Word and Spirit: Pentecostal Investigations in Theology and History

Vondey argues that theological hermeneutics in Pentecostal perspective is the interpretation of the world explicitly and specifically informed by the liturgy of the gospel. This book identifies the corresponding hermeneutical questions that have dominated the formation of a liturgical Pentecostal horizon of interpretation since the twentieth century. Pentecostals are acutely aware that the claim of their interpretive position shows not only a fusion of horizons but also a rejection of the dominant descriptive mechanisms. How this tension in the history of Pentecostal theology is resolved and contributes to the emergence of Pentecostalism as a hermeneutical tradition is the subject of three critical inquiries: (1) the question of truth in the Pentecostal tradition, (2) the extension of the question of truth to hermeneutical experience, and (3) the ontological shift of Pentecostal hermeneutics. Vondey identifies how Pentecostal hermeneutics emerged not only thematically and historically but experientially and subjectively through the themes of the full gospel. This book shows that rather than by the dominance of language, the dynamic hermeneutical positioning in the narrative of this gospel originated and continues to be shaped liturgically.

What sort of experience of grace does the Holy Spirit give Pentecostals when they celebrate the Eucharist? This book aims to answer that question by investigating Holy Communion through a "Pentecostal spirituality" framework and process known as search-encounter-transformation. Doing so enriches the theology and spirituality of Pentecostalism and broadens its understanding of the journey of salvation. The author argues that the invocation of the Spirit in the Eucharist (the epiclēsis) grants the church a pneumatological imagination, enabling it to properly remember (the anamnēsis) the work of Christ. The outcome of remembering will be to see the Eucharist as a meal of solidarity and justice, a meal that manages the hunger of the world, a meal that offers healing, a meal for missional nourishment, a meal reorienting eschatology by providing a preview of the restoration of all things (apokatastasis) in the wedding supper of the Lamb. Ultimately, this book encourages Pentecostals to desire a weekly celebration of the Eucharist in order to become truly Pentecostal!

For years now, Christian philosophers and theologians in the industrialized West have lamented a widespread post-Christian dynamic. A social imaginary so fiercely and exclusively secular in its orientation has succeeded in starving many people of the hope of experiencing anything supernatural in their lives. Even many churchgoers have engaged in a deconstruction of their faith. Some recent research seems to indicate, however, a slowing of this slide away from Christian faith. How will the church respond? The premise of this book is that there is (and always has been) a kind of preaching that is sacramental (encounter-enabling) in its effect. Genuinely anointed sermons are those that make it possible for hearers to sense the spiritual presence of the risen Christ during the preaching event. If there was ever a time for a widespread reemergence of Christian preaching that is prophetic in nature, incarnational in manner, and truly transformative in effect, it is now. Though this type of preaching cannot be conjured or effected by human ingenuity, there are things preachers can do to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the cultivation of ecclesial environments where sacramental sermons are more likely to occur, and with increased frequency.