William L. De Arteaga, “Glenn Clark’s Camps Furthest Out: The Schoolhouse of the Charismatic Renewal” PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 25:2 (Fall 2003), pages 265-288.

The author of Quenching the Spirit (Creation House, 1996) says that the CFO had a significant impact on the Charismatic Renewal of the 1960s and 1970s, even though it has been overlooked by most historians of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement because of its early connections with non-Christian theology.

S. David Moore, “William J. Seymour: The unlikely catalyst of the Azusa Street revival can still teach us what it means to be authentically Spirit-filled.” Ministries Today (May/June 2005), page 48.

This first installment of “Pentecostal Pioneers: 100 Years of Azusa” promises to be a year-long historical retrospect to celebrate the April 2006 Centennial of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement. Moore writes, “As [Seymour] observed the racial bigotry of those who claimed to have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, with tongues-speech as proof, he gradually adjusted his view on ‘Bible evidence,’ putting the emphasis on the fruit of the Spirit as the most important evidence that one was Spirit-filled. He would still believe speaking with tongues was a genuine and significant gift from God, one that could be a sign of the Spirit’s empowerment but not the sign. … For Seymour, Spirit baptism was fundamentally an anointing from God to evangelize a world in need of Christ.”

“World Christianity: Western Culture, Missions, and the (Real) Future of the Church” Cutting Edge 9:1 (Spring 2005), pages 2-5.

Jeff Bailey interviews Philip Jenkins, author of The Next Christendom: The Rise of Global Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2002), to ask how church planters need to see their role in light of the world’s changing realities. “The best prophecy I came across when I was researching my books was from Saint Vincent De Paul, who said, ‘Jesus said his church would last until the end of time. He never mentioned the word “Europe.” The church of the future will be the church of South America, Africa, China and Japan.’ If you take Japan off the list, that’s a very prescient comment for someone writing in 1640!” (5).

Full issues of the journal are available from Vineyard USA at: www.vineyardusa.org/site/task-forces/church-planting/cutting-edge-magazine [updated September 25, 2014]

Stanley J. Grenz, “What Does It Really Mean to Be Postmodern?” Enrichment (Summer 2005), pages 112-114.

Stanley J. Grenz (1950-2005)
Image: stanleyjgrenz.com

Professor Grenz completed a six-part series on postmodernism and the church for the Assemblies of God Enrichment journal before his unexpected death on March 12, 2005. This series offers an excellent introduction to what a postmodern church might look like, and this article discusses what a postmodern church would value as well as showing some mistaken understandings of what it means to be postmodern.

The Speaking in Tongues Controversy. Robert Graves continues his review essay, “A Narrative-Critical Response,” Part 2. Graves asks if authorial intent is the doom of Pentecostal theology.

John Alexander Dowie. Pastor Derek Vreeland introduces us to revivalist John Dowie and his ministry of divine healing.

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah. Messianic teacher Kevin Williams continues his Messianic Foundations Series with the nineteenth chapter in a mini-series on the Gospel of Matthew. Kevin will be looking at the Hebraisms and Jewish background found in Matthew 24, and the signs of the “Son of Man.”

Rightly Understanding God’s Word: Context of Genre by Craig S. Keener continues with a study of the book of Revelation. Learn important principles for approaching God’s Word: reading, teaching, and doing what it says.

One of the book and periodical reviews you will see:

Wolfgang Vondey reviews Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen’s Christology: A Global Introduction. An Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective (Baker Academic)

Israel continues to be a land of archeological discovery as yearly excavations unearth more and more of her past. The Historical Atlas of Jerusalem, written by one of Israel’s preeminent archeologists, takes you on an epoch-by-epoch exploration of the city where God chose to establish His Name. Through written text as well as rare photography, maps, and diagrams, each of the 13 chapters covering 400 pages help you understand this city’s legacy of agriculture, architecture, and administration, within a context of the religious movements sweeping the landscape.

Interested in knowing what was there before God called Abraham? Then read chapter one. Looking for information on the destruction of the First Temple and the subsequent rule under Nebuchadnezzar? Then read chapter three. Perhaps your interests lie on Jerusalem during Roman rule or later Muslim occupation, or perhaps much later under the Ottomans or the British. It is all there, right up the city’s 5,000 anniversary in 2000. The Historical Atlas of Jerusalem is an inviting introduction for everyone to one of the oldest cities in the world.

Reviewed by Kevin M. Williams

Were Pharisees opposed to anything supernatural?

[Author’s Note: The following text is neither an endorsement nor a censure of Jewish mysticism as practiced today or during the biblical era. Rather, it is an attempt to present the facts of a multi-faceted and ancient religious philosophy in a short, manageable format for the Pneuma Review.]

Mysticism today connotes different things to different audiences. For some, it embodies the “New Age” movement, bordering on—if not leaping over—the edge of witchcraft. For others in more traditional forms of Christianity mysticism is ingrained into their culture, and rumored now again in the media with a crying icon or the silhouette of the Madonna “witnessed” on the side of a building or ink stain. In their faith, this expression of mysticism confirms their religion. C. S. Lewis, a committed Anglican, wrote: “The true religion gives value to its own mysticism; mysticism does not validate the religion in which it happens to occur” (Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, page 65).

For our purposes, we are going to have an introductory examination of Jewish mysticism and its effect—if any—on the Christian faith. “Introductory” because with volumes of commentary on the subject spanning thousands of years, and us with only these few pages, an introduction is the best for which we can hope.

Perhaps, though, this introduction will motivate some to explore the subject further. For those I offer one piece of advice: do so prayerfully, leaning ever on the Holy Spirit so that, “He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). When examining Jewish mysticism, all that glimmers is not gold. While it may appear attractive and “spiritual,” it may or may not actually be so. Paul teaches us that a “partial hardening has happened to Israel” (Romans 11:25). Partial is not a full hardening, neither is it full spirituality. There is gold and there is fools’ gold. Use wisdom so that you are not led astray.

The heading, Spiritual Ecstasy, was not an easy title upon which to settle for this article. Today, “ecstasy” brings with it negative connotations of illegal narcotics and sensual innuendo. However, to allow modern base behaviors to hijack a word does not change the fact that in the age of the second temple in Jerusalem, what we might call spiritual expression or charismata, was in those days known among the Hebrews as “Spiritual ecstasy.” Though many today have divorced the very concept that Jewish men and women in the days before, during, and following Jesus’ atoning incarnation believed in or practiced any godly form of spirituality, the recorded history says otherwise, and the term “spiritual ecstasy” appears frequently in the ancient extra biblical texts.

Similarly, this “spiritual ecstasy” has continued in certain circles of Jewish orthodoxy today. In what might be considered a paradox, those with the most religious fervor—in the sense of strict adherence to the Pentateuch and a complex code of oral traditions—do believe in and pursue what they refer to as “Spiritual ecstasy.” From their perspective, both now as well as in the ancient observances, anything that comes into contact with the divine must somehow transcend its mundane nature—including mankind.

So it is with this intention in mind that the title Spiritual Ecstasy is employed as an attempt to maintain continuity with the understanding of some of our fellow heirs of Father Abraham—the Jewish people.

David Murrow, “Mild At Heart: The disturbing exodus of men from the church, and how you can change it.” Ministries Today (May/June 2005, Vol 23, No. 3), pages 40-44, 46.

David Murrow starts his article with statistics. They tell a poor story. Men make up less than 40% of U.S. Churches and that number is growing worse with time. This declining condition exists even though leadership of the American Christian Church remains overwhelmingly male.

As a pastor, Murrow’s goal is the strengthening and expansion of the Church. Does he overstate his case that modern churches are not appealing to men? Perhaps. On the other hand, events such as Promise Keepers, Man Power and Wild at Heart Boot Camps are drawing throngs of men.

Murrow asks 3 key questions: Why are men abandoning the pews of the Church? How could The Faith, started by a manly carpenter and 12 working men fall into such a state? How do we fix this, since this condition seems to be strongly linked to the overall decline of American Churches?

The View From The Pews: Context and Environment

Murrow states bluntly that Men do not feel welcome in modern churches. This is, in part, because the church, and church-life, reflects the sensibilities of the active disciples: women. For instance, to the male eye, many Church decors have the frilly, flowered look of a maiden aunt’s house. To many males ears, the worship, teaching and preaching of the Church, sounds “safe and soft.”

Men, Spirit-filled men included, are built for action and challenge. Any environment or context that ignores a man’s “wildness of heart” is not welcoming to him. Men will put up with hardship and inconvenience, but they hate to be bored or constrained.

Misplaced Purpose: The Great Commission

Murrow calls modern church-life “soft and sweet.” Many men see Christian preachers, teachers and ministers as cautious, sensitive and accommodating. Jesus and the Disciples were bold, intolerant and assertive. Jesus commanded the Church to focus on being God’s Army. The Church, as Saint’s Hospital, is not His Intention.

Jesus chose a bold, inflexible command (Matthew 28: 19-20) as his last earthly words to the assembled Disciples: “Go every where and make disciples.” Modern Churches, rightfully so, help and nourish the sick and hurting. The discipling ministries, not the helping ministries should be the focus and leadership in God’s Army.

Infantrymen take, and hold, territory. The medics, vital and needed, only operate to support the infantry. Men will respond as the Church reclaims a purpose and passion for the lost. The adventure and challenge of making disciples will keep generations of Christian men in the pews, if not on the edge of their seats.

In this guest editorial, Eddie Hyatt points us to Jesus as antidote to wayward spirituality.

While driving to class a few days ago I asked God for a theme for that day. I was teaching from the book of Colossians and had a vague idea where I was going, but desired more clarity about a theme for that lesson. As I prayed and worshipped, the phrase “Don’t Lose Your Focus” was strongly impressed upon my heart and mind. This phrase remained so pronounced in my heart that, at the beginning of the class, I wrote across the board in large letters “Don’t Lose Your Focus” and announced it as the theme for that lesson. I was then astounded at the sequence of events that unfolded.

As I taught that morning, the Holy Spirit seemed to direct our attention to what some New Testament scholars call “The Colossian Heresy.” Although I had taught on the subject before, on this particular day I seemed to receive new and fresh insight into the nature of this 1st century heresy. In essence, they had lost their focus on Christ. After the class was over, I went to the main auditorium where a guest speaker was addressing the student body. As I listened to this individual, well known in the prophetic/apostolic movement, I was astounded to hear “The Colossian Heresy” that I had just delineated being propagated to the student body.

The Nature of the Colossian Heresy

The problem in Colosse was that the believers had lost their focus on Christ and were being distracted by other, even legitimate, things. Paul’s answer was to keep directing their attention back to Christ as the source and fullness of everything they needed. They did not need to look to some other source for knowledge of God, For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (2:9). There was no need to look elsewhere for some plan or process for achieving spiritual maturity for, You are complete in Him who is the Head of all principality and power (2:10). They did not need to turn to other avenues for obtaining special wisdom and knowledge, for in Christ, Are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2:3). What was it that was distracting the Colossians and causing them to lose their focus? It was a preoccupation with their own spirituality. They were obsessed with how to be “spiritual” and had become preoccupied with supernatural phenomena such as visions and angelic visitations (2:18). In Col. 2:18 Paul refers to the worship of angels and what he [the heretical teacher] has seen, i.e., visions (NIV). The word “worship” in this passage is a translation of the Greek word threskia and is not the normal word for “worship” in the New Testament. Besides Col. 2:18 it is found in only three other places in the New Testament, Acts 26:3 and James 1:26, 27, where it is translated as “religion.” The point seems to be that the Colossians had developed a “religious” fascination with angels and visions. Why is this a problem? Their fascination with such sensational phenomena has distracted them from their one and only true Source, Jesus Christ. Because of their fascination with esoteric, sensational phenomena, they are no longer, Holding fast to the Head from whom all the body, nourished and knit together … grows with an increase that is from God (2:19). This is serious, for only by abiding in Christ and holding fast to Him can the Colossians experience the fullness of salvation and arrive at spiritual maturity. To complicate matters, the spiritual experiences, with which they are so enamored, have become a basis for pride. They consider themselves a notch above other Christians because of these supernatural encounters. They are an elite group. Although they purport to be humble, it is a false humility that is betrayed by their attitudes and actions (2:18). Perhaps referring to their most prominent teacher, Paul says that he, like his followers, is vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind (2:18).

Books on the rise and growth of the early church abound, focusing on various personalities and emphases. Do we need additional volumes to add to this library? If they are as well written as this new book, I believe that the answer is a resounding yes! Ivor Davidson has done us all a wonderful service, by re-presenting the story of the first three centuries of Christianity in this first volume of what should prove to be a fascinating series by Baker Books.

Ivor Davidson is a senior lecturer in systematic theology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. In his preface, he explains that his aim in writing this book was to produce “a fresh narrative history of the early church that is accessible in style, comprehensive in scope, and—not least—up-to-date in scholarship” (p. 7). It is this reviewer’s conviction that he succeeded in his threefold purpose. Birth of the Church is both readable and informative, and could be easily digested by the layperson and the minister, the student and the teacher, the seminary president and the youth group member. History is presented as story, with a flowing narrative that includes personable characters, memorable places, thrilling travels, and fascinating conflicts. Davidson does not simply give us a list of people, places and dates, but shows how Christianity grew among real people, with real problems and issues, troubles and triumphs—people we can relate to and understand.

Still focusing on the real people from those centuries, although written from a mainstream evangelical perspective, Birth of the Church does not hesitate to hold up “the other side” of the numerous debates among those who professed to follow Christ (and what that meant) in those early centuries. What was Montanism, Gnosticism, and Marcionite dualism (among others), and why did those early followers become Montanists, Gnostics, and Marcionite dualists? Arguments for both sides of each debate are presented, in the end demonstrating why one side prevailed over another. Davidson is refreshingly balanced and uniquely fair in his historical narrative, but still shows why we believe what we believe today in mainstream Christianity.

Image: Chalffy Chan

from the editor’s desk

Unlike some critics of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, those of us in the broad movement know that many diverse views are held by those who recognize the Holy Spirit’s activity today. Many controversial issues and shades of emphasis keep the movement from being any kind of monolith. Only the core doctrines of the orthodox faith and the empowering of the Spirit offer a unifying center to the movement. As we lift up Jesus together, there is much we can learn from each other as we discuss the truth in love.

It is with this perspective in mind of learning from each other that the editorial committee is considering a number of topics to discuss in the journal. We would like to hear from you, our readers. What subjects you have been studying recently that you would like to see a point and counter-point dialogue about? What issues have you been chatting about with friends and peers?

Please use our contact page to reach me or the editorial committee with your suggestions and comments.

May you this issue to be an encouragement and blessing.

— Raul Mock, Executive Editor

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, The Doctrine of God: A Global Introduction. A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 315 pages.

The Doctrine of God is one in a series of books published in recent years by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, a Finnish-born theologian who currently teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary. As the subtitle suggests, the book intends to offers a survey of biblical, historical and contemporary approaches to the doctrine of God. This book brings to completion a three-part textbook series on God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, all published by Baker Academic. Similar to the preceding volumes, this book is destined to become a standard textbook in many schools and seminaries. Teachers and scholars alike will benefit from this introductory text.

The book has two major purposes. First, to survey interpretations of God throughout Christian history and, second, to allow for a conversation between the classical theological tradition (“classical theism”) and its contemporary challengers. In order achieve this purpose, Kärkkäinen begins with an assessment of biblical texts concerning the doctrine of God. Following the biblical survey, he traces the development of classical theism from the early Church fathers to the beginning of the twentieth century. This main section of the book treats both European and North American theologians who significantly influenced the theological landscape. The final part of the book offers a condensed overview of contemporary interpretations of God outside the Western context, particularly African, Asian and Latin American voices.

Many readers will likely be most interested in the survey of contemporary theology. Kärkkäinen offers concise chapters on the work of Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Karl Rahner, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jürgen Moltmann and others. The section on North American texts addresses such challenging themes as process theology, the Death-of-God debate and open theism as well as African American, Native American and feminist theologies. Each chapter highlights the distinctive elements of these respective areas and introduces major theological voices. At the end of each section follows a short summary.

The Doctrine of God is a first-class introduction to the material every theology student should have in their library and an excellent overview of the texts for anyone who cannot afford to purchase those books. The overview of contemporary theologians represents the strongest part of the book. The chapters are concise, manageable and informative and offer a fine addition to many popular classroom collections.

Critique of the book will likely focus on the biblical and patristic sections. Kärkkäinen’s heavy and, at times, uncritical reliance on some authors, such as Walter Brueggeman and John Goldingay in the biblical section, as well as J. N. D. Kelly and Justo Gonzáles in the historical part, does not always offer the balanced view the author proposes. For example, the biblical section does not address aspects of Old Testament theology that speak of God as the one who destroys or the one who judges. Similarly, the patristic section speaks little about the often “unorthodox” view of some theologians even after the Council of Nicaea. Kärkkäinen seems more at home in contemporary European theologies, although treatment of Catholic authors could have included a number of other important theologians such as Yves Congar and Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002), 145 pages.

This book was written to fill a need that concerned the leadership at Calvin College–wanting to keep Calvin a college that is Christian. Though presented to a wider Christian audience, Plantinga is a minister in the Reformed tradition and his writing is from that perspective. It would be good to note that the Reformed tradition places great emphasis on the main topics of the book, and that adds to the value of what Plantinga presents. My own theological perspective comes from Holiness and Pentecostal interpretations, yet I can easily read and admire Plantinga’s thoughts.

The book was commissioned to provide the basic background that Calvin College found was missing in its incoming students, students which largely had grown up in the church but nonetheless were rather clueless when it came to the great doctrines of Christianity. Plantinga deals with each of these doctrines: Longing and Hope; Creation; The Fall; Redemption and Vocation in the Kingdom of God. The book closes with an Epilogue and an appendix of talking points to enable discussion by and between the students.

Longing and hope repeats some of Plantinga’s thinking from his earlier award winning book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Eerdmans, 1995). There he described Shalom for which we were made and hunger for and yet have trashed such that it no longer exists except as a hope. I was so impressed when I read the earlier book with this concept that it has become part and parcel of my own being and I pray that priestly blessing in Numbers 6 over my house every morning as part of the litany with which I start each day. I, too, long and hope for what Plantinga so magnificently and simply presents.

With the stage thus set, Plantinga next takes us to and through the marvel and wonder of Creation a place where we find creatures of wondrous particularity–each of them and all of them a display of God’s inventiveness and love. We learn that God revels in his creation, that lightning bolts say “here we are” to God; that the morning stars sang together as God unfolded his creation and all the angels shouted for joy. We have to do more than glance around; we have to lie on our backs and look into the night sky. We also have to study scripture which corrects our dull vision with special or particular revelation or what a prophet today might call illumination.

We learn there is a time to speak and a time to be silent; that this is the rhythm of God as is the time to work and to rest from work. We learn that marriage is good and that God gave our ancestors, that primal pair in the garden, a cultural mandate to multiply and fill the earth. Against the backdrop of all the good and the wonder in creation, Plantinga develops the horror of the fall, the onslaught of sin, culpable evil. God hates sin not just because it violates law, but because it also violates trust. Sin grieves God, offends God, betrays God, and not because God is touchy. God hates sin against himself, against neighbors, against a good creation because sin breaks the peace. Sin interferes with the way God wants things to be. That is why God has laws against sin. God is for Shalom and therefore against sin.