Wolfgang Vondey and Martin William Mittelstadt, eds., The Theology of Amos Yong and the New Face of Pentecostal Scholarship: Passion for the Spirit, Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies 14 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), vi + 270 pages.

Amos Yong has contributed an amazing amount to Pentecostal theology. In fact, it is hard to understand how anyone with actual teaching duties could possibly produce so much, and on so many different subjects. By putting together a volume of stock-taking essays, Vondey and Mittelstadt are not just honoring a deserving scholar, but giving due attention to an important body of work for the Pentecostal scholarly community.

This book brings together thirteen new essays, plus an introduction and an epilogue, all looking at aspects of Yong’s contributions. In addition to the editors, contributors include L. William Oliverio, Jr., Christopher A. Stephenson, Steven M. Studebaker, Tony Richie, Jacob D. Dodson, Jeff Hittenberger, Andrew James Carver, Mark Mann, Paraskevè (Eve) Tibbs, and David A. Reed. The late Ralph Del Colle was to contribute from the Roman Catholic perspective. As far as I can see, and judging from the very long bibliography of Yong’s works, the editors have managed to cover all the major areas of Yong’s research.

Some of the essays are primarily introductions to Yong’s work, tracing his line of thought on issues like the role of Scripture in theology, “the pluralism and dissolution of late modernity”, the “theology of disability”, or “the theology and science dialogue”. One essay even has to do with film. Other essays represent a view from the outside, so to speak, reactions from those whose views don’t overlap with Yong’s in any obvious way. There is also an ecumenical array represented in the contributors.

It is clear that all the writers are either fans of Yong or appreciative of his work, but the essays are never uncritical, even where they are most approving. It should be said, however, that given the progressiveness of much of Yong’s work, it would not have been difficult to find someone who could have provided more fireworks. For example, reactions to Yong’s view of the Spirit’s relation to non-Christian religions have been predictably intense, and a response from someone representing that intensity would have made for rather fun reading.

The quality of the essays in this volume is consistently high. This, along with the importance of Yong’s work, makes for a worthwhile contribution.

Reviewed by John Poirier

Publisher’s page: http://www.brill.com/theology-amos-yong-and-new-face-pentecostal-scholarship

The exclusively digital edition of The Pneuma Review, Spring 2014 (17:2).

Included in this issue:

Are Pentecostals offering Strange Fire? In this issue, Pneuma Review continues its response to John MacArthur’s new book, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Thomas Nelson, 2013).

In “The Rev. John L. Nevius: The Holy Spirit Gives a Lesson in Chinese,” church historian William De Arteaga shows us that the supernatural aspects of missionary John Nevius’ ministry in China was suppressed and forgotten in the West.

Find all of these articles individually in an easy-to-read format on the archive page: http://pneumareview.com/spring-2014/

Full issue coming soon.

Image: Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) by Franz Roubaud / Wikimedia Commons

Philip Jenkins, “The 160-Year Christian History Behind What’s Happening in Ukraine: How we have misunderstood Russia, the Crimean Peninsula, and supposedly secular Europe” Christianity Today (March 5, 2014).

Dale M. Coulter, “Pope Francis and the Future of Charismatic Christianity” First Things (Feb 2014).

William De Arteaga writes: “A wonderful article of special interest to those of us who are charismatic.”

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, “When Sexual Abuse Comes to Light: How a generation of children, sexually abused overseas, aims to protect others before it happens” Christianity Today (March 2014).

Andrew Schmutzer writes: “Christianity Today just released an article on the sexual abuse of MKs. For those who work in missions or with abused children, this is an important read and should be required for all missionaries in training. Thanks Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, for writing this piece.”

Peter J. Leithart, “Micro-Christendoms: Realistic, locally based, ecumenically charged rebuilding” First Things (April 11, 2014). 

William De Arteaga writes: “How about this as an example of effective prayer for our cities!”

Lorna Dueck, “The Enduring Revival: The ‘Toronto Blessing’ in 1994 was odd and controversial—but its benefits have lasted” Christianity Today (March 7, 2014).

George Weigel, “The Great War Revisited: Why it Began, Why it Continued, and What All that Means for Today” First Things (May 2014).

William De Arteaga writes: “For history buffs out there: this is how you weave history with spiritual insights into one great piece.”

See also: Stories from Bible Society: “Bible was ‘defining influence’ during WW1”

“Andrew White: Being Jesus in the Kill Zone: Amid Baghdad’s daily carnage, 2014 Wilberforce Award winner models reconciliation to Muslims, Christians, and Jews” Christianity Today Online (May 6, 2014).

William De Arteaga writes: “This article should help us guide and focus our prayers for the Christians in Iraq, and inspire us to help those who have fled to the US.”

EE sent this comment in email in May 2014, before ISIS had captured Mosul:

I read this and I thought, when was the last time I heard about Iraq in the news?
Before the invasion there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Now, only 260,000 remain. Andrew White says things are worse than ever. He cannot walk down a street in Bagdad because he would be gunned down. 2,100 people have died in Bagdad since March through sectarian violence.

I thought this quote was particularly interesting:

CT: “Do you have second thoughts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq?”

Andrew White: “I may have supported the need for the invasion. What happened after was totally wrong and you never go into a country, bring about change and then leave it in total utter mess and that’s what America did. They left us in tragedy and violence and in a desperate state and we are now worse than when Saddam was there. We have thousands of dictators.”

I think a strong argument could be made that numerous politicians are culpable for the failure of will to bring stability to post-invasion Iraq. Maybe the “drawdown” was a way of cutting our loses, but that doesn’t make it right. It didn’t make it just. This failure is going to haunt our nation in ways Vietnam never could.

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this:

CT: “Christians doing ministry in conflict zones sense the Holy Spirit and angels around about them. They see things from the heavenly realm. This must have happened to you many times perhaps?”

AW: “Every day, all day, I mean incredible things; angels, resurrections, and healings. Nobody would probably believe it if we told what our daily life was like. It is so wonderful.”

R. T. Kendall, Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit’s Work in Our Lives (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2014), 256 pages, ISBN 9781621366041.

R.T. Kendall (DPhil, Oxford University) is no stranger to controversy. Raised in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition he converted to Calvinism as an adult. Yet his scholarship has challenged contemporary Calvinist interpretations of John Calvin’s original thought and his own ministry has been characterized by openness to charismatic gifts. Kendall’s credibility and giftedness have been clearly established in the crucible of public ministry. For twenty-five years R.T. Kendall was pastor of London’s prestigious Westminster Chapel. He has written more than fifty-five books, including Total Forgiveness, The Sensitivity of the Spirit, Grace, and The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, and Forever. He has appeared frequently on Christian television programming. Born (1935) in Ashland, Kentucky, Kendall currently resides in Hendersonville, Tennessee where, although retired, he is president of R.T. Kendall Ministries and continues to contribute to Christian publications and programs.

Like Holy Fire, Kendall’s website (http://rtkendallministries.com) decries the “silent divorce” that has occurred in Christianity over the centuries between Word and Spirit. He suggests the need of the day is for a balanced approach to Christian belief and practice that integrates both solid commitment to the truth of Scripture and contemporary sensitivity to the power of the Holy Spirit. Readers will certainly see these twin dynamics amply demonstrated in Holy Fire. Further, as Kendall’s open letter to John MacArthur, “Dear Dr. MacArthur,” clearly indicates, Holy Fire was written as a response to MacArthur’s book on Strange Fire. (As a matter of fact, it was written by request from Charisma House publishers.) It is impossible to appreciate Kendall’s arguments in Holy Fire without some awareness of this dynamic. Theologically MacArthur is a cessationist, one who believes spiritual gifts such as divine healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and so on, ceased after the apostolic age. His Strange Fire book, based on an earlier conference by the same name, aggressively attacks those of the continuationist view. Theologically, Kendall is a continuationist. Continuationists believe that the Holy Spirit continues to equip believers today for Christian service with spiritual gifts, including but not limited to gifts such as divine healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. Continuationists are often known as Pentecostal (Acts 2:1-4) and/or Charismatic (1 Co 12-14) Christians. In short, MacArthur’s Strange Fire is mostly a diatribe against the beliefs and practices of modern Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians while Holy Fire comes to their defense.

Interestingly enough, both Kendall and MacArthur are from the Reformed (i.e. Calvinist) branch of Christianity. In his “Strange Fire” conference, MacArthur criticizes other prominent Calvinists (e.g. John Piper, Wayne Grudem, and Kendall) known for their contemporary acceptance of and openness to spiritual gifts. (See John Piper’s response at http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-piper-talks-john-macarthurs-strange-fire-conference-pursuing-gifts-of-prophecy-and-speaking-in-tongues-109022/.) Although likely many Pentecostals and Charismatics might take exception to MacArthur’s conference and book, Kendall’s response is particularly noteworthy as a Reformed Charismatic work. Thus there are two movements occurring in the middle of this debate, including, perhaps especially, in Kendall’s Holy Fire. The main move addresses questions of whether spiritual gifts or charismata continue to be authentically operative and relevant for contemporary Christians or are they really only appendix-like relics of ancient history. The second move gets at the heart of an internal debate about Reformed Charismatic Christianity exploring whether “Reformed” and “Charismatic” are mutually exclusive concepts.

Carolyn De Arteaga, Watching God Work: The Stuff of Miracles (Alachua: Bridge-Logos, 2014), 192 pages, ISBN 9781610361217.

I recently finished reading this delightful book and I must admit the title threw me off just a bit. I picked up this book, I think, expecting something more dramatic and perhaps, even mystical. The term ‘miracles’ perhaps brought up for me the many stories as well as biographies of great spiritual leaders that I have read and have been inspired by.

I was not at all disappointed, but Carolyn certainly threw me a curve ball, and initially, I missed it badly. Not to imply that this book does not have miracles and inspiring stories. Quite to the contrary. It is chock full of stories and events which could be nothing but a clear presentation of Divine intervention. But where I was expecting hyperbole – she presented simplicity. I was expecting the dramatic – she made it normal. I was expecting some struggle in theological defense and presentation – she wove her way through those issues like leading a child through a crowded airport.

I was pleasantly surprised by her understatement and perhaps the strongest trademark of this book may be that Carolyn has taken that which is divine and somewhat mysterious and presented it as a part of her everyday life. I suspect that was her intent. In that regard, she truly succeeded.

I found myself (as I believe most readers will) captured by the differing emotions evoked by Carolyn’s stories. I could relate to the times of victory as well as the times of heart-rending struggle that she shared so candidly. One of Carolyn’s strengths is her ability to pull the wall down, show more humility and vulnerability than the average writer and yet not make the reader feel uncomfortable. She makes this seem so normal.

Carolyn presents this book in almost an autobiographical manner. Almost, in that is not designed to do so, but because it reveals so much of her own life and experiences. She takes the reader on a journey with her, her spiritual journey. It reveals how the miracles were formed and how the miracles formed her. To Carolyn’s credit, she discloses the hard times – the times when God did not seem to work and also the times when her theology was challenged. As she reveals in the book, those were the times that her understanding of God seemed to grow the most.

One of the exciting characteristics of the book is that Carolyn has done the extra service of putting a short study guide, complete with discussion questions at the end of each chapter. I think she really wants the readers to get it, not just read it and forget it. Several of these chapters should offer up some very interesting discussion. This makes Watching God Work especially useful as a text for Sunday School and home study groups.

John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2013), 333 pages, ISBN 9781400206414.

Strange Fire by John MacArthur is a vicious and callous attack on the worldwide Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, and a great affront to the hundreds of millions of born-again Christians in every nation of the world who have found Christ directly through the work of the Holy Spirit as He works through Spirit-filled ministries. This is especially true in China, where I have lived and worked for the past forty-five years. The majority of the estimated 100 million Chinese believers have come to Christ through Holy Spirit anointed preaching and teaching, and the work of the Holy Spirit in healing the sick and performing all kinds of miracles.

While MacArthur has been accurate in pointing out some errors in doctrine and practice as well as moral failures among some well-known Charismatic leaders, the book is full of doctrinal errors and a severe distortion of the truth. And by relegating what is clearly the work of Jesus through the Holy Spirit as being that of Satan and false teachers, he is certainly bordering on the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. We are used to attacks from certain overseas Chinese ministers like Rev. Stephen Tong of Indonesia, but even their condemnations of the Pentecostal movement do not begin to approach the acrimony, distortion of facts and malevolence that permeate this book.

First, his theological defense of the cessation theory can in no way stand up to solid Biblical exegesis. The supernatural manifestation of God’s power through miracles, healing of the sick, casting out of devils, and God speaking directly to people is recorded throughout the Bible and is at the foundation of the Christian faith. There is not the slightest hint anywhere that these have ceased or would cease in the future. Secondly the two thousand year record of church and mission history following the death of the apostles when these supernatural gifts and ministries were to have ceased, prove without a doubt the falsehood in the writings of MacArthur. Thirdly, the testimonies of millions of Christians today totally refute everything in this book.

Others have addressed the first and second points more thoroughly and efficiently than I can do, but I think after 52 years in the Pentecostal movement—having travelled to almost every nation in the world—I can address the third point. I have personally seen and witnessed hundreds of miracles of healing, casting out of demons, miracles where God intervened in the course of nature, supernatural and extremely accurate words of knowledge as the Holy Spirit speaks through people, people speaking in tongues in fluent foreign languages they have never learned and accurate fulfilled prophecies. And the result of all the above has been literally millions of people in China and other nations I have visited turning to Christ.

I certainly would not recommend any Christian to read this book, for the contents are in no way objective or factual and is as close to hate speech as anything I have ever read. But for those who have not read it, this paragraph on page xvii in the Introduction summarizes MacArthur’s position: “In recent decades, the Charismatic Movement has infiltrated mainstream evangelicalism and exploded onto the global scene at an alarming rate. It is the fastest-growing religious movement in the world. Charismatics now number more than half a billion worldwide. Yet the gospel that is driving those surging numbers is not the true gospel, and the sprit behind them is not the Holy Spirit. What we are seeing is in reality the explosive growth of a false church, as dangerous as any cult or heresy that has ever assaulted Christianity. The Charismatic Movement was a farce and scam from the outset; it has not changed into something good.”

Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer.

From producers, Roma Downy and Mark Burnett comes the movie Son of God. Directed by Christopher Spencer (with additional scenes directed by Tony Mitchell and Crispin Reece), Son of God depicts the life of Jesus based on the Gospel of John. This is made apparent to the watcher as John as an old man narrates the beginning and end of the movie. If you are familiar with the mini-­‐series The Bible by the same producers, then one will realize that there is not much new material in Son of God. It is clear and encouraging, however, that the release and editing of this film was a strategic move to gain national and international cinema exposure to the Gospel story.

The film does well in covering the essential and compelling aspects of the Gospel narratives. Beginning with Jesus’ birth and visitation by the magi, our first image of Jesus the man, is as a solitary figure walking the mountaintops of Judea as he gazes down on the Sea of Galilee. This leads to Jesus’ encounter with Peter as Peter laments the lack of fish he able to catch. Peter’s initial skepticism towards Jesus is placated by Jesus asking, “Just give me an hour and I will give you a whole new life.” Peter’s response is, “Who says I want one?” While this exchange is not found in any of the Gospel narratives it unquestionably addresses a modern day dilemma many of us face. After Peter pulls in a miraculous catch of fish, he becomes aware that there is something different about Jesus, something worth following.

Familiar scenes to many such as Jesus preaching to the crowds, the healing of the paralytic who comes through the roof, the feeding of the five thousand and the resurrection of Lazarus, are skillfully and artistically conveyed. Two scenes in particular though, stand out as especially powerful and moving. These are the calling of Matthew the tax collector as he realizes his sinful nature and sees the hope that following Jesus offers, and Peter walking out on the water to meet Jesus. Both scenes help to depict the power of humility in acknowledging our sinfulness but also our faith in reaching out and walking towards Jesus.

Also well conveyed and communicated is the tension between Roman rule and the Jewish population. Roman brutality is displayed in several scenes and the scheming and politics that was so rife between the Romans and the Sanhedrin in a bid to retain power, underlies much of the film. This is an important subtly that is not to be underestimated throughout the film. While the resurrection of Lazarus, the cleansing of the Temple and Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61 are portrayed as the acts that seal Jesus’ execution, ultimately it is both Pilate and Caiaphas’ paranoia of losing power, that leads to Jesus’ death.

I just re-read the following poignant warning from the late Dr. Donald Bloesch: “Pentecostalism can become a new formalism, that words of prophecy and speaking in tongues can simply be outward acts that assure us of acceptance by our peers and be completely bereft of the sanctifying presence of the Spirit of God” (The Holy Spirit: Works & Gifts [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2000], p.14). This forms part of Bloesch’s own appraisal as one who counts himself within the Reformed traditions of the Church and yet wishes to receive the refreshing encouragement of Pentecostal spirituality with special regard to the ever renewing life and ministry of the Spirit in the life and ministry of the Church.

His call to Pentecostals is a call we must heed. In fact, I would say it is the voice of the Spirit to our movement. In our move away from dead formalism (as expressed by the early founders of twentieth century Pentecostalism) it is only too apparent that a static approach to tongues as a badge of Pentecostal inclusion becomes just one more brand of dead formalism. Tongues can be faked. And even genuine tongue speech can flow from a life needing sanctified. Just consider the Corinthians who seem to have both majored on tongues as well as sexual license while ignoring love for each other. They had tongues. They lacked purifying love.

As Paul says, speaking in tongues is not life-giving to the gathered church even while beneficial to the speaker (unless interpreted). Neither should it be regarded as simply an entrance token into the Pentecostal community. It is a testimony of the Spirit in the midst of the church as a call to holy living as we speak in holy tongues. It is the continuing testimony of the Spirit’s claim to the gathered church that Jesus is Lord. That he can give gifts as he sees fit, but that all of these flow from the freely given love of God in His Spirit. And the Spirit is the free gift of God because God is love. There is no possessing the Spirit (nor the signs of the Spirit), but only receiving again the filling of the Spirit as the abiding testimony of God’s gracious life-giving and sanctifying presence among us.

Thus, speaking in tongues cannot be treated as a mark for inclusion without regard to the continuing life of the Spirit in the gathered body of Jesus. Our Lord baptizes in the Spirit not as initiation and nothing more. He baptizes into the very life of the Spirit (John 7.38-39). He submerges us into that life which is every widening and deepening (Eph.3.13-21). That life which flows from the very throne of the Father and of the Lamb and brings healing to the nations and the renewal to the face of the earth (Rev.21.1-2). That life shared between Father and Son (John 5.26).

“Strange Fire”? Not in a Global Pentecostal Context of Ministry

An international panel of ministry veterans responds to John MacArthur’s Strange Fire

Dony K. Donev with Dennis Balcombe, Hanny Setiawan and Marius Lombaard

John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Nelson Books, 2013).

Almost one year ago, internationally known author John MacArthur began campaigning for his new book Strange Fire. With lots of material written beforehand by many who had not even read the book, the actual premiere was at a conference with the same name, not without some scandal to help its wide popularization. But scandal was hardly needed when the book classified most (if not all) Charismatics around the world as heretics. Тhe bottom line for MacArthur’s work was deconstruction modern day Charismatic theology and exposing it as unbiblical.

Do Pentecostal churches really offer a “strange fire” as MacArthur proposes? Could charismatic extremes practiced by some be evident in all Charismatic churches and classical Pentecostal denominations? And is it possible to declare a world wide movement of half a billion strong as heretical by observing random examples among less than 3% (three percent) of its representatives residing in North America?

The premise of this ad hominem attack is surprising, when even in Pentecostal scholarly circles we have long debated some Charismatic praxis as wrong and destructive to the movement as a whole. So, when an outsider to Pentecostalism as MacArthur jumps in and claims all Pentecostals are bad because some Charismatics have been found in the wrong, the normal response is simply to disagree. Especially when these extremes do not concern Pentecostalism globally, but as MacArthur himself admits, are defined to a North American context of ministry and even more strict and limited Charismatic circle of neo-Pentecostalism.

The purpose of this article, therefore, is to present the view of Classic Pentecostals, as deferred from the variety non-Pentecostal Charismatics. And to discuss MacArthur’s assumptions in an international Pentecostal context, though Strange Fire refuses to view Pentecostalism as the global power it has become. Perhaps, the very weakness of any theological work that seeks international recognition, but fortifies its argument only within the perimeter of westernized theology. To provoke an even deeper discussion, the study explores five of the major arguments of Strange Fire within the ministry context of Pentecostals from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.

Apostolic Relevance or a New Apostolic Reformation?

Admittedly, MacArthur strongest point within his attack on Pentecostals is outlining Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation movement. And even quoting Vinson Synan, who was invited to join the network for $69 a month, but declined with the response, “I could not afford to be an apostle.” But how concerned is the larger Pentecostal world about this apostolic movement? And how important is NAR in global Pentecostalism today?

Wolfgang Vondey, ed., The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life: Historical, Interdisciplinary, and Renewal Perspectives, Christianity and Renewal – Interdisciplinary Studies 1 (New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014), v + 240 pages.

Wolfgang Vondey is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Center for Renewal Studies at Regent University. He has authored and edited numerous publications on Pentecostal, charismatic, ecumenical, and theological interests. In this title, 12 scholars from philosophical, theological, historical, and biblical disciplines join to discuss the transforming work of the Spirit in the Christian life. These individual essays are held together by a focus on the exploration of the relation between the work of the Spirit and personal, ecclesial, and social transformation, discipleship, and Christian formation. The title points toward interdisciplinary integration of theory and practice and theology and spirituality.

In the Introduction, Vondey notes that the biblical images for the Spirit (including wind, breath, fire, water, and love), which are all metaphors that capture not only the basic elements of the world, but also the fundamental necessities of creation. Yet, as Vondey reminds us, Basil of Caesarea tells us that the “Spirit is not brought into intimate association with the soul by its local approximation.” Indeed, the Spirit may drive all of creation toward God, but this does not guarantee that we shall see the Spirit’s work in all of creation, for we must still discern the spirits (2). In this title particularly, and all of this Series generally, Renewal is a “journey by way of the Spirit into and transcending the full range of classical expressions and core symbols of the faith toward their transformation” (11).

The origin of these essays was the 2013 Annual Conference in Renewal Studies at Regent University, titled the same as the book. Most of the essays in this collection were presented at this venue, or other similar venues. With the remaining space for review, I would like to mention some of the more impactful chapters from the text. Starting the text off in chapter 1 is Steve Sherman’s, “Mapping the Hermeneutical Waters,” wherein he argues that only a robust, Spirit-filled hermeneutic will be apropos for the Evangelical community. Sherman maps five hermeneutical territories, and suggests that although there is general agreement regarding the necessity of pneumatic hermeneutics, Spirit-filled hermeneutics takes on vastly different form from model to model. In chapter 5, Cheryl M. Peterson participates in “A Lutheran Engagement with Wesley on the Work of the Holy Spirit.” In this chapter, she asks what a Lutheran can learn from Wesley about the Spirit in the Christian life. Peterson’s study shows ways in which they can reclaim a more complete historical understanding of the Spirit’s work in the Christian life as well as get an assist from their theological neighbors, the Wesley’s, regarding the fullness of salvation given through Christ in the Spirit.