Abstract This article presents a comprehensive review of the scholarship on the International Roman Catholic-Classical Pentecostal Dialogue ( IRCCPD ), tracing its development across more than fifty years since its inception in 1972. It maps the research landscape into three key dimensions—historical, theological, and methodological—and situates each contribution within its historical and dialogical context. Special emphasis is placed on the progression of the IRCCPD —from addressing mutual misunderstandings to fostering substantive theological reflection. The article further explores the dialogue’s engagement with major theological themes, including ecclesiology, pneumatology, missiology, and spirituality. Last, it highlights emerging methodological concerns and calls for deeper engagement with the IRCCPD and other ecumenical dialogues involving Pentecostal perspectives.
Prophecy has been a vital component of Pentecostalism from the beginning. Empirical studies on charismatic prophecy have lamented the lack of effective discernment processes to evaluate the validity of prophetic messages. Solutions to the question of discernment are further complicated by cultural orientation toward individualism or collectivism. This article explores how the individualism-collectivism syndrome impacts prophetic discernment, with attention given to voices from Scripture, the Pentecostal academy, everyday prophets, indigenous cultures, and social scientists. Following the distinct classical Pentecostal method of practical theology developed by James Seager, this article concludes with a proposal for a biblically faithful discernment process that can be implemented in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures.
Abstract This article is a rereading of Acts 1:8 through the lens of collective trauma, migration, and postcolonial theology. While traditionally interpreted as a programmatic verse of missionary expansion, Acts 1:8 is here reframed as a theological response to the early Christian community’s experience of violence, displacement, and marginalization. Drawing on collective trauma theory and postcolonial interpretation, I argue that Acts 1:8 narrates the story of a wounded people in which the Holy Spirit functions not as an agent of conquest but as the Spirit of Resilience—accompanying displaced migrants, reshaping their identity, and empowering witness through suffering. This reading challenges triumphalist narratives and invites the Church today to embrace the Spirit’s movement toward vulnerability, empathy, and solidarity with the displaced in their wounds. Acts 1:8 is thus reclaimed not as a charter for expansion but as a sacred invitation to reimagine mission from the margins.
Abstract While much scholarship exists on faith healing, the distinct doctrine of divine health remains under-theorized within African Pentecostalism. This qualitative study explores this concept through the lived experiences and theological convictions of Ghanaian Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. It argues that divine health represents a distinct theological development within global Pentecostalism, moving beyond curative faith healing to a preventive, sustained state of wellness grounded in a performative faith. Drawing on interviews, this article demonstrates how this framework, while innovative and empowering, risks marginalizing chronic suffering and fostering a detrimental “blame theology.” Consequently, the analysis demands a pastoral recalibration that incorporates divine sovereignty and an eschatological understanding of redemption. The study contributes to global Pentecostal theology and interdisciplinary conversations on health and religion by clarifying the contours of this doctrine and proposing a constructive framework, the Theology of Responsible Healing, for integrating robust faith with a compassionate response to human finitude.
Prompted by the 2025 sPs Annual Meeting and the "More than a Song" project an initiative exploring the intersection of worship practice and pentecostal thought this Presidential Address engages the current call for formal liturgy within Pentecostalism. This paper argues that Pentecostal worship necessitates a liturgical expansion beyond traditional ecclesial geography into a dynamic spatiality marked by Divine-human encounter. Such an expansion validates the lived experience of ordinary theologians who, through the Spirit, "name" and consecrate the world around them a theological reality ripe for exploration. By examining undesignated sacred spaces like the home and the classroom, this study envisions a Pentecostal liturgical theology that accounts for a God who is neither fixed nor stayed, ultimately broadening how the tradition defines sacred space and practice.
Abstract This article explores the Internet as a spiritual mode of being, particularly through an Indonesian Pentecostal lens. It seeks to answer the question: Can humans exist as being-in-the-Internet? The thesis of this article is that the Internet is accessed by humans not only through its physical and rational aspects, but also through its spiritual dimension. Thus, humans exist spiritually through the Internet, and this spirituality enables humans to be more authentic on the Internet. To support this thesis, this study engages Martin Heidegger’s notion of Dasein and Amos Yong’s pneumatology to propose that spiritual awareness allows users to be authentic digital beings. It finds that spirituality, as a relational and integrative dimension of human nature, can guide individuals toward authenticity in the Internet age. The reflection offers theological insights for Indonesian Pentecostal practice and contributes to wider conversations on digital ethics and identity.
Abstract How might Lutheranism and Pentecostalism, with differing theological distinctives and methods, approach effectively the subject of spiritual gifts? On this point the reformer Martin Luther promises to serve as a crucial facilitator. Although Lutherans are indebted immeasurably to him, few figures have commanded such respect throughout Pentecostal history. First-generation writings commend Luther’s recovery of the biblical gospel and contend that his doctrine of justification paved the way for the emergence of Pentecostalism. Moreover, at times Luther used theological language and spoke of the Christian experience in a way compatible with Pentecostal thought. This article documents Luther’s theology of the charismata and concludes by drawing out what implications such theology might hold for a Lutheran-Pentecostal discussion of the gifts.
Abstract Christian Zionism is often associated with US evangelicalism—as seen in John Hagee’s politically influential Christian United for Israel—but it is in fact a global phenomenon, including within Pentecostal-charismatic circles. This article examines how Arabic-speaking evangelicals in Israel engage with this debate. They are confronted with Christian Zionism primarily through their encounter with Messianic Judaism, mainly in two different networks: Musalaha and the Lausanne Initiative for Reconciliation in Israel-Palestine ( LIRIP ), which emphasize dialogue and justice; and Watchmen for the Nations and the House of Prayer and Exploits ( HOPE ), which focus on spiritual warfare and prayer. Based on participant observation and interviews, this article demonstrates how Arabic-speaking evangelicals reinterpret, critique, and reject dominant Christian Zionism, instead emphasizing Jesus Christ, heavenly identity, and the universal message of Christianity. Their positions are contextualized within the global evangelical-Pentecostal-charismatic field, providing a critical perspective on Christian Zionism within these movements.
This article proposes a modern way to think about the miraculous for Pentecostal theology, one that retains the livingness of the God who is active in the Church without asking believers to reject the results of scientific inquiry. It argues constructively from Friedrich Schleiermacher's model for understanding the supernatural to interpret miracles naturally without denying either their edifying power or the possibility of divine origins. The specific example of prophetic ministry is considered here but with implications for broader charismatic practices.
During the social and political upheaval in the United States in 2020-2021, praise and worship leaders, Sean Feucht and Maverick City Music, both used singing for political engagement but took markedly different approaches. Given a shared PentecostalCharismatic heritage, their theological perspectives were similar, but their social contions, framed Christians as victims of government overreach, and endorsed Donald Trump. In contrast, Maverick City Music addressed concerns about racial injustice and encouraged Christian unity in diversity. Though both groups view singing as a weapon for spiritual warfare, their strategies and priorities highlight divergent views about spiritual realities beneath the nation's political concerns, particularly along racial lines.
Critical Pentecostal studies increasingly chart racism in the movement's history, while racialization of Jews remains largely unexplored. This article contributes by analyzing Christian Zionism and political antisemitism in the teachings of Lewi Pethrus (18841974), a key figure of formative Pentecostalism during the Holocaust era. By examining his publications, editorials, sermons, and correspondence, the article reveals an ambivalent racialization of Jews as both threat and promise: Jewish power posed a cultural threat by its degenerative and anti-Christian agenda while relocation of Jews to Palestine bore the promise of God's plan for world redemption. With this theological outlook, Pethrus rallied against alleged attacks on Christian values in Sweden while promoting Jewish migration to Palestine. The dispensational Jews-to-Palestine call based on Jeremiah 16:16 prophesying about fishers of Zionism and hunters of antisemitism answered the so-called Jewish question in this Pentecostal vision of national rebirth.
In early 2023, Asbury University drew international attention when it testified to revival. Classes ceased as students and faculty joined in an uninterrupted worship service in response to a claimed move of the Spirit. In this article, I consider the commonality of aesthetic arguments that were present in affirmations, critiques, and interrogations of the events unfolding at Asbury. Following this, through a survey of the historic cooption of aesthetics by white supremacist actors and systems, I propose that discernment of the Spirit, and more broadly pneumatology, should be ethical rather than aesthetic. In forwarding this claim, I consider the ethical ramifications of aesthetic pneumatologies and consider whether the entanglement of aesthetics and white supremacy may require deliverance unto ongoing repentance. I make these claims in conversation with the work of J. Kameron Carter, David Lloyd, Amos Yong, Keri Day, Gordon Fee, and Ernst Kasemann.
Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670) was a church leader and educational philosopher in early modern Europe who, because of his pedagogical innovation, has come to be known as "the Father of Modern Education." Comenius led the Unitas Fratrum (translated Unity of the Brethren and also known as the Czech Brethren) through decades of suffering and exile and planted the seeds for what would come to be known as the "Moravian Pentecost" of 1727. This article explores the contributions of Comenius and the lessons contemporary Pentecostals and Charismatics can learn from his life, spirituality, and writings about integrating a passion for God with a passion for learning, mission, and redemptive service.
In 2001, Jeffrey Hittenberger proposed a Pentecostal philosophy for education. With the growth of global Pentecostalism, many Pentecostal educational institutions have come into existence. Initially, colleges began as non-accredited practical ministry training Bible schools but have become well-established accredited liberal arts colleges and universities. Pentecostal colleges not only seek to apply their Pentecostal distinctive but must also comply with government standards. Within the context of Pentecostal higher education, the question on how to apply a Pentecostal worldview in the classroom remains of utmost importance. This article builds on the work started by Hittenberger, exploring how teachers integrate a Pentecostal worldview in the classroom, based on interview data from thirty-seven Australian tertiary teachers who identified personally with a Pentecostal worldview. The article discusses three key elements of a Pentecostal pedagogy.
