This book lives up to its claim to study global Pentecostalism, not because it covers it country by country, but because it is grounded in the places in the world where Pentecostalism has had a major impact on society. These places are Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa, China, Russia and the Ukraine, India and the Philippines. However, the case of the Philippines, the reflections relate mainly to the Catholic Charismatic Movement, the largest Pentecostal/charismatic group in the country.

The book is written from a sociological point of view and the focus is detailing Pentecostalism’s impact on things like economics, community life, and politics. Other issues, such as one’s relationship with God and dealing with the ever-present spirit world in the Majority World, are noted (p. 116) but not considered in depth.

The layout of the book is straightforward and not divided into sections. Following Hefner’s introductory chapter, “The Unexpected Modern—Gender, Piety and Politics in the Global Pentecostal Surge,” there are a total of eight lengthy chapters. (1) “Pentecostalism: An Alternative Form of Modernity and Modernization,” by David Martin. (2) “The Future of Pentecostalism in Brazil: The Limits to Growth,” by Paul Freston. (3) “Social Mobility and Politics in African Pentecostal Modernity,” by David Maxwell. (4) “Tensions and Trends in Pentecostal Gender and Family Relations,” by Bernice Martin. (5) “Gender, Modernity, and Pentecostal Christianity in China,” by Nanlai Cao. (6) “The Routinization of Soviet Pentecostalism and the Liberation of Charisma in Russia and Ukraine,” by Christopher Marsh and Artyom Tonoyan. (7) “Pentecost amid Pujas: Charismatic Christianity and Dalit Women in Twenty-First Century India,” by Rebecca Samuel Shah and Timothy Samuel Shah. (8) “Politics, Education and Civic Participation: Catholic Charismatic Modernities in the Philippines,” by Katharine L. Wiegele. Peter Berger’s afterward then sums up the book excellently by tying the articles together.

As Hefner and others note (p. 9) Pentecostalism focuses much more on personal rebirth or transformation than social structural change. All authors report, however, that the personal transformation also brings positive to change to families and communities. Men no longer visit the bars and brothels and pour their resources into their families instead, providing social lift. Women, who are often oppressed in male dominated societies, find their voices in the Pentecostal Movement. Martin, for example, mentions that women are often used in prophecy (p. 38). Transformed individuals then, do positively impact broader society.

A lot of attention is given throughout the book to the impact of the prosperity gospel in the Majority World. Much of the impact has been positive, although the prosperity gospel in these regions is much less focused on money than its American counterpart and appears to be more along the line of Yonggi Cho’s three-fold blessing prosperity gospel based on 3 John 2.

In this monograph, Harlyn Graydon Purdy, President of Pentecostal Bible College in Malawi, sets forth to contribute to the ongoing discussions about Pentecostal hermeneutics. The author expresses concerns regarding trends in Pentecostalism, such as allegorization – or what he calls “unrestrained imagination” – that are mistaken for revelation from the Holy Spirit. Purdy acknowledges that such trends are common in the Majority World, including his African context. Therefore he argues that a hermeneutical structure is necessary to avoid heretical interpretations and abuses.

In chapter one, Purdy introduces his thesis and provides a literature review concerning Pentecostal hermeneutic over the last thirty years. According to Purdy, the variety of options demonstrates that the issue of hermeneutics has not been settled among Pentecostals, so developing a distinct Pentecostal hermeneutic is necessary. He writes, “Failing to do so will allow the current chaotic state to worsen and even possibly silence the Pentecostal voice completely” (18). Purdy sees a potential danger that Pentecostals will either default to an Evangelical hermeneutic or be so divided that their unique perspectives for the larger church will be lost.

In the following chapter, the author takes a historical look at Pentecostalism including its origins, Holiness influences, Revivalist impacts, and modern contributions upon it. He gives a very brief glance (about two pages) to Pentecostalism within the African context. Purdy argues that early Pentecostals used the Bible Reading method along with a Lukan lens in order to interpret scripture. He concludes that while Pentecostalism has evolved since its beginnings, many of these early influences continue to impact Pentecostal hermeneutics.

In chapter three, Purdy examines scripture to better understand the hermeneutic employed by the early Church. By studying the second and fifteenth chapters of Acts, he extrapolates that early Christians did not draw meaning from the text exclusively. Rather, meaning was developed through the interplay of scripture, the Spirit, the community, and trained leaders. The author also examines how several New Testament passages used Old Testament passages, and he deduces that “the biblical text is not static but is somewhat fluid” (73). For him, this provides precedence for a similar approach for contemporary Pentecostals.

In chapter five, the author expands upon his proposal to apply various types of interpretive methods. He states, “A legitimate, distinct Pentecostal hermeneutic must also engage methodology that recognizes the interpreter’s involvement in the creation of meaning” (92). Purdy maintains that using a variety of approaches can both create meaning for the contemporary context while also safeguarding against extreme interpretations that are not aligned with the spirit of the text.

Vinson Synan, historian, professor, and dean emeritus of the School of Divinity at Regent University, skillfully blends his memoirs with Pentecostal Church history, reflecting on his previous books while integrating his first-hand experience of the events. The book is arranged somewhat chronologically, first retelling the Azusa Street story, then following significant events like the 1948 New Order of Latter Rain revival, healing revivals, Catholic charismatics, racial reconciliation, and it offers brief commentary on recent revivals. Synan offers his personal observations in order to color in the growth of the renewal movement. Herein he has personalized his narration of the events by offering a complementary view of his previous historical accounts. Synan, true to the title of this book, gives the reader an eyewitness account of movement of the Holy Spirit in the past three-quarters of the twentieth century.

Undoubtedly, Synan’s book will stand the test of time in a similar manner as Frank Bartleman’s classic eyewitness account of the Azusa Street revival, for from both descriptions we have direct and irreplaceable personal narration of the North American renewal movement in the twentieth century. This book is destined to become a point of reference for future historians and students of church history. Both books place people and events together, by assisting us to grasp the narrative flow of the stories, and by filling in gaps left by other less-personal descriptions. Likewise, both books give us systematic details of the events important to the author and less detail when the narrator is simply connecting events. Synan clearly focuses on the ecumenical attribute of the renewal movement as the necessary ingredient for the long-lasting spiritual vitality.

Perhaps the greatest contribution Synan makes here is found in his reminiscing on his involvement with the Roman Catholic charismatic movement, the 1977 Kansas City conference, and the Memphis miracle. In each of these accounts, he has recorded his personal involvement as a minister, but more importantly his ideological struggle as he observed the Spirit of God working in ways that he did not expect. Likewise, we can appreciate his candid admission of naiveté as he admits his presupposition towards race relationships as a boy raised in Virginia during the first half of the twentieth century. We can appreciate his candor as he reconciles his Protestant-Catholic bias. Moreover, we are grateful that he has shared the process and the enormous effort required to pull together multiple national denominational leaders for the conferences on spiritual renewal.

Synan’s memoir emphasizes the ecumenical and relational attributes of the renewal movement, combining multiple stories of how he and others built consensus on the essentials of Christian faith, while minimizing the non-essentials. If there is a lesson for the historian to teach current church leaders, then it will certainly be found in the humility of Synan’s narration, for it is a story of how the Holy Spirit will use those who have courage to continue taking steps of faith.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

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

How Shall We Lead the Church?

In this Pneuma Review conversation, preacher and international instructor Aldwin Ragoonath asks, what is hindering church growth in North America? How can we can lead towards growth in the church in the Twenty-first century?

Where I am Coming From

Aldwin Ragoonath

I was born into a nominal Hindu home that progressed to a nominal Christian in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. I became a committed Christian at age 15 and received some of my theological training in Trinidad where I pastored for a few years. Later, I pastored for more than 20 years in Canada. I earned a Doctor of Ministry in homiletics and a Doctor of Theology in Pentecostal preaching. My book, Preach the Word: a Pentecostal Approach (Canada: Agape Teaching Ministry, 2004) has been printed in several languages and is being used around the world.¹ In the last thirteen years I have facilitated Pentecostal preaching seminars and courses in Pentecostal preaching all over the globe to more than 4,000 pastors, mainly in the 10/40 window—among the highest populations of non-Christians in the world.

Problems within the Western Church

David Mains, founder of the national Christian Canadian TV program 100 Huntley Street, did a survey of 100 cities in Canada trying to find out what are some of the problems hindering church growth. He discovered that the major problem in the church is apathy. People don’t care about the church and its ministry.² This can also be said of America.

Selfishness, in all its manifestations, is the second problem. When a proposal is presented to a pastor or lay person, the usual response is, “What’s in it for me?” Historians in the future will refer to this generation as the “I” generation. People are preoccupied with “I.”

People in the church and outside the church are not only concerned about “I” but are very materialistic, overly concerned with money and possessions. Success is measured by how many things i.e. houses, money and cars one possesses. And everything else is sacrificed at this altar of “me, myself and I” including: family, relationships, friends, and commitment to God.

Michael Bergunder, The South Indian Pentecostal Movement in the Twentieth Century, Studies in the History of Christian Missions (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008), 392 pages, ISBN 9780802827340.

There will be several groups who will thank Michael Bergunder, professor of history of religions and mission studies at Heidelberg, for writing this book. First, historians of the Pentecostal/charismatic movements will find this work a treasure trove of the major persons and places of South Indian Pentecostalism. The introductory chapter lays out the global/non-Western perspective that marks so much of contemporary historiography of Pentecostal/charismatic history. The first section of the book in six chapters covers the origins and development of Pentecostal churches in South India. It covers both western missionary efforts (such as the Assemblies of God and Church of God) as well as indigenous churches (such as the Indian Pentecostal Church and the Ceylon Pentecostal Mission).

Second, Bergunder’s book will be important to Pentecostal/charismatic pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. In his section, “Beliefs and Practices,” he draws on an extensive reservoir of personal interviews to portray a vibrant if often complex Indian Pentecostal spirituality and ecclesiology. Though there is a definite Asian sub-continent flavor to how Pentecostalism adapted to India, there is a core of theological and practical measures that will resonate with any Pentecostal/charismatic minister and believer anywhere in the world. In the twenty-first century, western Pentecostal/charismatics will need to turn to global Pentecostal/charismatic movements in order to define of who they are.

Third, students of Pentecostal/charismatic movements will find this book a model of careful research, clear presuppositions, and honest assessments. The book has three appendices: (1) Seventy-nine brief biographical sketches of both foreign missionaries and national leaders; (2) lists of the leaderships of the Indian Pentecostal Church, Ceylon Pentecostal Mission, Church of God, and Assemblies of God; and (3) six pages of church statistics from 1930 to 2000. There are fourteen photos inserted between the two main sections of the book. Before a thorough index, there is a ten-page list of people that Bergunder interviewed and a valuable thirty-five page bibliography.

As we progress through a second century of the Pentecostal/charismatic movements, the need for an accurate and unbiased history calls for many others to follow Bergunder’s lead.

Reviewed by Malcolm R. Brubaker

Preview The South Indian Pentecostal Movement in the Twentieth Century: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_South_Indian_Pentecostal_Movement_in.html?id=XGiv3riaunQC

Publisher’s page: http://www.eerdmans.com/Products/2734/the-south-indian-pentecostal-movement-in-the-twentieth-century.aspx

Doug Beacham, General Superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, shares a timely challenge about giving an answer for the hope within us.

The year 2008 is shaping up as an unusually violent period of natural disasters around the world. In the United States tornados are destroying homes, business, and in some cases, entire towns, at a record pace. Myanmar (Burma) had the double calamity of a devastating typhoon and a paralyzed police-state response. China continues to crumble from the effects of the earthquake in Sichuan province that left over 60,000 dead and thousands more injured and homeless.

I’ve wondered what the Christian response will be to these contemporary natural problems, as well as our continued response to the front page issues of terrorism, war, poverty, AIDS, malaria, and a host of other issues confronting our troubled world. I pray our response will be similar to what Rodney Stark describes in how Christians in the first three centuries of our era responded. In The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, Stark showed that when epidemics, fires, earthquakes, and ethnic violence spread through densely populated cities, the Christian commitment to love one’s neighbor gave Christians a reason to stay in the mess, while rulers, philosophers, and pagan religious leaders fled to the countryside. Yes, many Christians died nursing their neighbors, but others became immune and established networks of care, love, and faithfulness.

Stark wrote, “To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.”¹

Rex Humbard, The Soul-Winning Century, 1906-2006: The Humbard Family Legacy … One Hundred Years of Ministry (Dallas: Clarion Call Marketing, 2006), 252 pages, ISBN 9781595740557.

Since almost the beginning of the twentieth century Pentecostal movement, members of the Humbard family have been engaging in earnest, energetic ministry to reach the lost for Christ. Rex Humbard, whose preaching has graced the airwaves for over 65 years, has now told his family’s story in his memoirs, The Soul-Winning Century.

While Rex Humbard became a household name through his groundbreaking television ministry, his father, Alpha E. Humbard also was an important pioneer preacher in his own right. Alpha Humbard, born in 1890 sixty miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas, had a rough childhood. Poverty, fights, liquor, and hard work dominated the world in which young Alpha was reared. However, he sensed God’s calling at a young age and overcame the odds to answer this call. Alpha was a practical, direct, no-nonsense kind of preacher whose compassion for people, according to this telling, overcame any deficit created by his lack of formal education. Perhaps it was this lack of haute couture—combined with a dependence upon God—that allowed him to touch the masses where they were at.

Alpha once recalled that a seminary-trained minister bitterly complained that, while he was a learned man with good diction and degrees, he could not draw the crowds like Alpha, whom he described as “an old farm boy, a clodhopper who can’t talk good English.” Alpha recalled that he recommended that the minister throw away his cigar, which he was smoking while complaining, and get on his knees and pray (p. 27). Alpha was not alone—his innovative, sometimes rough-and-tumble ways reflected a whole generation of early Pentecostal preachers.

Alpha strove to be a friend of all, but didn’t want to be tied too closely just to one group. He attended the organizational meeting of the Assemblies of God in 1914, but never joined that church. Alpha built up a thriving church, orphanage, and publishing house near Hot Springs. In addition, he issued credentials to more than 250 preachers. Alpha had laid the groundwork for a new denomination. By his son Rex’s estimation, however, the workload became too great. His credentialed ministers, who had rallied around themes of non-sectarianism, bickered over doctrinal details, which led to the dissolution of the group.

Curiously, The Soul-Winning Century contains very little detail about this important chapter in the Humbard family history—the rise and fall of an incipient denomination. (Alpha’s 1945 autobiography, From the Plow Handle to the Pulpit, contained little additional information.) The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC) recently acquired from Rev. Mahlon Midkiff a copy of the January 15, 1922 issue (volume 3, number 5) of Alpha’s Pentecostal newspaper, which sheds light on this segment of early Pentecostalism that eschewed organization. The paper was startlingly reminiscent of the paper that E. N. Bell edited prior to becoming the first Chairman of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Like Bell’s paper, Alpha’s paper was called Word and Witness and was published in Arkansas (Bell’s paper was published in Malvern; Humbard’s was in Pangburn). Bell folded his paper into the Pentecostal Evangel, the official magazine for the newly-organized Assemblies of God, in 1916.

I was a little boy during the great depression. I was born in 1931 six miles east of New York’s Times Square and shortly after that, my parents bought a modest home on a dead end street where it would be safe for me to grow and play. The street was 320 feet long, lined with eight houses on each side and several abandoned tennis courts sat at its dead end.

No one had any money in those days but we always had a Christmas tree. I remember when you could buy a Christmas tree for a dollar. In early January all the men in our area would bring their Christmas trees to the abandoned tennis court where they would be stacked into a huge pile which was then set on fire. It was an impressive sight for a youngster’s eyes. All those dry fir trees bursting into an instant conflagration was exciting to see. That neighborhood tradition continued until the war came. Memories of good days long ago!

I teach a course that covers religious revivals starting with the 16^th century, stories of other fires and exciting conflagrations of the Spirit. I find this course easy to teach since its content is fascinating and familiar to me. My two favorite historical personalities are Charles Grandison Finney and Benjamin Hardin Irwin. My guess is that you have heard of one of these men, but not the other.

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), leader during the Second Great Awakening.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Charles Finney was a lawyer who lived in upstate New York. He was handsome, blond, six feet tall, 200 pounds, and a fine athlete in his day. He had a wonderful baritone voice, was an excellent cellist and had a brilliant mind. Once he became a believer in Jesus Christ, he left law and went on to be one of most famous preachers of the nineteenth century. In my mind, that makes him one of those “not many noble” that the Bible talks about. Finney was a “feminist” in that he insisted that women break the longstanding tradition of not speaking in church. Later, Finney opened Oberlin College, of which he was one of the founders, to women and to escaped slaves.

When Benjamin Irwin preached in the 1890’s in the heartland of our country, fire and heat could be felt and seen by the audience. This phenomenon brought all kinds of attention and popularity to Irwin. However, he was soon to crash and burn as his leadership came to an end in 1900. Two gifted men, one who lived for others and one who lived for himself.

Vinson Synan, The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years Of Pentecostal And Charismatic Renewal, 1901-2001 (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 484 pages.

Vinson Synan has lived many of the 100 years he chronicles in his latest book which was published to be ready for the World Pentecostal Conference in Los Angeles in May 2000. Actually the book contains 15 chapters or sections, seven of which were written by Synan and nine other familiar names wrote the rest.

The book starts with an overview of the last century—the Pentecostal century. Synan then reviews our Pentecostal roots describing the Holiness setting that emerged in the 19^th century and set the stage for the Azusa Street revival and all that followed.

We learn of the global impact of the revival and then there are chapters on the Holiness Pentecostal Churches, the “Finished Work” Pentecostal Churches, the charismatic renewal at mid century and later in the established mainline denominations.

There are chapters on the Catholic Charismatic renewal, women in the movement, African American Pentecostal Churches and Hispanic Churches. Most of the white Pentecostal North Americans have no idea of the importance and place of the African American Pentecostal churches and this book will help bridge that unfortunate gap. There is a chapter about the healers and the televangelists of the last 55 years. The book closes with Synan’s synopsis of the last hundred years, an excellent study on our growth by David Barrett, and a chronology of our God’s dealing with the Pentecostal church starting from its beginning unto today. There are also predictions of things to come, some of which are hard to even imagine.

Synan is one of my favorite contemporary historians. His earlier books on the Pentecostal Holiness traditions are the best treatment of much of our history. I, like Synan, have lived 70 years of that history so for me the book is filled with stories of people I know, places I have gone and meetings that I attended in my own quest to be filled with the Holy Spirit and thus endued with power from on high.

One aspect of the book that I found disappointing was that while the guest authors brought the reader up almost to the end of the century in their respective chapters, all of Synan’s portions ended in the late 1980’s. The last five to ten years of the century were not covered in his half of the book. There is never enough time.

Nonetheless it is the best summary of last century available. I use this book as the main text in my course on Revivals at Pacific Rim Bible College. It belongs in the library of every Pentecostal preacher, adherent, and student.

Reviewed by H. Murray Hohns

Publisher’s page: http://www.thomasnelson.com/the-century-of-the-holy-spirit