This book documents some of the pacifist and social justice convictions of early Pentecostals, many of whom were called traitors, slackers, cranks, and weak-minded people for extending Jesus' love beyond racial, ethnic, and national boundaries. They wrestled with citizenship and Jesus' prohibitions on killing. They rejected nation-worship, war profiteering, wage slavery, patriotic indoctrination, militarism, and Wall Street politics--and many suffered for it. They criticized governments and churches that, in wartime, endorsed the very thing forbidden in their sacred book and civil laws. They recognized the dangers of loving your country too much, even more than Jesus and his words, and viewed nation-loyalty as a distraction from a higher and more inclusive loyalty--devotion to God. These articles, once accessible only to academics, are now available to the public. These voices, often forgotten within today's mainstream Pentecostal history, offer an opportunity to revisit the passions of early Pentecostal leaders and to examine Pentecostalism in fresh ways.

Pentecostals and Nonviolence explores how a distinctly Pentecostal-charismatic peace witness might be reinvigorated and sustained in the twenty-first century. To do so, the book examines the nature of the early Pentecostal commitment to nonviolence, and investigates the possibilities that might emerge from Pentecostals and Anabaptists entering into conversation and worship with each other. Contributors engage the arguments surrounding the heritage of Pentecostal pacifism in the United States and then move toward exploring nonviolence and peacemaking as crucial for contemporary Christianity as a whole. Ranging from theology, testimony, and pastoral ministry to interchurch relations, activism, and protest, this diverse collection of essays challenge and invite the whole church to the task of peacemaking while exploring the distinctive, and often neglected, contributions from the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition.

Many Pentecostal groups have forgotten their legacy of war resistance and doctrinal history opposing killing. To rectify this loss, we have catalogued Holiness and Pentecostal denominational statements on war and peace. Numerous Holiness groups and virtually all early Pentecostal groups had some form of pacifist statement against war. This antiwar collection gives us an almost uniform picture of the early Pentecostal movement as largely pacifist in orientation. The commonality of these statements across both Holiness and Pentecostal movements is evidence they are a continuous group and not two separate movements. While their early doctrines opposed killing, many named in this book are now widely considered to be stalwarts of the Religious Right, or at least staunch supporters of Christian participation in war. Our hope is that this book will frame the official position of early Pentecostals on war and peace, and encourage Pentecostals today to reflect on their antiwar heritage.

Most of the early twentieth-century Pentecostal denominations were peace churches that encouraged a stance of conscientious objection. However, since the Second World War Pentecostals have largely abandoned their pacifist viewpoint as they have taken on a more literal Biblical hermeneutic from their interaction with Evangelical denominations. This book traces the history of nonviolence in Pentecostalism and suggests that a new hermeneutic of the Bible is needed by today’s Pentecostals in order for them to rediscover their pacifist roots and effect positive social change. The book focuses on how Pentecostalism has manifested in South Africa during the twentieth century. Much of the available academic literature on hermeneutics and exegesis in the field of Pentecostal Studies is of an American or British-European origin. This book redresses this imbalance by exploring how the Bible has been used amongst African Pentecostals to teach on the apparent paradox of a simultaneously wrathful and loving God. It then goes onto suggest that how the Bible is read directly affects how Pentecostals view their role as potential reformers of society. So, it must be engaged seriously and thoughtfully. By bringing Pentecostalism’s function in South African society to the fore, this book adds a fresh perspective on the issue of pacifism in world Christianity. As such it will be of great use to scholars of Pentecostal Studies, Theology, and Religion and Violence as well as those working in African Studies.

With the Assemblies of God now over a century old, this book takes a fresh look at critical issues in the AG's origins. While not a comprehensive retelling, this book is a series of essays that explore different historiographical issues that will clarify or correct historical narratives with new research. Topics include re-examining the early relationship with the Church of God in Christ, assessing the AG's evangelical identity, and attitudes toward theology and education. Some three decades since the last AG history, this volume will shed new light on these important theological and cultural issues to better understand its roots. Perhaps these conversations will help the AG better understand its history as the fellowship approaches the problems it faces today.

Much like theology itself, the experience of trauma has the potential to reach into almost any aspect of life, refusing to fit within the tramlines. A follow up to the 2020 volume "Feminist Trauma Theologies", "Bearing Witness" explores further into global, intersectional, and as yet relatively unexplored perspectives. With a particular focus on poverty, gender and sexualities, race and ethnicity, and health in dialogue with trauma theology the book seeks to demonstrate both the far reaching and intersectional nature of trauma, encouraging creative and ground-breaking theological reflections on trauma and constructions of theology in the light of the trauma experience. A unique set of insights into the real-life experience of trauma, the book includes chapters authored by a diverse group of academic theologians, practitioners and activists. The result is a theology which extend far into the public square.

Pentecostal and Mennonite contributors to this volume have been enriched by mutual hospitality. Through friendships across their respective traditions, they have shared and received the benefits of theological, experiential, and ministry convergence. In celebration of their common journeys, they offer their collective lives as Mennocostals. You will enjoy inspiring, honest, and vulnerable accounts of formation and ministry from academics, pastors, and missionaries. If you find these Mennocostal stories compelling, you will invariably want to discover your own story alongside and beyond the stories in this volume.

At a time when the Evangelical wing of the church is beginning to show some signs of soul searching over the issues of war and peace, the Pentecostals would do well to study their own heritage. Whether they accept or reject their earlier world view, they need to interpret the motivation for their original beliefs and those which they now hold. As people of the word of God, have Pentecostals altered their pacifistic views as a result of new biblical insights or cultural accommodation? -- From the Introduction

Migration is an issue that is under discussion worldwide and affects South Africa, the United States of America and Germany in a distinctive way. This book reflects academically on this significant and topical subject of migration from the often neglected perspective of the fields of theology and Christian ethics. While the majority of contributions are from the South African context, there are also chapters reflecting on the topic from the other two aforementioned contexts. While numerous publications have recently appeared on the subject, reflection from theology and Christian ethics are often lacking. As such, this scholarly publication wants to add ethical value to the local and global conversations on the theme from a theological perspective. The book reflects on migration from the perspectives originated in the disciplines of biblical studies (the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament), systematic theology, ecumenical studies, Christian ethics, practical theology, and missiology. It presents new and innovative inquiries primarily from a qualitative methodological viewpoint. The book unveils new themes for deliberation and provides novel interpretations and insights into existing research.

In this classic book, leading Pentecostal scholar Steven J. Land offers a constructive and controversial interpretation, a 're-vision', of the Pentecostal tradition. As Pentecostalism approaches its centennial, Land argues that the early years of the movement form the heart, not the infancy, of its spirituality, and he emphasizes the crucial importance of its Wesleyan, Holiness and nineteenth-century revivalist-restorationist roots. Land's foundational study includes - an account of the relationship of spirituality and theology - a description and analysis of Pentecostal beliefs and practices - a demonstration of how these beliefs and practices are integrated into Pentecostal affections - a trinitarian definition of Pentecostal Spirituality, arguing that a passion for the kingdom of God is ultimately a passion for God Himself