Encounter: Journal for Pentecostal Ministry, Fall 2013, Vol. 10
Book Review
The Spirit of the World: Emerging Pentecostal Theologies in Global Context
Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), xxiv + 248
Reviewed by Paul J. Palma,
Ph.D. student, Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia
The essays in this volume include a range of
Pentecostal theologies, drawing from diverse
cultural and religious contexts. The views
presented are representative of Pentecostal
scholarship from four continents. On the heels of
seventeenth century revivalism, the worldwide
Church has grown increasingly aware of its
identity as a community of the Spirit.
Modernization and globalization have
contributed to growing realization of the
culturally conditioned, domesticated nature of
theology. These trends point to the advantage of
an integrative approach incorporating emerging
“Pentecostalisms” from around the world.
Part two addresses Pentecostal theology in light
of cultural diversity. Paulson Pulikottil and Koo
Dong Yun examine Pentecostal engagement
with Asian cultures. African-American Deidre
Helen Cumbley and Nigerian scholar, Ogbu U.
Kalu, approach issues of particularity and
indigenous faith within the context of AfroPentecostalism.
In part three, the editor of this volume, VeliMatti Kärkkäinen, addresses the role of
pneumatology in the Pentecostal tradition.
African scholar, Opoku Onyinah, examines the
implications of witchcraft in Ghanaian
Pentecostalism, finding a healthy middle way
between contextualization of the gospel and the
preoccupation with demons and witches
according to the “old order” (p. 201). The
theologian Amos Yong, who comes from a
Chinese-Malaysian background, explores the
ground for extending Pentecostal-Buddhist
dialogue, which includes the dynamic
trinitarianism of the Buddhist doctrine of
trikaya. Tony Richie draws on the Azusa Street
era pioneer, J. H. King, as an example of an
“optimistic, gracious, and patient” approach, in
light of the tension between universality and the
particularity of Pentecostal theologies of
religion.
The essays in part one of the work, address the
significance of empowerment for global
theologies of the Spirit. Frank Macchia
underscores the importance of Spirit baptism, as
new life through the indwelling Spirit, and a
metaphor for the Kingdom of God—the “crown
jewel” of Pentecostal theological discourse
going forward (p. 20). From a North American
perspective, Margaret Poloma points to divine
healing rooted in the ethos of Pentecostal views
of the transcendent spiritual world. Korean
scholar, Wonsuk Ma, building on the narrative
and oral tradition of Pentecostalism, suggests a
multiple origins approach. Bringing together
views from the East and West, Ma argues that
Pentecostal missions are marked by a
restorationist impulse and primal spirituality.
Douglas Petersen develops the notion of “moral
imagination” within a Latin American
framework as the means by which Pentecostals
comprehend their identity as an alternative
institution, develop leadership skills, and
implement social action programs.
The views presented in The Spirit in the World
encapsulate diverse cultural perspectives and
provide a constructive, contextualized
understanding of global Pentecostalism. Some
views go unnoted, specifically those stemming
from European, Northern Asian, and Australian
contexts. However, the work does not intend to
provide an exhaustive overview of global
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Pentecostalism, but rather a sampling of
emerging Pentecostal theologies within Third
World contexts. The advantage of such an
approach is that it draws from regions
experiencing astronomical growth among
Pentecostal adherents. Such an approach
provides a methodological perspective according
to which the course of Pentecostal theology,
more than anything else, is influenced by views
that originate from the global South.
Pentecostalism is cutting across regions that
follow a modern rationalist, reductionist agenda.
The Pentecostal movement is here identified
with contextual and indigenous perspectives,
which emphasize the role of empowerment,
religious experience, and belief in a parallel
transcendent world.
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