Land - Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom

Pentecostal Spirit ua lity

A Passion for the Kingdom

Steven Jack Land

CPT Press

Cleveland, Tennessee

Pentecostal Spirituality

A Passion for the Kingdom

Published by CPT Press

900 Walker ST NE

Cleveland, TN 37311

USA

cptpress.com

First published by Sheffield Academic Press in the Journal of Pentecostal
Theology Supplement Series (1) 1993.

Copyright 2010 CPT Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche, electronic database, internet database, or any other means without written permission from the publisher.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

To Peggy

Alanna, Laura, Jonathan

Introduction

Chapter 1

Pentecostal Spirituality as Theology: A Theoretical Introduction

Chapter 2

Pentecostal Spirituality as Apocalyptic Vision: A Narrative-Praxis Analysis

Chapter 3

Pentecostal Spirituality as Missionary Fellowship: An Affective Integration

Pentecostal Spirituality as Trinitarian Transformation: A Theological Re-vision

Afterword

Bibliography

Index of Biblical References

Chapter 3 Endnotes

Preface

This work is of, by and for the Pentecostals who have nurtured, exasperated, challenged and encouraged me for the past forty years. I hope they recognize themselves and also find some new perspectives in this interpretation and re-vision of our tradition. I have sought to be controversial in the best sense of the word. This is almost assured by juxtaposing words like holiness, Pentecostal, affections, and ecumenical.

Because I believe that the whole church is Pentecostal, this study is also, I hope, ecumenical in a sectarian sense. By going deeply into the Pentecostal affections, I hope that other Christians will be able to distinguish themselves from and to identify with Pentecostals.

The polemical irenic edges are there, to be sure. I very much want to speak for rapprochement between Pentecostal and Holiness bodies, for a deeper appreciation by Pentecostals of their own heritage, for the crucial importance of religious affections for all Christians (especially Pentecostals), and to put forward a trinitarian re-vision that will provoke and encourage a more socially, missionally, ecumenically, and theologically responsible Pentecostalism. I hope that my liberal Protestant (in the tradition of Schleiermacher) and fundamentalist friends (in the tradition of Warfield and the Scottish Common Sense philosophy) will find things to aggravate and engage their interest in these pages. Pentecostals have much reason to learn from both, embrace neither and to expand, if not radically alter, the label evangelical as a self-designation. The antinomy of reason and feelings must be transcended; I have tried to show one way of doing that.

There are so many persons who have contributed to this work, but I must begin with those who taught me the most fundamental and continually significant theological disciplineprayer. My parents, Jack and Mary Land, have given of themselves to me and many others for over four decades now. My wife Peggy and I served with my parents for twenty years in an urban Atlanta Pentecostal ministry which demanded constant spiritual renewal and theological work.

The members of the Society for Pentecostal Studies have through conversation, sharing of ideas, and provocative research, stimulated my development and thought. By their work and example, Leonard Lovett and David Daniels have reminded me of the crucial importance of the black roots and spirituality for a Pentecostalism that would be a folk-liberation movement of the Spirit. Mel Robeck, Jerry Sandidge, Harold Hunter, Vinson Synan, and Dan Albrecht have all urged me on and their work is reflected in this study. Donald Dayton, who has pioneered in both theological and historiographical fields of inquiry, has freely shared research materials and has chided me and other members of the Society concerning our sometime theological inferiority complex. I hope I have neither neglected nor proven his point. William (Bill) Faupel, in addition to sharing a great amount of historical data, arranged for an interview with Dr Walter Hollenweger for which I am deeply grateful. Bills careful and extremely valuable work undergirds my own and is a prerequisite for understanding North American Pentecostalism. He read a rough draft and made comments which were deeply appreciated. David Bundy, bibliophile and linguist extraordinaire, and Frank Macchia have taught and encouraged me much concerning the Holiness-Pentecostal connections and the larger, deeper meaning of glossolalia.

I must thank all Pentecostal leaders who so generously gave of their time, perspectives, homes and hearts over the past fifteen years. Special thanks to Yung-Chul Han in Korea, Margaret Gaines in Israel, the late J. Herbert Walker, Jr and his dear wife, Lucille, in Europe, Andre Weber in France, Jos Minay (a South American Pentecostal bishop), Rick and Jan Waldrop, David Munguia, Roberto Aldana and Rudi Giron in Guatemala, Miguel and Mireya Alvarez in Honduras (now in the Philippines), Reverend Enrique Guerra in Costa Rica, Reverend and Mrs. Pedro Pablo Castillo in Nicaragua, Arthur Naidoo, James Seekola, Reuben Timothy and Wynand de Kock in South Africa, Neil and Leslie Morrison in Scotland, Brian Robinson, Steve and Kathleen Hall in England, Ivan and Valentina Fedotov of Russia, Hong Yang of China, and a host of international students whom it has been my privilege to teach and from whom I have learned much.

President Cecil Knight, Dean Robert Crick, Dr James Beaty (one of my copy editors), the faculty and students of the Church of God School of Theology in Cleveland, Tennessee have understood, encouraged and supported me and my family during these past twelve years. Dr Crick especially has encouraged me in my Pentecostal pursuits and deepened my pastoral care perspective. Rick Moore, Chris Thomas, Jackie and Cheryl Johns have been important dialog partners and friends.

Several libraries have assisted me during the past ten years. Barbara McCullough at The William Squires Library in Cleveland, Tennessee and Valerie Watkins of the Woodruff Library of Emory University were especially helpful. The staff of the Pentecostal Research Center and Charles Towler of the Church of God Publishing House, both in Cleveland, Tennessee, helped me track down some of the early Pentecostal hymnody.

I owe special thanks to the editors and staff of Sheffield Academic Press for initiating this series of monographs and to Steve Barganski, whose editorial work has helped to make this manuscript presentable. Several years ago my dissertation advisor, Don Saliers, assigned to me a chapter on Pentecostal Spirituality in a book he was editing for Crossroad Press in New York. That became the seed of and impetus for this work. As teacher, mentor, and friend Dr Saliers has influenced me deeply. I look forward to future collaboration. He has been an excellent mentor-director.