Postmodernism, The Church, and The Future
A Pneuma Review discussion about how the church should respond to postmodernism

How should the church respond to postmodernism?

With great anticipation and some caution, I am pleased to announce the beginning of our discussion on Postmodernism, the Church, and the Future. As North American culture has become increasingly postmodern, some church leaders have perceived this shift to be a threat and others an opportunity. Church leaders need to know what they are facing. They need to hear from today’s theologians and practitioners to gain a well-rounded perspective.

May God give us the grace to humbly hear His voice calling us forward.

The Pneuma Review editorial committee is working to put together a diverse panel to discuss how the church should respond to the challenge of postmodernism.

We want your feedback. I invite you to leave comments and respond to these articles.

Cover from the 2003 Xulon edition.

Thank you for joining us to discuss Rick Walston’s book The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: The Initial, Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Rick Walston, The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: The Initial, Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), 235 pages.

 Editor Introduction

 Part 1 of A Narrative-Critical Response

 Part 2 of A Narrative-Critical Response

 Reader Responses

Editor’s Note

Cover from the 2005 Wipf & Stock edition.

As mentioned briefly in our last issue, a rejoinder from Rick Walston will not be appearing at this time in answer to Robert Graves’ “Narrative-Critical Response.” I encourage you to read Walston’s book for yourself, The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: The Initial, Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit Debate. The book is now available for purchase online from publisher Wipf and Stock at this address: http://wipfandstock.com/the-speaking-in-tongues-controversy.html [as of February 13, 2015]

Reader responses about the topic of initial evidence and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as well as discussion about Rick Walston’s book, are most welcome.

Rick Walston in 2008

Update: Response available online

Although Pneuma Review did not publish the response from Rick Walston, he has made his rebuttal available on his blog.

Rick Walston’s Response to Robert Graves’s Review ​ http://www.columbiaseminary.edu/coffeetalk/103.html [available as of Feb 9, 2015]​

For further reading

Gordon L. Anderson, “Baptism In The Holy Spirit, Initial Evidence, And A New Model” Enrichment (Winter 2005).

Dr. Gordon L. Anderson’s wrote a very insightful article that addresses the question: “How can Pentecostals deal with the problems raised by non-Pentecostals on issues of Holy Spirit baptism and still retain their Pentecostal position? Consider this new model.” The article was originally published in the 2005 winter issue of the AoG’s Enrichment Journal.

Patrick Kierkegaard (on February 12, 2015)

Invitation repeated

I do invite you again to write with your comments and insights. Please participate by adding your comments under the articles or send email to the Editor by way of our Contact page.

— Raul Mock, Executive Editor

Christians have argued about how the Last Days would unfold since before the New Testament was written down (see John 20:23). Should you disagree with Professor Keener’s eschatology or how he interprets certain passages, please do not miss his goal of bringing us to a place of greater biblical balance. Though we may disagree regarding the End Times, we need to keep our Christian love and unity in Christ at the forefront.

Professor Keener originally designed this course on Hermeneutics for use in Nigeria and not for traditional publication. Desiring to make it available to a wider audience, he has granted permission to publish this course in the Pneuma Review. Dr. Keener grants permission for others to make use of this material as long as it is offered without cost or obligation and that users acknowledge the source.

Portions of this course follow these recommended works: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart (Zondervan). Revelation, NIV Application Commentary by Craig S. Keener (Zondervan, 1999).

May this study be a blessing to you.

Join us for a discussion of Rick Walston’s book The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: The Initial, Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Rick Walston, The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: The Initial, Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), 235 pages.

Editor’s Introduction

Welcome to a discussion about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the controversial role that tongues has in that dialogue. Robert Graves opens up with his review essay of Rick Walston’s book, The Speaking in Tongues Controversy.

Is praying in tongues the only biblical indication that someone has been filled with the Spirit? Does Jesus baptize believers in the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, or can it happen later?

Some definitions to get us started

Pentecostal/charismatics regard the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as the first time a believer is filled with the Spirit to minister in power (Eph 5:18). Initial evidence is the teaching that speaking in tongues (glossolalia) is the initial and observable evidence that a Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit. In this context, subsequence refers to belief that this baptism is a subsequent experience to salvation, whether or not it occurs for the individual believer at the time of the born-again experience or much later. Separability is closely linked to subsequence, proponents saying that the Baptism in the Spirit is distinct from salvation—distinct from the Spirit baptizing the believer into the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13).

The review before us

If Robert Graves’ passion, as expressed in this review, is any indication, classical Pentecostals still ardently believe that initial evidence is an important distinctive. Those unfamiliar with the debate will likely wonder what the squabble is all about. Yet, classical Pentecostals believe this issue to be worth making some people upset because they know that Spirit empowerment is crucial for effective ministry. They do not want anyone in the body of Christ to miss out on all that God has for them.

Another recent example of a classical Pentecostal writing on this subject may be found here: Gordon L. Anderson, “Baptism In The Holy Spirit, Initial Evidence, And A New Model” Enrichment (Winter 2005), pages 70-78. At the time of printing, the full article was available online at this address:

http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/200501/200501_071_BaptismHS.cfm [available as of Feb 9, 2015]

Rick Walston in 2008

About the book

More information about the book is available on the internet here: http://www.columbiaseminary.edu/books/tongues.html [available as of Feb 9, 2015].

Response invited

Readers are invited to write with your comments and insights. All of us would be deepened by your participation in this discussion. Please add your comments under the articles or send email to the Editor by way of our Contact page.

— Raul Mock, Executive Editor

Publisher’s page for The Speaking in Tongues Controversy: http://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781591607625 [available as of Feb 9, 2015]

Interview with Charisma editor, J. Lee Grady: Special to the Pneuma Review

Pneuma Review: Many in the Pentecostal/charismatic movement have said that the church is experiencing renewal. Do you agree, and if so, how has it touched you?

Lee Grady: There is no question that the charismatic church has experienced a level of renewal since the early 1990s. I think history will show that this movement began in or around 1993, culminating in two significant explosions in Toronto in 1994 and in Pensacola, Florida, in 1995.

Were these movements revivals? So many people want to quibble over the terms, and some argue that Toronto and Pensacola did not bring widespread evangelism. But it is still too early to determine that. I meet people all the time who experienced some kind of spiritual refueling in one of those movements, and today they are doing significant things in ministry. Many people who had become dry and “barren” spiritually found a fresh touch of God’s presence in either Toronto, Pensacola or in one of the many spin-off movements that were triggered by those two moves of God.

As far as my own personal experience, I was touched by the Lord in 1996 when I went to Pensacola. For me it was simply a fresh impartation of grace and a renewal of faith that God will indeed visit the United States in revival. I had a deeply moving encounter with God while in Pensacola in which the Lord dealt with my own cynicism. I came back from my three days there a changed man.

PR: In your 1994 book What Happened to the Fire? (Chosen), you listed several key issues that must be addressed before revival could sweep the church. Included in that list were heavy-handed leadership and spiritual abuse. How do you feel the church has dealt with these issues?

Grady: The charismatic church is still dealing with authoritarianism. I see it everywhere in independent churches where leaders either do not have the proper accountability structures, or they are too young and spiritually immature to know that they need such accountability.

Three years ago we ran an article in Charisma about the signs of an unhealthy church, and we focused on manipulative, authoritarian leadership as a major sign of problems. The response we received from that article was incredible. So many people wrote us to tell about their horror stories. This made me realize even more how much of a problem this is in our movement.

Have you ever read something that gave expression to a number of thoughts you have had? When I first met David Burns and begun discussing with him his concept of Kingdom of God theology, I had that experience. Although a brief article cannot give full explanation to either David’s Biblical theology or any of ours, I would like to introduce this subject to you as something that may provide a new way of approaching God’s Word.

First of all, I want to reiterate that David’s Kingdom theology is in no way connected to what is called Kingdom Now theology. Please see his endnote on that subject.

Secondly, Biblical theology is something that I believe has been neglected by a large portion of Pentecostal/charismatic ministers. Well, what is Biblical theology? Biblical theology (not to be confused with the Biblical theology movement of the 1940s-60s) is a system of studying or investigating the Scripture by looking at themes that reach through all of God’s Word. One way of doing Biblical theology is by looking at the themes and theologies specific to certain authors like Peter (Petrine theology), Paul (Pauline), or John (Johannine) and understanding the motifs and recurring concepts that make their writings unique and yet unified with all of Scripture. David is presenting a new approach to Biblical theology by calling the kingdom of God the meta-theme of Scripture.

Understandably, you may not agree with everything that David presents here. Not only the readership of the Pneuma Review, but also the editorial committee have diverse views on eschatology, which is something this article touches on. This article is included in this journal for the primary purpose of engendering discussion and further thought.

—Raul Mock, Executive Editor

From the Winter 2001 issue of Pneuma Review
Part 1 of The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme

From the Spring 2001 issue of Pneuma Review
Part 2 of The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme

Robert W. Graves wrote Praying in the Spirit (Chosen Books) in 1987, when it received great reviews from a number of Pentecostal/charismatic scholars and leaders including John Sherrill, Dr. Vinson Synan, Dr. Gordon Fee, Dr. William Menzies, Dr. Howard Ervin, Dr. Walter Martin, and Dr. Stanley Horton. It is the great privilege of the Pneuma Review to republish it here.

Praying in Tongues. This is still a hot topic in the church today. Fortunately, they are many among classical Pentecostals and the broad charismatic movement that have realized there is more to the Christian life than “just” tongues. Non-charismatic evangelicals have had the long standing complaint about Pentecostal/charismatics that “tongues” is all they seem to talk about. However, if Pentecostal/charismatics do not even have this distinctive practice and belief firmly established from Scripture and experiencing it in their lives, the renewal the Holy Spirit has brought to the church through the revival of the charismata will seem rather empty.

This chapter from Robert Graves book, Praying in the Spirit, takes a look at this very subject: experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and recognizing the normal evidence of the Spirit’s release into a believer’s life. Written for all audiences, the editors trust that you will find this article refreshing and perhaps challenging if this empowering experience is not yet your own.