Pneuma Informer June-July 2008

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Pneuma Informer June-July 2008
 

In this issue

What's New at www.PneumaFoundation.org

http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65545

     Foundation Webservers

     New Online Articles

     New Links and Content Worth Noticing

 

Reports from Around the World

http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65608

     Iran: Exponential growth brings harsh crackdown

     Algeria: Persecution Spurs Debate

     China: Prayer Opens Bible Distribution

     Togo: Missionaries prevent tribal war

     Kenya: Betrayed Pastor forgives enemies

     News and Headlines

     Report the News

 

"It Takes a Steady Hand to Hold a Full Cup " by Charles Carrin

http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65760

 

Resources You Can Use

http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65776

     Social networking to transform cities

     Hear two Pentecostal scholars discuss tongues as initial evidence

     30 Days of Prayer for Muslims

     Fiction for Formation

 

Excerpts from THE PNEUMA REVIEW

     Book Review: Evil and the Justice of God

        http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65849

     From "Proclaiming the Gospel with Miraculous Gifts in the Postbiblical Early Church"

        http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65865

     Review Essay: "Will the Real Paul Please Stand Up?" by Tony Richie

       http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65882

 

Responses from Readers

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65899

 

Prayer Requests

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_0607_2008.xml#N65946

 

Support the Pneuma Foundation

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/supporting.jsp

 

 

What's New at www.PneumaFoundation.org

Foundation Webservers

Power outage affects uptime
Thank you for your patience. The webserver was down from the evening of July 2 till July 4 due to a regional power outage caused by an electrical storm.


New Online Articles
New Links and Content Worth Noticing
 
Reports from Around the World

Iran: Exponential growth brings harsh crackdown
The underground evangelical church is growing exponentially in Iran, and authorities appear to be taking action against it. President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller says 12 Muslim-background believers were arrested the week of May 11. A week later, four were still jailed. Moeller says, "Iranian authorities are recognizing that there's a mushrooming house church movement going on in Iran. (It's) doubling in size of the indigenous house church movement there in Iran every six months. So the rate of growth is actually stunning." The arrests began the week of May 11 with arrests in airports and homes. Christian radio and television have been embraced by Iranians, says Moeller, because of disillusionment. "This disillusionment with these conservative clerics, and this harsh political hatred creates a tremendous opportunity for the love of Jesus Christ to make inroads into people's lives. People are searching for real spiritual answers, and they are finding it in Jesus Christ." Funding is needed for the demand in Christian resources.
[Reported June 19] Recently, authorities have been rounding up church leaders. 44-year old Mohsen Namvar was among those arrested. "There has been, over the last 60 days, about a dozen Christians arrested. Most of them have been interrogated and held for a little while, and then released after paying a heavy bail. As far as we know, at this time, Mr. Namvar is still being held."
According to a report from Compass Direct, Namvar believed a Christian had implicated him during an earlier sweep. He had anticipated the arrest after being warned that authorities were watching him. It is the second time that he has faced arrest. He was previously held and tortured for baptizing Muslim converts to Christianity in the spring of 2007.
Why the focus on believers? Voice of the Martyrs' Todd Nettleton says, "The church is growing at an absolutely phenomenal rate in Iran. Muslims are coming to know Christ; they're getting involved with these house church groups. That is what has caused the concern of the government. That's why these arrests are happening."
Source: Adapted from Mission Network News, 23 May, 2008. Full story: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/11266 | See also: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/11350

Algeria: Persecution Spurs Debate
The Algerian government has been appeasing Islamists since early 2008 by implementing its 2006 'Presidential Order Concerning Religion' and repressing Christian worship and practice. Habiba Kouider (35) was charged with 'practising non-Muslim religious rites without a licence' after police found Bibles in her handbag on 29 March. Her case is so controversial that on 27 May the court postponed its verdict. On 1 June police harangued Habiba in the street for two hours. Then on 3 June, four Algerian Christians got suspended jail sentences and fines for 'attempting to shake the faith of Muslims'. The government asserts that religious liberty is part of a foreign conspiracy to colonise Algeria. But many Algerians are not buying that and voices for liberty and justice are being raised in Algeria. Please pray for Algeria and its Church in this time of trial and debate.
Source: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - RLP 483 | Algeria: Persecution Spurs Debate

China: Prayer Opens Bible Distribution
"There was a rumor around that the Chinese government was not going to allow any Bibles at all during the Olympics. Of course, Christians around the world prayed, and the Chinese government quickly retracted that statement. And to complete the circle, they issued an Olympic rings edition of the Bible."
Prayer is still needed for the oppression of Christians during the Olympic crackdown. Read the full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11411
Source: Adapted from Mission Network News, June 7, 2008.

Togo: Missionaries prevent tribal war
"The Janjangou people and the Tontodi people were preparing to go to war with each other when our workers came to share the gospel with them. These people had never heard the name of Christ before.
"While visiting the Tontodi people, missionary Abraham and his wife showed them the Jesus film, expecting the same type of reaction that we usually get from other tribes. Typically, people are compelled to weep when they watch Jesus being nailed to the cross. But surprisingly, the Tontodi people started laughing!
"Finally, the couple showed them a film on witchcraft and they became somber. During the invitation to receive Christ as Savior, everyone present (more than 500 people) including the chief, responded. By God's grace, we will return to them in September for disciple training."
Source: Missions Insider 9:6 (June 30, 2008). Full story: http://www.christianaid.org/Missionaries/MIR/mir20080630b.aspx

Kenya: Betrayed Pastor forgives enemies
Kenyans displaced by post-election violence, about 100,000 of them, have returned home. One of those people was Pastor Steve Munyambu. Munyambu is a youth minister at the Africa Inland Church, and he has moved back to the Kibera slums of Nairobi where people he knew torched his previous home just minutes after the announcement of the disputed election results on December 27.
"We knew each other by name. These were young people I had worked with in rehab programs. These were young people I had worked with in tutorial classes. These were young people I had mentored for a long time," he said. "I didn't see it coming, so I was hurt."
The neighbors helped him put out the fire resulting from the first petrol bomb, but three more petrol bombs followed, Munyambu said. "After the fourth one, we had to say, 'Lord, You've seen our struggle. There is nothing more we can do.'"
Although he has struggled with emotions of bitterness and revenge, Munyambu is committed to forgiving the arsonists. He has seen them and talked to them many times since he volunteered for the Red Cross and they came to his food distribution line.
"God has His own way of programming," he says. "Instead of them going to the different line, God brought them to my line. Again and again, we saw each other--face to face."
Pastor Munyambu is not running away from the people who hurt him. He is deliberately moving back to the same neighborhood. "How can we forgive these people if we don't see them face to face?" he asks. "For me, it's easy to say I've forgiven you, because I don't see you. But immediately, when I see you, something grips within my spirit--bitterness, rage and revenge come back." Three weeks after his house was burned, Pastor Munyambu preached at a service attended by people from different tribes. At the end of the service, he offered to wash their feet - no matter what tribe they were from.
Source: Adapted from Mission Network News, 2 June, 2008. http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11286

News and Headlines
Visit links.jsp for Current News and Links

See other news to pray and praise God about in the Prayer Requests department below.

Report the News
We are looking for stories about what God is doing in the world, reports about the persecution of Christians, and information about significant trends and ministry opportunities. If you have a news item to report, please send an email to the PNEUMA INFORMER. http://www.pneumafoundation.org/contactus.jsp

 
"It Takes a Steady Hand to Hold a Full Cup "
     by Charles Carrin


A group of young pastors have asked that I meet with them monthly for lunch to answer questions and provide help. At our last meeting I gave them the pop-quiz below. I recommend that you read it. If you are a pastor you may be helped by examining your answers. If you are not a pastor you might recommend it to your pastor. CC

1. As a pastor are you listening to, benefitting from--or ignoring your critics?
2. Are you emotionally-secure enough to realize that your critics are sometimes right?
3. Do you know the most frequent or significant criticism made of you?
4. Do you regard your opponents as being "unspiritual" and unworthy of consideration?
5. Do you justify the departure of members from your congregation as simply being "God's 'pruning'" and/or their refusal to accept your "new wine skin"?
6. Did you learn from wrong choices you made in the past?
7. Do you ever listen to--print copies of your own sermons--critique them, and hear your preaching as others hear it? Do you study the content and eliminate superfluous talk?
8. If you were asked to preach a 3-point, quality sermon in 15 minutes could you do it?
9. Are you prepared to preach "in season, out of season"?
10. Do you blame your lack of preparation, indecisiveness, or procrastination, on your supposedly allowing "freedom" for the Holy Spirit?
11. Are you willing to preach more sermons to more people by being considerate of their time or do you insist on longer sermons and fewer people?
12. What percent of your congregation arrives late to avoid the length of the service? Have you ever considered that possibility?
13. As a pastor, do you pray as ardently about your administrative responsibilities as you do your preaching responsibilities?
14. Do members see such consistent growth in your preaching, your administration, that they are eager to hear your next message and be part of your next action?
15. Do visitors observe such maturity and reliability in your whole church-experience that they want to transfer its pattern into their home and personal life?
16. Do visitors eagerly return to your service or are most one-timers only?
17. If you were a first-time visitor in your own congregation what would be your honest opinion?
18. Are you providing your congregation with the example of a loving, disciplined, well-structured life?
19. Apart from your preaching-ministry, does the congregation witness the power of the Holy Spirit in you privately? Are you a "carrier" of the anointing?
20. Have you ever canvassed your congregation to ask for their honest opinions about improving the Church's total ministry? If not, why not?
21. Is there consistent, viable presence of the Holy Spirit displayed through your laying on-hands and personal ministry?
22. When laying-hands on people do you push them down? If so, Do you possibly mistake your emotion and pumped-up zeal with the genuine activity of the Holy Spirit?
23. Are your prayers so long that people quit participating?
24. Theologically, are you a Kingdom-man or a Church-man?
25. Theologically, are you a "closed door" or do you listen to new, godly ideas?
26. Do you give opportunity for prophetic messages, tongues, interpretation, signs, wonders, etc, in every worship service?
27. Do you do all the talking, praying, announcement making, letting the congregation hear your voice alone? Are you a "one-man" show?
28. How many others had an actual part in your service last Sunday?
29. True leaders encourage leadership-development in those under them. Do you have difficulty delegating authority? If so, why?
30. Do you encourage and provide adequate fellowship-time for your congregation?
31. Basically, you are a choleric, sanguine, melancholy, or phlegmatic personality. Do you know which pattern you are and are you aware of its weaknesses and strengths?
32. Is your personality-pattern benefitting your whole congregation or are you unconsciously styling your ministry to satisfy the needs of your type only?
33. Do people leave your service feeling nourished by the gospel or feeling unfed and their spiritual needs unfulfilled? Have you ever seriously asked them?
34. In worship and preaching, does the congregation stay together or is the experience disconnected for each one? Spiritually, do you go off and leave them?
35. Is the volume of your P. A. system painful to your hearers' ears? Have they ever told you?
36. Is your music integrated with historic and contemporary Christian songs or does it reflect the taste of one age- group only?
37. Do you think the previous generation has nothing of musical benefit to offer your worship?
38. Does your Church appeal to or repel the community around it? Have you ever canvassed the neighborhood to find out?
39. Do you participate in interdenominational activities, pursue fellowship with other pastors, and take part in community affairs?
40. Do you try to "become all things to all men that you might save some"?
41. Is your preaching relevant?
42. Do you consistently, routinely, regularly, "teach the word"?
43. Jesus' Sermon On The Mount--the greatest single message in human history--was preached in less than 15 minutes; are you striving for God-empowered integrity in your sermon or for impressive length?
44. Do you seek to know your congregation relationally? Are you available to them or are you hard to find? Do you blow in, blow up, and blow out?
45. Do you sufficiently provide private time for your family and proper public time for the congregation? Are you fair to both?
46. Do you pray, study, prepare, for preaching as if it all depends on you but preach knowing it all depends on God?
47. Have you answered all these questions honestly?

__________

Charles Carrin has served the body of Christ for over 50 years. Today his ministry centers upon the visible demonstration of the Spirit and imparting of His gifts. Read his biography at http://www.charlescarrinministries.com/biography.html.

From Charles Carrin Ministries monthly newsletter, Gentle Conquest (May 2008). Used with permission.

Thanks to Bill for recommending this article.

 
Resources You Can Use

Social networking to transform cities
"UrbanMinistry.org is like a combination of MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube and Wikipedia to develop a social networking community for those interested in urban ministry, global issues or serving under-resourced communities. The site currently has thousands of users, organizations and volunteer opportunities all with a focus of changing the world." Suggested by BBS in Kenya. www.UrbanMinistry.org

Hear two Pentecostal scholars discuss tongues as initial evidence
"For years, speaking in tongues has been debated mainly between those who believe it ceased in the days of the apostles and those who believe it should still be evident in the modern church. Now, another debate about glossolalia is quietly playing out in the Pentecostal-charismatic world. Is tongues the initial evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Listen as Ric Walston, Ph.D., president of Columbia Evangelical Seminary and Edgar Lee, senior professor of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Theology at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary discuss this issue."
http://www.charismamag.com/tonguesdebate/
Elsewhere, find this brief article: Jack Hayford, "Tongues 101: The church needs to look at tongues as a gift, not as a cause for endless theological debate" Ministry Today (March/April 2007), page 38. http://www.ministrytodaymag.com/display.php?id=14738

30 Days of Prayer for Muslims
There are more than a billion Muslims around the world who will never hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Youth with a Mission wants to change that with the 30 Days Prayer Focus on Muslims which will be held September 1st - 30th. YWAM's Paul Filidis is coordinating the 17th printing of the "30 Days Muslim Prayer Guide" in North America. "We have 30 pages that introduce some aspect of Islam or the Islamic community around the world to try to bring a focus and try to educate the reader about some part of the Islamic world. Then it ends up in several prayer points that are related to that day's subject." Filidis says some of the stories of Muslims coming to Christ must be prayer-related. "We constantly hear about Muslims becoming Christians or showing interest through dreams and visions when they run into Christians, saying they want a Bible: 'We want to know more about it.' So, going by some of these stories and feedback, we trust that prayer does make a difference."
http://www.30daysprayer.com/muslim/ [North American site]
Source: Mission Network News For 3 July, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11414

Fiction for Formation
Brandon O'Brien, assistant editor for Leadership Journal, suggests that church leaders make time this summer to read a novel for both ministry rejuvenation and preparation. "Good fiction can help a minister better understand the people to whom he or she is ministering - people struggling with doubt, addictions, or questions about calling and vocation." Read his full post at the Building Church Leaders blog, Off the Agenda. http://blog.buildingchurchleaders.com/2008/06/fiction_for_formation.html
Source: Leadership Weekly July 08, 2008


 

 

Excerpts from THE PNEUMA REVIEW

THE PNEUMA REVIEW is a quarterly printed journal of ministry resources and theology for Pentecostal and charismatic ministries and leaders. For more information about THE PNEUMA REVIEW, and to learn how to subscribe, please visit: Introducing THE PNEUMA REVIEW. www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

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Book Review: Evil and the Justice of God

From the Spring 2008 issue

N. T. Wright, Evil and the Justice of God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 176 pages, ISBN 9780830833986.

Though he admits he is not an expert on evil (17), N. T. Wright writes Evil and the Justice of God in light of a new concentration on evil in postmodern Western society. His work is particularly significant in light of the perceived evil involved with such events as the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States; the devastation of Hurricane Katrina; and the Tsunami across the Indian Ocean. Wright defines evil as "the force of anti-creation, anti-life, the force which opposes and seeks to deface and destroy God's good world of space, time and matter, and above all God's image-bearing human creatures" (89). Wright notes that postmodern Western society either typically ignores or denies the existence of evil when it is not directly impacted. However, when postmodern Western society is directly impacted by evil, its typical response is to either blame everyone else or blame themselves (24). Consequently, this reaction has direct implications on the notions of how one exacts justice in order to combat evil. Given its ambiguous notion of evil, can postmodern Western Society clearly define and (more importantly) exact justice in response to evil being manifested? In contrast, what is the Judeo-Christian response to the problems of evil and implementation of justice on an individual and societal level? These are the key questions that Wright so provocatively addresses in his book.

Evil and the Justice of God is comprised of five chapters. Chapter one is entitled "Evil is Still a Four-Letter Word" and discusses the new and practical problems of evil existing in postmodern Western culture. For example, though the culture is often shown examples of evil through channels such as the television, its citizens are typically not directly threatened by that evil. This lack of engagement produces a false notion that evil is under control. Likewise, political leaders and the media also seem to be surprised by evil when it manifests in such a way that postmodern Western society is affected (25â€"26). Wright notes that this may be because they hold an abstract or philosophical understanding of the problem of evil. However, he asserts that the problem of evil is not an abstract or philosophical dilemma. Rather, it is a practical issue that has been largely ignored since the time of the Enlightenment (78). Additionally, for Wright, when postmodern Western society is directly impacted by the problem of evil there is often an immature, dangerous, and ineffective reaction to it. This is evidenced, for example, for Wright, by a "lashing out" at those perceived to be evil (28). But such reactions do not address the reality of evilâ€"both super-naturally and naturally (32). For Wright, the problem of evil, however, is well addressed in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Chapter two is entitled "What can God do about Evil" and presents a Judaic perspective on the problem of evil and the Justice of God. Relative to the problem of evil, Wright points out that in the Old Testament there is evidence of a divine pattern of dealing with the problem of evil in that God judges evil but also offers grace in the wake of evil (50). For example, in the story of the flood (Gen 6-7), God judged the continual evil of humanity (6:5, 11-13), but offered grace through the family of Noah (6:8, 18; 7:1). Likewise, because of their hubris ambition to build the tower of Babel in order to be like God, the inhabitants of the earth were deemed evil, and God's judgment was to confuse their language, thereby limiting their creativity (Gen 11). Later, God offered grace to humanity through the "Abramic" covenant (Gen 12: 1-3). Though the notion of God offering both judgment and grace in response to evil may appear paradoxical, the Old Testament witness has been consistent on this matter. For, it is those who participate in evil who are judged, but God's grace is extended to all of humanity.

Just as the Judaic perspective clearly addresses the problem of evil, Wright argues that it clearly addresses the justice of God as well (62). For Wright, this justice of God "is not simply a blind dispensing of rewards for the virtuous and punishments for the wicked -- God's justice is a saving, healing, restorative justice, because the God to whom justice belongs is the Creator God who has yet to complete his original plan for creation" (64). That being said, Wright makes it clear that humans are still accountable to the justice of God for their evil deeds. For Wright, this is true because beginning in the Old Testament a just God places boundaries on evil; and YHWH's servant solicits God's restorative justice by accepting the judgment that humanity deserves (65). In the same way, humanity should exact justice by allowing YHWH's servants to redemptively limit evil.

Chapter three is entitled "Evil and the Crucified God" and addresses the problem of evil from a Christian perspective. In this chapter, Wright places particular emphasis on the gospel's account of God dealing with evil through the violent and substitutionary atoning death of Christ on the cross and subsequent resurrection to life -- which also represents God's grace toward humanity. Wright equates Christ's resurrection with forgiveness of sins because both represent a release from death (90). Further, Wright considers this understanding of Christ's atonement a re-reading of the gospels because traditional atonement theology has not depicted the cross in terms of both the problem of evil and the solution to evil (79).

Having re-read the gospels, Wright entitles chapter four, "Imagine There's No Evil." This chapter is the first of two chapters in which Wright proposes specific ways in which God's dealing with evil at the cross should impact humanity. A particular emphasis is placed on how Christians should presently and actively live toward a future with no evil. For example, prayer should be offered up to God on behalf of humanity for God's will to be done in the earth. Similarly, holiness should be characteristic of the people of God, especially in anticipation of the promised future world where only that which is holy resides. Additionally, justice should be exercised by all authorities, both in matters of domestic and international disputes. Thus, humanity, and Christians in particular, are not simply to comprehend evil and the justice of God, but should partner together with God to eliminate evil, effectually exercising justice at all times.

Chapter five is entitled "Deliver us from Evil" and continues by addressing the corporate and personal significance of forgiveness as a way in which God's dealing with evil at the cross is to impact humanity. Wright discusses three books in order to make his point. The first is Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace which suggests that evil must be acknowledged and confronted before one can truly forgive and reconcile. Second, L. Gregory Jones' Embodying Forgiveness gives explicit details of what true forgiveness entails as well as how Christians can live a life embodying forgiveness. Finally, Desmond Tutu's No Future Without Forgiveness posits that forgiveness is essential toward remedying the problem of evil, because forgiveness "releases not only the person who is being forgiven but the person who is doing the forgiving" (159). This release also includes God's forgiving us and releasing "himself from the burden of always having to be angry with a world gone wrong" (136). For Wright, this is a central point in the book because even if one does not accept forgiveness, the one who is doing the forgiving is not emotionally bound by the effects of evil. This is why God's new world will truly be free from evil. However, Wright is careful to emphasize that forgiveness is also not tolerance (151), because the objectives of forgiveness are to identify and shame evil; do everything possible to reconcile with the offender; and does not allow evil to stipulate who or what one is and does. In effect, then, forgiveness is an inaugurated eschatology that brings into the present what the future promises (160) and exemplifies the restorative justice of God.

In conclusion, Wright admittedly says that Evil and the Justice of God does not provide a full or balanced treatment of the problem of evil (10), which he considers an impossible philosophical issue (11) that will not be solved in this world. Rather, the problem of evil is an opportunity to proclaim the message of God's future world without evil, as a result of the atoning work of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, postmodern society in general, and Christians in particular, should live lives exemplified by forgiveness.

Compared to other books dealing with the problem of evil, Wright's Evil and the Justice of God presents a very practical and thought-provoking composition that addresses the challenges and inherent connection between evil and the justice of God within both a postmodern Western context and a Judeo-Christian context. Wright's frequent and insightful summations in each chapter make this book not only easy to read, but compelling for anyone interested in its subject.

Reviewed by Fitzroy Willis

__________

Fitzroy Willis is currently a Ph.D. student in Renewal Biblical Studies at Regent University where he also earned an M.A. in Biblical Studies. Additionally, he has earned a M.S. and B.S. from SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn and SUNY Stony Brook respectively.


Read more reviews and articles from the Spring 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

 
 
Excerpt from "Proclaiming the Gospel with Miraculous Gifts in the Postbiblical Early Church"
     by Stanley M. Burgess

From the Summer 2008 issue, From the Power of the Cross series

The emergence of the Pentecostal, the neoPentecostal or charismatic, and third wave movements in our century has raised a variety of vital questions that demand answers. Among these is the issue of whether the spiritual gifts enumerated by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 remained active in the Church after the first century. Equally crucial is the question of whether these gifts, if still active, were vitally related to the proclamation of the gospel in the Church during the formative centuries.

Protestant Cessationism

From the Reformation era onwards, leading Protestant theologians have popularized the view that the work of the Holy Spirit in evangelism after the apostolic age was limited to dynamic proclamation of the Word of God, rather than the exercise of spiritual gifts. This was the position of Martin Luther, who openly rejected the schwärmer or enthusiasts of his day--who claimed gifts of prophecy and gave higher credence to the "inner voice" of the Spirit than to the "external word" or Scriptures.[1]

The dominant strand of Protestant biblicism which Luther inaugurated has continued into our own century. It combines an emphasis on proclamation of the Word with the cessationist argument that the power gifts evidenced in the first century Church were neither necessary nor functional after the New Testament had been completed. Representative of this position is Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851-1921), professor of theology at Princeton. Warfield was especially antagonistic towards defenders of revelational religious experience and those who insisted on special spiritual gifts. He felt that these substituted subjective religiosity for the completeness of Scripture.

Voices of cessationism still are with us, and presently are aimed at the healing and gift-based ministries of Pentecostals, charismatics, and third wave churches. Cessationists argue that miracles had little to do with the gospel or were incidental to the proclamation of the gospel in the New Testament. Further, they insist that gifts of healing as well as the other charismata ceased at or near the end of the first century A.D. For example, the claim has been made that "the Church Fathers, who came almost entirely from the East, believed that the apostolic gifts had ceased."[2] Such a claim is simply not true, as the evidence presented below shows.

To make these claims, the cessationists have had to ignore or deprecate what was going on among Protestant fringe groups since the time of the Reformation. It is well known that a strand of enthusiasm has remained active in Protestantism, although most of the enthusiasts had been purged from the mainstream, and had been forced to function from the Protestant fringe. These include the Melchiorites, Sebastian Franck, Kasper von Schwenckfeld, the Society of Friends (or Quakers), the Prophets of the Cevennes (or Camisards), the Moravians, certain early Methodists, the Shakers, the Irvingites, and most recently, the contemporary Pentecostal movement (twentieth century charismatics and third wave evangelicals are in part mainstream).

Cessationists also have chosen to overlook the record of both Roman Catholic and Eastern Christian traditions. Any honest inquiry into the history of spirituality in both Roman and Eastern traditions leads the scholar to conclude that the Holy Spirit invested the post-Apostolic Church with the same gifts and charismatic vitality experienced during the first century.[3]

Protestant cessationists have been influenced by the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, which has led many to deny the validity of anything in Christian history which falls outside accepted categories of rationality. This has resulted in a "cleaning up" of religious history, purging it of any taint of "enthusiasm" or nonrational behavior and all reports of the supernatural. The result has been what I call a "demythologizing" of the saints--an attempt to deny the many stories in the Christian tradition which are filled with charismatic giftings, miracles, signs and wonders.

In the twentieth century, Pentecostals have unwittingly added to the confusion by teaching that the Holy Spirit was somehow "deistically absent" in the eighteen hundred years between A.D. 100 and 1900, and that the second coming of the Holy Spirit occurred among them at the very beginning of the current century. This fit into their understanding of Joel's prophecy of a former and a latter rain. In typical restorationist fashion, Pentecostals showed little appreciation for earlier waves of Christian renewal. The result of all this is that we have missed an entire chapter in the history of Christianity--namely, the story of post-apostolic Christians witnessing with power to the unconverted, with their proclamation accented and given credibility by confirming supernatural events.

Spirit-Empowered Ministry in the Post-Apostolic Church

It is quite clear that the Holy Spirit's activity in the Christian Church did not change dramatically after AD 100. As with any other wave of renewal, the time immediately following that of the apostles saw a modest waning of charismatic vitality. But prophets continued to function openly in the Church in the second century, and in fringe groups, such as the Montanists, from that time onwards.

There was no cessation of miracles or signs and wonders in this period either, despite occasional claims to the contrary by a few Church Fathers, including Origen.[4] Both the Roman church and Eastern churches have an entire genre of literature known as hagiography, or lives of the saints, which give innumerable examples of the dynamic evangelistic outreach of individuals empowered by the divine Spirit. To be sure, we must treat these accounts with a critical, even skeptical eye, given the tendency of the period not to be critical. The fact remains, however, that miracles, signs and wonders were an expected part of Christian life--at least for the spiritually elite who reached beyond their contemporaries in holy living and devotion to God. To insist that none of these accounts are credible, while at the same assuming that similar stories from the first century Church given in Scripture are believable, suggests that we are imposing our own presuppositions on the data.

What seems clear is that the supernatural has accompanied gospel preaching in all periods of Christian history (see the sources cited in note 2 for surveys of the evidence). Yes, there have been ups and downs--but there never seems to have been a total absence of the charismata. To illustrate this, I have chosen to discuss four selected examples of Spirit-empowered ministry--two from both East and West--during the first six centuries of the Christian era.

Gregory Thaumaturgus ("Wonder-Worker") (CA. 213-CA. 270)

Gregory was born about 213 at Neocaesarea (in Asia Minor, presently Turkey), the son of wealthy, noble parents. His father was devoted to the worship of pagan deities. When Gregory was fourteen years old, his father died and Gregory became a student of the famous Alexandrian theologian, Origen, under whose tutelage he became a devout Christian.

Origen probed his student with questions and taught him to think critically, investigating philosophy, physics, and ethics. Gregory later praised Origen as one who mediated him through divine charisma, speaking as those who prophesy and interpret mystical and divine words.[5]

Following his schooling (ca. 230), Gregory returned to his native Neocaesarea, where, according to his follower, Gregory of Nyssa, there were but seventeen Christians. When Gregory the Wonderworker died forty years later, there were only seventeen in Neocaesarea who were not Christians![6]

How was this mass conversion accomplished? At least four of the Church Fathers speak to this question. One of Gregory's spiritual descendants was Basil of Cappadocia. In Basil's famous work On the Holy Spirit, he argues that Gregory should be placed among the Apostles and Prophets as a person who walked by the same Spirit as they.[7] Specifically, Basil reports that by the "fellow-working of the Spirit" Gregory had tremendous power over demons, and was so spiritually gifted that his evangelism was dramatically successful. Basil lists a few of the miracles credited to Gregory's ministry (including prophecy and the turning of the course of rivers). He concludes:

By the superabundance of gifts, wrought in him by the Spirit in all power and in signs and in marvels, he was styled a second Moses by the very enemies of the Church. Thus in all that he through grace accomplished, alike by word and deed, a light seemed ever to be shining, token of the heavenly power from the unseen which followed him.

Gregory of Nyssa, another of Gregory the Wonderworker's followers, wrote an essay on his predecessor which seeks to explain the evangelistic success of the Wonderworker. Throughout it is assumed that miracles and other supernatural phenomena resulted in mass conversions.[8]

In his history of the Early Church, the fourth century historian, Socrates, reports that pagans were no less attracted to the Christian faith by his marvelous acts, than by his words. He reports many miracles, healing of the sick, and the casting out of devils even by means of his letters.[9]

Jerome, who provides us with the earliest "Who's Who in the Church," also tells of reports current in the late fourth and early fifth centuries that Gregory's writings were overshadowed by the "signs and wonders" which accompanied his evangelism, bringing "great glory" to the churches.[10]

Curiously, the greatest Church historian of the period, Eusebius, is silent on matters miraculous in Gregory's ministry.11 This silence has been seized upon by modern "demythologizers" to suggest that they were merely figments of disciples' imaginations. But such an argument, based on negative evidence--based on the absence of evidence for or against--demonstrates nothing. The same scholars argue, in addition, that Gregory's philosophical and reflective tendencies would have been incompatible with a ministry which evidenced "power evangelism." One can only wonder how, given this reasoning, they could so readily accept the same mix in the life of St. Paul (compare Acts 17:28 and Rom. 15:18-19)!

. . .

__________

Stanley M. Burgess, Ph.D. (University of Missouri, Columbia) is a professor of religious studies at Southwest Missouri State University, and a specialist in the history of Christian thought. He has been published widely in the history of pneumatology and in Pentecostal/charismatic studies.


Endnotes appear with the full article. Read the rest of this article in the Summer 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

This chapter is from Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer, eds., The Kingdom and the Power: Are Healing and the Spiritual Gifts Used by Jesus and the Early Church Meant for the Church Today? A Biblical Look at How to Bring the Gospel to the World with Power (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993). Used with permission.

 
 

Review Essay: "Will the Real Paul Please Stand Up?"
     by Tony Richie

From the Summer 2008 issue

Simon Gathercole, "What Did Paul Really Mean?: 'New perspective' scholars argue that we need, well, a new perspective on justification by faith" Christianity Today (August 2007), pages 22-28.

Simon Gathercole is a NT scholar and former Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2007, he joined the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Gathercole received his MA at Cambridge, and then completed a MATH and PhD under James Dunn, a renowned NT scholar himself, at the University of Durham. While Dunn is a founding proponent of the so-called "New Perspective on Paul," Gathercole opposes it. Drawn from his dissertation, his book Where is Boasting? (2002), is a critique of NPP. In this succinct CT article, with a title probably playing on NPP advocate Tom Wright's What Saint Paul Really Said (1997), Gathercole capably sums up the major issues at stake in the debate, and circumspectly presents his own view. He is appreciative of elements of NPP but ultimately rejects its fundamental thesis. Though at times technical (for those of us who are not NT scholars), as it touches on some of the most complex and important ideas in the NT and in Christian doctrine, especially the nature of justification and faith, this discussion will interest scholars and clergy alike, along with well-informed laity. I recommend it to readers of The Pneuma Review as an exceptional introduction/overview on a complex topic. It is probably not, however, fit fodder for the theologically faint of heart.

The CT editors do a good job of prefacing Gathercole's article with some explanatory information that will help readers new to the discussion follow along. However, Gathercole himself is adept enough at putting NPP into perspective in the body of the article. One of the main aims of the editorial input is its framing of the debate in terms not confined to Reformed Christianity. Yet, as shown later this may be a debatable point itself. At its deepest level, this is a debate about the question: what is "truly biblical?" The author points out that NPP is not a new topic, but has been around for nearly 30 years (he does not mention antecedents around as early as 1900). It essentially argues that elements of the Protestant Reformation approach were "either wrong or ill-directed." These concerns controversially include the doctrine of justification. Some Evangelicals, notably James D. G. Dunn and N. T. Wright, think NPP is "a key to unlocking Paul's original intent." Gathercole stresses that NPP is not really about Paul's overall teaching; it is more narrowly about his doctrine of justification, in particular on justification by faith. It explicitly examines Paul's understanding of works versus works of the law.

In sum, the old perspective argues that Paul understands "works of the law" to include all human acts of righteousness while the new one identifies these as specific acts identifying first century Jews as participants in the covenant of Judaism. Accordingly, NPP argues that first century Jews did not attempt to enter covenant relationship or accumulate merit before God based on their righteous obedience to the law, that is to earn salvation, but rather only attempted to identify and distinguish themselves, through such specific laws as circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and food laws, as elite members of the covenant community. The upshot of NPP is that it identifies the problem with which Paul deals in his doctrine of justification by faith as more an attitude of exclusivism than legalism. Paul, therefore, is trying to argue a position of inclusiveness in relation to Gentile status before God in the covenant community of faith. Accordingly, NPP suggests that more than anything Paul is arguing that Gentiles as well as Jews can share in salvation apart from obedience to specific identifying features of the Jewish law. Gathercole reminds that NPP arose out of the work of E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977), with his concern over inferior caricatures of Judaism. Sanders argued that an unbiased reading of pre-Christian and rabbinical Judaism shows that they had a strong doctrine of grace. Their problem was not self-righteousness. Rather, their doctrine of election essentially found its basis in grace. Therefore, the law demonstrated their fidelity to a covenant based on grace. Problems arose, from Paul's perspective, when this evolved into covenantal elitism in the sense of religious nationalism. Therefore, Paul rejects this exclusion of the Gentiles rooted in the works of the law and replaces it with his inclusive doctrine of justification by faith.

Accordingly, NPP understands faith as enabling Gentiles to enter the covenant apart from distinctive Jewish dietary laws, keeping of holy days, and the rite of circumcision. They do not so strongly juxtapose grace and faith with the righteous requirements of the law as expressed in its obligatory moral commandments. Nor do they so strongly juxtapose it with overall human acts of righteousness. These simply were not Paul's central concerns in developing his doctrine of justification by faith. Gathercole, however, thinks all of this, though not an outright denial of the traditional meaning of justification by faith, is still a refocusing that relocates its accent elsewhere. For him, a close reading of Paul's letters to the Romans and to the Galatians seriously challenges NPP's assumptions and conclusions. However, he does not address Paul's positive proclamations on good works and works of service suggesting Paul perhaps had a multifaceted view of works (e.g., Eph 2:10; 4:12; Pp 2:12-13). That such statements often occur in contexts of discussions of grace and faith challenges tendencies to define all works negatively as rivals to grace (cf. Rom 2:9-10; Titus 2:11-14). Is it just possible that Paul did not always mean only one thing by "works" or even "works of the law"? Is it possible he sometimes meant the one and sometimes the other? That does not fit with our desire for simplicity but it does fit with Paul's reputation for complexity.

Gathercole does not deny any positive features at all for NPP. He thinks its inclusive accent on "the worldwide focus of God's dealings in Christ" beneficial. He also applauds its "historical awareness of Paul's situation." Becoming more aware of the Reformers' habit of sometimes reading into Paul their anxiety (and hostility) toward Roman Catholicism is a step in the right direction. Moreover, countering the traditional tendency toward "cheap caricatures of Judaism" is "an important contribution". Yet he still insists that the oft-expressed high regard for the law in Paul as "holy, righteous, and good" (Rom 7:12) indicates he did not see it as simply "a body of petty rules and regulations". Accordingly, Simon Gathercole lists "Six Tendencies" in which he judges NPP as at fault. First, though Protestant scholarship has exaggerated Judaism's attempt to earn salvation through obedience to the law, reading ancient Jewish literature demonstrates they were not wrong about it altogether. Yet for Paul, salvation is simply impossible apart from the Cross, Resurrection, and Pentecost.

Second, that Paul understood the works of the law as only applying to circumcision, Sabbath observance, and food laws is insufficiently supportable from his own writings according to many Pauline scholars. Third, criticism of "'individualistic' readings" of Paul, miss his emphasis on personal conversion and faith. Even the Church is an assembly of individuals. Fourth, NPP confuses the "content" of justification with its "applications." The inclusion of Gentiles is part of the scope of justification made possible by its core reality of how "believers, despite their sin, can be reckoned righteous before God." Fifth and sixth, NPP tends to downplay sin and the need for doctrinal clarity. Even in efforts to be inclusive and unifying, facing these factors is still necessary. Gathercole, however, admits that NPP is diverse and some of these criticisms may not apply to all. For him, they do nonetheless bear watching.

In his strongest section, in the sense of affirmative accentuation, Gathercole argues that what the Bible says about justification is of paramount importance. Relying mostly on Romans, he concludes: "Justification, in which righteousness is reckoned to us, is both a legal declaration of our status and a statement about our relationship with God. People who are sinners are declared by God to have done all that he has commanded." Since the debate is not only about justification but also about justification by faith, Gathercole further defines faith. First, faith is an attitudinal reorientation in which one recognizes "the futility" of one's "own future without God and God's help." Second, faith is "also the response to God's promises." Third, faith "focuses not only on what God has said [God's promises] but on God's character." For Gathercole, the works of the law are associated with "the flesh", or the sinful and weak nature of fallen humanity. This includes specific deeds of the law as well as all human acts of righteousness. In his mind, only such a position protects the principles that salvation is "purely by grace", that "God is the sole operator in salvation", and that "he alone does the whole saving work." He concludes, therefore, that the doctrine of justification "says sinners can be miraculously reckoned righteous before God", and reiterates that this has nothing to do with the law or its works in any sense, that is, either ceremonial or moral. Again, as above, in the present article he does not address positive statements about good works or works of service in the Pauline corpus.

One of the most attractive features of this article by Gathercole, in addition to its obvious learnedness and lucidity, is that it is genuinely balanced and moderate. He recognizes the benefits of NPP even while he criticizes what he sees as its problems. Furthermore, one of the benefits he acknowledges is the ecumenical inclusiveness of NPP regarding Judaism. Anti-Semitism has been a perennial problem in Christian-Jewish relations. Even where blatant anti-Semitism is not present, failure to appreciate the richness of the Jewish religious tradition often is present. Some blame Paul. NPP does a great service to show that not Paul but Paul's interpreters are more likely to blame. To his credit, Gathercole seems to assume that the desirability of a more inclusive attitude toward Jews and Judaism today is a given. His interpretation of Paul apparently includes both the traditional view of justification by faith and a contemporary inclusivist assessment of Judaism. In itself, that is something of a "new perspective." It is also refreshing.

Yet how inclusive is this inclusivism? Is it inclusive enough for heirs of the Protestant Reformation and Roman Catholics to interact ecumenically? Recent developments suggest some room for rapprochement. Conversations between Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Lutherans, suggest a move toward a more consensual view of salvation, including on the relations between forensic and effective justification (Veli-Matti Karkkainen, One with God, 2004). Incredibly, Hans Kung quite some time ago demonstrated that Catholic and Protestant views on justification are not as polarized as many propose (Justification, 1964). Is it possible that in the midst of all the angst and animosity of the Reformation some on both sides shared similar concerns and commitments? If so, the force of that conflict certainly overshadowed and overwhelmed them. Could it be that some degree of conciliatory recovery is possible today? Can the NPP help? Though Gathercole appreciates ecumenical inclinations in NPP, does he adequately address anti-ecumenical aspects of the traditional view? That the old view engages in eisegesis in interpreting Paul through reading back into him their contentions with Rome seems generally agreed upon by contemporary scholars of both positions. Going even farther, does it also misread Rome at important points as well? That the Protestant Reformation was justifiable (no pun intended) is not debatable for this reviewer. However, to what extent were the Reformers reacting against abuses that were also betrayals of the best of Roman tradition? The subsequent occurrence of the Catholic Counter Reformation suggests some feasibility to this possibility. To the extent that that may be so, reexamining justification cooperatively and objectively appears recommendable. NPP appears to offer some assistance here with Roman Catholics as well as on Judaism.

Near the end of his article when Gathercole finally discloses more fully his own personal view on justification his Reformed framework becomes more explicit. His insistence that "God is the sole operator in salvation" and that "he alone does the whole saving work" sounds like typical Augustinian-Calvinist monism after all. On biblical and theological grounds, the Pentecostal tradition does not concur with its deterministic implications. Then he ties this to what seems like a totally declarative and forensic view of justification vis-a-vis NPP. He does not address transformation, that is, regeneration and sanctification, or its relation to justification. This negligence to nuance justification with the overall unity of soteriological experience is cause for concern. In his review of Don Garlington's In Defense of the New Perspective on Paul (2005) for The Pneuma Review (Fall 2007),[1] Amos Yong repeatedly points out the importance for this discussion of considering the wider framework of Paul's soteriology. Some proponents of NPP especially argue against construing justification as merely the imputation of righteousness or transfer of merit from one, that is, Christ, to another, that is, the believing sinner. The focus in that view is on legal transaction versus spiritual and moral transformation. At this point, the Wesleyan-Arminian/Pentecostal arguably has much to offer.

In his sermons (e.g., "The Scripture Way of Salvation"), John Wesley defined justification as a relative change in standing before God but insisted on new birth and sanctification as a real change in nature. He thus emphasized more of a full-orbed pneumatological soteriology. One might say truly Christian salvation is not only about transaction but also transformation. For Wesley, justification is essentially synonymous with juridical acquittal while regeneration and sanctification effect ontological transformation. All are essential. These redemptive experiences are distinct but not divided. Similarly, Pentecostals tend to stress the unity of redemptive experiences. Hollis Gause says, "Justification anticipates and requires holiness. Regeneration anticipates living in the Spirit." Additionally, adoption "anticipates the life of a son of God". Spirit baptism, is "distinct from those experiences which anticipate it" yet "all the prior experiences are bound up in the life in the Holy Spirit" (Living in the Spirit, 1980). Any view of justification that does not insist on concomitant and symbiotic relation with transformation proves inadequate for Pentecostal spirituality and theology. Defining salvation as justification totally in declarative terms and identifying it as the redemptive experience is dubitable biblically and theologically. Imputation and impartation of divine righteousness through faith in Christ are inseparable. In other words, legal standing and moral change go together. Yet another way to say it is that forgiveness of sin and cleansing from sin are both "part and parcel" of redemption in Christ. Though not altogether mistaken, an overemphasis on the declarative, forensic nature of justification by faith resulting in a doctrine of the imputation of righteousness that does not coalesce with the richness of overall soteriological redemptive emphases is misdirected. Though not necessarily always so, the traditional view of justification, especially in its Reformed framework, has oft times displayed this unfortunate antinomian inclination (cf. John Fletcher, Checks against Antinomianism). NPP perhaps offers some challenging and stimulating insights for this dilemma.

Nevertheless, "the old perspective," an admittedly pejorative description implicitly signaling its own demise but which even its proponents use, is gallantly guarding against compromising essential traditional principles of the Protestant Reformation. No loyal Protestant can afford to take their concerns lightly. Yet casting this discussion in terms of fidelity to sola gratia (grace alone) is patently inaccurate. If I understand NPP devotees, they are not arguing for less grace but for more grace. In other words, they do not wish to minimize the Christian emphasis on grace at all, but rather to maximize Christian acceptance of grace in Judaism. Therefore, caricaturing NPP as laying less stress on grace is incorrect. It actually sounds more like a discussion about whether Christianity has a monopoly on grace. That is a different talk altogether. Even aside from Paul, the Scriptures support the existence of grace in ancient Israel prior to the rise of Christianity or the writings of Paul (e.g., Prov 3:34; Isa 26:10; Jonah 2:8). In fact, obviously Pauline arguments for grace arise out of the Jewish scriptures (cf. Rom 4-5; Gal 3:15-18). Judaism therefore clearly contains a traditional grace motif.

The preceding observation also applies to casting this discussion as a contest between faith and works. Neither does it appear to be the case, as is occasionally implied, that the old perspective values the Cross, Resurrection, and Pentecost more than the new. In other words, the debate between the traditional view and NPP is not (correctly) boiled down to a resurgence of the Pelagian-anti-Pelagian controversy. Gathercole rightly warns against the tendency to read into Paul later historical controversies. We might also warn against reading into contemporary controversies issues from earlier ones. Throughout Church history, some have found it convenient to accuse of Pelagianism or Popery anyone who disagreed with Augustinianism/Calvinism. For examples, though none takes it too seriously today, common charges against Arminius and the Wesleys in their own days were that they were secretly Pelagians or Papists. Part of the problem, of course, was/is that some are all-too-easily persuaded that only their own interpretations are completely compatible with Protestant orthodoxy. Gathercole does not take it that far but the assumption that only a certain version of Reformed theology properly represents Protestantism does seem implicitly evident.

Furthermore, if, as observed above, at its deepest level, this is a debate about the question of what is "truly biblical", then both sides are making some helpful contributions. Increased attention to what Paul "really said" and "really meant" should only be helpful. This debate may proceed along the line that it is not entirely an either-or enterprise. Admittedly, some basic disagreements exist. However, that NPP does not so much disqualify the traditional view as it qualifies it more carefully, may be a possible conclusion to the discussion. This contention arises out of my major criticism of Gathercole's article. Though it admits that NPP must not be "written off as a disaster from start to finish," and even appreciatively enumerates several of its perceived benefits, when it comes down to stating its own view of justification and faith it sounds like the same old standard line. I cannot see how even its own admissions influence its eventual position. It seems if the concessions are so they ought to show. They do not.

The soteriological dynamism of Pentecostalism probably explains why NPP has not been quite the same "hot topic" among them as it as among the Reformed wing of Evangelicals. They are just not so prone to the forensic and monistic theology that makes it such an issue (Unfortunately, their historical inclination, as heirs of the Holiness movement, has all-too-often been in the opposite and equally wrong direction of legalism). Yong, however, in the aforementioned review, points out that Pentecostal scholarship has been making claims consistent with NPP for some time. A deeper, and possibly truer, understanding of what Paul really said and meant is of no less importance for Pentecostals than for others. Robby Waddell, a Pentecostal NT author (The Spirit in the Book of Revelation, 2005), scholar, and teacher, told me (email: February 19, 2008) he finds NPP "most helpful." He thinks NPP, rooted in the reconstruction of first century Judaism and the redefinition of some of the old categories arising out of that, a helpful development. He is especially interested in the way it treats Paul as a first century Jew rather than as a sixteenth century reformer. Further, he thinks it helpfully shines light on other such issues as race relations (inclusion of Gentiles), election, and eschatology. This reviewer well remembers his own joyful discovery of justification by faith and salvation by grace. Anything that helps him more deeply plumb the realities of that life-changing experience he welcomes with open arms. However, there is no less affirmation of the basic truth preached by Paul: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith'" (Rom 1:16-17 NIV). We may be unpacking that statement 'til Jesus comes, but its power already apprehends us with God's gracious loving mercy. Hallelujah!

Reviewed by Tony Richie

At the time of printing, the full article was available online: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/august/13.22.html

Notes
[1] Don Garlington, In Defense of the New Perspective on Paul: Essays and Reviews (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2005), viii + 245 pages. Read the full review by Amos Yong, as it appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of The Pneuma Review on the Pneuma Foundation website at: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/article.jsp?article=/article_0089.xml.

__________

Tony Richie, D.Min, D.Th. (candidate), a bishop in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), is pastor of New Harvest in Knoxville, TN and does adjunct teaching at Church of God Theological Seminary (Cleveland, TN) and Church of God South American Seminary (Quito, Ecuador). He also serves the Society for Pentecostal Studies as liaison to the Interfaith Relations Committee of the National Council of Churches. His articles that have appeared in numerous Christian academic journals.


Read more reviews and articles from the Summer 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

 
 
Responses from Readers

Hey! I'm working on developing a comprehensive sight that allows people to link to websites related to Arminianism. I got to your website (which is absolutely great, by the way) through a pentecostal group, so I thought that your site might have an Arminian basis. Some of your links, of course, don't follow that pattern, and I was just wondering what kind of criteria you have for what websites you link to. Any help you can provide would be great! Thank you so much!
- Micah M
     Response:
Thank you for writing and for your interest in the Pneuma Foundation. We appreciate your encouragement.
While no organization or publication could hope to represent all Pentecostal/charismatics worldwide, the Pneuma Foundation does desire to offer perspectives from all thoughtful and biblical believers found within the vast movement. The viewpoints of our writers and editors vary widely on numerous subjects from the role of women in ministry to what we believe about the end times. Through 11 years of publishing our quarterly journal we have dialogued about some of these differences. One of the discussions featured in The Pneuma Review asked the question, "How Much Does God Control?" In that discussion we heard from a charismatic Calvinist as well as an open-view theist and also a classical Arminian.
Allow me to point you to some online resources that say more about our desire to not take positions that exclude believers with differing views.
Our statement of vision and purpose, including principles of teaching and dialogue: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/statement_of_vision.jsp
A note about doctrinal perspectives: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/article.jsp?article=doctrinal_perspective.xml
Full index of our quarterly printed journal: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pr_archive.jsp. In The Pneuma Review you will find a wide selection of subjects and topics that have been discussed and responded to. Currently, we are accepting submissions regarding "how should the church respond to postmodernism".
You may also find interesting this discussion about why "normal initial evidence" is mentioned in our statement of faith: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/article.jsp?article=article_0066.xml
Regarding criteria for links: we do link to a variety of websites, particularly appreciating sites that have resources to offer our growing worldwide public. Feel free to use our link suggestion form on this page: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/links.jsp#link
Thank you again for writing and for your encouragement.
     In the love of the Father,
     Raul Mock
     Executive Director
 
 

I have studied your web site, and I found it the most wonderful site to get right to the True Word of God. I found that all your material is full of knowledge concerning development of religious faith.
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About the drama performance video mentioned in the May (2008) Informer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSwCOs-uXzU
This is a good one ... someone suggested adapting it for our church drama team last year. Thanks for sharing it, I had forgotten about it.
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Prayer Requests

  • One Pneuma Foundation member writes: "Remember me in your prayers. My orphans I am caring for are lacking food, clothes, medical care. Please pray for me so that I can get resources to do everything for them." Reference Number: 90032519.
  • Eritrea: Intensive Persecution Fuels a Refugee Crisis . Eritrea, one of the world's worst abusers of religious liberty, has been listed by the US Commission of International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) since 2004 -- and the situation is worsening. Some 2000 mostly Protestant Christians are imprisoned for their faith in appalling conditions, and the regime of dictator-president Isaias Afwerki has taken control of the influential Eritrean Orthodox Church. The regime's gross human rights violations have created a refugee crisis in the region. But in June, Egypt forcibly returned some 1000 refugees to Eritrea. Libya too is said to be about to mass-deport Eritrean refugees. A number of refugees returned to Eritrea have reportedly been incarcerated, tortured or shot dead. Please pray for the Church in Eritrea, for Eritrean refugees, and for freedom for Eritrea.
    Source: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - RLP 485 | Eritrea: Intensive Persecution Fuels a Refugee Crisis
  • Pakistan: Violence strikes Islamic nation. Christians in Pakistan need your help as violence has hit the Islamic nation. A suicide bomber attacked policemen at the Red Mosque in Islamabad on Sunday, July 6, killing 18 people. The attack targeted Pakistan's government, which is trying to stabilize the country and control Islamic extremism, says Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs. "What this explosion shows is the continued influence and the continued power of radical Muslim groups within Pakistan." Nettleton urges prayer for Pakistani believers, who are witnessing boldly for the Gospel even though Muslim radicals often target them. Pray "that they will have boldness to witness for Christ, and to really live an example for the people around them who are watching them, who maybe identify it as a Western religion, but to really see Christians live for Christ can really have an impact in that country."
    Source: Mission Network News For 8 July, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11419
  • "This is Pastor Abraham E. from Sri Lanka. My ministry is progressing in the midst of so many impediments. In April, I extended my church lease for another two years because the landlady compelled me to do it. If I had not done that she would have been given the building to some one else. So with God's grace I extended it.
    "Please pray for a vehicle for my ministry because I have to spent a lot of money on hiring vehicles for long trips. Sometimes I have to postpone my ministry trips due to vehicle problems. As I have so many branches, if I have a vehicle I can do more frequent visits and encourage them from time to time. Please pray for these great needs. I used to distribute Bibles free of charge to the poor people in the remote areas, so pray for this ministry to purchase more Bibles to be able to do this."
    For pictures from Pastor Abraham's recent visit to Kadiyalena, planting a church in Hatton, and baptism under a beautiful Sri Lankan waterfall, visit here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21590279@N08/sets/72157605176213366
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  • Kazakhstan considers oppressive religion law. Kazakhstan's parliament is beginning consideration of a law that would restrict religious freedom. The law would sharply limit Christians' ability to share their faith, the Slavic Gospel Association reports. If passed, the law will also make it harder for churches to buy property and register with the government. If churches fail the new requirements for registration, they will lose all of their buildings and materials. Pray that Kazakh believers will continue to be strong for the Gospel.
    Source: Mission Network News, 17 June, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/11338
  • Pastor Vincent in Kenya shares these requests for a Bible School that is about to open: "Please pray for the following: For God to draw students from the North, South, East and West. For Finances - due to poor economy that we have undergone due to post election violence that rocked this country. For leadership of the school. For the students to have a genuine burden and call.
    "Thanks for understanding and your time to stand on the gap.
    "Blessings, Pst Vincent O." Reference Number: 90032414

 
 

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