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.

View of David’s Citadel from Hinnom Valley, Jerusalem.
Image: Gilabrand / Wikimedia Commons.

It was stated that this was probably the largest gathering of Spirit baptized Christians gathered in Jerusalem to honor the Holy Spirit since the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. Like that important day that we are all linked to, this conference had people from most nations in the world, the majority being what we term “Third-World Nations”. Probably over 1,000 were from Asian nations, with huge delegations from China and Indonesia.

The speakers included most of the present well-known leaders in the Pentecostal movement speaking in the main sessions, as well as both famous and not so famous speakers in dozen of workshops covering virtually every subject dealing with the church and ministry to the Lord and the world. Most Christian gatherings in Jerusalem focus mostly on praise, worship, prayer and reconciliation between different peoples groups. This had all that, but was also packed with solid Biblical teaching. If we have learned anything in the past 109 years of this movement, it is that Holy Spirit led and anointed ministry will only produce lasting fruit when it is based on solid Biblical teaching. The total audio library of both general sessions and workshop teachings (over 175 talks), can be ordered on-line at http://jerusalem2015audio.com

The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem. “Yad Vashem” comes from Isaiah 56:5, giving “a place and a name” to the millions of Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.
Image: David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons.

Most of those who participated in the conference also visited many historical Biblical sites in Israel before or after the meetings. The fact of the return of the Jews to their land after being in dispersion for close to 2,000 years, and the restoration of the State of Israel itself is a proof of the Bible, and a miracle you can see with your own eyes. Those who visited Yad Vashem (The Holocaust History Museum) were deeply moved, many to tears. Throughout history the powers of darkness have used every conceivable method to destroy and exterminate God’s chosen people, the Jews, culminating in the Nazi holocaust with the murder of six million Jews living in Europe. We learned behind this was a devilish doctrine of ‘replacement theology’ that is sadly still believed by some misguided Christians.

The restoration of God’s chosen people to their ancient land, as miraculous and important as it is, reminded us of the Biblical promises of the restoration of the church and the world-wide preaching of the Kingdom of God (Acts 3:19-21, Matthew 24:14, Eph. 5:26-27, etc.) In Empowered 21 we were reminded how the Pentecostal Gospel has been preached with signs, wonders, miraculous healing and gifts of the Holy Spirit to the whole world during the past 100 years resulting in the salvation of hundreds of millions and the transformation of lives and whole societies.

However, we were also reminded that many are backsliding from the Pentecostal message that focuses on the Cross of Christ, the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit to a compromising man-pleasing Gospel (Jude 3). I for one heard a clear call from many of the speakers to return to this Pentecostal faith that impacted the whole world. I heard many warn of the dangerous trend in Charismatic circles to accept and preach the hyper-grace message which has admittedly been the reason for the success of many mega churches claiming to be part of this Pentecostal movement. There was a strong call to repentance, fasting and prayer, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire resulting in holiness in the lives of believers and the preaching of the Full Gospel to the whole world.

The worship leading was done mainly by young people, many from Oral Roberts University and Australia. On the last day, the leaders of this generation of youth shared the Word and ministered to everyone. The Pentecostal vision truly has been maintained and spread throughout the whole world during the past century, and now the baton has been given to this generation of young people. They very possibly will be alive to usher in the return of Christ.

Dennis Balcombe
Hong Kong