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Mathew S.
Clark, Henry tive about Pentecostal South
Africa, 1989),
I.
Lederle, Theology?)
184
pp.
ISBN 0-86981-578-4.
Reviewed
by
Peter Hocken
Theology
Henry
paper presented by Beach,
63
et al. What is Distinc- Pretoria:
University
of
of
Systematic
This book is the fruit of the Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism project
launched a few
years ago by
the
Department
of the
University
of South Africa under the
leadership
of Dr.
I. Lederle. In
fact,
one of the book’s
appendices reprints
the
Dr Lederle at the SPS annual
meeting
at
Virginia
Va. in 1987.
The basic thrust of its thesis
(which
seems to be the work of Mathew Clark, though
this is not
explicitly stated)
can be seen from its main section
headings:
I. 1. Some of the
problems
involved in researching Pentecostal
theology
I. 2. The context of Pentecostal
theology
II. 3. The search for a Pentecostal hermeneutic
II. 4.’ II. 5. II. 6.
Doctrine and
experience
This outline indicates proprium
the distinctiveness
or
to find the
of
‘ ‘
doctrinal Point 7 is
renew
Experience,
commitment and emotion
Pentecostal
community
II. 7. Pentecost and
socio-political
concerns
III. 8. What is distinctive about Pentecostal
theology?
how the
starting-point,
of Pentecostal
theology,
determines and
shapes
the whole study.
It is then somewhat
surprising, though welcome,
author soon
rejecting
“the
very
Protestant belief that
comprehension the doctrinal content of a group
(its “confession”)
will allow
categoriza- tion of the
group
itself.”
(p. 13).
The
problems
endemic to any
attempt
to define the Pentecostal move- ment in terms of doctrine are clear in Chapter
2,
which seeks to identify “a common nucleus of doctrines … held
by
Pentecostals.” Of the seven points
listed
(p. 17), only
one in fact is indisputably
“Jesus is coming again, to judge the
world, and to apocalyptically creation.” The first six
points
have a doctrinal basis, but
they
are
expres- sions of Pentecostal convictions about what is important in church
prac-
of doctrines,
Christ can/ should be personally encountered as saviour of the
sincerely
in
regeneration
to a transformed life.” (p. 17)].
This
point
is
acknowledged
in the
following paragraph:
each
point
centres on a nucleus of common
experience among
be Pentecostal
primarily pre- supposes
that one
partakes
of the common Pentecostal
experience,
and
tice rather than a
catalogue
repentant
sinner, resulting
basically Pentecostals”
(p. 17).
It
concludes,
“To
[e.g.
Point
1,
“That Jesus
“However,
‘ _
1
64
Evangelical
only secondarily presupposes
commitment to a common “confession” of doctrine”
(p. 17).
In
fact,
there is a certain ambivalence in the
study concerning
the
influence on Pentecostal doctrine. On the one
hand,
there are numerous references to the
necessary originality
of Pentecostal
theology and the
problems
created
by trying
to fit this
spiritual reality
into
pre- existing theological systems (see below).
On the other hand, there are
fact, thizing gestalt,
comments such as: “classical Pentecost has
inherently
the
theological framework which is most consistent with the
experience” (p. 115).
In
the former seem more
pervasive,
with the author
evidently sympa-
with those who see Pentecostalism as a genuinely new Christian
rather than as a sub-division within
Evangelical
Protestantism. The latter comments occur more in the context of
showing
how Pente- costal affirmation of
experience
is not indifferent to revealed truth and
Christian
orthodoxy.
In the course of the
study,
a number of
very important points
are made: made:
.
Scripture sationalist,” working
(p. 27)
experience pietism
basic
approach
to
nor
dispen-
of the
1. “Yet in
practical
terms his
[the Pentecostal’s]
has been neither
evangelical,
nor
fundamentalist,
“the
distinctively
Pentecostal
experience
of the
Holy Spirit
issues in a distinctively Pentecostal view of Scripture
and
approach
to Scripture” (p. 33).
2. “What the classical Pentecostal does and
says
is often far better than what he writes”
(quoted
with
approval
from Kilian
McDonnell, p. 38). 3. “Because Pentecost takes
seriously
the
activity
of the risen
Lord, by his
Spirit,
in this world
through
his
people,
there are
implicit
in its
correctives
against
the
complacency
and introversion of
and
mysticism” (p. 46).
4. “What is peculiar to the Pentecostal notion of the
church,
and what relativises the contributions so that in the end there is a priesthood of all believers,
is a two-fold
emphasis:
contribution to make; and
(ii) every
contribution
it can be traced back to the
dynamic activity
of God”
(p. 76).
“The dualism of
body
and
spirit
is alien to Pentecostal
and for that reason the Pentecostal
gospel
has
always placed
a high val-
5.
uation on physical
reality” (p. 87).
tiveness in Pentecostal Pentecostal movement does not start from ask about the
consequences
(i) every Spirit-filled
believer has a
is only valid insofar as
ideology,
than the
necessity
In fact, its whole thrust endorses the
important point
that
any
distinc-
theology
flows from the distinctiveness of the
and its central
grace.
It is then a pity that the book
what is distinctive of the whole movement, and then
for
theology.
The actual format means that the
spotlight
is never
kept long enough
on Pentecostal distinctives, other
of
experience,
and thus their
implications
costal
theology
are
insufficiently explored (e.g.
the
physicality
above).
for Pente-
point
2
65
There are
places
where we
get glimpses
of what could have been more fully developed.
Thus,
the author remarks that “Pentecostal
emphasis
on experience
means that
theology
takes on a perspective that is absent in most other
contemporary theologies” (p. 101).
From this
point,
the author
argues:
“it is
my
conviction that the
attempt
to
integrate
Pente- costal-type experience
with
theologies
that have been formulated over centuries in which
experience
has been
neglected (even hostilely
consid- ered,
in some reformation
traditions),
is
very
much a case of
attempting to put new wine into old wineskins”
(p. 102).
With a
starting-point
in the
proprium
of Pentecost, this
point
would
surely
have needed more detailed treatment. In fact, Christian
history
has known more
theologies rooted in lived
experience
than the author
implies,
for
example
to name but
two,
Bernard of Clairvaux and the Victorine school of the 12th
century,
the
Hesychast theology among
the Orthodox.
More
importantly,
the fact that the real distinctiveness of the Pente- costal movement lies not in its
theology,
but in its total
living
character in relation to God,
Father,
Son and
Spirit,
means that Pentecostals have yet
to do justice in their
theology
to the
originality
and
vitality
of Pente- costal
life
(at
least in its first
generations).
The author indeed
recognizes that the
biggest difficulty
in this research “must be
sought
in the nature of
Pentecost itself,
the rational
description
and
understanding
of which can
convey
but a fraction of its
impact, dynamic
and
meaning” (p. 99). The focus on the proprium of Pentecostal
theology
tends to obscure the vastness of the
theological
task ahead and how little Pentecostal scholars have so far seized this kairos.
However, enough
has been
said,
I hope, to indicate that this volume is a very significant publication, full of insights, with a remarkable feel for the lived
reality
of Pentecostal
grace.
It indicates
clearly
how much the author has reflected on the ‘whole Pentecostal
phenomenon,
both
loving- ly
and
honestly,
not
always
the easiest combination. It deserves to be widely
read and
pondered.
Fr. Peter Hocken is the
Secretary
of the
Society
for Pentecostal Studies. He serves as a priest in the Mother of God
Community
in Gaithersburg, MD.
3
