Bücher der Reihe Pentecostals, Peacemaking, and Social Justice

John McConnell Jr. was the famed founder and visionary of Earth Day. McConnell's vision was one of creating a day of remembrance, solitude, and action to restore the broken human relationship to the land. Little acknowledged are McConnell's religious convictions or background. McConnell grew up in a Pentecostal home. In fact, McConnell's parents were both founding charter members of the Assemblies of God in 1914. His own grandfather had an even greater connection to the origins of Pentecostalism by being a personal participant at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906. Earth Day, thus, began with strong religious convictions. McConnell, seeing the ecological demise through his religious background, envisioned a day where Christians could ""show the power of prayer, the validity of their charity, and their practical concern for Earth's life and people."" In the spirit of McConnell, today's Pentecostal and Charismatic theology has something to say about the earth. Blood Cries Out is a unique contribution by Pentecostal and Charismatic theologians and practitioners to the global conversation concerning ecological degradation, climate change, and ecological justice.""This edited collection of essays is a very welcome addition to the emerging literature on ecotheology from pentecostal scholars. They provide original contributions full of insight and wisdom from historical, theological, and contemporary studies. They also challenge theologians both inside and outside of Pentecostalism to bring ecology and theology into deeper and more sustained conversation. Swoboda should be congratulated for editing such a lively and interesting set of essays that will become a reference point for scholars and students of pentecostal ecotheology.""--Mark J. Cartledge, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK""A. J. Swoboda is a singular new voice urging evangelicals to follow the call to care for God's creation. In Blood Cries Out, he shines a light on the beginnings of Earth Day and the pentecostal roots of John McConnell Jr.'s drive to establish this holiday. With his signature wisdom and accessibility, Swoboda has crafted another essential volume. Highly recommended!""--Matthew Sleeth, Blessed Earth, Lexington, KYA. J. Swoboda is a pastor, writer, and professor in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Tongues and Trees and the co-author of Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology.

Although history is replete with tales of revenge, Christian forgiveness provides an alternate response. In this volume, Pentecostal scholars from various disciplines offer their vision for forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. The essayists offer long-overdue Pentecostal perspectives through analysis of contemporary theological issues, personal testimony, and prophetic possibilities for restoration of individual relationships and communities. Though Pentecostals remain committed to Spirit-empowered witness as recorded in Luke-Acts, these scholars embrace a larger Lukan vision of Spirit-initiated inclusivity marked by reconciliation. The consistent refrain calls for forgiveness as an expression of God's love that does not demand justice but rather seeks to promote peace by bringing healing and reconciliation in relationships between people united by one Spirit.

What would the church look like if Christians saw their lives as constituted by the Spirit's presence to live as Jesus lived? In a time when being "led by the Spirit" is defined more by achieving the "American Dream" than by Jesus's life, answering this question rightly seems all the more critical for the church to survive in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity. Building upon the work of post-Constantinians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas and upon the Trinitarian Spirit-Christology of Leopoldo Sanchez, this account of the Christian life provides a framework for seeing one's Christian life as one transformed by the Spirit to live in the resurrection reality of Jesus's sonship with the Father in the Spirit. In the process, one will discover that, for Jesus, being led by the Spirit meant trusting his Father to the point of death on a cross, trusting God to resurrect him even if he did not save him. Should it mean the same for Christians today? If so, this would require the church to reimagine its ministries for the Spirit to work repentance and faith rather than simple agreement. For Christians living in the Spirit, their lives might look very different.

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.

The historical ambivalence among Pentecostals about their relationship to culture and society needs evaluation. How do we understand Pentecostal engagement with society, and how are Pentecostals in North America engaging issues of race, class, gender, and ecology? What theologically motivates North American Pentecostals to respond to social issues? What categories best explain Pentecostal responses to social issues in North America? How do they compare to Pentecostal responses elsewhere? Recently, scholars of global Pentecostalism have proposed that the experience of the Spirit among Pentecostals has elicited the development of a Pentecostal ""theology of liberation,"" which has implications for understanding Pentecostal responses to social issues. These projects primarily explore the Pentecostal response to cultural issues in areas outside of North America and especially focus on Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This volume assesses whether the categories of social liberation applied to non-Western Pentecostalism characterize Pentecostalism in North America. Is there evidence of a Pentecostal ""theology of liberation"" that explains Pentecostal engagement in North America? Do social-liberation categories fit the North American Pentecostal responses to social issues or are others more suitable? These and other important questions about the relation between liberation theology and North American Pentecostalism are thoroughly explored in this important collection of essays.""This significant collection of essays by theologians and social scientists addresses an important but understudied topic: the relationship between Pentecostalism and social action. By going beyond surface images and simple dichotomies (e.g., ''liberal'' and ''conservative''), the contributors demonstrate that contradictory forces in Pentecostalism have both constrained and liberated. More importantly, they point the way toward a more socially engaged future. Anyone with an interest in social justice or Pentecostalism should read this book."" --Matthew LeeUniversity of Akron""This is an important, thought-provoking, and timely collection with an array of burning issues in today''s world that are seldom discussed in Pentecostal academia. It is one of those paradigm-changing publications that should be read widely.""--Allan AndersonUniversity of Birmingham, UK""This book can be seen as a manifesto for a progressive North American Pentecostalism that connects the freedom of the Holy Spirit granted at Pentecost with social liberation and renewal. One finds a number of essays here that break through deprivation theories and assumptions concerning the inherently otherworldly nature of Pentecostalism to uncover another, much more liberating direction to the movement. This book is a must read for theologians, social scientists, religious historians, and anyone interested in the social witness of the churches.""--Frank D. MacchiaVanguard University of Southern CaliforniaMichael Wilkinson is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Religion in Canada Institute at Trinity Western University. His is the author of The Spirit Said Go (2006) and the editor of Canadian Pentecostalism (2009). Steven M. Studebaker is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at McMaster Divinity College. He is the editor of Defining Issues in Pentecostal Theology (Pickwick, 2008).

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

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.

The historical ambivalence among Pentecostals about their relationship to culture and society needs evaluation. How do we understand Pentecostal engagement with society, and how are Pentecostals in North America engaging issues of race, class, gender, and ecology? What theologically motivates North American Pentecostals to respond to social issues? What categories best explain Pentecostal responses to social issues in North America? How do they compare to Pentecostal responses elsewhere? Recently, scholars of global Pentecostalism have proposed that the experience of the Spirit among Pentecostals has elicited the development of a Pentecostal ""theology of liberation,"" which has implications for understanding Pentecostal responses to social issues. These projects primarily explore the Pentecostal response to cultural issues in areas outside of North America and especially focus on Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This volume assesses whether the categories of social liberation applied to non-Western Pentecostalism characterize Pentecostalism in North America. Is there evidence of a Pentecostal ""theology of liberation"" that explains Pentecostal engagement in North America? Do social-liberation categories fit the North American Pentecostal responses to social issues or are others more suitable? These and other important questions about the relation between liberation theology and North American Pentecostalism are thoroughly explored in this important collection of essays.""This significant collection of essays by theologians and social scientists addresses an important but understudied topic: the relationship between Pentecostalism and social action. By going beyond surface images and simple dichotomies (e.g., ''liberal'' and ''conservative''), the contributors demonstrate that contradictory forces in Pentecostalism have both constrained and liberated. More importantly, they point the way toward a more socially engaged future. Anyone with an interest in social justice or Pentecostalism should read this book."" --Matthew LeeUniversity of Akron""This is an important, thought-provoking, and timely collection with an array of burning issues in today''s world that are seldom discussed in Pentecostal academia. It is one of those paradigm-changing publications that should be read widely.""--Allan AndersonUniversity of Birmingham, UK""This book can be seen as a manifesto for a progressive North American Pentecostalism that connects the freedom of the Holy Spirit granted at Pentecost with social liberation and renewal. One finds a number of essays here that break through deprivation theories and assumptions concerning the inherently otherworldly nature of Pentecostalism to uncover another, much more liberating direction to the movement. This book is a must read for theologians, social scientists, religious historians, and anyone interested in the social witness of the churches.""--Frank D. MacchiaVanguard University of Southern CaliforniaMichael Wilkinson is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Religion in Canada Institute at Trinity Western University. His is the author of The Spirit Said Go (2006) and the editor of Canadian Pentecostalism (2009). Steven M. Studebaker is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at McMaster Divinity College. He is the editor of Defining Issues in Pentecostal Theology (Pickwick, 2008).

Description:What does the evangelical church in Palestine think about the land, the end times, the Holocaust, peace in the Middle East, loving enemies, Christian Zionism, the State of Israel, and the possibilities of a Palestinian state? For the first time ever, Palestinian evangelicals along with evangelicals from the United States and Europe have converged to explore these and other crucial topics. Although Jews, Muslims, and Christians from a variety of traditions have participated in discussions and work regarding Israel and Palestine, this book presents theological, biblical, and political perspectives and arguments from Palestinian evangelicals who are praying, hoping, and working for a just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.Endorsements:""Few international issues are more urgent than a just settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And few issues divide evangelicals so severely. This is an important book where key evangelical scholars with differing views dialogue respectfully and carefully about central disagreements. The result clarifies difficult, complex issues and points the way toward a just solution.""--Ronald J. SiderProfessor of Theology, Palmer Theological Seminary, Eastern UniversityPresident, Evangelicals for Social ActionAbout the Contributor(s):Paul Alexander is Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University and Director of Public Policy at Evangelicals for Social Action in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. His books include Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God (2009) and Pentecostals and Peacemaking: Heritage, Theology, and the 21st Century (forthcoming, 2012).