Three's a Crowd

Pentecostalism, Hermeneutics, and the Old Testament

Grey

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781630876098
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Three's a Crowd brings together the three dialogue partners of Pentecostalism, hermeneutics, and the Old Testament. Previous attempts by Pentecostal academics to define a distinctive Pentecostal hermeneutic have focused on issues and application to the New Testament, consequently estranging the Old Testament from the conversation. This book engages the hermeneutical practices of Pentecostal and Charismatic groups in reading the Old Testament in ways that are representative, while critical, of their movement's ideological bases and visions. While the issue of understanding and developing a viable Pentecostal hermeneutic has continued to be debated within the academic journals of the community for over a decade, most discussion has focused on the prescription of ideals rather than on the actual practice of the contemporary community. By examining the reading practices of the Pentecostal and Charismatic community, this book suggests a unique and rounded reading method that maintains the strengths of Pentecostal reading practices while addressing their inherent weaknesses. In this way, the voices of the three dialogue partners emerge in a mutual fellowship that engages both the needs of the Pentecostal community and informs the wider ecumenical dialogue.

1

Beginning the Conversation

Beginning a conversation with a stranger requires boldness and skill. To transform that first awkward introduction into a new friendship can require skills rivaling the artistic brilliance of Renoir or Manet. A skill so desirable, that there are countless books, courses, and websites with creative conversation-starting hints. While the first line may be rehearsed, the dialogue that follows cannot be predicted. It is a journey to a brave new world where hobbies and mutual interests are discovered with an eager intensity. Will there be an instant, easy connection with this new acquaintance, or will the ongoing relationship require effort? Is this person mutually interested in future friendship, or does the conversation end here? A scenario perhaps even more challenging is when three friends—who all know each other separately—meet together for the first time. The introduction of a three-way dialogue changes the dynamic of how the individual friendships have previously functioned. The former camaraderie and individual style of relating within the earlier partnerships must change for the three friends to each be included in a mutually stimulating dialogue.

I experienced this personally when I recently moved into a rental house with two friends I knew from different spheres of my life. While three separate friendships were maintained between us three housemates, we had to also form a single, unified fellowship. While respecting the individuals and their friendships, we chose to prioritize the unity of the household as a fellowship of three. This required deliberate effort and accommodation to the strengths and weaknesses of each friend. From this experience, I learnt that it is a challenge to the maturity of individual friendships to include the contribution of a new party. Will one party be excluded or will all three voices be heard? Do two people make company, but “three’s a crowd”?

Purpose of the Conversation

The purpose of this book is to introduce three friends, and so potentially produce a three-fold fellowship of Pentecostalism, hermeneutics, and the Old Testament. Each of these “friends” are well-known areas of theological research and critical enquiry (at various levels of sophistication). Yet while each of these areas of research has engaged in partner discussions, they have rarely met together as a threesome. Despite their common interests and potential for engaging dialogue, there has been little development in acquainting all three areas of research in an interconnected discussion. The youngest member of the fellowship is Pentecostalism. Having recently joined the academic dialogue, Pentecostals have found a ready connection with hermeneutics. However the burgeoning field of Pentecostal hermeneutics has been focused primarily on the New Testament to the exclusion of adequately addressing issues unique to the Old Testament. As a result, Old Testament studies have remained outside the discourse of Pentecostal hermeneutics. In contrast, while there is a long-standing friendship between hermeneutics and Old Testament studies, Pentecostalism has remained disconnected from their discussion. Separate to both these conversations is the untempered admiration of the Old Testament by the Pentecostal community, without the critical consideration offered by hermeneutics. It is the integration of these three areas of research that prompts this study. Rather than maintain three separate conversations, the aim of this book is to engage these three voices in a mutually informing dialogue; not excluding one in favor of the other but creating a conversation for three.

Of course, the concept of a triune fellowship is not new to biblical studies or to the theological enterprise. The resurgence of interest in trinitarian theology in recent decades is reflective of the interest in symbols of community and inclusion. In particular, this interest is marked by the concern and a future hope for the retrieval of relationality. The doctrine of the Trinity has metamorphosed from a symbol of hierarchical power to a proponent of egalitarianism. Historical descriptions of the Trinity, particularly the Cappadocian use of perichoresis, have been adopted to define the Triune God by social rather than political terminology. Therefore the inter-relatedness of the Trinitarian community is emphasized over their actions or function.1 This model emphasizes the importance of triune fellowship, not only within the Godhead, but also in the Christian communities that reflect this mystery. The endeavor of Christian communities to demonstrate this concurrent unity and diversity is not an easy task, particularly when the partners do not come to the triune conversation without history or agenda.

To expect that the three partners—hermeneutics, the Old Testament, and Pente-costalism—can engage in a conversation without recognition of their prior histories together is to be remiss. How do Pentecostal readers interpret the Old Testament? According to a lay member of an Assemblies of God2 church in Sydney, Pentecostals “just read it and believe it.” This response reflects the belief among the Pentecostal community that their reading processes are “simple” and faithful to the Scriptures. Yet further examination reveals that if their reading processes are simple, they are not simplistic. The Pentecostal community does not read the biblical text with unqualified belief, but approaches the text through a sophisticated symbolic interaction of literalism and the dynamic of Spirit-experience. The Pentecostal reader anticipates an encounter with God in their reading of Scripture that leads to a transformation within their own life. It is this process of reading the Old Testament by Pentecostals that will be examined in this book. However it is not the aim of this study to close the conversation unresolved. Once the differing factors and concerns that contribute to the voice of the “Pentecostal reader” are determined, a responsible reading approach to the Old Testament can be developed. This proposed model must reflect the values and strengths of the community while addressing the weaknesses inherent in their practice. A corollary of the dialogue between Pentecostals, hermeneutics, and the Old Testament is the broadening of Pentecostal scholarship to the wider academic community. This triune conversation will assist those outside the movement to understand the community and its “voice” in the broader Christian dialogue.3

While charismatic experience is generally recognized by scholars as a core value of a Pentecostal hermeneutic, there is no consensus as to how this element interacts with other pieces of the hermeneutical puzzle in the reading process. As the development of both the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements is only a relatively new phenomenon, the evolution of a reflective scholarship is even more recent. The emerging Pentecostal scholarship is attempting to integrate and locate itself in this additional context of the academic community. With particular reference to hermeneutics, the last two decades have witnessed an explosion of discussion among Pentecostal scholars attempting to find a “voice” within the categories of wider academic scholarship. This surge of interest represents an understanding by Pentecostal scholars of their responsibility to be active in the academic community. As representatives of a global movement4 they are required to be a voice both within their own community and within the dialogue of Christian ecumenism.5 However, to engage with and contribute to the broader dialogue of biblical studies (and eventually scholarship in general, including philosophy), Pentecostals must seek first to understand their own tradition and current values in biblical readings and, secondly, locate their own reading within existing methodological frameworks.

In contemplating this circular debate, it seems that Pentecostal academics have “taken the mountain to Muhammad and not Muhammad to the mountain.” Most scholarship on Pentecostal hermeneutics (both within and outside the movement) tends to begin with an ideal or “most appropriate” hermeneutical category, as defined by the academic community, and then proceeds to mould a description of Pentecostal readings into this image. This means their analysis tends to be prescriptive rather than descriptive; such scholars do not attempt to describe the hermeneutical processes utilized by the Pentecostal community, but rather suggest (or prescribe) reading methods based on a different set of interpretations about the value of experience. This is a “Word Plus” solution, which ignores the integration intrinsic to the Pentecostal worldview. However, this does raise questions concerning the consequences of this location: does the translation of Pentecostal readings and experience into general methodological and philosophical frameworks skew the explication of the experience so that its particularity is compromised?6 In this sense, the uniqueness and complexity of Pentecostal readings have been distorted to fit whatever category of the wider academy each scholar considers most appropriate, whether that be postmodern, evangelical or otherwise. This approach tends to distance Pentecostal scholarship from its community: it sabotages their intention of describing an actual Pentecostal hermeneutic, and so diminishes their unique contribution to a “triune fellowship.” This is not to censure the attempts of Pentecostal scholars to “speak” to the academic community, but recognizes the costs of their approach. This book will be an attempt to begin with “the mountain”; to study the reading approaches of Pentecostal groups, including pastors7 and lay readers, and so determine the principles or values which are actually inherent in their hermeneutic. This will provide a vehicle for the “voice” of the Pentecostal community (as distinct from the aspirations of its academics) to emerge within the three-way dialogue, in the prescription of an effective reading model of the Old Testament.

An application of this approach is the attempt to make a practical contribution to Pentecostal-Charismatic practice itself, by helping the members of the Pentecostal community understand themselves and their reading practices more critically through the formulations of guidelines to improve their reading practice while maintaining their distinct values.8 Although these emerging voices of the Pentecostal community will still need to be categorized according to the context of the a...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Beginning the Conversation
• Chapter 2: Introducing Pentecostalism
• Chapter 3: Pentecostalism, Hermeneutics, and the Old Testament in Dialogue
• Chapter 4: The Old Testament Speaks Up
• Chapter 5: Common Interests with Hermeneutics
• Chapter 6: When Pentecostalism and Hermeneutics Disagree
• Chapter 7: Resolving the Conflict
• Chapter 8: Friends for Life
• Appendix: Table of Sample Groups
• Bibliography