Evan B. Howard, The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2008), 496 pages, ISBN 9781587430381.

Evan Howard has constructed a college or seminary textbook on spirituality that is thorough in its approach, wide in its scope, and deep in its content. The format that he employed benefits the reader by opening each chapter with effective introductions, outlines, and stated objectives. These are wrapped up by summary statements, study questions, and in-depth suggestions for further reading. Howard provides an application on “Practicing Christian Spirituality” that is well suited to engage the reader experientially. Sidebars and character profiles interspersed throughout help illustrate how theories of spirituality have been lived out. On a lighter note, Howard has inserted appropriate cartoons to tease the truth out of the quirkiness of the churched culture, which is a welcomed comic-relief approach to include in a college textbook. Finally, the book concludes with a glossary of the religious terms utilized by the textbook.

The strength of Howard’s textbook rests on his commitment to explain the systems of thought, theology, psychology, and sociology in the history of Christian spirituality. Not presuming on his reader’s knowledge, he has been careful to explain each step and process. For example, when discussing the concept of prayer as a dialogue with God, he first explains theories of human communication. However helpful this may be to the new learner, it becomes tedious to one who is familiar with the theories. Herein lies the tension, how can any author present the mysteries of the spirit via the means of an academic text? How much can anyone learn about spirituality from a textbook?

The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality is well suited for upperclassmen or for seminarians who have not yet laid a foundation of Christian spirituality. Howard’s textbook has the potential to augment the guidance of a spiritual mentor or director who is active in spiritual discipleship.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Publisher’s page: http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-brazos-introduction-to-christian-spirituality/227930

Paul King is a scholar at Oral Roberts University and an ordained minister of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. In this volume of some 400 pages, beautifully published by Word & Spirit Press of Tulsa, Oklahoma he examines the thought of the Word of Faith movement. He does this in a novel and innovative way. Instead of the “overkill” approach that we saw among the heresy hunters of the 1980s and 90s, King first takes a good look at the history of Christianity. Among the Early Church Fathers, Medieval Mystics, Protestant Reformers, Puritans and Pietists he finds precursors of many Faith teachings. He gives special attention to the classic Evangelical authors of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This is an area where King is an acknowledged expert. He is well acquainted with the Holiness, Healing and Pentecostal movements. He even makes a distinction between the Keswick and Higher Life movements that I have always seen as one movement.

Throughout this very readable book, you will find numerous citations from classic faith leaders such as George Mueller, A.J. Gordon, R. A. Torrey, A. B. Simpson, Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Murray. King has made a detailed study of John A. MacMillan who wrote the seminal volume, The Authority of the Believer.

From this solid historical basis King develops his major thesis, namely that the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to practice a healthy faith that is both strong and solid. What this looks like is worth pursuing, and King is a thoughtful and helpful guide.

By ferreting out the faith doctrines among the classic authors of the previous two centuries, King is illustrating to us what should have been obvious – that Word of Faith teaching did not just suddenly fall out of the sky. It grew organically out of a nineteenth century context. It may be that the unfortunate and jarring overreaction of much of established Christianity to the amazing work of God in the Azusa Street revival of 1906 – 1909, with some writers describing the first steps of Classical Pentecostalism with extreme pejoratives such as “the last vomit of Satan” led to the total disjunction and separation of these branches of Christianity. King’s book is a bridge to restore dialogue and mutually beneficial conversations.

The major part of this study probes the theological and practical issues that one usually sees as distinctive of the Word of Faith movement. King prefers the term “contemporary faith.” These issues include the nature of faith, the authority of the believer, spiritual laws, logos and rhema, revelation knowledge and Healing in the atonement. He also looks at positive confession, discernment and prosperity. Where necessary he expresses his reservations clearly.

Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik, eds., Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007), 930 pages, ISBN 9781565637634.

This volume is an imposing compendium of scholarly research into the Jewish Christianity of the first several centuries. The book features essays on nearly every major representative and aspect of this important stream within early Christianity.

The volume opens by exploring the definition of “Jewish Christianity” and then gives an overview of the literary evidence for this stream within the early church, discussing, in turn, the Jewish aspects of Paul’s mission and beliefs, the gospel of Matthew as a reflection of Jewish Christianity, the Fourth Gospel, the book of Revelation, the (non-canonical) Jewish gospel tradition, Jewish Christianity’s use and preservation of the OT pseudepigrapha, Jewish-Christian aspects within the Pseudo-Clementine writings, and the remains of Jewish-Christian witnesses as preserved in Greek and Latin patristic writers. After this is a series of essays on the various Jewish-Christian “schools”, such as the Ebionites, Nazoreans, etc., and various alleged Jewish-Christian leaders, like Cerinthus, Elxai (Elchesai), etc. Philip Alexander discusses the rabbinic evidence for Jewish Christianity, while James Strange discusses the archaeological record. Skarsaune (who wrote many of the articles) closes the volume with an overview, after which there is a bibliography running more than 100 pages. There is really very little that the book does not include, and anything to be gainsaid about the volume will likely focus on a particular issue as treated by one or another contributor, rather than on issues touching the volume as a whole. For example, Donald Hagner’s essay on “Paul as a Jewish Believer—According to his Letters” is rather reactionary, and not, I think, of the same quality as the other essays.

For most students of the New Testament, this volume is both a starting point and a likely ending point for the study of Jewish Christianity. It deserves a place in any personal library.

Reviewed by John Poirier

New publisher’s page: http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/jewish-believers-in-jesus/333750

As of October 30, 2014, the full text of the book appears here: http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/jewbelje.pdf

Ritva H. Williams, Stewards, Prophets, Keepers of the Word: Leadership in the Early Church (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006), 228 pages, ISBN 9781565639492.

Williams approaches the subject of leadership in the early church through an examination of the social and cultural customs of the Greco-Roman civilization during the first and second centuries. In addition to canonized and apocryphal scriptures, she has engaged early Church and public documents to support her research. Her scholarship follows the popular disciplines of Funk’s Jesus Seminar and her presuppositions follow Bultmann’s demythologization of the scripture, whereas her interpretation of scripture follows the historical-critical methodology.

There is much to recommend regarding this book’s discussion of stewards and prophets. First, Williams lays a foundation, describing the Greco-Roman patron-client social paradigm. She takes great effort to describe how the patron-client model is evident in the gospel narratives of Jesus and in the teaching and the plots of his parables. She added a valuable word study on “steward” (oikonomos) to specify how church leadership in the early centuries followed the social norm and role of the household steward. The primary strength of Williams’ thesis rests on the dynamic of the role of the steward (oikonomos) of the church. Additionally, Williams explores the Pauline idea of being in Christ as the exemplar of the steward who finds authority and security as the broker of his master’s household, wealth, and social status.

William’s conclusion is open-ended and she declines to “provide a blueprint for what it means to be a faithful steward, a true prophet, and/or a genuine keeper of the word.” An additional chapter that proposes an application would strengthen the book and satisfy its argument. In this, Williams demonstrated a postmodern ending to her research on leadership in the early Church. What is the role of the steward today? One can only speculate if the role of the steward is to be the role of the church leader or even a paradigm for denominational reformation.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Preview this book: http://books.google.com/books?id=u1yJ5joHOcYC

Laurie Guy, Introducing Early Christianity: A Topical Survey of Its Life, Beliefs & Practices (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 310 pages, ISBN 9780830826988.

In Introducing Early Christianity, Laurie Guy, a lecturer in church history at Carey Bible College in Auckland, New Zealand, and a lecturer with the School of Theology at the University of Auckland, has written a balanced but provocative, simple but scholarly account of the earliest centuries of Christianity and their nascent implications for its most developmentally formative period. It lucidly lays out the major landmarks and will serve well as an introduction to the era for those embarking on or renewing their journey into Christian history. Well-placed hints at deeper directions and their internal dynamics in the events it covers should intrigue readers enough to invite further reflective research.

Guy’s effort ambitiously aims at analyzing early Christians’ life as well as well as their beliefs and practices during the first five centuries of Christian history. Thus it is characterized more by breadth than depth. Yet it relies heavily on primary sources and does not sacrifice substance for simplicity. It is also topical rather than chronological, though in turn investigating each of its chosen themes in a generally chronological manner. It is limited primarily to Christianity’s early development within the environs of the Roman Empire, although readily admitting its reach even early on beyond those borders. Numerous charts, graphs, and tables, suggestions for further reading, as well as a Glossary, maps, and author and subject indexes are helpful aids.

With experience as a lawyer, minister and missionary, Laurie Guy teaches church history and New Testament at Carey Baptist College, Auckland, New Zealand.

Introducing Early Christianity has an orderly and easily discernible development of its contents. After a very brief Preface, Chapter One, “If Paul Could See Us Now” looks at what Guy calls “Four Centuries of Dramatic Change,” and sets the tone for the rest of the book by comparing and contrasting the Christianity of Paul’s time with that of the next four centuries. Guy’s creative freshness shows as he invites readers to imagine Paul having something like a Rip Van Winkle experience in which he awakes after four centuries to see what had become of Christianity by then. Guy suggests that the core affirmation of Christ’s lordship remained constant while enormous shifts in day-to-day existence occurred as well. The next ten chapters examine selected topics that arise out that comparison-contrast. Chapter Two, “Second Generation Christianity,” looks at “The Churches of the Apostolic Fathers” and Chapter Three, “Suffering and Dying for God,” at “Persecution and Martyrdom.” Chapters Four and Five, “Getting Organized: Ministry and Structure” and “Getting Recognized: Emperor Constantine’s Revolution,” address the political and practical landscape of early Christianity’s development. Here one not only sees seeds of current ideas on relations of Church and State, but also how they eventually affected, for good or for ill, the shape and substance of the Early Church.

Oskar Skarsaune, “From the Jewish Messiah to the Creeds of the Church” Evangelical Review of Theology, Vol. 32, No. 3 (July 2008), pages 224-237.

My interests always peak when encountering a document that traces our Christian faith back to the first century believers, so I was delighted when this article by Oskar Skarsaune, professor of church history at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, was brought to my attention.

Skarsaune’s work is a fast-paced, condensed exploration of the Apostle’s and Nicene creeds. It is difficult to tell at first if the professor is caustic or sarcastic, as he clearly takes a dim view of what he refers to as Liberal Protestantism from yesteryear to today’s Jesus Seminar. In all fairness however, it may simply be a matter of style between the Norwegian and English syntax.

Yet his point that since very early on there has been a tendency to seclude Jesus from his Israeli context and Jewish practices is well taken. This view divorces him from being the Messiah of the Hebrews and “converts” him into a Messiah for the Gentiles. That of course, creates a very interesting debate which, in this writer’s opinion, merits further exploration.

The professor challenges what has rightly or wrongly become commonplace: that the creeds have become an outgrowth of a Gentile expression of faith and are distant from any Jewish origins. Most of modern Christianity supports this position, but so does most of Judaism, only too happy to divorce Jesus from any hint of Jewishness and certainly separated from the notion that He is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.

Skarsaune disagrees with both camps, and takes a markedly different approach, exploring Jewish thought in the second temple period—both biblical and apocryphal—to uncover clear lines of evidence linking the creeds with the faith of Israel. Examining the creeds almost line by line, he helps the reader gain a perspective that is surprisingly refreshing, albeit ancient.

His conclusion? The creeds so common and important in many denominations of the Christian faith owe their origins to the ancient faith of Israel.

Reviewed by Kevin M. Williams

The July 2008 issue of Evangelical Review of Theology: http://www.worldevangelicals.org/commissions/tc/ertcont-article.htm?id=2324  (includes an article by Jim Harries)

Gavin Wakefield, Alexander Boddy: Pentecostal Anglican Pioneer (London, UK/Colorado Springs, USA: Paternoster, 2007), 245 pages, ISBN 9781842273463.

Wakefield’s text is well placed as part of Paternoster’s Studies in Pentecostal and Charismatic Issues series. For one thing, Boddy was unarguably a most important founder and leader in early Pentecostalism in Great Britain, and he also had vital international significance including the United States. Even more, his life and ministry intersected with and addressed at one point or another most of the main issues that arose during that time, many of which are still relevant—and controversial—in the movement and beyond. Thus, this scholarly and readable historical biography of A. A. Boddy has interesting applications for the present. Its emphasis on Boddy’s personable leadership style, wide travels, mediating theology, and pastoral heart suggest it may be most helpful for church leaders and pastors, but there is also much for scholars and students. As a special point of interest, Boddy, a Church of England clergyman who also interacted with many cultures and traditions, is a Pentecostal model of ecumenism and egalitarianism. Oddly enough, he has been understudied, probably because after the interruption of World War I, younger men began to lead the movement. Yet his influence continued (and continues) to be significant in subtle ways. For example, Boddy’s motto, “unity is not uniformity,” is often quoted without credit. Accordingly, Wakefield’s work is a welcome look at this important figure and leader in early British Pentecostalism and beyond. In a helpful Forward, acclaimed New Testament scholar and Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright said, “Those who pray for a fresh work of the Spirit on our own day will do well to learn from such earlier events.” I agree.

Wakefield does a good job of concisely summarizing the most salient features of Boddy’s characteristics and contributions. He speculates that Boddy’s upbringing in a poor area with heavy immigrant population and mixed religious faiths may have been formative for later years of social concern and ecumenical and inter-religious understanding. He underscores Boddy’s evangelical orientation prior and subsequent to his Pentecostal experience. He suggests wide traveling and wide ranging relations with Christians of many different denominations and even with people of non-Christian religions helped him attain an unusually inclusive outlook that nevertheless did not diminish constant commitment to his own faith or to his sense of the Church’s evangelistic mission. Boddy seems to have been an adventurous spirit who, though perhaps not a great scholar, was a careful observer and learner, and became a prolific speaker and writer.

Pastor Daniel Isgrigg speaks with Pneuma Review about his tribute to Dr. Howard Ervin, “Pilgrimage Into Pentecost: The Pneumatological Legacy of Howard M. Ervin” and his book of the same title.

Pneuma Review: In what ways has Dr. Ervin had an influence on your life?

Daniel Isgrigg: The book and paper came about after I took Dr. Ervin’s famous Pneumatology class that he taught every year of his forty year teaching career at ORU. Prior to this, I was not familiar with him and didn’t understand how important he was to Pentecostal theology. Once I heard him teach and was exposed to his class material and books, I knew I had found something special. As a young aspiring Pentecostal scholar, I had not yet found an example that I could follow of being both academic and Pentecostal. Most scholars to me were either not academic enough or not Pentecostal enough. Dr. Ervin was able to articulate for me a reasonable Classical Pentecostal theology with unquestionable excellence in theology and exegesis that I could call my own. Though he was thoroughly Pentecostal, he exemplified scholarship, dignity and reverence for God. He became the standard to me of what a scholar should be.

Pneuma Review: How is this paper different from your book?

Daniel Isgrigg: The SPS paper was written to draw attention to Dr. Ervin and the basic scope of the book. It talks about his pilgrimage into Pentecost from his time as a Baptist Pastor to his retirement from forty years of teaching. The paper contains selected excerpts of his biography, his works and his impact on the Pentecostal and charismatic world. Many of the biographical details were glossed over in favor of highlighting Dr. Ervin’s ecumenical impact on the Pentecostal/charismatic movement. The book goes on to offer comprehensive look at Ervin’s pneumatology; presenting his view of Spirit baptism, tongues as evidence, spiritual gifts and other related matters. The book also offers a rebuttal to Ervin’s critics over his view of Spirit baptism which is not in the paper. The goal of the both the paper and the book is to offer to young Pentecostals, like this author, an advocate of Classical Pentecostal theology to help inform and shape the next generation of scholars.

Pneuma Review: What have you learned writing and presenting this tribute?

Daniel Isgrigg: First of all, Dr. Ervin taught me that “your theology is only as good as your exegesis.” Many in Pentecostal scholarship are busy moving on to grander ideas in pneumatology, but they have failed to comprehend the basics of good exegesis from Luke-Acts. I have also learned that each generation has a responsibility to stand on the shoulders of those who went before us. Dr. Ervin provided a strong apologetic for Pentecost; one that Pentecostals can build on to bring a greater understanding of Pentecostal theology. Finally, I have learned the value of Pentecostal and charismatic history. Dr. Ervin not only wrote about the Holy Spirit, he led thousands into that experience. His life was more than ideas; it was changed lives. I continue to get letters from people who say how much Dr. Ervin has impacted their lives. His story needed to be told. His story inspires me as a minister to help people find the freedom and power of being baptized in the Spirit. His theology gives me confidence that this experience is grounded in the Word of God and sound theologically. Because he was able to minister to Protestants and Catholics, his life shows me that Pentecost is the vehicle that God wants to use to truly bring unity to the body of Christ.

Pastor Isgrigg introduces us to Professor Ervin and how he helped shape the landscape of today’s Pentecostal/charismatic movement.

Introduction

Howard M. Ervin, a Baptist and Pentecostal scholar, paved the way for other scholars to defend the Pentecostal faith in the academic world. During the last half of the twentieth century, charismatics, evangelicals and Pentecostals scholars have debated the nature and function of Spirit baptism. Early in the debate, Howard Ervin offered a view of Spirit baptism that centered on Luke’s unique pneumatology in Luke-Acts and meaning of the term “filled with the Spirit.” Ervin’s work, These Are Not Drunken as Ye Suppose (1968), was one of the first books to enter the scholarly debate from the Pentecostal position. Some of the leading Evangelical scholars, such as Anthony Hoekema and James D. G. Dunn, would offer a critique of Ervin and the growing Pentecostal position in the early 70’s. In response, Ervin offered his own rebuttal against renowned New Testament scholar James Dunn’s treatment of the Pentecostal position in Conversion-Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit.¹ Today scholars are still debating the nature of Spirit baptism and what it means to be filled with the Spirit. But since that time, Pentecostals views have been more readily accepted in the academic arena. The Society for Pentecostal Studies is a demonstration of the broad level of interest in Pentecostal areas of study. With the explosion of new perspectives on Pentecostal issues, there can be a tendency to focus on the latest ideas. For variety of reasons, Pentecostal scholarship has moved beyond the theology and exegesis offered by Howard Ervin. As the dialogue continues and new insights are brought forth, fewer scholars are integrating Ervin’s ideas. Though his works were written in a different time, Howard Ervin’s pneumatology can speak to the theological issues of today.

Ervin has also been on the cutting edge of the ecumenical movement. In a tradition that has a history of exclusion; Ervin was able to effectively bring the Pentecostal experience to thousands of believers from traditional denominations. Through a tradition of scholarship and a legacy of ecumenism, Howard Ervin’s “Pilgrimage into Pentecost” can continue to inform and inspire the next generation of Pentecostals.

Biography

Howard Matthew Ervin was born into the family of Harry and Florence Ervin on September 21^st, 1915 in the small coal mining town of St. Nicholas, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, this self-described “practical agnostic” had little interest in religion until he encountered the witness of a Baptist minister one day in his father’s barber shop in Mahanoy City, PA.² As he was considering the minister’s words one evening, Jesus appeared to him in his room and he saw him face to face. That night, December 23^rd, 1939, Howard Ervin entered the kingdom of God at the age of 25. Recognizing his call to ministry Ervin pursued his training at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. It was at Eastern where he met his Latvian-born bride to be, Marta Vaskis.³ Dr. and Mrs. Ervin married in April of 1944. Together they would eventually have three daughters, Gretchen, Deborah and Judith as well as five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.⁴ Ervin continued his education at Eastern as he completed his B.A. and Th.B. degree. He also earned a M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from Asia Institute and a B.D. from New Brunswick Theological Seminary.⁵ As impressive as the previous four degrees were, Ervin went on to receive a Th.D. in Old Testament Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary while ministering in New Jersey. With a keen theological mind and a scholar’s vocabulary, Ervin has the ability to speak on any biblical or theological subject with excellence.

Though he is a scholar of impeccable credentials, Ervin has a pastor’s heart. On January 17^th, 1946, Howard Ervin was ordained by the Northern Baptist Convention of New Jersey. Ervin’s first opportunity to pastor came when he was asked to fill the vacant pulpit of Dr. A.L. Murray, the man who had witnessed to him in his father’s barbershop. He was appointed as the interim pastor at the First Baptist Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania while Dr. Murray fulfilled his military chaplain position. Three years later, in February of 1946, he left Pennsylvania for Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey to pastor Central Baptist Church. He was recommended by the previous pastor, Richard Shearer who was Ervin’s classmate at Eastern Baptist Seminary. After three years, Ervin left Central and founded Emmanuel Baptist Church in February of 1949. It was his seventeen years there that would be the fertile ground for the experiences that would fuel over fifty years of Pentecostal belief and teaching.

Pilgrimage into Pentecost

During his time at Eastern, Ervin studied under what he calls a “rare group of men.”⁶ He credits one professor, Dr. Adams, with a philosophy of interpreting Scripture by the maxim, “What does the text say?”⁷ Because of Ervin’s commitment to good exegesis he has been able to “depart from traditional theology if the text supports it.”⁸ It is this very principle that would lead Ervin on what he calls his “Pilgrimage into Pentecost.”⁹ Determined to preach only what the scripture teaches, Ervin prided himself on exegetical, verse-by-verse teaching of the whole Bible. This commitment to the text brought him to the realization that he was living under the experience of believers that was communicated in the Bible. He recalls, “When I read the Scriptures it made my own experience seem like another world. If my experience was normative, there was something wrong with the Scriptures. If the Scriptures were normative, there was something wrong with my experience and the experience of the church as I know it.”¹⁰

Part One: Three Questions

All churches come together to sing, and most Christians would readily affirm that this shared musical practice is a significant element in spiritual life. Yet the exact manner in which music exerts powers of spiritual formation may seem amorphous and elusive. I will approach the subject by asking three questions:

How do song lyrics affect us?

What kinds of musical experiences may subtly exclude some Christians?

What happens when music in the church borrows from music in the culture?

I will explore each of these and then conclude with suggestions for understanding theologically rich lyrics, inviting participation from all congregants, and innovating in areas where the culture may prove unhelpful.

Question 1: How Do Song Lyrics Affect Us?

Lyrics have the power to teach, but indirectly; there are very few songs that resemble a paragraph from a seminary textbook. To illustrate the point, readers may find it amusing to try setting the following doctrinal statement to music:

We believe in one God (eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent) existing as three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in nature, attributes, power, and glory.

Songwriters will find this text unwieldy, and a congregation will find it downright clumsy, even with a nice melody.

In the same way prosaic theological propositions do not usually make good song lyrics simply because they are too direct and too plain. Songs, by their nature, require language evoking imagery and narrative rather than asserting abstract facts, and they teach by awakening the imagination to Kingdom realities.

Even the most theologically rich lyrics reach their best moments not in assertion but in evocation: they speak more profoundly in image than in proposition. For example, the unifying theme of Immortal, Invisible is the paradox of God’s immanence and transcendence—that he is both close to us and distant from us. The finest line of the first verse is In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, which is both a vivid image (that of blinding light) and also poetically ironic (insofar as light, normally the vehicle of sight, here precludes it). The second verse also peaks in a poetic line: Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light. The reader imagines the human states of repose and hurry, and then sweeps them both aside as inadequate to describe the activity of God. Light is normally silent, but here the simile illuminates the purity, energy, and life behind even God’s unperceived deeds: he is silent as light, not quiet as a mouse.¹

Holy, Holy, Holy is an instance of Trinitarian teaching in song. Nevertheless, the direct statement God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity, while edifying, comes off as static and formulary when compared with dramatic scenes like Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. This latter line draws upon things we can imagine: we have not seen the saints casting down their crowns (let alone the glassy sea) but we do know what crowns are and we have seen the ordinary sea, so our imaginations can make the leap and the text comes to life in our minds.