The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements: The Tensions of the Spirit (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies) [1 ed.] 9780754667469, 0754667464

Citation preview

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements This book explores the Pentecostal and charismatic movements, tracing their development and their variety. Hocken shows how these movements of the Holy Spirit, both outside the mainline churches and as renewal currents within the churches, can be understood as mutually challenging and as complementary. The similarities and the differences are significant. The Messianic Jewish movement possesses elements of both, the new and the old. Addressing the issues of modernity and globalization, this book explores major phenomena in contemporary Christianity including the relationship between the new churches and entrepreneurial capitalism.

Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies The Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies series brings high quality research monograph publishing back into focus for authors, international libraries, and student, academic and research readers. Headed by an international editorial advisory board of acclaimed scholars spanning the breadth of religious studies, theology and biblical studies, this open-ended monograph series presents cutting-edge research from both established and new authors in the field. With specialist focus yet clear contextual presentation of contemporary research, books in the series take research into important new directions and open the field to new critical debate within the discipline, in areas of related study, and in key areas for contemporary society. Other titles in this series: Reading Anselm’s Proslogion The History of Anselm’s Argument and its Significance Today Ian Logan Jürgen Moltmann’s Ethics of Hope Eschatological Possibilities For Moral Action Timothy Harvie Phenomenology and Eschatology Not Yet in the Now Edited by Neal DeRoo and John Panteleimon Manoussakis The Identity of Christian Morality Ann Marie Mealey Evagrius Ponticus The Making of a Gnostic Julia Konstantinovsky Exodus Church and Civil Society Public Theology and Social Theory in the Work of Jürgen Moltmann Scott R. Paeth Anamnesis and the Eucharist Contemporary Anglican Approaches Julie Gittoes

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements The Tensions of the Spirit

Peter Hocken

© Peter Hocken 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Peter Hocken has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405 England USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hocken, Peter The challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish movements: the tensions of the spirit. – (Ashgate new critical thinking in religion, theology and biblical studies) 1. Pentecostalism 2. Messianic Judaism I. Title 270.8’2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hocken, Peter. The challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Messianic Jewish movements: the tensions of the spirit / Peter Hocken. p. cm. – (Ashgate new critical thinking in religion, theology, and biblical studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6746-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Pentecostalism. 2. Messianic Judaism. 3. Jewish Christians. I. Title. BR1644.H63 2008 270.8’2–dc22 2008047921

ISBN 978-0-7546-6746-9 (hbk) EISBN

Contents List of Figures

vii

Introduction

1

1

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges  

3

2

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks  

29

3

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches  

53

4 Viewing the Whole: How to Relate New Revival Streams and Historic Church Renewal  

75

5

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality   97

6

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ  

Bibliography   Index  

117 139 149

This page has been left blank intentionally

List of Figures 1.1 Dr Cecil Robeck speaking at the site of Azusa Street, Los Angeles during Centennial Celebrations in 2006  

8

2.1 Service at the Word of Life Church, Uppsala, Sweden. Published with permission from Word of Life Church, Uppsala, Sweden. Copyright © 2008 Livets Ord, Uppsala  

49

3.1 A Catholic charismatic conference in the Netherlands in 2008. ‘Celebrate 527’ by Pieter van der Marel © PKfotografie.nl.  

55

4.1

The ICCOWE executive committee at Brighton, July 1991  

80

5.1

Baruch HaShem Messianic Jewish synagogue in Dallas, Texas   

98

5.2 Members of the TJCII executive committee, September 2008  

112

6.1 Sr Joela of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary with the author   120

This page has been left blank intentionally

Introduction It is clear to many observers of global Christianity that the Pentecostal and charismatic movements form one of the most striking new elements in twentiethcentury Christian history. These have become massive movements, strongest in Africa, Asia and Latin America, leading observers like Philip Jenkins to see in this phenomenon the dominant characteristic of the Christianity of the future. Yet it is only slowly that the world of academic theology in the West is waking up to the significance of this development. For years Walter Hollenweger was a lone voice urging the theologians to take notice, not only of the fact but of its challenge to inherited modes of theology. In more recent years, he has been joined by many other voices, among whom the best-known are Harvey Cox and Allan Anderson. At the same time different circles see the ecumenical movement as a major characteristic of twentieth-century Christianity. Like the Pentecostal movement the origins of the ecumenical movement are dated to the first decade of the twentieth century. Yet the amount of interaction and sympathy between the two movements has so far been slight. The present author sees both movements as fundamentally a work of the Holy Spirit. As such they need to be brought into closer relationship. After all, it makes no sense to be deeply concerned for Christian unity and to ignore a major contemporary work of the Holy Spirit. Another twentieth-century development seen by many Christians as a significant work of God concerns the Jewish people: in the return of the Jews to the land of Israel, in the establishment of the nation-state of Israel and more controversially the rise of the Messianic Jewish movement. This reading of recent history, not necessarily stemming from a fundamentalist exegesis, is of course more common among advocates of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements than of the ecumenical movement though there are significant exceptions. This book, which began its life as a series of lectures presented at the Free University of Amsterdam in 2002, seeks to bring these currents together, examining the Pentecostal, charismatic and Messianic movements in an ecumenical and irenic manner. In this way the author hopes to aid those within these movements to see more clearly their ecumenical responsibility and to encourage deeper study and discernment of these works of the Holy Spirit among the ecumenically convinced. I thank those scholars and friends, who have encouraged me to publish these lectures in book form. Since the original presentation the text has been re-worked to adapt it to book form and to update the contents and references from 2002 to 2008. The updating particularly concerns the bibliography and some data in Chapter 2 on the new charismatic churches.



The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

I thank in particular Dr Stanley Burgess, editor of The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Kees Slijkerman of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Netherlands, who presided at the sessions in Amsterdam, and Deacon Johannes Fichtenbauer, founder and leader of the Umkehr zum Herrn Community in Vienna, Austria. Peter Hocken Vienna, Austria September 2008

Chapter 1

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges Because there is now quite a wealth of scholarly literature on the Pentecostal movement, this chapter does not offer a description in the way that the subsequent chapters describe the charismatic movement. As we shall see, this new abundance provides a marked contrast to the other and later streams of Holy Spirit revival and renewal to be covered in the subsequent chapters, for which there is much less scholarly material available. Instead this chapter offers a reflection on how both Pentecostals and the specialists in Pentecostalism commonly see and understand the Pentecostal movement, and provides a guide to the current literature. Pentecostal Self-Understanding While there has been considerable development in Pentecostal attitudes over the first century of the Pentecostal movement, there has been a remarkable consistency in terms of basic self-understanding. From its beginnings in Azusa Street, Los Angeles and Zion City, Illinois in 1906, the Pentecostal movement understood itself in restorationist terms. There was a ‘more’ in the Pentecostal experience that the Pentecostals believed had been lacking in Christian practice since the earliest days of the church. As Donald Dayton and William Faupel have indicated, this restorationist conviction was expressed in the various descriptions the first Pentecostals gave to their movement: Pentecostal, Latter Rain, Apostolic Faith and Full Gospel. All of these labels involve a claim that what was present at the   For worldwide Pentecostalism: Walter Hollenweger, The Pentecostals (London, 1972); Pentecostalism (Peabody MA, 1997); David Martin, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish (Oxford, 2002); Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge, 2004) and (at a more impressionistic level) Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven (London, 1996). For Pentecostalism in the USA: Donald Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids MI, 1987); D. William Faupel, The Everlasting Gospel (Sheffield, 1996); James Goff, Fields White Unto Harvest (Fayetteville, NC/London, 1988); Cecil Robeck, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival (Nashville TN, 2006); Grant Wacker, Heaven Below (Cambridge MA, 2001). For a more theological reflection: Douglas Jacobsen, Thinking in the Spirit (Bloomington & Indianapolis, 2003); Frank Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit (Grand Rapids MI, 2006).   Dayton, pp. 25–8; Faupel, p. 17.



The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

beginnings of Christian history but was soon lost is now being restored in their midst. Pentecostal The term ‘Pentecostal’ eventually became the most widely used designation for this new movement of the Holy Spirit. The designation ‘Pentecostal’ indicated not so much an emphasis on particular teaching and church practice, as with the Baptists, but the claim to a new experience of Pentecost. Although there was always a strong emphasis among Pentecostals on the experience of each believer, there was at the outset at Azusa Street a more corporate sense: as the Holy Spirit had come down upon the disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, so had the Holy Spirit come down upon the saints gathered at Azusa Street. Thus an early edition of the Azusa Street magazine Apostolic Faith blazoned the headline, ‘Pentecost has come’. The respected Pentecostal teacher Donald Gee spoke of the whole movement simply as ‘Pentecost’. The dominant restorationist element affirmed in the term ‘Pentecostal’ has been that of power. Pentecostals believe that the Holy Spirit is restoring to the Church the original power enjoyed by the first generation church from the day of Pentecost. The term ‘Pentecostal’ was also appropriate because the Pentecostal believers spoke in other tongues, thereby claiming a direct link between the twentieth-century experience and the first-century experience described in Acts 2. The twentieth-century restoration of the outpoured Spirit manifested in spiritual gifts – not only speaking in tongues but also prophecy and healing – and the parallel with the first chapters of the book of Acts may be the major reason why the designation ‘Pentecostal’ stuck to those known today as Pentecostals, but was not retained by those Holiness groups that had called themselves Pentecostal in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Latter Rain One of the favourite designations for the Pentecostal movement, especially among preachers, was the ‘Latter Rain’. The preachers took up the biblical evidence concerning the patterns of rainfall in the land of Israel, that speak in particular of the ‘early rain’ and the ‘latter rain’. The first detailed exposition of this theme is found in D. Wesley Myland’s collection of sermons, published in 1910 under the title The Latter Rain Covenant. Myland developed his teaching from Deuteronomy 11 with support from Zechariah 10 and from James 5. The Latter Rain usage focuses on the revival-impact of the Holy Spirit and the size of the harvest. It also introduced an eschatological element, not necessarily implied by the term ‘Pentecostal’. The ‘latter rain’ falls towards the end, whereas    The Norwegian Pentecostal pioneer, T. B. Barratt, entitled his book on the movement In the Days of the Latter Rain (London, 1909).

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges



the ‘early rain’ had fallen at the beginning. Pentecostal preaching saw the ‘latter rain’ preparing the harvest of the end-times, underpinning a frequent Pentecostal theme that the Spirit’s outpouring equips the saints for an urgent preaching of the gospel throughout the world before the soon-coming of the Lord Jesus. As a result, as Anderson notes, ‘The Pentecostalism emerging was essentially a missionary movement of unprecedented vigour.’ The Latter Rain vision of the movement implies a rather negative assessment of the 20 centuries of Christian history. The downpours of the Holy Spirit producing the real fruit occur at the beginning and at the end. The period in between is at best one of occasional showers, but mostly one of lengthy drought. Apostolic Faith The designation that found its way into denominational titles more than any other was ‘Apostolic Faith’. This label conveyed a sense both of the Pentecostal claim to preach the faith of the first Apostles and to do so with the same power and conviction, accompanied by the same signs. For a few Pentecostals it also represented a claim to be restoring a form of church government that they believed to be ‘apostolic’. Thus, the Apostolic Church, founded in Wales in 1914, believes in the restoration of apostolic ministries and the other ministries of Eph. 4: 11. This was however a minority conviction among Pentecostals with Donald Gee among its vociferous opponents. We have to wait for the Latter Rain movement in Canada arising in the late 1940s and the non-denominational expressions of the charismatic movement for a reappearance of the claim to Eph. 4: 11 ministries. Full Gospel The term ‘Full Gospel’ particularly expresses the Pentecostal conviction that the full message of the New Testament has been restored. The claim to preach the ‘Full Gospel’ was expressed in the term ‘Foursquare Gospel’ taken up by some Pentecostal groups, notably Aimée Semple McPherson in the USA, the foundress of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and George Jeffreys who formed the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance in Britain and Ireland, today the Elim Pentecostal Church.

 Allan H. Anderson, Spreading Fires (London, 2007), p. 290.  For example the Apostolic Faith movement of Charles Parham, the Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, Oregon, and the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. There was also a small Apostolic Faith Church founded by William O. Hutchinson in Bournemouth, England in 1908.   See Donald Gee, Wind and Flame (Croydon, 1967), pp. 104–06.  



The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The concept of a fourfold gospel had first been espoused in 1890 by A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Simpson’s Alliance in itself represented a coming together of several strands: gospel Evangelism, the Holiness movement, the divine healing movement, the missionary movement and pre-millennialism. For Simpson, the four components of the gospel were: (1) Jesus saves; (2) Jesus sanctifies; (3) Jesus heals; (4) Jesus will come again. The second element ‘Jesus sanctifies’ was equivalent to ‘Jesus baptizes in the Spirit’ for Simpson, who like many in the Holiness movement understood baptism in the Spirit as a decisive experience of sanctification. With the beginning of the Pentecostal movement it was natural for the Pentecostals to make a place in this schema for the central experience in their Pentecostal identity, that of baptism in/with the Spirit. They understood this primarily in terms of an empowerment for ministry and service distinct from sanctification. The Holiness Pentecostals still believed in an identifiable experience of sanctification and so arrived at a ‘fivefold’ gospel, while the ‘finished work’ Pentecostals professed a ‘fourfold’ gospel that they called ‘foursquare’ with ‘Jesus sanctifies’ being replaced by ‘Jesus baptizes with the Spirit’. For McPherson, this remained the second side of the square, while Jeffreys placed healing second and Spirit-baptism third. Pentecostals typically saw the restoration of the foursquare (or fivefold) gospel beginning with the Protestant Reformation. All saw Martin Luther restoring the doctrine of justification by faith, John Wesley restoring sanctification and the Pentecostal movement restoring the full gospel of Pentecost. Some inserted after Wesley the restoration of divine healing in the nineteenth century. Revival Pentecostals have typically understood their movement in terms of revival, speaking for example of the Azusa Street revival. Parallel to the restoration of the Full Gospel beginning with the Reformation, understanding the Pentecostal movement as revival implicitly inserted it into Evangelical Protestant history. But Pentecostal self-understanding was always that their movement represented something more, an intensification, a movement toward the climax of history, as the labels Apostolic Faith, Latter Rain and Pentecost indicate in their different ways. The understanding of the Pentecostal movement as revival, an Evangelical category, manifests the element of Pentecostal continuity with Evangelical revivalism. So while Pentecostals saw themselves as having more than the Evangelicals, the white Pentecostals readily and generally uncritically accepted received Evangelical mentalities and absorbed much Evangelical doctrine.   See Charles W. Nienkirchen, A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement (Peabody MA, 1992), p. 2.    Ibid., pp. 2–3.

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges



In its earliest phases the Pentecostal movement was suspicious of intellectual skills and uninterested in education. All that was needed was much Holy Spirit and some common sense. In consequence as the newly formed Pentecostal denominations drew up their Declarations of Faith they typically took over the existing formulations with which they were familiar, which were characteristically Evangelical, and then added a couple of Pentecostal distinctives (baptism in the Holy Spirit, divine healing). The category of revival is important because it expresses the sense of a work of God that exceeds human categories of explanation. In one way Evangelicalism has always struggled with the connection between revival and sound biblical doctrine. The revival focus, which historically came first, points to a God who cannot be tied down in doctrinal formulae. The concern for sound biblical doctrine, allied to the rationalist mindsets of the Enlightenment, led eventually to fundamentalism, which can be seen as the victory of mind over mystery. Pentecostal Origins and the Identity of the Pentecostal Movement The origins of the Pentecostal movement have given rise to a growing number of controversies between scholars. Some of them have an important bearing on the basic character of the movement and on how one understands the place of Pentecostalism within world Christianity. Topeka or Azusa Street? Serious Pentecostal studies date from the early 1970s with Walter Hollenweger’s major study The Pentecostals. Before this time the popular Pentecostal histories issuing from Pentecostal publishing houses typically saw the events at Charles Parham’s Bible school in Topeka, Kansas in 1901 and the Azusa Street revival under William Seymour from 1906–09 as foundational. However there is some controversy concerning the respective roles and importance of Charles H. Parham and of William J. Seymour. This debate often focuses on the questions: Who really was the founding figure of the Pentecostal movement? Did the Pentecostal movement begin with Parham at Topeka, Kansas in 1901 or with Seymour at Azusa Street, Los Angeles in 1906? Because Parham was white (and imbued with racist antipathies) and Seymour was black, this argument is inextricably mixed up with the racial issue and the question of the African-American component in Pentecostal origins. For a few scholars, but never for African-American Pentecostals, Parham has first position. Those favouring Parham’s importance for the movement are almost



 See Wacker, pp. 75, 85–6.



The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

all proponents of the initial evidence doctrine first taught by Parham at Topeka.10 In this view the movement began on New Year’s Day in 1901, when Agnes Ozman spoke in other tongues, and was spread by Parham to Houston, whence in 1906 Parham sent Seymour to Los Angeles. There is general agreement that Charles Parham first articulated the doctrine of ‘initial evidence’, which became a marker for the greater part of the Pentecostal movement but which also had its divisive side. For this reason it is proper to recognize that Parham played a major role in Pentecostal origins. But the continuing inter-Pentecostal debate about initial evidence has led to minimal attention being paid to the underlying theological and psychological question of the link between empowering experience and speaking in tongues.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 1.1 Dr Cecil Robeck speaking at the site of Azusa Street, Los Angeles during Centennial Celebrations in 2006 The view that Azusa Street was really the cradle of the Pentecostal movement has been strongly argued by Walter J. Hollenweger. In Hollenweger’s view the attempt to present Parham as the founder was a consequence of the racism that divided the movement ten years after its origins and that could not accept the founding 10   The belief that speaking in tongues is the necessary initial evidence for baptism in the Spirit is held by many Pentecostal denominations and most notably by the Assemblies of God.

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges



role of William J. Seymour. Hollenweger contested the view that Pentecostalism arose wholly out of the white Evangelical and Holiness pre-history and insisted that the African-American component at Azusa Street signals the distinctively new elements in the Pentecostal Gestalt. In his last major study, Hollenweger identifies five roots to the Pentecostal movement, of which the first is the ‘black oral root’11 and lists the decisively new elements as: • • • • •

orality of liturgy. narrativity of theology and witness. maximum participation at the levels of reflection, prayer and decisionmaking and therefore a form of community that is reconciliatory. inclusion of dreams and visions in personal and public forms of worship; these function as a kind of icon for the individual and the community. an understanding of the body/mind relationship that is informed by experiences of correspondence between body and mind, the most striking applications of this insight being the ministry of healing by prayer and liturgical dance.12

For Hollenweger Pentecostalism represents an irruption of black African spirituality on to the wider Christian scene, thereby launching a world-impacting movement. He has been followed in this view by some of his students13 and preceded by all the black Pentecostals who had already addressed this question in print.14 Hollenweger and the black Pentecostal critics have insisted that to view Parham as the founder fails to take into account the key contribution made to the Pentecostal movement by the African-American slave heritage through the events at Azusa Street – a contribution which Parham repudiated. Azusa Street made the Pentecostal movement a fusion of black and white elements that has still not been properly understood. This is a convincing account of the explosive character of the events at Azusa Street.15

 Hollenweger, Pentecostalism. The five roots are: (1) the Black Oral (pp. 18–141); (2) the Catholic (pp. 143–80); (3) the Evangelical (pp. 181–200); (4) the Critical (pp. 201– 331); and (5) the Ecumenical (pp. 334–400). 12   Ibid., pp. 18–19. 13  For example, Douglas Nelson and Ian MacRobert. 14   The late Bishop Ithiel Clemmons has well portrayed the view of the Church of God in Christ, the largest black Pentecostal denomination, in a life of its founding bishop, Charles H. Mason: Ithiel Clemmons, Bishop C. H. Mason and the Roots of the Church of God in Christ (Bakersfield CA, 1996). 15   Anderson attributes Gary McGee’s narrow definition of Pentecostalism to ‘his identification of the classical Pentecostal movement with North American conservative Evangelicalism’ (Pentecostals after a Century, Allan Anderson and Walter Hollenweger (eds), Sheffield, 1999. p. 20). This assumption made by many white American Pentecostals 11

10

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The tendency to understand the genesis of the Pentecostal movement in wholly white-Caucasian terms has been fostered, often inadvertently, by the studies of its historical antecedents. It is generally acknowledged that the antecedents are found in the Holiness movement in its various expressions, particularly in the currents that arose within Methodist and Presbyterian milieux. The most significant study of the stirrings in the Evangelical-Holiness thought-world that contributed to the genesis of the Pentecostal movement is that of Donald Dayton. Not only does Dayton provide a clear account of the pre-Pentecostal usage of the term ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ but he concludes that the distinctively new element in Pentecostalism is speaking in tongues: ‘Popular Evangelicalism was indeed at the time but a hairsbreadth from Pentecostalism. That hairsbreadth of difference was the experience of speaking in tongues as the evidence of having received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.’16 Such a focus on doctrine and theology pays insufficient attention to the complex reality of Christian experience. It does not allow for any decisive contribution from the African-American heritage because what was lived at Azusa Street was not expressed in the language of Anglo-Saxon theology and exegesis. Hollenweger has long argued that the praxis of Pentecostals has been much more significant than their doctrine, insisting on the oral, narrative and visionary character of the African-American contribution.17 For all the excellence of Dayton’s historical scholarship his study is limited to the doctrinal-theological antecedents to Pentecostalism among white Evangelicals and Holiness people. For this reason it tends to upgrade the importance of Parham’s contribution, which was doctrinaltheological, as the originator of the teaching that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of ‘Spirit-baptism’. Not only is Pentecostalism not primarily a doctrinal movement but not all Pentecostals accept the initial evidence teaching. Key questions that are ignored in this approach are the relationship between teaching and practice and the distinctive features of Pentecostalism that are not conceptual, for example its bodily character and its activation of undeveloped faculties and powers in believers, aspects to the fore when the African-American contribution is acknowledged. Finally, the question of impact is central to assessing the relative importance of Parham and Seymour, of Topeka and of Azusa Street. Here there is an evident contrast between Azusa Street and Parham’s ministry in terms of their respective impact.18 When Parham left Topeka in the fall of 1901 he had virtually no followers implicitly denies the important role of Azusa Street, that requires that the African-American contribution to the movement’s origins be fully acknowledged. 16  Dayton, p. 176. 17   ‘The greatest revival movement of our time is largely ignored by professional theologians, probably because its strongest side is its oral theology.’ (Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, p. 196). 18   The most important source is James Goff, Fields White Unto Harvest (Fayetteville, NC/London, 1988), the only scholarly work devoted to Parham’s ministry. As a Parham

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

11

outside his own family. A healing in the summer of 1903 relaunched Parham’s ministry in south-eastern Kansas. Between the autumn of 1903 and the end of 1905, Parham’s preaching of Pentecost and divine healing had gathered followers, probably numbering about 2,000, located in south-east Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas. In early 1906 he organized this ‘Apostolic Faith Movement’ into mid-week ‘assembly meetings’ like the Methodist class meetings, comprised of 20 to 30 persons per group. Parham’s biggest spiritual impact on the emerging Pentecostal movement came through his five-week visit to Zion City, Illinois in September–October 1906. Several major figures in the emerging Pentecostal movement entered via Zion City, such as Fred F. Bosworth, known for his healing ministry; John G. Lake, who took the Pentecostal message to South Africa; J. Roswell Flower, later general secretary of the Assemblies of God in the USA; and Marie Burgess, the founder of Glad Tidings Tabernacle in New York City.19 From Zion City, Parham went to Azusa Street where he reacted against what he saw and disowned it, specifically denouncing the African-American element. In this way Parham separated himself from the centre of the Pentecostal movement, despite being the theological progenitor of a doctrine that had a huge influence on Pentecostal understanding.20 By contrast, Azusa Street had a major influence. The Pentecostal historian and ecumenist Cecil M. Robeck, Jr has produced the most detailed and authoritative study so far available on the Azusa Street revival bearing the subtitle ‘The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement’. He bases this claim on the world missions orientation and influence of Azusa Street, which was in marked contrast to the ‘small town America’ character of Parham’s work.21 An impressive number of those who received ‘the baptism’ at Azusa Street took the message of Pentecost to other continents. Also relevant to the debate on Pentecostal origins are the early Pentecostal currents in North America without any link to Parham or to Azusa Street. Among these are the Stone Church in Chicago, led by William H. Piper 22 and James and Ellen Hebden’s Queen Street Mission in Toronto.

sympathizer, Goff cannot be suspected of exaggerating the weaknesses of Parham and his work. 19  Goff, ibid., pp. 144–5. These people did not associate with Parham’s Apostolic Faith Mission, whose development was seriously weakened both by the allegations of scandal and by Parham’s rejection of Azusa Street. 20   Parham’s closest collaborator, W. F. Carothers, who separated from the Apostolic Faith Mission after the allegations of moral scandal in the late autumn of 1906, was convinced that Parham’s rejection of Azusa Street was a mistake (ibid., pp. 140–42). 21   See Robeck, p.239. Anderson recognizes that ‘the movement was first given national and international impetus at Azusa Street’ (An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 43). 22   This was the source of the strong Pentecostal work in Winnipeg, Manitoba, led by A. H. Argue, who ‘received’ at the Stone Church.

12

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

USA or Global Outbreak? Indigenous or Imported? The dominant view until the last 15 years was that Pentecostalism was made in the USA and rapidly exported throughout the world. Today an increasing number of scholars, often from other parts of the world, are insisting that the Pentecostal movement broke out in several widely disparate places at around the same time, of which Azusa Street was but one. Two distinct arguments are being advanced that are not always adequately distinguished. The first debate occurs within the received contours of what is generally understood to be the Pentecostal movement. It concerns the significance in Pentecostal history and development of outbreaks of glossolalia and Pentecostal experience elsewhere in the world before and/or independently of the centres in North America, for example the significance of the revival in Mukti, India, from 1905. The second debate contests the received understanding of the Pentecostal movement and seeks to extend the label ‘Pentecostal’ to a much wider range of Holy Spirit movements. It is important to distinguish these two issues, (1) the role of origins outside North America in the genesis of the Pentecostal movement and (2) a wider definition of what counts as ‘Pentecostal’. Walter Hollenweger and Allan Anderson have been the major proponents for both positions, though neither clearly distinguishes the two distinct issues. These two scholars have together made the University of Birmingham one of the foremost centres for the study of worldwide Pentecostalism.23 Hollenweger had classified some African Independent churches as Pentecostal as early as 1972.24 Since Hollenweger’s retirement Anderson has argued for this wider classification in a number of writings. Here I wish to address this second issue of a wider definition of Pentecostalism before returning to the significance of Pentecostal outbreaks in the received sense beyond the shores of North America. A Wider Definition of Pentecostalism? Anderson, who has spent the greater part of his life in Africa, first studied Spirit-type churches in Southern Africa and then over Africa as a whole before becoming a specialist in the wider Pentecostal movement. From this background he is acutely aware of the elements common to Spirit-type churches in Africa

23  Hollenweger was appointed Professor of Mission at Birmingham in 1971, retiring in 1989, while Anderson has been in Birmingham since 1995, being a Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Reader in Pentecostal Studies before being named Professor of Global Pentecostal Studies in 2006. 24  Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 149; see also Pentecostalism, pp. 54–80. This argument stands in some tension with his writings on Azusa Street, with the common factor being the importance of black African elements.

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

13

and to the Pentecostal-charismatic world.25 As early as 1992, Anderson adopts a broader use of the term ‘Pentecostal’ to include within his definition ‘some indigenous Pentecostal-type churches, also known as “Spirit-type” churches or “Zionist-type” churches’.26 The first reason for treating some of these South African churches as Pentecostal arises from their origins. When the first North American Pentecostal missionaries arrived in South Africa in 1908, they formed the Apostolic Faith Mission, where they were joined by a group of ‘Zionists’ who from 1904 had adopted the vision, teaching and practices of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion,27 in which the ministry of healing played a central role.28 In the years that followed there was increasing tension between the black membership of the Apostolic Faith Mission and the white denominational leadership, leading to the secession of what became the largest Zionist church in South Africa, the Zion Christian Church. Secessions of black Christians also occurred from other Pentecostal missions and all these were at the origin of the Zionist churches, which thus arose from a Pentecostal source.29 As time went on these Zionist churches developed in a direction very different from the Pentecostal missionary churches. Since that time, Anderson has further extended the term ‘Pentecostal’ to include a much wider range of African Independent/Initiated Churches (AICs),30 calling ‘Pentecostal’ every movement ‘concerned primarily with the experience of the working of the Holy Spirit and the practice of spiritual gifts’.31 In the African context this means ‘churches that emphasize the working of the Spirit in the church, particularly with ecstatic phenomena like prophecy and speaking in tongues,

 See Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. xii for an autobiographical

25

note.

 Allan Anderson, Bazalwane: African Pentecostals in South Africa (Pretoria, 1992), p. 7. The difficulties of classification are discussed, ibid., pp. 6–12. 27  Founded in Zion City, Illinois by John Alexander Dowie. This period was that of the disgrace of Dowie and then of his death in 1907. 28  Allan Anderson, Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa (Pretoria, 2000). Chapter 2 ‘Pentecost comes to Zion’, pp. 56–84. See also Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, pp. 13– 14, 106–10, and Cox, p. 248; Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom (Oxford and New York, 2007), pp. 78–80. However, in African Pentecostalism (Oxford, 2008) Kalu notes that the designation ‘Zionist’ came first from Johannes Buchler and a Moravian hymnbook before its association with Zion City (p. 56). 29   This story is told by Anderson, Bazalwane, pp. 17–31 and Zion and Pentecost, pp. 56–84. 30  See Pentecostals after a Century, pp, 19–20 and Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 1. 31   Pentecostals after a Century, p. 20, repeated in Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 14. 26

14

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

healing and exorcism’.32 In a book on Pentecostalism in Asia, Anderson writes, ‘in its simplest sense the term [Pentecostal] refers to ecstatic forms of Christianity defined in terms of special gifts given by the Holy Spirit’.33 Within this definition of Pentecostalism fall all the AICs that are variously known as ‘spirit churches’ or ‘healing-prophetic churches’.34 The more inclusive definition of Pentecostalism has also been encouraged by the work of encyclopedist David B. Barrett and his associates. So, for example, Barrett gives the origin of ‘African indigenous pentecostals/ charismatics’ as 1864, of ‘Black American indigenous pentecostals’ as 1889 and ‘Ethnic (Monoethnic) pentecostal churches’ as 1890.35 The first category refers to ‘African Instituted churches’ (Zionist, Apostolic and Spiritual) and the third to Yi churches, Miao churches, Nagaland Christian Revival churches and the Gypsy Evangelical Movement.36 However scholars show little enthusiasm for what Kalu calls Barrett’s ‘confusing categories’37 which are too idiosyncratic to gain widespread acceptance. These debates about what counts as ‘Pentecostal’ raise important questions concerning religious and spiritual classification and affect the understanding of what has been and is taking place in contemporary Christianity. As a starting-point for an attempt at clarification we can note the advantages stemming from these controversies. The argument for a more inclusive definition of Pentecostalism situates the churches and denominations known as Pentecostal within a bigger global framework. It enables a fuller account to be taken of sociocultural factors in the genesis of all these forms of Spirit-shaped Christianity. It can throw light on the implications of the shift of Christianity’s centre of gravity from the North to the ‘global South’ and exposes more clearly the colonialist elements in the spread of the Pentecostal movement outward from the USA. However there remain reasons for questioning the appropriateness of the term ‘Pentecostalism’ as the overarching description for all these forms of ecstatic experiential Spirit-shaped expressions of Christian faith. While the use of the plural form ‘Pentecostalisms’ recognizes to some degree the problems in pinning   Ibid., p. 103. However in Spreading Fires, Anderson seems to have qualified this position, ‘Although the independent churches may no longer be described as “Pentecostal” without further qualification, the most characteristic features of their theology and praxis is overwhelmingly Pentecostal’ (p. 181). See also ibid., p. 252. 33   Asian and Pentecostal, Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (eds) (Oxford, 2005), p. 2. 34   The AICs not so included are the so-called Ethiopian Churches that ‘originated in secessions from mission-founded churches on racial and political grounds’ (Allan Anderson, African Reformation (Trenton, NJ & Asmara, Eritrea, 2001), pp. 15–16). 35  David Barrett, ‘Global Statistics’, in Stanley Burgess and Eduard van der Maas (eds), New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids MI, 2002), (hereafter NIDPCM), p. 286. 36   Ibid., p. 288. 37  Ogbu Kalu, African Pentecostalism (Oxford and New York, 2008), p. 13. 32

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

15

the same label on all these Spirit-shaped movements, it does not really resolve the terminological issue.38 Before returning to the significance of Pentecostal outbreaks outside North America and the significance of Azusa Street for the worldwide movement, we should note an important contribution from an African scholar, Ogbu Kalu. Kalu’s study entitled African Pentecostalism is in fact a reflection on the Africanization of the Christian message that leads into a study of contemporary African Pentecostalism. It is particularly helpful for assessing the inclusive terminology of Anderson and others, because Kalu takes full account of all the Africanizing movements in the last century or more. In this history he sees three main phases in the African response to the Christian message: (1) the movement, ‘dubbed Ethiopianism’, from the nineteenth century that unlike other authors Kalu sees as having a significance for later Pentecostal developments; (2) the AICs or the prophetic movements that particularly arose between 1910 and 1950;39 (3) ‘the contemporary Pentecostalism that holds the cutting edge in Africa’s new Christianity’40 dating from the 1970s. In the course of this study Kalu treats of the ‘Typology of Classical Pentecostalism in Africa, 1901–1960’,41 but he does not see the classical Pentecostal missions of this period as contributing much to the Africanization of Christianity. However, they play a role, though not a dominating role, along with other elements in the emergence of the third phase: ‘the charismatic revival movements within the mainline churches, the holiness missionary enterprises, and the cross-cultural Classical Pentecostal missions constitute the precedents to the third response of Africans to the missionary message’.42 With this approach Kalu has a distinctive take on the inclusive terminology favoured by Anderson. First, he sees the Ethiopian churches as the first stage in a process that leads to contemporary African Pentecostalism. Second, while recognizing the contact and the influence of Pentecostals on the origins of some AICs, not only in South Africa, he sees the AICs as having developed in a direction away from Pentecostalism. But thirdly, he sees that the AICs through their greater degree of Africanization of the Christian message prepared the way for more genuinely African expressions of Pentecostalism, saying that ‘the prophetic movements laid the foundations of modern Pentecostalism in Africa’.43 By this evaluation of the more African Pentecostalism of the last 30 years, Kalu is contesting the widely 38

 For example by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, ‘“The Re-Turn of Religion in the Third Millennium”: Pentecostalisms and Postmodernities’ (a paper read at the European Pentecostal Charismatic Research Association conference at Uppsala, Sweden, September 2007), p. 3. 39   ‘Dubbed Aladura in West Africa, Zionists in southern Africa, and Abaroho in eastern Africa’ (Kalu, p. 30). 40  See ibid., p. 24 for all three phases. 41   Ibid., pp. 46–54. 42   Ibid., p. 24. 43   Ibid., p. 35.

16

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

accepted view that the latest phase of Pentecostal-charismatic growth represents an Americanization more than an Africanization and thus a decline from the high point of Africanization represented by the AICs.44 Kalu says of this new African Pentecostalism that ‘[it] is colored by the texture of the African soil and derives idiom, nurture and growth from its interior. It does not merely adapt, it gestates the resources of externality, transforming it to serve its needs’.45 However, the major reason why Kalu refuses to treat the AICs as Pentecostal is theological. The Pentecostal churches, both the less Africanized mission churches and the new more indigenous forms, differ sharply from the AICs in their theological-spiritual discernment concerning the activity of spirits. For Kalu, the distinctively Pentecostal stance is based on a ‘covenantal’ theology in which ‘a successful conversion to Christianity will require that a Christian exchange primal covenants with a new one with Jesus Christ’.46 In the African worldview individuals and communities weave legal and binding covenants ‘with the gods in the sky, land, water and ancestral worlds’.47 For all Pentecostal Christians an authentic conversion requires a repudiation of all symbols and rituals adopted in the primal covenants and a deliverance from the spiritual bondage thereby incurred. In this view the Africanization of Christianity in the new Pentecostal-charismatic churches occurs through their application to Africa of the biblical and Semitic vision of the worlds of God, of the spirits and of humans, building upon the prominence of deliverance and exorcism in the ministry of Jesus and of the apostles. For these reasons Kalu sees the efforts to include the AICs under the Pentecostal umbrella as a failure to honour and respect the distinctive convictions and identity that characterize the worldwide Pentecostal movement. This happens, he says, because of an excessive focus on the sociological and the phenomenological and a neglect of the theological and spiritual elements.48 The proponents of the AICs as an African form of Pentecostalism focused on spiritual phenomena (the ecstatic, speaking in tongues, healing),49 but dismissed as narrowness or fundamentalism the theological and spiritual convictions that led the Pentecostals to distinguish themselves radically from the AICs. For Kalu, this issue demonstrates ‘the inability’ of sociology and anthropology ‘to deal with religious experience’.50 This debate on terminology and the contours of ‘Pentecostalism’ brings us back to the distinctive identities of Christian groupings and the social cohesion

44

  This was the view of Adrian Hastings and has been that of Paul Gifford.   Ibid., p. 189. 46   Ibid., p. 80. 47   Ibid., p. 80. 48  See ibid., pp. 65–83. 49   ‘The perception is that the pneumatic common denominator makes both the AICs and Pentecostalism birds of the same feather who should flock together.’ (ibid., p. 69) 50   Ibid., p. 82. 45

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

17

of revivalist movements.51 Respecting the distinctive labels that demarcate particular Christian confessions and movements is not merely a matter of political correctness but involves a recognition of their God-graced identities. Terminology is closely connected to the character and identity of a movement. The debate about founders and origins concerns the ways in which an identifiable movement with its own shape and physiognomy comes into being. All social movements are influenced in some way by sociocultural, economic, psychological and religious factors. The physiognomy and the thrust of a new Christian movement involve an interaction of spiritual experience, worship, doctrine and human aspirations, as well as patterns of social organization and interaction with the wider society and church. Of particular importance in the genesis and the emerging identity of a Christian movement are the factors undergirding its social cohesion and expressed in its patterns of worship, fellowship and mutual recognition. What has been known over the last hundred years as the Pentecostal movement has had a coherence and contours that have been recognized both inside and outside the movement, notwithstanding the great variety and even divisions within the movement since its first decade. The coherence and identity were particularly clear to its fiercest opponents. Thus I am in agreement with Kalu in regarding as problematic all efforts to redefine what has been known and recognized as the Pentecostal movement for virtually a century so as to include other developments that were not recognized as part of the movement by even a significant minority of those calling themselves Pentecostals. The Role of Origins Outside North America in the Genesis of the Pentecostal Movement In recent years several scholars have been advocating multiple origins for the Pentecostal movement arguing that ‘No country or place can claim the origin

51   The German scholar Michael Bergunder offers a helpful analysis in this terminological debate. For Bergunder the criteria for determining what may be rightly described as Pentecostal are ‘the existence of historical connections and synchronous interrelations’ (‘Constructing Indian Pentecostalism: On Issues of Methodology and Representation’, in Anderson and Tang (eds), p. 189). While Bergunder favours a broad definition of Pentecostalism, he nonetheless insists that ‘all that we count as Pentecostal must be connected within a vast diachronous network that goes back to the beginning of Pentecostalism’ (ibid., p. 189). This excludes all ‘parallel phenomena that are without historical connections (e.g. Irvingites, cargo movements)’ (ibid., p. 189). Bergunder’s ‘historical connections’ mean direct causality, a form of parenthood (the spread of the movement through travelling preachers and witnesses, through literature and today through the mass media) while I take ‘synchronous interrelations’ to refer to parallel developments without direct causal influences, but in which the spiritual affinity is recognized by both sides.

18

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

of Pentecostalism’.52 Anderson describes it as a ‘polynucleated and variegated phenomenon’.53 The questioning of merely North American origins has been intensified by a deeper study of Asian Pentecostalism,54 particularly by Asian Pentecostal scholars.55 However the Asian discussion is taking place within the accepted contours of the Pentecostal movement and is not a debate about broadening the definition of Pentecostalism. A variety of precedents are adduced to show that the Spirit of Pentecost was at work in Asia before the arrival of missionaries from the West. An Indian Pentecostal scholar has shown how K. E. Abraham, a Pentecostal pioneer in Kerala, insisted that there were Pentecostal revivals in Kerala before Western Pentecostal missionaries arrived.56 There had been widespread charismatic phenomena in the revival spearheaded by John Christian Aroolappen in south India in 1860. The more substantive argument concerns the outbreak in 1905 of Pentecostal-style revival at Mukti, India in the homes founded by Pandita Ramabai.57 Mukti in its origins was in no way dependent on the developments in the USA and in fact contributed to the Pentecostal beginnings in Chile in 1909.58 Anderson has provided additional information from early Pentecostal sources to show that Mukti played a significant role in Pentecostal origins in India, concluding that ‘the Mukti revival can legitimately be regarded with Azusa Street as one of the most important formative centres of Pentecostalism’.59 Korean Pentecostal scholars date the origins of Pentecostalism in Korea to a revival that began in 1903 and reached its climax in the ‘Korean Pentecost’ in Pyongyang in January 1907.60 The Korean revival that predated the arrival of Pentecostal missionaries undoubtedly had a shaping influence on what later became known as the Pentecostal movement, giving it a more indigenous character, but 52  Michael Bergunder, ‘Constructing Pentecostalism: On Issues of Methodology and Representation’, The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, XXVII (2007): 69. 53   Spreading Fires, p. 4. 54  A consultation on Asian Pentecostalism with a majority of Asian participants was sponsored by the University of Birmingham, England, in September 2001. See Anderson and Tang for the published papers from this consultation. 55   Besides Anderson and Tang, see articles in the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies. 56  In 1873, 1895 and 1908. See Paulson Pulikottil, ‘As East and West Met in God’s Own Country: Encounter of Western Pentecostalism with Native Pentecostalism in Kerala’, Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 5 (2002): 18–19. 57  On Mukti see Anderson, Spreading Fires, pp. 77–89. 58   The Chilean origins resulted from the reading of a booklet on the baptism in the Holy Spirit written by Minnie Abrams who ‘received’ at Mukti. 59   Ibid., p. 89. 60   Jeong Chong Hee ‘The Korean Charismatic Movement as Indigenous Pentecostalism’, in Anderson and Tang, (eds), pp. 551–71.

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

19

was it ‘Pentecostal’? Jeong Chong Hee describes the ‘Korean Pentecost’ of January 1907 as including public confession of sin, together with ‘wailing, all night prayer, early morning prayer, fasting prayer and emotional conversion’.61 But this describes intense Evangelical revival, not what has been known as Pentecostalism. There has also been discussion about the relationship of the Welsh Revival (1904–1906) to the Pentecostal movement. Some Pentecostals have claimed that tongues-speaking was widespread in Wales at that time.62 It seems that the traditional Welsh hywl was misunderstood to be glossolalia.63 News of the Welsh Revival had stoked the fires of revival expectation in many places, including Mukti and Los Angeles. Faupel rightly sees the Welsh Revival as a seed-ground for Pentecostalism: ‘Everywhere the Welsh revival had spread, Pentecostal adherents followed with the claim that their message, with the accompanying sign of glossolalia, was the evidence that the end-time worldwide revival had arrived and the era of the Latter Rain dispensation had begun.’64 Does this further data require us to amend or nuance the understanding of the Pentecostal movement as spreading around the world from North America, particularly from Azusa Street? Clearly, North America cannot claim a monopoly on Pentecostal origins. But when we examine Pentecostalism as a historically identifiable movement, then the evidence does point to the movement acquiring its contours in North America and to Azusa Street playing a major role in the identity and the diffusion of the movement. Somewhat ironically Anderson’s study on ‘The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism’ bears eloquent testimony to the unique role of Azusa Street.65 However to affirm the role of Azusa Street highlights the importance of the African-American element in Pentecostal origins and in no way endorses a largely Anglo-Saxon-centred view of the movement, as often found in white Pentecostal publications. In this interpretation earlier outbreaks of similar phenomena were not part of the Pentecostal movement as we know it, because they did not give birth to a worldwide or even a national movement. This does not deny their significance. They may be seen as forerunners of the Pentecostal movement under two aspects: first, insofar as they prepared the ground for the movement that took shape in North America and secondly, insofar as the pre-movement experience of the Holy Spirit in their culture influenced the form taken by the Pentecostal movement after its arrival.66 In relation to Mukti and the contribution of Pandita Ramabai we should affirm an Indian contribution to the origins, but the overall ‘contours’ of the emerging   Ibid., p. 557.  E.g. Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition (Grand Rapids MI, 1997), p. 110. 63  See David Bundy in NIDPCM, p. 1187. 64  Faupel, p. 190. 65  See Anderson Spreading Fires, Index entry on Azusa Street Revival, p. 306. 66   The Welsh Revival certainly exercised an influence on Welsh Pentecostal origins and particularly on the Apostolic Church. 61 62

20

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

worldwide movement were not shaped in India. Rather Indian Pentecostalism as it developed took on the contours of the worldwide movement, within which it developed forms of indigenous expression without losing recognition by others of its Pentecostal character. Was There a Human Founder? Most scholarly commentators regard as enthusiastic naiveté the widespread Pentecostal idea that there was no human founder but just an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Wacker expresses this viewpoint with his customary brio, When saints looked at their own beginnings they were pleased to discover that they had no founders – no Martin Luther, no John Wesley, and certainly no Joseph Smith. Just like the Bible itself, the pentecostal revival had come directly from the divine hand, in all essential points already fully formed.67

But is the idea of a movement produced by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit without any role for a human founder as theologically naïve as is often assumed? In my view the scholarly works on the Pentecostal and charismatic movements are insufficiently critical on this point, failing to note the many ways in which new movements of revival and renewal can originate. What is naïve is to deny all human instrumentality and to remove revivals from human history. As Wacker says: ‘But nothing had tumbled from the skies. It all had an earthly history.’68 The term ‘founder’ seems inappropriate to describe the role of either Parham or Seymour in the origins of the Pentecostal movement. ‘Founder’ implies that the movement took shape in the mind and spirit of the person so described and that the movement resulted from his/her initiatives and decisions. In this sense John Wesley is clearly the founder of Methodism. But there are movements in which there is something greater at work that the commitment and understanding of prominent participants. In these cases, like the Welsh Revival of 1904, the rise of the movement is not plausibly explained by any one person’s influence, personality and/or holiness. In the Welsh Revival Evan Roberts was at best a catalyst but hardly a founder. Sectarian or Ecumenical? Though the standard Pentecostal histories did not use the word ‘sectarian’, they assumed what sociologists of religion would categorize as a sectarian understanding. It was typically presented as a ‘Come Out’ movement, calling lukewarm and semi-believers into the purity and power of full gospel fellowship. 67

 Wacker, p.142.   Ibid., p. 252.

68

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

21

Only with the scholarly investigation of the original sources is this sectarian view of Pentecostal origins being questioned. Hollenweger was the first serious advocate for the ecumenical character of Pentecostal origins: ‘Pentecostalism started in most places as an ecumenical renewal movement in the mainline churches, not unlike the charismatic movement in the ‘60s and the so-called “third wave” in the 80s.’69 Hollenweger is consistent in his desire to demolish Pentecostal shibboleths but less so in his arguments about Pentecostal origins. Having championed the ‘black oral root’ of Pentecostalism at Azusa Street, he instances four pioneer figures, all from Europe, to demonstrate its ecumenical beginnings: the German Lutheran Jonathan Paul,70 the French Reformed Louis Dallière, the English Anglican Alexander Boddy and the Dutch Salvationist turned Zionist Gerrit Polman.71 While Paul and Boddy were both key figures in the origins of the Pentecostal movement in their nations and both remained within the churches of which they were ordained ministers, neither succeeded in launching a Pentecostal current within their churches.72 Polman can hardly be regarded as part of a ‘mainline church’, having left the Salvation Army to join Dowie’s Christian Apostolic Church before his baptism in the Spirit. However Polman’s vision was not deliberately sectarian and his vision for the Pentecostal movement could be described as ecumenical: ‘The purpose of the Pentecostal revival is not to build up a church, but to build up all churches.’73 Hollenweger’s comparison with the charismatic movement in the 1960s is misleading, because there was never in the Pentecostal origins a constituency of mainline church members committed to the renewal of their church and with an ecumenical vision for the unity of the churches. The pioneer who comes nearest to Hollenweger’s claim is Louis Dallière. But Dallière is hardly relevant to the discussion on Pentecostal origins since he only entered into the experience of Pentecost in the early 1930s.74 Dallière was genuinely a precursor of the charismatic movement of the 1960s, as from 1932 he was in effect the leader of a group of Reformed pastors who had been baptized in the Spirit and who sought to live their Pentecost experience within and for the renewal of their church. However by the  Hollenweger, Pentecostalism, p. 334.   Paul was part of the Christliche Gemeinschaftsverband GmbH Mülheim/Ruhr (the Mülheim Association of Christian Fellowship), a fellowship that included congregations within the historic churches (like Paul’s Lutheran parish) as well as Pentecostal free churches. 71  Hollenweger, ibid., pp. 334–47. 72   However Paul had a greater influence among German Lutherans than Boddy among Anglicans, largely because of Paul’s wider ministry in the Holiness movement before his Spirit-baptism. 73   This is cited by Hollenweger, ibid, p. 345, from the writings of Cornelis van der Laan, whose published dissertation on Polman is entitled Sectarian Against His Will. 74   The origins of the Pentecostal movement in France stem from the 1920s and led to the establishment of the Assemblées de Dieu in 1932. 69

70

22

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

time Dallière founded the Union de Prière after World War II there were no longer any links with the Pentecostal movement.75 Robeck, already mentioned as the historian of the Azusa Street revival, is the Pentecostal scholar who has done most to address the history of Pentecostal attitudes to ecumenism, though his studies have been largely limited to North America.76 A convinced Pentecostal ecumenist,77 Robeck has highlighted the ‘unity’ focus of some American Pentecostal pioneers, such as W. F. Carothers and William H. Durham, and has documented the growing rejection of ecumenical fellowship by his own denomination, the Assemblies of God in the USA.78 Robeck has argued forcefully that the anti-ecumenical stance of his denomination in the last 50 years has been a deviation from the original Pentecostal openness to the unifying work of the Holy Spirit. While the claim that Pentecostalism in its origins was largely an ecumenical renewal movement is an exaggeration, Hollenweger’s examples and Robeck’s studies point to a major difference between European and North American origins. There was no real counterpart in Europe to the radical Holiness currents in the USA detailed in populist terms by Vinson Synan.79 In Europe, unlike North America, several of the first leaders were ordained ministers within mainline churches. But none succeeded in establishing a viable renewal current in his church. Only in Germany were there a number of Spirit-baptized pastors in the Protestant state church, and though an interdenominational association of Pentecostal believers was formed,80 it remained small and a wider influence was blocked by the negative Berlin Declaration of 1909.81 In the USA very few of the early Pentecostal leaders had been ordained pastors in a major denomination.82 Robeck’s research has shown that (1) several 75  See Chapter 3 for mention of Louis Dallière as a precursor of the charismatic movement within the historic churches. 76  See Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, ‘Pentecostals and the Apostolic Faith: Implications for Ecumenism’, One in Christ, (1987): 110–30; ‘The Assemblies of God and Ecumenical Cooperation: 1920–1965’, in Wonsuk Ma and Robert Menzies (eds), Pentecostalism in Context (Sheffield, 1997), pp. 107–50; and ‘Pentecostals and Ecumenism in a Pluralistic World’, in Murray Dempster, Byron Klaus and Douglas Peterson (eds), The Globalization of Pentecostalism (Oxford, 1999), pp. 338–62; ‘Pentecostals and Christian Unity: Facing the Challenge’, Pneuma, 26/2 (2004): 307–38. 77  Robeck has been for many years a participant in the Roman Catholic–Pentecostal international dialogue, of which he became the Pentecostal co-chair in 1992. 78  Robeck, ‘The Assemblies of God and Ecumenical Cooperation’. 79  Synan (1997), pp. 42–3, 50–51, 66–7. 80   The Mülheim Association (Christliche Gemeinschaftsverband GmbH Mülheim/Ruhr). 81   Incidentally, the one example of a flourishing Pentecostal current that did not separate from its denomination was the Örebro Mission in Sweden founded by John Ongman, a Baptist pastor (see NIDPCM, pp. 944–5). 82  See Wacker, Heaven Below, ch. 9 on ‘Leaders’.

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

23

of the pioneer Pentecostals had a genuine concern for unity, and understood the outpouring of the Spirit as a unitive force and (2) the sectarian attitudes of most Pentecostal denominations were neither so strong nor so pervasive in their origins as they later became: ‘It was clear that the impetus toward cooperation with the larger Church was present among many of the earliest Pentecostal leaders, even if, as Harold Hunter has repeatedly pointed out, they viewed true ecumenism as taking place only when all other Christians became Pentecostals.’83 Oneness Pentecostalism In a survey of the debates concerning the origins and the character of the Pentecostal movement mention should be made of Oneness Pentecostalism. The ‘Oneness’ issue provoked a major division within the Pentecostal movement in its second decade in the USA. The Oneness position is often presented as an anti-Trinitarian doctrine but it is really a pragmatic form of modalism. In its origins it was a dispute over the correct formula for baptism with the Oneness proponents rejecting the Trinitarian formula of Matthew 28: 19 and Christian tradition in favour of the ‘Jesus Only’ formula of Acts 10: 48. While the Oneness churches (e.g. the white United Pentecostal Church, the black Pentecostal Assemblies of the World) have generally not been in active fellowship with Trinitarian Pentecostals, who regard their doctrine as deviant, they have always been regarded as still somehow within the Pentecostal movement. Oneness Pentecostalism has spread more widely in many parts of the developing world and La Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesús has long been the leading Pentecostal denomination in Mexico. In recent times, there has been more serious reflection about Oneness Pentecostalism by non-Oneness scholars, and what it represents that is not simply deviation. The leading scholar on Oneness Pentecostalism, the Canadian Anglican David Reed, argues that Oneness teaching represents a rediscovery and adaptation of Jewish Old Testament themes displaced by the advance of Gentile Christianity in the early Church,84 focusing on the theology of the Name. Kenneth Gill, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on La Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesús regards their ‘Oneness doctrine as a contextualized doctrine of the Trinity for Mexico’.85 In recent years, a Trinitarian– Oneness dialogue has taken place among Pentecostals in the USA in a positive atmosphere, but has not yet led to any significant rapprochement. The points of difference examined were Baptism, Christology and the Godhead, Salvation and Holiness.86 83

 Robeck, ‘Pentecostals and Christian Unity’: 310.  IDPCM, 940. 85   This is the title of Gill’s contribution to Jongeneel (1992), pp. 107–114. 86   The ‘Oneness-Trinitarian Pentecostal Final Report, 2002–2007’ is published in Pneuma 30/2 (2008): 203–24. 84

24

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Globalization Up to this point the references to what Anderson felicitously calls the ‘Majority World’ or the ‘Two-Thirds World’ have largely concerned the issue of whether other Spirit-shaped churches are appropriately called ‘Pentecostal’. But in fact ‘classical’ Pentecostalism has become a truly worldwide phenomenon. It is growing much faster and having far greater impact in Asia, Africa and Latin America than in either North America or Europe. In the USA the Pentecostal presence is more visible and more numerous than in Europe. But its corner of the Christian market is still one of a significant minority rather than one with a major impact on society.87 For literature on Pentecostalism worldwide Hollenweger has chapters on Pentecostalism in selected nations. Cox conveys something of the flavour of the explosion of Pentecostal faith and praxis around the world. But it is probably David Martin who has thought the most about the impact of Pentecostalism on different cultures and societies outside Europe and North America.88 Here we find a recurrence of a pattern with studies of revivalism: the first professional studies generally come from the sociologists and the anthropologists, followed a generation later by the historians with the theologians limping along in the rear. The interest of sociologists, such as Paul Freston, means that much attention is given to the Pentecostal impact on people of different social classes and the stance of Pentecostals regarding political participation.89 Martin’s latest work gathers the contributions of various researchers into particular local and regional expressions, adding his own more global and continental reflections. Martin makes clear that (1) the rapid growth of Pentecostalism in the developing nations, and particularly in Latin America, comes from indigenous factors, and not from North American initiatives and influences; (2) there are significant differences in the embodiment and the appeal of the Pentecostal movement as between Latin America, Asia and Africa; (3) in Latin America, Pentecostal faith has spread fastest among the most marginalized, being ‘the option of the poor’; (4) there is nonetheless a Pentecostal commonality that is recognizably Pentecostal in these very different situations and cultures. In some Third World countries newer elements in the Pentecostal movement have adopted forms of the prosperity gospel. It is important here to examine the new (and what may seem to us deviant) developments in their full sociocultural context. On Latin America and particularly Brazil Martin writes,

87

  ‘Though classical Pentecostalism is vibrant in North America, it remains subordinate.’ (Martin, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish, Oxford, 2002, p. 3) 88  See David Martin, Forbidden Revolutions (London, 1996) and Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. 89   Paul Freston, Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Cambridge, 2001).

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

25

Since the late 1970s, a number of groups have emerged on the fissile Pentecostal scene which both address and mirror cultural strains of post-modern capitalism. From the wrong side of the tracks or from the criminal underbelly of the megacities, ‘consumer’ capitalism must sometimes look more like ‘casino’ capitalism, with fortunes to be won and lost in an instant – a feature strongly echoed in the prosperity gospel of these newer groups.90

Particularly controversial in Brazil is the Universal Church of the Reign of God (IURD), founded by Edir Macedo as a result of a vision or dream in 1977. With a flamboyant style, IURD has acquired huge assets, including a major-market TV channel in Sao Paulo and an AM frequency in Rio de Janiero. Martin notes that ‘the Universal Church attracts the underworld sector of the underclass’, citing a senior IURD pastor’s statement that ‘up to half the young pastorate has been drawn out of the lower reaches of narcocapitalism’.91 Thus its ‘style is that of salespeople promoting spiritual assurance and converting the skills of the illicit economy to licit advantage’.92 Waldo Cesar and the late Richard Shaull have produced a significant study of contemporary Brazilian Pentecostalism.93 It is interesting first because the two authors worked together for years in a liberation theology context with little sympathy for Pentecostalism. It was their engagement with the poor that led them to study the Pentecostal movement. A comprehensive research required them to make contact with the IURD.94 Shaull notes a significant development in ‘the understanding and experience of salvation’ from a primary focus on forgiveness and justification to ‘sick persons being healed, … broken lives being reintegrated and restored, and … those abandoned finding what they need to live’.95 For Shaull this is not a rejection of forgiveness and justification but the recovery of a vision that no longer makes a sharp separation between spiritual and material realities. People for whom the world has been a prison, many of whom are living, in a sense, on their own ‘death row,’ facing total deprivation and abandonment, enter, through the Spirit, into another realm. They find themselves in another world, an open world, in which the gates of their prison have been unlocked. It is a world in which the sick are being healed, broken families restored, broken lives put 90

 Martin, p. 80.   Ibid., p. 80. 92   Ibid., p. 88. 93  Richard Shaull and Waldo Cesar, Pentecostalism and the Future of the Christian Churches (Grand Rapids, MI & Cambridge, UK, 2000). 94   ‘The initial research project did not necessarily include the IURD, which became fundamental due to the importance of this branch of Pentecostalism in the whole of the conversion experience and the transformations occurring in the life of its followers, as well as its marked worldwide growth.’ (Ibid., p. 17, note 2.) 95   Ibid., p. 152. 91

26

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements together again, and desperate economic situations often changed. All of these things confirm the claim made by Bishop Macedo that ‘God has always been ready to make possible the impossible things in life’.96

This transformation is only possible through a radical faith in the Father God, who constantly provides for his family through his Son Jesus in the experienced power of the Holy Spirit. These studies should forewarn us against equating all forms of prosperity teaching with doctrine emanating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cesar makes significant comments about the relationship in this popular Pentecostalism between ‘Word and Reality’. I cite key statements: The word dominates the Pentecostal service. … the power of the untiring word has internal and external effects. … Personal evangelism repeats the technique of the sermons. … the extension of the word beyond the ecclesiastical sphere, currently not very evident in the historic churches, has reached and continues to gain enormous space in the media.97

There is a significant development here in an understanding of the Word and its incarnation. This outward extension of the Word is a subject to which we will return in the next chapter on new charismatic churches. Concluding Remarks The most significant writings about Pentecostalism largely subdivide into two categories: (1) contemporary studies of its amazing growth in the developing world, especially in Latin America; and (2) historical studies about Pentecostal origins in the developed world, especially the USA. This combination suggests that what is most noteworthy is the dynamic movement character of Pentecostalism in its beginnings and first two generations. However we should note the recent appearance of an important theological work by a Pentecostal scholar, Frank Macchia’s Baptized in the Spirit.98 Here for the first time a Pentecostal theologian takes the central Pentecostal motif of Spirit-baptism and examines its significance for all areas of Christian life and teaching: Christology, Pneumatology, Ecclesiology, Ecumenism, Eschatology, Worship and Social Ethics. It represents a decisive break from the dominance of Pentecostal doctrine by Evangelical categories and begins to do justice to the distinctiveness of the Pentecostal movement and experience. While this is a theology from the heart of the Pentecostal movement, it also has relevance to the charismatic movement, both inside and outside the historic churches, but it is less relevant to those Spirit-churches that lack any concept of Spirit-baptism.   Ibid., p. 153.   Ibid., pp. 42–4. 98  Grand Rapids MI, 2006. 96 97

The Pentecostal Movement: Major Issues and Challenges

27

The respective contributions of sociologists and anthropologists to Pentecostal studies can clarify the relationships between the Pentecostal movement and the other Spirit-shaped movements, particularly in Africa. The sociologists are more likely to accentuate the differences because they are studying movements from the angle of their social identity and their patterns of organization. The anthropologists, who are more focused on rituals, practices and cultural factors, are more likely to throw light on the religious elements common to both the Pentecostal movement and other Spirit-shaped faith communities. But, as Kalu emphasizes, the whole Pentecostal phenomenon cannot be fully understood by the human sciences alone but also requires the resources of theological scholarship and spiritual discernment.

This page has been left blank intentionally

Chapter 2

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks The charismatic movement represents the appearance of the basic Pentecostal experience and giftings beyond the recognized boundaries of the Pentecostal movement in what Donald Gee described as ‘Pentecost outside Pentecost’. However from an early stage the charismatic movement has contained two distinct components: • •

the renewal movement within the older denominations and churches. the rise of new charismatic churches, ministries and networks, outside of and unconnected to the older denominations or to the Pentecostal movement.

I have chosen to treat the new churches and networks before the renewal movement within the older denominations because in many countries some 40 years on the new charismatic churches and networks represent the fastest-growing sector of the Holy Spirit movement. Their dynamism, creativity and flexibility present a major challenge to the historic churches parallel to the challenge of the Pentecostal movement, a challenge which they ignore to their own loss. Another reason for treating the new charismatics before mainline church renewal is that they follow on more logically from the Pentecostals. The independence and the separatism in their origins liken them to the Pentecostals and distinguish them from mainline charismatics. However their widespread acceptance of the label ‘charismatic’ represents a clear distinction from the Pentecostal movement with which they do not fully identify. Impact of the New Charismatics Consider the following items: •

March for Jesus, begun by four new charismatic leaders in Britain in 1987, had by 1994 involved 9 million believers in 178 nations; by the final Global March for Jesus on 10 June 2000, over 60 million people in 180 nations had marched for Jesus.

  See Gerald C. Ediger, ‘The Proto-Genesis of the March for Jesus Movement, 1970– 87’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 12/2 (2004): 247–75.

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

30

• •

• • • • •

The Hope churches in Thailand, begun with the Hope of Bangkok in 1981, had by 1997 developed into more than 800 Hope of God churches in a country traditionally resistant to Christian missionary efforts. The biggest contribution of new worship songs comes from the new charismatic churches – several from the Vineyard churches (Kevin Prosch, Brian Doerksen, David Ruis), from Hillsong, Sydney, Australia (Darlene Zschech), from Morning Star in Charlotte, North Carolina (Don Potter). From the British-based networks come Graham Kendrick (Ichthus), Noel Richards (Pioneer), Chris Bowater and Godfrey Birtill (Grapevine, later Ground Level) and Dave Fellingham (New Frontiers). By early 2006 the Vineyard churches, established by John Wimber in 1985, had 625 churches in the USA, expected to plant 59 more in 2007, with a presence in 60 nations. Dr Patrick Dixon, a medical doctor and long-time leader in the Pioneer network in England, founded ACET, which became the largest charity working for AIDS victims in Britain. The Jesus Army (Jesus Fellowship) in England, that has given rise to the Multiply network, has 300 members committed to a life of celibacy, which is unusual for a group that came out of a Baptist background. In Germany most major cities now have a large charismatic church in the city centre in a country where the free churches had always struggled to make an impact. The Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, has given birth to large Hillsong congregations in London and Kiev, Ukraine.

These snippets of information point to the worldwide impact of the new church charismatics who are neither Pentecostals nor related to existing denominations. This phenomenon needs to be studied in its own right as well as in comparison to the Pentecostal movement and the charismatic renewal in the historic churches. Bibliography As the new charismatic churches are more recent arrivals than the Pentecostal denominations, they have not yet attracted much scholarly research. As they are in a phase of rapid evolution in an age of increasingly hectic change, it is less   See The New Apostolic Churches, C. Peter Wagner (ed.) (Ventura CA, 1998), pp. 271–9.   See Simon Cooper and Mike Farrant, Fire in Our Hearts (Northampton, 1997). The Jesus Army grew out of a Baptist church in Bugbrooke, Northants, that had been disfellowshipped by the Baptist Union of Great Britain (ibid., p. 230). For a sociological analysis of the Jesus Fellowship see Stephen J. Hunt, ‘The Radical Kingdom of the Jesus Fellowship’, Pneuma 20/1 (1998): 21–41.

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

31

easy to provide accurate information and informed reflection. As yet there are no ‘new charismatic’ studies equivalent to the works of Walter Hollenweger, Allan Anderson and David Martin on the worldwide Pentecostal movement. The items in the bibliography that treat of the ‘new charismatics’ fall into the following categories: (1) studies of this phenomenon in particular countries; (2) research and reflection on particular groups or networks; (3) promotional presentations by protagonists, such as Wagner; (4) the writings of new church leaders, especially autobiographies. In addition, for the UK there is the descriptive journalistic account of Cotton, which makes no pretence of comprehensive coverage, but which captures the spirit of some new church networks. Origins The origins of independent groupings welcoming a Pentecostal baptism in the Spirit lie in Britain and the USA. In Britain the first Mecca for charismatics eschewing denominational connections was the fellowship at South Chard in Somerset led by Sid Purse, while the Devon conferences organized by David Lillie and Arthur Wallis in the late 1950s and early 1960s were developing a charismatic element. All three were former Brethren, a group who refused fellowship to tongues-speakers.10 Lillie’s focus was the New Testament church while Wallis’ heart was for revival. A conference on ‘The Apostolic Commission’ at Herne Bay   In the UK there are two specialist studies on this topic: Andrew Walker, Restoring the Kingdom (Guildford, 1998) and William Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain (Carlisle, 2007). In Germany two studies address new charismatic patterns with a major focus on the new charismatic churches: Reinhard Hempelmann, Licht und Schatten des Erweckungschristentums (Stuttgart, 1998) and Peter Zimmerling, Die charismatischen Bewegungen (Göttingen, 2002).    Simon Coleman studies the Word of Life church in Uppsala, Sweden in The Globalisation of Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge, 2000). The Vineyard movement is included in studies by Daniel Albrecht, Rites in the Spirit (Sheffield, 1999), Donald Miller, Reinventing American Protestantism (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, 1997) and Martyn Percy, Words, Wonders and Power (London, 1996).    See The New Apostolic Churches, C. Peter Wagner (ed.) and C. Peter Wagner, Churchquake! (Ventura CA, 1999). The impression given by Wagner that all the new church networks presented in The New Apostolic Churches are highly significant is somewhat misleading. Some networks that do not mention their statistics are quite small.    See Gerald Coates, An Intelligent Fire (Eastbourne, 1991) and Terry Virgo, No Well-Worn Paths (Eastbourne, 2001).    Ian Cotton, The Hallelujah Revolution (London, 1995).    This story is told in Peter Hocken, Streams of Renewal (Carlisle, 1997), pp. 11–20 and Walker, pp. 51–65. 10  Lillie and Purse were excluded by the Brethren for this reason. Wallis did not speak in tongues until 1962. 

32

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

in 1965 continued the seed-sowing, but a meeting in Paignton in 1970 was the first gathering of those who would become leaders in the British ‘house church movement’ of the 1970s. In the USA the first major independent expression formed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, within the Holy Spirit Teaching Mission in 1970, soon re-named Christian Growth Ministries (CGM), under the leadership of Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Charles Simpson and Don Basham.11 Here they became known as ‘nondenominational’ though the Americans were generally less anti-denominational than the British. At the same time, there were the beginnings of other independent charismatic assemblies led by men such as Robert Frost and Judson Cornwall. In the early to mid-1970s there was quite close collaboration between the CGM leaders and the leaders of the mainline renewal communities, particularly the Word of God at Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1974 Ern Baxter’s arrival at CGM with his background in the Latter Rain movement linked the ‘discipling’ ideas of CGM with his own vision for the restoration of apostolic and prophetic ministry. Baxter was for a short time the bridge between the fledgling movement in the USA and that in Britain.12 In the 1970s the independent charismatics in Britain began to organize and to become a recognized force. This was when the first groupings developed (the network idea had not yet arrived) and the first ‘non-denominational’ magazines appeared.13 It was also when the first divisions occurred.14 In the USA the controversy surrounding the shepherding and discipling of pastors practised by the Fort Lauderdale five led to the need for two non-denominational sections in the major Kansas City conference of 1977, one pro- and one anti-discipling. The early 1980s saw the break-up of the Fort Lauderdale system.15 This was the period when new networks were being formed, into which many of the formerly discipled pastors took their churches and a period of many independent charismatic assemblies being established. In South Africa the rise of new charismatic churches dates from the mid- to late 1970s. In Germany the formation of new charismatic assemblies dates from the early 1980s.16 In the 1990s some of the larger German city charismatic churches 11  For a history of CGM and the discipleship controversy see S. David Moore, The Shepherding Movement (London & New York, 2003). 12   On Baxter’s influence in the UK see Walker, pp. 92–101. 13  In UK Restoration was published by Bryn Jones from 1976 and Fullness from about 1970. In the USA New Wine magazine (1969–1987), published by the Holy Spirit Teaching Mission and then by CGM, became a teaching instrument that circulated widely in the whole renewal movement in the USA. 14   The split between the Bradford group (Jones and Wallis) and the London axis (Coates and Noble) occurred in 1976 (see Walker, pp. 87–109). 15  See Moore, ch. 9. Only Simpson stayed with the discipling model. 16  For example Berlin (Philadelphia-Gemeinde later Gemeinde auf dem Weg), Cologne (early 1980s), Wuppertal, Deggendorf (Bavaria), Nuremberg and Frankfurt (later

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

33

formed new congregations in surrounding towns and started their own networks.17 On the European continent, notably in Germany, Switzerland and France, the new charismatic churches have had an impact never previously attained by the free churches. They are also a significant presence in the former Communist lands of Eastern Europe. The Distinctiveness of the New Charismatic Churches While there is much variety in the new church phenomenon, as there is in the Pentecostal movement, the common features of the new charismatic churches are most obvious in North America, Europe and Australasia. Their distinctiveness is seen most clearly in the ways that they differ from the Pentecostals, who likewise received the work of the Spirit among them as a ‘new thing’ and did not feel any need to relate it to received traditions. In Africa, Asia and Latin America there is not such a clear distinction between the Pentecostals and the new charismatics. The situation in Africa is quite distinctive. Differently from Asia and Latin America, Africa had seen the rise of many independent indigenous churches throughout the twentieth century.18 While virtually all the AICs gave an important place to Holy Spirit experience and empowering, to visions and dreams, to exuberant worship and to healing and deliverance, they had a very different physiognomy from the Pentecostal movement. They were often tribally based and did not consciously see themselves as part of a larger movement. However in the last 25 years there has been throughout subSaharan Africa a massive proliferation of new church groupings and ministries of a clearly Pentecostal and charismatic type.19 Whereas the older AICs had little fellowship beyond their own people, the new Pentecostal-charismatic churches in Africa clearly belong to the age of globalization, internet and jet travel, presenting themselves as players on a global stage.20 Asamoah-Gyadu writes of these churches that they ‘have taken over from the older historic mission churches as the representative face of African Christianity, constitute the growing edges of the shift in the centre of gravity of Christianity from the north to the south.’21

in the 1980s). 17  For example in Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Berlin (Kirche am Sudstern). 18  See Chapter 1 concerning the debate whether these AICs are appropriately termed ‘Pentecostal’. 19  See Kalu who devotes Part 2 of his study on African Pentecostalism to ‘The Modern Pentecostal Movement, 1970s–1990s’, pp. 87–165. 20  See Jenkins, The Next Christendom. 21   J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Pulling Down Strongholds: Evangelism, Principalities and Powers and the African Pentecostal Imagination’, International Review of Mission, 96 (2007): 315.

34

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

However there are significant differences between the new churches in Africa, Asia and North America and those in the developed world. The new churches in these continents do not share the determination of the new charismatics in Europe and North America not to become new denominations. Many regard themselves as interchangeably Pentecostal and charismatic. They are often more monarchical in their pattern of government, less committed to networking and apostolic teams and often do not share the widespread aversion of many northern colleagues to titles and clerical dress. The following survey will focus on the new church patterns of the developed world that are most clearly distinct from the Pentecostal movement. Non-Denominational Perhaps the most obvious feature of the new church groupings is their opposition to denominationalism and to institutional Christianity. As Kay aptly notes: ‘There was a sense in which the networks looked at denominational structures and decided to do the opposite.’22 For this reason they were generally classified in the 1970s as ‘non-denominational’. The change in the 1990s, particularly in Britain, to the language of ‘new churches’ represents a move away from sectarian confrontation and separatism to Evangelical-charismatic cooperation rather than any major change in their attitudes to church tradition and to institutions. The new charismatics typically regard inherited church structures as an obstacle to evangelism, to vigorous church life and to dynamic church growth. Their opposition to formalized structures affects everything: worship, teaching, ministry and mission. No fixed structure for worship means openness for the Spirit to lead and to shape the worship. In teaching there is a reluctance to draw up credal statements and to distinguish a ministry or a network on doctrinal grounds.23 An exception to some degree is the Faith movement of churches that have embraced the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’, of which more later in this chapter. In ministry there is a reluctance to formalize ministries by patterns of ministerial ordination. Although Pentecostalism is only one century old as a movement, it has become in effect a cluster of Pentecostal denominations with some associated ministries. In the view of the new churches the Pentecostals took a wrong turning when they formed denominations, thereby seriously weakening the dynamic of the Spirit. It is a mistake the new churches are determined not to repeat. The new church attitude, at least in the brashness of their origins, is vividly illustrated in this quotation from a magazine interview: Q: How are you going to keep all this going? A: We’re not! It’s vital we don’t keep it going. So often, initiatives which start with God soon become part of an institution. We’ve got to keep God central to all that is happening. He has 22

 Kay, p. 249.  In Germany several of the new churches have produced statements of faith.

23

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

35

started this and He must continue to inspire it. We don’t want to become an organisation, but keep as a movement.24

Dick Iverson of Portland, Oregon, has listed three factors that cause fellowships to become denominations: ‘credentialing’ (with ordination of ministers), ownership of buildings and forming a central missions board. Thus Iverson’s network, Ministers Fellowship International, has three principles that bind leaders together in a way that preserves fellowship without denomination-forming tendencies: relationships, integrity and doctrinal compatibility.25 Iverson’s ideal of ‘doctrinal compatibility’ well illustrates the characteristic new church approach to doctrine. Doctrine is not unimportant and the new churches do share fundamental Evangelical-charismatic convictions about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, redemption, conversion, worship, sin and repentance. But what matters is not subscription to a formula, ancient or modern, but fundamental agreement in spirit. They do not start from a doctrinal system and they do not easily nail down their beliefs in propositional form. Hence ‘doctrinal compatibility’. Contemporaneity A corollary of their anti-institutionalism is the feel of the new churches for the Zeitgeist, expressed in their contemporary style. Some commentators see the new churches as characteristically ‘postmodern’, as does Donald Miller in his study ReInventing American Protestantism, examining three new Californian enterprises: Calvary Chapel,26 Vineyard and Hope Chapel,27 that he calls ‘new paradigm churches’: ‘At first, new paradigm churches may seem to fit into such established categories as fundamentalist, evangelical, Pentecostal, charismatic, and orthodox. Yet none of these terms alone captures the essence of new paradigm groups; they all miss the emphasis on cultural currency.’28 Miller adds, ‘new paradigm churches and their members have responded to the therapeutic, individualistic, and anti-establishment themes of the counterculture’.29 He also notes their parallels with new forms of business and social organization: ‘More generally, new paradigm churches fit a number of the postmodern trends

  ‘Talking to Pete Greig’, Jesus Life, 60 (2002): 13. Greig, the prime mover in the 24-7 prayer movement, describes how he sought advice from a young entrepreneur on ‘how to get organized without turning into an organization’, Pete Greig and Dave Roberts, Red Moon Rising (Orlando FL, 2005), p. 252. 25  See The New Apostolic Churches, Wagner (ed.), pp 176–7. 26   Calvary Chapel is not a charismatic grouping. 27  In fact, Hope Chapel is part of the International Church of the Four Square Gospel, a Pentecostal denomination. 28  Miller, p. 20. 29   Ibid., p. 21. 24

36

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

emphasizing decentralization, flexibility, and networking, rather than centralized management.’30 Flexibility Flexibility is a hallmark of the new churches. The new church networks are based on relationships, whether with peers and/or with brothers having an apostolic oversight, not on acceptance of formal authority, positions and titles. They are very functional, geared towards spiritual effectiveness and productivity, organized in view of mission and focused on particular tasks. Their leaders are spiritual entrepreneurs, who launch new Christian ventures, especially ‘church planting’, like business leaders engaged in expansion rather than traditional church leaders, whether historic or free church. The new churches are pragmatic in their style, constantly adapting, one eye on the latest move of the Spirit and the other on marketing methods, leadership patterns and opportunities for expansion. The new churches founded in Europe and North America in the 1980s and 1990s typically have dynamic leaders (nearly all under 40 when they acquired major leadership positions) mostly without training in denominational institutions, intelligent and skilled, with real gifts for leadership. As spiritual entrepreneurs, who have experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, they use their skills, natural and learned, to spread this new life. Most leaders discovered their leadership abilities by successful leading. The training and discipling of young leaders is a priority but the bulk of the training is ‘on the job’ and centred on relationships not study. In the last decade many of these networks are forming their own schools, initially limiting themselves to one- or two-year courses with a strongly practical focus, a spiritual equivalent of the former British technical colleges. So the Vineyard Leadership Institute in the USA offers ‘a distinctive, cutting-edge, and empowering curriculum that allows students pragmatic training in church leadership as well as challenging studies into spirituality and theology’.31 These words are carefully chosen to express the Vineyard priorities and to reach their intended market. The contemporaneity and flexibility are also expressed in the buildings adapted or constructed as worship and ministry centres by the new churches. These never look like traditional churches. Many are on industrial estates, not infrequently in warehouse buildings. Whereas the traditional church building is oriented towards altar and pulpit, the new church centre is typically a multipurpose building that includes a worship area with a podium or stage for leaders and music ministry and a large open space for celebration and ministry. Easily movable chairs replace pews and benches.

  Ibid., p. 154.  From website www.vli.org.

30 31

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

37

Networking How do you organize church life without developing centralized organizations that are new denominations in the making? The ‘new church’ answer to this question is ‘networking’, which is seen as a flexible ‘non-institutional’ form of partnership and collaboration. The typical new church network consists of local churches whose leaders relate to and accept the services offered by the network leader, who is recognized as having an apostolic ministry.32 In most cases the leader of the network was the founder of a church that became a model, a kind of flagship congregation, from which other churches were planted and around which other churches gathered. As the network grows, the main leader hands over the local church he founded to another pastor and concentrates on network leadership and wider ministry, understood as an apostolic role. The story of Terry Virgo from Brighton, Sussex, founder and leader of New Frontiers International (NFI), told in his autobiography No Well-Worn Paths, is characteristic of this pattern.33 In Britain there are several new church networks: the largest is NFI;34 others include Salt and Light, led by Barney Coombs;35 Ichthus, led by Roger Forster (South-East London); Multiply, led by Noel Stanton (Northampton);36 Ground Level, led by Stuart Bell (Lincoln). The Pioneer network, led by Gerald Coates (Farnham, Surrey), with approximately 85 churches, was restructured in 2006 to become in effect ‘a network of networks’ known as the National Churches Forum, which also embraces the c-net churches, formerly Cornerstone, centred in Southampton, whose leader Billy Kennedy with his wife Caroline are the facilitators of the new Forum.37 In Northern Ireland there is LifeLink, led by Paul Reid (Belfast). In Australia Brian Houston, the founder of Hillsong Church in Sydney, has founded the international Hillsong Network. In the USA major new church networks include Christian International Ministries, led by Bishop Bill Hamon (Santa Rosa Beach, Florida); Dove Christian Fellowship International, led by Larry Kreider (Ephrata, Pennsylvania); Sovereign Grace Ministries, led by

32

 See also sections below on apostolic and prophetic ministries.  Walker enthused over Virgo’s book which he said is ‘destined to become a classic’. One of its qualities is its evident honesty, a refreshing trait in a movement not known for its modesty. NFI is unique as a European network that has established a successful base in the USA. 34  NFI reported 190 churches in the UK in early 2006, but works in 29 other nations. For their growth in the UK see Kay, pp. 64–81 and David Smith ‘An Account for the Sustained Rise of New Frontiers International within the United Kingdom’, The Journal of the European Pentecostal Association, XXIII (2003): 137–56. 35  See Kay, pp. 82–99. 36  Multiply is the network that grew out of the Jesus Fellowship based in Northampton. See note 3. 37  See Kay, p. 133. Coates now leads a ministry known as Exchange. 33

38

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

C. J. Mahaney (Gaithersburg, Maryland);38 Bethany Cell Church Network, led by Larry Stockstill (Baton Rouge, Louisiana); Harvest International Ministries, led by Che Ahn (Pasadena, California); Ministers Fellowship International, led by Dick Iverson (Portland, Oregon); Rock Ministerial Family, until recently led by the late John Gimenez (Virginia Beach, Virginia). In France there is a network led by Pierre Cranga of Maçon. In Belgium a network led by Raymond van de Put has over 200 churches in Africa. Although the distinction between Pentecostal and charismatic churches is not so clear in Latin America, the International Charismatic Mission in Bogota, Colombia, founded by Cesar Castellanos, clearly fits within the new charismatic mould and has an international outreach, based more on network lines than denominational patterns. Of course the styles of leadership and fellowship vary from one network to another. In general the British networks are more informal than the American, the offices of the main leader less like the office of a CEO. The Europeans have avoided titles such as one finds in some USA networks, for example Apostle John P. Kelly, Apostle John Eckhardt, Bishop Wellington Boone, Bishop Bill Hamon,39 Bishop Keith Butler.40 However the developing reality of the new church networks has sometimes outgrown their self-presentation. While their literature emphasizes the priority of relationships as against patterns of institutional authority, less remarked upon is the changing role of the main leaders as their networks grow and multiply. While in the early stages most networks have little administrative apparatus or permanent staff, significant growth produces new demands. The fastest growing often find the need to build their own headquarters, with a large auditorium for the flagship congregation and to found their own colleges. As this happens, what really distinguishes the new church groupings from established denominations is their relatedness to an unelected charismatic leader-for-life. The vaunted flexibility becomes to some degree qualified by the buildings and can come to mean flexibility for the leader to modify the network as he sees fit. Networks are not so much a means of avoiding permanent structures as of ensuring that the emerging structures remain subordinated to mission. The one new church grouping that has been less allergic to denominational tendencies is the Vineyard. Its founder, John Wimber, was never antidenominational and encouraged denominational renewal as well as forming his own church network.41 But even in Wimber’s lifetime (he died in 1997), Vineyard 38

 Until 2003 known as People of Destiny International.   These four titles are found in The New Apostolic Churches, Wagner (ed.). Eckhardt, Boone and Butler are all African Americans, who use titles, particularly that of bishop, much more readily than Caucasian Americans being less influenced by the latter’s Evangelical antipathies. 40   Word of Faith International Christian Center, Southfield, Michigan. 41   For Wimber’s influence on Anglican renewal see Stephen Hunt, ‘The Anglican Wimberites’, Pneuma, 17/1 (1995): 105–18. 39

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

39

had opted to be what Kay calls ‘a new kind of denomination ... defined in terms of “centred sets”, a term that describes groups that have joined together around core values’.42 As a result Vineyard has developed flexible structures that combine elements of episcopal-type oversight, one-on-one mentoring of pastors and a degree of congregational autonomy, together with an International Consortium gathering the leaders from each nation represented. Vineyard is the one network where the founder’s death led to an election of a new leader.43 It may be asked whether the word ‘network’ is the most appropriate description for the new church groupings as they are currently developing. The selfimage of the new churches is of flexible networks without top-down authority patterns. An American leader explains: ‘Unlike an “association of churches” or a denomination that gives ordination and general accountability to church leaders, we see an “apostolic movement” as a family of churches having a common focus: a mandate from God to labor together to plant and establish churches throughout the world.’44 In fact there is a wide range of ethos among the new church groupings ranging from the most laid-back to the tightly controlled. The majority of the new churches belong to one network with which they particularly identify. But as the networks are not governed by regulations, churches are often free to relate to more than one network, which primarily means benefiting from the resources on offer, for example courses for pastors, being on mailing lists and receiving invitations to network meetings.45 Brian Houston insists that the Hillsong network exists solely to impart Hillsong’s values through its various resources. Sectarian or Ecumenical Although the new church charismatics in their beginnings exuded a spirit of ‘we are the real church of the future’, by their third decade they were already becoming less sectarian in mentality and more open to collaboration with other Christians. The adolescent cockiness of the early trashing of the denominations has given way to a degree of humility and a recognition that the new churches are not exempt from the sins of ecclesiastical flesh. Their severe criticism of the denominations was always more grounded in pragmatic judgments than in doctrinal differences. 42

 Kay, p. 166.   Todd Hunter, elected after Wimber’s death, was replaced by Bert Waggoner in 2000. In 2005 the Vineyard movement in the USA changed their name from the Association of Vineyard Churches to Vineyard USA: A Community of Churches. The election of new leaders is very untypical for the new churches. 44  Larry Kreider in The New Apostolic Churches, Wagner (ed.), p. 107. 45  Statistics for multiple network membership in Britain are given by Kay, p. 308: Ichthus (42 per cent), Vineyard (32 per cent), Jesus Fellowship (29 per cent), Salt and Light (29 per cent), Ground Level (24 per cent), Pioneer (17 per cent) and New Frontiers (11 per cent). 43

40

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

In other words, they were opposed to lack of life, to lack of spiritual power and lack of impact. As many discovered spiritual dynamism and resources outside their camp, they have become open to fellowship and exchange.46 New church openness towards the renewal currents in the historic churches took concrete form in March for Jesus, a truly new church initiative in spirit and style, dating from 1987.47 Its goals were expressed in the March for Jesus Vision Statement: ‘To see churches united in public worship of our Lord Jesus Christ and working together to impact their city with praise, power and proclamation.’ Though the vision of new church charismatics, March for Jesus invited and welcomed the participation of all other Christians. This approach has much influenced charismatic leaders meetings, first in Britain48 and subsequently in Germany,49 where the influence on style and agenda of the new church/non-denominational leaders is evident. The new church pioneer who has had the biggest influence on the wider church world has been the late John Wimber. Wimber brought into the nondenominational world the spirit of free-flowing Californian hippie counterculture that was suspicious of the posh and the correct but never sectarian. His unpretentious style and his openness to learn, even from scholars, no doubt played a role in the remarkable appeal he had for English Anglicans, symbolized in his close friendship with the highly respected Anglican charismatic, the late David Watson.50 Wimber’s ministry impacted the whole renewal movement, independent and historic church.51 Although he came to disassociate himself from the current emanating from the Airport church in Toronto, labelled in Britain the ‘Toronto blessing’, his ministry prepared the way for the welcome given in Britain to ‘Toronto’ throughout the new churches and among many Anglicans52 and Baptists 46

 Ewen Robertson attributes the major decline of the British-based network, Covenant Ministries International, to ‘an unwillingness to engage and work with others in the wider Body of Christ’ (‘An Evaluation of the History of Covenant Ministries International and its Offshoots from 1995 to the Present Day’, The Journal of the European Pentecostal Association, XXVII (2007): 90). 47  See Ediger, ‘The Proto-Genesis of the March for Jesus Movement, 1970–87’. 48   The chair of Charismata, the British Charismatic Leaders conference, for many years until 2007 was John Noble, one of the new church leaders most committed to interchurch relations. 49   The German Kreis Charismatischer Leiter was formed in 1993. On its make-up see Hempelmann, pp. 276–7. 50  See Hunt, ‘The Anglican Wimberites’: 105–18. 51   This impact can be seen from the tributes to Wimber: see Meeting John Wimber, John Gunstone (ed.) (Crowborough, 1996) and John Wimber – His Influence and Legacy, David Pytches (ed.) (Guildford, 1998). 52   Another major Anglican renewal figure much influenced by Wimber has been Bishop David Pytches. See David Pytches, Some Said It Thundered (Nashville TN, 1991) and Living at the Edge (Bath, 2002).

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

41

in ‘renewal’. It was through Vineyard leaders in England that the ‘Toronto blessing’ impacted Holy Trinity, Brompton, which became for a time a focal point for its diffusion. This contributed an impetus and a framework for the marketing of the Alpha course, first nationally in Britain and then internationally. Alpha was enthusiastically taken up across the church spectrum but particularly strongly by the new churches; a remarkable illustration of the development of attitudes since the 1970s when it was unimaginable that the non-denominationals would promote a course of Anglican origin. Attitudes to Society

A third characteristic that differentiates the new churches from the Pentecostals is their stance towards the contemporary world. The new churches lack the ‘back street’ underdog mentality of total antagonism to the ‘world’. The new church leaders expect to impact society. They have confidence not only in the power of the Holy Spirit but also in their creative entrepreneurial abilities. This characteristic is linked to the educational background and age of the typical leaders. Most have not been shaped by church institutions. Many have the education of successful business men, so their educational and cultural profile is very different from that of the Pentecostals. Though mostly self-taught as church leaders, they are not men with little education glorying in their ignorance like some early Pentecostals. March for Jesus, already noted as a quintessentially new church creation, illustrates these qualities: the entrepreneurial vision and execution, the bold crossing of boundaries between the holy and the profane and the imaginative publicity. I was in Berlin for the 1994 March for Jesus. Before processing to the Olympic stadium, the march assembled in the heart of Berlin’s business district with the prayer leaders confidently expecting their fervent proclamations to make a spiritual impact on the world of German business and commerce. Such an initiative could hardly have originated in Pentecostal circles that typically focus on more spiritual goals and who have drawn their dignity from their contrast to the powerful and mighty of this world. The attitude of the new churches to society is sometimes conveyed by the names chosen for the local congregations. A common designation is ‘community church’, often preceded by the name of the town or district of its location.53 This designation not only indicates the importance of community bonds within the congregation but also a desire to relate creatively to the wider local community.

53  See Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain, p. 31. Kay and Dyer note that a Google search under ‘community church’ yielded 5,520 congregations in the UK: see ‘Apostolic Networks in the UK: The Dynamics of Growth’, Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, XXV (2005): 6. While some of these would be Baptist or free Evangelical (not charismatic), the majority would belong to the new churches here described. However many new church congregations have other names.

42

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Christian Distinctives The distinctive features of the new charismatic churches so far mentioned reflect differences of mentality, of style and of approach. They are mentioned first because they constitute the most obvious differences between the new charismatics and the Pentecostals. While these factors are not directly doctrinal – though obviously the non-denominational stance is at least indirectly doctrinal – they would seem to be real factors in the growth of the new churches. But what are the theological differences from the Pentecostals and the historic churches? Greater Focus on Church Most of the new church movement pays much more attention to the issue of church than had the Pentecostal movement. While Pentecostalism contained a strong primitivist-restorationist strand in claims to be restoring the ‘full gospel’ with the power and vitality of the Holy Spirit as in New Testament times, the nature and character of the church was not a major focus in most Pentecostal denominations. Most Pentecostal denominations do not mention church in their declarations of faith.54 With most of the new charismatic groupings the church question has become a bigger issue. For Terry Virgo and NFI the restoration of the New Testament church in the power of the Holy Spirit is central to their vision.55 Many speak of ‘doing church’. What has led to this greater focus on the issue of church? In Britain there was a current of interest in ‘the restoration of the New Testament Church’ coming from the Devon conferences of the 1950s and early 1960s, organized by Lillie and Wallis. Here there was a direct influence from the (Plymouth) Brethren, for whom this issue had been more central than for most Evangelical Christians.56 Some of the later house church leaders in Britain attended the later Lillie–Wallis conferences.57 As Wallis expanded his vision from revival to revival-sparked restoration of the church, he became one of the foremost champions of new church restorationism.58 Lillie however remained faithful to his congregational vision of restoration of the New Testament church, being adamantly opposed to all forms of translocal authority and thus on principle against the pattern of apostolic ministry later espoused by Wallis. 54

 See Peter Hocken, ‘Church, Theology of’, in NIDPCM, pp. 544–51.  Virgo’s autobiography No Well-Worn Paths has as a subtitle: ‘Restoring the Church to Christ’s Original Intention’. See also Terry Virgo, Restoration in the Church (Eastbourne, 1985) and A People Prepared (Eastbourne, 1996). 56  See Hocken, Streams of Renewal, Appendix 3 ‘The Ecclesiology of the Plymouth Brethren as Background to the Stream of the Charismatic Movement Associated with D.G. Lillie and A. Wallis’, pp. 201–06. 57  For example Roger Forster, Graham Perrins and Hugh Thompson. 58  See Arthur Wallis, The Radical Christian (Eastbourne, 1981). 55

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

43

Another influence promoting greater interest in church was the emphasis of the charismatics on the full range of spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. While the early Pentecostals paid attention to speaking in tongues and gifts of healing, there was less Pentecostal reflection and teaching on the spiritual gifts in general than in the charismatic movement. This fact contributed to the preference for the term ‘charismatic’ over ‘neo-pentecostal’ in the nomenclature of the later movement. Charismatics were aware that the teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 occurs in the context of Paul’s teaching on the church as body of Christ. New church charismatics were not the only ones to argue that the restoration of the spiritual gifts and the restoration of Ephesians 4: 11 ministries were connected. Baptist scholar Nigel Wright has also argued: ‘If it should seem right to expect the restoration to the church of New Testament gifts, why should we not also expect the restoration of New Testament ministries?’59 While the new churches represent an entrepreneurial Christianity that builds on the desire for personal advancement, the new church leaders are aware of the need to counteract the individualism of Western culture. The new churches have arisen, particularly in Europe, at a time of growing secularization and alienation from organized religion. They have been particularly successful in reaching young Christian couples, seeking a faith-environment in which to raise a family. They have been among the frontrunners in church planting, realizing that converts have to be evangelized into nurturing fellowships and then trained for church growth. Another variant is the relationship between formation of church and impact on society. It is difficult to have a concern for impacting society without having a concern for church. Among the networks in Britain, Pioneer and Ichthus have both been concerned about social impact, though with contrasting styles, while Multiply is the most inter-racial. NFI is more church-growth focused though it now manifests a greater social concern than the house church movement of the 1970s.60 Apostles Today? Central in the new church movement is the emphasis on apostolic and prophetic ministry. It is a characteristic belief of the new churches that the Holy Spirit is restoring today the fivefold ministries of Ephesians 4: 11: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. But the focus is on the ministries of apostle and prophet, because the Evangelical world was already accustomed to the ministries of evangelist, pastor and teacher. At the outset of the Pentecostal movement a few groups had proclaimed the restoration of apostles and prophets, particularly the Apostolic Church formed in Wales in 1916, which then institutionalized these ministries. These ministries, rejected by most Pentecostal churches,61 reappeared in the Latter Rain movement that originated in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada   Ibid., p. 76.  See Virgo, No Well-Worn Paths, ch. 25 ‘Remembering the Poor’, pp. 275–83. 61  See, for example, the repeated rejection of contemporary apostles by Donald Gee. 59 60

44

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

in 1948. The Latter Rain adherents believed in the restoration of the Ephesians 4: 11 ministries and though repudiated by the major Pentecostal denominations they exercised an influence on the emerging charismatic movement.62 This focus on apostolic ministry has led Wagner to coin the label ‘the new apostolic churches’.63 The most common pattern is for the recognized leader of a network or association of churches to be regarded as having ‘an apostolic ministry’. The new churches have been highly critical of the ‘one horse’ ministry patterns in the mainline denominations but their model for team ministry is never simply democratic. The apostolic leader has an apostolic team. However, in most European networks – differently from the USA64 – there is a reluctance to use titles and to call the top leader an ‘apostle’. It seems that some genuinely new patterns of church government and leadership are being developed among the new charismatics. While the new church leaders naturally find the basis for their pattern in the New Testament, the emerging model would have been impossible prior to the advent of jet travel, the internet and mobile phones. In an astonishing development of international ministry the new churches seem to be setting the pace. Almost all who play an apostolic role have an international ministry, not only in the sense of where they preach and teach, but in terms of where they plant churches and which churches they oversee. This is also producing a new missionary pattern.65 The advent of apostolic ministry clearly represents a decisive break with a merely congregationalist vision of the local church. But it is more than the rediscovery of an episcopal pattern of oversight of local congregations. The advocacy of fivefold ministry means holding all five together and in this vision the apostle is the lynchpin. The essence of apostolic ministry is found in foundation laying: the new church apostle is both architect and master-builder. ‘As an “architect” an apostle designs and lays foundations for new churches.’66 So the 62

  The sectarian authoritarianism of the Apostolic Church made them an unattractive model for later charismatics. However there was some influence from the Apostolics on the new churches in Britain (see Walker, pp. 251–5), principally through the brothers Bryn and Keri Jones from Aberdare, South Wales, who became leaders in Harvestime, later Covenant Ministries International (see Robertson). Walker mentions the influence of unnamed former Apostolics on Wallis and Lillie, a reference to Cecil Cousen and Edgar Parkyn. In fact Cousen had been expelled from the Apostolic Church for his refusal to accept what he saw as their authoritarianism and his teaching at the Devon conferences convened by Wallis and Lillie encouraged openness to the spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12, but not the ministries of Ephesians 4: 11. 63  See The New Apostolic Churches, Wagner (ed.). 64   Rick Joyner is an influential American leader, who believes in apostolic ministry but who is evidently critical of the International Council of Apostles and those leaders who appropriate the title of apostle. 65  See Chapter 4. 66  Ron Myer, Fivefold Ministry Made Practical (Lititz PA, 2006), p. 6. See also Kay, pp. 241–6.

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

45

new elements in this model are: (1) the role of the apostle; (2) the integration of all the fivefold ministries into the system; (3) the vision of the local church requiring input from all the fivefold ministries. The new churches have a ‘high doctrine’ of the local church. Hence they are typically opposed to the pattern of para-church movements.67 One recommended handbook for fivefold ministry strongly recommends that all translocal ministers should be accountable to the local church where they live.68 While most of the Pentecostal movement has continued to reject distinctive ministries of apostles and prophets, this debate has not completely bypassed Pentecostal circles. In England the flagship Elim Pentecostal congregation, Kensington Temple in London, has become the centre of a new church-type network.69 But the greater impact has been in Australia, where pressure from younger ministers led the Assemblies of God to approve church planting and to allow pastors to develop apostolic networks whose member churches can choose not to affiliate with the Assemblies. These decisions contributed to subsequent denominational growth.70 Wagner, a somewhat controversial figure, has formed an International Coalition of Apostles, based in the USA.71 Within this body there are stronger signs of moving towards greater organization with the formulation of commonly accepted standards for formation and selection of leaders. Prophetic Ministry In the new churches there has been a fresh attention to prophetic ministry.72 While the Christian world has generally believed that God raises up prophets in each generation, this has typically been seen as a series of unrelated divine interventions rather than as a church-recognized pattern of ministry. Attention was drawn to the prophetic in the late 1980s by the so-called ‘Kansas City prophets’ gathered around the Kansas City Fellowship led by Mike Bickle.73 67

  This does not mean a refusal of fellowship. Thus Lynn Green of Youth With A Mission was a co-founder of March for Jesus with new church leaders Gerald Coates, Roger Forster and Graham Kendrick. 68   See Myer, ch. 11 ‘Fivefold Ministers Work With Local Church Leaders’, pp. 123–4. 69  See Kay, ch. 10. 70  See Wagner, Churchquake!, pp. 149–52. 71   This is distinct from a more ad hoc body, the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, gathered by Peter Wagner and Cindy Jacobs. 72  See Bill Hamon, Prophets and the Prophetic Movement: God’s Prophetic Move Today (Shippensburg PA, 1990). On Hamon, the founder of Christian International Ministries, see also The New Apostolic Churches, pp. 147–58. 73   Later re-named Metro Christian Fellowship. Bishop David Pytches was an enthusiastic advocate of the Kansas City Prophets (see Some Say It Thundered, London, 1991). For a more critical comment, see Nigel Wright in Tom Smail, Andrew Walker and

46

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The most prominent figure recognized as a prophet by many in the charismatic world was Paul Cain, who had been influenced by the Latter Rain movement.74 The Kansas City excitement soon died down but Cain then associated with Rick Joyner’s Morning Star ministry in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has since become a focal point for the ‘prophetic’. Since Cain fell from grace, Joyner has continued to promote a prophetic emphasis.75 Since then there has been an explosion of things prophetic, so one hears of prophetic worship, prophetic praise and prophetic intercession, as well as the formation of prophetic schools. Among those widely recognized in charismatic circles to have a prophetic ministry are Graham Cooke, originally from Southampton, England and Pierre-Daniel Martin, formerly a pastor in the French Reformed Church, now based near Marseilles. The prophetic ministry is often associated with music, with an appeal often being made to 1 Chronicles 25, an association strongly emphasized by many Messianic Jews.76 Closely linked to the revival of the prophetic is a new emphasis on intercession with associated teaching on strategic targeting, spiritual mapping and spiritual warfare. This has mostly arisen in the new church sector. Here the recognition of the spiritual obstacles to effective evangelization, particularly of major cities, has sparked new methods and campaigns. Important here have been the ministries of John Dawson, president of the International Reconciliation Coalition (IRC), of Francis Frangipane of Iowa and of Ed Silvoso, an Argentinian living in the USA. Prayer committees and intercession networks now exist in most nations. Major figures include Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce from the USA, as well as Brian Mills, Roger Mitchell and Chris Seaton from England. In recent years there has been a flowering of ministries of reconciliation, anchored in repentance, again mostly in the new charismatic sector, often sponsoring prayer journeys to sites with evil histories.77 Yet another major initiative originating in England and spreading throughout the world is 24-7 Prayer with the formation of prayer rooms in improbable places, open around the clock and aimed especially at youth.78 Any claim to the prophetic will inevitably be controversial. The established and respected networks have generally integrated the prophetic relatively successfully, Nigel Wright, Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology (London, 1993), pp. 117– 22. 74   But see the trenchant criticisms of Cain and this “monstrous ‘prophets movement’” by a leading practitioner of the healing ministry in Leanne Payne, Heaven’s Calling (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008), p. 114. 75   Joyner produces a quarterly Morning Star Prophetic Bulletin. 76  See Chapter 5. 77  Such initiatives have included prayer journeys to the slave ports of West Africa, to aboriginal settlements in Australia and to the former ‘colonial’ states of the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. 78   The story of 24-7 prayer, which began in Revelation Church in Chichester, is told in Greig and Roberts, Red Moon Rising.

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

47

aided by strong leadership and the generous time given to seeking the Lord in prayer at network gatherings. But the problem of travelling prophets without local anchoring or wider discernment can never be easily overcome. British leader John Noble has noted the worst feature of the prophetic-type ministry as ‘The Personality, Manifestations and Prosperity Cults’.79 The Faith Churches One wing among the new charismatics is somewhat different from the others. These are the so-called ‘Faith’ churches with their message of prosperity and blessing, based on ‘Positive Confession’, sometimes described as ‘name it and claim it’.80 In fact, the American origins of the ‘Faith’ message were Pentecostal rather than charismatic. Almost all of the Faith churches have some link with the ‘father’ of the Faith movement, Kenneth Hagin, Sr of Tulsa, Oklahoma (1917– 2003).81 Hagin was originally in the Assemblies of God,82 but after World War II he associated with the healing Evangelists, who attracted the disapproval of the Pentecostal denominations for their lack of financial accountability and their extravagant claims. The arrival of Hagin’s ministry on the international stage coincided with the burgeoning of the charismatic movement in the 1970s. With the Pentecostal denominations disowning the prosperity message, Hagin with other Faith teachers following his lead rebranded their ministries as ‘charismatic’, less it would seem for theological reasons than for market appeal. Their relationships to other Spirit-filled believers often follow a Pentecostal (little or limited fellowship) pattern rather than a charismatic (open networking) model, but this is not true of all (see the example of Ekman below). While the teachings and practices of the Faith movement undoubtedly owe much to Hagin, not all the most problematic elements in Hagin’s teaching have spread throughout the Faith churches. Overall the Faith movement has been characterized more by Hagin’s prosperity teaching than by his Christology.83 The   John Noble, The Shaking (Mill Hill, London & Grand Rapids MI, 2002), p. 79. For the apostolic ministry the worst feature is ‘Authority Abuse and Kingdom Building’. 80  An Evangelical study of the Faith movement has two chapters that sum up the prosperity teaching: ‘What you say is what you get’ (Positive Confession) and ‘What you get is health and wealth’, in Faith, Health and Prosperity, Andrew Perriman (ed.) (Carlisle, 2003), pp. 30–45, 46–57. 81  Among major Faith leaders who studied at Hagin’s Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa are Ray McCauley, pastor of the Rhema church in Randburg, South Africa and Ulf Ekman, pastor of Word of Life church in Uppsala, Sweden. 82  See Coleman, p. 29. This detail is not mentioned in the NIDPCM entry for Hagin, p. 687. 83  Hagin taught that Jesus died twice, once physically on the cross and then spiritually in his descent into hell. In this view we are saved through the spiritual death. Here there is 79

48

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

emphasis on God as a good God who wants to bless with the threefold blessings for spirit, soul and body has extended beyond the churches identifying with the Faith teaching and is widespread through much of the charismatic movement. The threefold blessings of God form the core preaching of Korean Pentecostal Yonggi Cho and in many places, especially in Africa, there has been a prosperity influence from both Cho and Hagin. The Faith emphases are very widespread among the new churches in Africa, which may regard themselves as Pentecostal, as charismatic or as both. Maybe this is why the largest Faith church in Europe, the Embassy of God church in Kiev, Ukraine, claiming a membership of over 20,000, has been led by a Nigerian, Sunday Adelaja.84 Only founded around 1994, Embassy of God has grown very fast and has a largely Ukrainian membership. Another African, Henry Madaba from Zimbabwe, leads another large charismatic church in Kiev. Another mega-Faith church in Eastern Europe is the Faith church of Sandor Nemeth in Budapest, Hungary, which has just over 9,000 members in its main Budapest congregation, but claims 40,000 members including its affiliated assemblies throughout the Hungarian-speaking areas of Eastern Europe. Nemeth began a congregation in 1978 in Budaörs, just outside Budapest, which developed into the Faith church, which was officially registered in 1989. Some groups have broken away from Nemeth’s church, which is known for its anti-Catholic preaching. The most detailed scholarly study of a Faith church is by a British anthropologist, Simon Coleman, on Word of Life in Uppsala, Sweden, founded and led by Ulf Ekman. It is significant that this objective study in no way hostile to this church comes from an apparently agnostic social scientist and not from a Christian scholar. Word of Life was founded in 1983 and according to Coleman at the time of writing had about 2,000 members who together with the many visitors fill most of the places each Sunday in the 4,000-seater auditorium opened in 1987. ‘Formally, the Word of Life is an independent ministry with no ties to any overarching organisation. In practice, it is at the centre of a network of similar but smaller groups in (mostly urban areas of) Sweden and Scandinavia as a whole.’85 In 1991 around 100 pastors organized a Nordic-wide ‘Faith Movement’s Preachers’ Organisation’.86 Coleman cites another study to indicate that by 1991 there were around 45 Faith groups in Norway, involving perhaps 7,000 people, with a major role being played by the Oslo Christian Centre with its own Bible school and almost 2,000 members.87 The Word clearly a docetic tendency to dismiss the body as having no soteriological significance. 84  See J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘An African Pentecostal on Mission in Eastern Europe: The Church of the “Embassy of God” in the Ukraine’, Pneuma, 27/2 (2005): 297– 321. Adelaja was born in 1967. 85   Coleman, p. 97. 86   Ibid., p. 99. 87   Ibid., p. 100, note 21. Coleman also mentions a faith congregation of nearly 300 people at Trondheim, Norway, the Trondheim Christian Centre, which seems to have close links with Word of Life (p. 99).

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

49

of Life soon opened its own secondary and high schools, very unusual in Sweden, as well as a Bible school claiming to be the largest in Europe with over 6,000 graduates in 15 years.88 Subsidiary Bible schools have been run in Moscow, Tirana (Albania) and Brno (Czech Republic).89 More recently, since the appearance of Coleman’s book, Word of Life has founded a new university in Uppsala. As an anthropologist Coleman does not focus on theological issues and does not note the ways in which Ekman and Word of Life are different from many other Faith churches, for example in their understanding of Israel.90 More recently Ekman has astonished many of his new church colleagues with a new openness to liturgy and to the historic churches including the Roman Catholic Church.91 In this development there are elements in common with the ‘convergence movement’ described at the end of Chapter 3.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 2.1 Service at the Word of Life Church, Uppsala, Sweden. Published with permission from Word of Life Church, Uppsala, Sweden. Copyright © 2008 Livets Ord, Uppsala

88

  Since 1996 the school can offer internationally recognized qualifications through a partnership with Oral Roberts University in the USA (ibid., p. 93). 89   Ibid., p. 95. More recently also in Bratislava, Slovakia. 90  See Ulf Ekman, I Found My Destiny (Uppsala, 2003), ch. 9 ‘Israel and Operation Jabotinsky’, pp. 126–38. 91   The Catholic bishop of Stockholm, Mgr Arborelius, has visited Word of Life and had a public dialogue with Pastor Ekman.

50

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The Faith churches often provoke opposition, including real misgivings among Pentecostals and other charismatics. The opposition from the wider society had been especially strong in Sweden, a relatively small country in terms of population, having a highly socialized political economy and a high percentage of citizens nominally part of the state church. All these factors provided grounds for the rejection of a Faith church as a foreign import alien to Swedish culture and tradition. Coleman’s study provides evidence to nuance these criticisms. First of all, there is a considerable resourcefulness in the adaptation of the American message and style to other milieux, a point verified by some studies of prosperity churches in Africa.92 Secondly, what appears to staid Europeans as typically American is often more a facet of emerging globalization, linked to the world of the international corporations, both a product of American-style business thinking and an adaptation of previous societal patterns. Thus it is a mistake to regard these Faith churches as simply an American import under the guidance or control of the Hagin family in Tulsa. In the process of transplantation, the prosperity message and style undergo contextualization and reshaping. A report on the Faith teaching made to a British Evangelical commission seeks to be fair and objective, singling out both the positive challenges of the Word of Faith movement as well as its errors and imbalance. The authors recommend ‘a constructive or progressive dialogue’ between the movement and mainstream Evangelicalism.93 They affirm: ‘The Word of Faith movement should be recognized as being at its best a serious attempt to explore and be blessed by the generosity and faithfulness of God.’94 But on the other hand: ‘If the Word of Faith movement is to remain committed to the ideal of godly prosperity, then something must be done to dissociate this in the public mind ... from the materialism and hedonism of contemporary culture.’95 The Holy Spirit and the Zeitgeist The significance of the new charismatic churches is not easy to evaluate. The most negative evaluations see them as a flagrant form of a trivialized Christianity that has succumbed to the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. In their often middleclass composition they are seen as more vulnerable to the Zeitgeist than the first generations of Pentecostals, who were more working class. The most positive see them as creative and dynamic expressions of Christian faith in a modern

 See Martin, ch. 6 and Kalu, passim. In fact, Kalu’s entire book is a study of how the Christian gospel and teaching has been adapted and transformed in the African context. He argues that ‘the popularity of the [prosperity] message was buttressed in its resonance with African indigenous concepts of salvation, abundant life, and goals of worship’ (p. 259). 93   Perriman (ed.), p. 230. 94   Ibid., p. 231. 95   Ibid., p. 235. 92

The Charismatic Movement: The New Charismatic Churches and Networks

51

entrepreneurial and technological world with which the historic churches have lost the ability to communicate. On the negative interpretation, the new charismatics may have grown rapidly and attracted much attention, but the Christianity they represent is seen as lacking in depth and unlikely to be a lasting phenomenon. One of the more penetrating criticisms of new church charismatics comes from Martyn Percy in his study of the ministry of John Wimber and Vineyard. Percy sees Wimber as advancing ‘a modern form of Pentecostalism’,96 that like Pentecostalism stresses the need for the Holy Spirit but goes beyond Pentecostalism in equipping all the saints97 to be like Jesus as ongoing channels of the power of God.98 The theological criticisms of the Faith churches can be seen as an extension of these criticisms of Wimber and Vineyard.99 Though Coleman is not a theologian, his interest in Ulf Ekman’s church as an anthropologist leads him to pay particular attention to two issues: (1) the relationship between inner conviction and outward embodiment and (2) the relationships between faith and culture. Coleman is insightful on the centrality and role of the Word and how ‘words appear to become embodied and materialised in the self and the environment’.100 ‘The group itself, located in an industrial zone, is akin to a verbal factory’.101 While mainline Swedish Protestants would dislike the idea, the Faith movement can be seen as carrying further an emphasis on the Word of God. The Word preached and believed in the church becomes the Word proclaimed and actualized in the world. In this way the Faith churches can be understood as a further development of the Word as power, itself creating new life and new forms, in business and economics as well as in church affairs. Thus a critic cited by Coleman ‘comes close to accusing such [Faith] Christians of producing a form of fetished Protestant sacramentality in which idolatry is transformed into “technolatry”’.102 It can be another form of mind (or spirit) over matter, in which historic Christianity sees an element of human arrogance that does not respect and reverence the physical order, but sees it as simply a tool for human domination. Coleman demonstrates in a variety of ways how the Faith movement in Sweden has been influenced by contemporary capitalist thinking and practice: the way the leaders emerge, the form that expansion takes, its critique of social democracy: ‘The Faith Movement provides a context where such leaders do not 96

  Percy, p. 90.   The Vineyard magazine was called for a time Equipping the Saints. 98   ‘We have already noted that Wimber’s interest in the Holy Spirit extends well beyond the traditional Pentecostal beliefs of baptism in the Spirit followed by speaking in tongues. Wimber’s focus lies in “signs and wonders” which empower and motivate believers in their faith.’ (Percy, p. 100). See also Chapter 4. 99   See Perriman for an Evangelical evaluation. 100   Coleman, p. 117. 101   Ibid., p. 117. 102   Ibid., p. 178 97

52

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

hold fixed places in a hierarchy of redistribution, but must constantly prove and recreate themselves within a global market of accumulation, redistribution and consumption of charismatic resources.’103 It is important to distinguish between any group’s formulated teaching and the quality of its Christian life. Because God (and the Holy Spirit) is ‘bigger’ than doctrine and teaching, there can always be more to Christian bodies than their stated ideas. God’s mercy and grace are always vaster than the judgment of critics. For this reason it is possible both to recognize the force in such criticisms and yet see signs of something deeper in the group of which the criticisms are made. However it is through the teaching and understanding that present reality is communicated to the next generation and so doctrinal–theological weaknesses show their effects in this transmission. Concluding Comment I began by speaking of new charismatic churches. But in fact the last 15 years have seen a blurring of the boundaries of the charismatic movement. The boundary markers for the movement, such as a clear adhesion to a definable baptism in the Spirit and a singling out of the gift of tongues, have weakened, while many elements of the charismatic experience, such as exuberant and demonstrative worship, healing and deliverance ministry, have spread beyond explicitly charismatic circles. As a result the distinction between charismatic and noncharismatic congregations has become less clear. So of the three ‘new Paradigm churches’ studied by Donald Miller only Vineyard would be called ‘charismatic’. But all three have been influenced by the same Zeitgeist. Where should the new charismatic churches be placed within the wider spectrum of the modern movements of the Spirit? To answer this question, it is an important principle that what people belong to and where they fit is shown above all by their patterns of fellowship.104 So although the new charismatic churches at the outset shared the Pentecostal suspicion of hierarchy and tradition, there were clear differences shown by the fact that these two groups did not regard each other as soulmates and so had very little mutual fellowship. As this chapter has indicated, the world of the new charismatics is distinctively different from the ethos of the Pentecostal denominations. The primary points of fellowship for the new charismatics today remain their fellows in the new churches, augmented by their more recent bonds with those Evangelical-charismatics in the Protestant churches who are the most open to the new church emphases. To the renewal in the historic churches, we now turn in the following chapter.   Ibid., p. 207.   This principle is akin to the criteria for Pentecostal identity formulated by Bergunder cited in Chapter 1, note 50. 103 104

Chapter 3

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches The charismatic movement within the historic churches is also a phenomenon of huge proportions even if we take some statistics with a pinch of salt. So for example the Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity states: ‘It is an astonishing fact that while 79 million renewal adherents live in North America, the vast majority reside in Latin America (141 million), Asia (134 million), and Africa (126 million).’ Pentecostal blessing first spread to the historic Protestant churches and was initially called ‘neo-Pentecostal’. This was a clear recognition of its basic spiritual affinity with the Pentecostal movement, also expressed in the phrase ‘Pentecost outside Pentecost’. For the Pentecostals there was an element of surprise in the outbreak of glossolalia and other spiritual gifts among Episcopalians, Lutherans and other Protestants in the USA. An open-minded Pentecostal like Gee wished these neo-Pentecostals well, but he thought that it would not be easy for them to maintain their Pentecostal witness within their non-Pentecostal churches. Antecedents There were antecedents prior to the emergence of a recognizable charismatic movement, just as there had been antecedents to the emergence of the Pentecostal movement. Thus for example the Ardèche revival in south-eastern France which occurred in the early 1930s was from the beginning anchored in the Reformed Church through the convictions of its leading figure, Pastor Louis Dallière of Charmes-sur-Rhône. The Ardèche circle was initially the fruit of Pentecostal Evangelism resulting from a visit of the British Pentecostal Evangelist Douglas Scott to Privas in 1930. This small current in France under Dallière’s leadership that issued in the Union de Prière of Charmes was an antecedent to the charismatic movement in a deeper sense than the mere fact of Christians from a historic Protestant church being baptized in the Spirit. Dallière welcomed the Pentecostal revival and experience    Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, Stanley Burgess (ed.) (New York and London, 2006), art. on ‘Charismatic Movement’, p. 90.   See Donald Gee, ‘“Tongues” and Truth’ Pentecost 25 (Sept. 1953).   For Dallière’s eschatological convictions see Chapter 6.

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

54

but he refused to accept its accompanying theology. He remained resolutely reformed and ecumenical, convinced that the Pentecostal outpouring would bear its proper fruit in the renewal of the (existing) church and should contribute to unity not to further division. In a small booklet, D’Aplomb sur la Parole de Dieu published in 1932, Dallière defended the Pentecostal movement from the charge of sectarianism arguing that an authentic revival is always to be distinguished from a sect. Here Dallière contrasted authentic revival and sect, 1. A revival is a movement of the church and for the church; a sect is a movement outside the church and against the church. 2. A revival draws attention to the fundamental doctrines of the church; a sect organizes itself around a particular point of doctrine. 3. A revival normally produces a current of love within Christianity; a sect does the opposite.

Though he concluded that the Pentecostal movement was an authentic revival and not a sect, Dallière was later to arrive at a less favourable assessment when the Pentecostals in France adopted an isolationist stance. Another historic Protestant milieu in which the spiritual gifts were manifested at the end of the World War II was a group of young women in Darmstadt, Germany, from whom was formed the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary led by Basilea Schlink. However these were charismatic antecedents in a weaker sense for here there were simply ‘pentecostal’ manifestations without any claim to a ‘baptism in the Spirit’ and without any relationship to the Pentecostal movement. Nonetheless the epiphanic character of these origins played a definite role in the shaping of the Evangelical Sisterhood and prepared them 20 years later to exercise an influence within the charismatic movement. A Norwegian Lutheran pastor, Hans-Jakob Frøen, had his Pentecost experience in 1938 receiving a prophecy about his future ministry in Norway. In England David Lillie was baptized in the Spirit in 1941 and was thereupon expelled from the (Plymouth) Brethren. The Pentecostal baptism of Jules Thobois, a Baptist pastor in Paris, took place in 1945. In the USA Harald Bredesen, a young Lutheran pastor in New York, was baptized in the Spirit in 1946. All these men were later to play a role in the rise of the charismatic movement in their nations.



  This booklet was reprinted by the Union de Prière in 1996.  Louis Dallière, D’Aplomb sur la Parole de Dieu (Valence, 1932).   See Peter Hocken, ‘The Prophetic Contribution of Pastor Louis Dallière’, in Wonsuk Ma and Robert P. Menzies (eds), The Spirit and Spirituality (London & New York, 2004), p. 258, note 35. 

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

55

Origins The earliest beginnings of a charismatic movement within a historic church date from 1951 in the Netherlands with the Pentecostal baptism of Wim Verhoef, a future Dutch Reformed minister. Other members of the Reformed Church were also baptized in the Spirit and became involved with Verhoef in Karel Hoekendijk’s movement Stromen van Kracht. When Hoekendijk began to baptize church members by immersion, Verhoef left Stromen van Kracht and began publication of the first ‘charismatic’ periodical Vuur (Fire) in 1957. The Dutch campaign of healing evangelist T. L. Osborn in 1958 gave further impetus. The Netherlands scored another first with the addition of a Catholic priest to the board of Vuur in 1964.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 3.1 A Catholic charismatic conference in the Netherlands in 2008. ‘Celebrate 527’ by Pieter van der Marel © PKfotografie.nl. The initial penetration of the historic Protestant churches by the Pentecostal experience came through a number of often unrelated channels and causes. Among these the most frequent were (1) those impacted by the witness and ministry of Pentecostals especially the worldwide ministry of David du Plessis; (2) those who came into the Pentecostal experience through a rediscovery of divine healing;



 E.g. Agnes Sanford in the USA and the London Healing Mission in Great Britain.

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

56

(3) groups praying for revival and (4) groups studying the Acts of the Apostles. There were many instances among categories 2 to 4 of believers being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues without any knowledge of or contact with the Pentecostal movement. In the USA the rise of the charismatic movement was facilitated by the evangelistic outreach of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship (FGBMFI) and the wider audiences reached by the Pentecostal-type healing Evangelists.10 The FGBMFI, initially a body of Pentecostal ‘laymen’, reached many in the mainline churches through their non-dogmatic experiential approach, bearing witness to baptism in the Spirit in hotels and banqueting halls without urging recipients to join Pentecostal churches. Healing Evangelists such as William Branham, Gordon Lindsay, Oral Roberts and T. L. Osborn attracted a much wider audience than Pentecostal Evangelists to their campaigns and then to their new television ministries. Of particular importance was the ministry of Episcopalian Agnes Sanford. Already known for her healing ministry and as an author, Sanford had a significant influence especially among Episcopalians. From the time of her baptism in the Spirit around 1955 she privately initiated many Protestant clergy into the charismatic experience during her healing ‘schools’ and conferences. The Emergence of the New Movement The public awareness of a new movement resulted from the publicity given to Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett’s Pentecostal baptism through articles in Newsweek and Time in the summer of 1960. With their international circulation this awareness quickly spread beyond the USA. Jean Stone, a parishioner of Bennett in Van Nuys, California, launched the Blessed Trinity Society and its magazine Trinity in 1961 specifically to promote this movement within the Episcopalian and other churches. In 1961 the future Lutheran renewal leader Larry Christenson was baptized in the Spirit. Christenson was to play a role in the beginnings in Germany in 1963. From 1962 there begin to be church statements on the movement in the USA.11 

  This was especially the case in Britain with men such as the Anglicans, W. B. (‘Bill’) Grant and Ben Allen, and the Methodist, Charles Clarke, and with members of denominational revival fellowships, the Anglican Prayer Fellowship for Revival, the Baptist Revival Fellowship and the Methodist Revival Fellowship. See Peter Hocken, Streams of Renewal (Carlisle, 1997).    This was the case with Rev. Tommy Tyson in a United Methodist congregation in North Carolina, and later with some of the first Roman Catholics baptized in the Spirit. 10   For the story and the influence of the healing Evangelists see David Edwin Harrell, Jr, All Things Are Possible (Bloomington IN and London, 1975). 11   These statements can be found in Presence, Power, Praise, K. McDonnell (ed.) (Collegeville MN, 1980), vol. 1.

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

57

In Britain the future Anglican renewal leader Michael Harper had his Pentecost experience in 1962 and the following year took the initiative to gather emerging leaders, some of them hidden ‘charismatics’ for several years.12 The movement in Britain drew on both indigenous and North American sources, though a major boost came from publicity concerning the renewal among American Episcopalians. The Fountain Trust was founded in 1964 with Harper as full-time director. An inter-denominational body with a strong Anglican contribution, the Trust became the major promotional agency of the charismatic movement in Britain until its voluntary closure in 1980, publishing booklets, organizing conferences and producing Renewal magazine. In many countries there were scattered outbreaks of glossolalia and other spiritual gifts, sometimes isolated, sometimes affecting small groups and local congregations, sometimes impacting a travelling ministry. But the movement developed as someone took the initiative to convene potential leaders or to organize conferences to publicize the beginnings in other countries, particularly the USA. Often the first gatherings were to hear the witness of David du Plessis. In several countries a magazine was published to serve the renewal movement across the churches, as had happened earlier in the Netherlands. Besides Renewal in Britain, there were Vision, published by the Temple Trust in Australia, and Dypere Liv in Norway. What was the Pentecostal contribution to the emergence of the charismatic movement? Neither the Pentecostal churches nor the Pentecostal World Conference could be said to have encouraged the new movement. There was however considerable interest, laced with uneasiness, among Pentecostals as they heard reports of the spread of ‘neo-Pentecostalism’ outside their circles. This interest was manifested in numerous Pentecostal periodicals and especially in Pentecost, edited by Donald Gee, the only Pentecostal magazine with an international scope. Gee was the only major Pentecostal voice to report favourably and insistently on this new phenomenon besides his friend du Plessis, upon whom Gee relied for most of his information. Du Plessis’s distinctive ministry from 1960 until his death in 1987 was to travel the world heralding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit within the historic churches as the same gift of the Lord poured out at Azusa Street in the beginnings of the Pentecostal movement. Du Plessis spread this message to historic church leaders and to the Pentecostals. Moreover du Plessis urged the charismatics to stay within their churches as agents of renewal. The importance of his ministry can hardly be exaggerated, both for encouragement and expansion of the new movement and for preserving an awareness that the Pentecostal and charismatic movements are kindred works of the same Spirit of God. The overall evidence suggests the following conclusions: (1) there would not have been a charismatic movement without the prior history and witness of the Pentecostal movement; (2) the spread of the Pentecostal movement does not by itself provide an adequate explanation for the rise of the charismatic movement; (3) the charismatic movement represents in its origins and initial development a 12

 Since 1995 Harper is a priest of the Antiochene Orthodox Church.

58

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

coalescence of various influences and instrumental factors centring on the shared experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit; (4) it is in the character of Spirit-baptism as a work of the Holy Spirit with unitive power that we can rightly see the rise of the charismatic movement as a work of God. The Importance of the Catholic Involvement The spread of the charismatic movement to the Roman Catholic Church demonstrates most clearly both the distinctive character of charismatic renewal within the historic churches and its major potential significance. First, the extension to the Catholics again underlines the surprise factor in the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Neither Pentecostals nor Protestant charismatics nor Catholics inspired by the renewal vision of the Second Vatican Council were expecting ‘charismatic renewal’ in the Catholic Church. Secondly, a further surprise, the Catholic Church proved more welcoming to the charismatic movement than any Protestant church even from an early date.13 Thirdly, this is the first time since the Protestant Reformation that a movement of revival and renewal has involved both Protestants and Roman Catholics creating new patterns of fellowship between them. This fact alone alerts us to the movement’s potential for Christian unity. The rise of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) made clearer the significance of charismatic renewal within the historic churches. For from the beginning of CCR its leading figures were deeply imbued with the vision of the Second Vatican Council for the renewal of the church. There was a clear sense that this renewing work of the Holy Spirit had to be received and integrated into the life of the whole (Catholic) church. This strong ecclesial sense with its call for the Pentecostal-charismatic reality to be integrated within Catholic liturgical and theological frameworks made much clearer its distinction from Pentecostal and ‘non-denominational’ expressions. The ecclesial emphasis of the charismatic Catholics had spin-off effects upon the Protestant charismatics, particularly in the USA. The formation of structures to promote charismatic renewal within the Catholic Church and the holding of major annual Catholic renewal conferences encouraged charismatic Protestants to do the same within their denominations and confessional families. Following the formation of the National Service Committee for CCR in 1970, the Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship was formed in 1973,14 Lutheran Charismatic

13

  The first unofficial positive response from the US Catholic bishops was in 1969. The first positive response from Rome came with a gathering of leaders and theologians at Grottaferrata, near Rome, in 1973. The seal was placed on this approval by the holding of the International Conference in Rome in 1975 during which Pope Paul VI celebrated a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica with a large charismatic participation. 14  Re-named Episcopal Renewal Ministries in 1980.

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

59

Renewal Services in 1974, the Presbyterian Charismatic Communion in 197315 and Mennonite Renewal Services in 1975. Some traditions that did not yet have a renewal servicing body set one up as part of the preparations for the massive Kansas City conference of 1977.16 Within CCR there was a remarkably rapid development of new communities, especially in the USA, in Australia and in France.17 In the English-speaking world these usually had an ecumenical dimension, though typically the majority of their members were Catholics. In the countries where these communities developed they quickly asserted themselves as the natural leaders and centres of organization and promotion for CCR. The communities attracted many young people and their committed lifestyle enabled many to work full time for renewal. While these communities from the beginning attracted people to the celibate calling, the majority of their members are lay people, either married or hoping to be married. Unusual for their promotion of celibacy for young people is the Koinonia Giovanni Battista, a community founded in Italy in 1979 by a priest from Argentina, Fr Ricardo Arganãraz.18 Today there are three major groupings of charismatic communities within or related to CCR: (1) the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships, founded in 1990 and receiving full canonical status from the Vatican in 1995;19 (2) the Sword of the Spirit, describing itself as a ‘community of communities’ with 68 communities, continuing the covenant community vision of the original Word of God community in Ann Arbor, Michigan20 and (3) the European Network of Communities, founded in 2005 with 51 communities.21 The second and third are differentiated from the first by having a more ecumenical vision. The spread of the charismatic movement to the Roman Catholic Church provoked much more theological reflection than had occurred among Protestants. There were theologians and scholars within the movement: from the USA: Edward O’Connor, Donald Gelpi SJ, Francis Martin, George Montague SM and Francis Sullivan SJ; from France: Albert de Monléon OP and René Laurentin. There were also sympathetic observers from the touchline, such as: Kilian McDonnell 15   The Charismatic Communion of Presbyterian Ministers had been formed in 1966 before the outbreak of CCR, not to promote renewal among the Presbyterians, but to provide support and protection for beleaguered pastors under attack for their charismatic convictions. The PCC was re-named Presbyterian and Reformed Renewal Ministries International in 1984 with the word ‘Renewal’ being dropped in 2000. 16  For example the United Methodist Renewal Services Fellowship. 17  In the USA and in Australia these were called ‘covenant communities’. 18   The Koinonia has communities in Italy, Spain, Czech republic, Slovakia and Ireland with some groups in England, totalling some 120 consecrated brothers and sisters and about 3,000 lay members. 19  See www.catholicfraternity.net. 20  See www.swordofthespirit.net/. 21  See www.uzh.at/english/index_enc.htm.

60

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

OSB and Yves Congar OP. Their reflections deepened the relationship of CCR to the Catholic Church and won the charismatic movement more serious attention from outsiders. A temptation for the Catholics has been to treat CCR as a phenomenon in its own right without reference to the Pentecostal movement or the charismatic movement among the Protestants. This tendency became more marked in the 1980s with a new focus on ‘the integration of CCR into the church’, on renewal coming in from the fringes to the centre. The ecumenical beginnings were often forgotten and the history presented as beginning in 1967. Catholic leaders within CCR have generally emphasized that the movement has no human founder (thus, for example, Cardinal Suenens, Charles Whitehead, Raniero Cantalamessa and Daniel-Ange22). This is one reason why the charismatic movement is for the renewal of every aspect of Christian life and cannot be reduced simply to a prayer movement, to an evangelistic movement or to a new form of the lay apostolate. Similarly it is the ‘living experience’ character of the charismatic movement, not a set of ideas, that has made possible its ecumenical character in a way that would have been impossible for a movement stemming from a human leader in any of the churches or outside them. The Response of the Churches We should note in passing that a few young and quite small denominations became Pentecostal virtually in toto in the first decade of the twentieth century: for example, the Church of God, the Church of God in Christ and the Pentecostal Holiness Church.23 A few others, again nearly all Holiness groupings, rejected the Pentecostal movement. This opposition, typified in the Church of the Nazarene, continued when the spiritual gifts, particularly speaking in tongues, spread beyond the Pentecostal denominations with the rise of the charismatic movement. The responses of church authorities to the charismatic movement varied according to differing patterns of church government. The greatest divisiveness was experienced within denominations with congregational forms of church government. In this situation each local congregation had to take up a position when church members and even more so when the pastor began to speak in other tongues. Churches with an episcopal form of government could take their time in deciding their response to outbreaks in particular parishes. Thus the Episcopal Bishop of Chicago set up a commission to make recommendations following the charismatic outbreak in Wheaton, Illinois in 1956 and their report took over three

 Daniel-Ange, Le Renouveau, printemps de l’Eglise! (Paris, 1997), pp. 31, 203.  On this history see Vinson Synan, The Century of the Holy Spirit (Nashville TN, 2001), pp. 97–122. 22

23

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

61

years to produce.24 But a Southern Baptist like Jamie Buckingham from Florida soon found himself looking for a new job. Most of the Protestant churches in the USA had by the mid-1970s issued a report on the charismatic movement in relation to their church heritage. Almost all of them adopted a policy of cautious acceptance falling short of full approval or outright condemnation. In most cases the denominational authorities did not want to drive out the charismatics, but neither did they want to see a powerful renewal movement of this kind in their midst. Their reports mostly provide reasons why the charismatic movement is not incompatible with their theological and spiritual heritage, while adding cautionary warnings against excesses and deviations. The Protestant reports almost all manifest a great wariness about speaking in tongues, a caution no doubt coming out of traditions with an intellectual and rational emphasis uncomfortable with the apparent irrationality of glossolalia. One major mainline US denomination gave a negative response to the charismatic movement, though not expelling its adherents – the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, where despite the difficulties a charismatic segment continued to develop.25 Here the objections focused on contemporary prophecy seen as undermining the unique authority of the Scriptures. Surprisingly, at least to Protestants, the church that gave the clearest welcome to the charismatic renewal has been the Roman Catholic Church. Within the Catholic hierarchy the strongest backing has come from the popes. In 1975 the international Catholic charismatic conference was held in Rome with Pope Paul VI giving an address in which he described the renewal as ‘a chance for the church’. The participation in the movement of Cardinal Léon-Joseph Suenens from Belgium, one of the major figures of the Second Vatican Council, played an important part in the Catholic welcome. Suenens was in fact entrusted by Pope Paul VI with overseeing the integration of CCR into the life of the Catholic Church. The process of ‘integration’ raises issues to which we will return in the next chapter. In Europe, where the charismatic movement developed a few years after North America, there was less pressure for church leadership to pronounce on the issue. In very few instances were pastors in Western Europe in difficulty with their churches over their charismatic involvement. The situation was somewhat different in Eastern Europe after the collapse of Communism, where church leadership often fixed in defensive conservative postures found it difficult to cope with radically new challenges. The Catholic hierarchies of Eastern Europe, mostly suffering from the same problems of adaptation, were able to follow the lead of the popes in welcoming CCR. But as we shall see their conservatism contributed to some other problems.

24

  This report is included in McDonnell, vol. 1.  A newsletter for charismatics in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, edited by Delbert Rossin, was published from 1987 to 2005 by RiM (Renewal in Missouri). 25

62

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Charismatic Renewal in North America and in Europe Over the 40 years of charismatic renewal in the historic churches the movement has spread around the world in a similar way to the spread of the Pentecostal movement. At the same time, the ‘non-denominational’ or ‘new church’ charismatic expressions have spread all over the world and in the last ten to 15 years mostly at a faster rate than mainline charismatic renewal. Charismatic renewal is more difficult to measure than Pentecostal or new church expressions because participants do not become members of a distinctive body. So charismatic Catholics remain Catholics, charismatic Anglicans remain Anglicans and notwithstanding the efforts of David Barrett and his associates they do not show up in official church statistics. Most denominational charismatic bodies do not have membership lists but are simply agencies to promote renewal in their church. In the earlier years of charismatic renewal, at least in the USA, the number of participants was easier to estimate, being demonstrated by the growing attendance at major national congresses, by the subscribers to charismatic magazines and by the numbers of prayer groups listed in national directories. But with the decline in active participation in countries like the USA, Canada and Ireland, it became increasingly difficult to determine the difference between ‘ex-charismatics’ (those for whom their past charismatic experience had no ongoing relevance) and ‘inactive charismatics’ (those who no longer participate in charismatic groups and events but for whom the contribution of charismatic renewal to their lives remains important). North America Related to this question is the interpretation given to the decline in CCR in North America. The pessimistic view is that for many charismatic renewal was just a phase people passed through without much lasting effect. The optimistic view is that many who had been in ‘renewal’ then brought their renewed faith and zeal into the structures of Catholic life in parochial and diocesan service. It is true that a significant percentage of Catholics impacted in CCR became active in parochial ministry in the USA particularly in liturgical and catechetical ministries. But the argument that there has not really been a falling away is not convincing. The truth would seem to lie somewhere between the pessimistic and the optimistic readings. Among the Protestant churches in North America the Lutherans have probably managed to maintain forms of denominational renewal better than the Episcopalians and the Episcopalians rather more than the Methodists and the American Baptists. The Lutherans have maintained their annual Holy Spirit conference each August with an attendance of several thousand and their newsletter/bulletin gives evidence of more activity and impact than the equivalent publication of the Episcopalians. Episcopalian renewal has found a focal point in Trinity Episcopal School for

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

63

Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, which has become prominent in Episcopalian opposition to the liberal trends in the Episcopal Church.26 The Southern Baptists bucked the general trends in their attitudes towards the charismatic movement. In the early 1970s it appeared that the movement would be given a guarded welcome as in most of the Protestant churches in North America with an acceptance of tongues and spiritual gifts without any doctrine of ‘initial evidence’. But in 1974 the movement was attacked by leading SBC pastor W. A. Criswell of Dallas provoking a disapproval among pastors rather than scholars. ‘It was in the local churches and local associations that the SBC’s battle over the renewal was waged.’27 While the national convention of the SBC never adopted an anti-charismatic position, the general atmosphere was not friendly. As a result the renewal went semi-underground in the ‘Fullness’ movement, in which a layman Ras Robinson from Fort Worth played a leading part. So in the Fullness magazine one finds the language and witness of the renewal, but without explicit references to tongues or to baptism in the Spirit. By 1988 it was estimated that there were about 400 Fullness congregations in the SBC. Even today the SBC has difficulty accommodating Christians who speak in other tongues.28 Western Europe In Britain charismatic renewal has had the biggest impact among Anglicans and among Baptists. The initial flourishing of Anglican renewal in the 1970s owed much to the Fountain Trust under the leadership first of Michael Harper and then of Tom Smail, to the emergence of several ‘renewed parishes’ that served as models and beacons for renewal29 and the major influence and stature of David Watson of York until his tragically early death in 1984. Unlike most renewal in the historic Protestant churches on the European continent, Anglican renewal intensified through the 1980s into the 1990s. The contributory factors are different from those affecting the initial growth: the surprising welcome given by Anglicans to the late John Wimber from California with his ‘Signs and Wonders’ Evangelism; the role of Anglican Renewal Ministries focusing on parish renewal; the considerable influx of charismatic students into the Anglican theological colleges; the charismatic element in Springboard, the evangelistic initiative of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York; the role of healing ministries with a solid theological 26   See later section in this chapter on ‘The Impact and Influence of the Renewal Movement’. 27  Albert Frederick Schenkel, ‘New Wine and Baptist Wineskins’, in Edith Blumhofer, Russell P. Spittler and Grant A. Wacker (eds), Pentecostal Currents in American Protestantism (Urbana/Chicago, 1999), pp. 152–67 (citation from p. 159). 28   The SBC International Mission Board still has a rule barring their missionaries from speaking in tongues, even in their private devotions. 29  For example, St John’s, Harborne, Birmingham; St Philip and St James, Bristol; St Michael the Belfrey, York and Emmanuel, Hockley, Southend.

64

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

foundation (like Bishop Morris Maddocks and Russ Parker of the Acorn Trust); the wide influence of Holy Trinity, Brompton, the home of the Alpha course and of St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, led by Bishop David Pytches. Out of Chorleywood came New Wine, initially a series of summer conferences, but in 1998 formed into a network similar in many ways to the new church networks. By 2004 the New Wine network included over 900 church leaders and 840 local churches, of which about three-quarters were Anglican.30 New Wine has also had extensive outreach into other nations particularly into the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The charismatic advance among British Baptists is an interesting story with important lessons. When issues of basic orthodoxy and numerical decline were disturbing British Baptists in the 1970s, the most respected Baptist charismatic leader, Douglas McBain, joined with Baptist scholar, Dr Paul Beasley-Murray, to launch a ginger group called Mainstream, uniting charismatic and Evangelical Baptists under the banner ‘Baptists for Life and Growth’.31 By refusing a separatist tendency the charismatics won a hearing and a sympathy they had previously lacked, opening the door to a wider and more constructive contribution to the life of the Baptist Union of the late twentieth century.32 On the European continent there are major differences between the West and the East. In the West renewal in the Lutheran churches has fared better than renewal in the Reformed churches. Lutheran renewal in Germany produced several respected leaders, including Dr Paul Toaspern of Berlin and Pastor Friedrich Aschoff of Bavaria, who gave significant leadership from the late 1980s following the shock of losing Wolfram Kopfermann, a national leader who left to form his own network of independent churches. A significant element of strength in Lutheran renewal in Germany has come from the former East Germany.33 In France, the major mainline renewal leader in the historic Protestant churches is Kurt Maeder, a Lutheran pastor from Alsace. In the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, France and Switzerland, the charismatic movement has struggled to establish models for parish renewal, with the most dynamic charismatic parish in the French Reformed Church being kindled under the leadership of an Anglican from England.34 The free churches in Western Europe, though small in numbers, have mostly seen a considerable growth in charismatic activity. It has often proved hard to 30

  The latest figures are similar: see www.new-wine.org.   This story is told in Douglas McBain, Fire Over the Waters (London, 1997), which can serve as a model for a denominational renewal history. 32   Influential charismatic Baptist ministers in Britain include Rob Warner, initiator of the Word and Spirit initiative within Mainstream, Nigel Wright, the scholar-theologian of Baptist renewal, Stephen Gaukroger and Steve Chalke, well known for his TV ministry. 33   Besides Paul Toaspern, now retired for several years, leaders in the Lutheran renewal in former East Germany have included Wolfgang Breithaupt, Astrid Eichler and Dieter Keucher. 34   Belleville church in Paris, under Charlie Cleverly, who returned to take charge of St Aldate’s, Oxford, in the summer of 2002. 31

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

65

hold together the classical free church and the charismatic free church, though in France the Baptist Federation, in which the two groups are of equivalent size, has taken steps to facilitate mutual interaction and integration.35 Lutheran renewal has continued in the Scandinavian countries often being known as ‘Oase’ (Oasis). It has been strongest in Finland and then in Norway, which are less secularized than Denmark and Sweden and which also have strong traditions of Pietist revivalism within the state church. In Finland data from the mid-1990s showed that charismatic renewal had influenced 49 per cent of Lutheran parishes (62 per cent in Helsinki) with 13 per cent currently sponsoring regular charismatic activities. In Western Europe CCR has fared very differently in the various countries. It has been strongest in Italy, in France and in Malta. The rise of new charismatic communities that has characterized much of the Catholic movement has followed different paths in France and in Italy. France has seen the rise of major communities with many centres in France but with considerable outreach to other nations, especially in French-speaking Africa.36 Italy has a large number of communities of which some developed across Italy37 and others were limited to their place of origin. Only more recently has outreach to other nations developed.38 Particular to Italy is the prominence of Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo (RnS), which has had official church backing at the national level. Highly organized with regional and national structures, RnS sponsors each spring in Rimini the largest annual charismatic gathering in Europe. During the 1990s there was considerable tension as other Italian charismatic communities, both local and more national, resisted the centralizing tendencies of RnS. They were able to appeal to the Code of Canon Law, which grants lay people the right to form associations of the faithful, which can be recognized as Catholic by the local bishop.39

35  See Louis Schweitzer, ‘L’autorité dans la tension entre différentes compréhensions de l’inspiration spirituelle’, in Michel Sommer (ed.), Fascinant Saint-Esprit (Charols, 2008), pp. 60–70. 36   There are several studies of the French communities, of which the most important are: Emmanuel, with origins in Paris dating from 1972; Chemin Neuf, founded in Lyon in 1973; Béatitudes (formerly Lion de Judah), founded in Cordes in 1975; and (until recently) Pain de Vie, founded in Normandy in 1977. The most up-to-date and comprehensive study of the new French communities, both charismatic and other, is by Olivier Landron, Les Communautés nouvelles (Paris, 2004), which also presents the history of CCR in France. 37  E.g. Comunità Maria and Comunità Gesù Risorto. 38   The Comunità Gesù Risorto is now present in eight nations, particularly in Colombia and Croatia. 39  Such associations require recognition by the local bishop to be able to call themselves Catholic.

66

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Eastern Europe In most countries of Eastern Europe there was very little scope for the charismatic movement to develop under Communism. The general outlawing of church organizations and group meetings made the spread of renewal almost impossible. One major exception was Poland, where the strength of the Catholic Church and the welcome of renewal by the Oasis (later Light and Life) movement gave an opening for charismatic renewal from 1976. Since the collapse of Communism the defensive and conservative postures of the churches necessitated by Communist persecution have made difficult the reception of new ways. The Catholic authorities have often found lay initiative and leadership hard to accept, though in Bratislava and Budapest dynamic young charismatic communities with lay leadership have won the respect of their archbishops through their evident impact on youth.40 In Poland a number of Catholic communities with lay leadership were made unwelcome and some virtually forced out of the Catholic Church.41 In some of the Eastern countries (Slovakia, Hungarian-speakers in Romania, Lithuania) CCR is in a growth phase, more comparable to the 1970s in the West. By contrast charismatic renewal is finding it hard to develop in the Protestant churches of Eastern Europe. I have heard several stories from Eastern Europe of Lutheran, Reformed and Baptist pastors baptized in the Spirit being forced or encouraged to leave their church. This seems to be a consequence of decades of enforced isolation under Communist domination, which produced a spirit of heroic endurance and of tenacious clinging to old patterns, so that charismatic renewal has been experienced as a serious threat to church identity and cohesion. Charismatic Renewal in Africa, Asia and Latin America Charismatic renewal has grown the fastest in the southern hemisphere and in the Far East and it is here that we should look for its biggest contribution to the future life of the historic churches. In Latin America, Africa and Asia charismatic expressions of Christian faith have continued to grow, often at a remarkable speed, both in new independent groupings and within the historic churches. This situation of explosive growth has witnessed more schisms than in Europe and North America, particularly within the more free church and less liturgical traditions such as the Baptist and the Congregational-Presbyterian. The beginnings of the

40  Surprisingly, to many in Hungary, Cardinal Erdö of Esztergom-Budapest invited the New Jerusalem community to play a significant role in the evangelistic preparations for the Budapest City Mission in September 2007. 41  In October 2006 I attended a symposium in Cracow, at which a sociologist presented initial findings on the phenomenon of formerly Catholic charismatic communities that are now independent churches. He based his reflections on ten such communities estimating that altogether in Poland there could be between 20 and 50 such groups.

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

67

charismatic movement in Latin America produced schisms within the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Adventist churches of Brazil. Charismatic renewal has flourished more strongly in the Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran traditions – the Catholics very widely in these continents, the Anglicans with a major presence in Anglophone Africa and in south-eastern Asia and the Lutherans on a more restricted geographical basis, particularly Tanzania, Ethiopia and Pakistan. CCR has especially flourished in Brazil, India and the Philippines, as well as in Africa, where it has a presence in English-speaking, French-speaking and Portuguese-speaking nations. In Brazil it is estimated that there are 61,000 Catholic charismatic groups bringing together 8 million Catholics, with 2 million in the state of Sao Paulo, which means in effect a considerable percentage of church-going Catholics. In Rio de Janeiro they fill the huge football stadium each Pentecost for a charismatic celebration. Two Catholic charismatic communities (Cancão Nova and Shalom) have their own television stations, reaching a mass audience with a young priest active in renewal becoming a media star.42 The relationship between charismatic groups and the base communities shaped by liberation theology is a much-debated question, but several observers have reached the conclusion that their relationship is not so antithetical as had been supposed with many people, particularly women, participating in both groupings. Another Latin American nation where CCR has had a major influence is Colombia principally through the ministry of El Minuto de Dios, a community in Bogotà, whose beginnings go back to contact with Lutheran Harald Bredesen from the USA in 1967. The ministry and outreach of El Minuto de Dios is unique in Latin America because of its concern for social as well as personal transformation. While in most places charismatic renewal is seen as a middle-class phenomenon, El Minuto de Dios has reached into the poor barrios and stressed the building and repairing of communitarian ties with society through housing developments and educational work. El Minuto de Dios operates a radio station and runs a university. Through this national exposure it has been able to spread renewal to parishes throughout the country and form a critical mass of committed charismatic Catholics.43 In India the most visible charismatic presence is at the Divine Retreat Centre in Muringoor near Chalakudy in Kerala, established by Fr Mathew Naickomparambil, who had been baptized in the Spirit before his entry into the Vincentian seminary. Vast crowds come continually to the Centre, about 15,000 each week with up to 150,000 people from many religious backgrounds attending their five-day  On Fr Marcelo Rossi, see Jenkins, The Next Christendom, p. 77. The Shalom community, founded in 1982, is now present in 59 dioceses, has over 3,000 members, runs 443 prayer groups and is involved in 64 centres of evangelization and formation; see Moyses Louro de Azevedo, ‘Comunidade Catolica: Shalom’, Good News, 188 (2007): 18. 43  See Stephen Armet, ‘Christian Mission in Colombia: Protestant Paradox and Catholic Continuities’, Transformation, 20 (2003): 51. 42

68

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

conventions. As in many other places of explosive growth, healing played a key part in the rise of this centre and the impact of Fr Mathew’s ministry. In the Philippines, the only Asian country with a Catholic majority, CCR has spread rapidly and has a part in parish life to a degree not found in Europe or North America. There are a number of charismatic communities, many of which have outreach beyond the Philippines.44 Couples for Christ is a major new movement in the Catholic Church that originated within CCR in the Philippines. Undoubtedly the largest and most controversial movement within the Filipino Catholic Church is El Shaddai, founded in 1984 and still led by Mariano Z. Velarde, known as ‘Brother Mike’. El Shaddai has a following in the Philippines of some 6 million members and by 1997 had 62 overseas chapters formed by Filipinos working abroad. Their Metro Manila weekly gathering every Saturday gathers 100,000 people or more for a celebration that promotes popular participation with dramatic preaching. ‘El Shaddai scratches where it itches. It responds to the needs of its followers. The followers of El Shaddai normally come from the lower class. Where poverty exists, as in the Philippines, the main concerns naturally are income and health.’45 CCR has been advancing in most of Africa, probably faster in Frenchspeaking countries, where there has been significant input from the major French communities. In Benin, for example, there are 72 places where large groups meet regularly gathering up to 18,000 participants. A national team assures coordination, with members of the national team making two-week visits to the local and regional centres. In this way, there is much more cohesion and planned formation than in the CCR prayer groups of Europe and North America. Among the historic Protestant churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America, charismatic renewal has particularly flourished in the Anglican communion, where it has influenced whole dioceses to a degree that would be impossible in England. The renewal among Anglicans is found almost everywhere where the Anglican church has a significant presence. This is particularly true of the former British colonies in East and Southern Africa, and in Singapore. Lutheran renewal is strong in Tanzania where a recent Lutheran charismatic rally gathered a massive participation. In Korea there are massive charismatic churches among the Presbyterians and the Methodists.46

44   The Federation of Transparochial Communities has some 30 member communities (see Lode Wostyn, ‘Catholic Charismatics in the Philippines’, in Anderson and Tang (eds), Asian and Pentecostal, p. 369). 45  Leonardo N. Mercado, El Shaddai (Manila, 2001), p. 14. See also the more detailed study of Katharine Wiegele, Investing in Miracles (Honolulu, 2004) and a mention in Jenkins, The Next Christendom, p. 77. 46  See Jeong Chong Hee, ‘The Korean Charismatic Movement as Indigenous Pentecostalism’, in Anderson and Tang (eds), Asian and Pentecostal, p. 569, note 57.

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

69

Ghana is the one nation in the world where a detailed study has been made of the charismatic movement in the major mainline churches.47 The renewal movement won its place in the Presbyterian church of Ghana through the formation of Bible study groups that prayed together. The resulting Bible Study and Prayer Group movement was the earliest organized current of charismatic renewal in Ghana, being founded in 1965 and receiving an official recognition in 1966. Social Impact One of the reproaches often made against the charismatic movement has been its indifference to issues of social justice and world development. It is true that the first thrust of charismatic renewal is to a renewed relationship with God and a concern for a clear preaching of the gospel message. But after more than 30 years the renewal movement in the churches has had a considerable impact on behalf of the suffering and the dispossessed, especially in the work of the new charismatic communities. The French community Pain de Vie has sought to show the love of Jesus for the lowly and dispossessed, setting up houses in some of the poorest parts of the world (refugee camps in Goma, Congo, in Peru, and in Cameroun). Many communities work for drug addicts (several instances in Italy) and others for victims of AIDS (particularly in French-speaking Africa). Several communities have established hospitals and medical centres to work with the poor, for example Chemin Neuf in the equatorial forest in the north of Zaire, Béatitudes in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Puits de Jacob in Sokodé, Togo.48 The Emmanuel Community from France has an organization, Fidesco, begun in 1981, which sends out volunteers to work with the poor in the Two-Thirds World. The El Minuto de Dios community in Bogotà, Colombia does remarkable work for the poor and the homeless in providing housing together with sporting, cultural and educational facilities. The Servants of God in Goiania, Brazil, take in the street children. The Shalom Community in Fortaleza runs centres for the unemployed.49

47  See Cephas N. Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism (Zoetermeer, 2002). Omenyo has chapters on the renewal movement in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Evangelical Presbyterian and Baptist churches in Ghana. In African Pentecostalism Kalu has some less detailed information on the renewal movement among Protestants and Catholics in several areas of Africa but his focus is on the Pentecostal and independent sectors. 48   The work of the French communities in Africa is described in Landron, pp. 449–52. 49  All these examples and more are given by Daniel-Ange in a chapter on ‘Loving the Poor and the Little: A Creative Charity’, pp. 101–09.

70

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The Impact and Influence of the Renewal Movement In terms of how charismatic renewal fares in different historic church traditions it would seem that there are several variables: liturgical-sacramental versus Evangelical-type churches; churches with Episcopal, Presbyterian or congregational forms of government; confessional versus non-confessional churches.50 The fact that Anglican renewal has fared better in many parts of the world than Presbyterian-Reformed and Methodist renewal is probably linked to its stronger liturgical character with those staying Anglican being committed to an integration of the liturgical and the charismatic. Lutheran renewal seems to benefit from the stronger denominational identity coming from a confessional and liturgical tradition, though the confessional heritage is sometimes invoked by Lutheran critics of charismatic renewal who regard the charismatics as modern ‘enthusiasts’ (schwärmer) of the type attacked by Luther in the sixteenth century.51 There are also significant differences between the reception of charismatic renewal between the developing continents and the traditional Christian power bases in Europe and North America. The church leaders in these countries take the movement more seriously than their northern hemisphere counterparts, because the extent and impact of renewal is generally much greater in Africa, Asia and Latin America. At the Brighton conference in 1991 the registered participants included about 35 Anglican bishops, mostly from Africa, and seven Catholic bishops. One bishop came from Britain as a full participant and none from the USA. The Catholic bishops of Africa and Asia seem far more aware of the importance of charismatic renewal than their European and North American colleagues.52 This would seem to arise from a greater closeness to their people and from seeing the evangelistic impact and transformative power of charismatic renewal in settings where life is simpler and more tenuous. In both Latin America and Africa many Catholic bishops who initially feared that CCR was a leakage point into Pentecostal churches are now seeing it as a major protection against such leakage. In the Anglican communion there is considerable tension between the bishops of Africa and Asia on the one hand and the bishops from the ‘first world’, particularly those from North America, on the other hand. This is a clash between traditional orthodoxy in the South and liberal revisionism in the West. The danger of schism, seemingly averted at the Lambeth Conference of 50   By confessional churches are meant church traditions like the Lutheran that attach major importance to historical confessions of faith. 51   The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in the USA has particularly urged Lutheran tradition against the legitimacy of charismatic renewal among Lutherans. See also note 25 above. 52  At the international charismatic retreat for priests and bishops in the Vatican in 1984 there were over 30 bishops from the Philippines, one from the USA and none from Europe (these figures refer to participants, not invited speakers).

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

71

1998, has reappeared with the refusal of liberal Episcopalian bishops in the USA to respect the Lambeth vote and the controversial ordination of a practising homosexual bishop in 2004. Some well-known Episcopal charismatic parishes have been among those seeking alternative Episcopal oversight from Africa or Latin America in place of liberal bishops in the USA. But in this situation some Anglican charismatics are tempted to ‘jump ship’ and join bodies like the Charismatic Episcopal Church, who have been recruiting disaffected Anglicans in several countries but particularly in Kenya and Uganda.53 While the edges of the movement have become more blurred since the 1980s and there is no longer any novelty to charismatic renewal as such, there is much evidence to suggest that the movement has had more effect on the churches than has been generally recognized.54 In general there is far more attention paid to the role of the Holy Spirit in our churches now than 30 or more years ago. While the renewal movement is not the only factor in this change, it could hardly have happened without it. Another sign of charismatic influence is on the songs used in church worship, where it is clear that music from the renewal is being used widely in our churches with many people having little idea of its provenance. It also seems that many who had been active in charismatic renewal, often no longer involved in charismatic groups, have offered themselves for forms of active service in local church life, especially in relation to worship, catechetics and service of the needy, bringing with them emphases and qualities received from renewal. Moreover charismatic renewal is now sufficiently recognized in the historic churches for there to be numerous instances of clergy involved in the movement being appointed as bishops. In the Church of England there are currently several bishops with backgrounds in ‘renewal’: for example, Graham Dow of Carlisle, John Perry of Chelmsford and Graham Cray of Maidstone. In the Catholic Church, there are four diocesan bishops in France, appointed from situations of major involvement in CCR: Bishop Albert de Monléon of Meaux, Bishop Dominique Rey of FréjusToulon, Bishop Michel Santier of Créteil and Bishop Yves le Saux of Le Mans.55 The Convergence Movement Something can be added about an interesting development generally known as the convergence movement, that seems to fit best in this third chapter on renewal in the historic churches. Convergence movement is the term coined by some adherents to describe a growing trend towards an integration of the Evangelical, 53

 See section below on ‘The Convergence Movement’.   For the Roman Catholic Church see Peter Hocken, ‘The Impact of the Charismatic Movement on the Roman Catholic Church’, Journal of Beliefs and Values, 25 (2004): 205–16. 55  In the USA Bishop Sam Jacobs (Alexandria, Louisiana) was chairman of the National Service Committee for CCR before his Episcopal nomination. 54

72

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

the charismatic and the sacramental elements in Christian life. This trend first attracted attention in the 1970s with the identification of some former workers in Campus Crusade for Christ with the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The factors favouring this trend include (1) a dissatisfaction among some Pentecostals and Evangelicals with their forms of worship and the search for greater depth through liturgical-sacramental symbolism (the most common factor); (2) the quest for the church of history beyond the voluntarist patterns of the free churches and (3) a concern for church authority that upholds biblical teaching. The first arose from a sense that the typical patterns of Pentecostal, charismatic and Evangelical worship were not forming participants in depth of holiness. The second typically arose from a felt need for roots and the third often from a frustration with the only choices on offer: very conservative and unimaginative denominations on the one hand and mainline churches dominated by liberal Protestant leadership and theology on the other hand. Up to this point this leadership of the convergence movement has come almost entirely from the USA. The convergence movement has given rise to at least two new groupings: (1) the Charismatic Episcopal Church founded in California in 1992 now having over 20 dioceses in the USA and growing work in other continents, especially in East Africa, the Philippines and Estonia; (2) the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, established in 1995. The ‘convergence’ trends have included: (1) Evangelicals, charismatics and Pentecostals joining historic liturgical churches, often individually but occasionally en bloc (particularly the Orthodox and the Episcopalian churches, with a sprinkling becoming Roman Catholics);56 (2) Christians joining one of the new convergence denominations mentioned above (initially their growth was mostly from Pentecostal and new charismatic churches, but in the last ten years there have been a growing number of disaffected Anglicans/Episcopalians joining the Charismatic Episcopal Church;57 (3) Christians within the non- or less liturgical traditions discovering the riches of liturgical worship.58 Some would add (4) charismatics within liturgical traditions becoming more Evangelical in their preaching and doctrinal emphases. It is probably too early to assess the long-term significance of the convergence movement. The most obvious consequence to date has been the influx of ex56

  A major influence from within the Episcopal Church in the USA was the late Robert Webber, for many years a professor at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. 57  Among the ex-Episcopalians in the Charismatic Episcopal Church are Bishop Philip Zampino of Maryland, Bishop Philip Weeks, a long-time missionary in the Philippines and Canon Mark Pearson of New Hampshire, well known for his healing ministry. 58  Among these could be included Thomas Oden (United Methodist), Clark Pinnock (Baptist) and Howard Snyder (Free Methodist). In his book Streams of Living Water (London, 1999), Richard Foster has also argued for the essential complementarity of the different spiritual traditions (contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, Evangelical and incarnational).

The Charismatic Movement: Charismatic Renewal in the Historic Churches

73

Evangelicals into the Orthodox Church with the formation of the Antiochene Evangelical Orthodox Mission within the Antiochene patriarchate, providing for the first time a dynamic Evangelistic thrust within North American Orthodoxy. But the ex-Evangelical Orthodox in the USA have largely left behind their charismatic characteristics and contacts, so that their promotion of an Evangelical-charismaticliturgical convergence has become indistinguishable from the promotion of the Orthodox Church. In Britain the man who was the leading figure in mainline charismatic renewal for 30 years, Michael Harper, joined the Antiochene Orthodox Church in 1995. Harper has expressed the intention of maintaining his charismatic connections,59 but it remains to be seen whether this development favours more positive relations between charismatics and the Orthodox Church.

59

 On becoming Orthodox Harper resigned from his position in SOMA (Sharing of Ministry Abroad), an Anglican body, but remained on the executive of ICCOWE (International Charismatic Consultation on World Evangelization), an inter-church body that has subsequently dropped the last three initials.

This page has been left blank intentionally

Chapter 4

Viewing the Whole: How to Relate New Revival Streams and Historic Church Renewal The first three chapters have examined the reviving-renewing work of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. The charismatic movement has sparked new streams outside the existing denominations and a renewal movement within them. I see all these currents as foundationally a work of the Holy Spirit, notwithstanding the inevitable human weaknesses and potential deviations. But if they are all in some way the work of the Holy Spirit, they need to understand their need for each other and to be seen as complementary within the life-giving purposes of the Lord. In seeking how these movements can honour each other and work together, it is important to formulate some criteria or principles for discernment. A first task is to seek what in any movement is most clearly the work of the Holy Spirit. In any Christian movement the work of the Holy Spirit is mixed with and expressed through human instruments that are imperfect. All church leaders are charged with the task of discernment and it is a particular responsibility of the theologians to seek understanding. Together they seek to uncover what is most truly the work of the Holy Spirit. For it is the work of the Holy Spirit that must be honoured, encouraged and protected. A second principle is that the work of the Holy Spirit is clearest in the origins of movements of revival and renewal. If we want to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in any movement, we must look first at its historical origins, and the influences that shaped its beginnings. A third element is to examine the thought-world and the spirit of each current or movement in the light of the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age in which it arose. However, this is the third, neither the first nor the second principle. For what is of the Holy Spirit is of a different order and potential from what arises from the Zeitgeist. This third principle serves as a purifying factor in sifting the holy from the adventitious. The Pentecostal Movement When we look at the origins of the Pentecostal movement, we find a movement or current of spiritual revival. It was clearly a stream of life before becoming a cluster

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

76

of new denominations. At least from the time of Azusa Street (1906) there was a sense of one new movement with a spiritual coherence. This was what Donald Gee meant when he spoke of the ‘Pentecostal revival’: Before we became so Movement-conscious we thought more often of the Pentecostal Revival as a means of grace to quicken whomsoever the Lord our God should call. Denominational loyalties were a secondary consideration. Let them remain such. The vital necessity of the Movement is that it shall continue and grow as a Revival. Nothing less deserves to be called ‘Pentecostal’.

This focus on the Pentecostal movement as a stream of new life does not mean that it was not shaped by a cluster of seminal ideas and convictions. In his book Theological Roots of Pentecostalism Dayton has traced the history of these prePentecostal convictions and how they came together in the Pentecostal movement. But as a stream of new life and power a revival current is more than a coming together of theological convictions. Something happened to forge these convictions into a coherent impetus for new life. As we seek to understand how the Pentecostal movement fits into the bigger picture, we need to bear in mind that the movement was prior to and more basic than the resulting denominations. Nonetheless the Pentecostal world is primarily composed today of a cluster of competing denominations, that now shape the character and impact of the ongoing movement. The Charismatic Movement: Independent Sector From the reflection on the Pentecostal movement (Chapter 1), we considered the charismatic movement first in its independent or non-denominational expressions (Chapter 2). The independent sector was initially welcomed neither by the Pentecostals nor by the renewal currents within the historic churches. The suspicion of the Pentecostal churches reflected the extent to which the Pentecostal movement had become ‘denominationalized’ with their suspicions focusing on the problems of independency, of lack of accountability and of deviant teaching. As   Donald Gee, ‘Are we too “Movement” conscious?’, Pentecost, 2 (Dec. 1947). Later Gee commented on the first signs of Pentecost outside the Pentecostal churches: ‘For Pentecost is more than a denomination; it is a REVIVAL.’ (‘“Tongues” and Truth’, Pentecost, 25 (Sept. 1953).   Walker has remarked in regard to Great Britain: ‘To date, however, the major opposition to Restorationism has come from fellow Pentecostalists and evangelical groups. Much of this criticism has been muted. … Classical Pentecostals have been particularly reticent in this respect.’ (Walker, p. 268)   All three reproaches featured in the reaction of the American Pentecostal denominations to the healing Evangelists in the 1950s. 

Viewing the Whole

77

the charismatic renewal within the historic churches developed its own identity and the independents often adopted a ‘Come Out’ position, the mainline renewal saw the renewal ‘within’ as the authentic pattern and the new forms of Christian life ‘outside’ as deviations from the norm or the ideal. After more than 30 years of the independent or ‘non-denominational’ charismatic currents it is easier to see how they have preserved the ‘living stream’ character of Holy Spirit revival-renewal more strongly than the Pentecostals, at least in Europe and the English-speaking world. In much of the southern hemisphere, where it is more difficult to distinguish between non-denominational charismatics and new expressions of Pentecostalism, the newly developing churches are often still at a ‘pre-denominational’ stage. The determination of most independent charismatic networks not to become new denominations is often taken to be a sign of naiveté. Students of this phenomenon, especially those with sociological expertise, are quick to point out the incipient signs of denominationalism. But this determination may well represent a real grasp of the fundamental character and gifting of revival streams, with a strong resolve not to allow them to be turned into something else with the passage of time. We will return to this theme in the final chapter when we turn to the question of eschatology. Do the independent charismatics simply represent an updating or adaptation of the Pentecostal movement or do they represent a development going beyond what was already present in the Pentecostal movement? They clearly represent a greater adaptation to the entrepreneurial world of globalized Western culture than is found among either the Pentecostals or the mainline churches. But some distinctive elements go beyond what is common to the Pentecostal movement, especially patterns of ministry and organization based on the restoration of apostolic and prophetic ministries. As noted in Chapter 2, the independent or ‘non-denominational’ streams pay greater attention to the issue of church than the Pentecostals have done. But this notion of church did not see any value in the preservation of existing church structures, dismissed as ‘old wineskins’ incapable of holding the ‘new wine’. The greater attention to church was expressed in the word ‘Restoration’, centring on the fivefold ministries of Ephesians 4: 11 with empowering leadership communicating dynamism to the entire membership. The new church streams have played a major part in Pentecostal-charismatic ferment in the last 25 years. Their leaders play a major role in the charismatic leaders conferences that have developed in several nations. The issues they have raised are in fact debated by many Pentecostals and mainline charismatics, though less among the Catholics. So for instance with the issue of apostolic and prophetic ministry, with the ‘Father’s blessing’ associated with the Airport church in Toronto, with many prayer and reconciliation initiatives and with teaching on spiritual warfare, fasting and praise. The new churches have spearheaded much re-thinking and new strategy concerning mission to cities and to nations. Some of these contributions have been controversial, causing unease among other charismatic

78

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

leaders, for example the teaching on territorial spirits, certain kinds of physical manifestation and some much-publicized prophecies. This raises the question of whether there can be creativity without danger, a point to which we shall return. Charismatic Movement: Renewal of Historic Churches Our survey then looked at the charismatic renewal within the historic churches (Chapter 3). In the planning of the major inter-denominational charismatic conferences, first at the Kansas City conference of 1977, a new model was developed for respecting the different groupings within the overall movement while affirming a basic unity in the Spirit among all participants. In this model the mornings were spent in denominational or equivalent groupings, the afternoons were given to workshops by speakers from all backgrounds with freedom to go where each participant wanted, while in the evenings all participants gathered in the giant stadium. Within this framework the ‘historic churches’ meant in effect the existing denominations within which the explicitly charismatic component was a sector not the whole. This included what in many countries would be called ‘free churches’ (Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite) as well as the classical Reformation churches (Lutheran, Anglican and Presbyterian/Reformed). What is common to this third grouping? First, that charismatic renewal forms an element within a larger whole. Second, that the renewal movement seeks to be an instrument of renewal for the whole church or denomination. Third, this servant vision involves a recognition of the value of the core-tradition in each church that needs to be preserved and to be renewed. It affirms the work of the Holy Spirit in the churches beyond explicitly Evangelical-charismatic circles and elements. Renewal in the historic churches has to interact with the entire heritage of each church, or in Catholic terminology with the apostolic tradition. This tradition has many components: of worship and spirituality, doctrine, theology, evangelism and mission, catechesis and formation, pastoral care, social outreach and church government – as also today ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. There is a major difference here between renewal in churches with a largely conservative leadership and renewal in those with a leadership no longer clearly affirming traditional Christian teaching. The renewal circles in the latter face a difficult choice: leave the leaking ship or fight to recover the lost ground. This choice has been starkest in the USA and Canada, where the ties of tradition are much weaker and where there has been the greatest ‘leakage’ of mainline charismatics to the Pentecostals and the new charismatic churches. A clarion call to all Protestants concerned for authentic renewal and for restoration of orthodox teaching in the historic Protestant churches of North America has been issued through the coming together of renewal movements calling themselves ‘the confessing movement’.   Eight renewal groups came together in 2002: from the American Baptists, the Disciples of Christ, the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), the Lutherans (ELCA), the

Viewing the Whole

79

The interaction between renewal groups and the wider church obviously works out differently according to the size and character of the renewal groups. For small prayer groups the interaction lies more at a personal level with a challenge for each participant to integrate the charismatic dimension into their wider church participation. For the charismatic congregation or parish (a relative rarity in the Catholic world but widespread among Anglicans), the challenge is for a genuine reciprocity between charismatic congregation-parish and diocese or equivalent. For the charismatic communities there is a greater element of ‘duality’ with the community replicating many dimensions of church: liturgy, formation, evangelism and catechesis, pastoral care and social outreach. Here the challenge is for a mutual interaction between community and diocese (or equivalent) and in worldwide CCR between communities with an international character and the Vatican. Of critical importance in these patterns of interaction is the attitude of the charismatics to church authority. In practice this can range from mere toleration, verging perhaps on the impatient or the cynical, to the acceptance of authority as a God-given blessing and protection. However there is also the attitude of church authority to the renewal groupings. Church authority is experienced as a blessing when the wider church leadership makes a genuine effort to appreciate and discern the work of the Holy Spirit in the renewal currents and to promote a genuine twoway interaction. The Church of England provides a significant example of a historic church being stimulated to new thinking by the new church networks and the church planting paradigm. Both Holy Trinity, Brompton and the New Wine network have embraced the church planting model and this has stimulated the report ‘MissionShaped Church’ (2003), produced under the chairmanship of Bishop Graham Cray. New Wine itself represents a clear example of historic church renewal learning from the new churches with the formation of the New Wine network, which has an emphasis on serving local churches and places less emphasis on apostolic ministry. France provides one of the most developed patterns of relationship between CCR and the Catholic bishops, because of the number of influential charismatic communities and because the inroads of secularism and unbelief had weakened the church in France earlier than in other parts of Europe. The significant potential of CCR was thus more immediately apparent. An outstanding example comes from Alsace, where the previous Archbishop of Strasbourg led a pastoral visitation to the new ecclesial communities and the charismatic renewal, which was completed in 2005. The emphasis of Archbishop Joseph Doré was on reciprocity between the new movements and the wider church: ‘I expect from this visitation a mutual

Presbyterians (PCUSA), the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. For a description of this process and the goals of the confessing movement, see Thomas Oden, Turning around the Mainline (Grand Rapids MI, 2006).

80

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

fecundity. … The pastoral visitation is going to stimulate important interactions for our diocese. A movement of come-and-go should result: giving and receiving.’ Complementary Not Opposed The presupposition of this book is that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Pentecostal movement, in the new charismatic groupings and in the renewal of the historic churches. Since the beginnings of the charismatic movement there has been a degree of openness to fellow charismatics from other church backgrounds. This has been expressed in the major charismatic conferences such as Kansas City (1977), Strasbourg (1982) and Brighton (1991). But the visions of restoration (new church) and renewal (historic church) have hardly ever really met. They have existed alongside one another in greater or lesser tension. There has been little creative debate on their inter-relationship.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 4.1

The ICCOWE executive committee at Brighton, July 1991

   L’espérance en renouveau(x): Visite pastorale des Nouvelles communautés ecclésiales et du Renouveau Charismatique 2004–2005, p. 45.    The New Wine network, centred on St Andrew’s, Chorley Wood, Herts, represents to some degree a reproduction of the new church model within the Church of England.

Viewing the Whole

81

From the mid-1980s the new charismatic groupings became more open to other Christians, but on a more pragmatic and affective than doctrinal basis. In many parts of the world there was more fellowship and collaboration, particularly through March for Jesus and the Alpha course, both of which originated in England. The result has often been the formation of a ‘free church’ bloc comprised of Evangelical-charismatic and Pentecostal Christians. Within this bloc there are shared soteriological and missiological rather than ecclesiological convictions. This new situation indicates a shift away from the earlier contrast between the new churches and renewal in existing denominations. The current contrast is rather between the Evangelical-charismatic bloc and renewal beyond Evangelical circles in the historic confessional and/or liturgical traditions. This also largely corresponds to though is not totally identical with the contrast between the ‘gathered church’ of the born-again, practising ‘believers’ baptism for adult converts and the ‘mixed’ church of saints and sinners, practising infant baptism, in which the local congregation belongs to a regional or national church. To address the complementarity of ancient and modern, we will look at the overall strengths and weaknesses of both sides. To benefit from these contrasts, each side has to stretch its thinking. For historic church members it may seem ludicrous to compare the ancient church with new expressions without any roots, like comparing a historic cathedral with a makeshift shed. For the new church charismatics it can seem equally futile to make such a comparison but for totally different reasons. To them it can look like comparing a dynamic young athlete with a decrepit old lady. For practical purposes it can be helpful to take the most obvious contrast, between the new charismatic groupings on the one hand and Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) on the other hand. This is where the fellowship is weakest – though not non-existent! It is where the tendencies to mutual exclusion are the strongest. That is to say, when the leaders in each camp consider their vision for the future, the other entity does not feature. The vision of new church leaders does not include a place for a renewed Catholic Church and the vision of Catholic charismatic leaders – and certainly of the Catholic hierarchy in general – does not look for any contribution from the new charismatic streams. The Weaknesses The weakness of renewal in the historic churches has been reflected in the frustrations felt by many charismatics over their own church life, though maybe less so in the last ten years. Their spiritual experience had given charismatic Catholics a thirst for the Word of God that was rarely fed by the preaching at Mass in the parishes where they worshipped. They have often suffered from a   My use of ‘free church’ here corresponds more to the continental European usage than to the British.

82

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

lack of opportunities to exercise their gifts in ministry. They have often felt that, while ‘renewal’ is generally encouraged by the bishops, in practice it has often only flourished on the ‘fringes’ of church life in special groups and communities. These are all instances of what the new church charismatics would see as evidence of institutional inflexibility stifling the creative impulses of the Holy Spirit. Many charismatic Catholics seem to be satisfied with their life in their prayer groups and have come to terms with their frustrations over church life. Through the renewal they have experienced new life and for this they are grateful. However, many are looking for something more, for a vision of a renewed church making an impact on the world. This is especially true of the younger generation, young married couples and those with big hopes for their lives, who tend to find such a dynamic renewal with vision only in charismatic communities or in other new movements in the church. Most of the Catholic charismatic prayer groups, at least in the northern hemisphere, have a membership that is predominantly female and over the age of 50. Not enough leaders in worldwide CCR have shown awareness of the dangers of a ‘domesticated’ church renewal that lacks a prophetic cuttingedge. While all Christians can suffer from the illusion that more power and more life from the Holy Spirit is possible without deep challenge to our theology and our church lifestyle, the danger of domestication in CCR has come particularly from the strong desire of participants for renewal to be accepted by church authority and from the accompanying fears of rejection.10 While the new charismatic churches are characterized by bold visions and plans for the future, this is not a widespread hallmark of CCR. This is partly because only church leaders can plan for the future of their churches and CCR leaders can at best only plan for CCR.11 CCR is probably the charismatic sector on which the creative thinking of the new churches has had the least impact. This is partly due to lesser fellowship and partly to the limited scope for applying such creativity in the Catholic context.

   I remember being told by a man, who now heads an apostolic-type ‘new church’ ministry in the USA, that the reason he left the Catholic Church was not due to any doctrinal issue, but because there was no scope in the Catholic Church to exercise the ministry to which he believed he was called.    Pope John Paul II gave strong encouragement to the ‘new ecclesial movements’ including CCR, seeing them as central to the future of the Catholic Church. 10  See Peter Hocken, ‘Charismatic Renewal in the Roman Catholic Church: Reception and Challenge’, in Jan A. B. Jongeneel (ed.), Pentecost, Mission and Ecumenism (Frankfurt am Main, 1992), pp. 301–09. 11  One example of bolder church thinking has been the City missions organized in successive years in Vienna, Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Budapest (2003–2007) in which CCR has played a considerable role, especially through the Emmanuel Community from France. CCR leaders like Fr Tom Forrest also played a major role in the Decade of Evangelization officially adopted for the ten years leading up to the year 2000.

Viewing the Whole

83

In some contrast to CCR and renewal within the historic churches, the new charismatic groupings generally exude an air of optimism and success. The impression is given of expansion and growth. Even if recent growth in countries like Great Britain has not been so marked, the optimism is maintained through constant prophecies of imminent revival. Not far below the surface however lurk some apprehensions. Those who have been around for some years are aware of deeper disappointment: of the huge hopes aroused in the excitement of the beginnings not being realized, of many prophecies for a glorious future not being fulfilled, in particular of real revival not yet being evident. It seems that the new churches need something new, a new move of the Spirit, a new teaching or emphasis, a new shot in the arm every few years in order to maintain their dynamism. There is no doubt a connection between this need for the ‘new thing’ and the constant prophecies of revival. The focus of charismatic worship is both on the worship of God and on experiencing the presence of the Lord. This is not to be seen as inherently problematic but nonetheless there is an ambivalence whereby worship can be reduced to the experiential. Zimmerling has observed that ‘the over-emphasis of spontaneous working of the Spirit in charismatic worship leads to an underemphasis of the – once and for all achieved – redemption in Jesus Christ’.12 This easily leads to the unfortunate terminology of God ‘showing up’, as though the presence of God is dependent on whether the participants sense God’s presence and see signs of God’s activity. The more reflective are aware of the dangers of mere activism, of constant activity without the time or opportunity to recharge the batteries, leading to many cases of ministerial ‘burn-out’. Now that some new church networks are moving towards a third generation, leaders have become humbler. They have first-hand experience that they are not totally exempt from the problems and weaknesses of the older churches. The lack of interest in history and the disregard for tradition can promote a short-termism. While there is more vision and bolder planning, it rarely looks beyond the next five to ten years. With the widespread determination not to become new denominations the new church networks usually lack not only the frustrations but also the protections offered by tested frameworks. Their emphasis on relationships and on the pastoring of pastors provides an important protection, but primarily in the areas of personal morality and spirituality. There is less ‘systemic’ protection, for example against conflicts of interest when faith is mixed with business and issues of pay and employment arise. In Europe the new churches seem to be less influenced by the family model, sometimes found in the USA and often in Africa, in which succession in authority, power and finances passes from father to son and where marrying into the dynasty seems as important as ability and mutual trust. 12   ‘Die Überbetonung des spontanen Geisteswirkens im charismatischen Gottesdienst führt zu einer Unterbetonung der – ein für allemal erfolgten – Erlösung in Jesus Christus.’ Peter Zimmerling, Die charismatischen Bewegungen (Göttingen, 2002), p. 239.

84

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The new churches typically lack the protection of a theological heritage. Happily there are some exceptions, such as New Frontiers, in which the teaching has been shaped by the reformed theology imbibed by their founder Terry Virgo at London Bible College and from the preaching of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel.13 However many leaders frame their teaching directly from their reading of the Bible and the other teachers they have heard. They are then vulnerable to the repetition of ancient errors, particularly regarding Christology. Anglican scholar Martyn Percy has been particularly critical of the theology of John Wimber. For Percy, Wimber’s teaching or theology is centred on power. Jesus is ‘the ultimate power agent’;14 ‘Jesus is a kind of power broker, demonstrating power, and then sharing it, before giving it away to a small group of prepared and committed disciples.’15 The power of the Spirit is poured out for church growth and the bringing in of the Kingdom of God. While Percy recognizes a development in Wimber’s teaching, he notes that Wimber’s ‘search for efficient forms of belief that demonstrate power most effectively has taken him from signs and wonders to healing, then to worship, then to prophecy, and finally to eschatology and holiness’.16 Percy’s criticism of Wimber and the Vineyard churches is primarily theological though sociologically aware. For Percy Wimber’s Christology is reductionist and subordinationist, subordinating Jesus to the Spirit seen as the power of God.17 What matters in the life of Jesus is his effective ministry, seen in the signs and wonders of healing and deliverance and in the ‘victory of the cross’ emphasizing the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus as one victorious event in which the power of Satan is overthrown.18 In this there is little significance in the Incarnation except as the pre-condition for successful ministry and no inherent significance in his suffering. ‘He [Wimber] completely ignores any attempt to deal with the incarnation. … But mention of Christ’s “self-emptying” (kenosis), and the significance of his adoption of weakness (cf. Phil. 2: 1–11) is not to be found.’19 The church becomes a ‘power-body’20 and ‘little more than a mechanism or agent (with a stress on efficiency), as it attempts to do the work of God.’21 ‘Those songs of Wimber that do deal with the Church are particularly prone to conflating divine and human power in a distinctive manner: what we again find missing is a sense  See Virgo, No Well-Worn Paths, ch. 6, esp. p. 60.   Percy, p. 102. 15   Ibid., p. 85. 16   Ibid., p. 110. 17   ‘Jesus is constantly presented as a powerful personality who can take hold of and transform the inner life of others.’ (Percy, p. 84). 18   ‘So, the Christ-Event is a victory in its entirety: a show of God’s strength and power.’ (Ibid., p. 98) 19   Ibid., p. 128. 20   Ibid., p. 114. 21   Ibid., p. 110. 13

14

Viewing the Whole

85

that authentic koinonia involves pain and hardship.’22 So Percy sees Wimber’s theology as an ‘over-realized eschatology’ that suffers ‘from an inordinately high stress on the power, rule and reign of God in the present, at the expense of valuing the freedom and respect that God gives to all creatures’.23 While Percy’s strictures are directly addressed to the Vineyard movement, he is well aware of their wider implications because of the influence of Wimber beyond Vineyard and because of the wide usage of the Vineyard songs. The Strengths It is appropriate to begin with the strengths of the new charismatic churches and networks. First, they have the freedom to be creative, to develop their own models and to determine their own priorities. They have a freedom to follow what they sense is from the Holy Spirit: in worship, in ministry, in evangelism, in formation. As we have seen in Chapter 2, there has been a much greater learning from contemporary cultural patterns than in the historic churches. There is an openness to discovery and most importantly to discover new treasures in the Scriptures. So in many of the new churches there is significant new teaching, generally practical formative teaching, developed from the Scriptures: teaching on leadership (Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David), on worship, on the prophetic, on reconciliation, on spiritual warfare and on healing. In some circles there has been a significant rediscovery of the discipline of fasting. The new charismatic churches are generally strong on the ministry of healing and deliverance. This is especially true in Africa, where new charismatic-type churches place a major emphasis on healing and on deliverance from all forms of spiritistic bondage. Whatever the weaknesses of deliverance ministries not operating under external church authority, they have been meeting a deeply felt need of the African people that the traditional mission churches had not been meeting. So great is this impact that Asamoah-Gyadu can write: The emphases on healing and exorcism as tools of evangelism account in part for the rapid growth of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa and its impact on the older historic mission churches. This impact has been so profound that there is currently an ongoing ‘Pentecostalisation’ of African Christianity in which historic mission churches consciously incorporate pneumatic phenomena, particularly healing and exorcism, into their worship and spirituality.24   Ibid., pp. 80–81.   Ibid., p. 111. While appreciating Wimber’s positive contribution, McBain concludes that ‘there remain serious doctrinal weaknesses in his teaching’ (Fire Over the Waters, p. 105). 24  Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Pulling Down Strongholds’: 309–10. See also Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity, ch. 5. 22 23

86

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The strength of the new charismatic churches is particularly manifest in their missionary expansion. Almost all the British networks have extensive involvement in other nations and continents. Kay notes the distinctive newness of the apostolic network missionary model based on church planting where the overseeing apostolic team has the same relationship to new congregations in Asia and Africa as to new congregations in Yorkshire or Scotland. He writes of this new model made possible by global communication and travel: So missionary work in apostolic networks is typically performed by apostolic figures who … are the most senior people within their grouping. This immediately changes the dynamics of the entire process. Mission is driven from the top of the church and not placed on the shoulders of sacrificial foot soldiers at the bottom.25

By contrast being part of something bigger not committed to charismatic revivalrenewal appears as a major hindrance to the independent charismatics. In fact it can be a strength because this more limited and servant role saves historic church charismatics from the hubris of making present Christian experience and understanding into the whole. Fr Yves Congar, the great Catholic theologian of the church, singled out ‘remaining in the fellowship of the whole’ as a key criterion for authentic reform of the church.26 Thus it is a strength of CCR when its distinctive features interact constructively with the Catholic tradition in liturgy, in the heritage of contemplative prayer and spiritual wisdom, in the traditions and disciplines of community life. From the beginning charismatic Catholics have recognized a contemplative element in the basic charismatic experience.27 The potential richness of a creative interaction between charismatic renewal and church liturgy is recognized by any who have taken part in the liturgies at major CCR conferences or in the liturgical celebrations of the new charismatic communities, particularly in France, where there is generally a greater liturgical sensitivity than in the English-speaking world. Of particular importance here is the sphere of worship and the way in which the distinctive emphases and practices of the charismatic movement can provide a spiritual leaven for the renewal of liturgies, ancient and modern.28 Here the praise component so characteristic of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements is discovered as a living reality in the historic liturgies.  Kay, Apostolic Networks in Britain, p. 267.  See the section ‘Rester dans la communion du tout’, in Yves M. -J. Congar, Vraie et Fausse Réforme dans l’Eglise (Paris, 1950), pp. 264–305. 27   Among the first to point out this connection were Josephine Massingberd Ford in the USA and Fr Simon Tugwell in England. 28   The most detailed study of such an interaction is James Steven’s study Worship in the Spirit (Milton Keynes, 2002) which studies the worship patterns in six Church of England parishes of contrasting churchmanship impacted by the charismatic movement. 25 26

Viewing the Whole

87

Many observers have recognized that much of the theological reflection on the charismatic movement has come from Catholic theologians and scholars, particularly from the Jesuits. In fact a deep theological contribution can only come out of a developed theological tradition. In the USA Donald Gelpi, SJ has worked for many years analysing the concept of experience and producing a deeper theology of conversion that has attracted the attention of Pentecostal scholars.29 In the German-speaking world, a New Testament scholar Norbert Baumert, SJ has focused on the concept of charisms, biblically and theologically,30 a theme related to ecclesiology by the North American Francis Sullivan, SJ.31 A major plus in the Catholic heritage from which the charismatic movement quickly benefited was the tradition of committed community life. As mentioned in Chapter 3, these new charismatic communities demonstrate a creative fusion of traditional patterns of community life with new forms of communitarian living including married people and families. This development of new communities follows a long-standing Catholic pattern of church renewal, in which the new impulses are channelled into new movements that acquire a place and a status in Catholic life separately from the basic parochial structures and – in the case of international movements and communities – separately from the diocesan structures. This model for renewal has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the new groupings approved by the Vatican have a greater freedom than diocesan or parish-based renewal that in some way parallels the mobility and creativity of the new church networks. They can then provide a stronger environment for serious interaction between the charismatic and the ecclesial. A disadvantage is that, unlike Anglican renewal, there is much less impact on Catholic parish life, which provides the basic diet for most Catholics. Within the CCR the new American communities almost all ran into major problems that the new French communities either managed to avoid or at least not to experience until quite recently.32 It was the philosopher George Santayana who said that those who were ignorant of history were condemned to repeat its mistakes. It would seem that the American communities had much weaker links to the heritage of the church than the French, who possessed a deeper awareness of history. A French sociologist has pointed out the close links between the new French communities and the major currents of Catholic spirituality in the French church.33 CCR thus has a wonderful resource for wisdom and for discernment  See Donald Gelpi, Charism and Sacrament: A Theology of Christian Conversion (1976) and The Conversion Experience (1998). 30  See Norbert Baumert, Charisma-Taufe-Geisttaufe (2 vols Würzburg, 2001). 31  See Francis A. Sullivan, Charisms and Charismatic Renewal (Dublin, 1982). 32   Two French communities, the Béatitudes and Pain de Vie, have had significant difficulties in the last few years. 33  A French sociologist of religion Martine Cohen has noted that the four major French charismatic communities all represent a kind of recycling of older French schools in a modern setting: Emmanuel that of the French school of de Bérulle and Olier, Chemin 29

88

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

in the teaching and lives of spiritual giants of the past.34 Most of the American communities experienced problems over the exercise of authority, the role of women and the excessive involvement of (lay) leaders in the personal lives of their followers. In some ways this can be seen as the Catholic fallout from the discipleship controversy that rocked the charismatic movement in the mid-1970s though the Catholic consequences took much longer to manifest. This rootedness in the past is of particular importance for understanding issues of suffering and apparent failure. The Catholic tradition contains many examples of holy men and women, whose lives contained much suffering and many setbacks, often at the hands of church authority, but whose labours eventually – often after their death – produced enormous fruit. The understanding of suffering and failure as a sharing in the suffering and death of Jesus is a major factor in the deepening and the purifying of Christian faith. Back to Complementarity It is not hard to see that the strengths and the weaknesses of historic church renewal and of the new charismatic churches are somehow the reverse of each other. The strengths of one correspond to the weaknesses of the other and vice versa. This suggests that both sides need to see their need for the compensating qualities of the other as a remedy for their own weaknesses. This is not to propose a facile coming together. The contrasts are too great for that to happen easily. The first step is to see that we need something that is embodied in the other, even if we cannot yet see what form any mutual learning might take. At least three theological issues lie at the heart of such an interaction: (1) continuity and discontinuity; (2) spirit and body; (3) death and resurrection. (1) Continuity and Discontinuity. The contrasts are perhaps above all the difference between an accent on continuity (the Christian faith passed from generation to generation) and an accent on discontinuity (an emphasis on heavensent revival and the constant necessity of Holy Spirit outpourings). This contrast is closely linked to that between mediated grace (through church, ordained ministry, sacraments) and immediate divine intervention (direct from heaven). Despite these sharply contrasting emphases the Catholic tradition can never deny the role of immediate divine intervention (above all in the incarnation and in the resurrection of Jesus), while the new charismatic churches accept a place for human mediation of divine blessing (in preaching, in ministry, in Evangelism and in church plants).

Neuf that of the Jesuits, Béatitudes that of the Carmelites and Pain de Vie that of the Franciscans. 34  Some CCR magazines do much popularization of the lives of saints and holy people as with Feu et Lumière and Il est Vivant! in France.

Viewing the Whole

89

An approach emphasizing complementarity will seek to understand how the two relate to each other: the continuity and the discontinuity, the mediated and the immediate. Does not the immediate have to come first and then give rise to the mediated? New patterns of the immediate take place within a continuity and redirect it. So in creation, there is an act of God that creates beings in time, who not only develop their own history but become instruments in its fashioning. The call of Abraham gives rise to the history of the chosen people. The call of the prophets shapes and re-directs the history of this people. The Incarnation is the entry of the Son of God into human history. The resurrection of Jesus is a divine intervention with immense repercussions for subsequent history. The sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost births the church within human history. Each intervention is into history to impact and shape history. What is crucial for the charismatics, inside and outside the historic churches, is the recognition for all believers and Christian communities of a direct contact with God the Father and the risen Lord Jesus through the created signs, of Word, charisma and sacrament, indeed of the Spirit-filled community. It is this contact that makes the signs authentic and life-giving. Together the historic churches and the new churches can affirm both the following statements: that the Christian faith is transmitted from generation to generation and that the Christian faith needs to be born from on high in each generation. These are not alternatives. Transmission without new birth produces a lifeless conservatism, revival without historical rooting produces only temporary excitement. (2) Spirit and Body. A deeper understanding of the discontinuous and the continuous, of the immediate and the mediated, requires an adequate theology of the spirit and the body. The charismatic emphasis on immediate intervention reflects a focus on the spiritual. What matters is the direct action of the Holy Spirit – in conversion, in Spirit-baptism, in healing, in revelation from God. The Catholic emphasis is much more on incarnation, on the Word who is spirit taking human flesh. So the church with its liturgy and sacraments is seen in a vital continuity with the life and ministry of the incarnate Word. The liturgy represents a fleshing out of the gospel message in Spirit-shaped human actions in community. The Word becomes flesh in Jesus and in his body. Renewal of the church thus has at its centre the recovery of constant dependence on the Holy Spirit so that repetition does not become routine. Further all Christians recognize that God created the human race as a fusion of spirit and body. This is expressed in the pictorial imagery of the story of creation in Genesis 2: ‘The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.’ (Gen. 2: 7). It is sin that introduces division with the ultimate penalty of death, the separation of body and ‘breath of life’, so that ‘you are dust, and to dust you shall return’ (Gen. 3: 19). The salvation of Christ is the deliverance of the whole of creation and the whole human person from the effects of sin and death. Hence in the Christian understanding salvation is only complete with the resurrection of the body and the final overcoming of death ‘the last enemy to be destroyed’ (1 Cor. 15: 26).

90

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Through creation of this embodied spirit God has made the bodily the vehicle of the spirit and the spiritual a dimension of the bodily. On the cross everything in Jesus is offered to the Father, his body, his emotions, his heart, his mind. In his risen humanity all become the instrument through which and by which the Holy Spirit is poured out. ‘The last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.’ (1 Cor. 15: 45) The Pentecostal and charismatic movements have also been recovering a sense of the instrumentality of bodily gestures in personal ministry. This is the Lord’s gift to help Protestants, especially Evangelicals, overcome their fear of ritualism and automatic sacramental causality, while Catholics need to learn afresh the connections between non-ritualized physical gestures and spiritual impact. (3) Death and Resurrection. The New Testament makes plain that the Christian follows his/her Lord in the experience of suffering and of glorification. This is expressed with particular clarity by Paul in the letter to the Philippians: ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead’ (3: 10–11).35 The truth that Jesus died on our behalf does not mean that the Christian does not have to suffer because Jesus suffered in our place. In these verses Paul teaches that the Christian knows the power of the resurrection of Jesus in the midst of the sufferings that characterize the life of the disciples. In this situation the Christian is conformed to the death of Jesus in preparation for his/her own resurrection from the dead. This teaching differs pointedly from two patterns that are more familiar: first, from the pattern of an emphasis on suffering and the cross that allows no place for the present power of Jesus’ resurrection; secondly, from the pattern of ‘prosperity teaching’ that so emphasizes the positive fruit of faith that there is no place for the suffering of the faithful disciple and no conformity to Jesus in his death as the way to resurrection. These short reflections again suggest that we are not dealing with total opposites but with complementary emphases that need each other. But they are sufficiently different that no real encounter is possible without a profound challenge from each side to the other. The Contributions of Each The new church streams pose radical challenges to the older churches. By their freedom they can think new thoughts, do new things, experiment and evaluate in a way that is difficult for established denominations. Lacking the restraints and the inherited wisdom of the older churches, their new ideas may be unbalanced, naïve or even plain wrong. Their new activities may occasionally be unwise, impulsive and do more damage than good. Nonetheless it is mostly from the new churches 35  Some translations omit the key words ‘the fellowship of [his sufferings]’. See also Rom. 8: 17–18; Heb. 12: 1–2; 1 Peter 2: 21; 4: 13.

Viewing the Whole

91

that the most dynamic new thrusts have come: in terms of the apostolic and the prophetic, in terms of church planting and of intercession. Cell church principles have mostly been coming from new independent churches.36 In my view these new thrusts are often accompanied by unconvincing exegesis, by exaggeration and occasionally by bizarre ideas. After all they are not being discovered and tested in a biblical or theological laboratory but in the excitement of an expanding movement of intense activity. There is here a recurring pattern in the new charismatic streams. The basic element in this pattern is that something spiritual is taking place. Christians open to the empowering and the enlightening of the Holy Spirit are being moved to grasp key spiritual realities afresh. Something important is sensed. But this sense is received into the complex of people’s beliefsystems and has then to be expressed, explained and defended. The more one progresses along the line from inspiration to expression to explanation-defence, the more there enters into play the theological and cultural understandings and attitudes of the Christians concerned. In milieux with a major focus on practice and little interest, possibly a disdain, for biblical-theological science and historical research, the result is frequently a naïve exegesis with the danger of a lopsided pastoral practice. Without a sounder theological underpinning the new initiatives are unlikely to bear the lasting fruit that is purposed by the Holy Spirit. A striking example of this pattern can be seen in the whole area of spiritual warfare and the categorization of ‘spirits’, such as ‘territorial’ and ‘religious’. The pattern I have outlined suggests that it is not the most helpful approach to begin with a criticism of the teaching. It is more Christian to ask what the Holy Spirit has been showing to the practitioners of spiritual warfare. Looking at the charismatic scene of the last 20 years and especially in the new groupings we can see that there has been a massive increase in organized intercessory prayer and the rise of a new concern for reconciliation. These two thrusts, which are inter-connected, can and should be recognized as prompted and inspired by the Holy Spirit. There has been a new grasp of the spiritual obstacles that stand in the way of revival and effective Evangelism. Anguished prayer over the obstacles encountered in Evangelism has produced new insights and is motivating the new efforts to stem the tide of secularism and immorality in the Western world and to exert a Christian impact in the mega-cities. There is a strong sense of the systems of oppression that afflict our world, whether sociopolitical, economic or religious, acting as barriers to the spread of the gospel and the coming of the kingdom. There is an important recognition here of a dimension of reality neglected by the mainstream churches. The new charismatics sense there is a connection between this ignored dimension and a lack of impact on society. The new churches agonize over this lack of impact to which many in the historic churches seem to have 36

  The major teachers of cell church principles are mostly pastors of independent Evangelical churches, that are not overtly charismatic. There has also been a championing of cell church principles within the Catholic Church by Fr Eivers in Florida and Dom Perini in Milan.

92

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

resigned themselves. The churches ignore these basic insights at their peril. But the exegetical and theological underpinning for the practice of ‘spiritual warfare’ is much less impressive than the spiritual insights. Most of the prophetic milieux are much given to speak of ‘religious spirits’ when they encounter rejection or dismissal, though it is hardly biblical to use the term ‘religion’ in an exclusively negative way. Similarly much of the literature about ‘territorial spirits’ is exegetically very feeble, consisting of the citation of two or three texts from the Old Testament upon which a whole deliverance system is constructed. There is a common assumption that ‘the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ of Ephesians 6 simply refer to demons or evil spirits. Zimmerling, for example, strongly criticizes Wagner for his dependence on allegorical readings supported only by purported prophetic words and for the neglect of the literal sense of the biblical text.37 He is very critical of the reliance of the proponents of spiritual warfare on military terminology, arguing that in the New Testament ‘in the fight against Satan and the demons God alone is “on the attack”’.38 Though Zimmerling notes both the strengths and the weaknesses of the charismatic movement, for example in the sphere of worship, on ‘spiritual warfare’ there is a clearer recognition of the theological weaknesses than of the spiritual insights that have given rise to this teaching. The new streams here need the greater historical awareness and theological wisdom that is found within the historic churches. It is instructive for example how a charismatic Anglican such as Russ Parker enters the area of deliverance, healing and reconciliation with a greater spiritual sophistication because of his fuller biblical-theological foundation and his greater awareness of the human sciences. In his book Healing Wounded History Parker shows the dangers of hyperspiritual approaches that exalt the spiritual factors at the cost of understanding the human dynamics. There is a less simplistic approach to the understanding of Ephesians 6: ‘The writers of the New Testament acknowledge the reality of spiritual powers working within these systems but they do not always demonise them, and neither should we.’39 In the Evangelical-charismatic milieux with a concern for effective evangelism and spiritual warfare there have been numerous initiatives for the healing of old ethnic conflicts. There is a fresh realization of the connections between a people and their land and between moral depravity and pollution of the land, a very biblical concept! But the new church literature on this subject, though arising from spiritual insight, tends to be short on scholarship and precision. The authors realize the need to dig back into the roots of long-lasting conflict but they often lack the

37

  Zimmerling, pp. 383, 386.   ‘Im Kampf gegen Satan und Dämonen ist allein Gott “in der Offensive”.’ (Ibid., p. 380). See also ibid., pp. 298–301, 351–61, 371–89. 39  Russ Parker, Healing Wounded History (London, 2001), p. 67. 38

Viewing the Whole

93

tools of the historian and a feel for earlier periods of history. Again Parker provides one of the better treatments.40 A second instance concerns the strategy for church planting in which the new church charismatics have generally led the way. A perusal of the Vineyard magazine Cutting Edge will quickly demonstrate the creativity of vision, the commitment of lives and the wealth of experience involved in this strategy. Zimmerling has severe criticism for Wagner’s church planting theory, which he describes as ‘a modern American-minted ideology of growth, for which growth has no limits’,41 objecting to the unbiblical notion that ‘church growth can be planned through a methodology for the formation of new congregations’,42 which neglects the pluriformity [Vielfalt] of community structures in the New Testament church.43 While Zimmerling’s criticisms of Wagner seem well founded, they are less applicable to the Vineyard practice, which allows for a wide variety of methods, models and styles. A third example concerns what was widely known as ‘the Toronto blessing’.44 This is, I believe, another example of something significant happening in the realm of the Spirit but with the ensuing literature not measuring up to the significance of the phenomenon. As a student and chronicler of the charismatic movement, I knew when I heard of the Toronto outbreak that I should visit the airport church to gain a first-hand impression and to form my own judgment. So I went there twice in the spring-to-summer of 1995. Both times I was impressed by evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work as well as by the absence of hype and pressure. As a Catholic I have been aware since my first contact with Pentecostals of the physical component in Pentecostal-charismatic life and ministry.45 At Toronto this 40  On the land see Parker, chs 1 and 2. The country where reconciliation initiatives have come from charismatics in mainline churches is Germany, where some of the Lutheran leaders, particularly Friedrich Aschoff, have addressed the national responsibility for the atrocities of the Nazi era. 41   ‘... eine neuzeitliche, amerikanisch geprägte Wachstumsideologie, für die es keine‚ Grenzen des Wachstums’ gibt’ (Zimmerling, p. 321). 42   ‘… das Gemeindewachstum durch eine Methode wie die Gründung neuer Gemeinden geplant werden könne’ (ibid., p. 322). 43   Ibid., p. 325. 44   The challenges to the historic churches may also now be challenges to the Pentecostals as they take on a characteristically denominational character. The Pentecostal denominations have fairly consistently had a negative and non-constructive response to later outbursts such as the Latter Rain movement, the signs and wonders of John Wimber, the Toronto blessing and very recently Lakeland in Florida. The major exception has been the welcome generally given to the Brownsville outbreak of 1995 which happened in an Assembly of God church. A few Pentecostal churches welcomed the Toronto blessing, as for example Kensington Temple in London, but the denominations have generally manifested an extreme caution. 45   See Peter Hocken, ‘The Potential and Significance of Pentecostalism’, in New Heaven? New Earth? (London, 1976), pp. 4–52.

94

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

was graphically demonstrated before my eyes at each meeting. I saw that there was a link between the presence of the Spirit and the physical manifestations. This did not mean immediate attribution of all manifestations to the Holy Spirit. But it was evident that a strong presence of the Holy Spirit impacts people profoundly and it is not surprising that this impact has physical consequences. However the Evangelical thought-background of the Toronto leadership and of most ‘adherents’ does not really have a theology of the body. So in all the literature that poured forth for two or three years about the ‘Toronto blessing’ the physicality of what was happening was barely mentioned. Books and articles sought texts from the Bible to justify laughing in the Spirit and other unusual manifestations in a way that sometimes bordered on the ludicrous, all the time missing one of the most significant elements. One of the biggest dangers is to turn a particular experience of the Lord’s grace into a universal law or doctrine. To sense a ‘Jezebel spirit’ somewhere can lead to teaching that encourages the finding of Jezebel spirits everywhere. But a phenomenon like Toronto is particularly vulnerable to the temptation to regard it as ‘real Christianity’ and so to make it the basis for a whole way of life. The Toronto blessing, or better the Father’s blessing, can be best understood as a contribution to a deeper renewal of all that is Christian. But turned into ‘real Christianity’ it becomes an impoverished and ultimately delusionary distraction. Here the new churches need the input of the older churches. They particularly need to listen to the more sympathetic theological voices – often unfortunately a minority among theological voices – who can help them to avoid exaggerations and naïve conclusions that produce their own negative fruit. But it will only be possible for them to hear these theological voices, if the theologians are spiritually discerning and able to recognize the often profound insights and instincts of the Spirit that lie behind the exegesis they dismiss as naïve. The Present Situation The present situation is one in which all the currents that we have examined in the first three chapters are having a major impact across the world but particularly in the Two-Thirds World. The Pentecostal, new charismatic and Evangelicalcharismatics are being drawn increasingly together. The Pentecostal-charismaticEvangelical world and the Roman Catholic Church tend to operate as though the other is at best irrelevant to God’s purposes and at worst an enemy. I am arguing that such an opposition is disastrous and has by God’s grace to be overcome. Nonetheless since the beginnings of the charismatic movement the Holy Spirit has been touching the hearts of several leaders and deeply prayerful believers with a sense of the need for each other and for a profound and humble reconciliation. I will just mention a few examples:

Viewing the Whole

•

• •

•

• • •

95

the ministry of those Pentecostal pastors who see the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in the Roman Catholic Church and have committed themselves to dialogue and reconciliation, sometimes at considerable personal cost (David du Plessis, Jerry L. Sandidge, Cecil M. Robeck Jr, Cheryl Bridges Johns, Frank Macchia). the work of the Evangelical Catholic Initiative in Ireland, seeking to build bridges between ‘Evangelical Catholics’ and ‘Evangelical Protestants’. in Ireland, the ministry of the Christian Renewal Centre at Rostrevor, founded by charismatic Anglicans Cecil and Myrtle Kerr in 1972 to promote reconciliation between Protestant and Catholic from a base of a common life lived together by people from both communities.46 the Weg zur Versöhnung (Way of Reconciliation) initiative in Austria, gathering leaders from a wide range of churches and movements, including Evangelicals, Pentecostals, free church charismatics, Vineyard churches, charismatic Lutherans and charismatic Catholics; this is perhaps the most developed pattern of reconciled relationships because it has been formed as an ongoing and permanent body not primarily brought together to organize particular events. the friendship and collaboration between a dynamic charismatic free church minister of healing in France, Carlos Payan, with the Catholic bishop of Nanterre, Mgr. Gérard Daucourt.47 in Argentina, the coming together since 2004 of Evangelical and Pentecostal pastors with Catholic charismatics in CRECES (Comunion Renovada de Evangelicos y Catolicos en el Espiritu Santo). the initiative of a Pentecostal leader in India, Bishop Ernest Komanapalli of Hyderabad, who in 2006 gathered church leaders, including the local Catholic archbishop, for a celebration of reconciliation.

These last instances from Argentina and India are encouraging as until this time the unity dimension in the charismatic movement has been largely confined to Europe and North America. It is significant that the statement issued at the end of a recent Catholic seminar on Christian unity for Asian Bishops’ Conferences includes specific recommendations for constructive relations with Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians: ‘the Pentecostal presence should be considered as a challenge and an opportunity rather than a threat. … Having the courage to take the first step; by relating to Pentecostals and Evangelicals in a fraternal way without weakening one’s own identity’.48 Also encouraging is the active and welcomed

 See Cecil Kerr, The Way of Peace (London, 1990).  Mgr. Daucourt has recently written a foreword to a book by ‘his friend’, Carlos Payan, Unité, Onction, Guérison (Paris, 2008). 48   The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Information Service, 122 (2006): 68–9. 46

47

96

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

participation of Pentecostal observer Juan Sepulveda at the 2007 meeting of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.49 Although there is still a huge gap between the historic and the new churches the present situation is not without concrete signs of hope. The key question remains as to how the two sides can be brought together. The last two chapters will add what I believe are essential ingredients for such reconciliation and unity: Israel (Chapter 5) and eschatology (Chapter 6). It is not without significance that no inter-church dialogue has yet addressed the subject of eschatology.

49   Juan Sepulveda, ‘The Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean’, Ecumenical Trends, 37/4 (2008): 9/57–11/59.

Chapter 5

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality It was at the massive Kansas City conference of 1977 that many charismatic Christians first became aware of the Messianic Jews as a distinct stream within the overall movement of the Spirit. At Kansas City the Messianic Jews formed a particular grouping with their own morning sessions, with open workshops being offered in the afternoons by Messianic Jewish leaders. The Messianic Jews and the Charismatic Movement Not all Messianic Jews would be happy to see the Messianic Jews listed as a grouping within the charismatic movement. Not all Messianic Jews are charismatic. In Israel it is estimated that 60 per cent are charismatic (50 per cent of the congregations) but in the Western diaspora the percentage is much higher, probably about 85 per cent (65 per cent of the congregations) and higher still in the former Soviet Union. The reasons for including the Messianic Jews in this book are: (1) the charismatic dimension was the major catalyst that transformed an incipient tendency into a dynamic movement that has continued to grow since its charismatic beginnings around 1967; (2) the charismatic congregations have been growing faster and are generally larger than the non-charismatic; (3) the Messianic Jewish movement combines the oldest and the newest in a unique way that has a potential for the bridging of the church-stream gap with which this book is concerned. Forerunners There have always been Jewish converts to Christianity. But for most centuries of the Christian era, the church required Jewish converts to abandon their Jewishness and adapt to Gentile ways if they wanted to receive baptism. Those who now call themselves Messianic Jews are Jewish believers in Jesus, who refuse Gentile assimilation and assert their right – like the first believers in Jesus – to retain a Jewish identity and lifestyle while confessing Jesus as Messiah of Israel. But until 1967 there was really no movement of Messianic Jews. For over a century Evangelical Christians had been forming missionary societies specifically for the evangelization of Jews. There had been a Hebrew Christian movement, largely made up of Jewish members of Protestant denominations, who wanted to preserve

98

The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

something of their personal Jewish identity. In these circles, there had been some more visionary leaders and a few pioneer efforts for the establishment of Jewishbased congregations, but they did not attract wide support.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 5.1

Baruch HaShem Messianic Jewish synagogue in Dallas, Texas

A significant forerunner was Joseph Rabinowitz, a Russian Jew who experienced conversion in the Holy Land in 1882 without any Gentile influence. Returning to Kishinev, the capital of present-day Moldova, he sought to found a Jewish congregation of believers in Jesus that he called the Israelites of the New Covenant. The importance of the Kishinev experiment lay in Rabinowitz’s vision for a restoration of a Jewish expression of faith in Jesus and in his composition of a Jewish ‘creed’ and a Jewish liturgy. As a Jewish believer in Jesus he was convinced that neither he nor his followers should be identified with a Gentile denomination. However the Czarist government regarded Rabinowitz’s activities as Jewish rather than Christian and so he was only permitted to hold gatherings in a meeting hall. While able to preach and teach, Rabinowitz was never authorized to baptize or to celebrate a liturgy. He was dependent on visiting ministers for anything   See Kai Kjaer-Hansen, Joseph Rabinowitz and the Messianic Movement (Edinburgh and Grand Rapids MI, 1995).   Rabinowitz compiled a Messianic prayer book (Siddur) and Twenty-Four Articles of Faith (an English translation is provided in Kjaer-Hansen, pp. 103–07).

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

99

beyond preaching and praying. These restrictions prevented the development of a full corporate life for the ‘Israelites of the New Covenant’ and any effective implementation of Rabinowitz’s vision for Jewish life in Messiah. This experiment did not long survive Rabinowitz’s death in 1899. The first examples of Jewish congregations being formed were in Israel, the USA and Canada. In Israel some Evangelical missionary societies founded Jewish missions as indigenous congregations for Hebrew-speaking believers. It was here that the Jewish believers first coined the term meshichi (‘Messianic’) so as not to be called Christians, for whom the derogatory Hebrew term notzri was used. The Presbyterian Church in the USA was the denomination that did most to encourage converted Jews to enjoy fellowship with each other. Their Department of Jewish Evangelization favoured the establishment of ‘community center’ mission houses that sometimes led to the founding of Hebrew Christian congregations. Thus in 1934 the First Hebrew Christian Church was founded by the Presbyterians in Chicago. The Jewish congregations between the 1930s and 1950s were dependent not only administratively and financially on the guidance and goodwill of the Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian benefactors but theologically and liturgically as well. These congregations did not aspire to be Christian synagogues or an amalgamation of synagogues and churches.

Over the next 20 years other Hebrew Christian congregations were established by the Presbyterians, for example in New York City and Philadelphia. Among the missions to the Jews the Presbyterian Department of Jewish Evangelism was somewhat of an exception. But in fact, as Ariel shows, the very focus of these missions on the Jewish people, their belief in the distinctive calling of Israel and its place in the last days, as well as their emphasis that faith in Jesus did not remove their Jewishness, all militated in the long run in favour of a distinct Jewish expression. Some time earlier (1866 in Britain and 1915 in the USA), Christians of Jewish origin in the mainline Protestant churches had formed Hebrew Christian Alliances as a means of maintaining Jewish identity without seeking any congregational expression of their Jewishness as believers in Jesus. However as early as 1916 a Jewish Episcopalian, Mark Levy, had urged the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America to develop a vision for Jewish congregations, but this proposal was

 See Yaakov Ariel, Evangelizing the Chosen People (Chapel Hill & London, 2000), p. 125.    Ibid., p. 131.    ‘They [the missionaries] laid the foundation and have been the driving force for the building of Christian congregations in which Jewish ethnicity, symbols, and rites are preserved and celebrated.’ (ibid., p. 288). 

100 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

rejected by a large majority. This was still largely the situation in the mid-1960s with the Hebrew Christian Alliances uninterested in a ‘Messianic Jewish’ vision, except in Israel where some saw the formation of Hebrew-speaking congregations as the proper missionary strategy for the establishment of an indigenous church. The Explosion The transformation from Hebrew Christians to Messianic Jews was triggered by the Jesus movement, the counter-cultural ‘hippie’ charismatic current that broke out in California in the mid-to-late 1960s. Many young Jews came to faith in Jesus within the Jesus movement. As a counter-cultural movement rebelling against the dominant patterns in Western society, the Jesus movement fostered independence of thought and action. The converted young Jews saw no reason why they should assimilate by joining Gentile churches. They wanted to stay Jewish, while believing in Jesus and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. They also possessed an evangelistic zeal, particularly seeking out their fellow Jews. This impulse from the Jesus movement occurred in the wake of the six-day war of 1967 and the restoration of Jerusalem to Jewish rule. These events fired the imagination of Jewish people and contributed to the determination of these new young believers in Jesus, whom they called Yeshua, to remain fully Jewish and to refuse assimilation into the Gentile churches. These young Jewish converts provided a new impetus for founding congregations of Jewish believers in Yeshua. At the same time some of those involved in Hebrew Christian ministry and congregations within historic Protestant churches were being led in a Messianic Jewish direction. In 1975 the new impetus towards Messianic Judaism expressing itself through Messianic congregations or synagogues led the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America to adopt the title ‘Messianic Jewish Alliance of America’ along with the new vision thereby expressed. The new thrust that turned Hebrew Christians into Messianic Jews was distinctly charismatic. This reflected the influence of the Jesus movement. However the Evangelical missions to the Jews were and remained non-charismatic. In Israel there were Hebrew-speaking congregations founded before the coming of the charismatic movement. But the transforming factor from Hebrew Christianity to Messianic Judaism was overwhelmingly charismatic and it was the charismatic factor that provided new dynamism for Evangelism and growth. Almost all the Messianic Jewish congregations in the USA that date back to the 1970s are charismatic, both those transformed from Hebrew Christian congregations in the Presbyterian Church and those begun from scratch. But by   Ironically, Levy proposed this vision to a synod of the Episcopal Church, which accepted it.   See Daniel Juster and Peter Hocken, The Messianic Jewish Movement (Ventura CA, 2004) for a more detailed summary of this process.

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

101

the end of the 1970s the surviving missions to the Jews, both denominational and independent, were slowly being won over to the Messianic Jewish vision. Their policies gradually changed from evangelizing Jews into Protestant denominations to encouraging expressly Jewish assemblies. These missions remained noncharismatic and so the congregations they established in the 1980s and 1990s are typically non-charismatic. Jews for Jesus, whose thrust was Evangelistic without an initial concern for ongoing Jewishness, also began to think in terms of planting Messianic congregations. The Messianic Jewish movement today is largest in the USA and in the former Soviet Union. But in the last decade the movement in Israel has grown notably with the number of congregations rising from 60 to over 100. In Western and Central Europe the fastest growth is in Germany, but almost entirely among the Jewish immigrants who have arrived since the break-up of the Soviet Union. In Britain a survey from 2005 indicated six Messianic fellowships in the London area, three in the Greater Manchester area and one in Leeds, with a few smaller groups scattered in other towns, particularly the retirement centres on the south coast. In Latin America the movement is growing, particularly in Brazil and Argentina, aided by a number of people of Marrano descent seeking to combine the Jewish and Christian elements in their heritage. The charismatic element in the Messianic Jewish movement can be seen in its prophetic expression as also in its music and dance. The Messianic movement has an affinity with the prophetic since the reappearance of a Jewish church is itself a prophetic sign. It is not surprising then that the overtly charismatic majority in the Messianic movement live the prophetic in a cosmic-eschatological way more fully than the charismatic renewal in general. The Messianic Jews dance more than other charismatics, both in distinctively Jewish and in typical charismatic ways. They have an impressive number of musicians and composers of new songs and choruses with several Messianic musicians from Israel becoming frequent travellers to minister in Gentile lands.10



  Both the Southern Baptists and the Assemblies of God in the USA have adopted a missionary strategy towards the Jewish people of forming Messianic congregations that would be affiliated to their denomination. In the USA there are about 12 to 15 Messianic congregations within the Southern Baptist Convention (Sibley: 60), adding to the ‘noncharismatic’ component, and somewhat fewer in the Assemblies of God, that as a Pentecostal denomination possesses a charismatic character.    See Richard Gibson, ‘A General Survey of the British Messianic Scene’ (2005). 10  For example, Avner and Rachel Boskey, David and Lisa Loden, Merv and Merla Watson. Other Messianic Jewish musicians with a travelling ministry are Rob Stearns (Eagles’ Wings Ministries, USA) and Barry and Batya Segal (Britain).

102 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The Character of the Messianic Jewish Movement The distinguishing features of the Messianic Jewish movement are: (1) the conviction that it is right and biblical for Jewish converts to be at one and the same time truly Jewish and authentic believers in Yeshua; (2) the conviction that to be truly Jewish as believers in Yeshua it is necessary to form distinctive Jewish fellowships, predominantly in the form of Messianic Jewish congregations or synagogues; (3) the belief that the restoration of a visibly Jewish expression of the church is a prophetic restoration brought about by the Holy Spirit in our day; (4) the sense that the Messianic Jewish congregations should not be under Gentile control, but should form their own patterns of church government and fellowship.11 Along with their common Jewishness these convictions ground a basic sense of oneness within the Messianic Jewish movement. However there are many issues that provoke tension and even division with the major tensions arising from: (1) the relationship of Jewish believers to the Torah: congregations range from those that describe themselves as ‘Torah-observant’ through those that honour selected laws and feasts to those that emphasize emancipation from the yoke of the Torah;12 (2) issues connected with Zionism, the state of Israel and whether there is any obligation to make aliyah to Israel;13 (3) the charismatic-Evangelical issue; and (4) tensions between the movement in Israel, the theological-prophetic centre, and the movement in the USA, the organizational-power centre.14 The first two factors are the more theological issues and thus more likely to become obstacles to fellowship. Both are directly concerned with what it means to be Jewish and what it means to be a Jewish believer in Yeshua. In practice however these issues tend to interact with each other. In the tensions between the Messianic Jews in Israel and those in the USA there are different attitudes to historic Judaism. Those who emphasize freedom from the yoke of Torah are found in Israel, where identification with the nation and the history of the Jewish people is assured by citizenship and residence. The different relationship to the Holocaust between Israeli and North American Jews also influences their attitudes to the Jewish past. Messianic Jews in Israel rarely speak of ‘Messianic Judaism’, whereas this is common among Messianic Jews in the USA.15 11  Notwithstanding the missionary policy of the Southern Baptists and the Assemblies of God, most Messianic leaders are convinced of the need for Messianic Jewish congregations to be freed from Gentile control. 12   The majority of Messianic Jewish congregations would locate themselves in the middle of this spectrum. 13   Aliyah means return, that is return to the land of Israel. Most Messianic Jews encourage aliyah, but only a minority regard and preach it as an obligation. 14  On these tensions see Juster and Hocken, pp. 28–34. 15   The story of pioneer Martin Chernoff in the USA speaks of his being given the phrase ‘Messianic Judaism’ in a vision: see Yohanna Chernoff, Born a Jew … Die a Jew

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

103

The biblical hermeneutics and teaching of the Messianic Jews have been strongly marked by Evangelical Protestantism. This is not surprising given two important factors: first, that Evangelical Protestants have been almost the only Christians in modern times to take seriously the Old Testament prophecies concerning the people and the land of Israel. It is among Evangelicals that the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel has been seen as a fulfilment of biblical prophecy. So the Christians who are excited to hear about Messianic Jews are mostly Evangelicals. In consequence Evangelical Christians are the main Gentile supporters of the Messianic Jewish movement. Secondly, the Evangelical movement has been strongly shaped by revivalism, by the hope for and by the occurrence of revival. The spread of the Messianic movement is seen and experienced in a revivalistic context. However the Messianic Jewish movement can never rest content as nothing more than a subsection of Evangelical Protestantism. First, the belief that the movement is a restoration of the Jewish church, the beginning of the resurrection that Paul called ‘life from the dead’ in Romans 11: 15, means that those who have embraced the Messianic Jewish vision cannot see their movement as a subsection of any Christian movement. Secondly, the desire to be Jewish followers of Messiah Yeshua does not sit easily with some Evangelical antipathies. Evangelicalism emphasizes discontinuity in God’s action, depending on a direct relationship in the present with the Father in Jesus. For Evangelicals tradition is a dirty word. However for Jews tradition cannot be so easily sloughed off. To be a Jew is to have a history. To be a Jew is to be a son or daughter of Abraham through the heritage of all the intervening generations. Further, Evangelicals are typically suspicious of ritual. Openness to the Holy Spirit and the advocacy of interior heart religion produces a suspicion of liturgy as a focus on externals ever liable to slip into a dreaded formalism. However Judaism is essentially liturgical. The Torah prescribes how the feasts are to be observed each year, and the Sabbath to be observed each week. As the Messianic movement develops there is a tendency for congregations to become more liturgical as a consequence of the desire to be authentically Jewish. This may begin with the keeping of the biblical feasts, the observance of Shabbat, particularly the Friday evening welcoming of the Shabbat, and then extend to processions with a Torah scroll, even among a few to the use of the Siddur, the Jewish prayer book.

(Hagerstown MD, 1996), p. 124. Messianic rabbi Mark Kinzer has written a small book entitled The Nature of Messianic Judaism (West Hartford CT, n.d.), in which he argues that Messianic Judaism is a species of the genus Judaism (see subtitle and p. 14).

104 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The Challenge of the Messianic Jews The First Level of Challenge Encountering Messianic Jews is a challenging experience for any Gentile Christian. We may be aware that much of the Christian world has begun to move away from the view that the church has replaced Israel as God’s covenant people, generally known as replacement teaching/theology or supersessionism. But often this remains a rather theoretical consideration remote from the burning theological issues of the day. Meeting Messianic Jews confronts Gentile Christians with Jewish believers in Jesus who refuse to be ‘replaced’. It faces Christians not just with a different theology but with an incarnate reality. This encounter requires an unpacking of what it means to switch from a ‘replacement logic’ to an understanding of Israel and the church centred on ‘the mystery of ingrafting’. This challenge touches Catholics, Orthodox, classical Reformation Protestants, Evangelicals and Pentecostals in their self-understanding and so impinges on the respective Christian identities of all. Catholics, and maybe even more the Orthodox, pride themselves on tradition, on the apostolic heritage that goes back to the origins of the church. The early centuries with the writings of the church fathers are seen as a golden age. But the fathers taught that the church had replaced rejected Israel as God’s chosen. For this reason the Vatican II paragraph on Judaism is unique in containing no references to past church authorities.16 The Messianic challenge confronts Catholics and Orthodox with the unfamiliar and disconcerting idea that something went wrong in the earliest period of church history. Maybe not as much was lost as Evangelicals think, but nonetheless something was lost that cannot be dismissed as peripheral. For the idea of divine rejection led inexorably to the inculcation of contempt for an accursed people, the language of deicide (accusations it was necessary for the Second Vatican Council to repudiate) and malicious myths with all the bloodshed and civil disturbance they provoked. But most profoundly this issue is not marginal to Christian faith, because the place of the believing Jews belongs to the nature of the church, the mystery expressed most clearly in Ephesians 2 and 3. Evangelical Protestants pride themselves on the purity of their biblical faith and on their knowledge of the Scriptures. But the issue of replacement teaching and the rightness of a Jewish expression of the church show that their faith was not as pure and biblical as was thought. The depth of the challenge to the Evangelicals and the Pentecostals is not as immediately obvious to them, for they were not party to the worst features of Christian history. A deficient exegesis of the Bible does not seem to be in the same league as the evils of murder, pillage and arson by mobs, of the anti-Jewish myths so readily believed and propagated, of church legislation against the Jews and worst of all the evils of the Spanish Inquisition. However they have been deeply affected by replacement thinking, which is not   Nostra Aetate, para. 4.

16

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

105

just a theological mistake, but a spiritual virus that is deeply damaging to those who embrace it. The replacement teaching that God has rejected the Jews and chosen the church in Israel’s place is arrogant and judgmental. In its affirmation that God has rejected the Jews it violates the injunction of Jesus: ‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’ (Matt. 7: 1). It involves the worst arrogance of usurping God’s role as the only judge. But the replacement arguments were not only used in the early church to contrast the virgin-mother church with the harlot synagogue, they have been repeatedly recycled by Christians protesting against the corruption and lifelessness of the existing churches. So it was said by protesting ‘come outers’: ‘God has rejected you on account of your apostasy and your corruption and he has chosen us instead.’ This argument was used by Protestants against the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century and later by revivalist currents against the Anglicans, the Lutherans and other historic Protestant communities. The world of revival movements has been strongly marked by the judgmentalism of replacement thinking and by the spirit of separation, which make difficult if not impossible the renewal of existing traditions. The Second Level of Challenge In fact, the challenge from the Messianic Jews directly affects Christian understanding of the church. For the Messianic Jewish claim that they represent a ‘resurrection’ of the Jewish church of the first generations obviously involves an ecclesiological assertion. It is that the one church of our Lord Jesus Christ is made up of both Jew and Gentile: ‘for he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility’ (Eph. 2: 14). In Ephesians 3 ‘the mystery of Christ … revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit’ is that ‘the Gentiles are fellow heirs (sygkleronoma), members of the same body (syssoma), and partakers of the promise (symmetocha) in Christ Jesus through the gospel’ (vv. 4–6). This union of Jew and Gentile is not just the coming together of individuals to form one new entity. It is, as Paul indicates in Romans 11, the ingrafting of wild olive branches (the Gentile believers) into the natural olive tree (Israel renewed in the new covenant through Messiah) that still has its natural branches (the Jewish believers in Yeshua).17 There is a parallel with the union of man and woman in marriage (‘the two become one flesh’) without the man ceasing to be a man or the woman ceasing to be a woman.18 But there is this difference that in the union of Jew and Gentile the Gentile is being drawn into a unity that already existed, the union of the Messiah with his sisters and brothers.

17   ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah’ (Jer. 31: 31). 18   This parallel is implicit in Gal. 3: 28.

106 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The first truly theological articulation of this model of the church has come from a Messianic Jewish scholar in the USA, Mark Kinzer.19 Kinzer advocates what he calls a ‘Bilateral Ecclesiology in Solidarity with Israel’,20 which he summarizes in five basic principles: (1) the perpetual validity of God’s covenant with the Jewish people; (2) the perpetual validity of the Jewish way of life rooted in the Torah, as the enduring sign and instrument of that covenant; (3) the validity of Jewish religious tradition as the historical embodiment of the Jewish way of life rooted in the Torah; (4) the bilateral constitution of the ekklesia, consisting of distinct but united Jewish and Gentile expressions of Yeshua-faith; (5) the ecumenical imperative of the ekklesia, which entails bringing the redeemed nations of the world into solidarity with the people of Israel in anticipation of Israel’s – and the world’s – final redemption.21

Kinzer represents the ‘Torah-observant’ end of the Messianic Jewish spectrum, a commitment that is particularly expressed in his third principle. Almost all Messianic Jews would accept Kinzer’s first and fourth principles, though they might not articulate the fourth in such a theological manner. Many would accept the second principle, as also the fifth, while the third would remain the most controversial. However in Kinzer’s theology the five principles are woven together and presented as a coherent whole. This vision of the church as ‘the two made one’ profoundly challenges all our inherited views of the church, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. First, it challenges what we may call all ‘monopolar’ models of the church. The New Testament model is ‘bipolar’, a union of contrasts or of opposites: of the Jews (oriented by their original calling toward the nations) and of the Gentiles (oriented by the gospel calling toward Israel and their Messiah). The bipolar model excludes a self-serving church, a church that sees its role as subordinating all else to itself – even in the name of Christ. There is something dialogical built into the constitution of the church as there is in the eternal ‘constitution’ of the Trinity. There is the dialogue of the Bridegroom with the Bride (Eph. 5: 22–33) and there is the dialogue of the ‘two made one’, of Jew and Gentile, already on earth. It is significant that the Catholic Church explicitly affirmed the dialogical calling of the church at the same time as it recognized the ongoing covenant of the Lord with the Jewish people.22 This represented a massive change in the deportment of the Catholic Church to everything ‘outside’ its visible boundaries. However the challenge also extends in other directions. The New Testament model is incarnational, real, embodied. The bipolar model equally challenges all  Mark Kinzer, Post-Missionary Messianic Judaism (Grand Rapids MI, 2005).   Ibid., ch. 4. 21   Ibid., p. 264. 22  See the encyclical letter of Paul VI Ecclesiam Suam (1964), paras 59–66. 19

20

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

107

spiritualization of the church, such as has occurred repeatedly in the history of Protestantism. Judaism is deeply embedded in the real world: through the physical sign of circumcision, through the promise of a particular land and through the hope for the establishment in this world of the coming Kingdom of the Messiah. The ingrafting of the Gentiles means a real bond with a real community. While this bipolar enfleshed unity is the model of the New Testament, it is not yet the lived reality of the Messianic Jews and of the contemporary church. The Messianic Jews cannot yet be said to provide an example of unity. Their doctrine, their pastoral and governmental structures, their patterns of fellowship (and lack of fellowship) have been deeply influenced by Evangelical ‘free church’ patterns based on the principle of ‘voluntary association’. This is a point to which we will need to return.23 A Third Level of Challenge The challenges so far discussed have been at the level of understanding and of theology. However the challenge from the Jewish people and particularly from the Messianic Jews is also a challenge to the heart, a call to repentance. This alone can take us (Gentile Christian and Messianic Jew) beyond our present divisions and limitations. It is very significant that in the last decade there have been major repentance initiatives from both the new charismatics and from Rome.24 These developments have been entirely independent of each other, but in the Spirit they are profoundly complementary. Both concern repentance for the sins of the Christian past. Both see the need for this repentance if deep-rooted patterns of conflict from the past are to be overcome. From the new charismatics has come a new impetus to address the spiritual roots of long-standing conflicts. Chapter 2 mentioned the attention being given to spiritual obstacles to Evangelism and to the need for effective intercession, leading to a new focus on representative repentance and reconciliation. One of the pioneers here is John Dawson, the leader of IRC that links together many Evangelical-Charismatic ministries and initiatives for reconciliation.25 Dawson has put together a practical body of teaching on ‘identificational repentance’ and how to approach long-standing conflicts.26 What is critical in these initiatives is the harnessing of charismatic gifts and worship-style to this practical task. Why mention this in connection with the Messianic Jews? Because Dawson has recognized that the primordial conflict is between Jew and Gentile and that the New Testament teaching on reconciliation is directly related to the tearing down of 23

 See section ‘More on this Restoration’ below.   There have also been significant initiatives among Lutherans and Anglicans. 25  Dawson is currently serving a third term as international president of Youth With A Mission. 26  See the IRC website, www.reconcile.org. 24

108 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile through the shedding of the blood of Jesus on the cross. In consequence many Evangelical-charismatics with a love for the Jewish people are bringing this teaching and practice concerning identificational repentance to address the long history of conflict between the Christian church and the Jewish people. On the Catholic side there has been a remarkable initiative from Pope John Paul II, one of the most far-reaching and significant of his pontificate. In a way unprecedented in Catholic history the pope called for a Catholic confession of the sins of the past. In his letter to prepare the Catholic Church for the new millennium John Paul II wrote: ‘She [the church] cannot cross the threshhold of the new millennium without encouraging her children to purify themselves through repentance of past errors and instances of infidelity, inconsistency and slowness to act.’27 The two areas to which the pope drew particular attention were sins against unity and sins of intolerance and violence. It seems to have been church reflection on the horror of the Holocaust and the sins against the Jewish people that has been bringing the Catholic Church to its knees. The following year the pope returned to this theme in his encyclical on ecumenism, where he deepens the idea of ecumenical dialogue to see dialogue as a corporate examination of conscience. ‘Such a radical exhortation to acknowledge our condition as sinners ought also to mark the spirit which we bring to ecumenical dialogue.’28 John Paul II was acutely aware of the need for detailed historical study and profound theological reflection on the disturbed history of Catholic–Jewish relations. For this purpose he set up two commissions to study this history, one on Catholic– Jewish relations through the centuries and the other on the Inquisition, including what was no doubt the worst part of all this history, the Spanish Inquisition. In the year 2000 the pope’s international theological commission published a report entitled ‘Memory and Reconciliation’, which is in effect a Catholic expression of ‘identificational repentance’. As might be expected from the work of a theological commission entering virgin territory, ‘Memory and Reconciliation’ is not an electrifying document. But it nonetheless contains some very important points for a Christian repentance to God for the sins against the Jewish people. At the heart of its understanding is the concept of ‘purification of memory’. Memory is both personal and corporate. There are shared memories that permeate our histories as nations, peoples and churches. It is through these memories that prejudices, suspicions and hatreds are handed down from one generation to another. Recent attacks on synagogues and Jewish cemeteries show how deep-rooted anti-Semitic prejudice is in much of European society. The connection between the prejudices of today and the prejudices of the past is memory. Through the memories of peoples distorted and self-serving readings of past events are handed down to future generations. This transmission of memories is not a passive process but one in which a new generation receives its understanding and attitudes from its predecessors, often   Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 33.   Ut Unum Sint, 34.

27 28

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

109

accumulating and adding new elements that intensify and perpetuate the suspicions, the hatreds and the conflicts. This cycle of hatred and suspicion can only be broken by repentance, by a confession of the evils we have received from our ancestors and by a clear recognition that evil is evil, even when perpetrated by our side. Here is another example of where the new charismatic initiatives need to connect with the renewing forces within the ancient churches. The historic churches need the dynamism of the new charismatic streams. In the present situation the pope calls the Catholic Church to a confession of past sin and to a purification of memory. But open-minded Catholics often do not know how to respond to such an appeal. Do we wait for official commissions to issue reports? Do we then say Amen to statements made by church leaders? But what is needed to change history is a rending of our hearts as church communities. This is what the charismatic impulse has been making possible: a renewal that deeply touches the hearts of ordinary Christians and has a corporate expression. The Holy Spirit is raising up practical teachers who can lead people into a profound experience of repentance with the Holy Spirit working in convicted hearts a deep sorrow for all that grieves the heart of the Father. Here there is practical teaching and response of the heart. But the new charismatics also need the historical sense and the theological expertise found within the historic churches. This interaction can protect the new charismatics from grandiose but ultimately rather superficial demonstrations. The new charismatics need a deeper understanding of incarnation, that is of the enfleshment of the Word through the Spirit. This question finds its focus in the question of identification. What does identification mean when we speak of identificational repentance? The immediate answer is that the people today identify with their ancestors and in particular with their sinful attitudes and decisions. Does this mean that only Germans can identify with the sins of the Germans in the past? That only Catholics can identify with the sins of the Catholics? Most involved in charismatic-type intercession would say ‘No, it is possible for us to identify with other peoples than our own.’ This is true as many dedicated missionaries have shown. But identification cannot be reduced to a technique, an intercessory technique, adopted just for the period of intercession. An authentic identification with other peoples is the fruit of a transformed heart and of sacrificial love. Identification, though not a key word in traditional theology, in fact expresses a central dimension in the Christian understanding of salvation. Nor is this a point of dispute between different Christian churches and traditions. In his taking on of human flesh in the incarnation, the Son of God identifies himself with all human beings and in his death on the cross dies for all sinners. In his acceptance of John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance, offered to Israel, Jesus identified himself with all sinners. He, who has no sin, identifies himself with the sin of his own people fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah: ‘he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people’ (Is. 53: 8). Because he identifies himself totally with Israel, chosen as the priestly people to bless all nations, he becomes the one who takes away ‘the sin of the world’ (John 1: 29). This is suggested by that

110 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

puzzling reply of Jesus to John’s protest: ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.’ (Matt. 3: 15). Some charismatic milieux are making another important contribution with the distinction between spiritual and governmental representation. The repentance initiatives undertaken within the IRC network involve a spiritual identification with their forebears, understanding that their representative repentance is unblocking barriers in the heavenly realms. Such spiritual representation prepares the way for the governmental representation in which those in authority today make a public confession of the sins of their forerunners, of which a recent example occurred on the 200th anniversary of the British Parliament’s vote to abolish the slave trade. Israel as Catalyst When we come to the Israel issue, we find a pointer as to how the chasm between the historic church liturgical-sacramental view can be reconciled with the Evangelical-charismatic world. For in the covenant people of the Scriptures everything that is true and authentic in both these heritages has its origin. And in Israel while there was tension between the contrasting elements – between the priestly and the prophetic, between the liturgical-ritual and the spiritual, between the personal and the communal, between the structural and the charismatic – these tensions did not lead to lasting division but were held together. Israel is the soil of the Incarnation. God’s dealings with the chosen people always reflect a relationship between the particular and the universal, between the chosen people and all the nations of the earth, for whose sake the elect are chosen. The Gentile temptation is either to turn the particular into an idol or to eliminate the particular so as to reduce the universal to an ideology, a general theory. Catholicism, as it developed in history, suffered the temptation to reduce incarnational faith to an ideology (an -ism) and to reduce the mystery of the church to a universalized system without any conscious link to its matrix in Israel. Evangelical Protestantism, for all its horror of idolatry, suffers a different mixture of faith and ideology, representing the temptation to reduce incarnational faith to an individualistic ideology of salvation (only those who explicitly confess the name of Jesus can be saved). Christian Reconciliation It is not surprising that the efforts of Evangelical-charismatic reconcilers have been focused on national and tribal reconciliation. For religious and inter-Christian divisions are less likely to be rightly understood by those Christians who have least appreciation of the importance of tradition. It is not without its own significance that the Israel-Jewish issue embraces both the national and the religious. Nonetheless the repentance-reconciliation initiatives are profoundly necessary, both in relation

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

111

to historic quarrels between the churches and in relation to the antipathies between historic churches and revivalist streams. The most likely cause for the present impasse and lack of momentum in inter-church relations is the lack of any profound confession of the sin in our past divisions. The Catholic and the Lutheran churches have formulated a joint declaration on justification by faith, but there has never been any clear Catholic acknowledgment that much late medieval preaching and piety was based on a very different understanding. Similar remarks could be made about the agreed statements coming from the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission, for example on the Eucharist and on Authority. We cannot expect historic Christian divisions to be healed when there is little or no confession of the sins that produced the divisions. For the historic churches and the revival streams a simple start to a confession could focus on our attitudes to one another: for example, the ease with which Catholics describe the new Evangelical-charismatic-Pentecostal groupings as ‘sects’ and the way in which the latter regard the Catholic and Orthodox churches as not Christian and as ‘apostate’ or ‘dead’.29 All Christians can identify with a grouping or family that has sinned in these ways, for we all have a specific form of Christian identity with its own history. The Messianic Jews can powerfully help this confession/reconciliation. For their presence alters the traditional encounters between Catholic and Protestant. Before the Jews all Gentile Christians are in a similar situation. We all find ourselves at the bar of history with sin to confess. This new situation makes it easier to leave behind the traditional forms of self-justification. Toward Jerusalem Council II In 1996 an initiative was launched in the USA to promote the vision of reconciliation between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. Toward Jerusalem Council II (TJCII), as the initiative came to be called, is based on the vision that one day there will be a second Jerusalem Council that will restore and complement the pattern of the first Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15.30 The first Council was a totally Jewish gathering, a meeting of the ‘apostles and elders’ in Jerusalem, to determine the conditions under which the goyim, the nonJews, who come to faith in Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, can be admitted into the church. The Holy Spirit led the apostles and elders to make a very generous decision in full unity that the goyim did not have to convert to Judaism to be saved and to enter the church. In a second Jerusalem Council there would be an equally 29

  This is particularly reflected in Evangelical statistics regarding the number of Christians in each nation, where only the ‘born-again’ Protestants are listed. 30  See Peter Hocken, Toward Jerusalem Council II: The Vision and the Story (Ventura CA, 2004). For more information on TJCII, see www.tjcii.org. The European office of TJCII is situated in Vienna, Austria.

112 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

generous decision of the churches to acknowledge the long-denied legitimacy and necessity for Jewish believers in Yeshua to do so personally and corporately as Jews. The TJCII vision is for the restoration of the bipolar model of the Church as the ‘one new man’ uniting Jew and Gentile in one body through the cross.

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 5.2 Members of the TJCII executive committee, September 2008 What distinguishes the TJCII vision from many other church initiatives concerning the Jewish people is: (1) the single focus on the rightness and importance of the corporate Jewish witness to Yeshua and of its recognition by all the Christian churches; (2) the participation of Christians from the full spectrum of churches and ecclesial communities from the Evangelical and the Pentecostal through the historic Reformation churches to the Catholic and the Orthodox; (3) the recognition that this vision can only be carried forward in humility and with a representative confession of the sins of the past against the Jewish people and specifically against a distinctive Jewish witness to Yeshua and (4) the process is always ‘Toward Jerusalem’ because of the place that Jerusalem holds for the Jewish people and in the promises never revoked of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. More on this Restoration In what way can we say that the Messianic Jews represent a restoration of the Jewish expression of the church? Not surprisingly in the prophetic excitement

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

113

of this ‘new creation’ they tend to see themselves as the totality of a resurrected Jewish expression of the church. This is a conclusion to which Evangelical patterns of thought easily lead. In fact there would seem to be at least three contemporary forms of restoration of a Jewish identity among Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. There are the Messianic Jews. But then there are Jewish believers within the Christian churches, who are recovering a sense of their Jewish identity and its importance before God. So for example Jewish Catholics, who generally call themselves Hebrew Catholics, have formed the Association of Hebrew Catholics.31 Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger have been two high-profile Catholics who insisted they were still Jews after their baptism.32 This conviction is strongly asserted in the commemorative plaque erected to Cardinal Lustiger in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, that reads: ‘I was born a Jew. I received the name of my paternal grand-father Aron. Becoming a Christian by faith and baptism, I remained a Jew as did the Apostles. Aron JeanMarie Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris.’33 But thirdly, it is known that there are hidden believers in Jesus among the Jewish community in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem. It is, I believe, a mistake for Christians to pray that these hidden Jewish believers will have the courage to ‘come out’ and to declare their faith as it may the wisdom of God that they are following rather than the fear of man. It must be wrong to think that all Jewish believers in Yeshua should join the Messianic Jews. First, placing such pressure upon believers would be an unfortunate repetition of past sins of coercion against the Jews and especially against Jewish believers in Jesus. Secondly, a short acquaintance with Messianic Jews and Hebrew Catholics will make clear that rather different Jewish characteristics are able to find expression in these two milieux, but not often in both. These remarks are not intended to place the Messianic Jews and the Hebrew Catholics on the same level of significance. It seems clear that the Messianic Jews represent a prophetic reality, a movement that could not have come into existence without the creative breath of the Holy Spirit. They are the most visible, and certainly the most voluble, of the Jewish expressions. Their voice is heard and that is part of being prophetic. Their autonomy and the freedom that comes with the autonomy is an intrinsic element in this prophetic ‘infant’. But to say that the Messianic Jews represent a prophetic development is not claiming that everything in their movement is a work of the Holy Spirit. As already stated, the Messianic Jews cannot be said to provide an example of unity. Their 31

 See www.hebrewcatholic.org.  At her canonization on 11 October 1998, Pope John Paul II described St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross as ‘this eminent daughter of Israel and faithful daughter of the Church’. 33   The original reads ‘Je suis né juif. J’ai reçu le nom de mon grand-père paternel, Aron. Devenu chrétien par la foi et le baptême, je suis demeuré juif comme le demeuraient les Apôtres. Aron Jean-Marie cardinal Lustiger, archevêque de Paris.’ 32

114 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

doctrine, their pastoral and governmental structures, their patterns of fellowship (and of lack of fellowship) have been deeply influenced by Evangelical ‘free church’ patterns based on the principle of ‘voluntary association’. It is hard with the ‘free church’ model to see how it can ever lead to the formation of a body. For what is constituted by ‘voluntary association’ can just as easily be broken by ‘voluntary dissociation’. Some Messianic Jewish leaders in Israel have confessed in conversation how deeply they yearn for the Messianic believers to form one body, but they recognize that this is as yet but the aspiration, not the reality of the Messianic movement. How can the Jewish expression of the church become an organic body? Only then will the Jewish believers be able to play their priestly role in ministering unity and blessing to the divided churches of the world. It is true that the Messianic Jews are already a blessing to Gentile Christians and particularly through the challenges with which their existence presents us. But they cannot minister organic unity when they lack an organic unity. We cannot say what God will do. But we can say on the basis of the irrevocable choice of Israel as the locus for the eternal Word taking on human flesh that the organic unity of the church is rooted in the flesh of Israel. This unity is of course grounded and formed by the life and supremely by the suffering, death and resurrection of the incarnate Messiah of Israel and Lord of all. Now of course the Messianic Jews have an element of unity that goes beyond the unity attainable by voluntary association, the unity that comes from being Jewish. But the dilemma of their dividedness points to their organic unity being connected to their relationship to the whole Jewish people. Here it should be mentioned that Messianic Jewish teachers and writers insist that the Messianic Jews are and remain an integral part of the Jewish people, whatever the religious and legal authorities of Israel may say. They see themselves as the bridge between the Jewish people and the church because they belong to both. They often depict this relationship by two intersecting circles, representing Israel and the church, in which the Jewish believers in Yeshua form the section that is part of both circles. In this I suggest that the hidden Jesus-believers among the Orthodox Jewish community may hold the key to organic unity. Perhaps they are being trained and formed by the Holy Spirit to live a life of faith in Yeshua within a wholly Jewish context and without separation from their people. Yet (a Catholic and Orthodox contribution), another constituent element in organic unity is the Eucharist, understood as constitutive of the new covenant and rooted in the passover of Israel. In this issue of organic unity the Messianic Jews present the challenge of how to reconcile the sacramental emphasis on a regeneration that is ‘of water and the Spirit’ not just a ‘decision for Christ’ accompanied by a work of the Spirit with the decisiveness of conversion-resurrection and the newness of the new creation. Key here is the idea that in regeneration the Spirit develops a matrix. In other

The Messianic Jewish Movement: New Current and Old Reality

115

words, there is no birth without a mother. In Israel, the mother was particularly embodied in Jerusalem: And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her’; for the Most High himself will establish her. The Lord records as he registers the peoples, ‘This one was born there.’ Singers and dancers alike say, ‘All my springs are in you.’ (Ps. 87: 5–7)34

34   The motherhood of Jerusalem is taken up by Paul in Galatians: ‘But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.’ (Gal. 4: 26)

This page has been left blank intentionally

Chapter 6

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ The final chapter addresses the connection between the movements of the Holy Spirit already examined and the coming of the Lord Jesus in glory to establish the Kingdom of God. There are two distinct dimensions to this question: first, the way in which the movements of the Spirit enhance and restore the ‘blessed hope’ of the Saviour’s return; and secondly, the way in which a strongly eschatological orientation provides the necessary context for bringing together the different currents in the Pentecostal, charismatic and Messianic Jewish movements. The Centrality of the Second Coming in the Pentecostal Revival Of the scholars specializing in the history of Pentecostalism D. William Faupel has most clearly emphasized the centrality of the second coming at the origins of the Pentecostal movement. As his major study indicates in its subtitle, ‘The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought’, Faupel’s chapter on ‘The Pentecostal Message’ begins with the clear assertion: ‘The second coming of Jesus was the central concern of the initial Pentecostal message.’ In fact Faupel makes an important distinction when he says the Pentecostal focus was not the conversion of souls but the hastening of the second coming. They scoffed at those who would ‘take the world for Christ’, arguing that Christians should pray that Christ would come ‘to take it for Himself’. Instead of concentrating on the conversion of humanity, for which they did not feel responsible, the early Pentecostals proclaimed their mission to be the evangelization of the world.

The text of Matthew 24: 14, ‘This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached to all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come’, was central to this understanding. The first generation of Pentecostals was convinced that the return of the Lord was imminent. One chronicler of the early years, Stanley Frodsham, wrote of the first Pentecostals: ‘They were one and all looking eagerly for the soon coming 

 Faupel, p. 20.   Ibid., pp. 21–2.



118 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

of Christ.’ Several early Pentecostal magazines reflected in their titles this expectation of the Lord’s imminent return: Latter Rain Evangel, Midnight Cry, The Bridegroom’s Messenger, Bridal Call. The image of the bride being prepared for the bridegroom was widely used. The first full-length book by a Pentecostal writer, The Spirit and the Bride by George F. Taylor, published in 1907, developed this theme in detail. Taylor ‘appealed to the “sleeping church” to awaken and join in the bridal preparation’. Taylor was not the only early Pentecostal to distinguish between the bride, composed of the Spirit-filled saints (the Pentecostals) and the wider group of Christians destined for salvation. In this interpretation the Christian believers not filled with the Spirit are like the wise virgins of the parable, who are admitted to the wedding feast, but they are not the bride, whom the Lord espouses. The second coming of the Lord is the goal that holds the whole Pentecostal vision together. A Pentecostal writer cited by Faupel puts it this way: ‘Salvation, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, the ministrations of the Holy Spirit among us, are features of a program. … The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a feature of a program … it is THE program.’ The subsequent history of the Pentecostal movement, at least in North America, saw a slackening in end-times fervour as the movement became a cluster of denominations and its membership moved up the social scale. ‘North American, particularly white, Pentecostalism has lost a degree of its eschatological fervour during its gradual move from the urban poor to the suburban middle class.’ However a strong eschatological expectation continued to characterize Pentecostalism in its rise and early growth in the Two-Thirds World and was also central to renewed bursts of revivalist fire on the North American continent. Thus Latin American Pentecostalism, which is still in the phase of remarkable expansion, is strongly marked by the hope of the Lord’s return. No doubt this hope is all the more attractive when hopes for improvement in this world appear slim. That the Lord has tarried longer than they originally thought He would may have dampened the millennial zest of some pentecostals, especially the estimated 13 percent who live in affluence. But the other 87 percent, those who live below the world poverty line, still believe the New Jerusalem is coming soon.

In North America there was a strong resurgence in eschatological hope in the Latter Rain movement, which broke out in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in 1948. In  Stanley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following (Springfield MO, 1946), p. 8.  Faupel, p. 26.    This distinction was also made by Parham. This was also the teaching of George D. Watson in his book The Bridehood Saints (see Faupel, p. 109).   See Matthew 25: 1–13.   D. H. McDowell, cited by Faupel, p. 43.   Macchia in Dempster, Klaus and Petersen, p. 23.    Cox, p. 119.  

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ

119

other words there is a strong correlation between a rekindled sense of the second coming of the Lord in glory and the ‘movement’ character of the Pentecostal phenomenon. It is interesting that Donald Gee always insisted on the essential link between ‘movement’ and ‘revival’, seeing the Pentecostal movement as a revival that needed always to preserve its revival-movement character. The Charismatic Movement The charismatic movement has also given rise to a renewed eschatological hope, though not as strongly and as universally as the Pentecostal movement in its first generations. The lesser prominence of end-times preaching no doubt reflects the more middle-class character of much of the charismatic movement, both nondenominational (restorationist) and historic church (renewalist). However Walker sees eschatology as the key to understanding the emergence of the restorationist current that became the House Church Movement in Great Britain.10 He points out that the early restorationists, men like Arthur Wallis and Bryn Jones, were influenced by the ‘latter rain’ concept expecting a deluge of grace in the last days.11 God would not allow the church to be defeated but would restore the church to the splendour of its origins. This would entail, not simply the bestowal of charismatic gifts, but ‘also equipping her with the government and ordinances of God’s kingdom’.12 ‘Despite the apostasy of the Church, then, the kingdom of God is destined to be restored. Denominations will be abolished and the new Church will establish a substantial and glorious witness to the power and holiness of God.’13 But even in mainline church renewal there were signs of restored hope for the coming of the Lord. Charismatic communities have taken the name Maranatha14 and many songs have expressed this hope and longing. The Catholic community of the Béatitudes, founded in France, has maintained a strong witness to the eschaton, not unrelated to its bonds with the Eastern churches and with the Jewish people. Similarly, the Mary Sisters of Darmstadt, a form of Protestant ‘religious congregation’, while not ‘card-carrying charismatics’, were strongly marked by charismatic phenomena in their origins and by their spirit of repentance for the German sins against the Jews, always maintaining a strongly eschatological spirit, which has influenced many charismatic milieux. It is noticeable that the charismatic groupings manifesting the strongest eschatological hope are those who grasp the significance of Israel in the Lord’s purposes. 10

 Walker, p. 137.  Walker points out that the ‘Restorationists’ saw ‘Renewal’ as just a few ‘showers of blessing’ before the deluge (ibid., p. 138). 12   Ibid., p. 138. 13   Ibid., p. 139. 14  E.g. the Maranatha community in Brussels, Belgium. 11

120 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

This figure has intentionally been removed for copyright reasons. To view this image, please refer to the printed version of this book

Figure 6.1 Sr Joela of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary with the author The Eschatology of a Charismatic Theologian In Chapter 3, I mentioned Pastor Louis Dallière of France as a significant precursor of the charismatic movement. Dallière is an important witness to the inherently eschatological character of the reviving and renewing work of the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1930, receiving the gift of tongues in 1932, but he retained the conviction that he must live out this fuller life in the Spirit within his own church, the Reformed Church of France. In 1936 he wrote a series of 12 articles on the Return of the Lord in the revival’s magazine, Esprit et Vie. When he founded the Union de Prière in 1946, Dallière proposed four subjects of prayer that were to undergird the life of this new dispersed community within the Reformed Church: (1) revival and the conversion of souls; (2) the salvation of Israel;15 (3) the visible unity of the body of Christ; (4) the second coming of Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of the dead. These 15   This prayer subject was originally described as ‘the conversion of Israel’, which was later changed to ‘the illumination of Israel’.

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 121

four topics were not simply recommended subjects for intercession but they represented Dallière’s understanding of God’s purposes in pouring out the Holy Spirit in what he called ‘le Réveil de Pentecôte’ (the Pentecostal revival). Within these prayer subjects the first three (conversion/revival, Israel, Christian unity) are directed towards the fourth, serving and hastening the second coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead. Dallière was a scholar with recognized theological ability. But his importance for our purposes is that he was not just a scholar but a pastor-theologian, who sought to integrate the life of the revivalist streams into the tradition of an historic church. He was one of the first leaders committed to a historic church tradition to recognize his church’s need for what was present and operative outside its ranks and to acknowledge the serious harm arising from any opposition between traditional church and revivalist streams. The streams possess a clear eschatological hope and a dynamism for evangelization that the church lacks. For this reason the church must listen to the streams. But so often revivalistic streams developed a sectarian spirit that set themselves over and against the church. In their desire to avoid all confusion and ambiguity the Evangelistic streams ignored the biblical theme of mystery and produced schemes for the unfolding of the last days possessing a scientific precision quite foreign to authentic prophetic utterances. Not surprisingly, these clear-cut schemes produce endless disagreement among their proponents. These are all reasons why the streams need to listen to the churches. As a way out of this impasse Dallière sought to extricate the core of the eschatological hope from the rationalism of the dispensationalist system in which it had become entangled. He taught a ‘soon coming’ of the Lord as the constant hope of the church, while rejecting theories concerning the rapture of the saints, the great tribulation and timetables for the ‘last days’ that the Pentecostals had largely accepted from fundamentalist Evangelicals.16 Dallière rejected the rapture teaching on account of its individualistic character, proposing instead a corporate vision of the church and of the church’s preparation for the coming Kingdom. ‘What is raptured is an invisible church, that is to say, not a church at all, but a bunch of individuals completely isolated one from another.’17 Dallière objected to the rationalist spirit in dispensationalism, that seeks to explain the future in a complete system, proposing instead the biblical concept of the mystery of God and of Christ. The visible church has been replaced by a number of believers, counted one by one, without living bonds between them, and so in the same way the events to come are counted one by one, with [Bible] verses listed one after another, without living links between them. Just as the Spirit no longer gathers the elect 16  Dallière’s teaching on the second coming is found in his Union de Prière retreat talks for 1947 and his examination of church and evangelization (what I am calling church and streams) in those for 1956. 17  Dallière, Union de Priere Retreat (1947), Talk I, 1.

122 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements into a living organic body – they are only lined up one by one as they accept the faith – so the words of God are no longer gathered into a living, concrete and organic body of teaching – they are fitted one by one into an abstract scheme.18

Such systems misunderstand biblical prophecy. ‘We do not see in the past that prophecy ever gave rise to plans of this kind.’19 For Dallière, the rapture schema made impossible any real preparation of the church for the coming of the Lord.20 He calls the body of those praying and longing for the parousia ‘l’Eglise du Retour’ (the church of the return) or ‘l’Eglise finitive’.21 Dallière made one other point that is of huge significance for the church–stream relationship. He said that no sect can prepare for the coming of the Lord because a sect is lacking in love. There is the mistake of every schism that announces that the return of Jesus is near; but being without charity, a schism cannot take hold of the hope. They announce the return of Jesus intellectually, at the level of doctrine. They no doubt appeal to faith, but faith without charity is dead.22

Exclusivist sects that see themselves as the sole bearers of God’s truth and that judge harshly all outside their circle are inherently incapable of advancing the kind of kingdom that the Holy Spirit is preparing. But God’s plan is to bring all things together under Jesus Christ, all things in heaven and all things on earth (Eph. 1: 10). Dallière not only preached a message directed towards the second coming of the Lord but as a conscientious student of Christian history he asked why the church had largely lost its eschatological dynamic. The church as a whole lost its eschatological hope as it became installed and felt itself at home upon the earth. Thus the Union de Prière Charter states: ‘In general, the Christianity of the Gentiles has always preferred that Christ not come back’ (para. 58). Dallière rejected the widespread view that the Christian ‘postponement’ of the parousia into an indefinite future represented a greater wisdom following the enthusiasm of the church’s beginnings. But of especial significance was his insight that the loss of eschatological hope was a Gentile phenomenon resulting from their distancing from the Messianic expectation of the Jewish people.   Ibid., I. In the 1973 retreat, Dallière spoke of there not being problems in the preparation of the Kingdom, but a mystery (I, 1). 19  Retreat talk (1947), I. 20  Later in his life though no less opposed to the rapture teaching, Dallière spoke in a softer way, saying members of the Union de Prière who wished to believe in it could do so (1971, Retreat, III, 3). 21   There is no obvious English language equivalent for the French expression ‘l’Eglise finitive’, which in French contrasts neatly with ‘l’Eglise primitive’, the primitive church. 22   1947, Retreat, IV, 2. 18

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 123

In Dallière’s view the Reformation restored its eschatology to the church but this restoration only brought a temporary deliverance from the medieval situation.23 It failed to take hold of the eschatological hope and adopted the illusory vision of building a reformed church life that would be both biblical and at home in this world. Thus there emerges a repeated tension between the weakened and compromised church in the world and ongoing protest movements of reform, revival and renewal. Church and Movements Dallière’s analysis suggests a different approach to the question of ‘church’ and ‘movements’. The received approach has been to see the church as a fixed though not unchanging reality that is challenged and enlivened by ‘movements’. Even with the transformation of Catholic ecclesiology from a largely institutional-apologetic emphasis to a more trinitarian and incarnational (Spirit and Word) communioncentred approach, it is only very recently with the papal encouragement of the ‘new ecclesial movements’ that theological attention is being given by Catholic theologians to the phenomenon of movements in the church, usually without any ecumenical dimension. A pioneer in this respect was Père Yves Congar in his book Vraie et Fausse Réforme dans l’Eglise, where he studied the difference between movements that arose and stayed within the Catholic Church and those that began within but then rejected Catholic authority and ended up outside the Catholic communion. With his focus on eschatology Dallière saw the historical necessity of movements of reform, revival and renewal once the church had made the mistake of settling down in this world. In this world the church is meant to be the movement, as it was called ‘The Way’ in the Acts of the Apostles24 and only when it fails to live as movement on the way to the Kingdom do new movements become necessary. In this view movements in the history of the church take on a special importance. They are no longer temporary phenomena, whose only mission is to disappear into a renewed and revitalized church, a position argued in defence of Catholic charismatic renewal by some of its early leaders. Rather, through the movements the church is increasingly to take on a movement character being oriented anew towards the coming Kingdom.25 Movements of the Holy Spirit are the most important 23   ‘Returning to the living Word of God, the movement of the sixteenth century restored its eschatology to the Church’ (1955, III, 2). See also Retreat, II, 6. 24  Acts 9: 2; 19: 9, 23, 22: 4. ‘The way of God’ (Acts 18: 26) is probably also a reference to this designation. 25   30 years ago, the German Catholic theologian, Heribert Mühlen, protested against the description of charismatic renewal as a movement within the church heading an article, ‘A Church in Movement not a Movement in the Church’, Theological Renewal, 13 (Oct. 1978): 22–9. My sense is that this position did not sufficiently recognize the extent to which the church had become acclimatized to life on earth.

124 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

occurrences in the Christian world. They have the capacity and the calling to unseat the church from all establishment in this world and to reorientate all dimensions of Christian life towards the coming of the king and the kingdom.26 A parallel question to church and movements is the relationship between charism and institution. Much debate has taken place on this issue, especially in Catholic milieux, which always insist on two points: (1) both charisms and institution are necessary within the life of the church, each needing the other to function properly and (2) some institutional elements in the church themselves have a ‘charismatic’ or ‘gift’ character. But in the light of the need to ‘destabilize’ the church in this world, it may be preferable to distinguish between ‘institutions’ (which by definition belong to the conditions of this world) and ‘structures’ within the church that can serve the realization of her goal. In this terminology structures are always needed in the age of the church but institutions are more open to the danger of establishment that involves a capitulation to the spirit of the world. The Modern Renewal of the Catholic Church The renewal of the Catholic Church in the last century has of course been a much wider and all-embracing phenomenon than Catholic charismatic renewal. The movements of biblical, liturgical and theological renewal in the Catholic Church made possible the Second Vatican Council and shaped its teaching and the resultant fruit. As a result, official Catholic teaching has been much more profoundly transformed than has been generally recognized. This is nowhere more apparent than in the area of eschatology. So remarkable is the formulation of the Catholic Church’s eschatological faith in The Catechism of the Catholic Church that it may seem to go far beyond what is actually believed by contemporary Catholics. I want to mention what the Catechism teaches about liturgy and sacraments in this eschatological context and what is specifically taught about the coming of the Lord. Liturgy and Sacraments The Catechism expresses the traditional teaching, often forgotten in effect, that the liturgy and sacraments characterize the age of the church between the first and the second coming of Christ.27 The liturgy is totally oriented toward the end of this 26   This vision for a ‘destabilized’ church would seem to have some elements in common with Karl Rahner’s vision for the church of the future, as sketched for example in The Christian of the Future (New York, 1967) and in Theological Investigations, vol. 12 (London, 1974), pp. 202–17. 27   ‘The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the “dispensation of the mystery” – the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, “until he comes”.’ (para. 1076)

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 125

age of signs and the full manifestation of what is yet hidden. ‘The Holy Spirit’s transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the kingdom and the consummation of the mystery of salvation.’ (para. 1107) ‘The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord “until he comes,” when God will be “everything to everyone.” Since the apostolic age the liturgy has been drawn toward its goal by the Spirit’s groaning in the Church: Marana tha!’ (para. 1130). See also the section on the Eucharist as ‘Pledge of the Glory to Come’.28 The Second Coming of the Lord In the section devoted to the article of the Creed on the second coming there is a remarkable heading: ‘The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel.’29 ‘Since the Ascension Christ’s coming in glory has been imminent … . This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are “delayed”.’ (para. 673). This is then followed by this statement: The glorious Messiah’s coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by ‘all Israel,’ for ‘a hardening has come upon part of Israel’ in their ‘unbelief’ toward Jesus. … The ‘full inclusion’ of the Jews in the Messiah’s salvation, in the wake of ‘the full number of the Gentiles,’ will enable the People of God to achieve ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,’ in which ‘God may be all in all’. (para. 674)

In a subsequent section, the Catechism states: ‘The Church … will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven,’ at the time of Christ’s glorious return. … Here below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full coming of the Kingdom, when she will ‘be united in glory with her king.’ The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will ‘all the just from the time of Adam, from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect, … be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father’s presence’. (para. 769)

The big question arising from these texts is how the Catholic Church can translate this teaching into a lived reality. The reflection on church and movements (streams) suggests that this is much more than making current church life more lively and attractive, increasing active participation and inculcating shared responsibility. It involves literally a destabilization of the church – not in the sense of seeking disturbance, provoking rebellion or opposing duly constituted authority – but in the sense of transforming our understanding of church from a settled community 28

  Paras 1402–05.   This heading comes immediately before para. 673.

29

126 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

in this world to one of truly being a pilgrim community like Israel in the desert. It is difficult to speak about this because most of us do not even know what such a church will look like or feel like. We are familiar with a church that organizes its life and seeks its expansion in a way that assumes that Jesus will not return and that for all practical purposes treats this item of our Creed as irrelevant. But the official teaching says that the church longs for the coming of the Lord and the fulness of his kingdom. In the transformation that is necessary the liturgy is the structure that is most ancient and that is the least accommodated to a world without apparent end. In this respect the Catholic liturgical and ecumenical pioneer, Dom Lambert Beauduin, was absolutely on target in his zeal to restore a living and pastoral liturgy to the centre of church life and on the need to replace popular religiosity with an authentic liturgical spirit.30 The tendency to replace liturgy by popular devotions can be seen as part of losing one’s anchorage in the Jewish heritage and allowing the ways of the Gentiles, the goyim, to take over (pluriformity of objects of devotion, individualism, lack of moral engagement). The Reconnection with Israel and the Jewish People In the biblical renewal and the spiritual currents of revival and renewal in modern times we can see the reconnection of the Christian church to her roots in Israel and the Jewish people. In all such renewal eschatology is paramount. For the Jewish people are inherently Messianic as carriers of the hope for God’s future. ‘They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ (Messiah). God who is over all be blessed for ever.’ (Rom. 9: 4–5) The encounter with Israel confronts the church with her own identity. It reconnects the church to the Messianic hope. As The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: ‘And when one considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah.’31 The restoration of her full Messianic hope to the church is dependent upon the restoration of right relationship to the 30

 See the two-volume biographical study of Beauduin by Raymond Loonbeck and Jacques Mortiau, Un Pionnier: Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960) (2 vols, Louvain-laNeuve, 2001). Beauduin, so rooted in the liturgy, well understood the Spirit’s orientation towards the second coming of the Lord: ‘la parousie est bien véritablement … le premier et le dernier mot de la prédication de Jesus, qu’elle en est le clef … le monde moderne a perdu le sentiment, si vif chez les premiers chrétiens, de l’impatient désir du retour du Seigneur’ (ibid., vol. 2, p. 1426). 31   Para. 839, which continues, ‘But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognised as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 127

Jewish people. This means right relationship to the Israelite/Jewish people of all ages, to their Scriptures, to their heritage. It is not then just a question of right relationship to the Messianic Jews. The restoration of a right relationship requires the confession of all that was wrong and sinful in the past history of relations between the church and the synagogue (both the rejection and the contempt with all to which they led). It requires a full reappropriation of the Messianic expectation in the biblical tradition. As this repentance and purification of memory takes place the Messianic hope will be increasingly restored. The confession and repentance of the church for the long history of oppression of the Jewish people is necessary also to free the Jewish people to reclaim their own calling to be a blessing and a light to the nations. For the long centuries of oppression, often with enforced ghettoization, caused the Jewish religious leaders to become more defensive and inward-looking. This has seriously disturbed the God-ordained purpose for Israel and the nations. Within this restoration of right relationship to the Jewish people, the right relationship to Jewish believers in Yeshua cannot be excluded, even though their inclusion is not politically correct in the eyes of the Jewish religious community.32 The church cannot properly reappropriate the Messianic hope without the full acknowledgment of the Jewish expression of faith in Yeshua ha Mashiach in all its varied expressions. Acknowledgment has to begin from honour in place of contempt, from love in place of hatred, from acceptance in place of rejection. It does not begin from total doctrinal agreement. At the outset it requires only a recognition of the other as brought into existence through the Holy Spirit of God. As already remarked, the Messianic Jews form the most prophetic and dynamic part of the restoration of the Jewish component of the church. It is not then coincidental that the Messianic Jews have more the character of a movement than of a ‘church’, as we understand church. I have said that the Messianic Jewish search for an organic unity is likely to come through a deeper engagement with the Jewish tradition and particularly with those hidden believers in Yeshua in their midst. But it would also seem to be significant that as the church became established in this world, it not only lost its eschatological orientation or drove that into marginalized movements, but it prevented the persecuted Jewish people from a similar this-worldly settlement. The new Christian relationships to the Jews need to honour and appreciate the unsettled diaspora character of Jewish life through the Christian centuries.

of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.’ 32  I say the Jewish religious community, as opinion polls in Israel have shown decisively that the opposition to regarding Messianic Jews as Jews (for the law of return) comes from the Orthodox rabbinic community, and not from the general Jewish population.

128 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

The Contemporary World Situation Throughout this book I have not made many allusions to the world situation in which the Pentecostal, charismatic and Messianic Jewish movements have developed. I have spoken of the way in which the new charismatic networks reflect aspects of contemporary business and leisure culture and how their teaching can be both a rediscovery of neglected biblical themes and a capitulation to the Zeitgeist. This is why some of the sociological comments are among the most astute, observing the reality and not just studying the theory. On the one hand, we need to see how movements are shaped and influenced by society and, on the other hand, we must avoid the tendency to seek total explanations for spiritual phenomena in contemporary social conditions. There is a theological point here. As spiritual realities these movements are the work of God. God is not to be reduced to a respondent as though God only reacts to things happening in the world. The biblical tradition insists that in the words of a well-known hymn God is ‘working his purpose out as age succeeds to age’. The world today is characterized by increasing globalization and by increasing instability. Students of the Vineyard and the Faith movement like Percy and Coleman have noted the links between new charismatic networks and globalization. This can promote a new worldwide ‘charismatic culture’, what an Austrian friend calls ‘International Charismatic Church, Inc.’. However there are many signs of indigenization, especially in worship, perhaps particularly within historic church renewal, which are forms of protest against a homogenizing globalization. I have spoken of the need for the church to become ‘destabilized’ from athome-ness in this world to become ever more clearly the sign of the coming Kingdom. But at-home-ness in this world is becoming an increasingly impossible stance as the world becomes more unstable and as the church is forced to preach the certainty of her hope in a world of ever fewer certainties. There is here a form of tension between globalization and destabilization. Globalization presents itself as providing a more efficient and more cooperative world, but the reality is that globalization diminishes particular identity and so provokes its own backlash of nationalism and religious particularism. In this situation the church has to oppose the elimination of particular identities while welcoming an authentic communion and sharing between the nations and the cultures. But a real encouragement of particular identities through indigenous churches in full communion requires a ‘destabilization’ of the church. Here we can sense how destabilization goes hand in hand with a return to the Jewish and Messianic roots. This will in fact make the church more authentically Catholic. Its rootedness in Israel will protect the indigenization from Gentile polytheism, as well as providing the answer to the Roman fear that indigenization removes the glue of Eurocentric implantation and thus threatens the unity of the church. It is no coincidence that at the centre of current instability is the issue of Israel and Jerusalem. Here again we find a major divide between church and streams. In general the historic churches give most attention to matters of justice and peace

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 129

and are sympathetic to the injustices suffered by the Palestinians. On the other side, the revivalistic streams pay more attention to eschatology than to social justice and so tend to support Israel right or wrong. The churches see the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as a grave issue that threatens the peace of the world and manifest an evident distaste for eschatological interpretations. The revivalistic streams see the conflict in terms of the ‘end-times’ and the ‘birth-pangs’ that are preparing the coming of the Lord. The coming together of church and streams requires a coming together of the futuristic and the present in an understanding of the prophetic. The failure of the churches to understand the Israel question in an eschatological light is a consequence of establishment in this world. This leads to a reduction of the prophetic to challenges to the existing order without reference to the coming of the Lord. The failure of the streams to pay adequate attention to the issue of justice comes from their individualism and probably also from a lower level of coherence. In the Old Testament and in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, the prophetic combined the Messianic future with the demands of righteousness in the present. The fulfilment of the promises to Israel was always dependent on their obedience to the commandments and the ways of the Lord. The coming Kingdom will be a kingdom of righteousness and its coming cannot be advanced by injustice.33 In this perspective any injustice of the policies of the Israeli government is an undermining from within of the purposes of the Lord for the Jewish people and their return to the land. The undermining from within increases the attacks and the hostility from without. Further, in the prophetic tradition, Israel is to be a blessing to the nations. Israel is chosen, not because God is only interested in the Jewish people, but because they are to be his instrument for the blessing of all peoples. The Millennium: Stumbling Block or Challenging Symbol? I have argued that the churches and the streams can only come together as the churches are renewed in their eschatological hope. At the present moment the churches and the streams largely live in different worlds. On the one hand, the historic churches officially believe in the coming of the Lord in glory and the full establishment of the Kingdom and preserve clear statements of the eschatological hope in their liturgies. However the second coming of the Lord is rarely preached and the coming Kingdom has been largely spiritualized into an eternal heavenly reality without any connection to this world. On the other hand, the revival streams have kept alive the hope of the Lord’s coming, often preaching and writing about the ‘blessed hope’ of Titus 2: 13. However, Evangelical circles, particularly in the USA, have often adopted detailed eschatological scenarios through the embrace of ‘pre-millennial dispensationalism’, that largely comes from the teaching of John 33  See for examples the references to righteousness in the later chapters of Isaiah: Is 56: 1; 58: 8; 59: 14, 16–17; 60: 17, 21; 61: 3, 10–11; 64: 5.

130 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Nelson Darby (1800–1882), a founding figure among the Plymouth Brethren. These detailed programmes and the intense debates about the timing and order of end-times events are dismissed as naïve and fundamentalist by the ‘enlightened’ Christian world, which thereby acquires a greater distaste for eschatology. In this final section I want to look more carefully at the concept of the millennium, that is of a thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth. While a millennial period is only mentioned explicitly in Revelation 20,34 other biblical passages have been cited in support of this teaching.35 In the context of this book, noting the sharp disjunction between the churches and the streams over eschatology, I suggest that we can see the concept of the millennium as a symbol of the church–stream problematic. At first sight, the millennium symbolizes the opposition between the literal and more fundamentalist interpretations of the Evangelical world and the more timeworn eschatology of the historic Churches. The widespread Evangelical belief in an invisible rapture of the saints (all true believers) before the visible coming of the Lord in glory could also be seen as a major symbol of church– stream differences. However the millennium concept is a more appropriate symbol for church– stream differences on eschatology than the rapture teaching. First, there are Evangelical Christians and Messianic Jews, who believe in a future millennial reign of Christ on the earth but who do not accept the rapture teaching.36 Secondly, several church fathers of the pre-Constantinian era taught a future millennial reign of Christ on the earth, while the rapture teaching was largely an invention of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. The Christian church abandoned the millennium teaching in the fourth to fifth centuries. In this process St Augustine played a major role, particularly through his magnum opus, the City of God. From this point, the church turned away from this idea of a millennial reign and saw the future Kingdom as a heavenly one, with ‘eternal life’ as removal from this earth to another realm of eternal beatitude. With this development, the terms ‘millennialism’ and ‘chiliasm’ became synonymous with a fanatical extremism with which the church had little sympathy. While the Catholic Church has been very wary of all forms of ‘millennialism’ or ‘millenarianism’ since the time of 34

  In Revelation 20 the first mention of the thousand years is in relation to the binding of Satan. However, it appears that this thousand years is the same as that of the reign of Christ. In this chapter those who will reign with Christ are not all the redeemed but the martyrs in the time of persecution who are raised from the dead (v. 4). 35  Other passages that have been interpreted as references to a millennium are: Heb 4: 9 (‘there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God’) and 2 Peter 3: 8 (‘with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day’). The latter verse was applied by some early Fathers such as St Irenaeus to the six days of creation followed by a day of rest as a prophecy of six millennia of history followed by the millennial reign of Christ. 36  A recent example of this position is found in David Pawson, When Jesus Returns (London, 1995).

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 131

Augustine, belief in a future millennial reign of Christ has never been condemned as a heresy. Maybe an awareness of the millennial teaching of some early Fathers kept the church from such a condemnation. The only official Catholic statement is a decree of the Holy Office in 1944 stating, ‘Systema Millenarismi mitigati tuto doceri non posse’, that is: ‘The system of moderate millenarianism cannot be safely taught.’37 So as a major reference work notes, ‘all the larger Christian bodies have treated the subject [of the millennium] with the greatest reserve’.38 As a result the millennium concept appears today as a major stumbling block in the way of church–stream reconciliation. There are however several significant reasons why it might be wise at this time for the churches to revisit the concept of millennium. One cluster of reasons is linked to the rediscovery of the place of the Jewish people in God’s purposes and the repudiation of replacement theology. Here a key question to be asked is: Was the fourth to fifth century turning away from the millennial hope in some way a consequence of the church’s turning away from the election of the Jewish people? A particular challenge comes from the Messianic Jews for whom it is virtually unthinkable not to believe in a future millennial reign. The reasons are not hard to find. For the Messianic Jews the promises of the Lord to the people of Israel are still valid. Prominent among these promises are the promise of the land as a gift in perpetuity, the reign of the Messiah from Jerusalem39 and the establishment of righteousness upon the earth.40 Why else does the Lord bring back the people of Israel to the land of their fathers? Other reasons for revisiting the millennium concept flow from the new ecological awareness with its affirmation of the deep connectedness between the human race and the material creation. Christians find this concern expressed throughout the biblical revelation, whether or not they associate it with the Israelite-Messianic hope. It has been prominent in the focus of the World Council of Churches on Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation and it found acceptance in Catholic teaching in the Vatican II Constitution Gaudium et Spes.41 In this ecologically sensitive age, there is a rediscovery of the biblical vision for the salvation of all creation, expressed by Paul in terms of ‘the creation’ being ‘liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God’ (Rom. 8: 21). Many draw attention to the biblical image of the new heavens and the new earth42 and seek to restore this concept to popular Christian consciousness.   Kompendium der Glaubensbekenntisse und kirchlichen Lehrentscheidungen, H. Denzinger and P. Hünermann (eds) (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1999), para. 3839. In Vatican terminology this answer represents the mildest form of rejection. 38   The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds) (Oxford, 1997), p. 1087. 39  See Luke 1: 32–3; Acts 1: 6. 40  See Is. 42: 3–4; 51:,4–5. 41  See Gaudium et Spes, paras. 38–9. 42  Is. 65: 17; 66: 22; 2 Peter 3: 13. 37

132 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Of these two approaches, the former is more strongly present in the Evangelical world and the latter more in the historic churches. But in fact the two approaches can be seen as complementary. They represent a rediscovery of the Jewish hope for total redemption and for a salvation of the world, not a salvation out of the world.43 The Messianic hope of the Jewish people has always been for a corporate fulfilment within the framework of this world. It is significant that the New Testament does not speak of a ‘world to come’ but of ‘the age to come’.44 The contrast is not between this world and another world but between different ages or epochs within the story of the one creation. The millennium concept is inherently communal and historical. There is a deep irony here when the historic churches with their strong corporate sense and their rootedness in history do not teach a future millennial reign, whereas most Pentecostals and many Evangelicals with their focus on the individual believer and without this historical rooting believe in a literal millennium. From this perspective it may be more appropriate to see the millennium as a challenging symbol rather than as a stumbling-block. The challenge is quite different for the historic churches and for the Evangelical revival streams. There is a challenge to the historic churches to uncover all the negative consequences of replacement teaching for the eschatological hope and to be open to everything valid in those elements in the biblical heritage already rediscovered by the Evangelicals. Whatever problems the historic churches have with Evangelical methodology and exegesis, there is something profoundly right in the affirmation of the ongoing validity of the prophetic promises given to the people of Israel and of faith for the fulfilment of God’s promises of restoration and blessing, in which a central role belongs to Israel and to Jerusalem. So there has been emerging among Evangelicals an important strand in Old Testament prophecy that the churches have almost entirely ignored: the bringing to eventual fulfilment and completion of the callings of Israel and the nations, the restoration and salvation of the chosen people of God in all their sociocultural reality through which they are to be a blessing to the nations. A major consequence of the view that God had rejected the Jewish people was the belief that the promises given to Israel no longer belonged to the Jews but to the church instead. This transposition contributed to a ‘spiritualization’ of the promises since so many of the promises concerned the people of Israel, their land and the city of Jerusalem. So in this ‘spiritual’ interpretation, the promised land becomes heaven without any reference to Israel, Israel becomes the church without any reference to the Jews and Jerusalem becomes the heavenly city without any reference to the earthly Jerusalem. Here the challenge is to distinguish 43

 Here we have to distinguish between the different meanings of the term world (kosmos) in the New Testament, particularly in the Johannine writings. I speak here of the world that God loves and saves (see John 3: 16–17) not of the world in the sense of the world-system formed in opposition to God’s purposes (see John 17: 6–18). 44  See Matt. 12: 32; Mark 10: 30; Luke 18: 30; 20: 35; Eph. 1: 21; Heb. 6: 5.

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 133

between an authentic ‘spiritualization’ in the New Testament (for example, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the law being written on the heart45) and a false ‘spiritualization’ resulting from a replacement hermeneutic. In general, Christian ‘spiritualizing’ of our destiny has resulted in a ‘spiritual heaven’, in which the resurrection of the body appears almost incidental and the ‘subhuman’ creation has no place.46 A revisiting of the millennial concept will need to pay particular attention to the teaching of St Irenaeus of Lyon. The final section of Book V of the Adversus Haereses of Irenaeus is devoted to this subject with the following subsections: • • • • • • •

progressive stages in the advance of the just towards the heavenly life. the Kingdom of the just, the fulfilment of the promise made by God to the fathers. the inheritance of the earth announced by Christ and prophesied by the blessing of Jacob and by Isaiah. Israel restored to its land, so as to share in the good things of the Lord. Jerusalem gloriously restored. after the Kingdom of the just: the Jerusalem on high and the Kingdom of the Father. conclusion: one sole Father, one sole Son, one sole human race.47

The eschatological teaching of Irenaeus is important not merely because he clearly taught a future millennial reign of Christ, but because his writings present systematic teaching and not merely occasional messages. In other words his presentation of Christian eschatology is an integral element in his vision of salvation.48 Significantly Irenaeus strongly criticized those who denied a millennial reign for their ‘spiritualizing’ exegesis. He was opposing various forms of Gnostic thought that devalued the material creation and interpreted the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Jesus in spiritualizing ways. So Irenaeus saw tendencies to spiritualize the Messianic Kingdom as heretical: Some, who present themselves as orthodox believers, neglect the order following which the just will advance and they misunderstand the rhythm by which they 45  See Heb. 8: 8–12 and Jer. 31: 31–4. Another example concerns the New Testament interpretation of the temple (see John 2: 19–21; Eph. 2: 21; Rev. 21: 22). 46   This widespread loss of the biblical vision of the coming Kingdom is the major burden of an excellent book by the Anglican Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, entitled Surprised by Hope (London, 2007). 47   Ibid., V, 31, 1–36. 3. I have translated from the French in Irenée de Lyon, Contre les Hérésies, Livre V, Sources Chrétiennes 153 (Paris, 1969). 48  So for example: ‘It is right, in fact, that they [the just] receive the fruit of their patience in this same world where they suffered and were tested in many ways … that they reign in the world where they endured slavery.’ (Adversus Haereses, V, 32, 1).

134 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements will progress towards incorruptibility. … the heretics despise the ‘enfleshment of God’49 and do not accept the salvation of their flesh.50 When some attempt to understand these prophecies in an allegorical manner, they will never come to agreement on all the points. Besides, they will be convicted of error by the texts themselves.51

This recommendation to study Irenaeus is not an endorsement of all details of his teaching but a suggestion that it can help the church today in the task of discerning how replacement thinking negatively affected early Christian eschatology.52 No doubt there is an essential contribution to come from the Orthodox churches, both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian, in the restoration of the full eschatological vision for the redemption of humankind and of all creation. The Eastern tradition has always retained a stronger sense than the Western of God’s purpose as the glorification of the whole created order as well as a strong sense of the corporate character of salvation. Bartholomew I, the present Patriarch of Constantinople, has been the foremost Christian leader in countering the pollution of natural resources and promoting a respect for the creation. However for various reasons the Orthodox churches have been slower to address the issue of the distortions brought about by replacement teaching. This combination suggests that as the Orthodox churches begin to grapple with the Jewish issue there will be enormous fruits for the whole Christian world. What is the eschatological challenge to the Evangelical revival streams? First, there is the challenge to be freed from a Western individualistic worldview that is very different from the covenantal thought-world of the Scriptures. This individualistic approach goes with a focus on the individual’s response to God that has characterized Evangelical revivals. So for example the growing Evangelical affirmation of the ongoing validity of the prophetic promises to Israel speaks deeply to the longings of the human heart: for example, for the time when ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; 49  In Latin translation ‘plasmationem Dei’, in the original Greek ‘ten plasin tou Theou’. 50   Adversus Haereses, V, 31, 1. 51   Ibid. 35. 1. See also: ‘It is not, in effect, that he [the Lord] will be with his disciples in a superior and supra-celestial place, as though he can be imagined drinking of the fruit of the vine; and equally it is not beings deprived of flesh that can drink of it, for the drink drawn from the vine concerns the flesh, not the spirit.’ (33. 1). 52  According to Oskar Skarsaune, Irenaeus: ‘argues in great detail that the prophecies of the Bible, in all their earthly concreteness, will be realized on this earth during the millennium’ (Jewish Believers in Jesus, Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik (eds) (Peabody MA, 2007), p. 410). But Skarsaune also notes that: ‘In Revelation, it is not the millennium, but rather the New Jerusalem following after it, in which the prophecies of paradisiacal blessings are fulfilled.’ (ibid., p. 333)

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 135

[when] nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’ (Is. 2: 4) and when ‘He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth’ (Is. 25: 8). But the individualistic framework of much Evangelical thinking and mission does not easily allow space for these bodily and communal hopes. These prophecies lead to the second layer of challenge, which concerns the role of the human body and the physical creation. As noted in Chapter 4, Evangelicalism has tended to lack a theology of the body, precisely because the Evangelical revivals were concerned with the faith-response of the human heart in times of widespread religious formalism and outward conformity. As a result Evangelicals often see the resurrection of Jesus primarily as a proof of his divinity and as his vindication before the Father and the world. They do not so readily understand the significance of the resurrection for the transformation of the flesh and the physical creation. These two aspects – the individualism and the neglect of the bodily – come together in the Evangelical tendency to privilege the biblical text over enfleshed reality. As a result there is a danger that Evangelical eschatology is formed by piecing together individual biblical texts rather than from a reflection on ‘divinelyenfleshed reality’ in the light of the biblical texts. Whatever the weaknesses of the historic churches, they preserve, above all in their liturgies, a strong awareness of the importance of the resurrection of Jesus and how it transforms our whole human destiny. They are uneasy – I believe rightly – over a direct jump from Old Testament prophecies to the present day, without asking the question: ‘What difference did the (first) coming of Jesus make to the fulfilment of these prophecies?’ We are not just dealing with the juxtaposition of texts but with the enfleshment of the Word. The symbol of the millennium faces the churches that have repudiated the replacement teaching and reaffirmed the irrevocable covenant with Israel with the transformation and fulfilment of the Old Testament promises concerning coming salvation and the restoration of the Kingdom. The resurrection of Jesus shows that the coming Kingdom means the resurrection of the dead. The return of Jesus in glory means that somehow this Kingdom is to be established on earth but only through a mighty transformation. Thus the New Testament constantly witnesses to the association of the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead.53 The vision of ‘the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband’ (Rev. 21: 2) at the end of the Bible symbolizes for us this glorious reality of the risen Lord of glory descending with his holy ones to transform the earthly history.

53

  1 Cor. 15: 23; Phil. 3: 20–21; 1 Thess. 4: 16–17; 1 John 3: 2. However, there are several other passages which point to this association: Col. 3: 4; 2 Thess. 1: 7, 10; 2 Tim. 4: 1, 8; Heb. 9: 28 (‘to save’ here refers to the full salvation of the resurrection); 1 Peter 1: 13; 1 Peter 5: 4; 2 Peter 3: 12–13.

136 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

In its opposition to ‘millenarianism’ the Catechism of the Catholic Church rejects every claim ‘to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment’.54 This formulation can allow for the possibility of understandings that insist that what follows the second coming of the Lord is not ‘history’ in the sense in which we use the term for the history of the world as we know it. But the Catholic tradition also insists that: ‘The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and resurrection.’55 The second letter of Peter presents this ‘coming’ as a destruction and a new creation (2 Peter 3: 12–13). The letter to the Romans presents the relationship between the present age and the coming kingdom in terms of pregnancy and birth. Paul says that ‘the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God’ (Rom. 8: 19). This is totally in line with the insistence of the Old Testament prophets on the disastrous consequences of human sin for the rest of creation.56 The creation longs for the redemption of humans because it is suffering from human sin: ‘the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay’ (Rom. 8: 21). The creation can only be set free when the children of God have entered into ‘the glory that is to be revealed’ (Rom. 8: 18). So Paul reaches the conclusion that creation is in the travail of childbirth, and so is the church: ‘not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Rom. 8: 23). The redemption of our bodies is the resurrection. With our resurrection the suffering of all creation will cease and creation will share in some way in our glory obtaining ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (Rom. 8: 21), hard though it is for us to imagine what this means. I have suggested that important convictions of both churches and streams are expressed in their attitudes to the millennium concept. The symbol of the millennium can challenge the churches to a rediscovery of the transformation of all creation linked to the rediscovery of the Jewish roots, while it can challenge the revivalistic streams to understand the Old Testament prophecies in the context of developing revelation preparing for the transformation of the Resurrection. The churches with their more holistic theology find it easier to take in the perspective of the deliverance of all creation, but they need to recover the eschatological dynamism towards the coming of the Lord and his Kingdom which will effect the final transformation of all creation. The revivalists with their focus on personal salvation find this wider vision more difficult, but it is this that will enable their distinctive heart-cry to be heard by the churches. But neither way will this be possible without the ‘conversion’ to Israel represented by the rediscovery of the ‘irrevocable covenant’ with all its implications that none of us can yet fully see. 54

  CCC, para. 676.   CCC, para. 677. 56  See, for example, Is. 24: 1–13; Jer. 4: 23–8; Jer. 9: 7–11; Jer. 12: 4; Hosea: 4: 1–3. 55

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Second Coming of Christ 137

The eschatological issue then demonstrates, perhaps more clearly than anything else, the essential complementarity of historic church and revival streams. But at this stage it is only a point of potential meeting because it is so profoundly challenging to received presuppositions on all sides. But it demonstrates that what is at stake in revival and renewal turns out to be much greater than most protagonists have realized.

This page has been left blank intentionally

Bibliography Albrecht, Daniel E., Rites in the Spirit: A Ritual Approach to Pentecostal/ Charismatic Spirituality (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999). Anderson, Allan, Bazalwane: African Pentecostals in South Africa (Pretoria: University of South Africa, 1992). Anderson, Allan H. & Hollenweger, Walter J. (eds), Pentecostals after a Century: Global Perspectives on a Movement in Transition (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999). Anderson, Allan H., Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa (Pretoria: University of South Africa Press, 2000). Anderson, Allan H., African Reformation: African Initiated Churches in the Twentieth Century (Trenton, NJ & Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, 2001). Anderson, Allan H., An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). Anderson, Allan H. & Tang, Edmond (eds), Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Oxford: Regnum Books, 2005). Anderson, Allan H., Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism (London: SCM Press & Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007). Ariel, Yaakov, Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880–2000 (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000). Armet, Stephen, ‘Christian Mission in Colombia: Protestant Paradox and Catholic Continuities’, Transformation, 20 (2003): 47–54. Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena, ‘An African Pentecostal on Mission in Eastern Europe: The Church of the “Embassy of God” in the Ukraine’, Pneuma, 27/2 (2005): 297–321. Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena, ‘Pulling Down Strongholds: Evangelism, Principalities and Powers and the African Pentecostal Imagination’, International Review of Mission, 96 (2007): 306–17. Barratt, T.B., In the Days of the Latter Rain (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd, 1909). Barrett, David B. and Johnson, Todd M., ‘Global Statistics’, in Stanley Burgess and Eduard van der Maas (eds), New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 284– 302. Baumert, Norbert, Charisma – Taufe – Geisttaufe (2 vols, Wurzburg: Echter Verlag, 2001).

140 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Baumert, Norbert, ‘Charism and Spirit-Baptism: Presentation of an Analysis’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 12 (2004): 147–79. Bergunder, Michael, ‘Constructing Indian Pentecostalism: On Issues of Methodology and Representation’, in Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (eds), Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Oxford: Regnum Books, 2005), pp. 177–213. Bergunder, Michael, ‘Constructing Pentecostalism: On Issues of Methodology and Representation’, The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, XXVII (2007): 55–73. Blumhofer, Edith, Spittler, Russell P. and Wacker, Grant A. (eds), Pentecostal Currents in American Protestantism (Urbana/Chicago: The University of Illinois Press, 1999). Bundy, David, ‘Welsh Revival’, in Stanley Burgess and Eduard van der Maas (eds), New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 1187–8. Burgess, Stanley M. and Van der Maas, Eduard (eds), New International Dictionary of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002). Burgess, Stanley M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity (New York & London: Routledge, 2006). Chernoff, Yohanna, Born a Jew … Die a Jew: The Story of Martin Chernoff (Hagerstown, MD: Ebed Publications, 1996). Clemmons, Ithiel C., Bishop C. H. Mason and the Roots of the Church of God in Christ (Bakersfield, CA: Pneuma Life Publishing, 1996). Coates, Gerald, An Intelligent Fire (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1991). Cohn-Sherbok, Dan, Messianic Judaism (London & New York: Cassell, 2000). Coleman, Simon, The Globalisation of Charismatic Christianity: Spreading the Gospel of Prosperity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). Congar, Yves M.-J., Vraie et Fausse Réforme dans l’Eglise (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1950). Cooper, Simon and Farrant, Mike, Fire in Our Hearts: The Story of the Jesus Fellowship/Jesus Army (Northampton: Multiply Publications, 2nd edn 1997). Cotton, Ian, The Hallelujah Revolution: The Rise of the New Christians (London: Little, Brown & Co., 1995). Cox, Harvey, Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (London: Cassell, 1996). Cross, F.L. and Livingstone, E.A. (eds), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, rev. edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). Dallière, Louis, D’aplomb sur la parole de Dieu (Valence: 1932/1996). Dallière, Louis, Retreat Talks to the Union de Prière: 1947, 1955, 1956, 1971 and 1973 (available in their French original at the Archives of the Union de Prière, Charmes-sur-Rhône, France). Daniel-Ange, Le Renouveau, printemps de l’Eglise! (Paris: Fayard, 1997).

Bibliography

141

Dayton, Donald, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987). Dempster, Murray W., Klaus, Byron and Peterson, Douglas (eds), The Globalization of Pentecostalism: A Religion Made to Travel (Oxford: Regnum, 1999). Denzinger, Heinrich and Hünermann, Peter (eds), Kompendium der Glaubensbekenntisse und kirchlichen Lehrentscheidungen, 38th edn (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1999). Diocèse de Strasbourg, L’espérance en renouveau(x): Visite pastorale des Nouvelles communautés ecclésiales et du Renouveau Charismatique 2004– 2005 (L’Eglise en Alsace Hors série no. 4). Ediger, Gerald C., ‘The Proto-Genesis of the March for Jesus Movement, 1970– 87’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 12/2 (2004): 247–75. Ekman, Ulf, I Found My Destiny: The Story of Ulf Ekman and Word of Life Church, Sweden (Uppsala: Ulf Ekman Ministries, 2003 edn). Faupel, D. William, The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996). Flannery, Austin (ed.), Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1980 edn). Foster, Richard, Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith (London: Harper-Collins, 1999). Freston, Paul, Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). Frodsham, Stanley H., With Signs Following: The Story of the Pentecostal Revival in the Twentieth Century (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1946). Gee, Donald, ‘Are We Too “Movement” Conscious?’, Pentecost, 2 (Dec. 1947). Gee, Donald, ‘“Tongues” and Truth’, Pentecost, 25 (Sept. 1953). Gee, Donald, Wind and Flame (Croydon: Heath Press Ltd, 1967). Gelpi, Donald L., Charism and Sacrament: A Theology of Christian Conversion (Mahwah, NJ: The Paulist Press & London: SPCK, 1976). Gelpi, Donald L., The Conversion Experience: A Reflective Process for RCIA Participants and Others (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1998). Gibson, Richard, ‘A General Survey of the British Messianic Scene’ (2005). Gill, Kenneth D., ‘The Oneness Doctrine as a Contextualized Doctrine of the Trinity for Mexico’, in Jan Jongeneel (ed.), Pentecost, Mission and Ecumenism (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1992), pp. 107–14. Goff, James R., Fields White Unto Harvest: Charles F. Parham and the Missionary Origins of Pentecostalism (Fayetteville, NC/London: The University of Arkansas Press, 1988). Greig, Pete and Roberts, Dave, Red Moon Rising: How 24-7 Prayer is Awakening a Generation (Orlando, FL: Relevant Books, 2005). Gunstone, John (ed.), Meeting John Wimber (Crowborough: Monarch, 1996). Hamon, Bill, Prophets and the Prophetic Movement: God’s Prophetic Move Today (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1990).

142 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Harrell, David E., All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington, IN & London: Indiana University Press, 1975). Hempelmann, Reinhard, Licht und Schatten des Erweckungschristentums: Ausprägungen und Herausforderungen pfingstlich-charismatischer Frömmigkeit (Stuttgart: Quell Verlag, 1998). Hewett, Brian, Doing a New Thing? Seven Leaders Reflect on the Past, Present and Future of the House Church Movement (London, Sydney & Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995). Hocken, Peter, ‘The Potential and Significance of Pentecostalism’, in New Heaven? New Earth? (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1976), pp. 4–52. Hocken, Peter, ‘The Challenge of Non-Denominational Charismatic Christianity’, in Jan Jongeneel (ed.), Experiences of the Spirit (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1991), pp. 221–38. Hocken, Peter, ‘Ecumenical Dialogue: The Importance of Dialogue with Evangelicals and Pentecostals’, One in Christ, XXX (1994): 101–23. Hocken, Peter, The Strategy of the Spirit? (Guildford: Eagle Publishing, 1996). Hocken, Peter, Streams of Renewal: The Origins and Early Development of the Charismatic Movement in Great Britain (Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, 1997). Hocken, Peter, ‘Church and Streams: Towards a New Model?’, Exchange, 28 (1999): 2–23. Hocken, Peter, ‘Charismatic Movement’, in Stanley Burgess and Eduard van der Maas (eds), New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 477–519. Hocken, Peter, ‘The Impact of the Charismatic Movement on the Roman Catholic Church’, Journal of Beliefs and Values, 25 (2004): 205–16. Hocken, Peter, ‘The Prophetic Contribution of Pastor Louis Dallière’, in Wonsuk Ma and Robert P. Menzies (eds), The Spirit and Spirituality (London & New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), pp. 253–70. Hocken, Peter, Toward Jerusalem Council II: The Vision and the Story, 2nd edn (Ventura, CA: Toward Jerusalem Council II, 2004). Hollenweger, Walter J., The Pentecostals: The Charismatic Movement in the Churches (London: SCM Press, 1972). Hollenweger, Walter J., Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997). Hunt, Stephen, ‘The Anglican Wimberites’, Pneuma, 17/1 (1995): 105–18. Hunt, Stephen J., ‘The Radical Kingdom of the Jesus Fellowship’, Pneuma, 20/1 (1998): 21–41. International Theological Commission, Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2000). Irenée de Lyon, Contre les Hérésies, Livre V, Sources Chrétiennes 153 (Paris, 1969).

Bibliography

143

Jacobsen, Douglas, Thinking in the Spirit: Theologies of the Early Pentecostal Movement (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2003). Jenkins, Philip, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (Oxford & New York, Oxford University Press, 2006). Jenkins, Philip, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). Jeong Chong Hee, ‘The Korean Charismatic Movement as Indigenous Pentecostalism’, in Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (eds), Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Oxford: Regnum Books, 2005), pp. 551–71. John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994). John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1995). Jongeneel, Jan A.B. (ed.), Experiences of the Spirit (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1991). Jongeneel, Jan A.B. (ed.), Pentecost, Mission and Ecumenism: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Walter J. Hollenweger (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1992). Juster, Daniel and Hocken, Peter, The Messianic Jewish Movement (Ventura, CA: Toward Jerusalem Council II, 2004). Kalu, Ogbu, African Pentecostalism: An Introduction (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2008). Kärkkäainen, Veli-Matti, ‘“The Re-Turn of Religion in the Third Millennium”: Pentecostalisms and Postmodernities’, (a paper read at the European Pentecostal Charismatic Research Association conference at Uppsala, Sweden, September 2007). Kay, William K. and Dyer, Anne E., ‘Apostolic Networks in the UK: The Dynamics of Growth’, Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, XXV (2005): 25–38. Kay, William K., Apostolic Networks in Britain: New Ways of Being Church (Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, 2007). Kerr, Cecil, The Way of Peace: Peace amidst the Conflict in Northern Ireland (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990). Kinzer, Mark, The Nature of Messianic Judaism (West Hartford, CT: Hashivenu Archives, n.d.). Kinzer, Mark S., Post-Missionary Messianic Judaism: Redefining Christian Engagement with the Jewish People (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005). Kjaer-Hansen, Kai, Joseph Rabinowitz and the Messianic Movement (Edinburgh: The Handsel Press Ltd & Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1995). Landron, Olivier, Les Communautés nouvelles: Nouveaux visages du catholicisme francais (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 2004). Lewis, Huw, with Greig, Pete, ‘Talking to Pete Greig’, Jesus Life, 60 (2002).

144 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Loonbeck, Raymond and Mortiau, Jacques, Un Pionnier: Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960): Liturgie et Unité des Chrétiens (2 vols, Louvain-la-Neuve: Editions de Chevetogne, 2001). Louro de Azevedo, Moyses, ‘Comunidade Católica: Shalom’, Good News, 188 (2007): 18–19. Ma, Wonsuk and Menzies, Robert P. (eds), Pentecostalism in Context: Essays in Honor of William W. Menzies (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997). Ma, Wonsuk and Menzies, Robert P. (eds), The Spirit and Spirituality: Essays in Honour of Russell P. Spittler (London & New York: T&T Clark International, 2004). Macchia, Frank D., Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006). Martin, David, Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990). Martin, David, Forbidden Revolutions (London: SPCK, 1996). Martin, David, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2002). McBain, Douglas, Fire Over the Waters: Renewal among Baptists and Others from the 1960s to the 1990s (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1997). McDonnell, Kilian, Presence, Power, Praise (3 vols, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1980). Mercado, Leonardo N., El Shaddai: A Study (Manila: Logos Publications, 2001). Miller, Donald E., Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1997). Moore, S. David, The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology (London & New York: T&T Clark International, 2003). Mühlen, Heribert, ‘A Church in Movement not a Movement in the Church’, Theological Renewal, 9 (1978): 15–21. Myer, Ron, Fivefold Ministry Made Practical (Lititz, Pa.: House to House Publications, 2006). Myland. D. Wesley, The Latter Rain Covenant (Chicago, Evangel Publishing House, 1910). Myung, Sung-Hoon and Hong, Young-Gi, Charis and Charisma: David Yonggi Cho and the Growth of Yoido Full Gospel Church (Carlisle: Regnum Books with Paternoster Press, 2003). Nienkirchen, Charles W., A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement: A Study in Continuity, Crisis and Change (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992). Noble, John, The Shaking: Turning the Church Inside Out to Turn the World Upside Down (Mill Hill, London & Grand Rapids, MI: Monarch Books, 2002). Oden, Thomas C., Turning Around the Mainline: How Renewal Movements are Changing the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006).

Bibliography

145

Omenyo, Cephas N., Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism: A Study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal in the Mainline Churches in Ghana (Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 2002). Parker, Russ, Healing Wounded History (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2001). Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1964). Pawson, David, When Jesus Returns (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995). Payan, Carlos, Unité, Onction, Guérison (Paris: Éditions Première Partie, 2008). Payne, Leanne, Heaven’s Calling: A Memoir of One Soul’s Steep Ascent (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008). Percy, Martyn, Words, Wonders and Power: Understanding Contemporary Christian Fundamentalism and Revivalism (London: SPCK, 1996). Perriman, Andrew (ed.), Faith, Health and Prosperity: A Report on ‘Word of Faith’ and ‘Positive Confession’ Theologies by ACUTE (the Evangelical Alliance Commission on Unity and Faith among Evangelicals) (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2003). Poewe, Karla (ed.), Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture (Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 1994). Pulikottil, Paulson, ‘As East and West Met in God’s Own Country: Encounter of Western Pentecostalism with Native Pentecostalism in Kerala’, Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 5 (2002): 5–22. Pytches, David, Some Say It Thundered: A Personal Encounter with the Kansas City Prophets (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991). Pytches, David (ed.), John Wimber – His Influence and Legacy (Guildford: Eagle, 1998). Pytches, David, Living at the Edge (Bath: Arcadia Publishing, 2002). Rahner, Karl, The Christian of the Future (New York: Herder and Herder, 1967). Rahner, Karl, Theological Investigations, vol. 12 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974). Robeck, Cecil M. Jr, ‘Pentecostals and the Apostolic Faith: Implications for Ecumenism’, One in Christ, XXIII (1987): 110–30. Robeck, Cecil M. Jr, ‘The Assemblies of God and Ecumenical Cooperation: 1920– 1965’, in Wonsuk Ma and Robert P. Menzies (eds), Pentecostalism in Context: Essays in Honor of William W. Menzies (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), pp. 107–50. Robeck, Cecil M. Jr, ‘Pentecostals and Ecumenism in a Pluralistic World’, in Murray Dempster, Byron Klaus and Douglas Peterson (eds), The Globalization of Pentecostalism (Oxford: Regnum Books, 1999), pp. 338–62. Robeck, Cecil M. Jr, ‘Pentecostals and Christian Unity: Facing the Challenge’, Pneuma, 26 (2004): 307–38. Robeck, Cecil M., The Azusa Street Mission and Revival (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006).

146 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements

Robertson, Ewen, ‘An Evaluation of the History of Covenant Ministries International and its Offshoots from 1995 to the Present Day’, The Journal of the European Pentecostal Association, XXVII (2007): 75–91. Schenkel, Albert Frederick, ‘New Wine and Baptist Wineskins: American and Southern Baptist Denominational Responses to the Charismatic Renewal, 1960–80’, in Edith Blumhofer, Russell Spittler and Grant Wacker (eds), Pentecostal Currents in American Protestantism (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999), pp. 152–67. Schweitzer, Louis, ‘L’autorité dans la tension entre différentes compréhensions de l’inspiration spirituelle’, collected authors under the direction of Michel Sommer, Fascinant Saint-Esprit (Charols: Éditions Excelsis, 2008), pp. 60– 70. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes (1966). Sepulveda, Juan, ‘The Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean’, Ecumenical Trends, 37/4 (2008): 57–9. Shaull, Richard and Cesar, Waldo, Pentecostalism and the Future of the Christian Churches: Promises, Limitations, Challenges (Grand Rapids, MI & Cambridge, UK: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000). Sibley, Jim R., ‘“On the Record”: Official Statements of Southern Baptists Regarding the Jewish People’, Mishkan, 36 (2002): 55–60. Skarsaune, Oskar and Hvalvik, Reidar (eds), Jewish Believers in Jesus (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007). Smail, Tom, Walker, Andrew and Wright, Nigel, Charismatic Renewal: The Search for a Theology (London: SPCK, 1993). Sommer, Michel (ed.), Fascinant Saint-Esprit: Les défis de la spiritualité charismatique (Charols: Editions Excelsis, 2008). Steven, James H.S., Worship in the Spirit: Charismatic Worship in the Church of England (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2002). Sullivan, Francis A., Charisms and Charismatic Renewal: A Biblical and Theological Study (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1982). Synan, Vinson, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1997). Synan, Vinson, The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001). Taylor, George F., The Spirit and the Bride (Dunn, NC: privately published, 1907). Virgo, Terry, Restoration in the Church (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1985). Virgo, Terry, A People Prepared (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1996). Virgo, Terry, No Well-Worn Paths (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 2001). Wacker, Grant, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001). Wagner, C. Peter (ed.), The New Apostolic Churches (Ventura, CA; Regal Books, 1998).

Bibliography

147

Wagner, C. Peter, Churchquake! (Ventura, CA; Regal Books, 1999). Walker, Andrew, Restoring the Kingdom: The Radical Christianity of the House Church Movement (Guildford: Eagle Publishing, 1998). Wallis, Arthur, The Radical Christian (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1981). Wiegele, Katharine, Investing in Miracles: El Shaddai and the Transformation of Popular Catholicism in the Philippines (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004). Wostyn, Lode, ‘Catholic Charismatics in the Philippines’, in Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang (eds), Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia (Oxford: Regnum Books, 2005), pp. 363–83. Wright, Tom, Surprised by Hope (London: SPCK, 2007). Zimmerling, Peter, Die charismatischen Bewegungen: Theologie – Spiritualität – Anstösse zum Gespräch (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002).

This page has been left blank intentionally

Index

Abraham, K. E. 18 Adelaya, Sunday 48 Adventists 67 Africa 12–13, 27, 33–4, 66–9, 83, 85 African-American Pentecostalism 7, 23 heritage and contribution 9–12, 19, 21 African instituted churches 13–16, 33 Ahn, Che 38 Albania 49 Alpha course 41, 64, 81 Anderson, Allan H. 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 12–19, 24, 31, 77, 139, 140, 143, 147 Anglican church 21, 23, 78–9, 80, 105, 107 renewal in 40, 56, 57, 63, 67–71, 79, 86–7 tensions in 70–1 Anglican Renewal Ministries 63 anthropology 16, 27 Antiochene Evangelical Orthodox Mission 73 Antiochene Orthodox Church 57, 73 apostolic ministry 37, 44–5 apostles 38, 43–5, 91 Apostolic Church 5, 19, 21, 43, 44 Apostolic Faith 3, 5 Apostolic Faith Mission (Baxter Springs, Kansas) 5, 11 Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, Oregon 5 Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa 5, 13 Apostolic Networks see new churches, networks Argentina 59, 95, 101 Ariel, Yaakov 99, 139 Aroolappen, John Christian 18 Asamoah-Gyadu, Kwabena 33, 48, 85, 139 Aschoff, Friedrich 64, 93 Asia 14, 18, 33–4, 66–70, 95–6 Assemblies of God 8, 45, 47, 93, 101–02

Association of Hebrew Catholics see Hebrew Catholics Australia 33, 57, 59 Austria 95 authority 79, 123, 125 Azusa Street 3, 4, 6–12, 19, 21, 76 baptism 23, 55, 97 baptism in the Holy Spirit 6, 7, 10, 21, 26, 52–8, 67, 118 Baptist churches 30, 65, 67, 78 renewal in 30, 56, 62–7, 69, 78 Baptists, Southern 61, 63, 101–02 Baptist Union of Great Britain 30, 64 Barrett, David B. 14, 62, 139 Bartholomew I 134 Basham, Don 32 Baumert, Norbert 87, 139–40 Baxter, Ern 32 Beasley-Murray, Paul 64 Béatitudes, community of 65, 69, 87, 88, 119 Beauduin, Lambert 126, 144 Belgium 38, 61 Bell, Stuart 37 Benin 68 Bennett, Dennis J. 56 Bergunder, Michael 17–18, 52, 140 Berlin Declaration 22 Bethany cell church network 38 Bickle, Mike 45 Birtill, Godfrey 30 Blessed Trinity Society 56 Boddy, Alexander 21 body, theology of 9, 89–90, 94, 135 Boone, Wellington 38 Bosworth, Fred F. 11 Bowater, Chris 30 Branham, William 56 Brazil 24–5, 67, 101

150 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements Bredesen, Harald 54 Brethren 31, 54 Brighton conference 70, 80 Britain see Great Britain Buckingham, Jamie 61 Burgess, Marie 11 Burgess, Stanley 2, 139–40, 142 Butler, Keith 38 Cain, Paul 46 Calvary Chapel 35 Cameroun 69 Campus Crusade for Christ 72 Canada 5, 23, 43–4, 61, 78, 99, 118 Cantalamessa, Raniero 60 Carothers, W. F. 11, 22 Castellanos, Carlos 38 catechesis 71, 78 Catholic charismatic renewal 55, 58–60, 65–71, 79, 81–2, 86–8, 119 Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships 59 celibacy 30, 59 cell church 91 Cesar, Waldo 25, 146 Charismatic Episcopal Church 71–2 charismatic movement 26, 100, 119–20, 128 ecumenical character 54, 60 in historic churches 29, Ch 3, passim, 77–80, 85–6, 90 influence of 71 in new churches 5, Ch 2, passim, 76–7, 80, 83, 85–8, 90–94 origins 31–3, 56–8 response of the churches 60–61 social impact 41, 43, 67, 69, 78–9, 91 see also communities, charismatic charisms 87, 89 and institution 124 Chemin Neuf community 65, 69, 87–8 Chernoff, Martin 102, 140 Chile 18, 140 Cho, David Yonggi 48, 144 Christenson, Larry 56, 80 Christian & Missionary Alliance 6

Christian Catholic Apostolic Church of Zion 13, 21 Christian Growth Ministries 32 Christian International Ministries 37, 45 christology 23, 26, 47–8, 84 church government 5, 44, 107, 114 church growth 34; see also church planting Church of God 60 Church of God in Christ 60 Church of the Nazarene 60 church planting 36, 43, 79, 86, 88, 91, 93 church, theology of 26, 42–3, 104–07, 114, 121, 123, 127, 132; see also renewal; restoration c-Net (formerly Cornerstone) 37 Coates, Gerald 31, 32, 37, 45, 140 Coleman, Simon 31, 47, 48–52, 128, 140 Colombia 38, 67, 69 Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches 72 communities, charismatic 32, 59, 65–9, 82, 86–9, 119 Congar, Yves 60, 86, 122, 140 Congo 69 convergence movement 49, 71–3 conversion 19, 87, 114, 117, 121 Cooke, Graham 46 Coombs, Barnie 37 Covenant Ministries International 40, 44 Cox, Harvey 1, 3, 13, 24, 118, 140 Cranga, Pierre 38 Cray, Graham 71, 79 cross 47, 84, 90, 108, 112 Czech republic 49, 59 Dallière, Louis 21–2, 53–4, 120–23, 140, 142 dance 9, 101 Danie-Ange 60, 69, 140 Darby, John Nelson 129–30 Dawson, John 46, 107 Dayton, Donald W. 3, 10, 76, 141 deliverance 16, 33, 52, 84–5, 89, 92, 136; see also exorcism Denmark 65 discernment 1, 16, 27, 47, 75, 79, 87–8 Disciples of Christ 78 discipleship controversy 32, 88

Index dispensationalism 121, 129; see also pre-millenialism; rapture divine healing 4, 6–7, 9, 14, 16, 25, 52, 55, 63, 84–5, 118; see also healing evangelists Doerksen, Brian 30 Doré, Joseph 79 Dove Christian Fellowship 37 Dowie, John Alexander 13, 21 dreams and visions 9, 33 Durham, William 22 Eckhardt, John 38 ecology 131, 134 ecumenical movement 1 ecumenical vision 9, 20–2, 39, 54, 59–60, 106, 108, 123, 126 ecumenism 22–3, 26, 78, 108 Ekman, Ulf 47–51, 141 Elim Pentecostals 5, 45 El Minuto de Dios 67, 69 El Shaddai 68, 144, 147 Emmanuel Community 65, 82, 87 Ephesians 4: 11 ministries 5, 43–4, 77 Episcopal church 60–61, 63, 70–72, 78, 100; see also Anglican church renewal in 56–7, 72–3 Episcopalians 56–8, 60, 62–3 eschatology 26, 53, 77, 96, 101, Ch 6, passim; see also millennium Ethiopianism 14–15 eucharist 111, 114, 125 European Network of Communities 59 Evangelical Catholic Initiative 95 Evangelical movement 9–10, 70, 72–3, 81, 112 Evangelical Christians 95, 97, 103–04, 111, 121, 129 Evangelical doctrine 6–7, 50, 102, 130, 132, 135 missions to the Jews 99–101 Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary 54, 119, 120 evangelism 6, 26, 34, 46, 53, 63, 78–9, 85, 88, 91–2, 99, 100, 107; see also evangelization; healing evangelists

151

evangelization 67, 73, 99, 117, 121; see also evangelism exorcism 14, 85; see also deliverance Faith churches 34, 47–52, 128 fasting 19, 77, 85 Faupel, D. William 3, 19, 117–18, 141 Fellingham, Dave 30 Finland 65 Flower, J. Roswell 11 Forrest, Tom 80, 82 Forster, Roger 37, 42, 45 Fountain Trust 57 France 33, 53–4, 59, 64–5, 68–9, 79–80, 82, 86–7, 120 Frangipane, Francis 46 Freston, Paul 24, 141 Frodsham, Stanley H. 117–18, 141 Frøen, Hans-Jakob 54 Full Gospel 3, 5–6 Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International 55 fundamentalism 1, 7, 16, 35, 121, 130 Gee, Donald 4–5, 29, 43, 53, 57, 76, 119, 141 Gelpi, Donald 59, 87, 141 Germany 21, 30, 32–3, 34, 41, 56, 64, 93, 101, 109, 119, 123 Ghana 69 Gill, Kenneth 23, 141 Gimenez, John 38 globalization 24–6, 33, 50, 77, 128 glossolalia 4, 8, 10, 12–13, 16, 19, 31, 43, 51–3, 56, 60–61, 63, 120 Goff, James 3, 11, 141 Great Britain 5, 29–32, 34, 37, 39, 40–43, 44, 55, 56, 57, 63, 64, 70, 73, 76, 81, 83, 86, 99, 101, 110, 119 Greig, Pete 35, 46, 141, 143 Ground Level 37 Hagin, Kenneth 47–8, 50 Hamon, Bill 37–8, 45, 141 Harper, Michael C. 57, 63, 73, 80 Harvest International Ministries 38 healing see divine healing healing evangelists 47, 56, 76

152 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements Hebden, James & Ellen 11 Hebrew Catholics 113 Hebrew Christian movement 97–100 Hebrew Christian Alliance of America 99–100; see also Messianic Jewish Alliance of America Hempelmann, Reinhard 31, 40, 142 Hillsong church 30, 37, 39 Hocken, Peter D. 31, 42, 54, 56, 71, 82, 93, 100, 102, 111, 142–3 holiness, pursuit of 23, 72 Holiness movement 4, 6, 10 Hollenweger, Walter J. 1, 3, 7–9, 12, 21, 24, 31, 142–3 Holocaust 102, 108 Holy Spirit, gifts of 14, 43; see also charisms; spiritual gifts outpouring of 5, 117, 120 power of`26, 36, 41–2, 58, 84, 94, 100 role of 71 work of 1, 13, 22, 58, 75, 83, 95, 114, 118 Holy Spirit Teaching Mission see Christian Growth Ministries Holy Trinity, Brompton 40, 79 Hope Chapel 35 House Church movement 32, 119; see also new churches Houston, Brian 37, 39 Hungary 48, 66 Ichthus 30, 39, 43 incarnation 26, 88–9, 109–10, 133 India 18–20, 67, 95 initial evidence 8, 10; see also glossolalia International Charismatic Consultation 73, 80 International Church of the Foursquare Gospel 5 International Reconciliation Coalition 46, 107, 110 Ireland 59, 67, 95 Israel election of 129, 135 nation 1, Ch. 5 passim, 119–21, 125–9, 134, 136

people Ch. 5 passim, 119, 121, 126–7, 129, 132 return to the land 1, 131, 133 Israelites of the New Covenant 98–9 Italy 59, 65, 69 Iverson, Dick 35, 38 Jacobs, Cindy 45, 46 Jeffreys, George 5–6 Jenkins, Philip 1, 13, 33, 143 Jerusalem 112, 115, 128, 131–3, 135 new Jerusalem 118, 132–3, 135 Jesus death of 47, 84, 88, 90, 109, 114, 136 ministry of 16, 89 resurrection of 88–90, 135 second coming Ch. 6, passim; see also eschatology see also incarnation Jesus Army/Fellowship 30, 37, 39 Jesus movement 100 Jews Jewish People 100, 104, 107–08, 111, 114, 127 Messianic Jews see Messianic Jewish movement return to the land see Israel Jews for Jesus 101 John Paul II, pope 82, 108, 113, 143 Johns, Cheryl Bridges 95 Jones, Bryn 32, 44, 119 Joyner, Rick 44, 46 Judaism 102–04, 107; see also tradition, Jewish justice see righteousness Kalu, Ogbu 13–17, 27, 33, 50, 69, 143 Kansas City conference 32, 59, 78, 80, 97 Kansas City prophets 45 Kay, William K. 31, 37, 39, 45, 86, 143 Kelly, John P. 38 Kendrick, Graham 30, 45 Kennedy, Billy & Caroline 37 Kensington Temple 45, 93 Kerr, Cecil & Myrtle 95, 143 Kinzer, Mark 103, 106, 143 Komanapalli, Ernest 95 Kopfermann, Wolfram 64

Index Korea 18, 68 Kreider, Larry 37, 39 Lake, John G. 11 Lambeth Conference 70–71 Latin America 24–6, 33–4, 38, 66–7, 96, 101, 118 latter rain 3–5, 19 latter rain revival 5, 43–4, 93, 118 Laurentin, René 59 Levy, Mark 99–100 LifeLink 37 Lillie, David 31, 42, 44, 54 Lindsay, Gordon 56 Lithuania 66 liturgy 58, 72–3, 86, 103, 125–6 Jewish liturgy 98 Lloyd-Jones, Martyn 84 Lustiger, Jean-Marie 113 Luther, Martin 6, 20 Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod 61, 70 Lutheran Churches 21, 70, 78, 105, 107, 111 renewal in 53–4, 58–9, 62, 64–7, 70, 78, 95 see also tradition, Lutheran McBain, Douglas 64, 85, 144 McCauley, Ray 47 Macchia, Frank 3, 26, 95, 118, 144 McDonnell, Kilian 56, 59, 61, 144 Macedo, Edir 25–6 McPherson, Aimée Semple 5–6 Maddocks, Morris 64 Maeder, Kurt 64 Mahaney, C. J. 38 Malta 65 March for Jesus 29, 40 Martin, David 24, 31, 50, 144 Martin, Francis 59 Martin, Pierre-Daniel 46 Mennonites 59, 77 memories, purification of 108–09 Messianic Jewish Alliance of America 100 Messianic Jewish movement Ch. 5 passim, 127–31 Methodist Churches 10, 20, 56, 67, 78; see also United Methodist Church renewal in 62, 68–70

153

Mexico 23 millennium 129–36 Miller, Donald 31, 35, 52, 144 Mills, Brian 46 Ministers Fellowship International Ministries 35, 38 Mitchell, Roger 46 Moldova 98 Monléon, Albert de 59, 71 Montague, George 59 Morning Star 30, 46 movements 15–17, 75–6, 117, 123–4 revivalist movements 17 Mukti 12, 18–19 Multiply 37 Mumford, Bob 32 music 30, 36, 46, 71, 101 Myland, D. Wesley 4, 144 Naickomparambil, Mathew 67–8 Nemeth, Sandor 48 Netherlands 55, 57, 64 new churches Ch. 2, passim distinguishing characteristics 33–47 flexibility 36 missionary patterns 44, 77, 86 networks 29–34, 36–9, 41, 43–6, 64, 77, 79, 83, 85–7, 128 non-denominational stance 32, 34–5 sectarian or ecumenical 39–41 New Frontiers International 30, 37, 39, 84 New Wine magazine 32 New Wine network 64, 79–80 Nigeria 48 Noble, John 32, 40, 47, 144 North America 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 24, 34, 36, 57, 70, 118 Norway 4, 48, 54, 57, 65 O’Connor, Edward 59 oneness pentecostalism 23 dialogue with Trinitarian Pentecostals 23 Orthodox churches 72–3, 104, 111–12, 114, 134; see also Antiochene Orthodox Church; tradition, Orthodox Osborn, T. L. 55–6

154 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements Ozman, Agnes 8 Pain de Vie community 65, 69, 87–8 Palestinians 129 Parham, Charles H. 5, 7–11, 118, 141 Parker, Russ 64, 92–3, 145 Paul, Jonathan 21 Paul VI, pope 58, 61, 106, 145 Payan, Carlos 95, 145 Pentecostal Assemblies of the World 23 Pentecostal Holiness Church 60 pentecostal movement Ch. 1 passim, 29–30, 33–4, 75–6, 95–6, 112, 117, 128, 132 contribution to charismatic movement 57–8 definitions 3–7, 12–17, 117–19 eschatological orientation 4–5, 117–18 missionary character 5, 19 origins 7–12, 17–21 sectarian or ecumenical 9, 20–23 social impact 24 Percy, Martyn 31, 51, 84–5, 128, 145 Peru 69 Philippines 68, 70 Pierce, Chuck 46 Pioneer 30, 43 Piper, W. Hamner 11 Plessis, David du 55, 57, 95 Poland 66 Polman, Gerrit 21 Potter, Don 30 power 4–5, 20, 26, 40, 51, 70, 76, 82, 84–5, 90, 102, 119, 125; see also Holy Spirit, power of praise 40, 46, 77, 86, 101 pre-millennialism 6, 129; see also dispensationalism Presbyterian Church in the USA 99, 100 Presbyterian Churches 10, 66–7, 78–9; see also Reformed Churches renewal in 59, 68–70 Prince, Derek 32 prophecy, gift of 4, 13, 61, 85 prophetic dimension 43, 45–7, 85, 101–02, 110, 129 ministry 45–6 prophecies, biblical 103, 134–6, 143

prophets 43, 45–6, 91; see also Kansas City prophets Prosch, Kevin 30 prosperity gospel 24, 34, 47–8, 50 Puits de Jacob Community 69 Pytches, David 40, 46, 64, 145 Rabinowicz, Joseph 98–9, 143 race 7–8, 43; see also African-American Pentecostalism, heritage and contribution Rahner, Karl 124, 145 Ramabai, Pandita 18–19 rapture 121–2, 130 reconciliation 46, 85, 92, 95–6, 107, 110–12, 131 redemption 35, 83, 132, 134, 136 Reed, David 23 Reformed Churches 120; see also Presbyterian Churches renewal in 21, 53–5, 64, 66, 78 Reid, Paul 37 renewal 21, 54, 57–8, 61–2, 76–8, 80, 89, 126 repentance 35, 46, 107–10, 119, 127 replacement teaching 104–05, 131–4 restoration 3, 6, 42, 80, 119 of the Jewish expression of the church 98–9, 101–06, 111–12, 127 resurrection of the dead 89–90, 120–21, 133, 135–6; see also Jesus, resurrection of revival 6–7, 19, 56, 58, 76, 103, 120, 126, 134–5 Richards, Noel 30 righteousness 69, 72, 110, 128–9, 131, 133 Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo 65 Robeck, Cecil M. 3, 8, 11, 22, 95, 145 Roberts, Oral 56 Rock Ministerial Family 38 Roman Catholic Church 49, 55, 58–61, 65, 68–71, 81–2, 87, 94–5, 105–06, 108–09, 111–12, 123–6; see also Catholic charismatic renewal; Second Vatican Council; tradition, Catholic Roman Catholic–Pentecostal international dialogue 22

Index Romania 66 Rossi, Marcelo 67 Ruis, David 30 sacrament 89, 110, 114, 124–5; see also liturgy St Augustine 130–31 St Irenaeus 130, 133–4, 142 salvation 23, 25, 89, 109–10, 120, 125, 132–3, 135–6 sanctification 6; see also holiness, pursuit of Sandidge, Jerry L. 95 Sanford, Agnes 55–6 Scandinavia 64, 68 Schlink, Basilea 54 Scriptures 35; see also Word of God Seaton, Chris 46 Second Vatican Council 58, 61, 104, 124, 131, 146 Sepulveda, Juan 96, 146 Seymour, William J. 7–11 Shalom community, Brazil 67, 69 Shaull, Richard 25, 146 Sheets, Dutch 46 Signs and Wonders 63, 84 Silvoso, Ed 46 Simpson, A. B. 6, 144 Simpson, Charles 32 sin 19, 35, 89, 109, 111, 136 Singapore 68 Slovakia 49, 59, 66 Smail, Thomas 63, 146 social ethics 26, 72, 129 social impact see charismatic movement; pentecostal movement sociology 16, 20, 27, 30, 77, 87, 128 sociological factors 14, 17 Southern Africa 12–13, 32 Sovereign Grace Ministries 38 Soviet Union 97, 101 Spain 59, 104, 108 spirit-type churches 12–15 spiritual gifts 13, 53, 57, 60, 107; see also charisms; gifts of the Spirit spiritual warfare 46, 77, 85, 91–92 Stanton, Noel 37

155

Stein, Edith (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) 113 Stockstill, Larry 38 Stone, Jean 56 Strasbourg 79–80 Suenens, Cardinal Léon-Joseph 60–61 suffering 69, 84–5, 88, 90, 114, 136 Sullivan, Francis 59, 87, 146 Sweden 22, 47, 48–52, 65 Switzerland 33, 64 Sword of the Spirit 59 Synan, H. Vinson 19, 22, 60, 80, 146 Tanzania 68 Taylor, George F. 118, 146 Temple Trust 57 territorial spirits 78, 91–2 Thailand 30 theology 16, 27, 59–60, 78, 84, 87–91, 104 Thobois, Jules 54 Toaspern, Paul 64 tongues, speaking in see glossolalia Topeka, Kansas 7–11 Toronto blessing 40, 77, 93–4 Toward Jerusalem Council II 111–12 tradition 23, 34, 78, 83, 95, 103–04, 110, 121, 127–8, 136 Catholic 86–8 Jewish 103, 106, 127 Lutheran 34 Orthodox 70, 134 prophetic 129 Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry 62–3 Uganda 71 Ukraine 48 Union de Prière de Charmes 22, 53–4, 122 United Church of Canada 79 United Church of Christ 79 United Methodist Church 56, 59, 79; see also Methodist Churches United Pentecostal Church 23 United States of America 12, 14, 22–3, 32, 54, 57, 62, 70, 72, 78, 83, 86–7, 99–100, 102 unity 58, 105, 107, 114, 120–21, 127; see also ecumenical movement; ecumenism

156 The Challenges of the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish Movements concern for 22, 58 Universal Church of the Reign of God 25 Van der Put, Raymond 38 Velarde, Mariano Z. 68 Verhoef, Wim 55 Vineyard churches 30, 35–6, 38–9, 51–2, 84–5, 93, 95, 128 Virgo, Terry 37, 42–3, 84, 146 Wacker, Grant 3, 7, 20, 22, 63, 140, 146 Wagner, C. Peter 30–31, 35, 44–5, 92–3, 146–7 Walker, Andrew 31, 37, 44, 76, 119, 146–7 Wallis, Arthur 31–2, 42, 44, 119, 147 Watson, David 40, 63 Watson, George D. 118 Weg zur Versöhnung 95 Welsh revival 19–20 Wesley, John 6, 20 Whitehead, Charles 60

Wimber, John 30, 38, 40, 51, 63, 84–5, 92, 141, 145 Wongsak, Joseph 80 Word of God 25–6, 35, 51–2, 81, 85, 89 Word of God community 32, 59 Word of Life, Uppsala 48–50 World Council of Churches 131 worship 9, 17, 26, 34–6, 52, 71, 78, 83, 85, 107; see also liturgy; music Wright, Nigel 43, 45, 64, 146 Youth With a Mission 45 Zimbabwe 48 Zimmerling, Peter 31, 83, 92–3, 147 Zion City, Illinois 3, 11 zionism in African churches 12–13 movement in Judaism 102 Zschech, Darlene 30