1.1. Introduction
The Pentecostalism/Charismatic Christianity is one of the fastest growing Christian movements around the globe. Despite its raging influence and impact on the global Christianity, a study on Pentecostalism is a very recent development. For several long years and decades, and even today, Pentecostals are considered as a community without theology. In fact, the term ‘Pentecostal theology’ in itself is treated as oxymoron for it is a popular understanding that the Pentecostals are anti-intellectual. Furthermore, a majority of Christians see Pentecostalism as simply an extension of evangelicalism. Indeed, one of the major challenges for studies in Pentecostal theology is its varieties. The following paper is a general and brief survey of the nature of the Pentecostal theology outlining its distinctiveness from the other theological disciplines.
Pentecostal theology is not a monolith. It is rooted in and has incorporated into itself several theological traditions of different churches and movements in the history. Hollenweger makes a complex analysis of different historical-theological roots of Pentecostalism: Black oral root, catholic root, evangelical root, critical root and ecumenical root.[1]
Figure 1: Hollenweger’s graphical presentation of the theological roots of Pentecostalism.[2]
The theologizing of Pentecostalism has been historically influenced by the afore mentioned Christian traditions. In one way or the other, they have become part and parcel of the making of Pentecostal theology.
The black oral roots of Pentecostalism, as Hollenweger suggests, can be described as (a) orality of liturgy; (b) narrativity of theology and witness; (c) maximum participation at the levels of reflection, prayer and decision making; (d) inclusion of dreams and visions in personal and public forms of worship; (e) an understanding of the body/mind relationship that is informed by experiences.[3]
Pentecostal theology also has evangelical roots such as Pietism, Wesleyanism and Holiness Movement. Moravian Pietistic emphases on the Great Commission, separation from the world of unbelievers, personal experience of God and missionary motive of saving as many as individuals, have influenced the Pentecostal theology. The Wesleyan emphasis on the doctrine of sanctification and the doctrine of ‘second blessing’ is also carried out into Pentecostal theology. The influence of Holiness Movement on the Pentecostal theology can be seen in the usage of allegory, typology, emphases on the conversion-experience and the moral perfection.[4]
Pentecostal theology also shares evangelical fundamentalism. The classical Pentecostalism is so widely influenced by the evangelical fundamentalism that both share almost a same kind of biblical interpretation, dogmas and worldviews. Due to the polemical nature of the classical Pentecostalism towards the academic theology, several doctrines of the western conservatism have become the part of Pentecostal orthodoxy such as ‘Premillennial eschatological pessimism’ and uncritical silence towards the unjust social structures.[5]
However, Pentecostals are more than fundamentalists. Hollenweger, quoting J. R. Flower, compares Pentecostal fundamentalism with the fundamentalism of Paul: “I am a fundamentalist, of the strictest sect of fundamentalists am I one.”[6] But Paul was more than a Pharisee for he believed in the resurrection and supernatural events not only in the past but also in the present. Pentecostal fundamentalism is a kind of that.[7]
In summary, Pentecostal theology can be considered as a plurality of theologies with a Pentecostal/pneumatic orientation.
Pentecostal theology is basically a theology of encounter. It begins in the experience of the Pentecost. This experience does not necessarily refer to some form of ecstatic experience or a revival but a personal participation the biblical story of God that is actualized in Jesus the Messiah and lived in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.[8]
Before the emergence of any academic theologizing, the theology of Pentecostalism was narrated and spread in oral form. The orality and narrativity of the theology are shaped by the experiences of the Spirit. It is a theology that comes out of the experiences of the ordinary people. Thus, Pentecostal theology among the believers is a non-academic theology. This ‘common theology’ can be called as ‘spiritual theology’ that is “derived from their reading and preaching of the Bible, the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, prayer, worship, fellowship and eschatological expectancy in the community…[T]here is no essential difference between theology and spirituality.”[9] Such narrative and experiential nature of the Pentecostal theology carries all the dangers of fanaticism and at the same time promises of the renewal of the Church.[10]
The experience of the Spirit in its fullness is the heart of Pentecostal theology.[11] The theology is more praxis-oriented and experiential rather than a mere orthodoxy and orthopraxy. It begins with the prayerful response of the people to God.[12] It is rooted in the people’s encounter with God rather in the discussions on orthodoxy and orthopraxy. In Warrington’s words, “Pentecostal theology tends to be seen through the eyes of people, not theologians; through the faith and worship of their community, not ancient or modern creeds.”[13] Thus, the Pentecostal theology can be “best identified as a theology of encounter – encounter of God, the Bible and the community.”[14]
Pentecostalism, from its beginning, is an eschatology-oriented movement. Indeed, Pentecostalism itself can be defined as an apocalyptic movement in which the immediacy of the eschatology is the essence of its nature and theology.[15] Almost every dimension of Pentecostal theology – soteriology, ecclesiology, missiology, hermeneutics, preaching and teaching – is shaped by its view of eschatology. From the initial days, Pentecostals felt that the end is drawing near and the time is limited. This eschatological urgency is the heart of the missiological and evangelistic nature of the Pentecostalism. Furthermore, the eschatology is central to Pentecostalism as much as, perhaps, far more than, the doctrine of the Spirit baptism. The classical Pentecostals considered the visible signs of the Spirit baptism and the gifts of the Spirit as the signs for the immediate return of Jesus Christ. The prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit in the last days in Joel is directly applied to the beginning of the Pentecostal movements. The early Pentecostals also saw their ministry as a re-enactment of the ministry of John the Baptist in preparing a way for the coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, such understanding of the soon-ness of the end has been tightly woven into every aspect of Pentecostal spirituality.[16]
According to Vondey, “Eschatology functions as an integrating theme that returns Pentecostal theology to its central concerns, albeit transformed by an apocalyptic urgency…. Eschatology reshapes Pentecostal theology in its orientation from and return to practices that characterize the Pentecostal gospel narrative and its doctrinal articulation.”[17] That is to say, the apocalyptic-eschatological worldview of the Pentecostalism informs the making of Pentecostal theology. Thus, the eschatology, in Pentecostal theology, is not a doctrine to be studied but a passion that influences every other thing. Yet, it does not mean that there is only one strand of eschatology that shapes the Pentecostal theology. Although the early Pentecostals were greatly influenced by the classical dispensationalist eschatology, the later theologians have departed from it.
The distinctiveness of the Pentecostal theology is primarily seen in its method of doing theology. Doing theology is basically understanding and constructing the relationships between God and the world. For Pentecostals, theologizing begins with the conviction that the Holy Spirit is the ‘God with us.’[18] The belief and the experience of the Spirit baptism plays a central role in the Pentecostal theology. In fact, the Pentecostal theology is shaped by the discussions on the Spirit baptism.[19]
Although the Pentecostal theologies do not make extreme changes to the theologies they have inherited from different Christian traditions, the Pentecostal worldview is paradigmatically shaped by the experience of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the theologizing of Pentecostals places emphasis on the work and experience of the Spirit. While Indian Christian theologies are highly Christo-centric, the Pentecostal theologies are pneumato-centric. Despite the differences among the doctrines and convictions among different Pentecostal movements and churches, the spirituality that is centred on the experience of the Holy Spirit is the common unifying factor.[20] In other words, while Pentecostals have differing understandings on the theology of the Spirit, all of them ‘emphasize on the divine encounter and the resulting transformation of life.’[21]
Theologizing of Pentecostals take the Scripture, the people and their contexts, and the power of the Spirit into consideration. While the theological methods of the modern times dealt with theology as one of the scientific disciplines, limiting it to the academic endeavour, the Pentecostal theologizing emphasizes the work of the Spirit in bringing the Scripture alive to the people and their contexts in the power of the Spirit. Such Pneumatological method of doing theology transforms and liberates when applied in the lives of the people.[22] Academically, Pentecostal theologians learn and do critical exegeses in order to know the Scripture and they test the critical theology ‘with a view of its usefulness’.[23]
Wolfgang Vondey argues that the nature of Pentecostal theology defies stagnant doctrinal constructs. In the age of postmodernity, the Pentecostal theology is empowered by the Spirit of Pentecost which is the “spirit of unbounded (and unexpected) freedom from such constructs.”[24] It offers an alternative logic for doing theology which Vondey calls ‘the spirit of play.’ By play he refers to the empirical way of doing theology that uses yet surpasses the precise rules, boundaries and systems. In relation to the Pentecostal theology, “play is understood as a redemptive method of living and interpreting the logic of reality by transforming and transcending its existing structures and demands towards the realm of alternative expectations motivated by an unlimited imagination.”[25] Indeed, this spirit of play goes beyond the institutionalized and structured articulations of the reality. Rather than limiting itself to the doctrine, it embraces the reality materially, physically, morally, socially and spiritually. Thus, the Pentecostal theologizing is an alternative to the dominant theological methodologies by and through which the world can be renewed and the theological methods are liberated for the redemptive engagement with God.[26]
In other words, by adopting a Pneumatological approach to the theology, the Pentecostal theology counters the dominant theological methods that emphasize the reason and rationality above the Spirit. Even though Pentecostal theology uses the available theological methods, it engages with the reason to lead towards the practical encounter with God. Pentecostal theology bridges the dichotomization between theology and ethics; academic and spirituality. By emphasizing the Spirit, Pentecostal theology replaces the Word in no way. It understands the Word and Spirit as interrelated.[27]
The experiential nature of the Pentecostal theology paves a way for dynamic contextual approaches to the theology. Pentecostal approach to the Bible basically deals with relating with daily lives. Bible is never read in isolation from the real-life community issues and problems. Although a literalist approach to the Bible is popular, the texts are interpreted in a way to address the need of the community. By doing so, the real problems are confronted in the Spirt.[28] Thus, the Pentecostal theology is basically a contextual-Pneumatological theology. The theologizing is deeply rooted in the encounters and experiences of the people.
A serious and diligent Pentecostal theology offers a holistic understanding of soteriology and sanctification which, in result, affects every dimension – creation, politics, society, religion and culture. The foundational understanding of the Pentecostals – “Spirit poured out on all flesh” – paves a way for liberation and transformation of the social, ethnic and cultural structures of the global society. It liberates women from the patriarchal domination of the families, churches and societies. The Spirit baptism can be seen as more than a manifestation of the spiritual gifts; as a sociocultural vision that would rebuild the society and transform the culture.[29]
The nature of Pentecostal theology liberates the ‘theology’ from its futile methods of theologizing. The Spirit-filled nature of theologizing keeps the theology alive and fresh. Instead of limiting the theology to an intellectual exercise, an empirical-Pneumatological method brings it to encounter God, the Scripture, and the community. In other words, a Pentecostal theology is a Spirit-baptism of the theology which brings it close to God and to the community.
Nevertheless, the nature of Pentecostal theology, as a ‘common theology,’ needs a revision. Although the personal encounter and experience play a major role in the Pentecostal community, exegeting the experience rather than exegeting the Scripture keeps the Pentecostals in a danger of turning to several pseudo-interpretations of the Scripture. Furthermore, while Pentecostals continue to encounter the popular Christian traditions, they should maintain their distinctiveness by critically examining and testing them in the light of the Scripture. This can happen though serious theological reflections. Despite the problems and limitations, the Pentecostal theology promises a renewal of academic theology globally and locally in the power of the Spirit.
[1] Walter J. Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Development Worldwide (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 2. [2] Hollenweger, Pentecostalim, 2. [3] Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, 18-19. [4] Allan Anderson, Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism (New York: Orbis Books, 2007), 18-21. [5] Allan Heaton Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 244. [6] As quoted by Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, 192. [7] Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, 192. [8] Wolfgang Vondey, Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel, Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology, edited by Wolfgang Vondey and Daneila C. Augustine (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017), 14-15. [9] Abraham, Missiology and Theology, 187-88. [10] Steven Jack Land, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom (Cleveland: CPT Press, 2010), 42, retrieved from https://z-lib.org [11] Anderson, Introduction to Pentecostalism, 188. [12] Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 42. [13] Keith Warrington, Pentecostal Theology: A Theology of Encounter (London: T&T Clark, 2008), 16. [14] Warrington, Pentecostal Theology, 21. [15] Warrington, Pentecostal Theology, 309. [16] Shaibu Abraham, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Paradigm for Liberation (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2020), 183-85. [17] Vondey, Pentecostal Theology, 131-32. [18] Land, Pentecostal Theology, 39. [19] Frank D. Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 20-21. [20] John Alex, “Indian Christian Theologies: A Pentecostal Reflection,” in Christian Theology: Indian Conversations, Vol. 1: Dogmatic Themes, edited by Samuel George and P. Mohan Larbeer (Bangalore: BTESSC, 2016), 356. [21] Anderson, Introduction to Pentecostalism, 180. [22] Shaibu Abraham, Missiology and Theology of Indian Pentecostalism (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021), 185-86. [23] Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, 197. [24] Vondey, Pentecostal Theology, 13. [25] Vondey, Pentecostal Theology, 13. [26] Vondey, Pentecostal Theology, 13-14. [27] Land, Pentecostal Spirituality, 45. [28] Anderson, Introduction to Pentecostalism, 224. [29] Vondey, Pentecostal Theology, 201-212.
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