Peter Althouse – författare

A revealing collection of essays documenting the variety and complexity of Pentecostal and Charismatic thinking on eschatology.During the mid-twentieth century Pentecostal theology was co-opted by fundamentalism and its dispensational brand of millennial eschatology. Fundamentalist dispensationalism not only reinterpreted the original Pentecostal vision of the latter-rain outpouring of the Spirit in the last days but undercut its raison d’être as a people empowered by the Spirit of Pentecost to participate in the kingdom of God. Yet eschatology is much broader than twentieth-century dispensationalism, and Pentecostal eschatology is diverse, reflecting the diversity of Pentecostal and Charismatic spiritualities – there are many Pentecostal eschatologies.This collection of essays from established scholars and rising stars offers fresh perspectives in eschatology for the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The fresh readings of eschatology in this volume demonstrate that Pentecostals no longer need to look to others to interpret their theology for them but can stand as scholars and thinkers in their own right.

A recent phenomenon of charismatic renewal took place in Toronto in the mid-1990s. Commonly known as the "Toronto Blessing" and operated by the former Vineyard Church leaders John and Carol Arnott, the renewal was defined by reports of uncontrollable laughter, weeping, speaking in tongues, animal noises, and falling on the floor during worship. Sympathetic Christians embraced these practices while others who believed that this form of worship boarded on spectacle rejected them. By the end of the 1990s most people thought that the renewal was over. Yet, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the authors—a sociologist and a theologian—heard rumors that the Toronto church, now known as "Catch the Fire," was still holding mass meetings with upwards of 2,000 people in attendance. They also learned of an emerging practice of "soaking prayer," an adaption of Pentecostal-charismatic prayer that, participants and leaders claim, facilitates and expands the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking, the authors reveal, is a metaphor for practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, impartation, and supports overall charismatic spirituality. Attending "Catch the Fire" conferences, churches, and house meetings in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, Wilkinson and Althouse observed first-hand how people soak, what it means to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice among charismatics.