Spirit Of The Last Days Pentecostal Eschatology In Conversation With Jürgen Moltmann

Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars

160

Book Reviews / Pneuma 30 (2008) 147-191

Peter Althouse, Spirit of the Last Days: Pentecostal Eschatology in Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann, Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement series 25 (London and New York: T & T Clark International/Continuum, 2003). xvi + 232 pp., $60.00, paper.

Like the emergence of Pentecostalism at the beginning of the twentieth century, whose current state it seeks to revitalize, the journey on which Peter Althouse invites us is one of recovering what is latent in our past and revisioning our future. Spirit of the Last Days is both a personal search and public call to action for an “authentic and responsible Pentecostal theology” integrating social ethics and justice in a this-world transforming Pentecostal eschatology (xi). Althouse, while contributing his own ideas, serves primarily as the guide to a “conversation” between Jürgen Moltmann, famous for his Theology of Hope (and contributor of the book’s preface) and four important and innovative Pentecostal theologians. The similarities and diﬀerences that emerge provide early adumbrations on a map for renewed belief and practice.

The recovery reaches back to early varieties Pentecostalism, such as the Latter Rain Move- ment, that emphasized vibrant personal and societal restoration mediated through anti- institutional, pneumatic, apostolic ministry. Much of this restorational vibrancy was lost in mainstream Pentecostalism’s anti-Liberal convergence with Fundamentalism; its seeking the security of social-conservatism; its uncritical theology; its increasing institutionaliza- tion; its reaction against the New Order of the Latter Rain; its repeated personality conﬂicts and fractures; and its adoption of a Dispensational, future oriented, escapist, eschatology of apocalyptic destruction and, predominantly, other-worldly hope. As a result, Pentecostal- ism lost its ability to transform the present human condition, moving salvation more and more into a disconnected heavenly future.

The renewal reaches forward as Althouse brings work of Steven Land, Eldin Villafañe, Miroslav Volf, and Frank D. Macchia into renewed contact with some of Moltmann’s most important themes, such as, hope, Kingdom, community, decentralized authority, theology as transformative, and eschatology not merely as a future reality but also as a vital presence breaking into current history at once preﬁguring and helping to realize the future. Molt- mann’s own theologizing about the Spirit, including tongues and healing, and prior dia- logues with Pentecostals, provides a strong foundation for the current discussion. T ere is also a deeply spiritual and personal backdrop to Moltmann’s theology in his conversion as a Nazi prisoner of war in a British camp and socio-economic concerns emphasizing the convergence of the spiritual and practical. (Less endearing to many traditional Pentecostals may be Moltmann’s aﬃnity for Liberation theology and Panentheism.)

Steven Land ( Pentecostal Spirituality, 1993), a Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) theologian and no stranger to interaction with Moltmann, brings the inﬂuence of the Wes- leyan Holiness, liberating it from the typical, one-dimensional view of Wesley as pragmatic evangelist. The reality of Wesleyan passion and experience is connected with the Spirit in the production of a social critique and action which are the harbingers of the in-breaking Kingdom. The resulting Church must deﬁne itself not by theology but spirituality, and may not simply await its removal from an evil world but must be an agency that transforms it.

Eldin Villafañe ( Beyond Cheap Grace: A Call to Radical Discipleship, Incarnation, and Justice, 2006), a Gordon-Conwell professor and Assemblies of God pastor in the context of

1

Book Reviews / Pneuma 30 (2008) 147-191

161

Hispanic Pentecostalism, argues for sinfulness as not merely a personal failing but as embodied individualism and societal power structures. T us, the Kingdom is not merely about souls but whole persons and communities. Only a Spirit-guided and empowered activist social ethic and political agenda can address the dehumanizing aspects and institu- tions of society and celebrate and institute the communalism and justice that characterized both the Church of Acts and early twentieth century Pentecostal experience.

Miroslav Volf ( Exclusion and Embrace, 1996; The Future of T eology: Essays in Honor of Jurgen Moltmann, 1996), Yale professor of divinity associated with the Evangelical Church of Croatia, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches; and student of Moltmann, continues to develop his themes of “work” and “embrace” with their emphasis on the continuity of present and future. For Volf, work goes beyond vocation to include a giftedness that ﬁnds expression of lasting value in God. Volf’s concept of embrace moves beyond Liberation theology’s ideas of conﬂict between societal structures into reconciliation. The Spirit led and empowered obedience of work and embrace redirects Pentecostalism from a self- focused passivity to an other-directed mission leading to the reuniﬁcation of the alienated within the Church and throughout the world.

Frank D. Macchia ( Baptized in the Spirit, 2006), Assemblies of God theologian currently at Vanguard University, ﬁnds inspiration especially in German Pietism and Barth. Pietism provides a paradigm for ending the traditional Pentecostal dichotomy between revivalistic enthusiasm and social activism. Here may be found an ethic that emphasizes the presence of the Kingdom, concern for the oppressed, Spirit-empowered work for the Kingdom, and an ongoing tension of active waiting to bring in the Kingdom. Pentecost is the breaking in of the Kingdom that links the eschaton to present history and avoids other-worldly apoca- lypticism. The emphasis on Christ’s humanity leads to direct social and political activism, including the rejection of capitalism as oppressive, and involves not only Christians alone but all who work in harmony with the divine plan.

The volume is well-written and documented with an extensive bibliography and Scrip- ture references and author indices. (A subject index would have been desirable.) Its argu- ments are well researched and cogently made. Althouse’s chapter on the convergences and divergences between the participants is very capable. Its provocative content invites, even demands, further research and discussion and evokes a host of historical, theological, ethi- cal, social, and political questions. Further exploration of the central thesis, its implications, its relevance to and acceptance by Pentecostals in the “pew,” its signiﬁcance for the renewal of holiness and miracle in the present, its considerations of the Latter Rain and Liberation theology movements, and the possibility of tertium quid synthesizing this revitalizing vision of eschatology with current apocalyptic perception, are all important paths of inquiry. In all events, the direction indicated can help us recover some of our less appreciated roots, rethink our present, and — perhaps — ﬁnd our future. We can pray and hope that these dialogues will guide us to a place that unites ethics and expectation in a transformational present.

Reviewed by Bruce R. Marino

2