Pentecostal Scholarship and Scholarship on Pentecostalism: The Next Generation (original) (raw)

A critical analysis of the third and fourth wave of Pentecostalism

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 Society for Pentecostal Studies at 50 Years

Pneuma

Global Pentecostalism is the major renewal stream of world Christianity today. Some may even argue that it is one of the most innovative religions in recent human history. This rise to prominence and the movement from the margins of Christianity to the center of world Christianity has largely occurred in the last fifty years. The history of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (sps), founded in 1970, has participated in, mimicked, and challenged this movement during the same period. When the Society was founded, pentecostal scholarship and theology were often treated with disdain, if not disgust, by the global academy. Over the years, the sps, working with other academic associations and pentecostal intellectuals, has largely overcome this obstacle and marginalization to raise pentecostal theology and pentecostal studies to an enviable status in the global academy. Pentecostalism can now be said to be an ascendent tradition. This double issue of Pneuma is a tour of global pentecostal futures along with a long historical note on the Society that documents, honors, and frames the dynamics within the Society at its fiftieth anniversary. There are few who could provide the perspective that Glen Menzies does in his essay "The First Fifty Years of the Society for Pentecostal Studies: A Brief History," a narrative rich with documentation and anecdotes worth preserving in corporate memory. sps was founded in 1970 at a midday meeting of the Pentecostal World Conference in Dallas, Texas. Scholars, representatives of major fellowships, and others interested in the advancement of pentecostal studies attended this founding event and set the Society into motion. A debt of gratitude is owed to Vinson Synan, R. Hollis Gause, and William W. Menzies, who are rightly honored as the Society's founders. Glen Menzies, a longtime member of the Society, is the son of William, the Society's first president and the first editor of Pneuma. Glen in his own right has made many contributions in our guild in his three-decade career as a professor and dean at North Central University in Minneapolis. He has also done the Society a great service in narrating the story of our scholarly family. His careful scholarship has brought to the fore of our attention the distinguished role sps has played over years to support rigorous study of Pentecostalism even as it worked to create a "family-like" atmosphere among those who pursue this scholarship.

Pentecostal Hermeneutics and the Society for Pentecostal Studies

PNEUMA, 2015

This address engages two interrelated pentecostal hermeneutical concerns. The first section identifies an emergence of a pentecostal theological hermeneutic integrated around a holy triad—Holy Spirit, Holy Scripture, and holy community. This resulted when Pentecostals took a linguistic and postmodern turn. The second section focuses upon the significance of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) as a hermeneutical community. SPS is a unique and diverse interpretive community comprised primarily of Pentecostals and Charismatics. SPS must live in the tension of being and performing as an academic society committed to rigorous standards of research while being a diverse community of scholars who also maintain close relationships with pentecostal and charismatic denominations, educational institutions, and coalitions.

The Three Waves of Spiritual Renewal of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement

RES 7.1, 2015

The study focuses on the historical dogmatical analysis of the three waves of spiritual renewal which started in the early twentieth century and affected most Christian denominations by focusing on the manifestation of the spiritual gifts. The author will identify the major historical dogmatical influences of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, the characteristics and the leaders of the movement, as well as the directions of development on the personal and on the community level.