CHRISTIAN INDEPENDENCY AND GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP: PENTECOSTAL EXTRAVERSIONS IN MALAWI

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harri Englund
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Contrasting Cases ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches

AbstractRecent scholarship on Pentecostalism in Africa has debated issues of transnationalism, globalisation and localisation. Building on Bayart's notion of extraversion, this scholarship has highlighted Pentecostals' far-flung networks as resources in the growth and consolidation of particular movements and leaders. This article examines strategies of extraversion among independent Pentecostal churches. The aim is less to assess the historical validity of claims to independency than to account for its appeal as a popular idiom. The findings from fieldwork in a Malawian township show that half of the Pentecostal churches there regard themselves as 'independent'. Although claims to independency arise from betrayals of the Pentecostal promise of radical equality in the Holy Spirit, independency does sustain Pentecostals' desire for membership in a global community of believers. Pentecostal independency thus provides a perspective on African engagements with the apparent marginalisation of the sub-continent in the contemporary world. Two contrasting cases of Pentecostal independency reveal similar aspirations and point out the need to appreciate the religious forms of extraversion. Crucial to Pentecostal extraversions are believers' attempts to subject themselves to a spiritually justified hierarchy.

scholarly journals Spirit baptism and the doctrine of initial evidence in African Pentecostal Christianity: A critical analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mookgo S. Kgatle
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The Public ◽  
Speaking In Tongues ◽  
Spirit Baptism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Fruit Of The Spirit

Pentecostalism is known for the belief in Spirit baptism that is accompanied by the doctrine of initial evidence, that is, speaking in tongues. The practice of the doctrine of initial evidence has become a unique feature of Pentecostalism for many years since its beginning. Similarly, Spirit baptism and the doctrine of initial evidence are practised in African Pentecostal Christianity, especially in classical Pentecostal churches and charismatic movements. However, there are challenges with this doctrine: speaking in tongues is perceived as the only evidence, and there is an emphasis on gifts than fruit of the Holy Spirit and a great emphasis on public spiritual experiences than personal encounters with God. In re-imagining the doctrine of initial evidence in African Pentecostal Christianity, speaking in tongues should not be emphasised or practised as the only evidence of Spirit baptism because there are other evidences that demonstrate the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The emphasis should be on prayer than the speaking of tongues. In addition, priority should be given to the fruit of the Spirit and on a personal encounter with God. Finally, speaking in tongues should be accompanied by interpretation in a public service because the public cannot understand the language.

scholarly journals Pentecostals and the pulpit: A case study of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Nel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Worship Service ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Apostolic Faith Mission ◽  
Comparative Literature Study

In general, early Pentecostals did not use any pulpits in their halls in order to underline their emphasis that each believer is a prophet and priest equipped by the Holy Spirit with gifts for the edification of other members of the assembly. All participated in the worship service by way of praying, prophesying, witnessing and bringing a message from God. From the 1940s, Pentecostals in their desire to be acceptable in their communities formed an alliance with evangelicals, accepted their hermeneutical viewpoint and built traditional churches in accordance with the Protestant tradition. From the 1980s, the pulpit started disappearing from the front of Pentecostal churches. This is explained in terms of new alliances that Pentecostals made with neo-Pentecostalist churches and a new hermeneutical viewpoint. The hypothesis of the article is that the Pentecostal stance towards the pulpit was determined by its hermeneutical perspectives. It is described by way of a comparative literature study and applied to a specific case study, the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa.

scholarly journals L’Empireo in Dante e la «divina scienza» del Convivio

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Pegoretti
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Definition Of

Building on recent scholarship, this essay reconsiders Dante’s description of the Empyrean and of divine science in his Convivio (II, III, 8-11 and XIV, 19-20), by emphasising their deep connection and profound otherness in comparison with physical reality and human knowledge. First, it is argued that, in his treatise, Dante describes the Empyrean as a non-material sky. Second, a new appraisal of Dante’s definition of divine science is offered, one which stresses the author’s reference to the words uttered by Christ during the Last Supper, and the role that the whole passage and its medieval exegesis ascribe to the Holy Spirit in clarifying the divine teachings conveyed by the Gospels.

scholarly journals REMEMBERING AND COMMEMORATING THE THEOLOGICAL LEGACY OF JOHN G. LAKE IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-170
Author(s):  
Marius Nel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
African American ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Apostolic Faith Mission ◽  
Azusa Street

John G. Lake visited South Africa in 1908 as part of a missionary team with the aim to propagate the message of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as experienced at the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission in 312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles under the leadership of William Seymour, son of African-American slaves. Lake’s missionary endeavours that ended in 1913 established the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa and eventually also the African Pentecostal churches (‘spiritual churches’, ‘Spirit-type churches’, ‘independent African Pentecostal churches’ or ‘prophet-healing churches’) constituting the majority of so-called African Independent/Initiated/Instituted (or indigenous) churches (AICs). This article calls for remembering and commemorating Lake’s theological legacy in South Africa in terms of these two groups of churches.

Pentecostal Churches and Homosexuality

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William K. Kay ◽  
Stephen J. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Secret Ballot ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Sexual Immorality ◽  
Church Government

Historically, the majority of Pentecostal churches stem from holiness and revivalistic streams of Christianity, while neo-Pentecostal churches are often indigenous plantings that broke away from congregations established by earlier Protestant mission. Given their stress on religious experience and their belief in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostal churches have always stressed individual holiness, and this holiness is understood in terms of abstinence from drugs, alcohol, gambling, immodest dress, and sexual immorality as traditionally defined. This chapter describes adjustments and initiatives that indicate how new norms may emerge. The issue is essentially concerned with the interpretation of Scripture and variations in church government. Where these interpretations align with an LBGT-friendly hermeneutic, LBGT-friendly Pentecostal churches will and have emerged. Such changes tend to occur in new or split-off groups rather than in traditional Pentecostal denominations, especially when denominations are governed by large ministerial conferences where decisions are by secret ballot.

Rattlesnakes, Holiness, and the Nearness of the Holy Spirit

2018 ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
James Hudnut-Beumler
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Black Churches ◽  
Actual Practice ◽  
Prosperity Gospel ◽  
The South ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Serpent Handling

Although the outside image of southern Pentecostal Holiness is often sensationalized by associations with serpent handling believers, that actual practice is confined to roughly a thousand individuals in an Appalachian crescent in the South. The story of Wesleyan Holiness belief in the nineteen century transforming in the twentieth to a wide variety of Pentecostal bodies is an important one that gains importance in the contemporary era wherein the South’s growing number of “bapticostal” black churches and other churches effecting the prosperity gospel far outnumber the formal number of Pentecostal churches. Furthermore, the convictions that the Holy Spirit is nearby and waiting on believers’ calling have come to characterize even many mainline and evangelical churches’ practice to the point where one can speak of the Pentecostalization of southern Christianity.

It Seems Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us: The Ecclesial Vocation of the Pentecostal Scholar

Pneuma ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Gros
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
People Of God ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Doctrine Of The Church ◽  
Renewal Movement

Abstract The members of the Society for Pentecostal Studies have made significant contributions to ecumenical reconciliation, to the promotion of the intellectual life in the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities, and to service to the classical Pentecostal churches in their development from a movement into mature churches in the community of Christians. For this leadership we are grateful. The Pentecostal scholar in whatever church has a calling to be of service to the whole people of God and to the churches in their task of preaching, handing on the faith and nurturing the faithful. This Society has been a place where this ecclesial vocation has been and can be nurtured. There are many intellectual challenges before the Pentecostal community as it moves into its second century as a renewal movement among Christians worldwide. This presidential address suggests three of these challenges: (1) a renewed understanding of the two thousand years of Christian history and the role of renewal movements within it, including the last century of Pentecostal service; (2) an understanding of the sacramental character of Pentecostal worship, using the example of healing as a ritual where Pentecostals have unique gifts to offer other Christians and a long heritage of sacramental thinking from which to learn; and (3) the doctrine of the church and its call to visible unity, as the institutions that serve the Pentecostal churches mature into their second century and begin to become more theologically grounded, self-reflective, and ecumenical.

Contemplative Aspects of Pentecostal Spirituality

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-142
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Yang
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Contemplative Practice ◽  
Hostile Environment ◽  
Dynamic Power ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Global North ◽  
Spiritual Tradition ◽  
Pentecostal Churches

How is the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit working through contemplative aspects of Pentecostal spirituality in Asia where Christianity thrives in a hostile environment today? Are there any insights that Pentecostal churches of the Global North can learn and experience deeper transformation through the Holy Spirit in a post-Christian world? This article shares a recent experience of a retreat with a group of Asian Pentecostal pastors. It describes how they, both individually and as a group, encountered God through contemplative practice within the praxis of their spiritual tradition. Drawing from their experiences grounded in Scripture, the article explores the key theological issues of silence, body, and response. Pentecostal churches are therefore encouraged to be eager to learn from the lived experiences of pastors in Asia and receptive to contemplative aspects of Pentecostal spirituality.

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