bread of the many poor. Traditional bonds of fraternity and solidarity are undermined by the individualistic thrust of the market economy, and problems, both new or old, take their toll of the most vulnerable: drug addiction and trafficking, street children, diseases spread by sexual promiscuity, increasingly violent delinquency, etc. *JUAN SEP~LVEDA is a Pentecostal minister in Santiago, Chile; on the staff of the Evangelical Service for Development (SEPADE), and a lecturer on Missiology and Pentecostalism at the Evangelical Theological Community (CTE).

Asian and Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2005

It has become evident that the task is rather formidable to bring a useful reflection on the history of a Pentecostal body in country in its more than half a century history. At the same time, I feel I have an edge in that the observations were made from the perspective of both an “insider and outsider.” There are personal anecdotes that can be corroborated by those who are still alive. These validate what has been written and experienced by others. Not all correspondence, minutes, and reflections that were published and presented in more formal settings are available to this writer at the moment. This is a handicap of sorts. However, this presentation should not be viewed as the end, but, rather the beginning of our continued pursuit of our “roots”. We owe it to the next generations, should Jesus tarry, to transmit to them our cherished legacy. More materials ought to be written and the “stories” and other oral recitals of how God brought us thus far “through many dangers, toils and snares.” This small contribution of this writer begins with a quick look at personal background to help the audience understand some dynamics of this presentation.

2017

The main aim of this article is to present the most important elements of the process of global pentecostalization of Christianity as a new Reformation, and to analyze selected phenomena of religious life, characteristic for new forms of understanding and experiencing the Christian religion in the planetary dimension. Pentecostal religiosity is characterized by speaking in tongues, miracles, exorcisms, healings, television evangelism, and megachurches. You must understand now the origins and growth of Pentecostalism, looking not only at the philosophical and theological aspects of the movement, but underlining also its enormous influence on the social and political life in many countries of the world.

This paper explores the recasting of Pentecostalism as a youth religion in contemporary Chile. I focus in particular on how young native Pen-tecostals, whose life experiences and social status differ from those of ex-Catholic converts, address the dilemma of being exposed to the religious culture of their parents, and their congregation, and to the secular youth culture beyond the religious community. I argue that, although faced with many challenges, young Pentecostals are able to define vital roles and positions for themselves within their church and in wider society , as they engage in a creative bricolage, embracing certain aspects of globalised youth ideologies as fundamental features of their Pentecostal self-identities.

Asian and Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2002

The twentieth century was witness of an important social-religious phenomenon, the growth of Pentecostalism. Even non-Pentecostal authors such as Decker recognize, “no movement has made more of an impact on the church world than Pentecostalism.”1 Even though Pentecostal growth is a global phenomenon, Pentecostalism has particularly impacted Latin America. According to Moreno, “nearly 40 percent of the world’s Pentecostals live in Latin America.” 2 This fact makes Latin American Pentecostalism an excellent case study for probing how Pentecostal beliefs have been integrated with local cultural dimensions to produce a socio-cultural and spiritual phenomenon without precedents.

Asian and Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2000

protest, against the rigid structures of the Christian organizations of the time. 3 Some also suggest it was a movement of the poor and the outcast trying to fight their way through the ecclesiastical organizations. 4 There are even those who introduce it as a revolutionary spiritual model. 5 The fact is that it originated humbly, and the movement had the capability to endure adversity. Now, at the beginning of the Twenty-first century, the Pentecostal movement has become the largest among all the Protestant families. According to David Barrett, by 1992, Pentecostals numbered 205 million. 6 Such a tremendous growth has been, in part, ignited at Bible schools 7 that always operated beyond their human and financial Beginnings," in The Globalization of Pentecostalism: A Religion Made to Travel, eds.

New Ways of Being Pentecostal in Latin America (Lexington Books), 2016

The Ecumenical Review, 1985

The Pentecostal Mission Church became a member church of the World Council of Churches in 1961. It is based in Chile, but it also has some congregations in the Republic of Argentina. Its style of church life is closely linked to the social and religious setting of Pentecostalism. Thus, to tell the story of its ecumenical journey, I shall have to refer first to this setting, in which it came into being and grew. Reference will also have to be made to its development in the context of the recent history of Chile, which has certainly presented fresh challenges to the churches, and particularly to the Pentecostal churches, which, because of their social composition, are to be found in those sectors hardest hit by the present social and economic crisis. These developments have taken place in the context of our close relationship with the ecumenical movement, which has been an enrichment, but which has also produced tensions out of which the church has been strengthened. I shall attempt to tell briefly this story of our searching and learning.

Pneuma, 2011

Sociology of Trinidadian Religion, 1989

2018

Chapter VI - Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series VIII. Christian Philosophical Studies, Volume 14 General Editor

The eclectic "seekers," with their deinstitutionalized spiritualities, are a challenge for the Church in the 21 st century. 1 However, other developments may be equally challenging for a kenotic spirituality in the Catholic Church. Many may find it ironic that with the loosening of institutional ties to religion and a decreasing support of religious convictions by a wider, fragmented culture, one of the fastest growing spiritualities, Pentecostal/charismatic, retains a high intensity of commitment and deep sense of the supernatural. It has an understanding mediated by direct experience of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and maintains a distance from traditional, modern institutions. Charles Taylor provides a helpful perspective on post-modern elements of the North Atlantic/West. 2 However, if we take the global perspective both North and South, popular religious spiritualities like Pentecostalism at all levels of societies are another major characteristic of the post-modern era. 3 Many Pentecostal/charismatic Christians would characterize themselves as "seekers," though outside observers would see a level of commitment uncharacteristic even of the traditional, modern, critical "dweller" church member. At the same time, studies show that the intensity of those associated with this spirituality also disguises a high turnover rate in these affiliations, demonstrating the patterns of postmodern religious mobility and eclectic spirituality. While the post-modern pluralistic reality provides the secular context for the emergence of Pentecostal/charismatic spirituality, it also demonstrates clearly an instance where secularization does not mean subtraction of religion, but rather its intensification and separation from inherited forms. This new reality, both within the Catholic community and

2009

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. 'I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are ii made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. 1 Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former 'heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed 'postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. 2

The purpose of this paper is to first, delineate the dangers of the Emerging Church Movement and how detrimental this new kind of Christianity poses to the church at large. The research paper will be outlined with three main sections and two sub points for the first two main sections.