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Book Reviews / Pneuma 34 (2012) 95-159
Margaret M. Poloma and John C. Green, The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitaliza- tion of American Pentecostalism (New York: New York University Press, 2010). ix + 259 pp., $47.00, hardback.
In the study of religion by social scientists, often one encounters two extreme positions. At one extreme, scholars are very skeptical and dismissive of people’s religious commitments. On the other extreme, some are naïve apologists of religion and its positive role in society. In this volume Poloma and Green take the middle road between these two positions. They provide a respectful and constructively critical analysis of the Assemblies of God while using empirical data to demonstrate the prophetic and potentially socially transformative role of this incarnation of American Pentecostalism. The book provides a meaningful and con- structive feedback to the Assemblies of God on how it has evolved as a religious movement in terms of its commitments and engagements. Some themes from the book are worth highlighting.
First, the authors studied the Assemblies of God and how it has evolved within the social and historical context of broad macro-social changes taking place in American society. One key issue here is that as the members of the Assemblies of God prospered from their low socioeconomic standing in society when the movement was founded, they have become bourgeoisified in their attempt to accommodate with the demands of mainstream Ameri- can secular culture, which they were originally vehemently critical of.
Second, the book highlights how often religious movements start as revival movements challenging the status quo and innovating new ways of experiencing and relating to God that result in the revitalization of society through the mechanism of personal transforma- tion. But building on Thomas O’Dea’s theory of the dilemmas in the “institutionalization of religion,” the authors provide empirical evidence to support the claim that in many respects, the Assemblies of God is now more concerned about stability and pattern maintenance to the extent that the movement is suspicious of any organized revival opportunity that is gathering momentum within the denomination. Yet, without continuous opportunities for revival, according to the authors, religious movements begin to lose their relative capacity for renewal, personal transformation, and the inspiration for benevolent acts.
Third, the authors ground their research findings on triangulated data. They conducted statistical tests of the empirical referents of some key concepts in the doctrine and beliefs of the Assemblies of God by meticulously operationalizing them. Yet, the data presentation is translated into a lay person’s language and then complemented with interview data, author- itative secondary sources, publications, and ethnographic data that were gathered through extended participant observation.
Fourth, the authors structure their explanatory arguments around the theme of God’s love, which is translated as a personal relationship of love with God and the personal trans- formation and inspiration it creates in the life of believers, and how that in turn motivates the believers to engage in acts of benevolence toward others. Yet they assert that what con- stitutes benevolence and who engages in such acts is not just a matter of simply belonging to a church or movement. Rather, it fundamentally depends on the interpretation and mean- ing that believers make of their doctrine, the Bible, and other beliefs, which involve a com- plex hermeneutical process mediated by many social variables.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/157007412X622012
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Book Reviews / Pneuma 34 (2012) 95-159
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Fifth, on a critical note, while the authors do not push their assertion strongly, it is evident that benevolent acts on the part of the members of the Assemblies of God are primarily occurring at the micro-level in the majority of churches and members. The theology and understanding of the Bible of most of the churches, especially Assemblies of God churches and members that are more evangelical than Pentecostal, constrain them from confronting structural injustice and sin that is perpetuated by sinful institutional structures remotely manipulated by powerful interests. This is one reason why Assemblies of God congregations are relatively socially homogenous. In this respect, the immigrant Assemblies of God churches are more willing to confront and deal with issues of social justice broadly concep- tualized, which results in a broader and deeper commitment to social justice than the typi- cal evangelical-type Assembly of God congregations. Given the increasing social and cultural diversity within the Assemblies of God, the future of the movement will be more dynamic and reenergized if there is a concerted effort, where applicable, to integrate more women, Latino, African, and Asian members at all levels of leadership of the movement. Indeed, the immigrant Pentecostals constitute the major source of growth for the religious movement in the United States in the present century. There is a seeming lack of adequate preparation on the part of the Assemblies of God to deal with the problem of race within the denomination in the United States, although this varies across districts and churches.
While some of the findings in this book would lead readers to admire the virtues of the authentic spirit of Pentecostalism, its egalitarian aspirations, and the belief in the capacity of the Holy Spirit to pulverize all sorts of idolatry, the authors also highlight serious areas of shortcomings and spiritual compromises with bourgeois tendencies in mainstream Ameri- can society.
Scholars interested in Pentecostal Theology in the non-Western world will find this book to be of particular interest given that with some adjustments the research methodology used by the authors can be replicated in other regions of the world. Indeed, doing so will be immensely helpful in generating comparative data for the analysis of the evolution of global Pentecostalism. It seems fair to suggest that non-Western Pentecostalism may well face the same challenges that the Assemblies of God in the United States is confronting, if it is not already the case with some Pentecostal denominations in Africa and Latin America, which appear to be compromising with the seductive materialistic and consumerist demands of neoliberal globalization.
Reviewed by Samuel Zalanga Professor of Sociology
Bethel University, Saint Paul, Minnesota [email protected]
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