Wariboko, Nimi. The Pentecostal Principle: Ethical Methodology in New Spirit. Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids. 2012
As Christians we live in a world that has taken off beyond control. We can acknowledge the frenetic pace of globalised life, the rapid transformation and development of technologies, the competitive nature of economics and culture, and the destructive violence done to the stability of meaning. Within this world we live in the shadow of, and participate in, the cacophony of voices that dominates the public conversations, conversation that the church is often found struggling to keep up with, let alone influence. In this environment there is need to re-cast our public theology. One such movement that has taken to the winds of contemporary life is Pentecostalism, and it is Nimi Wariboko in his book The Pentecostal Principle: Ethical Methodology in New Spirit (2012), who has sought to present a Pentecostal ethical response for our time. The book is the latest in the series ‘Pentecostal Manifestos’, edited by James K. A. Smith and Amos Yong, a series which aims at promoting the voice of the next generation of Pentecostal scholars for the global church and beyond.
Nimi Woriboko’s contribution is a ‘Pentecostal-theological intervention in the methodology of social ethics.’[1] It is a work that engages with mainstream voices in theology, ethics and beyond, but also seeks to translate Pentecostal meaning into the theological/philosophical language of our time. Wariboko proposes the pentecostal principle and he does so in practice drawing from two wells. On the one hand he takes Tillich’s dichotomy of ‘Catholic Substance’ and ‘Protestant Principle’ and the embryonic resolution of ‘concrete spirit’ to develop what he labels as the “Pentecostal principle”. On the other hand he engages with and interprets various aspects of Pentecostalism that seem to correlate with, or speak into, modern society and the contemporary discussion. In this sense his work stands also as an interpretation and/or apology for Pentecostalism in the theological and philosophical language of contemporary academia.
Wariboko’s pentecostal principle builds upon the historical-ontological discussion from Paul Tillich. Tillich’s Catholic Substance and Protestant Principle are an interpretation of ecclesial history as paradigmatic of historical-social flux. That is, the tension between the instituted forms (substance) and the impulse to react and reform (free principle). Wariboko responds to this by drawing upon an analysis of Pentecostal theology and practice as not just being chronologically subsequent to the dichotomy but additionally historically paradigmatic ( in part) and therefore informing the actual resolution of Tillich’s problem. Wariboko does not aim to promote Pentecostalism as the universal principle, he writes “[t]his work attempts to lay bare the “inner greatness,” the “historical-ontological essence” of Pentecostalism as a phenomenon of our epoch without conferring ontological dignity on any Pentecostal movement on the ontic level.”[2] He writes, “[t]he pentecostal principle compels us to think of the whole communion as straining toward Pentecostalism tending toward infinity, endeavouring toward the new.”[3]
There is a sociological and epistemological correlation taking place whereby substance universalizes and absolutises the true in the form, whereas principle reacts and rejects to the canonization of the true in the fallible but leaves no symbols or structures of meaning. We can see this in contemporary sociology which examines the forces on communities towards stability and change. This relates to rituals and structures but more importantly is revealed in contemporary society’s epistemology and cultural hermeneutics. The result is an impasse in meaningful social discourse because it has rejected (past) frameworks of meaning and therefore has the inability to construct and evaluate meaningful social discourse. Viewing life through either epistemological lens is limiting and we must have a Public Theology that incorporates yet moves beyond this dichotomy if all participants are to participate meaningfully within today’s world in order to work for a better future. Wariboko’s contribution is to build a conceptual framework which can acknowledge the appropriateness and good of traditions, laws etc. but can embrace change, not as the end to the past but the ground of the beginning and potential. Theologically he grounds this in principles such as freedom, creativity, and the infinite of God and a correlation with Acts 2 and Pentecostalism.
The pentecostal principle is not the end judgment, but the beginning. It consists of freedom, creativity, emergence, potentiality and play. It is not a metaphysics but a methodology, an essence of understanding. He develops an ethical methodology which is about pure mediation, pure means. It moves beyond the codifications of rules, forms, institutions, and positions, and also to move beyond various telos which limits outcomes to embrace the new, the contingent, change and ‘surprise’. That is, it is a methodology whose telos is the means, the method. This is elucidated by engaging with and incorporating emergence theory. This is a theory that embraces the laws, norms and meaning of the past but without a sense of determinism, leaving room for contingency, new meaning and potentiality. More than this it is a recognition that life in the Spirit is one of newness with no end; we never arrive and always embrace the future in the ground of possibility. In this sense he is providing a public theology, a methodology for public discourse in which no perspective has the philosophical home court, no team coerces, but must live and work together and somehow construct a meaningful society for human flourishing. He writes, “The question here is how the institution, practice, or position fits with the movement toward the unconditional good of actualizing potentials in relation to divine depths of existence. The good is actualized fitness; it is maximized existence”[4] Wariboko is someone who has looked at the depths that deconstruction philosophy has created and did not withdraw, but embraced the true within it and brought an ethic that can allow Christians and others to engage in public discourse well. There is room in this conceptual framework for Christians to engage in social policy debate with integrity to who they are but also recognizing the open and ever progressing nature of life and thought.
As if this wasn’t enough, he does all this while also articulating Pentecostal theology and practice interpreting them into contemporary theological and philosophical categories. It is a good example of theology that is faithful to one’s own Christian Perspective that helps to describe but also to promote attributes as relevant beyond its own sphere. His articulation of ‘play’ as a central characteristic to Pentecostal theology, practice and worship is illuminating. Play is for its own sake, it is improvisational, creative and open. These can be seen in Pentecostal worship which embraces the surprise from God, the spontaneous and can be without specific utility. One can see how this both relates to his ethical methodology but also contributes to Christian theological methodology and practice.
Reading this book one will walk away inspired, challenged but also with questions. His writing is dense, and would best suit the postgraduate student or teacher; but the reader who labors with his work will find his style and poetic flare enjoyable. His hermeneutic of the Bible and also the Pentecostal movement as a text is thematic with an analogical approach that can become metaphoric and at times idealistic. One might say he is generous in his interpretation of the bible and his description of Pentecostalism and this could be problematic, others might say he represents Pentecostalism well. Nonetheless he paints a portrait that has value and could be prescriptive to Pentecostalism but assuredly informing to those outside its tradition. There is much to Christian Tradition that is left unsaid and the implications of the pentecostal principle he proposes is yet to be worked out in other areas of theology. In his own words, “[t]he project is unfinished. It awaits you, the reader’s creative philosophical and theological reflections, spiritual imagination, and collaboration to be complete.”[5]
Wariboko does two things and he does them well. He engages with the topic in light of the most contemporary thought, contributing to the discussion, and he models how to do so from one’s own perspective. Wariboko presents a bold response and a noteworthy pentecostal contribution to public theology and ethics.
[1] piix
[2] pix
[3] P17-18
[4] P47
[5] px