A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy

A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy PDF Author: Stephen Torr
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620328542
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
The response of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches to those suffering in their midst has generally been to seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit to bring about healing and transformation, or perhaps, education. But what happens when the suffering continues, it appears to be innocent and meaningless, and God seems to be absent? This study, drawing on Kevin Vanhoozer's "dramatic" approach to theology, argues that the way God calls us to "perform" as we seek to communicate with him amidst such situations is to lament, and to do so with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Rather than offering such an approach purely in opposition to the more "triumphalistic" responses common in Pentecostal/Charismatic theology and practice, this book seeks to show how a performance of lament is conducive to such theology and practice while acting as a much-needed corrective to certain aspects of it. What is provided here is therefore relevant reading for both scholars and pastors alike, particularly of Pentecostal/Charismatic church tradition, who grapple with the realities of suffering and the questions such realities produce.

A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy

A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy PDF Author: Stephen Torr
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620328542
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
The response of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches to those suffering in their midst has generally been to seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit to bring about healing and transformation, or perhaps, education. But what happens when the suffering continues, it appears to be innocent and meaningless, and God seems to be absent? This study, drawing on Kevin Vanhoozer's "dramatic" approach to theology, argues that the way God calls us to "perform" as we seek to communicate with him amidst such situations is to lament, and to do so with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Rather than offering such an approach purely in opposition to the more "triumphalistic" responses common in Pentecostal/Charismatic theology and practice, this book seeks to show how a performance of lament is conducive to such theology and practice while acting as a much-needed corrective to certain aspects of it. What is provided here is therefore relevant reading for both scholars and pastors alike, particularly of Pentecostal/Charismatic church tradition, who grapple with the realities of suffering and the questions such realities produce.

God, Suffering, and Pentecostals

God, Suffering, and Pentecostals PDF Author: Marius Nel
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 166673358X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book

Book Description
Pentecostals emphasize that God is still the Healer of all illnesses, implying that God answers all prayers. What about those who are not healed? How do we explain suffering? Why does a good God allow suffering? Is God not powerful enough to prevent it? In this publication, the author reconsiders these questions from a Pentecostal hermeneutical perspective to develop a novel way to think about God’s involvement with suffering among people. His experimental theology speculates how a Pentecostal ethos accommodates a theodicy that acknowledges suffering and God’s involvement in people’s lives. Although the book is a theologically constituted attempt, anyone can follow and understand its arguments. It concludes with alternative views of suffering, evil, God’s loving attention to people, the doctrine of original sin, and Satan. The author also suggests some ways to respond to suffering.

Transforming Renewal

Transforming Renewal PDF Author: Andy Lord
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718844289
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Get Book

Book Description
Pentecostal and charismatic renewal movements have seen great growth over the last century and have engaged with many Christian traditions. Yet there are signs that all is not well, and there is a need to develop theologies of renewal that engage with practice and across the traditions if the movements are to continue to grow. In particular, this book seeks an ecumenical engagement between David Watson and Thomas Merton, leaders in the charismatic and monastic renewal movements. The aim is to reflect on the theological roots of these renewal movements through a study of particular people who lived them in practice and sought to help others understand how the triune God was at work. This is done against the wider background of contemporary renewalist theology to develop constructive proposals for renewal theology in the future. Receptive ecumenism provides the method for bringing the different voices into conversation in ways that also point forward in approaches to ecumenical dialogue. It is thus a studyrelevant to those seeking new ways in theology, those involved in renewal and ecumenical movements, students of Thomas Merton, and all who seek to better understand the Christian renewal movements that have swept the world.

The Church Militant

The Church Militant PDF Author: Graham R. Smith
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498229441
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book

Book Description
A worldview of "spiritual warfare" is widely held among charismatics and Pentecostals, but it has been criticized for producing paranoia and denying personal responsibility. It is less well known that the term was first used in print around 1970 by Anglican charismatics. What did it mean to them then, and what are the practical effects of their worldview? Should we now be adopting a more sophisticated ontology of evil, such as Nigel Wright's "non-ontological realist" view or Amos Yong's "apophatic theology" of the demonic, rather than the traditional one that Satan and demons are real ontological entities? This practical theological study begins with a study of Anglican charismatic pioneers, and an in-depth case study of a charismatic Anglican congregation, before grappling with the ontological question in dialogue with Wright (together with Barth and Walter Wink), Yong, and Gregory Boyd. A fresh engagement with the biblical texts then argues for a positive, realist ontology for rebellious demonic powers and presents a Trinitarian model of spiritual warfare praxis that emphasizes personal responsibility and promotes freedom from fear.

Kerygmatic Hermeneutics

Kerygmatic Hermeneutics PDF Author: Swee Sum Lam
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666701440
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book

Book Description
Kerygmatic Hermeneutics takes a reader at once into a concrete apprehension of God in his scriptural truth through flowing in the Spirit. With the Spirit working with Scripture, a reader navigates in a to-ing and fro-ing between the general claims of God and the patterns of his actions in the world, and the embodiment of these general claims in the concrete particularity of contemporary living. This to-ing and fro-ing shapes an embodied witness to the world. In this account, an interpretation of scriptural truth is incomplete until Christ is proclaimed in the power of the Spirit to bring life. This brings the world into an encounter with God. Kerygmatic Hermeneutics is an account of how one may make theology in the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition. This constructive theological account also yields a practice of interpretation of Scripture in a community of faith. This formulation of kerygmatic theology and its hermeneutical practice opens theology to empirical enquiry and spiritual discernment in a post-Christian western world. This account is also existentially relevant for the global south and east, especially where readers find themselves having to speak apologetically into diverse religious and spiritual practices in daily encounters.

Manifesting the Spirit

Manifesting the Spirit PDF Author: Mbanyane Mhango
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666706280
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book

Book Description
Fewer subjects have generated intense debate in Christian thought and practice than sacraments. A reductionist view of the term "sacrament" often causes this debate and engenders tension between the so-called "sacramental" and "non-sacramental" churches largely based on whether one views the Water Baptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances or as sacraments (means of encountering God). Drawing from the theological view that Christ is the primordial sacrament of the encounter with God, this book posits that all believers are sacraments of an encounter with God. This claim has ecumenical import. Conversion, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Empowerment, Gifts, and Fruit of the Spirit, Worship, Testimonies of Triumphs or Sufferings, Eschatological Hope, etc., enable believers to manifest the Spirit. Pentecost inaugurated all believers as both macrocosmic and microcosmic sacrament(s). The notion of sacramentality of believers intersects with the theological triad of Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy, and Orthopathy.

Renewal Worship

Renewal Worship PDF Author: Steven Félix-Jäger
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 1514000156
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 182

Get Book

Book Description
At its best, all Christian worship is led by the Holy Spirit. But is there a distinctive theology of Pentecostal worship? The Pentecostal church or the renewal movement is among the fastest-growing parts of the body of Christ around the world, which makes understanding its theology and practice critical for the future of the church. In this volume in IVP Academic's Dynamics of Christian Worship (DCW) series, theologian Steven Félix-Jäger offers a theology of renewal worship, including its biblical foundations, how its global nature is expressed in particular localities, and how charismatic worship distinctively shapes the community of faith. With his guidance, the whole church might understand better what it means to pray, "Come, Holy Spirit!" The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship—including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more—to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.

Who is Present in Absence?

Who is Present in Absence? PDF Author: Pamela F. Engelbert
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532633548
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Get Book

Book Description
What transpires when Classical Pentecostals pray for God to intervene within 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, namely 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, and thereby participate in God's act of ministry to humanity through God's expression of empathy in the very person of Jesus.

Sensational Piety

Sensational Piety PDF Author: Murtala Ibrahim
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350282324
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book

Book Description
Grounded in anthropological comparison and the concept of materiality, this book offers an in-depth ethnographic study of the similarities and differences among various forms of religious practices in a Pentecostal Church (Christ Embassy) and an Islamic group (NASFAT) in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Scholarship in this area tends to focus on inter-religious contestations and conflicts; however, this book proposes that another dynamic is unfolding between Christians and Muslims that is characterised by conviviality, interfaith joint action programmes, mutual influences and even the exchange of religious forms. The comparative approach reveals that, notwithstanding the seemingly opposed worldviews and divergences between Muslims and Christians, they all face similar challenges and apply similar techniques for meeting the challenges posed by the precarious Nigerian urban environment. It is through practices – especially those conducted in (semi-) public settings – that people from different religious persuasions define, encroach on and feel the weight of each other's presence.

T&T Clark Handbook of Suffering and the Problem of Evil

T&T Clark Handbook of Suffering and the Problem of Evil PDF Author: Matthias Grebe
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567682455
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 753

Get Book

Book Description
The T&T Clark Handbook of Suffering and the Problem of Evil provides an extensive exploration of the theology of theodicy, asking questions such as should all instances of suffering necessarily be understood as evil? Why would an omnipotent and benevolent God allow or perpetrate evil? Is God unable or unwilling to reduce human and non-human suffering on Earth? Does humanity have the capacity to exercise a moral evaluation of God's motives and intentions? Conventional disciplinary boundaries have tended to separate theological approaches to these questions from philosophical ones. This volume aims to overcome these boundaries by including biblical (Part I), historical (Part II), doctrinal (Part III), philosophical (Part IV), and pastoral, interreligious perspectives and alternative intersections (Part V) on theodicy. Authors include thinkers from analytic and continental traditions, multiple Christian denominations and other religions, and both established and younger scholars, providing a full variety of approaches. What unites the essays is an attempt to answer these questions from the perspective of biblical testimony, historical scholarship, modern theological and philosophical thinking about the concept of God, non-Christian religions, science and the arts. The result is a combination of in-depth analysis and breadth of scope, making this a benchmark work for further studies in the theology of suffering and evil.