Australasian Pentecostal Studies https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS <p>Australasian Pentecostal Studies (APS) was established in 1999 with the goal of promoting pentecostal and charismatic scholarship in the Asia-Pacific region. It publishes an annual journal and a periodic supplementary book series, focusing on topics and issues relevant to pentecostal and charismatic communities, from a wide range of disciplines. It thus intends to be interdisciplinary, integrative and highly contextualised.</p> <p>APS is a peer-reviewed academic journal. It provides open access to all of its articles on the principle that, wherever possible, the results of research should be freely available to support the exchange of ideas.</p> en-US <h4>Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:</h4><ol type="a"><ol type="a"><li>Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" target="_new"><span style="color: #337755;">Creative Commons Attribution License</span></a> that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal</li><li>Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.</li><li>Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See <a href="http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html" target="_new"><span style="color: #337755;">The Effect of Open Access</span></a>).</li></ol></ol> jacqui.grey@ac.edu.au (Jacqueline Grey) webdeveloper@ac.edu.au (web developer) Thu, 07 Dec 2023 22:38:41 -0800 OJS 3.3.0.8 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 The Spirit of Pentecost, Social Transcending Communities, and Renewing Embodied Life: https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9629 <p>Exuberant charismatic worship and spirituality characterise Pentecostal experience. Social and economic mobility, however, are also common fruits of Pentecostal experience. This article considers two historical and two contemporary cases in the Pentecostal movement. The early Pentecostal experiences at Pandita Ramabai’s (1858–1922) Mukti Mission and William J. Seymour’s (1870–1922) Azusa Street revivals fostered social transcending communities—communities that transcended social, class, and ethnic bigotries. By enacting the inclusive community of Pentecost, they indicted the racist and chauvinist societies that surrounded them. Vietnamese and Latin American Pentecostals demonstrate that the Pentecostal experience of grace renews embodied life. Participating in Pentecostal renewal transforms the material circumstances of peoples’ lives. Charismatic worship and spirituality do not sublimate the need for addressing bleak social and economic conditions. On the contrary, they are the incubators for the Holy Spirit to empower new patterns of life in and for this world. Sociological analyses, relying on a Weberian paradigm, often suggest that social mobility is a by-product of Pentecostalism (e.g., Miller and Yamamori’s “Pentecostal ethic”). The theological yield of this investigation of historical and contemporary cases in the Pentecostal movement is that the social and material experience of redemption among Pentecostals is intrinsic to the grace of the Spirit of Pentecost. The social and material features of Pentecostal experience, moreover, map to the ministry of the Spirit anointed Christ and the inclusive community of the Spirit of Pentecost.</p> Steven M. Studebaker Copyright (c) 2023 Steven M. Studebaker https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9629 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Shame and Restoration in Ezekiel https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9631 <p>There is a distinct difference between the modern individualistic concept of “guilt or innocent” in a person’s behaviour and repentance, and the biblical motif of shame and honour in the book of Ezekiel. The former seeks to excuse one’s behaviour and related consequences. The second seeks restoration of relationship by dealing with deeper heart issues, and obtaining a new moral self that will not repeat the harmful behaviour. This has implications for ministry today. We need to be aware of Ezekiel’s cycle of restoration to empower a deeper relationship with God, and with other humans. Restoration and healing can only happen when we acknowledge that our behaviour has caused shame to God and humans, and by taking back that shame we enable honour to come on the injured party, who can then share that honour with us.</p> Ashley Crane Copyright (c) 2023 Ashley Crane https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9631 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Pentecostal Thought and the Education Enterprise https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9632 <p>The paper explores the contribution that Pentecostal thought might make to public education, and specifically how Pentecostal parents, teachers and administrators can potentially influence curriculum and school life. The overarching goal is to extend the implications of recent Pentecostal reflection to the development of a theology of the Spirit for the classroom. &nbsp;&nbsp;Part of approach is concern not only for the development of the intellect for the betterment of society, but the development of values, and more importantly, the awakening of the transformative qualities of the soul, such as humility and compassion. These aspects of human flourishing need to be firmly established in early education but can also be emphasized in the secondary school environment where Pentecostal parents clearly concerned with the future welfare of their young people especially their character formation, can seek to become active participants. The conclusion is that Pentecostals can have a legitimate voice at the wider table of learning. &nbsp;It will mean an effort not just to adopt a generic evangelical educational methodology, but to place greater emphasis on the affective domain of human learning, the realm of aspects and habits of the heart. The paper invites ongoing discussion toward the development of a thoroughgoing ‘pneumatological’ approach to Christian learning both in person and virtually.</p> Ewen H. Butler Copyright (c) 2023 Ewen H. Butler https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9632 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 The Spirit and Leadership https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9633 <p>The assumption that leadership theories can be imported into ecclesial environments needs to be critically examined. Pentecostal spirituality provides an opportunity to engage in such a critical analysis of the compatibility of leadership theory(s) as a valid expression for communities.&nbsp; The interpretive strategies employed by Pentecostal spirituality serve an alternate to the positivist methodologies that dominate leadership theory. This paper will explore the person-centred theory classification of leadership theory espoused by John Dugan through the lens of Amos Yong’s pneumatological imagination as the primary expression of Pentecostal spirituality. The critical examination will produce concrete applications for the incorporation of Pentecostal spirituality into the leadership practices of spirit-filled communities of faith.</p> Michael D. Young Copyright (c) 2023 Michael D. Young https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9633 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Worship https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9634 <p>This article explores worship from a Pentecostal perspective. Grounded in a framework of Pentecostal spirituality, the biblical foundations for Pentecostal corporate worship are first discussed. This leads to, second, a consideration of the rites of Pentecostal worship, which are outlined using the categories of Daniel Albrecht. This includes worship as a way of Christian life; the entire liturgy of a worship service; and a specific portion within the liturgy (or a section, or rite). Third, the distinctive features of Pentecostal worship are identified as experiential, embodied, narratival, and missional. Pentecostal corporate worship is an experience in which participants express their loving devotion to God while encountering the transforming presence of God. This results in mission as an eschatological hope of Pentecostal worship, as the renewed community reflects the love of God in mission to the world.</p> Jacqueline N. Grey Copyright (c) 2023 Jacqueline N. Grey https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9634 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Editorial https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9630 <p>While Pentecostalism began as a mechanism for renewal, their understanding of how renewal is enacted has shifted over time. This is perhaps reflective of their changing eschatology. If renewal in the earlier Pentecostal community emphasised separation from the depraved and corrupt world, renewal for the present Pentecostal community—particularly in Western contexts—is about transforming the world. It is a shift from an other-worldly outlook to a this-worldy emphasis. This shift is perhaps most reflected in our engagement with society and culture. Pentecostalism today seeks to be an alternative community that is shaped by the biblical narrative that overflows in mission to the world and engagement with culture. This perspective is reflected, albeit in different ways, in each of the articles of the current issue of <em>Australasian Pentecostal Studies.</em></p> Jacqueline N. Grey Copyright (c) 2023 Jacqueline N. Grey https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9630 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Review of Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9635 <p>I met Chris Watkin in an integrative scholars’ network in Australia, and it is a great pleasure to review his new book <em>Biblical Critical Theory</em>.</p> <p>The work comes at the task of thinking Christianly in a thoroughly and uniquely biblical way. Chris seeks to bring biblical notions in contact with contemporary thinkers who are largely, but not exclusively, of the continental European philosophy tradition - hence “critical theory” in the title. What makes the book unique is that he not only brings biblical concepts in touch with our contemporaries, but he does so in such a way that his work inherits certain aspects of the bible itself.</p> Gordon Menzies Copyright (c) 2023 Gordon Menzies https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9635 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Review of Paul S. Baker, Pentecostal Imagination and the Retrieval of Identity: Towards a Pneumatology of History https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9636 <p>Pentecostal identity and Pentecostal history are closely intertwined, though many Pentecostals are unaware of their history, or indeed of history generally. Modern Pentecostalism began at the outset of the twentieth century, seemingly as a completely new phenomenon. This immediately raised questions. Was this an authentic Christian movement or not? If it was genuinely Christian, why were its distinctive features not heard of before, at least not since the New Testament (at best)? How did it relate to the broader church? What were the roots of the modern Pentecostal movement? And what of the Pentecostals’ claim that theirs was/is the “apostolic faith”? Was there any evidence that this was so?</p> Jon Newton Copyright (c) 2023 Jon Newton https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9636 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Review of Wolfgang Vondey, The Scandal of Pentecost: A Theology of the Public Church https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9637 <p>The bifurcation of theory and practice within theological pursuits has contributed to the privatization of faith since the Enlightenment Era. Such segregation generates individualistic and ahistorical hermeneutical methods. Theological endeavors dependent upon the segmentation of theory and practice produce theological methodologies incapable of supporting theology in the public realm. Wolfgang Vondey advocates in <em>The Scandal of Pentecost: A Theology of the Public Church</em> a robust public theology will require embracing ecclesiological structures whereby Pentecost serves as the primary theological and public narrative. Vondey proposes a repositioning of Pentecost as a public expression of faith, arguing that the prevailing portrayals of Pentecost as a predominantly private affair fall short of capturing the fullness of the Pentecost narrative. Repositioning Pentecost in a public sphere exposes the resistance from those in the marketplace who are unable to harmonize the existing social and religious norms with the claims by the disciples that Christ poured out the Spirit upon all flesh. It is this tension that Vondey classifies as the Scandal of Pentecost.&nbsp;</p> Michael D. Young Copyright (c) 2023 Michael D. Young https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9637 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800 Book Review: Stephen Judd, John Swinton, and Kara Martin, Keeping Faith: How Christian Organisations Can Stay True to the Way of Jesus (Sydney: Acorn Press, 2023). 140 pp. RRP $24.99 Paperback. https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9625 Andrew Groza Copyright (c) 2023 Andrew Groza https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9625 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800