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143
J.
David Pawson, The Normal Christian Birth: How to Give New Believers a
Proper
Start in
Life (London, Sydney, Auckland, Toronto: Hodder &
Stoughton, 1989).
327
pp.
ISBN 0-340-489723. £5.99.
Reviewed
by Th. D. Pratt
. .
. .
.
.
David Pawson has written a robust and
provocative
book on Chris- tian initiation. As the title indicates, the birth
metaphor plays
a promi- nent role in Pawson’s
understanding
of
‘initiation,’ because
in the book Pawson wants to assist those involved in
bringing people
into a bom- again experience.
Pawson’s concern is that while “tomes” have been written
“by
scholars for scholars,” there is a dearth of literature for the general
reader on Christian initiation. The book,
however,
is not
just about how to become a Christian, but “is written out of a burden for a better
quality.
of ‘conversion’.”
In the
Prologue
written to
“midwives,” Pawson
states his real intent in the book is to
bridge
the division between the
evangelical
and the Pentecostal. He asks the
evangelical
tradition to “reconsider its assumption
that
‘believing
in Jesus’ and
‘receiving
the
Spirit’
are
syn- onymous
and simultaneous
(usually lumped together
in the
phrase ‘receiving Jesus’).”
He then asks the Pentecostal tradition to “recon- sider its
assumption
that
‘receiving
the
Spirit’
and
being ‘baptized
in the
Spirit’
are not
synonymous
or simultaneous
(the
latter
usually being regarded
as some kind of ‘second’
stage
or
blessing).” [pp. 4-5] Pawson’s
understanding
of ‘initiation’ is presented in three sections. Part One sets forth “the
theological
dimension” of Pawson’s
apolo- getic.
In the first
chapter
Pawson introduces his
concept
of ‘initiation’ in terms of “four
spiritual
doors”:
repentance,
faith in
Jesus,
water- baptism,
and
receiving
the
Spirit.
In subsequent chapters he deals with each door. Pawson’s stance is
“midway”
between the
evangelical
and the
Pentecostal,
and he believes that “the ‘normal’ Christian birth” involves
going through
all “four
spiritual doors,” individually
and separately.
The
premise
of Pawson’s
argument
is that the book of Acts is the
logical place
to
begin,
since it contains details about how unbe- lievers became believers. For
Pawson,
all “four
spiritual
doors” consti- tute ‘normal’ initiation for Luke in the book of
Acts, whereas,
the gospels
are too
early
and the
epistles
are too late for a starting point in understanding
conversion. Pawson
points
out that all “four
spiritual doors” were a part of the
preaching
of both John the
Baptist
and Jesus, and were “taken for
granted” by
Paul when he wrote his
epistles. The
key
to Pawson’s
argument
is that the
Spirit
can
‘normally’ only be received
after
a Person has
repented,
has faith in
Jesus,
and has been
baptized
in water
by
immersion. The
Spirit
is not
automatically given,
instead a person has
actively
and
possibly continually,
to ask for
1
144
the
Spirit.
The
Spirit
is not
simply
received
by
faith in a sub-conscious manner. The
person
is
fully
aware of
receiving
the
Spirit,
which is accompanied by
“audible evidence” classified
by
Pawson under the general heading
of
prophesying: tongues, praise, prophecy,
and other ejaculations,
such as ‘Abba’, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and
‘groans
that words cannot
express.’
In the section’s final
chapter,
Pawson
distinguishes
between conver- sion and
regeneration.
Conversion is the human
activity, whereas, regeneration
is the divine
activity,
with all “four
spiritual
doors” involved in the
process.
In Part
Two,
Pawson
presents
“the biblical” data for his
argument. He selects
thirty key passages
in the New Testament to exegete, which he believes is “crucial or controversial” to the
concept
of ‘initiation’. One of the
passages
under consideration is Romans
8:9,
which Pawson refers to as “the acid test” for his
argument.
For Pawson, the context of Romans 8 is ‘sanctification’, and not
‘justification’
as in Romans 5. He concludes that Paul is
emphasizing
the believer’s
present
condition rather than the reader’s
past
conversion. To ‘have’ the
Spirit
is to “be understood in continual and
experimental
terms
relating
to sanctifica- tion, instead of
in doctrinal and judicial terms
relating
to justification.” [p. 195]
Part
Three,
deals with the
“pastoral” implications
of
helping
disci- ples
to
repent,
to
believe,
to be
baptized,
and to receive the
Spirit.
The final
chapter
concerns the
concept
of what it means to be saved. In an interesting presentation,
Pawson relates the
past, present
and future tenses of the verb ‘save’ to the three nouns
‘justification’,
‘sanctifica- tion’,
and
‘glorification’.
He concludes his
argument by opting
for “Lordship
Salvation.”
The book has an
Epilogue,
which is addressed “to the
family,”
about the
meaning
and criterion for church
membership.
For
Pawson,
“full membership”
can
only
be
granted by
the conditions of the “four
spiri- tual doors.”
Finally,
there are three
Appendices,
that cover
specialized topics
not germane
to the main
argument
of the
book,
but which
may
interest and concern some readers. The first is on “infant
baptism,”
the second deals with the
concept
of
“‘Spirit’
without the definite
article,” and
the third on whether to use
“Trinity
or Tritheism.”
David Pawson’s
polemical style
in The Normal Christian Birth
gives the
impression
that he
patterned
himself after both his
predecessor
at Chalfont St.
Peter’s,
the late Roland Allen, and the
missionary
states- man Lesslie
Newbigin. Writing
in a prophetic mode Pawson identifies with the Reformers who
opposed
“ecclesiastical
authority
with biblical authority.”
Charismatics and Pentecostals will
appreciate
Pawson’s
apologetic. Pawson’s ‘charismatic’
presentation
on conversion is similar to the “Black Pentecostal
theology” exemplified
in the
teaching
of the United
2
Pentecostal
be sustained
and maintained reflection,
then he has done charismatics and
evangelicals
and Pentecostals
145
of
God, Inc., Jamaica, New argument
and conclusions can
and
theological
unless
they
the
Spirit
of at least in North
God,
America. One has
only
Dort,
or
acknowledge
some
evangelicals
and Pentecostals during
Council of the Assemblies
York,
under
Bishop
Caesar. If Pawson’s
by
further
exegetical
a great service in advancing the
message
of
Pentecostals.
The idea, however, that Pawson’s book will heal the breach between
is a bit naive.
Evangelicals,
are convinced
by
Pawson’s
gleanings
and/or are moved
by
will be outraged and deride his
findings
as elitist,
to read the
summary report
of the
Synod
of
the
underlying
tension and
ill-feelings
between
at Lausanne 2 in the
Philippines
the summer of 1989, to realize the truth of this statement.
Th. D. Pratt is a Phd
candidate
at the
University
of
Stirling,
Scotland.
3
