Fall 2014: Other Significant Articles

William L. De Arteaga, “Fr. Zakaria Botros – Apostle to the Muslims” Anglican Pentecostal (July 13, 2013).

Father De Arteaga introduced his article on October 1, 2014 by saying: “Many of us are deeply troubled by the rise of ISIS and the destruction of the Christian communities in Syria and Iraq. The short term answer may be forceful military action, but in the long term the only solution is spiritual – the conversion of the Muslim peoples. Here is a posting on the person who is in the lead of this. He has led to the conversion of millions of Arabs. He deserves our prayers and support.”

Margaret M. Poloma, “The Spirit Bade Me Go: Pentecostalism and Global Religion.”

This paper by esteemed Pentecostal/charismatic sociologist Margaret Poloma is by no means recent, it was presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion annual meeting which ran August 11-13, 2000, in Washington, D.C. However, if you have never read it, you should make time to do so.

Michelle Van Loon, “The History We’d Prefer to Forget: Why we pass on pain to the next generation” ChristianityToday.com (October 13, 2014).

William De Arteaga writes: “Excellent article from CT on the current controversy over advanced placement history standards.”

Henry H. Knight III, “On Knowing God: Wesley and the Methodists” Catalyst Online (October 22, 2014).

Hal Knight writes, “The central point Wesley makes … is that we are intended not just to know about God, but to know God.”

Diane Reynolds, “Holy Spirit Hunger: Amos Yong” Publishers Weekly (October 21, 2014).

Jeremy Weber, “InterVarsity Will ‘Reinvent’ Student Ministry on California State Campuses: Christian fellowship finds silver lining in being booted from America’s largest university system” Christianity Today (September 9, 2014). 

This brief article brings together all of the latest information (as of September 9, 2014) about what is happening in the wake of campus ministry InterVarsity Christian Fellowship being derecognized by the largest university system in America.

Timothy George, “Reformation Day” First Things (October 31, 2014). 

William De Arteaga writes: “This is a gracious appreciation of Martin Luther’s work from the preeminent Catholic journal in America. It is nice to know we don’t insult each other any more!”

Shane Clifton, “The Dark Side of Prayer for Healing” Pneuma 36 (2014), pages 204–25.

Shane Clifton offers an introduction to the article and a link to the full article on his blog: http://shaneclifton.com/2014/07/02/the-dark-side-of-prayer-for-healing/  

“Is There a New Kind of Pentecostal? Church leaders weigh in on today’s Spirit-empowered believer” Vital Magazine (Nov 7, 2014). 

A panel of Pentecostal leaders answer this question in this short article appearing in a new publication from the Assemblies of God USA.

“We Are Not Enough in Awe of God: Why Eric Metaxas encourages a greater openness to miracles in everyday life” ChristianityTodayOnline (Nov 5, 2014). 

In this online-only interview with Tim Stafford, biographer Eric Metaxas discusses his new book, Miracles: A Journalist Looks at Modern-Day Experiences of God’s Power (Bethany House, 2014).

“Before There Was Billy Graham, There Was…: George Whitefield was once the most famous man in America. Historian Thomas Kidd explains why the celebrity evangelist shouldn’t be forgotten.” Christianity Today (November 12, 2014). 

Elesha Coffman interviews Thomas S. Kidd about his book, George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father (Yale University Press, 2014). William De Arteaga writes of this interview: “This article describes just how much George Whitefield was led by the Holy Spirit.”

Roger E. Olson, “Memories of Stanley J. Grenz with Special Attention to Criticisms of His Theology (and Some Hitherto Unrevealed Facts)” Patheos (December 2014).

Ed Stetzer, “Why Do These Pentecostals Keep Growing?: Many evangelical churches and denominations are in a state of plateau or decline. Why aren’t Pentecostals?” Christianity Today (November 2014). 

As a good commentary in relation to Stetzer’s article, one reader suggests reading: Michael Wilkinson, “Pentecostalism and the Status of Global Christianity” (January 24, 2013).

Michael Wilkinson himself wrote, “There are a lot of people posting the link to the Christianity Today article on why Pentecostals are growing. Some are a bit triumphalistic. Some are apprehensive. Some still argue Pentecostals are not orthodox. Here are my observations – the growth of Pentecostalism is not enough to have an overall impact on the growth of Christianity. Christianity is still roughly 33% of the world’s population, the same as it was 100 years ago. Yes, in real numbers Christianity is growing, but so is the world’s total population and representatives of all other religions. The real story is not it’s growth, but the changing character of Christianity to become Pentecostalized. World Christianity is not growing, it is changing.”

Roger E. Olson, “What ‘American Exceptionalism’ Means to Me” Patheos (December 10, 2014).

Karl Dahlfred, “Why Missionaries Can Never Go Home Again” Gleanings from the Field (November 25, 2014). 

John Lathrop wrote: “Here is an interesting article that my friend, Rev. Nancy Hudson, who has served in South Africa for 25 years, posted today on Facebook. The author has some good insights about the lives of missionaries.”

Nancy Hudson responded: “This article is so so true. There are bumps, hurts, and disappointments along the journey, whether home or away. But ultimately, knowing Heaven is our real Home makes it all worthwhile along the way.”  

Roger Scruton, “How modern art became trapped by its urge to shock” BBC News Magazine (December 6, 2014).

William De Arteaga writes: “This urge to be shocking is a theological issue that has plagued Western churches for some time. As far back as I can remember, most Christians have been bothered by the fashions of modern art. Simply stated, modern art has no vision of the eternal and no ability to reflect the harmonies of God’s creation. Here is a secular writer coming at modern art from a secular perspective and saying it is fraud.”

Esmeralda Sánchez, “Latina, Pentecostal, and College-Bound” ChristianityTodayOnline (December 2014).

Guest writer to CT Women’s blog Her·meneutics, Esmeralda Sánchez discusses how the church stands to benefit from the rising educational attainment of Latinas.

Craig S. Keener, “Using Church Fathers to interpret the Bible?” Bible Background Blog (December 28, 2014). 

Craig Keener discusses the place tradition and church history should have as we seek to interpret the Scriptures.