Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel

Pentecostal theology reaches deep into the heart of Pentecost. This book accepts and expands this basic insight to show how Pentecost functions as a core theological symbol of Pentecostalism. Pentecostal Theology traces how Pentecostals find in the day of Pentecost a genuine theological tradition and proposes a theological narrative framework for the day of Pentecost in the form of the so-called full gospel: Jesus Christ is savior, sanctifier, Spirit baptizer, divine healer, and coming king. The central agenda of this book is to tell the story of this full gospel and to interpret and apply this theological narrative to the global and variegated contours of contemporary Pentecostal theology. The altar call serves as a theological metaphor to capture the concrete spirituality, experiences, affections and practices of the full gospel among Pentecostals. These intersecting focal points of Pentecost, full gospel, and altar are presented in two parts: the first tells the narrative of the full gospel and details the practices and rituals at the altar as foundational for Pentecostal theology; the second applies the full gospel to the broad theological concerns of creation, humanity, society, church and God. The result is both descriptive of an already existing theological tradition and a constructive, even prescriptive, proposal that is nurtured by Pentecost as the wellspring of the Pentecostal movement and its theology.