Craig S. Keener, “Apostles Today” YouTube (October 18, 2025).

Pastor John Lathrop says: “At the link you can hear Dr. Craig Keener speak about apostles (about 42 minutes long). In part of his teaching he shares the names of people in church history that he thinks qualify as apostles using Paul’s criteria for apostles.”

James F. Linzey, “International Pentecostal Leaders Minister in Coffeyville, Kansas: ORU Scholars Step into a Century-Old Prophetic Stream in Coffeyville” Christian Newswire (November 12, 2025).

Gordon Govier, “10 Striking Biblical Archaeology Stories of 2025: Research and natural disaster uncovered exciting finds from the ancient world” Christianity Today (December 23, 2025).

Craig S. Keener, “Yes, there IS a Christian genocide in Nigeria” Bible Background (December 28, 2025).

Craig Keener introduces this 26 minute video: “I am not interested in defending the partisan right or left, and that’s not what this is about. The suffering in northern Nigeria didn’t start recently—it’s been going on for decades. I have interviewed many friends from northern Nigeria, plus I depend on reports I received already when I taught there in the 1990s. In some places, there is ‘religious cleansing’ taking place, alongside other terrorist activity.”

Image: Filip Bunkens

Craig Keener, “Differing with John MacArthur on 1 Cor 14” Bible Background (January 5, 2026).

Joy Ren, “Influential Chinese House Church Faces New Crackdown” Christianity Today (January 16, 2026).

Updated on January 21, 2026: “Two of the detained face charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power.’”

Frank Viola, “50 Things the Holy Spirit Does” Frank Viola Unfiltered (January 25, 2026).

Bonnie Kristian, “Protesting in Church Is Wrong. So Is Immigration Theater” Christianity Today (January 20, 2026).

The subtitle of this opinion piece by Christianity Today deputy editor Bonnie Kristian reads: “Demonstrators should not disrupt worship services. ICE should be competent, cool-headed, and constrained by the Constitution.”

Craig Keener, “A charismatic view of suffering?: Suffering and baptism in the Spirit in Mark’s introduction” Bible Background (March 2, 2026).

Carey Nieuwhof and James Sells, “Reclaiming the Church’s Role in Mental Health: We have a holy opportunity to return to our roots—a chance to recover the kind of care that once marked every aspect of the early church” Leadership Journal (Fall 2025).

This article is from CT Pastors, Volume 38 of Leadership Journal.

PR

Craig S. Keener, Suffering: Its Meaning for the Spirit-Filled Life (Baker Academic, November 11, 2025).

Craig Keener: Seeing what dominates our culture’s interests reinforced my feeling that the church in the U.S. is largely unprepared for suffering. Although the Bible talks a lot about suffering, sometimes when it strikes people who have heard only messages about blessing, they can feel that God has not treated them as he promised. While we have foretastes of the kingdom today, such as healings, the kingdom isn’t consummated yet. There’s still sickness and suffering and death in this world. Jesus, prophets and apostles also modeled for us how to face suffering.

PneumaReview.com: Suffering can take many forms. What kinds of suffering do you address in your book?

Craig Keener: As you say, suffering comes in many forms; I could therefore illustrate the principles with only some of them. Because persecution features dominantly in the New Testament, and it remains a living reality (even to the point of martyrdom) among Christians in many parts of the world today, that naturally features heavily in the book. But we also suffer from other sources. Some accounts from refugees fleeing other sorts of violence or suffering are heartrending. Most of us have encountered, or know others who have encountered, health or financial challenges for which our theology of healing and blessing do not, sometimes, satisfactorily address. Broken families are among the many other struggles that Christians may face.

PneumaReview.com: All people are susceptible to some forms of suffering. Should Christians expect the possibility of more suffering in their lives because of their faith?

PneumaReview.com: How would you respond to a person who says that suffering is a sign that one has failed God or is out of His will?

Craig Keener: That makes nonsense out of Paul’s lists of sufferings and defies the message of the cross. Granted, some kinds of sufferings are biblically normal for Christians (opposition to our faith) and some are biblically abnormal (punishment for non-Christian behaviors, 1 Pet 4:15). But we have plenty of biblical examples of God-followers who suffered from things from which God often delivers; for example, Elisha died from sickness and Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus.

PneumaReview.com: What teachings or trends in the church today downplay the biblical teaching about suffering?

Craig Keener: I’ve not run into many people who actually teach that Christians will never suffer; but in circles that teach almost exclusively about blessings, some Christians seem to get that idea. I’ve heard some versions of “prosperity teaching” that simply mean that we should trust God to supply our needs for our lives and callings, and I certainly agree with that. But there are also the many versions (what Michael Brown calls “carnal prosperity teaching”) that claim material prosperity as a selfish promise. There are some who insist that everyone with faith will always get healed—although it’s evident that, given enough time, everybody in history, no matter how much faith, without exception, eventually dies.

PneumaReview.com: Do you think ministerial training in the West should place more of an emphasis on the possibility of one suffering for their Christian ministry?

Craig Keener: So many seminary and Bible college graduates go out ready to change the world and are out of ministry after a few years. It would help them to graduate with open eyes. Church people can be mean. We walk with many other church people through their heart-wrenching hardships. We may face opposition from various sources. A church with financial challenges (or even without them) may not pay as much as ministers can get elsewhere (I worked in a restaurant and pastored for free). We also can face discouragement when exaltation does not come as fast as social media sensations might lead us to expect. But faith means not just following God’s call or a heart for ministry when things are going well; it means trusting the God who is trustworthy no matter what.

PneumaReview.com: Please share some things that believers in the persecuted church can teach the church in America.

PneumaReview.com: How can we practically help others when they are suffering?

Craig Keener: It helps us to remember that the sufferings of the present are not worthy to be compared with the glory that awaits us; the struggles of this world are birth pangs (Rom 8:22) from which God will bring forth the perfect world to come. It helps to know that in God’s plan, all things work for good, for us ultimately sharing Christ’s glory and image (8:28-29). But these are things we need to learn before we suffer, because not everybody is in a good place to hear them during their suffering. In all cases, though, we can weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15). Loving people means sharing with them as fellow members of the same body, walking with them, as best as possible, in their pain. In that setting, we can also join them in seeking healing and restoration, and reminding them of the hope that we too find in the face of our brokenness.

PR 

Publisher’s page: https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9781540969439_suffering

Further Reading

Craig Keener, “How to Succeed at Suffering: Lessons from the Gospel of Mark” Influence (February 14, 2024)

“Why Do Christians Suffer?” WTC Theology (TheoDisc/YouTube, October 1, 2025)

From the publisher: What transpires when Classical Pentecostals pray for God to intervene amidst their suffering, but God does not? Traditionally, Classical Pentecostals center on encountering God as demonstrated through the relating of testimonies of their experiences with God. In seeking to contribute to a theology of suffering for Pentecostals, Pam Engelbert lifts up the stories of eight Classical Pentecostals to discover how they experienced God and others amidst their extended suffering even when God did not intervene as they had prayed. By valuing each story, this qualitative practical theology work embraces a Pentecostal hermeneutic of experience combined with Scripture, specifically the Gospel of John. As a Pentecostal practical theological project it offers a praxis (theology of action) of suffering and healing during times when we experience the apparent absence of God. It invites the reader to enter into the space of the other’s suffering by way of empathy, thereby participating in God’s act of ministry to humanity through God’s expression of empathy in the very person of Jesus.

Interview with Dr. Pamela F. Engelbert

What is a short synopsis of the book?

Pamela F. Engelbert, Who is Present in Absence?: A Pentecostal Theological Praxis of Suffering and Healing (Pickwick Publications, 2019)

There are two themes that define this book: stories and encounters with God. This book is about real pentecostals who suffered and how they experienced God and others in the midst of their suffering. It tells the stories of how God did not intervene when people had prayed. It, then, looks at those stories through the lens of Scripture and psychology to form a fuller theological understanding of suffering and healing.

What type of book is it?

This is a practical theology book, which is not simply applied theology. I believe that practical theology asserts that acts of ministry reveal theology. This means, we know God by God’s acts of ministry to humanity, which is to say, we know God is love because God ministered to humanity by giving the Son. This practical theological book specifically focuses on how the body of Christ reflects God’s love through the congregational care they offer to each other.

Why did you write this book?

For whom is the book intended?

This book is geared for those who are pursuing higher education, particularly a master’s degree or a PhD. It is also for those in the academy who are challenging pentecostals to strengthen their theology of suffering; this is a response to that call. Yet, it is also for the caregiver who seeks to help others who are suffering and for the carereceiver who wonders, “Where are you God?” Finally, and maybe most importantly, it is for the pentecostal, who has a tendency to speak a triumphal message that presents itself as power over rather than power with the sufferer.

What about those who are not in the academy? Will this book be helpful to them?

I believe so. The book centers on stories of people, and I believe that as humans, we all relate to stories. I want to acknowledge that for some who are not in the academy that the first chapter may not capture their interest. If this is the case, I would recommend that they persevere through it, gleaning what they can, and then delve more deeply into the remainder of the book.

What do you hope people will take away from this book?

God is present in the midst of suffering, and we participate in the ministry of presence by being present with others in their suffering. I think pentecostals have a unique opportunity to minister in this regard because we know the strength and peace that we receive when we experience God. Pentecostals tell me about the love and comfort they feel when they encounter God’s presence even though their situation may not have changed. This book is an invitation to practice that presence with those who are suffering, so sufferers may experience the strength, love, and comfort of God as we are present to them in their suffering. Since God is already present to sufferers even though they may be experiencing God’s apparent absence, we participate in God’s ministry of presence through the power of the Spirit, thereby allowing sufferers to experience God as we are present to them.

Where can we learn more about your books?

I have created videos that introduce the content of Who Is Present in Absence? and See My Body, See Me. Two of the videos may be viewed at:

https://wipfandstock.com/author/pamela-f-engelbert/

Three videos about the books may be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/@PamEngelbert-w6m

PR

Myles Werntz, “You Don’t Need a Rule of Life: What you need is a church” Christianity Today (October 10, 2024).

Paraclete journal now available online

The Consortium of Pentecostal Archives has made the quarterly journal gratis available online. Paraclete (1967-1995) was a journal of practical theology for Assemblies of God pastors (replaced by Enrichment). Emphasizing the person and work of the Holy Spirit, articles covered Bible exposition, theology, and history. All 112 issues may be browsed and are available for full-text searches.

Brad East, “The Loosening of American Evangelicalism” Christianity Today (May 20, 2025).

This look into the current state of Evangelicalism’s morality in the USA is subtitled, “Long-standing norms against drinking, tattoos, and Catholic-coded church practices have rapidly fallen. What’s going on?” Many Pentecostal/charismatics may see similar patterns in their own churches, whether or not they consider themselves part of Evangelicalism with a capital E.

In case you missed it: Craig Keener, “How to Succeed at Suffering: Lessons from the Gospel of Mark” Influence (February 14, 2024).

Jared Michelson, “Why Choose the Path of the Pastor?: Despite fewer pursuing pastoral roles today, the vocation provides the unique privilege of making a profound impact by sharing oneself with others” Christianity Today (May 15, 2025).

Chad Harvey, “From Cessationist to Pentecostal: Discovering the Spirit’s transforming power” Influence (Spring 2025).

PR

I have been trying to read the barometer of events related to coronavirus as they have unfolded here in East Africa. Living in an African community while doing this has, at times, wanted to make my head to explode! The two logics being applied to the coronavirus outbreak, the technical scientific one I am receiving from much of the media and especially Europe and the USA, is worlds apart from indigenous people’s interpretations. The former, from the West[3] is highly scientized. In tackling COVID-19, science has called the shots. People have responded by compromising their freedom. In East Africa, people struggle to believe that a mere virus can cause such a massive problem. They desire to resolve the situation through prayer. They trust that the problem will soon go away. They hold various theories like that coronavirus infection is cured by drinking a lot of tea, or that release of the virus was a means to give China global domination over the USA.

On the street in Lagos, Nigeria, on the far side of Africa from Kenya.
Image: Joshua Oluwagbemiga

Whoever dictated how Kenya should respond to COVID-19 had little grasp of the constitution of our population. People were told to ‘stay at home’. This lock-down strategy we understand has worked in Europe and the USA. Getting home from work one afternoon, I was told we had no food for that evening’s meal. Paramilitary forces armed with batons had chased everyone from the market! Fortunately, the same afternoon, food could be acquired alongside our highways and bye-ways: Women who had been chased from the market were selling their produce on the sides of paths and roads. We did not go hungry after all!

Many people have to do a day’s work to make the money they need to buy the evening meal. Others, like in my case, have money, but still need to find people from whom to purchase food.^[4] Typically, that was from the open-air markets. Travelling (by bicycle) through the area (hither and thither between my work and home, about 7 miles), apart from markets themselves being closed, there seemed to be as many people out-and-about as ever.[5] I realised that even those people who did not have to go to work or buy the day’s provisions still preferred hanging around in town to sitting all day in what is typical for many of them, their one-roomed mud-floor houses.

Around this time, some Kenyans under extended-quarantine for COVID-19 made an escape bid. This was reported in the local as well as the global media.[6] Many were held because they had just travelled in from abroad. The depravity of the conditions under which they were held has been shared widely on social media.[7] Gradually I twigged as to what was happening. African people were not going to upset their routines in response to scientific claims, as Europeans had done. They would, though, respond to force and to the demonstration of the intense suffering that awaited them as a consequence to disobedience. Although strict lock-down is hardly possible, the population seems to have been gripped by a specific fear: “If I get sick with this terrible virus, the government will force me to stay for two weeks or more in some dank cramped quarters without any family!” That terrifying prospect is galvanising efforts to social-distance and perhaps stay at home in some cases, so as not to be found sick and have to go through tortuous quarantine![8]

A few days later, a friend sent me a link to a report about a parallel situation arising in Iraq.[9] This report explains that, similar to us in Kenya but a little different, people in Iraq live in fear of being found positive for coronavirus! As a result, medical teams’ doing tests so as to assist those in need, are being avoided. People are hiding from them. The reason given in this article, is the shame involved in getting sick, and even more in being confined to a quarantine situation and dying in isolation only for one’s body to be disposed of in a large communal grave.

There are definitely overlaps between the two above-described fearful responses to shame. The shame felt by Kenyans at not being able to properly bury their dead is illustrated by the account of James Oyugi, buried at night by government order,[10] resulting in his family demanding that he be exhumed and given a proper burial later.[11] Fear of isolation clearly underscores the shame felt by Iraqis – who don’t want it to be known even that they are sick![12]

Reflecting on the above took my mind to recent research exploring the relationship between guilt, shame, and fear in cultures.[13] Guilt cultures are said to be those in the West, shame cultures in the Middle East, and fear cultures in Africa. That is to say, according to this classification system, Westerners are motivated by guilt, people in the Middle East by shame, and Africans by fear.[14] Westerners avoid guilt by complying with the prevailing scientific logic, people in the Middle East conceal themselves so as not to be discovered, while Africans will only respond to threats of being beaten by the paramilitary, or of being interned for what they perceive as torture in quarantine facilities. In the latter two cases, quarantine, and not death from COVID-19, can be the worst consequence and is to be avoided at all costs![15]

The rest of the world is supposedly following the lead of the West when it comes to countering COVID-19. The existence of shame and fear cultures, outlined above, may be making this impossible. In Kenya, many sick people who suspect they have COVID-19 may well avoid hospitals. They fear public recognition of their ailments that could result in quarantine. People that have other ailments, such as malaria, will fear going to any medical facility where their temperature may be checked. This situation is apparently similar to what is taking place in Iraq. Reported cases of COVID-19 may statistically be small in these contexts and health services may well remain very quiet. The sick will be nursed at home, with perhaps zero benefit from modern medicine, while spreading the virus to all and sundry.

I would at this point like to look at the background and cause to the above situations. I will start with Africa, and look at what is happening from two perspectives. Firstly, Africa is known for its fear of witchcraft.[16] Simplifying a little, witchcraft beliefs are based on the understanding that misfortune is always caused by someone else’s misguided heart orientation, typically their envy. People fear the consequences of the envy of others. Because what is good arises by default, and others’ actions are responsible for one’s misfortune, the other is to be feared. This is at the root of the fear aspect of traditional African ways of life. Secondly, the Christian church in Africa is often considered by Westerners to practice the prosperity Gospel. In this interpretation of Christianity, God is expected to bring blessings of all kinds, including money, position, job, wife or husband, children, prestige, public acclaim, and so on. This interpretation of the Gospel largely ignores or even denies aspects of it perceived by both Western and Eastern Christians, of following the example of Christ by accepting suffering on behalf of others.

A street scene in Cairo, Egypt.
Image: Simon Matzinger

People of the Middle East are considered less oriented to fear of witchcraft than are Africans. Perhaps this is because of the practice of Abrahamic faiths over centuries. Many people in the Middle East idealise the example of Muhammed. Muhammed is unquestioningly considered wise, strong, intelligent, and successful. He married many wives, was frequently victorious in battle, and became a wealthy and popular leader.^[17] The example set for Muslims in the Middle East is that true believers should be wealthy, powerful and successful, clearly underlies the profound shame they experience if taken sick from their homes to die in isolation.

I want to contrast the above with the understanding of the ancient churches of the message of Jesus.^[18] The role model for Christians is the life of Jesus. Jesus ended up shamed, rejected by nearly all (including his closest disciples), crucified on a cross (a shameful death) between two criminals (a shameful context). Jesus’ followers often faced shameful situations of defeat and failure. Jesus’ apostles are portrayed as incompetent in the Gospels, especially Mark’s Gospel. Peter, one of the heroes of the New Testament, was periodically interned, almost killed for his faith, offered no resistance to his persecutors, and was eventually shamefully crucified upside down.[19] Paul, another hero of New Testament faith, spent years in different prisons, never led any military force, and ended up ignominiously executed in Rome. The island of Patmos, on which the writer of Revelations (the final book of the Bible) spent many years, “was a lonely, isolated place.”^[20]

My examples above illustrate how Christian believers are, in so far as they follow the example of Jesus, ready for defeat, shame, suffering, rejection and even isolation for the sake of their faith. We can go further. Christians consider such suffering salvific.^[21] As Jesus died for others, so his disciples knew that their suffering was to benefit others.

In Luanda, Angola
Image: Francisco Venâncio/Olhar Angolano

The strategies being employed in the West to counter COVID-19 today can succeed for one major reason: The cultures of Western countries have ancient connections to Christianity. The reasons, only some of which have been mentioned here, that the same strategies can be much less effective or even ineffective in the Middle East and Africa, are to do with the absence of the same tradition. This has many implications: 1. Within the West itself, at this time of immense suffering due to isolation, interruption of all regular routine, fear of death, often deep relational tensions, the example of Christ and other biblical characters should be over and over emphasised to help people realise that what they are going through has a purpose, even an eternal purpose, that is something that God himself acknowledges and understands. This includes that their suffering can be salvific for others. 2. As a result of their long history in the Gospel, many Western people implicitly carry a profound comprehension of this message. Amongst the populations we have looked at in this article, people of the Middle East and people in Africa, many either have not been exposed to the Gospel, or in the Middle East have had false propaganda on it rammed down their throats. In the case of Africa, many have been presented with the Gospel in terms of prosperity.

In conclusion, I suggest that there is a desperate and urgent need as a precondition for counter-COVID-19 strategies, for a profound and widespread sharing of the message of the Gospel of Jesus, globally. Not doing so may well result in thousands, or even millions, of avoidable deaths.

I should emphasise, that I am not here referring to high-budget English language Gospel content being beamed into Africa or the Middle East. I am talking about Christian believers willing to share God’s love in eager vulnerability, using indigenous languages without relying on outside resources. Some may retort that it is too late, there is too little time to do this. I believe it is never too late to begin.

PR

More from Jim Harries on the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa:

https://www.growkudos.com/projects/coronavirus-covid-19-in-africa

https://jimharries.academia.edu/research#covid19

Notes

[1] This was 19^th April 2020.

[2] Not a pleasant prospect in Kenya: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52326316

[3] Some might argue that this is not ‘from the West’, but global, certainly including China. My sources of information are in the West.

[4] There are many reasons why people purchase a day’s food on the day in question. One foundational reason is, because hoarders of food are considered greedy. If neighbours know that food is stored, they may well come and ask to be given some of it. To not share what is available is considered unsociable. In addition – many local people make their daily bread by being a part of the daily food distribution system, particularly many women.

[5] My impression is that people are slower to get up in the morning, and quicker to go home at night, because of the curfew.

[6] https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/mandera/32-escape-quarantine-in-Mandera/1183298-5523690-lkoyiv/

[7] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p089ly4z

[8] My suspicions are shared by the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52326316

[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/world/middleeast/iraq-coronavirus-stigma-quarantine.html

[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGia6VGEsc

[11] https://www.pd.co.ke/news/national/relatives-ask-court-to-order-siaya-virus-victim-exhumed-33093/

[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/world/middleeast/iraq-coronavirus-stigma-quarantine.html

[13] This resulted in the production of a test, that can enable someone to determine, through answering some questions, whether a culture is predominantly guided by guilt, shame or fear: http://honorshame.com/theculturetest-website/

[14] Shame and fear ceasing to be the dominant underlying cause for misfortune enabled the initiation of scientific discoveries for which the West is renowned.

[15] See also: http://honorshame.com/coronavirus-in-shame-contexts/

[16] [Editor’s note: See Jim Harries, “In Witchbound Africa”]

[17] https://www.al-islam.org/life-muhammad-prophet-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi/battles

[18] I use the term ‘ancient churches’ to refer to churches in the old world and countries populated by Westerners, with pre-20^th Century foundations. This is in contrast to ‘newer’ churches in the majority world that tend to be oriented to prosperity. I often discover this difference first hand. I am a Western Christian. I do a lot of ministry with orthodox Egyptians, in Kenya. The contrast between us and Kenyan Christians on these concerns is often great.

[19] The account of Peter’s crucifixion is not in the bible but in Christian tradition.

[20] https://bibleview.org/en/bible/revelationpartone/johnonpatmos/

[21] 1 Peter 2:21-25.

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).

Keith Warrington, Healing & Suffering: Biblical and Pastoral Reflections (Carlisle, UK/Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2005), 219 pages, ISBN 9781842273418.

Keith Warrington, Director of Postgraduate Studies and Senior Lecturer in New Testament at Regents Theological College, Nantwich, has written on healing before, notably in Jesus the Healer: Paradigm or Unique Phenomenon (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 2000). Some of the same concerns resurface in Healing & Suffering. For example, do the Gospels and the Acts provide definitive models for healing ministries today, or are they only testimonies to the centrality of Jesus’ messianic identity and ministry for Christianity of all eras? However, its most emphatic focus seems to be on exploring a balanced perspective on the apparently oppositional realities of divine healing and human suffering. As such, this text has a decidedly pastoral emphasis, although assuredly based in and shaped by substantive theological, and especially biblical, inquiry. It is also refreshingly rich in personal testimonies, not only, as has been common in Pentecostalism, of extraordinary healings, although these are included as well, but also in incidents with other outcome occurrences—such as, for instance, how God can and does bring joyous and victorious peace even when dramatic physical healing doesn’t happen as has perhaps been expected. In Healing & Suffering Warrington addresses one of the most pressing issues for contemporary Pentecostals and Charismatics as well as possibly for many other Christians. Pastors and scholars alike will doubtless benefit from reading it. Further, anyone struggling with understanding physical suffering in light of their belief in divine healing may discover coveted direction herein.

Keith Warrington

Healing & Suffering is well laid out. It has an extensive Table of Contents, effectively functioning as an outline for the entire work, and also an extensive Scripture index. Although, it has no Author or Subject indexes, the unusually full TOC helps make up for it. The Selected Reading section is rather short too, but probably enough to point interested readers in the right direction. Warrington writes in an interesting and accessible style, so this makes for pleasant reading. Footnotes are sparse but probably indicative of the more pastoral orientation overall than one of academic research. The “Reflections” in the subtitle should be taken seriously, for that appears to be primarily the intent and object of this work. Indeed, much of the general direction of this work seems to arise out of Warrington’s reflections during his own pastoral experiences in the context of biblical exposition.

Rebecca Skaggs with Thomas Doyle lead us into a biblical and thoughtful look at the reality of suffering.

The Issue

Why is there suffering in the world? Further, why does it appear that often “good” people suffer when the “wicked” often thrive? Where is God when people suffer individually and collectively? For centuries, both philosophers and theologians have sought to analyze the issue and suggest a coherent and reassuring response to it. In the face of actual suffering, however, these philosophical and theological concepts often fall short.

Believers have a particularly difficult task in understanding suffering since they firmly believe that God cares and is able to alleviate suffering yet he often does not. C. S. Lewis, who himself cried out in anguish when his beloved wife died a painful death from cancer,¹ frames the dilemma for believers as follows: “If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures happy, and if God were almighty, he would be able to do what he wished.” The logical conclusion follows then that since the creatures are not happy, either “God lacks goodness or power or both.”² This perspective causes a seemingly irreconcilable paradox.

The problem of suffering is so difficult, that some choose to avoid the issue altogether. Oliver McMahan in his study of the Pentecostal view of suffering provides evidence that “unfortunately, the Pentecostals and charismatics in the United States have not historically allowed the world to observe its grief. [they have] neglected, avoided and even worked hard to deny the experience of pain and grief.”³ He makes the point that an emphasis has been made on miracles, healings, signs and wonders leading to “a parade of power without penance or pain.” According to McMahan, “a painless Pentecost” leads to power struggles, pride, and “puritanical doctrinal disputes.” He notes the obvious absence of accounts of those who were not healed, miracles which did not happen.⁴ Of course, there have been some Pentecostal scholars through the years who have called for the consideration of the issue of suffering, pain and grief.⁵

The Pneuma Review had an opportunity to speak with Ajith Fernando, the national director of Youth For Christ in Sri Lanka, about his recent book The Call to Joy and Pain. This book has received the 2008 Book Award from Christianity Today in the church and pastoral leadership category. We believe that you will likewise recognize the biblically-centered wisdom of Brother Fernando as he talks with us about the paradox of God’s provision and the call to endure hardship for the sake of Jesus and his story.

Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007).
Read the review by Thomas Doyle and Rebecca Skaggs

Pneuma Review: Please tell us a little about yourself and why you wrote The Call to Joy and Pain.

Ajith Fernando: I live in a country that has faced great tragedy for the past 25 years or so. We have an ongoing war that has claimed at least 70,000 lives, a revolution that claimed thousands more young people, and then the tsunami which took about 40,000 lives. Many, many people have left Sri Lanka, especially because of the welfare of their children. But my wife and I have been convinced that we are called to live and die here. We had to develop reasons for why we are staying on, especially reasons that made it good for our children to stay. This made me think a lot about how Christians respond to suffering.

But even more significantly, I came to the conclusion some years ago that joy is one of the most important features of Christianity. Coming as the second fruit of the Spirit it meant that the Bible teaches that holy people are happy people. My wife and I were convinced that, amidst all the suffering in Sri Lanka, the most valuable heritage we can give our two children was a home filled with the joy of the Lord to which they can come after facing the rigors of life in a hostile world.

Yet I know so many unhappy Christians. These are good people who have sought to obey God while others compromised and disobeyed. But they seem to suffer from a deep disappointment with the way life has treated them. I have grappled with this a lot and still grapple with it—pleading with God to help me to introduce these people to the joy of the Lord which is our strength amidst suffering.

These experiences and struggles convinced me that I must write this book. Because the truths in the Bible do not apply only to countries like Sri Lanka but all over the world, even in relatively peaceful and affluent countries. Yet soon in my study, I made the amazing discovery that the Bible almost never talks about suffering without talking about the rewards of it. And I also found that often the reward the Bible speaks of is joy. Therefore I decided I will not write on suffering without also writing about the joy which accompanies it and makes it bearable.