Amos Yong - Renewing Christian theology : systematics for a global Christianity

Yongs work brilliantly articulates what the world of Christian theology is fast becoming: the dawning reality that the regions beyond have become the new center of Christianity. Renewing Christian Theology is a twenty-first-century expression of what it means to have good news for all people!

Byron D. Klaus, President, Assemblies of God
Theological Seminary

This remarkable book introduces and creatively reconstructs a Pentecostal summa in sympathetic and critical dialogue with the best of Christian heritage. No one interested in Pentecostal and Renewal movements can ignore this work.

Veli-Matti Krkkinen, Professor of Systematic Theology,
Fuller Theological Seminary and Docent of Ecumenics,
University of Helsinki

Yong reprioritizes the order of classic theological reasoning, beginning with eschatology, in order to emphasize Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered Christianity.

Don Thorsen, Professor of Theology,
Azusa Pacific University

Here at last is a vibrant theological text that systematically addresses the big intellectual challenges confronting twenty-first-century Pentecostals and charismatics. Every chapter bursts with constructive ideas, bringing biblical exposition and theological themes to bear on the doctrinal statements that define the Churchs long renewal.

William K. Kay, Professor of Pentecostal Studies,
University of Chester

Amos Yong delivers a forward-looking and pneumatologically grounded systematics of Renewal demonstrating its contribution to the wider theological academy and the global church.

Sammy Alfaro, Assistant Professor of Theology,
Grand Canyon University

No doubt this book will be a landmark work in Renewal Theology and spark a spirited conversation about the role of Pentecostal theology in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.

Peter C. Phan, The Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of
Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University

Renewing Christian Theology

Systematics for a Global Christianity

AMOS YONG

with artistic images and commentary by
JONATHAN A. ANDERSON

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS

2014 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas 76798-7363
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of Baylor University Press.

Scripture quotations, where not an authors own translation, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover Design by Nicole Holmes, Zeal Design Studio
Cover Image: Sadao Watanabe (Japanese, 19131996), Oikoumene, 1991, traditional Japanese colors on washi paper. Courtesy of Tatsuo Watanabe.
Select public domain images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org / Eitan f. (fig. 6.2), IT1315922 (fig. 6.3), Gunnar Bach Pedersen (fig. 9.1), Sitiens lucem (fig. 9.4), Marie-Lan Nguyen (fig. 12.2), and Caroline Lna Becker (fig. 12.4).
Book Design by Diane Smith

eISBN: 978-1-4813-0309-5 (e-Pub)
eISBN: 978-1-4813-0310-1 (Mobi/Kindle)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Yong, Amos.
Renewing Christian theology : systematics for a global Christianity / Amos Yong; with artistic images and commentary by Jonathan A. Anderson.
477 pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60258-761-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Assemblies of God--Doctrines. 2. Pentecostal churches--Doctrines. 3. Theology, Doctrinal. 4. Pentecostalism. I. Title.
BX8765.5.Z5Y66 2014
230.994--dc23

2013049573

To our colleagues in the Biola University Art Department
and in the Regent University School of Divinity
for your friendship, laughter, prayers, and common labor
that is the outworking of a Spirit-filled life of the mind we all desire,
for the sake of the gospel, in anticipation of the coming reign of God
~ 1 Corinthians 13:12 ~
~ 1 John 3:2 ~
~ Romans 11:33-36 ~

Contents

Expanded Table of Contents

Figures and Permissions

Acknowledgments

This volume presents a culmination of sorts at this point of my thinking as a pentecostal theologian, which vocation was initiated during my doctoral studies in the mid-1990s. First and foremost, my wifes patience, love, and encouragement must be recognized as allowing for the germination over the last two decades plus of whatever insights are valuable in this book. For this I can only say, Thank you, Alma! As this manuscript goes to the publisher, we are both looking forward to so much together in this new empty nest chapter of our lives.

I am sure that some of the thoughts here go back to my undergraduate days and even behind that to my growing up as a pentecostal pastors kid and missionary kid. Yet the best I can do for those interested in the foundational ideas summarized herein is to direct attention to the notes and references in the more than a dozen of my own monographs and another dozen-plus edited volumes that precede this work, some of which are mentioned in what follows. The references collected at the end of this book, of course, also provide important pointers. Needless to say, my debts are endless, given the help I have received over the years.

I must include the librarians who have supported my research, starting at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota (19992005); Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio (fall 2004); and now Regent University (since 2005). Patty Hughson in the interlibrary loan department here at Regent has been more than efficient, courteously collegial, and always helpful. Bob Sivigny, who retired right about the time that the initial draft of this manuscript was being undertaken, was also always diligent in acquiring books and resources in the growing field of pentecostal-charismatic or renewal studies that have been indispensable for this work.

Former Regent University School of Divinity dean and now colleague Michael Palmer supported my sabbatical year that allowed this book to be written. My former graduate assistant and doctoral student Vince Le helped with research, bibliography, proofreading, and drafting the glossary. Enoch Charles, my present graduate assistant, assisted with the indexing. Regent University has been a unique laboratory for thinking about renewal studies in general and renewal theology especially.

My yearlong sabbatical (20122013) was generously funded by a Henry Luce III Theological Fellowship. Thanks to Stephen Graham at the Association of Theological Schools for his role in chairing the fellowship selection process and to Frances Pacienza for her administrative assistance. Some of the Luce funds along with a research grant from Biola went to offset the production costs for the artwork with Baylor University Press.

I received encouragement and important feedback on my Luce proposal from Peter Althouse, Johnathan Alvarado, Klaas Bom, Shane Clifton, Byron Klaus, Waldemar Kowalski, Larry Hart, Louis Bill Oliverio, Opoku Onyinah, David Ricci, Tony Richie, Ed Rybarczyk, Charlie Self, Christopher Crip Stephenson, Karl Inge Tangen, and Jack Wisemore. I appreciate the support of Peter Phan, Mark Cartledge, and Alan Padgett for my Luce application. Peter Phan also went above and beyond the call of duty in reading my manuscript, contributing to the improvement of the text with his helpful observations, and graciously serving as my conversation convener at the Luce fellows conference in November 2013. Discussions at this conference in response to my project description and presentation, particularly with Peter Phan, Chlo Starr, and Paul Chang-Ha Lim, resulted in important tweaks in the first chapter on the creed during the copy-editing stage of book production.