Subsequence, Prophecy and Church Order in the Apostolic Church, New Zealand

<p>The Apostolic Church of New Zealand forms a distinct group within the pentecostal movement on account of its practice of "divine government." The revelation of the restoration of apostle and prophet ministry, which originally came to the founders in the UK, served to establish a denomination which espoused prophetic guidance in matters of praxis and doctrine. The purpose of this thesis has been to critique the Apostolic Church's understanding of not only the doctrine of subsequence (i.e. Spirit-baptism is logically distinct from and subsequent to salvation) but the function of the prophetic and its effect on the organisational structure and operation of the church. A major focus of the early Apostolic churchmen was a defence of subsequence. Widespread mainstream opposition ensured pentecostals endured an isolation which served to reinforce their determination to validate the empowerment that they had experienced. As the need for polemic reduced, the emphasis shifted to promoting the gift of the Spirit as a missionary endowment. Methodist-Holiness teaching formed the basis for the early influences on pentecostal theology and as such promoted a verifiable work of the Spirit given in response to seeking. The challenge and influence from the Latter Rain and Charismatic movements saw the bestowal of the gift without an attendant period of tarrying. While this brought a universality to the experience, it did so at the expense of depth or intensity, with a resulting weakening in the expression of prophecy. An assessment of the view of prophecy held by the early Apostolic churchmen shows that too high a level of inspiration was often credited to prophetic utterance. The possibility of human frailty corrupting the purposes of God was not countenanced to any great degree, with the result that flawed or outright erroneous decisions proceeded unchallenged: in this the role of the apostle was under-exercised. The combination of a high view of prophecy and a decreasing quality of utterance over time affected the level of guidance available to the movement. The operation of the apostle necessarily changed: previously concerned with outworking the "Word of the Lord," the function of the apostle became limited to that of superintendent minister. The inability of the first and second generation Apostolics to recognise their schismatic origins perpetuated the rigid adherence to centralism, believing it to be the divine pattern. Centralised control manifested in two spheres: finance and personnel. Initially, when the movement was small, centralism was an expedient philosophy; however, its usefulness was soon outgrown. A retarding factor for the Apostolic Church has been the lack of autonomy afforded local assemblies and the ineptitude of the centralised government, which frequently mismatched men and their roles. Currently, there exists a trend towards relationship-based apostleship, utilising the concept of networks. A particular subset of this system is the church plant where a natural line of authority exists between it and the parent church. Prophecy operating in this situation confines itself to expansion, and avoids the problem, evident in previous years, of centralised revelation initiating the relocation of personnel. The Apostolic Church will survive the 21st century by allowing greater autonomy, with the apostolic function and the prophetic voice finding expression primarily through the local assembly.</p>

Subsequence, Prophecy and Church Order in the Apostolic Church, New Zealand

<p>The Apostolic Church of New Zealand forms a distinct group within the pentecostal movement on account of its practice of "divine government." The revelation of the restoration of apostle and prophet ministry, which originally came to the founders in the UK, served to establish a denomination which espoused prophetic guidance in matters of praxis and doctrine. The purpose of this thesis has been to critique the Apostolic Church's understanding of not only the doctrine of subsequence (i.e. Spirit-baptism is logically distinct from and subsequent to salvation) but the function of the prophetic and its effect on the organisational structure and operation of the church. A major focus of the early Apostolic churchmen was a defence of subsequence. Widespread mainstream opposition ensured pentecostals endured an isolation which served to reinforce their determination to validate the empowerment that they had experienced. As the need for polemic reduced, the emphasis shifted to promoting the gift of the Spirit as a missionary endowment. Methodist-Holiness teaching formed the basis for the early influences on pentecostal theology and as such promoted a verifiable work of the Spirit given in response to seeking. The challenge and influence from the Latter Rain and Charismatic movements saw the bestowal of the gift without an attendant period of tarrying. While this brought a universality to the experience, it did so at the expense of depth or intensity, with a resulting weakening in the expression of prophecy. An assessment of the view of prophecy held by the early Apostolic churchmen shows that too high a level of inspiration was often credited to prophetic utterance. The possibility of human frailty corrupting the purposes of God was not countenanced to any great degree, with the result that flawed or outright erroneous decisions proceeded unchallenged: in this the role of the apostle was under-exercised. The combination of a high view of prophecy and a decreasing quality of utterance over time affected the level of guidance available to the movement. The operation of the apostle necessarily changed: previously concerned with outworking the "Word of the Lord," the function of the apostle became limited to that of superintendent minister. The inability of the first and second generation Apostolics to recognise their schismatic origins perpetuated the rigid adherence to centralism, believing it to be the divine pattern. Centralised control manifested in two spheres: finance and personnel. Initially, when the movement was small, centralism was an expedient philosophy; however, its usefulness was soon outgrown. A retarding factor for the Apostolic Church has been the lack of autonomy afforded local assemblies and the ineptitude of the centralised government, which frequently mismatched men and their roles. Currently, there exists a trend towards relationship-based apostleship, utilising the concept of networks. A particular subset of this system is the church plant where a natural line of authority exists between it and the parent church. Prophecy operating in this situation confines itself to expansion, and avoids the problem, evident in previous years, of centralised revelation initiating the relocation of personnel. The Apostolic Church will survive the 21st century by allowing greater autonomy, with the apostolic function and the prophetic voice finding expression primarily through the local assembly.</p>

PENTAKOSTALISME DAN TEORI SOSIAL KONTEMPORER

The Pentecostal Movement is recognized for its contribution to global church growth and contemporary social theories. But by his own people pentecostalism is often positioned only as a revival, experience with the Holy Spirit, and divine healing which in its development becomes associated with eschatological issues. In terms of methodology, Pentecostal scholars outside Indonesia analyzed Pentecostalism based on religious and theological perspectives with the approach of ritual theory and spirituality studies. Theologians, activists, and intellectuals as well as Pentecostal scholars in Indonesia also have not developed Pentecostal studies further methodologically. They have not used methodological work to develop a study of the Pentecostal movement into a useful framework for theoretical study or field research in the existing membership colleges. On the contrary, by social scientists it utilizes Pentecostals as the main object of research on social phenomena but is only limited to the study of the dimensions of religious experience. By prioritizing the study of English literature and presenting statistical results of field survey research, this paper intends to develop a study of Pentecost in Indonesia methodologically. This paper shows how to understand Pentecostal phenomena from the perspective of social theory. The author first reads the literature on Pentecostalism, especially the one produced by Poloma and then constructs itself and then integrates it with social theory integrally. Then, the writer will classify it in three broad outlines, namely the Pentecostal religious experience of religious psychology; Pentecostal dimensions: symbolic, ritual, ceremony and institution from the perspective of comparative theory of religion; and community and Pentecostal popularity from the perspective of religious sociology. From here it will be seen the contribution of Pentecostals as both the object of precisely the study society and scientific methodology combined with contemporary social theories. This can be used by theologians, activists, and intellectuals as well as Pentecostal scholars in Indonesia specifically to develop studies of the Pentecostal movement in Indonesia specifically. ==== Gerakan Pentakosta diakui kontribusinya terhadap pertumbuhan gereja secara global maupun teori-teori sosial kontemporer. Namun oleh kaumnya sendiri pentakostalisme seringkali diposisikan hanya sebagai kebangunan rohani, pengalaman dengan Roh Kudus, dan kesembuhan ilahi yang dalam perkembangannya menjadi dikait-kaitkan dengan persoalan eskatologis. Dari sisi metodologi, sarjana Pentakosta di luar Indonesia menganalisis Pentakostalisme berdasarkan perspektif agama dan teologi dengan pendekatan teori ritual dan studi spiritualitas. Para teolog, aktivis, dan intelektual maupun sarjana Pentakosta di Indonesia juga belum mengembangkan kajian Pentakosta secara metodologis lebih lanjut. Mereka belum menggunakan kerja metodologis untuk mengembangkan kajian gerakan Pentakosta menjadi kerangka pikir yang bermanfaat dalam kajian teoritis maupun penelitian lapangan di sekolah-sekolah tinggi kepentakostaan yang ada. Sebaliknya, oleh ilmuwan sosial justru memanfaatkan kaum Pentakosta sebagai objek utama penelitian tentang fenomena sosial namun baru sebatas kajian terhadap dimensi pengalaman beragama. Dengan cara mengutamakan studi literatur berbahasa Inggris serta menampilkan hasil statistik penelitian survei lapangan, tulisan ini bermaksud untuk mengembangkan kajian tentang Pentakosta di Indonesia secara metodologis. Tulisan ini memperlihatkan bagaimana memahami fenomena Pentakosta dari perspektif teori sosial. Penulis terlebih dahulu membaca literatur tentang Pentakostalisme khususnya yang dihasilkan Poloma dan kemudian mengkonstruksi sendiri lalu memadukannya dengan teori sosial secara integratif. Kemudian, penulis akan mengklasifikasikannya dalam tiga kerangka pikir secara garis besar, yakni pengalaman keagamaan Pentakosta dari psikologi keagamaan; dimensi Pentakosta: simbolik, ritual, seremoni dan institusi dari perspektif teori perbandingan agama; dan komunitas dan popularitas pentakosta dari perpektif sosiologi agama. Dari disini akan terlihat kontribusi kaum Pentakosta baik sebagai objek tepatnya masyarakat kajian maupun metodologis keilmuan berpadu dengan teori-teori sosial kontemporer. Ini bisa digunakan oleh para teolog, aktivis, dan intelektual maupun sarjana Pentakosta di Indonesia secara khusus untuk mengembangkan kajian gerakan Pentakosta di Indonesia secara khusus.

METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THE RESEARCH OF PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGIANS IN THE NATIONAL PEDAGOGICAL DRAGOMANOV UNIVERSITY

Within the framework of cooperation of the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University with Protestant seminaries and their associations, more than ten defenses of dissertations on Pentecostalism took place. These defenses prove that Pentecostal theologians were able to overcome the closed nature of their own tradition to the development of theology. The ideological leadership of Protestant theology in Ukraine, especially Pentecostal theology, became possible due to the assimilation and development of the best methodological achievements of Western theology of the beginning of the 21st century. Ukrainian Pentecostal theologians actively use the methodology of theological hermeneutics, taking into account the achievements of post-liberal and post-conservative Western theology, modern biblical studies, mission theology and eschatology. The central point for the entire methodology was the recognition of the narrative character of the religious ideology. The analysis of narratives is complemented by the research of key narrative concepts, the research of the interaction of narrative theology and other post-metaphysical methodologies. The vision of the history of Christianity and the history of theology as processes characterized by periodic paradigm shifts allows us to conceptualize narratives and then create new narratives about these stories and about the prospects of both Christianity and theology. A particularly great achievement is the systematic presentation of the history of the Pentecostal movement as the history of communities that have special narratives, cultivate special virtues, and use special narrative concepts.

COMPARATIVE DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE PRACTICS OF CHURCH WORSHIP OF UKRAINIAN AND AMERICAN PENTECOSTALS

The article demonstrates the basic concepts of discourse theory and offers a model of practical application of discourse analysis to determine the liturgical identity of the early American Pentecostals and Ukrainian Pentecostals of the Soviet period.The author demonstrates that if there are common elements in the history of the origin of the Pentecostal movement and the similarity of the dogmatic basis, the causes of misunderstandings should be sought in the hermeneutics of liturgical discourse. The "apostolic discourse" of the early American Pentecostals tended to maximize the deconstruction of all forms of worship in order to maximize the revelation of human nature for the knowledge of God. The discourse of "biblical fidelity" of the Soviet Pentecostals was formed during the period of information isolationism and brutal persecution on religious grounds. Combined with the Baptist tradition of regulated worship and Eastern Orthodox ideas of spirituality, the Soviet Pentecostals formed their own local liturgical tradition.The comparison of mystical manifestations and practices performed between the representatives of the Azusa Street Revival and the Soviet Pentecostals clearly illustrates the above theses.

Frikyrklig ecklesiologi?

There has been a change in the ecclesiology of the well-known Pentecostal pastor and author Peter Halldorf. His ecclesiology was first centered on the individual Christian and he appears to have regarded the church as a group of praying individuals. This ecclesiology could perhaps be regarded to be in line with the ecclesiology of the Swedish Pentecostal movement, the starting point of Halldorf’s ecclesiological processing. Halldorf’s later ecclesiology has taken a controversial turn and is influenced by the Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement. The Pentecostal movement in Sweden has in recent decades undergone major changes which have led to an unclear self- understanding. In spite of the fact that Halldorf is very influential as a pastor and writer, his alternative ecclesiology has not been received as a serious alternative within the Pentecostal movement. In this article I discuss trajectories in Halldorf’s ecclesiology in relation to the ecclesiology of John Howard Yoder. My aim is to provide a Free Church evaluation of Halldorf’s trajectories and my claim is that his development does not necessarily stand in disagreement with the Swedish Pentecostal movement, if one considers the movement’s Baptistic roots. It is therefore possible that Halldorf’s trajectory is a path to follow for the Swedish Pentecostal movement, a movement searching for an identity. It is at the same time possible that the Free Church ecclesiology of Yoder may deepen Halldorf's own ecclesiology.

Homosexualitetsfrågan

In this article I discuss homosexuality and Christian faith as a ”rhetorical crisis” in some Swedish churches. I refer mainly to articles from the Christian newspaper Dagen from 2000-2015, with a special focus on an intense debate in the spring of 2015. The study shows that the discussion changes over time, that it moves between different media and that new actors with their agendas affect what could be described as an ongoing struggle for discursive power. Yet there is also a meta-level in the discussion which relates to the theme of “rhetorical crisis” since it concerns communicative issues like how and where one should talk about the subject. The study also shows that the leadership of the Pentecostal movement time and again are challenged to take a stance but that they are reluctant to do so and instead attempt to mold the discussion and position it in the local churches.

Wesley, Fletcher, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

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.

Evaluating the Nigerian prosperity gospel as a mixed ideology

There are two popular suggestions as to how the prosperity gospel emerged in Nigeria. The first school of thought posits that the phenomenon of the prosperity gospel was exclusively an American ideology imported into Nigeria, while the second view holds that it was entirely an African ideology nurtured with African ingredients and popularised on African soil. There has been little literature that has actively and adequately explored the Nigerian prosperity gospel as a combination of the American prosperity gospel and the Nigerian Pentecostal revivalism. Therefore, to fill this gap in the literature, this article suggests that the Nigerian prosperity gospel is a joint theology with elements of the American prosperity gospel ideology, which has its origins in the American New Thought movement, and the Nigerian Pentecostal revivalism, which has its origins in the Nigerian indigenous Pentecostal movement. This attempt employs a historical approach. In this vein, the narrative explores related literature about the prosperity gospel in Nigeria and offers a radical shift from the popular views that solely attribute the emergence of prosperity gospel ideology to either the Nigerian Indigenous Pentecostal revivalism or the American prosperity theology.

MODERN UKRAINIAN PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGY: FROM HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT TO CONTENT OF RESEARCHES

The article reflects the main historical stages of the formation of Ukrainian Pentecostal theology over the past thirty years: from the “birth” of the first church schools to the defense dissertations of doctoral level. Author has presented connection between post-soviet Pentecostal dogmatic system with evangelical traditional of dispensationalism and literal hermeneutic method in study of the Bible. Obviously, that Pentecostal Churches were strongly influenced through the Baptist Bible Courses in Moscow, because many Pentecostal leaders completed them. The author demonstrated the role of Bible Seminaries founded in independent Ukraine by western missioners of leading church`s unions, like the Assembly of God and the Church of God. The article identifies two models of the Pentecostal education (“church” and “academic” approaches) that address to the different needs of church society. “Church” type of theological education tries to teach important topics connected with applied questions of church ministry. However, this approach has a weak side hidden in methodology of research. As a result, not all research papers completed by graduates of the church-oriented school are interesting for Ukrainian scientific society. For control of quality in Ukrainian theological schools, EAAA was founded. Another direction of the development of the Ukrainian pentecostal theological model thinking is the “academic model” of theological education, that today develops in cooperation with state institutions. Through the analysis of the topics of defended dissertations, the author identifies key trends in the development of the Ukrainian Pentecostal movement. Among key topics, there is introspective research of the own roots, reasons of spreading alternative church movement in USSR, and its place on the World religious map. Like prognostic conclusion of all the text, the author identified several topics that may be interesting for Western academic partners, like “theology of Maidan”, “Church peaceful strategies for East of Ukraine” and “Ecological theology in light of Chernobyl’s tragedy”.