In the present volume, James Robinson shows how the Holiness movement contributed to the rise of Pentecostalism, with emphasis on those sectors that practiced divine healing. Although other scholars have undertaken to explore this story, Robinson's treatment is by far the most thorough examination to date. He draws productively on the burgeoning secondary literatures on Pentecostalism and healing, and brings to light frequently overlooked, yet revealing primary sources. The events narrated are fascinating in their own right, and are important to the histories of Pentecostalism and healing for how they clarify the processes by which divine healing was pursued, debated, and often disparaged. The text also contributes to larger medical and social histories, offering tantalizing glimpses of the roots of some of today's most popular and contested medical and religious responses to sickness and health.

"Based on impressive research, the author has offered the spiritual heirs of A. B. Simpson, as well as the larger church world, an accurate interpretation of Simpson's spiritual pilgrimage. The information about Simpson's belief in speaking in tongues and the ministries of those who remained or left the Alliance over the issue, provides valuable insights into the close relationship between the organization and emerging Pentecostal movement." -- Gary B. McGee Professor of Church History, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary "It is good news indeed that Charles Nienkirchen's A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement is being republished. This is a very important and well written work which sheds light not only on A. B. Simpson's quest for the tongues-attested baptism in the Holy Spirit but on the milieu surrounding the early spread of Pentecostalism in America and especially in the Christian and Missionary Alliance. This is a historical treasure." --Vinson Synan, Dean Emeritus Regent University School of Divinity "Simpson has long deserved an in-depth study. A pivotal turn-of-the-century figure who never found full acceptance in any wing of American evangelicalism, this prolific Canadian nonetheless profoundly influenced popular evangelicalism and Anglo-American Pentecostalism. Nienkirchen makes careful use of long-unused primary sources to illuminate Simpson's relationship to early Pentecostalism. The result is a suggestive work that offers perceptive insights into early Pentecostalism and the context from which it emerged." -- Edith L. Blumhofer Project Director Institute for the Study of American Evangelicalism, Wheaton "Nienkirchen provides a splendid study of the relationship of A. B. Simpson to Pentecostalism. This book demonstrates wide knowledge of primary materials and great care in documentation (with about one-third of the text devoted to footnote material). Nienkirchen clearly delineates the major elements in Simpson's religious thought and gives attention to the most significant ways in which his thought changed. His major interest in this book focuses on the ways in which Simpson influenced the formation of early Pentecostalism. Pentecostals accept some elements of Simpson's teaching and rejected or modified others, but Nienkirchen argues persuasively the case for Simpson's importance in understanding Pentecostalism; moreover, he clearly illustrates specific ways -- both direct and indirect -- in which that influence was felt in the complex story of early holiness-pentecostal relationships." -- William Pitts Professor of Church History Baylor University "Charles Nienkirchen has supplied those interested in the history and theology of American Evangelicalism, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, or the Pentecostal movement with an invaluable reference tool and an interpretive lens through which to understand them. This 'must-read' has shown its worth by remaining as relevant, informative and provocative as when it first went to press." --Bernie A. Van De Walle Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology Ambrose University College and Seminary Calgary, AB "In A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement, Charles Nienkirken has combined prodigious research with mastery of historical and theological sources to produce a superb study of Simpson's relationship with early pentecostalism. This is a most important and useful work." -- Randall Balmer Barnard College, Columbia University

Spiritual healing has been a cornerstone of Christian belief from its beginnings, although there are various interpretations of what exactly it is and how it happens. To address these questions, the contributors to this volume come together to examine spiritual healing from a number of disciplinary perspectives. How can such healing be explained through a scientific or medical lens? What do biblical and historical instantiations of it tell us today? And how are we to think of it as anthropologists, philosophers, or theologians? Finally, what does all this mean for those seeking spiritual healing for themselves, or pastors walking alongside the afflicted? Deftly edited by theologian Sarah Coakley, Spiritual Healing offers a composite narrative that investigates the many intermingled factors at work in this intriguing phenomenon. The result is a human story as much as it is a theological one, satisfying discerning believers and skeptics alike in its rigorous pursuit of truth and meaning.

The full significance of Cecil Henry Polhill (1860-1938), the wealthy squire of Howbury Hall, is known to few, yet he was one of the founding fathers of the Pentecostal-Charismatic tradition in Britain, and his impact and legacy stretch far beyond British shores to North America, the Far East and elsewhere. In Cecil Polhill: Missionary, Gentleman and Revivalist John Usher comprehensively connects Polhill's early life and former experiences as an Evangelical Anglican missionary in China, a member of the Cambridge Seven, with his time as a pioneer of early Pentecostalism, and in doing so reveals a much more richly contoured and multifaceted picture of the development of early Pentecostalism than previously achieved.

Celebrated religious and social historian Rodney Starktraces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal andcontroversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world’slargest religion. In The Triumph of Christianity, the author of God’sBattalions and The Rise of Christianity gathers and refines decadesof powerful research and discovery into one concentrated, concise, and highlyreadable volume that explores Christianity’s most crucial episodes. The uniqueformat of Triumph of Christianity allows Stark to avoid densechronologies and difficult back stories, bringing readers right to the heart ofChristian history’s most vital controversies and enduring lessons.