Part 1: Introduction

By Robert P. Menzies

The Wind of the Holy Spirit Will Blow Everywhere

From the East coast to the West coast/

The wind of the Holy Spirit will blow everywhere/

From the East to the West/

The glory of the Holy Spirit will be released/

Good news comes from heaven/

Good news rings in the ear/

Causing dry bones to become moist/

Frail bones to become strong/

Full of the Holy Spirit, we will not turn back/

Step by step we go to distant places/

The lame skipping/

The mute singing/

The fire of the Holy Spirit, the longer it burns the brighter it gets.[1]

The Urging of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is urging/

Distant lands call/

Asking for the sound of salvation to ring in their ears/

Countless pairs of expectant eyes/

Oh, have not seen, have not heard the servants of God/

No matter what you feel/

No matter what you see/

We must declare the good news everywhere/

The Lord has already enabled us to see the land/

Oh, servants of God, you must boost your courage/

The Lord has already won the victory/

Satan has been bound/

Only one step further/

And we enter Canaan land.[2]

The series, “Is the Chinese Church Predominantly Pentecostal?” is an excerpt from The Church in China. Robert Menzies used a pen name, Luke Wesley, to write The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal, and Powerful (Baguio, The Philippines: AJPS Books, 2004).
Read the 2023 Author’s Preface to this series.

It is now apparent that since the early 1980s the Church in China has experienced unprecedented growth. Once viewed as an essentially foreign faith, Christianity has taken root in the Chinese soil. And it has blossomed. If the trends of the past two decades remain constant, by 2020 there will be more evangelical Christians in China than in any other country in the world.[3]

Researchers are agreed that the form of Christianity that has emerged in China is both evangelical in character and Chinese in expression.[4] It is evangelical in that the vast majority of Chinese believers exhibit a firm belief in the authority of the Bible, faith in Christ as the sole means of obtaining salvation, and the necessity of evangelism.[5] And yet this evangelical faith has been expressed in ways that are especially appropriate to the Chinese context. Church life is often experienced in small groups that feature close relationships and family ties. There is a strong emphasis on the miraculous, with prayer for healing taking on an important role in the life of faith. The experiential dimension of Christian spirituality, expressed in prayers and worship charged with deep emotion, is significant to many Chinese believers. And the vast majority of Christians in China worship in ‘house churches’ (or, as some prefer, ‘autonomous Christian communities’) that are independent of state or foreign control.[6]

Observers in the West are still attempting to understand this burgeoning Christian movement and much is still unknown. It is evident that there is much to be learned from the Chinese Church, dynamic, multifaceted and polymorphous as it is, and that we in the West would do well to attempt to understand it more clearly. This is the case, not only because increasingly many western missionaries seek to minister in this great country; but, it is also the case because an understanding of the Church in China might shed light on ourselves, our own strengths and weaknesses, and stimulate new insights into our understanding and application of God’s Word. In short, a greater understanding of the Church in China might help us more fully understand and fulfill God’s plans and purposes for our lives.

Methodology

In order to answer our question, I shall analyze the five largest house church networks in China. Based on my own personal interviews with leaders from these groups, additional information gleaned from other researchers, and an analysis of relevant written documents, I will seek to characterize these five groups in terms of the following four categories:

1. Non-Charismatic – those Christians who believe that the Spirit’s work flows out of regeneration and who deny both a Baptism in the Spirit distinct from conversion and the validity of at least some of the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10 for the church today.
2. Charismatic – those Christians who believe that all of the gifts listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10, including prophecy, tongues, and healing, are available to the Church today.
3. Pentecostal – those Christians who believe that all of the gifts listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10 are available to the Church today and who also believe that the Bible encourages every believer to experience a Baptism in the Spirit, an empowering for service distinct from regeneration.[9]
4. Classical Pentecostal – those Christians who, in addition to the beliefs ascribed to Pentecostals above, also affirm that speaking in tongues is the accompanying sign of Baptism in the Spirit.

I am using the terms listed above as theological rather than ecclesiastical descriptions. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (NIDPCM) tends to define the terms based largely on ecclesiastical considerations. Therefore the NIDPCM classifies 99% of the 54.2 million Pentecostals and charismatics who it claims reside in China as “neocharismatics.” The term “neocharismatic” refers to charismatics not affiliated with the historic, classical Pentecostal groupings or to traditional, mainline denominations.[10] Of course, by definition, virtually all of the charismatic house church Christians in China would fall into this category. This system of classification is less helpful for elucidating the specific nature and theological orientation of the various groups in the Chinese church. We are primarily interested in what they believe.

It should also be noted that all of the categories listed above are compatible with the term ‘evangelical’. With the designation evangelical, I refer to those Christians who affirm: the authority of the Bible; that salvation is found only in Christ; and that evangelism is an important part of the Christian’s mission in the world. As I have already noted, the vast majority of Chinese Christians are evangelical in this sense. And, I might add, all five of the house church networks which we will analyze are also evangelical in nature.

In addition to defining key terms, I would also like to clarify the nature of my sources. I will be working with a variety of oral and written sources. First, I will utilize notes from my personal conversations and interviews with various house church leaders. Second, I will also draw upon responses to questions which I have posed to others who are experienced researchers of Christianity in China. Most of these researchers wish to remain anonymous so that their continued service in China might not be jeopardized. For this reason I will describe and list these sources as follows:

“A” – refers to notes sent to me on August 28, 2003 by a researcher who is associated with a large, evangelical, and generally non-charismatic denomination.

“B” – refers to notes sent to me on Sept. 1, 2003 by an independent researcher who is affiliated with a non-denominational mission.

“C” – refers to notes sent to me on Sept. 9, 2003 by a missionary in the classical Pentecostal tradition who works closely with house church groups in China.

“D” – refers to written notes and oral comments presented to me within the past year from an independent Pentecostal missionary who works closely with several of the house church networks listed above.

A third source of information will come from documents draw up by the house church networks themselves, especially the Statement of Faith produced and signed by leaders of several of the churches listed above on November 26, 1998.[12] Finally, I shall also draw from a number of books and articles which speak to our topic.

Image: Christian Lue

The five house church networks which I will examine are: China for Christ, a group with origins in the Fang Cheng district of Henan Province; The China Gospel Fellowship, a group which began in the Tang He District of Henan; The Li Xin Church, which stems from Li Xin region in Anhui Province; the Yin Shang Church, which also has its origins in Anhui Province; and finally, the Word of Life Church, sometimes called the “Born Again Movement”, which was founded by Peter Xu. These groups have been chosen for analysis because it is generally agreed that they represent the five largest house church networks in China.

It is extremely difficult to determine with any degree of precision the size of these groups. Estimates for these groups run as high as 12 million for China for Christ (Fang Cheng), 10 million for the China Gospel Fellowship, five million for the Word of Life, and five million each for the two Anhui groups.[13] My purpose here is not to argue for specific numbers, but rather to affirm that all of the researchers contacted agreed that these five house church networks represent a significant majority of house church Christians in China. This is especially significant in that virtually all researchers also agree that house church Christians represent the vast majority of Christians in China today. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that these five groups represent a very significant cross-section or sampling of the Chinese Church.

 PR

Next Issue: “The House Church Networks: A Theological Assessment”

This excerpt is part of Chapter 3 from The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal, and Powerful (Baguio, The Philippines: AJPS Books, 2004). Used with permission.

Notes

[1] Lu Xiaomin, Sounds of the Heart, p. 806 (Song #747).

[2] Lu Xiaomin, Sounds of the Heart, p. 826 (Song #767).

[3] Tony Lambert, China’s Christian Millions (London: OMF/Monarch Books, 1999), p. 179. In this book Lambert offered what is by all accounts a conservative estimate of the number of evangelical Christians in China: 30-50 million.

[4] Due to the limitations of my knowledge, I am not able to include Chinese Roman Catholics in this study. When I use the terms Christianity or the Church, it should be understood that I refer to Protestant Christianity and the Protestant wing of the Christian Church.

[5] On the evangelical character of the Chinese Church, see Tony Lambert, The Resurrection of the Chinese Church (Wheaton, IL: OMF/Harold Shaw Publishers, 1994), pp. 282-283 and China’s Christian Millions, pp. 30-33, 45, 48, 188; Alan Hunter and Kim-Kwong Chan, Protestantism in Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 82; Ryan Dunch, “Protestant Christianity in China Today: Fragile, Fragmented, Flourishing” in Stephen Uhalley, Jr. and Xiaoxin Wu, eds., China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful Future (London: East Gate/M.E. Sharpe, 2001), p. 215.

[6] The emphasis on healing and the miraculous in the Chinese Church is noted in Hunter and Chan, Protestantism, pp. 85, 145-146; Lambert, Resurrection, pp. 112-114 and China’s Christian Millions, p. 112; and Dunch, “Protestant Christianity,” p. 203 and the experiential focus of the Chinese Church is highlighted in Dunch, “Protestant Christianity,” pp. 203, 215-16; and Hunter and Chan, Protestantism, pp. 85. 140, 155. Some researchers prefer to use the term ‘autonomous Christian communities’ rather than ‘house church’, see in this regard Hunter and Chan, Protestantism, p, 81.

[7] Stanley Burgess and Eduard M. Van der Mass, eds. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (revised and expanded; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p. 58.

[8] Lambert, China’s Christian Millions, p. 45. Unfortunately, Lambert does not offer a clear definition of the terms, “charismatic” or “Pentecostal.”

[9] This empowering experience might be designated by various terms, including ‘being filled with the Spirit’ or ‘anointed by the Spirit’. However, crucial concepts would include the belief that this experience is given by God in order to equip the believer for service, that it is available to every believer, and that it is logically distinct from conversion.

[10] See the NIDPCM, p. xviii-xxi, 58.

[11] Hunter and Chan, speaking of China, correctly note that “within the Pentecostalist movement one can find relatively restrained as well as exuberant groups…” (Protestantism, p. 155).

[12] See the English translation provided by Lambert in China’s Christian Millions, pp. 60-64.

[13] These numbers are taken from D, but are also very much in line with the estimates given to me by B, with one exception. D did not give an estimate for the number of believers in the Word of Life Church. B noted that the Word of Life group claims that it represents 23 million believers. This group is quite fragmented and it is difficult to take this estimate seriously. In 1998 an article in Christianity Today suggested that this group totaled around three million believers (see Timothy C. Morgan, “A Tale of China’s Two Churches,” Christianity Today 42 (July 13, 1998), pp. 30-39). Although it is likely that this group has grown significantly since then, five million appears to be a more realistic number. A and C did not offer specific estimates, but A indicated that these five groups represented a significant majority (60%) of the house church Christians in China.

By Robert P. Menzies

The essays that follow are not descriptions of the current state of the church in China.[1] Rather, they represent a slice of Chinese church history, albeit an important slice. Dr. Kevin Xiyi Yao of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary has described 1990 through 2010 as the “Golden Age” of the church in China,[2] an assessment with which I concur. This was a period of rapid growth, missionary endeavor, and, in terms of the political and social environment, relative openness. The following essays, drawn from my book, The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal, and Powerful, were written around 2000 and reflect the situation of the Chinese house church movement during this Golden Age (more specifically, in the 1990s).[3] Thus, they are now out of date and do not describe the current state of the church in a fast-changing China. Due to urbanization, changes in leadership, fragmentation, and increasing political pressure (especially since 2018), the five house church networks that I describe is these essays either no longer exist or have significantly changed. Nevertheless, this slice of history is important for it describes a particularly vibrant and dynamic period in the history of the Church. Furthermore, the essays that follow represent an early, pioneering effort to describe an aspect of the Chinese church that was often not acknowledged, let alone described. I refer to its Pentecostal character.

A number of more recent works have added important context and detail to my early study and largely support its central thesis that the Chinese house church movement of the 1990s was predominately Pentecostal. I think here especially of the writings of David Aikman, Paul Hattaway, and Dennis Balcombe.[4]

Robert Menzies used a pen name, Luke Wesley, to write The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal, and Powerful (Baguio, The Philippines: AJPS Books, 2004).

The same may be said of more recent academic studies, with one important caveat. The strong experiential nature of Protestant Christianity in China, and particularly the emphasis in the house churches on healing, exorcism, and prophecy, has led many scholars to describe the dominant form of Protestant Christianity in China as Pentecostal. While Tony Lambert describes Chinese Christianity as “biblical supernaturalism,” others, such as Gotthard Oblau, Edmond Tang, and Chen-Yang Kao speak of the specifically Pentecostal features of the church in China.[5] Scholars do, however, disagree concerning how we should define the term, Pentecostal.[6] The general charismatic and Pentecostal orientation of the Chinese house church movement is widely acknowledged as the key to its rapid growth over the past four decades.[7] Nevertheless, sociologists like Oblau and Kao tend to minimize the significant role that the Bible or theological convictions play in shaping the praxis of these “Pentecostal” Chinese Protestants.

In the following essays, I presented at an early date evidence for the Pentecostal nature of the house church movement that grew so rapidly during what is now understood as the Golden Age of the church in China. While, as I have noted, some scholars downplay the role of the Bible in shaping Pentecostal practice in China, and thus they also deny that Chinese Pentecostals possess a clear theological identity, these essays challenge this assessment.[8] Certainly, not every Christian that prays for the sick, exorcises demons, or prophesies, would affirm a baptism in the Spirit distinct from conversion that is marked by speaking in tongues. Nevertheless, there are a significant number that do.[9] And their influence, as well as the clarity of their biblical convictions, should not be underestimated. The common thread that unites Pentecostals in China with other Pentecostals around the world is their sense of connection with the apostolic church as reflected in the book of Acts. Chinese Pentecostals pray for the sick, worship with joyful abandonment, speak in tongues, and seek the enabling of the Spirit for bold witness in the face of persecution because they find all of these experiences described in the New Testament. The message and methods of the early church are models for their lives and ministry. I sought to demonstrate this thesis through an analysis of five of the largest house church networks in China during this remarkable period. I will leave it to others to assess the extent to which these earlier networks have influenced contemporary house church groups; but, from my vantage point, the impact is evident.

PR

Notes

Image: Christian Lue

[1] For a more contemporary, but now slightly dated description, see Robert P. Menzies, “Pentecostals in China,” in Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements Past, Present, and Future , vol. 1: Asia and Oceania, ed. by Amos Yong & Vinson Synan (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2016). See also my blogs on ChinaSource.org: “Pentecostal Theology and the Chinese Church” (Jan. 21, 2015); “Urban Churches in China: A Pentecostal Case Study” (June 26, 2015); “The Seed of the Church and the Modern Missions Movement” (Feb. 21, 2022). [Editor’s note: See David Bradnick’s review of Vinson Synan and Amos Yong, eds., Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements—Past, Present, and Future, Volume 1: Asia and Oceania]

[2] In his March 27, 2021 ChinaSource presentation.

[3] The essays are drawn from Chapter 3 of my book, written under the pen-name, Luke Wesley, The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal, and Powerful (Baguio, The Philippines: AJPS Books, 2004).

[4] David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2003) [Editor’s note: see Tony Richie’s review]; Paul Hattaway, The Heavenly Man (Oxford: Monarch Books, 2003), and The China Chronicle Series [Editor’s note: see Paul Hattaway’s author page and reviews of books from The China Chronicle series including Guizhou, Zheijiang, and Tibet]; Dennis Balcombe, One Journey One Nation (Chambersburg, PA: eGen Co, 2011) and China’s Opening Door (Lake Mary, Fl: Charisma House, 2014).

[5] Tony Lambert, China’s Christian Millions (London: OMF/Monarch Books, 1999), 112; Gotthard Oblau, “Pentecostals by Default? Contemporary Christianity in China” in Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang, eds., Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Costa Mesa: Regnum, 2005), 411-36; Edmond Tang, “‘Yellers’ and Healers: Pentecostalism and the Study of Grassroots Christianity in China” in Asian and Pentecostal, 467-86; Chen-yang Kao, The Cultural Revolution and the Post-Missionary Transformation of Protestantism in China (PhD thesis, University of Lancaster, 2009).

[6] I agree with Simon Chan, “an adequate definition of Pentecostalism cannot be restricted to phenomenological description” (Chan, “Wither Pentecostalism” in Asian and Pentecostal, 578).

[7] Kao, Cultural Revolution, 99.

[8] This is true of my earlier book, The Church in China (2004), from which these essays are drawn, but also of my more recent study, “Pentecostals in China,” in Global Renewal Christianity (2016).

[9] I define Pentecostals, then, as those who believe that: the book of Acts serves as a model for contemporary Christian life and ministry; the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) is a post-conversion enabling for ministry; and speaking in tongues marks this experience. Neo-Pentecostals affirm all of the above except they reject the notion that tongues serve as a normative sign of baptism in the Spirit. For more on Pentecostal identity and related definitions, see Robert Menzies, Pentecost: This Story is Our Story (Springfield, MO: GPH, 2013), 11-20.

In recent years, there have been several books from Pentecostal/Charismatic scholars challenging what has been the traditional—or default—pre-Tribulation, pre-millennial view of the end times within many P/C circles. Among these are Daniel Isgrigg’s Imagining the Future, and Not Afraid of the Antichrist by Michael Brown and Craig Keener [Editor’s note: See Brian Roden’s review]. Assemblies of God missionary scholar Robert P. Menzies adds to this discussion with his 2022 book, The End of History: Pentecostals and a Fresh Approach to the Apocalypse. While Brown and Keener mainly focus on the exegetical deficiencies of the pre-Trib position, and Isgrigg focuses on the historical development of A/G eschatology to show that the pre-Trib view should not be the only acceptable option for that denomination’s ministers, Menzies goes a step further and actively advocates for an amillennial stance.

The book is divided into two main parts and includes seven appendices containing various Pentecostal statements of faith as well as shorter excurses that did not warrant chapter-length treatment. Part One of the book consists of two chapters, the first of which addresses problems with dispensationalism, with the second dealing with issues regarding premillennialism in general. Part Two consists of four chapters, each one presenting two theological affirmations Menzies sees as important for the Pentecostal movement. The eight theological affirmations in Part Two are interspersed with expository sermons drawn from the book of Revelation that address each pair of affirmations. Much of the content of the sermons reflects Menzies’ experience working with persecuted believers in eastern Asia.

In this chapter, the author also touches on the issues of whether Revelation’s chronology is one of linear progression or recapitulation; literal versus typological fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies; continuity and discontinuity regarding Israel and the Church; and whether Revelation’s prophecies extend and add to other New Testament prophecies about the end times or reaffirms them in a new context.

Chapter Two, “Premillennial Problems,” raises issues the author encounters with premillennialist interpretation in general (including historical or classical premillennialism). First, Menzies points out the “thousand years” of the Millennium is only mentioned in one place: Revelation 20:1–7. No other New Testament writer, nor the other books attributed to John, make any reference to it. Menzies, who finds himself more in the amillennial camp, encounters difficulty in dogmatically affirming a literal one thousand year reign based solely on a seven-verse passage. For his second objection to the premillennialist view, the author again raises the question of chronology in the Apocalypse, opting for a recapitulation pattern rather than a linear recounting of events. Menzies next deals with the binding of Satan, the question of two resurrections, and whether the nature of Christ’s reign is physical and political or spiritual. But even after arguing strongly against general premillennialist interpretations, he concludes the chapter saying, “The hermeneutical approach and theological perspective of historic premillennialists are actually much closer to those of most amillenialists than to those advocated by dispensational premillennialists” (84).

Part Two of the book is titled “A Fresh Approach,” and gets into the more practical outworkings of Pentecostal eschatology. Menzies here proposes eight affirmations to which Pentecostals should hold, while avoiding disputable minutiae:

• We believe in the personal, visible, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe that Christ’s return is imminent—that it could happen at any time.
• When Christ returns, he will judge all people: the righteous, his faithful followers, will enjoy eternal and perfect fellowship with him; the unrighteous will experience eternal separation from him and his wrath.
• God will consummate his redemptive plan in response to the prayers of his people.
• In these “last days” the church is called to bear bold witness for Jesus in the power of the Spirit.
• With his first coming, Jesus inaugurates God’s kingdom by decisively defeating the power of Satan, sin, and death. With his second coming, Jesus consummates God’s kingdom by destroying evil and redeeming his creation.
• The culmination of God’s redemptive plan includes the transformation of our world and the resurrection of our bodies.
• In these “last days” Christ calls his followers to pursue holiness by persevering and remaining faithful, even unto death.

The expositions of Revelation that accompany each pair of affirmations could easily be turned into sermons to be utilized in local churches. In regard to preaching and teaching the Apocalypse, Menzies writes, “We desperately need to highlight the central truths of the book of Revelation and other key New Testament texts that speak of Christ’s second coming, the ‘blessed hope.’ But we need to do so in a manner that avoids sensationalism and exaggeration and which is rooted in sober-minded and clear exposition of the biblical text” (p. 94).

The book concludes with seven appendices, three of which list the statements of faith of the Pentecostal World Fellowship, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, and the U.S Assemblies of God, which provides a helpful comparison of the varying levels of specificity in the statements concerning the last things.

The fourth appendix compares and contrasts the eschatological stances of two major contributors to Assemblies of God theology: Menzies’ father, the late William W. Menzies, and the late Stanley M. Horton. The author points out that his father’s stance was premillennial but not dispensational, while it was Horton’s revision and expansion of the elder Menzies’ 1971 book Understanding Our Doctrine in the 1993 volume Bible Doctrines: A Pentecostal Perspective that greatly expanded the material on eschatology, going from one paragraph on the Rapture in William Menzies’ book to over three pages focused on a defense of the pre-Tribulation Rapture.

The fifth appendix gives a brief comparison of varying interpretations of “the kingdom of God,” while the sixth proposes two new categories for interpreting Revelation (the picture puzzle approach and the stained-glass window approach) the author feels work better than the traditional categories of preterist, historicist, idealist, and futurist. The seventh and final appendix restates in one location Menzies’ eight affirmations developed in chapters three through six.

Overall, I found the book an enjoyable read, even though I did not come away convinced by Menzies’ arguments for amillennialism. Perhaps it is my own leanings and bias in favor of historic premillennialism that keep me from understanding his line of reasoning, but I personally found the arguments unconvincing, though much better stated than I found Stanley Horton’s arguments for a pre-Tribulation view confusing in his book Our Destiny: Biblical Teachings on the Last Things, which I read for a class on eschatology many years ago.

The King is returning to judge, and He will reward the faithful and punish the evildoers. Knowing all the details of how that plays out is not as important as making sure as many people as possible are among the sheep that will receive rewards and the crown of eternal life. Therefore, we should not be quick to dismiss (or seek to disfellowship) someone who holds an end times view different from our own, but rather work together with all believers of good will who are seeking to carry the gospel message to the ends of the earth.

Reviewed by Brian Roden

Note from the Editor: On November 26, 2022, (after Brian Roden submitted this review) Robert Menzies wrote to friends and colleagues: “On November 16 Bob received news from the U.S. Assemblies of God Executive Presbyters (EPs) that they had determined he should be dismissed as an Assemblies of God (AG) minister in response to eschatological views expressed in his recent book, The End of History: Pentecostals and a Fresh Approach to the Apocalypse. This concluded a process that began some months ago.” If you would like more information about the on-going missionary work of Bob and Joanne Menzies in China, please Contact Us.

For a sample from The End of History: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Xr1dEAAAQBAJ

Dr. Katherine Shaner, in a revised form of her Harvard Divinity School dissertation, asks a provocative question. What role, if any, did enslaved persons embody in the congregation of the early church? Shaner’s response to this enticing question offers readers not only a cogent account of the life of enslaved people in early antiquity, but also an incisive lesson for how one ought to conduct historical investigations altogether. For the lay person or pastor, Shaner provides a new vantage point through which to understand the complex roles of figures like Onesimus or the roles of women and enslaved persons in the Pastoral Epistles. One also gleans invaluable tools for exploring ancient history beyond well-trodden literary avenues, which can exaggerate details or worse, deliberately neglect traces of lower-class populations, through archaeological and material avenues as well. The upshot is a commendable lesson in “ambiguity” (the term appears 30 times in the 109-page manuscript body): laying aside one’s assumptions about what a biblical passage should say to discover what the biblical text does (and, in some cases, does not) say.

One constant theme of Shaner’s project is her via media approach to slavery in the ancient world vis-à-vis Christianity. In chapter three, for instance, Shaner turns to the apostle Paul to discuss his endlessly debated position on slavery. Shaner presents a refreshingly nuanced situation in which Paul, as a creature of his time, is caught up in analogous debates present within his Jewish and Greco-Roman setting. In this scheme, Paul neither fully “advocated systemic abolition, since his social milieu accepted slavery” (p. 47) nor did he fully reinforce slave/free dynamics. Instead of giving into the urge to lump Paul into one camp or the other, Shaner presses her readers “to keep in tension the exclusionary logic of slavery and the multiple subject positions that enslaved persons held in early Christian communities” (p. 61). In another example, Shaner considers the artifact of the Southern Market Gate on the Triodos in Ephesos. On the one hand, a stone pillar adjacent to the Market Gate contains an inscription of the Persicus decree—a decree that functioned to subordinate public slaves’ participation in the Artemis cult. The net result is a public attempt to ensure “only the right sort of people will hold leadership positions in the cult” (p. 23). On the other hand, at this same location, we have evidence of the “two freedpersons, Mithridates and Mazaeus, [who] built and dedicated the gate to Livia and Augustus, their former owners” (p. 29). In this remarkable example, overlording imperial tactics coexist with a case of civic benefaction by two formerly enslaved persons in the public marketplace. In this way, the politics of reading require the historian to consider not simply what a text states but what a text does. Just as the Persicus decree aims to silence and subjugate, the adjacent dedication by Mithridates and Mazaeus testify to freedom and participation. In Paul’s case, the history of interpretation tends to focus on what Paul states rather than on the more hidden or performative dimensions of his letters. Destabilizing this “Paul-centered framework” (p. 59) draws attention to the polyvalent features of Onesimus, for example, who is described as a “minister” (diakonē) with Paul (Phlm 13)—a terminus technicus for cultic workers in Ephesos as well as early Christian groups (p. 59). Shaner’s project exposes how the same ambiguous tensions within the biblical text are operative in the surrounding Roman cultural.

Review by JP O’Connor

Publisher’s page: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/enslaved-leadership-in-early-christianity-9780190275068

Renewing the Church by the Spirit: Theological Education After Pentecost by Dr. Amos Yong is part of the series entitled “Theological Education Between the Times” with Ted A. Smith as the series editor. The TEBT project is funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., and gathers diverse groups to dialogue about “the meanings and purposes of theological education in a time of deep change.”[i]  Other books in this series include After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging by Willie James Jennings and Attempt Great Things for God: Theological Education Diaspora by Chloe T. Sun.

Amos Yong places Pentecostal perspectives front and center in his thought-provoking book. He begins with an introduction asserting that theological education has become “flattened” and is facing real difficulties in the twenty-first century. When Yong wrote this book, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary had not yet made public its decision to close their main campus. Indeed, recent news such as this with Gordon-Conwell along with severe budget cuts and lowering enrollment in other seminaries provokes serious thought for all Christian educators, making Yong’s book particularly timely. What exactly are we to do in response to our present challenges in education, and what will happen to the Church if we do not respond properly?

In addressing the challenges facing theological education today, Yong argues that the Holy Spirit is the way to renew theological education right now. Throughout the book Yong utilizes the coined term “Spirit-ed” education, and it is evident that he has spent years thinking creatively with the Spirit about the topic of Pentecostal theological education and what it could look like if we got over some of our long-held assumptions of a set historical form. The Spirit of God is creative, after all, and leads us with flexibility and renewal.

Part I discusses the Church amid world Christianity which Yong identifies as the “who” carrying “the heart and soul of theological education.”[ii] Part 2 considers witness in “glocal” (simultaneously global and local) contexts which the author views at the “why,” i.e., serving as the “hands and works of theological transformation.”[iii] Part 3 then explores aspects of “how” theological education achieves its purposes and accomplishes its mission within our networked world. Considering various aspects of pedagogy, Yong views this section as addressing the “mind and task of theological exploration.”[iv] Highlights of these three parts follow.

The world has certainly changed, and this, Yong argues, should affect our theological education which he believes to be in trouble. He refers to Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat, believing that Friedman’s concepts have direct application to the present issues and needs of theological education.[v]  Yong states, “By identifying the world as flat, Friedman is theorizing about the collaborative, horizontal world created by the forces of globalization. A flat world eliminates both the institutional hierarchy that dominated the medieval and early modern world and the intermediaries that facilitated the transfer of goods, services, and knowledge.”[vi]

With the Church being in a large global context that is localized in unique ways across the world, Yong reminds the reader that theological education is a service to the whole Church and therefore must draw from her varied voices and perspectives. In order to prepare students properly to serve the entire Church, theological educators must teach new skills which include how to get things done through developing a “network of imagination,”[vii] listening to other viewpoints, and seeking out and valuing all voices.

Yong argues that the Holy Spirit was already leading in this direction when, at Pentecost, He poured out speaking in tongues so all people groups could hear in their own language. The author reminds us that Luke was “attempting to communicate to his readers that the world is already there at the heart of the establishment of the fellowship of the Spirit as the new people of God.”[ix] Along with this wonderful move of the Spirit came thriving centers of theological education. Yong notes that “the first generation of the church as the people of God also featured a plurality of centers for theological education and instruction, involving diverse leaders spread out across the face of the known world.”[x]

Yong has boldly announced that our living relationship with the Spirit can be the means for a renewed theological education. He states the challenge: “The transition from a hierarchical, authoritarian, elitist, and structured Christendom to a porous, organic, (digitally) networked, and experientially revitalized church both admonishes the status quo of theological education and charts pathways for effectively engaging the fellowship of the Spirit’s present and discernible trends.” In the third part, Yong offers various practical considerations for potential change as we walk with the Spirit and join in the renewal of theological education.

Reviewed by Carolyn Tennant

Publisher’s page: https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/7840/renewing-the-church-by-the-spirit.aspx

Notes

[i] Yong, Amos. Renewing the Church by the Spirit: Theological Education After Pentecost. Theological Education Between the Times. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2020). Kindle Edition.

[ii][ii] Ibid., location 29.

[iii] Ibid., location 47

[iv] Ibid., location 57

[v] Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 3rd ed. (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007).

[vi] Yong, location 156.

[vii]Ibid., location 33.

[viii] Ibid, location 38.

[ix] Ibid., location 49.

[x] Ibid., location 50.

Pastor Winfield Bevins introduces us to God the Holy Spirit and shows from the Bible how He helps us.

The reason many churches are empty, dry, and void of spiritual life is because they have lost touch with the dynamic presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit played an important role in the life and ministry of the early church. It is impossible to understand the explosive growth of the New Testament church without understanding the important role of the Holy Spirit in the church. Sadly, for most of church history the Holy Spirit has been virtually overlooked. However, today many people are hungry to experience the Holy Spirit in their personal life.

By Rupert Hennen. Used with permission.

God has given the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to everyone who would believe. After 2000 years, the Spirit continues to play an important role in the Christian life. Without Him, it is impossible for individuals or the church to experience personal renewal. The Holy Spirit has a distinct contribution to make in the postmodern world and the contemporary church. The following chapter is designed to reintroduce you to the Holy Spirit by looking at what the bible says about person and work of the Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

“Who is the Holy Spirit?” Christians have asked this question throughout the ages. There have been many different opinions as to the personal nature of the Holy Spirit. Some have wondered if the Spirit was a created being, while others believed that the Spirit was an energy force.

Most religions and cults deny the deity and existence of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, even some Christians believe that the Spirit is not fully divine. The writers of the Bible clearly emphasized the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Bible also shows that there is a unique relationship between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This interrelationship is often called the Trinity, which refers to three distinct divine Personalities, each wholly God, yet they are one essence. The doctrine of the Trinity has been defended by the Christian church for nearly two thousand years. It cannot be overestimated that the Holy Spirit is divine.

Many Christians also find it hard to understand the personal aspect of the Holy Spirit. Too often we think of the Him in a symbolic and impersonal manner. What we will find, however, is that the Holy Spirit is also a person. The personhood of the Spirit is not merely an abstract idea; rather it carries importance for our personal faith because the Spirit is the One who unites us with Christ.¹ Jesus has many times referred to the personal nature of the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Paraclete,” which means one called alongside. It is one who is an advocate, comforter, or counselor. The word Paraclete implies a distinct personality.

The Bible ascribes Him personal characteristics such as a will (Acts 13:1, 1 Cor. 12:11), mind (1 Cor. 2:10-11, Romans 8:27), and emotions (Eph. 4:30). The Bible also uses many different names, titles, and symbols to paint a portrait of the Holy Spirit, each representing what He does and who He is. For example, The Bible uses symbols such as Fire, Wind, Water, Wine, and a Dove.

The Holy Spirit Today

As we have seen, the Spirit has been moving in the lives of individuals since the world began. Great men and women of the faith have done extraordinary things when they where anointed by the power of the Holy Ghost. This leads us to the question, is the Holy Spirit still active today? Does He still anoint people who seek Him? The answer is yes! He wants to bring you into a deeper more intimate relationship with Him. He wants to use you more than you’ll ever know. You can experience His fullness in your everyday life. Surrender your heart and your life to Him today. We will examine several ways that you can receive the Spirit to your everyday life.

Andrew Wilson has written a highly readable, engaging volume seeking the integration of the streams that are regularly treated as contrastive: sacrament and Spirit. It is not that these are actually contrastive, but too many folks imagine they are distinct. Those who worship with candles, lectionaries, church calendars, and vestments versus those who worship with shouts, dancing, speaking in tongues, and altar calls. Yet Wilson contends these are not contradictory and nor should they be. While he is not proposing an explicit apologetic for these two streams to be joined, he is offering an implicit one. Even more so he is speaking to those who already may think these should be found together and offering them support toward a more biblical reflection of integration as basic to the church. The movements of this book are simple (though not simplistic): (ch. 1) Spirit and sacrament, (chs. 2-3) charis “gift” and chara “joy”, (chs. 4-5) eucharistic and charismatic. The intent is a proposed (ch. 6) “eucharismatic” (eucharistic/sacramental and Spirit-ed/charismatic) expression and experience for the life of the local church. This new term (eucharismatic) is intended to bring the two expressions into a fruitful intertwining as expressive of the fuller life of the church.

One of the many values of this volume is its positive framing of church expressions that are often put into juxtaposition as if antithetical. A similar sort of distinction was noted fifteen years ago in Sam Storm’s testimony and articulation Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist (Enjoying God Ministries, 2005) that juxtaposed “Calvinist” and “Charismatic” as poles that deserve to be brought together. Wilson’s own vision is less narrow by opening up to those which are sacramental/historic/liturgical and those which are charismatic/Pentecostal/renewal (with none of these terms intended as intentionally limiting to what might be offered). Wilson contends that the church that is committed to embodied life expresses itself in dress, smells, sounds, tastes, and movements that consider the whole person as incorporated into the life of the worshiping community. The integration of all of these as gifts and joy makes of a meaningful contribution to reflecting on the life of the church as it seeks faithful expression in local (and global) contexts.

Wilson does not dictate what the eucharismatic life and church looks like as this is a work of the Spirit in the context of specific congregations seeking to live faithfully in their contexts. However, he reminds his readers that just as “the church encompasses the whole body of Christ—cerebral and emotion, high and low context, introvert and extrovert, spontaneous and controlled, Asian, African, American, European, and so on—then local churches need to worship in ways that help everyone find joy in God, through Christ, by the Spirit” (57, original emphasis). This is enabled both by the many tongues of Pentecost and the many prayers and liturgies of the church historic and global.

As a full-time pastor of 22 years and one who still serves pastors globally through teaching, mentoring, and discipleship I will be recommending this book to fellow pastors and those I disciple in the pastorate. This book would serve a local church or group of pastors seeking to reflect on these issues (whether they consider themselves more “eucharistic” or more “charismatic” or even already a bit of a blend). It has the great potential to offer language for carrying forward conversations and seeking further reflection on this field of study. This book is precisely the kind of entry level work on the subject to spur further readings and deeper reflections perhaps moving to engage other works which likewise seek to integrate such things at a more advanced and detailed level of reflection.

Reviewed by Rick Wadholm Jr

Publisher’s page: https://zondervanacademic.com/products/spirit-and-sacrament

This guest article by chaplain, editor, author, and speaker James Linzey presents biblical answers about why followers of Jesus should pray in tongues. See the note from the Editor below for more about the perspective of this article.

Why speak with tongues? There are many reasons for speaking in a spiritual language. Primarily, though, the Scriptures require it. The apostle Paul commanded us, saying, “Pray in the Spirit always” (Eph. 6:18). Jude commanded it in verse 20, saying, “Pray in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus said it was one of the signs which were to follow the ministry of Christians: “And these signs will accompany those who believe … they will speak with new tongues …” (Mark 16:17). If Scripture commanded it only once, then it is a command, to be obeyed.

Paul commanded: “Earnestly desire spiritual gifts … I want you all to speak in tongues … I thank God that I speak in tongues …” (I Cor. 14:1, 5, 18). Speaking in tongues is one of God’s gifts, and Christians need all the gifts God offers.

The supernatural language is a miraculous manifestation of God’s power, but it combines both human and divine elements and requires both human and divine initiative. Don Basham, in A Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism, claims that tongue-speaking is “truly a co-operation between the Christian and the Holy Spirit” (page 86). Also, to pray in tongues is a matter of one’s will according to 1 Cor. 14:14-15. Here Paul says that when he prays in a tongue, his spirit prays, not simply his mind. He indicates that he wills to pray and sing with his spirit— it is a decision he makes, not something forced on him. Speaking in tongues is a matter of the will as is any other action.

Acts 2:4 states, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak” (MEV), or “…as the Spirit gave them utterance.” As they spoke, the Spirit filled their mouths. The Holy Spirit did not tell them what to say, nor did He speak through them. He simply gave them the ability to speak. Albert Hoy says that the disciples “used no conceptual forethought of their own in the vocalization” (“Public and Private Uses of the Gift of Tongues,” Paraclete 2, Volume #4, page 11).

In the same manner, the Christian who speaks with tongues will realize that he does not know beforehand what syllables he will utter, but he will speak “not as he receives a mental impression, but as the Spirit gives him the utterance” (Hoy, page 12). Tongues is “the sign of the baptism of the Spirit…. All gifts which the Spirit brings and gives had already been given individually before Pentecost, except for speaking in other tongues with interpretation! Thus, this was the new sign by which the baptism of the Spirit was known” (says F. Kramaric, cited in The Pentecostals by Walter J. Hollenweger, page 342).

Harold L. C. Horton says in Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Challenge to the Whole-hearted Seekers After God, page 13, that “The evidence of water baptism at Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Ephesus, was not faith nor love, but wetness! It is the same today. The evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit at Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Ephesus was neither faith nor love, but tongues. So, it is today. To be baptized merely ‘by faith’ or tradition without evidence, is not to be baptized at all—either in water or the Holy Ghost.”

Image: Jon Tyson

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to be immersed in the Holy Spirit or to be completely given over to Him. Two faculties hardest for humans to surrender are the mind and the tongue. Paul says in I Cor 14:14, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” Jesus compares baptism with the Holy Spirit to baptism in water. In water baptism the candidate yields to the baptizer until the candidate is completely immersed in water. In the baptism with the Holy Spirit, one is given over entirely to the Holy Spirit. The seeker yields to Christ until completely immersed in the Holy Spirit.

Many ask whether speaking in tongues is truly the primary confirmation or sign of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to make compromises, but only biblical evidence can be considered proof of the answer. It would seem illogical to use the Old Testament or the Gospels as proof that speaking in tongues is a sign of the baptism with the Holy Spirit because they were written before the outpouring on the Day of Pentecost. It would also seem ill-advised to use the Epistles of Paul as the proof because they are pastoral letters dealing with problems and perplexities of established churches where speaking in tongues was considered normal.

Contemporary experiences are valuable but cannot be considered as proof of tongues being the initial evidence because they would be interpreting after the fact. Consequently, the proof must come from the book of Acts, which records the only known examples of the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit among the early Christians.

PR

Note from the Editor

In this guest article, James Linzey is speaking about praying in the Spirit, also known as praying in tongues. Most Pentecostal/charismatics believe that every follower of Jesus may and should pray in the Spirit, and they see praying in tongues as distinct from the gift of tongues with interpretation that operates in a gathering of a community of believers. Linzey is approaching this subject from a classical Pentecostal perspective. Other renewalists (Pentecostals and charismatics) have a different approach about how to interpret what the Bible says about tongues in relation to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you want to learn more, there are many articles available at PneumaReview.com that discuss tongues and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Consider starting here.

PneumaReview.com invites you to read this paper by Professor Eugen Jugaru and discuss the connection between joy and suffering.

Abstract

Suffering for the Christian faith and Christian worship exuberance, paradoxically have a common ground: a joy beyond understanding which comes from the Holy Spirit. The reality of this unusual and passionate experience: joy in sufferings and worship, was experienced by Christians in Romania, a country that for 45 years was ruled by a fierce atheist Communist regime. Their experiences were similar to the first-century Christians who after being beaten for breaking the interdiction to spread the Gospel, “rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His (Christ’s) name” (Acts. 5:40-41). Two Christians remained examples for Romanian Christians by their determination in persecution, Richard Wurmbrand and Nicolae Steinhardt.

Also during the persecution in Romania, believers who were not imprisoned have also experienced a deep presence of the Holy Spirit in worship. These moments flooded their hearts with unimaginable joy which gave them power to forgive their enemies and to receive strength to face courageously the atheist regime.

I will be presenting the reality of joy beyond understanding in suffering and worship due to the presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit through the use of written narrative testimonies of Richard Wurmbrand and Nicolae Steinhardt as well as other written testimonies of Christians within the Pentecostal churches of Romania during the same period under the Communist regime. I will be providing an interpretive layer on the materials that will connect their responses to the work of the Spirit. By using current writings and observation I then will reveal the diminishing of this experience in contemporary post-Communism as reflected in the Christian experience in Romania.

Introduction

The theme of joy, whether it is viewed from a Christian perspective based on soteriological or pneumatological elements or whether from secular perspective, is a current topic due to general pessimism which seems to mark the contemporary generation. While we enjoy many of the products and services that did not benefited our parents it seems that there is an unseen enemy of joy that does not allow us to live our lives with great confidence and profound optimism. Joy of life today is overshadowed by the burden of stress, by the assault of various news media, especially negative news, by the fear of sickness or by anxiety of an unsure future due to multiple crises.

In this paper I will be presenting the idea that there can be a real and a deep joy, a joy beyond understanding, beyond the comprehension of our mind and reason, a joy in suffering and in worship, in prayers and songs for those who have accepted the Christian perspective on life. As an example to support this thesis I present the testimonies of several Christians from different denominations, who experienced a joy beyond understanding when they were imprisoned. Their experience can teach us today about the joy beyond understanding, a real joy that surpass difficulties of the life and can help us today when we have freedom and rights, but consequently less joy.

What is joy beyond understanding and how does this kind of joy manifest itself?

Joy beyond understanding is that state of spiritual exaltation that makes a person who has it to forget the difficulties of the life and to experience God’s presence in a very strong, real and personal way.

Joy beyond understanding and comprehension does not depend on the circumstances of life, it is rooted in God’s continual presence and grace, for it is a work of the Holy Spirit. Usually joy is that personal feeling due to certain achievements or because of good news received, but joy beyond understanding does not depend on such external input. Joy beyond understanding cannot be expressed well in words; it can be experienced, felt but not fully communicated in words.

The manifestation of joy beyond understanding can be expressed by a shining upon the face or even by tears of joy. Personally, I think that a smile and laughter can be a manifestation of joy, but does not suggests in the best way the depth of joy, it is not so deep as the tears of joy which cannot be stopped. I watched TV programs broadcasting live emotional meetings between people who have not met for many years, between life partners or between parents and children, and in most of these exciting meetings protagonists could not retain tears of joy.

The joy beyond understanding does not comes from a human predisposition toward happiness or, as I related before from the satisfaction of personal achievement, but its source is divine, it is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:20-22). When Paul contrasts the works of the flesh and the fruit of Holy Spirit, he revealed that among the items and fruit of the Spirit is also joy (Greek chara).

More specifically, I think Lord’s reflection provides some guidance on listening to themes of both redemptive yearnings and redemptive themes sometimes conveyed through cultural media.

After briefly noting how classical dispensationalism oftentimes cripples motive towards holistic mission and social concern, Lord discusses the holistic vision of God’s mission towards the transformation of all creation, of which the signs of His coming kingdom provide a foretaste. Lord thus writes, “Through mission [e.g., God’s mission] we see God at work both building on the good that is seen in the created order, and also challenging and prophetically overcoming the evil” (p. 30).

Lord transitions more specifically to the relation of the church in mission to the mission of God: “This mission of God, missio Dei, is worked out through the church in the wider world and also directly in the world outside the church. Thus there is a two-fold aspect to God’s mission” (p. 30). Lord then insightfully argues, “I have suggested that in mission we can see God at work in two different Spirit movements. Firstly, there is a movement that centres on the church and sees it sent out into the world. This is the common pentecostal and evangelical approach to mission that sees the church carrying the gospel out to all nations before Jesus returns. Yet, as I will later argue in Chapter 7, there is a greater pentecostal recognition of the Spirit at work in the world outside the church. In mission, we can see the Spirit also at work in all creation, moving people in the direction of Christ in holistic ways. This kind of mission is often represented by those seeking God’s liberating work in the world. Both of these movements of the Spirit are important, and both represent ways in which the kingdom over which Christ rules is made present in the church and wider world.” (pp. 30-31).

Lord makes this observation: “The church is called by Christ to enable the kingdom, but often has to catch up with Christ at work bringing in His kingdom ahead of it” (p. 31).

Lord’s reflections resonate with themes that can be often found in contemporary missional church literature, that challenges us towards recognising the broader concerns of God’s mission (missio dei). Such literature commonly challenges us to thus “listen” to our cultural context.” Yet this is very different from the older “seeker service” model that focuses on “contextualising” to our cultural context. In missional thinking, the greater nuance lies rather on listening to whatever redemptive themes or redemptive yearnings might be emerging from within our broader setting (for example, see Aland J. Roxburgh and M. Scott Boren, Introducing the Missional Church [BakerBooks, 2009], pp. 69f, 84-86f).

Is it possible that in our day, one of the great “redemptive yearnings” currently voiced is increasing concern for the global environment; hence, creation care? When we appreciate that the mission of God is directed not only towards humanity but moreover to the saving of of all creation— then we can also appreciate how increasing concern for saving the earth’s environment, may hint towards the Spirit’s yearning from within our broader cultural context, and also the cries of redemption rising from the imago dei that still flickers in broken humanity.

Editor’s Note: Monte Rice invites you to interact with him and the PneumaReview.com community about these reflections in the comment section below.

Originally published on the Pneuma Foundation (parent organization of PneumaReview.com) website. Later included in the Summer 2022 issue.