3 NEW Pentecostal Theology Books

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Speaking in Tongues: Jesus and the Apostolic Church as Models for the Church Today Paperback by Robert Menzies

‘In 2013 Robert Menzies published the award-winning book, Pentecost: This Story is Our Story. Now, in his latest book, Speaking in Tongues, he focuses his theological spotlight on the biblical experience of ‘speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance’. Menzies’ thesis is that Jesus and the apostolic Church are models for the contemporary Church. This book is an engaging exposition of a thorny, if not actually contentious issue. It speaks to different readers in different ways.

Sanctifying Interpretation: Vocation, Holiness, and Scripture Paperback by by Chris E. Green

In this experimental and critically constructive monograph, Pentecostal theologian Chris Green offers an alternative to the standard Evangelical models of Scripture and scriptural hermeneutics. Instead of beginning with the usual epistemological questions about how the biblical texts can be understood as God’s Word, Green’s work begins with soteriological concerns: how does God use the Scripture in readying the church to fulfill her calling? And how are we to read the Scripture so that we are drawn along by the Spirit into Christlikeness? In three major parts, Green explores the profound and dynamic interrelatedness of vocation, holiness, and the interpretation of Scripture. Through close readings of biblical texts and searching engagement with the church’s spiritual and theological traditions, he develops a model for reading Scripture that makes room for God to use the always difficult and sometimes overwhelming work of making faithful sense of the Scriptures to form the people of God for sanctifying participation in the divine mission for the sake of the world.

Pentecostal Theology and the Christian Spiritual Tradition by Simon Chan

This book deals with the problem of Pentecostal ‘traditioning’. Traditioning has been ineffective thus far because the richness of Pentecostal faith and experience has been inadequately captured in the classical Pentecostal doctrines of Spirit-baptism and glossolalia. A more adequate understanding of the key theological symbol of Pentecostalism, glossolalia, emerges when it is interpreted in the light of Christian spiritual tradition. Within this larger tradition glossolalia can be seen as bringing together both the ascetical and contemplative dimensions of the Christian life. Chan thus explores the shape of Pentecostal ecclesiology as ‘traditioning community’.

Stan Wayne [03/15/2016 4:21 PM]
Is this Robert the son of William Menzies?

Karen Lucas [03/15/2016 4:35 PM]
As of this February, there’s also a great new book out titled, Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Worship”. Edited by Lee Roy Martin and published by CPT. Contributing writers are Lee Roy Martin, Jerome Boone, Jacqueline Grey, John Christopher Thomas, Melissa Archer, R. Hollis Gause, Frank Macchia, Daniela C. Augustine, Chris Green, Kimberly Ervin Alexander, Johnathan Alvarado, Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo, Antipas L. Harris, Peter Althouse and Daniel Castelo.

Karen Lucas [03/15/2016 4:36 PM]
http://www.amazon.com/Toward-Pentecostal-Theology-Worship-Martin/dp/1935931520

Troy Day [03/15/2016 4:43 PM]
Sounds good! Who’s actually read any of them?

Stan Wayne [03/15/2016 4:52 PM]
I read Menzies’ Spirit and Power

Karen Lucas [03/15/2016 5:13 PM]
I’ve read portions of Green’s “Sanctifying Interpretation” but not enough of it yet to give good feedback. From “Toward Pentecostal Theology of Worship” that I mentioned above, I’ve read Green’s and Alvarado’s contributions and part of Kim Alexander’s. All good. Chris Green’s chapter is “‘In Your Presence Is Fullness of Joy’: Experiencing God as Trinity.” This has been very useful for several papers. I honestly can’t figure out how he managed to pack that much thought into so few pages. Jonathan Alvarado’s chapter is, “Pentecostal Worship and the Creation of Meaning.” This one goes hand-in-hand with a great article that was published by Pneuma back in 2012 titled, “Worship in the Spirit: Pentecostal Perspectives on Liturgical Theology and Praxis.” I love his writing style. It’s crisp and straightforward and accurate to my own experience. So, I like citing him too. Kim Alexander’s contribution is titled, “‘Singing Heavenly Music’: R. Hollis Gause’s Theology of Worship and Pentecostal Experience.” That title is pretty accurate and I love that she did this. She hits you straight in the heart with two Gause quotes to start off and then pulls from lectures and his writings, including an unpublished paper, to present his theology of worship….and it makes good sense.

Troy Day [03/15/2016 9:34 PM]
I understand Green’s book was not too shabby either. Anyone got a take on it?