The purpose of this book is to present a critically informed contemporary Pentecostal hermeneutic rooted in Pentecostal identity, in its stories, beliefs and practices. As Pentecostals began entering academic communities of higher learning, their interpretive methods became both mainstream and modernistic as they adapted the historical critical methods, or the so-called scientific hermeneutic. The proposed hermeneutic contained in this book desires to move beyond the impasse created by Modernity, instead pushing Pentecostals into the contemporary context by critically re-appropriating early Pentecostal ethos and interpretive practices for a contemporary Pentecostal community. The Pentecostal hermeneutic is a three-way interaction for theological meaning between the Holy Spirit, the Pentecostal community and sacred Scripture.

In this state of the art study, Kenneth J. Archer provides the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of Pentecostal Hermeneutics to date. Archer identifies the hermeneutical filter through which the Pentecostal story and identity is understood and meaning is made, with specific attention given to the Central Narrative Convictions of the Pentecostal Community. The model here proposed builds upon the tridactic negotiation for meaning that draws upon the biblical text, the Pentecostal community, and the role of the Holy Spirit. Archer offers a significant paradigm for all those interested in the topic of Pentecostal hermeneutics and its significance for contemporary belief and practice. 'Archer has provided . . . an insightful proposal for the kind of Pentecostal hermeneutic that is appropriate to our contemporary context.' (R. Bauckham, Prof of NT, Univ of St Andrew's, UK).

In Pentecostal Hermeneutics: A Reader Lee Roy Martin brings together fourteen significant publications on biblical interpretation, along with a new introduction to Pentecostal hermeneutics and an extensive up-to-date bibliography on the topic. Organized chronologically, these essays trace the development of Pentecostal hermeneutics as an academic discipline. The concerns of modern historical criticism have often stood at odds with Pentecostalism’s use of Scripture. Therefore, over the last three decades, Pentecostal scholars have attempted to identify the unique characteristics and interpretive practices of their tradition and to offer constructive proposals for a Pentecostal hermeneutic that would be critically valid and, at the same time, be consistent with the Pentecostal ethos and conducive for the continued development of the global Pentecostal movement. Contributors include: Rickie D. Moore, John Christopher Thomas, Jackie David Johns, Cheryl Bridges Johns, John W. McKay, Robert O. Baker, Scott A. Ellington, Kenneth J. Archer, Robby Waddell, Andrew Davies, Clark H. Pinnock, and Lee Roy Martin.

How do we hear the Spirit's voice in Scripture? Once we have done responsible exegesis, how may we expect the Spirit to apply the text to our lives and communities? In Spirit Hermeneutics biblical scholar Craig Keener addresses these questions, carefully articulating how the experience of the Spirit that empowered the church on the day of Pentecost can -- and should -- dynamically shape our reading of Scripture today. Keener considers what Spirit-guided interpretation means, explores implications of an epistemology of Word and Spirit for biblical hermeneutics, and shows how Scripture itself models an experiential appropriation of its message. Bridging the Word-Spirit gap between academic and experiential Christian approaches, Spirit Hermeneutics narrates a way of reading the Bible that is faithful both to the Spirit-inspired biblical text and the experience of the Spirit among believers. -- from book flap.

Bringing “spiritual experience” into the domain of biblical hermeneutics, this book will certainly stimulate current debates within this field, among both Pentecostals and Christians of other traditions. The author also applies a Pentecostal hermeneutical methodology to Paul’s teaching on tongues and prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12–14, opening possibilities to a Pentecostal pneumatology that tends instead to focus on the Lukan narrative. Paul’s texts are reconsidered not as doctrinal or situational documents but as dynamic communication within a living community.

In Theological Hermeneutics in the Classical Pentecostal Tradition: A Typological Account, L. William Oliverio Jr. accounts for the development of Classical Pentecostal theology, as theological hermeneutics, through four types: the original Classical Pentecostal hermeneutic, the Evangelical-Pentecostal hermeneutic, the contextual-Pentecostal hermeneutic, and the ecumenical-Pentecostal hermeneutic. Oliverio gives special attention to key figures in shaping Pentecostal theology and the underlying philosophical assumptions which informed their theological interpretations of reality. The text concludes with a philosophical basis for future Pentecostal theological hermeneutics within the contours of a hermeneutical realism that affirms both the hermeneutical nature of all theology and the implicit affirmation of realism within theological accounts.

Three's a Crowd brings together the three dialogue partners of Pentecostalism, hermeneutics, and the Old Testament. Previous attempts by Pentecostal academics to define a distinctive Pentecostal hermeneutic have focused on issues and application to the New Testament, consequently estranging the Old Testament from the conversation. This book engages the hermeneutical practices of Pentecostal and Charismatic groups in reading the Old Testament in ways that are representative, while critical, of their movement's ideological bases and visions. While the issue of understanding and developing a viable Pentecostal hermeneutic has continued to be debated within the academic journals of the community for over a decade, most discussion has focused on the prescription of ideals rather than on the actual practice of the contemporary community. By examining the reading practices of the Pentecostal and Charismatic community, this book suggests a unique and rounded reading method that maintains the strengths of Pentecostal reading practices while addressing their inherent weaknesses. In this way, the voices of the three dialogue partners emerge in a mutual fellowship that engages both the needs of the Pentecostal community and informs the wider ecumenical dialogue.

This book presents the work of leading hermeneutical theorists alongside emerging thinkers, examining the current state of hermeneutics within the Pentecostal tradition. The volume’s contributors present constructive ideas about the future of hermeneutics at the intersection of theology of the Spirit, Pentecostal Christianity, and other disciplines. This collection offers cutting-edge scholarship that engages with and pulls from a broad range of fields and points toward the future of Pneumatological hermeneutics. The volume’s interdisciplinary essays are broken up into four sections: philosophical hermeneutics, biblical-theological hermeneutics, social and cultural hermeneutics, and hermeneutics in the social and physical sciences.

This book presents proponents of five approaches to biblical hermeneutics and allows them to respond to each other. The five approaches are the historical-critical/grammatical (Craig Blomberg), redemptive-historical (Richard Gaffin), literary/postmodern (Scott Spencer), canonical (Robert Wall) and philosophical/theological (Merold Westphal) views.

Research on Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity has increased dramatically in recent decades, and a diverse array of disciplines have begun to address a range of elements of these movements. Yet, there exists very little understanding of Pentecostal theology, and it is not uncommon to encounter stereotypes and misperceptions. Addressing this gap in current research, The Routledge Handbook of Pentecostal Theology is an exceptional reference source to the key topics, challenges, and debates in this growing field of study and is the first collection of its kind to offer a comprehensive presentation and critical discussion of this subject. Comprising over forty chapters written by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into five parts: Contextualizing Pentecostal Theology Sources Theological Method Doctrines and Practices Conversations and Challenges. These sections take the reader through a comprehensive introduction to what Pentecostals believe and how they practice their faith. Looking at issues such as the core teachings of Pentecostalism concerning Spirit baptism, divine healing, or eschatology; unique practices, such as spiritual warfare and worship; and less discussed issues, such as social justice and gender, each chapter builds towards a nuanced and global picture of the theology of the Pentecostal movement. The Routledge Handbook of Pentecostal Theology is essential reading for students and researchers in Pentecostal Studies, World Christianity, and Theology as well as scholars working in contemporary Religious Studies.