Reading St. Luke’s Text And Theology Pentecostal Voices, By Riku P. Tuppurainen (ed.)

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Riku P. Tuppurainen (ed.),Reading St. Luke’s Text and Theology: Pentecostal Voices

(Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019). xxxiii + 316 pp. $41.00 paperback.

Reading St. Luke’s Text and Theology: Pentecostal Voices is a skillfully assem- bled festschriftof “Essays in Honor of Professor Roger Stronstad”—a Canadian Pentecostal Bible scholar and theologian whose contribution to Lukan studies have moved Pentecostal scholarship from shadows into daylight. The volume is edited by Riku P. Tuppurainen, Dean of Graduate Studies at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford,bc.

The book’s title echoes Stronstad’s first book by adopting the terminology of “St. Luke,” which is also used in the chapter titles throughout the book. The essays in the book are divided into four major sections: Part i—“Roger Stron- stad as Biblical Scholar, Pentecostal Theologian, and Educator” (vii); Part ii— “Reading St. Luke’s Text: Hermeneutical Considerations”; Part iii—“Reading St. Luke’s Theology: Pneumatological Ambiances”; and, Part iv—“Reading St. Luke’s Pneumatology with Other Texts”. The work boasts an impressive lineup of scholarly contributors currently living in Australia, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States, who because of their contacts over the years with the honoree knew him well enough to make personal references to him. Regrettably, among the Pentecostal scholars who personally know him, not one of them is a Pentecostal woman academician.

The reader who is interested in Stronstad’s works will certainly appreciate the two valuable bibliographies included in the book, one of which is a “Com- prehensive Bibliography of Roger Stronstad’s Published Works” by Alford Dee- ley (xxix–xxxiii), who holds the Roger J. Stronstad Chair of Biblical Theology at Summit Pacific College. The other “Bibliography,” near the end of the book (265–290), precedes the indexes. Besides Stronstad, who has the most biblio- graphic entries in the festschrift, are the contributors Amos Yong, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Robert P. Menzies, Craig S. Keener, Martin William Mittelstadt, and Rikki E. Watts, each with a comparatively large number of bibliographic sources.

The content of the festschrift mirrors the areas in which Stronstad spent most of his academic career: Lukan writings and especially Lukan pneuma- tology. Just like the editor mentions in the preface, “It is not an overstatement to say that Roger Stronstad systematized Lukan pneumatology from and for a Pentecostal perspective” (xv–xvi).

Part i consists of three essays. The first essay, by Mittelstadt, reflects on Stronstad as a Pentecostal biblical scholar. Signed by the General Superinten- dent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (paoc), David Wells, the sec- ond essay presents Stronstad as a Pentecostal theologian and his theological

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contribution within the global Pentecostal movement in general and within the paoc fellowship in particular. The final essay in this part, by Dave Dem- chuk, the President of the Summit Pacific College, reflects on Stronstad as a theological educator and on his contribution to this field, especially in the context of Summit Pacific College where Stronstad served before retiring in 2017.

Since Stronstad’s works touch on several hermeneutical matters which still constitute important topics of discussion and research among Pentecostal scholars, such as Pentecostal reception history, theology, experience, commu- nity, postmodernism, and questions of methodology, Partiiis an assortment of essays reflecting on the hermeneutical questions concerning the Lukan corpus, Pentecostal theology, and hermeneutics. The last chapter in this section, Riku Tuppurainen’s essay, entitled “Reading St. Luke’s Narrative as ‘Texture’: Acts 2:1– 4 in the Light of Socio-Rhetorical Criticism” (48–60), prepares the way for the third part of the book by engaging the debate around Luke-Acts focusing on Lukan pneumatology, a debate in which Stronstad, as a Pentecostal scholar, has participated vigorously.

Partiiiis comprised of three essays which focus on St. Luke’s pneumatology, the topics varying from ecclesiology to missions and from science to biblical theology. Contributors to this section include worldwide Pentecostal biblical and systematic scholars who have done significant work in this area. It is espe- cially in this section, however not limited to this part of the festschrift, where one can easily notice that Pentecostal scholarship has still much to discover in relation to Lukan studies. The great value of these essays is that they uncover new areas of study and, thus, introduce new evidence or suggest new conclu- sions and research areas.

The various other NewTestament and OldTestament texts which give a Pen- tecostal voice to larger pneumatological content in the Scriptures are dealt with in Partiv.The essays in the section focus on the pneumatology of the respective texts. Two of the essays consider the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament writings from a fresh angle. The New Testament texts include the other three gospels, as well as selected texts from the Pauline corpus and Revelation.

Taking the discussion beyond traditional topics in Pentecostal pneumatol- ogy, these essays prove that contemporary Pentecostal scholarship is not read- ing extra Lukan pneumatology merely through the Lukan lenses. Here, Keener is tobe commended for his depth of research evident in his essay, “Prayerfor the Spirit in Luke 11:1–13.” In his essay, Keener goes far beyond biblical references. These include deuterocanonical and pseudepigraphical sources. In addition, Jewish writings comprise the Babylonian, Mishnah and Tosefta Tractates; Tar- gums; Rabbahs; the Qumran Rule of the Community and Josephus. Christian

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writings encompass Polycarp, Justin Martyr and Chrysostom. Other ancient writings are by Philo, Homer and Seneca.

Unfortunately, Pauline theology is limited to one specific and comparative essay: “What Does It Mean—According to the Book of Acts and the Letter to the Ephesians—to Be ‘Filled with’/‘Full of’ the Holy Spirit?”, by Dr. Sven Soder- lund. Of all Scriptural passages selected for the basis of an essay to represent Pauline theology, arguably to be “Filled with” or “Full of” the Holy Spirit is one of the most important for Holy Spirit living. But considering the importance to Pentecostals of Pauline theology, particularly of iCorinthians 12–14, references to these chapters include only 63 references to this Corinthian segment in the festschrift. Of further import to Pentecostals are spiritual gifts in Romans 12 that is limited to three references. Among the collected essays, Romans 8 has five references, but Romans 8:26–27 has only one reference pertaining to these verses.

Overall, this volume of essays in honor of Stronstad is of great value as it reflects the legacy of its honoree: giving Pentecostal scholarship a voice among the other Christian traditions.

Ciprian Gheorghe-Luca

Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Arad, Romania [email protected]

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