Abstract
Pentecostals have a gospel to proclaim and yet in the rush to share don’t often stop to reflect on the nature of the gospel. This article reflects on the ‘Full gospel’ that is proclaimed by many within classical Pentecostalism, against historical and contemporary considerations. It suggests that there are limits to who the Full gospel is good news for, particularly given the diversity within pentecostalism.
Pentecostals have a gospel to proclaim and are not usually reticent in sharing it! From the start, pentecostal missionaries were ‘going out to all points of the compass to spread this wonderful Gospel’ and seeing results. 1 They had discovered good news that had to be urgently shared with all people across the world. Now, with an estimated more than five hundred million pentecostals worldwide, it perhaps goes without question that the good news has been effectively shared. Yet there has been little research into how the gospel is understood from a pentecostal perspective, and whether the Gospel referred to at Azusa Street is the one that has continued to be fruitful. Within American classical Pentecostalism, there have been moves towards seeing the so-called ‘Full gospel’ as distinctly pentecostal and a suitable basis for developing pentecostal theology. The Full gospel has a Christological shape in regard to Jesus as Saviour, Sanctifier, Baptizer in the Spirit, Healer and Coming King. This article uses the Full gospel as a starting point for exploring the pentecostal good news, and whether it is good news for all or just some.
The Full gospel has either a Fivefold or Fourfold structure and has its roots in the Fourfold Gospel articulated by AB Simpson in the 19th century. It is an understanding of the gospel that results from a conversation between experience, Scripture and various theological traditions. Thus I would distinguish between ‘gospel’ in popular usage and the term ‘gospel’ as used in Scripture. For some classical Pentecostals, the holiness and mission traditions are of particular importance alongside the narrative of Acts and the experience of Spirit baptism. To talk of the gospel is therefore to speak of experienced, contextual, good news that is testified to in Scripture and understood in the light of theological tradition. The nature of the gospel has been taken for granted throughout pentecostal history and it has been the subject of surprisingly little discussion. This may be because it is usually assumed that when we talk of the gospel, we are talking of the biblical term gospel whose meaning is widely understood. I want rather to suggest we start with more popular understandings and see where the Scripture fits in with this. This article represents merely the beginnings of a study that deserves wider reflection.
We start with a review of the history of the Full gospel in pentecostal life and theology. Its limitations are considered in the light of pentecostal experience, biblical studies, and mission and systematic thinking. Such reflections will better enable us evaluate pentecostal understandings of the gospel and suggest avenues for future research.
The Full Gospel
Reading the early editions of Apostolic Faith, the early journal from Azusa Street, it is noticeable how the nature of the gospel is assumed. The first edition speaks of a ‘revival of Bible salvation’ and observes that it ‘would be impossible to state how many have been converted, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. They have been and are daily going out to all points of the compass to spread this wonderful Gospel.’ 2 Reference is made to the ‘Full gospel’ by Charles Parham and William Seymour without explanation. There is a Christian tradition of understanding the gospel that is initially presumed by those pentecostals influenced by the Azusa Street revival. This tradition remains to be traced in detail as regards pentecostal origins and the current suggestion that it is inspired by the work of AB Simpson seems to have strong support. 3 Parham visited Simpson in New York prior to 1904, and Simpson’s Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionaries played a major role in early pentecostalism, so it is a reasonable assumption that a Fourfold understanding of the gospel was common in late 19th-century America and was adapted by early pentecostals. 4
Simpson was born in 1843 and founded the Christian Alliance and the Evangelical Missionary Alliance that became the CMA. The CMA was founded on the basis of a Fourfold gospel: Christ seen as our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. 5 Bernie A Van de Walle argues that in this, Simpson was not a theological innovator but rather brought together the theology of late 19th century evangelicalism. 6 He suggests that the four themes were also present in the teaching of leaders such as DL Moody, AJ Gordon and AT Pierson. Jesus our Saviour was vital in the revival context with a focus on atonement through the Cross linked with a decision of the will; Jesus our Sanctifier brought together holiness themes; Jesus our Healer developed themes of Cross and Resurrection within the divine healing movement; Jesus our Coming King focused on a pre-millennial outlook that motivated mission. It seems clear from this study that a Fourfold gospel tradition was clearly established and nurtured many early pentecostals.
However, Van de Walle wants to go further to suggest that the Fourfold gospel was the evangelical standard in the late 19th century. He is supported in this by Donald Dayton, who in his foreword argues that the Fourfold gospel provides the keys to understanding ‘modern evangelicalism’. 7 For Dayton, world evangelicalism in the 19th century was shaped by the Holiness and Pentecostal movements, in turn shaped by the Fourfold themes, rather than being shaped by the 1920s fundamentalist/modernist controversy. Whilst this gives greater prominence to the pentecostal tradition in defining evangelicalism, it leaves pentecostalism sitting within a particular form of evangelicalism. This is hard to defend as a general rule at a time when many pentecostals have been challenging the subsuming of pentecostalism under evangelicalism. 8 Also, to say that the Fourfold gospel summarizes themes of late 19th century evangelicalism that helped shape pentecostalism is not to say that they alone comprise all that evangelicals believed or pentecostals inherited. Roy Williams argues that Van de Walle has overstated the argument and neglects some of the contrasting voices and the contemporary critics of the Fourfold gospel. 9 It seems better to suggest that the Fourfold gospel was one important tradition that shaped early pentecostalism, particularly in America.
Tracing the development of understandings of the gospel in early pentecostalism is complex and it was obviously not neat. Dayton, in his classic study of the Theological Roots of Pentecostalism, examined some of early pentecostal literature to suggest a Fourfold, or Fivefold for some, ‘full gospel’ that brought together some of the distinctive pentecostal theological themes of the early movement in America. 10 Clear expression of the pentecostal Fourfold gospel is found in the writings of Aimee Semple McPherson, who founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1923. 11 In this gospel, Jesus is seen as Saviour, Baptiser in the Holy Spirit, Healer and Coming King. For some pentecostal traditions, Jesus as Sanctifier was also particularly important and many scholars today use the term ‘full gospel’ to mean a Fivefold gospel. Dayton uses the Fourfold summary to suggest that the Methodist tradition provides many of the roots for pentecostal theology. Again, we need to be careful not to limit the influences on early pentecostalism, and Walter Hollenweger suggested a wider Wesleyan influence that was catholic, critical and ecumenical as well as evangelical, alongside a recognition of the black oral roots of pentecostalism. 12
Such theological excavations into pentecostal history can cover the fact that the Full gospel was seen in life and Scripture, not just in thinking. Mark Cartledge, who has pioneered charismatic practical theology, enables better recognition of this in his study of Confidence, the influential journal for pentecostals in Britain from 1908. 13 He argues that Confidence is a good source for the ‘oral theology’ or ‘ordinary theology’ of early British pentecostals. 14 Journals include testimonies, missionary reports, sermons, conference reports more than theological summaries and hence reflect some of the mixed ways in which the gospel was lived out. From these sources, Cartledge suggests that the Fivefold gospel was an important theological structure underpinning pentecostal life. However, this is a more implicit than explicit structure and there is room for ‘local variation’. For our purposes here we might conclude that the Full gospel has helped bring together some pentecostal experiences of salvation, sanctification, Spirit baptism, healing and eschatological urgency within a Christological theological framework.
This experiential, narrative grounding to the theological themes of the Full gospel naturally integrates with the pentecostal approach to Scripture. This is a narrative approach that arises out of the pentecostal focus on Luke-Acts, as Dayton notes. 15 Within early pentecostalism, Luke-Acts was used to affirm charismatic experiences and to encourage the search after more of the Holy Spirit’s working. 16 Such Scripture-inspired and affirmed experiences were seen within the church’s purposes of fellowship and mission. 17 Although a narrative approach to Scripture is suggested by the nature of pentecostalism, in reality, early pentecostals used a modified form of the proof-text system of reading. 18 Hence the Full gospel themes are outlined by Dayton using quotations from pentecostal literature that place the themes alongside particular Bible passages that are given in support. These may be narrative in form, such as the story of the first Pentecost, but are used more as supporting proof rather than critically engaged with as narrative. Such narrative approaches have only been undertaken more recently in pentecostal research.
This section has traced the origins of the pentecostal Full gospel that was born amidst some of the theological and missionary traditions of late 19th century American Christianity. The Full gospel provides a very helpful summary of some of the key theological themes in early pentecostalism that motivated and testified to its missionary impulse – bringing good news to the world before Jesus returned. I have briefly argued that the Full gospel summarizes experienced good news that resonates with Scripture and is understood in the light of theological tradition. The role of tradition is particularly strong, and it may be argued that the Full gospel helped, in an informal and irregular way, to carry some of the essential pentecostal distinctives through its early years. 19 It is not surprising that some look to the Full gospel to help shape a distinctively pentecostal theology for today. Yet, our overview injects a sense of caution in that the development and expression of the Full gospel doesn’t take into account all the possible historical pentecostal sources and critiques. Rather than explore such historical questions, I want here to look forward and consider pentecostal developments that raise questions about the use of the Full gospel to summarize the past or direct the future.
Pentecostal Development and the Full Gospel
Pentecostalism has developed considerably over the last century and it would be surprising if approaches to the gospel hadn’t changed during this time. Whilst it is important to value the early years of the pentecostal movement as formative in pentecostal identity, we cannot neglect how pentecostals subsequently have understood and reinterpreted these years in different contexts. I want to suggest that we look again at some of the early years to consider how it might be seen through a different lens and how different contexts suggest different approaches. Biblical studies have developed considerably over the last century and pentecostals have engaged with changes during the last 30 years in ways that impact on our subject here. Understanding of the gospel within mission and systematic studies has also been the subject of much debate which needs to be engaged with. I want to suggest that these developments indicate a number of limitations to use of the Full gospel in mission.
Approaching Pentecostal Experience
Early pentecostal journals are a good source of ‘ordinary theology’ as Cartledge suggests, and it is natural for pentecostals to turn to Apostolic Faith in seeking a theological gospel framework. However, there is a significant danger that starting with a particular framework will mean that what is found is what is assumed, and that details that don’t fit are left aside. Looking back, in 1987, Dayton acknowledges ‘the bewildering variety of Pentecostal traditions’ and yet quickly arrives at the Fourfold pattern through which the early history is viewed. It is worth considering what might happen if we start with a different pattern. Although there is not space here to explore this in detail, as an example I want to consider the hypothesis that the Cross of Christ was vital to pentecostal mission in Apostolic Faith. Here is a theme that isn’t explicit in the Full gospel, although often referred to under Jesus as Saviour. It is a theme that is at least as explicit as Saviour and often links experience, Scripture and theology in a narrative way to form the good news.
In Apostolic Faith we catch a glimpse of people captivated by Jesus crucified for our sins in order to bring salvation and healing – one believer sees that ‘[Jesus’] great desire on the Cross was for the salvation of souls’. 20 Another says, ‘On the cross, He carried our griefs and bore our sickness’ as the spotless Lamb who ‘takes away our sins and saves us to the uttermost.’ 21 The ‘“victory through the Atoning Blood” [is] our battle cry”. 22 At times there was an outward vision of the Cross, as in the testimony of a believer and unbeliever who both saw on the moon ‘the cross with a man on it and the blood dripping from it’. 23
More than this, individuals see their lives caught up with the narrative of Jesus on the Cross, particularly in the way that he carries their sins. One speaks of how ‘the Blood will cleanse him from all sin, the old man the body of sin will be hung on Calvery’s cross and Christ enthroned in his heart. . . . The soul is delivered from the warfare within’. 24 Another says, ‘It is so blessed to be sanctified, cleansed, crucified, nailed to the cross of Christ. Old things have passed away, the old man is crucified, slain, and Jesus Christ is enthroned in the heart and crowned within’. 25 This then leads the person to a greater purity from sin and so to be ‘ready to receive the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire’. It is as if the biblical and contemporary narratives have been merged together with the Cross as the source of manifold blessings.
Sometimes such narratives focus on the Cross, but often include references to the Resurrection also. From the start pentecostals, opposed by the wider church, saw themselves as ‘the little handful of Christians who stood by the cross’ and yet from whom ‘God has raised a mighty host’.
26
There was an invitation for believers to enter into the experience of Cross and Resurrection: Someone now may be facing their cross, their Gethsemane. Will you say, ‘Father save me from this hour?’ You know the blessing that came when Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame. Face the hour. God will give you grace for the hour of your opportunity. Some are drawing back. Let us pray, ‘Lord, save me from drawing back.’ . . . When we get on the resurrection side of the Cross, the glory and victory will be unspeakable.
27
At the heart of pentecostal experience was ‘tarrying’ before God, often a deeply challenging time when the Cross loomed large, before Resurrection and Pentecost. As was said of one young woman, She had been under deep conviction for days. When once surrendered, she seemed to sweep with one bound from the altar of burnt offering into the most holy place, from the Cross to the Pentecostal chamber, sealed with the Bible evidence.
28
In contrast to ‘many Christians’ pentecostals were challenged to be ‘nailed to the Cross . . . bearing His reproach’ in order to discover a more holy life. 29
This example of reading afresh pentecostal narrative experience begins to build a case for the pentecostal gospel, the good news, being shaped crucially by the Cross. It is through the Cross that we experience salvation, victory over sin, holiness of life, an openness to the Spirit and the glory of the Lord. The gospel is the good news of the Cross from which so much flows, something not explicit in the Full gospel. This is not to say that the Cross is absent from the Full gospel and the underlying context speaks vitally of the atonement, as Van de Walle appreciates. 30 Rather, it is not so clear a theme in Dayton’s work and its lack of explicit treatment more generally may have contributed to pentecostal triumphalism and the neglect of the theme of suffering. 31 In reading journals, we need to take care that we adequately capture the primary themes, those that occur consistently through the texts, without giving the impression that secondary themes, those that are more occasional or less developed, are more important. It is always the case that exploring experience in different ways draws out different themes and the gospel is rich enough to bring good news to all. Yet care is needed on how the sources are handled.
However valuable, there is much more to pentecostal experience than Apostolic Faith, both in its origins and its world-wide spread. In order to understand the pentecostal gospel, we are required to explore pentecostal experience in a variety of contexts. This is beyond the present study, but it is worth noting some themes that have been good news for pentecostals which are not primary in the Full gospel. In his study of the missionary nature of early pentecostalism, Allan Anderson draws attention to the importance of overcoming the powers of evil and the empowerment of ‘persons of average ability’ to pentecostal mission. 32 Early pentecostalism in Southern Africa grew as it addressed the local needs through exorcism, prophecy and vibrant worship alongside spirit baptism, healing and the sanctified life. 33 More recently, progressive pentecostal churches across the world are seen to have an ‘integral gospel’ in which social ministries represent a key part of their good news alongside worship, lay ministry and the leading of the Spirit. 34 Of course, such themes could be squeezed into a Full gospel mould, but this requires us to be guided by concerns other than those of the pentecostals in question.
The growth of pentecostalism has, I suggest, provided a variety of contexts in which we are to understand the gospel. Whilst important for some strands of pentecostalism, the Full gospel needs to be challenged by a wider range of ways in which the good news has been received by pentecostals across the world. It would also gain from more reflection on its source documents to distinguish primary from secondary themes.
Developing Biblical Studies
The gospel is experienced as good news, news which is testified to in Scripture. For pentecostals, the story of Scripture is placed alongside personal stories to motivate and validate the gospel in life. It is an approach that has been summarized as ‘this is that’, the ‘this’ of contemporary experience placed alongside ‘that’ seen in Scripture. 35 From its earliest times pentecostalism has placed Acts 1–2 alongside the desire and reality of Spirit baptism. The biblical story formed the imagination of those who then experienced the Spirit and spoke in tongues, the good news that was shared across the world. It was the coming together of two narratives – that of Scripture and that of Christian experience. 36 Each authenticated the other, although Scripture was seen to have the louder voice. 37 Given this essentially narrative approach to the gospel it is important to raise questions about the shape of the Full gospel as it links to narrative.
It was natural that, early on, pentecostals wanted others to enter into this new life in the Spirit and sought to bring together the teaching of Scripture in ways that enabled this. A synthetic approach to Scripture in outlining Christian doctrine was developed and used in sermons and leadership training resources. 38 Ken Archer has termed this approach the ‘Bible Reading Method’ in which the biblical data is analysed and synthesized (or harmonized) into doctrine. 39 For pentecostals, the key biblical data is Luke-Acts that acts as a ‘canon within a canon’. Archer sees this approach as being in line with the Common Sense Realism of the time, in which proof-texting and synthetic models were important. 40 Guiding this process were various Central Narrative Concerns (CNCs) of pentecostals, in particular those summarized in the Full gospel. Thus, the shape of the Full gospel arises partly out of a review of the biblical narratives alongside the communities’ experiences and the wider historical traditions. Yet this was not a critical review, it did not draw on biblical studies or even narrative concerns in Luke-Acts. We noted above the low profile given to the themes of Cross and Resurrection mentioned which are vital to the narrative.
In developing a pentecostal understanding of the gospel, we need to recognize the developments in pentecostal approaches to Scripture. Pentecostal engagement with biblical studies only began to develop from the 1970s, starting with the publication of James Dunn’s Baptism in the Holy Spirit. 41 Since the 1990s, pentecostals have become more engaged with literary approaches and these have become more significant than historical-critical approaches and approaches based on propositional truth. 42 Luke-Acts remains the focus for pentecostal biblical studies providing obvious material for narrative approaches to Scripture. 43 Such narrative approaches do not simply pick themes from within the material, but rather consider the plot and shape of the narrative. The ability of narrative to convey the truth of the gospel, and not just to be illustrative of it, is important in understanding and communicating the gospel in the future. How the Full gospel relates to such narrative understandings still remains to be explored.
Within the evangelical tradition that contributes to pentecostalism, the gospel is understood primarily with reference to the Pauline material. This tradition links the gospel with the preached message of salvation through Jesus.
44
This salvation relies entirely on the grace of God which is responded to by faith.
45
Having said this, it is recognized that the biblical background in Isaiah links gospel with the wider kingly and righteous rule of God. Also, Paul used the term gospel to encompass also his own sense of call, vocation and theology.
46
This salvation-thematic approach has been challenged by NT Wright, who argues for a more narrative understanding to Paul’s gospel. He wants to get away from the gospel being seen as addressing ‘how people get saved’ but rather being about the narrative of Jesus.
47
Wright turns particularly to Romans 1:1–5 as the key, being about: God’s gospel concerning his Son. A message about God – the one true God, the God who inspired the prophets – consisting in a message about Jesus. A story – a true story – about a human life, death and resurrection through which the living God becomes king of the world. A message which had grasped Paul and, through his work, would mushroom out to all the nations. That is Paul’s shorthand summary of what ‘the gospel’ actually is . . . a narrative proclamation of King Jesus.
48
For Wright, the salvation referred to in Rom. 1:16–17 is the effect of the gospel rather than its content. 49 What is needed is a narrative gospel of Jesus rather than a thematic system and this challenges the Full gospel.
Others feel that by stressing the larger narrative, Wright has lost a focus on the vital aspect of personal salvation. John Piper wants a clearer gospel that says exactly how Christ dealt with sin and how the fearful heart can find rest. 50 He argues that Acts illustrates Paul’s gospel as being about ‘personal salvation, eternal life, and justification’, particularly in Paul’s own experience on the Damascus road. 51 This matches some passages but others, such as Paul at Athens (Acts 17:16–34) and Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:14–36) may be harder to fit in such a mould. Some of this is a debate over different focal passages in understanding the term ‘gospel’ and clearly a range of biblical traditions need to be appreciated. Pentecostals with their narrative worldview are drawn to Wright’s work and will need to reflect more on the biblical salvation narratives found in the Gospels, Acts and the Pauline letters.
In short, I would suggest that pentecostal reflection on the gospel has not caught up with their developments in biblical studies. There need to be approaches to understanding the gospel in which the narrative is as prominent as the thematic and in which critical biblical approaches are valued.
Understanding the Gospel
The gospel is experienced as good news and embodied in the biblical narratives. It is also reflected upon from within various traditions of scholarship, notably the mission and systematic traditions. These arise from and interact with Christian practice and biblical studies in conversations. Such conversations will benefit from a pentecostal presence that is ready to reappraise the gospel it proclaims. Within mission studies, the reflections on the relationship between the gospel and culture have been significant throughout the 19th century, although often without pentecostal engagement. It has become clear that there was a strong tendency within Enlightenment thinking to equate the gospel with Western culture. 52 This led to an assumption that Western culture was more advanced than others and hence Western Christian approaches to the gospel and church were best. Yet it has been increasingly realized that Western mission was not always ‘good news’ to those on the receiving end. As Christians reflected in newly independent countries, it became clear that the ‘gospel always came to people in cultural robes’. It is appropriate to ask what ‘robes’ are presumed in the Full gospel that might need revisiting for it to remain good news.
Late 19th-century North American evangelicalism does not represent the cultural roots of all pentecostals, and we need to take care not to impose a formula shaped by that American culture on others. Yet this is not to dismiss the Full gospel but rather to suggest that the gospel has a greater richness than one expression, even a ‘full’ one. Even within the New Testament it took four ‘Gospels’, four narratives of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, to begin to encompass the richness of good news, as Keith Ferdinando points out. He suggests that the gospel has ‘a profuse, multi-dimensional character, and embraces the entire created cosmos in its scope’. 53 Hence the need to translate the gospel in ‘culturally appropriate ways’, although this doesn’t mean discarding the themes of grace, peace, salvation, kingdom and life. Rather, such themes are re-imagined through the narratives and cultural idioms of particular cultures. 54 For example, we might ask, how might the Fivefold themes translate for indigenous African cultures?
Wrestling with gospel and culture is a key part of the task of contextualization in which a number of approaches have been recognized. Whilst evangelicals and pentecostals have tended to the translation approach, I have also argued that they are dependent on a more synthetic approach. 55 It has been the case that pentecostals living out of the good news in different cultures have raised questions about the nature of the gospel and assumed theology. There has been an increasing awareness by pentecostals of the way in which culture influences pentecostal thinking and identity. 56 The pragmatic nature of pentecostalism has often meant an uncritical adoption of cultural assumptions and there remains a challenge to use more critical approaches. Thus it is important to consider indigenous Christology to better understand how the gospel story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension and outpouring of the Spirit connects in particular cultures. Contemporary research in an area of northern India has suggested that pentecostal Christology is framed in terms of Jesus as Healer, Exorcist, Provider and Protector. 57 Further research in this direction would enable a fuller understanding of the gospel within pentecostalism.
Developing a pneumatological gospel would also be appropriate within pentecostal theology and it is perhaps surprising that a movement centred on pneumatology focuses on a Christological gospel. Yet pentecostalism has been striving for a greater equality between Word and Spirit in theology and this needs to be explored further in relation to the gospel. 58 Some work in this area has been done by Paul Pomerville who links the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the gospel through the theme of the Kingdom of God. 59 He suggests that ‘[w]hile not emphasizing the scientific approach to church growth, Pentecostals also could be characterized as having a church growth oriented mission strategy’. 60 Another kingdom-based approach to the gospel is that of the ‘prosperity gospel’ which remains controversial within and beyond pentecostalism. It can be seen as a holistic, contextual gospel that addresses the real needs of people. 61 At the same time, it takes an unbalanced approach to Scripture and has limited appreciation of systematic concerns. More dialogue is needed between Full gospel themes and other important understandings of the gospel within pentecostalism. 62
The Full gospel is a doctrinal, Christological, understanding of the gospel and it is not surprising that some are suggesting that it be used within pentecostal systematic theology. In 1998, Chris Thomas argued that ‘when a Pentecostal theology is written from the ground up, it will be structured around these central tenets of Pentecostal faith and preaching’. 63 He suggests that this would enable classical Pentecostals to distinguish their theology from that of other Christian traditions. Developing this theme he suggested that for pentecostals ecclesiology would see the church as a Redeemed Community (salvation), a Holy Community (sanctification), an Empowered Missionary Community (Spirit baptism), a Healing Community (healing) and an Eschatological Community (return of Christ). Thomas wants the Full gospel ‘to serve as a catalyst for theological reflection that is wholly Pentecostal’. 64 In terms of ecclesiology it is only recently that such a structure has been reflected upon in an important conference on the subject. 65 This may be seen either as the start of more distinctly pentecostal approaches to theology, or it may raise questions as to why given 13 years since Thomas raised the issue the Full gospel is not more prominent in pentecostal theology.
The other systematic example of pentecostal use of the Full gospel is Amos Yong in his book on pentecostalism and political theology, In the Days of Caesar. 66 In it, he uses the Fivefold pattern to explore the shape of pentecostal political involvement in ways that draw on the past but creatively push the boundaries of pentecostal theology for the future. Yong proposes that we see pentecostal salvation as deliverance from powers; sanctification as addressing culture; Spirit baptism pointing to prophetic witness; healing as addressing economics; and the coming kingdom speaking of hope. Interestingly, Yong uses the Fivefold pattern as a way of suggesting one pentecostal approach within what he sees as the holistic pluralism of pentecostalism. 67 For Yong, a focus on the Holy Spirit naturally leads to the ‘many tongues’, the variety of pentecostal experience and thinking that engages with many issues and all cultures. Yong himself has written a number of books each with a different approach, although each is shaped by the themes of Spirit, Word and Community. 68 Whilst acknowledging the importance of the Full gospel for systematic theology, in practice, Yong utilizes a broader approach. Yong utilizes pentecostal narrative in approaching systematic theology and yet there is a need for more integrated narrative systematic approaches. 69
Outside the pentecostal tradition, theologians have found the theme of ‘gospel’ and a focus on Christology to be one that encourages a Christian approach to theology linking thinking, proclamation and life. For example, Robert Jenson has reflected on the way in which the gospel has impacted and shaped Western culture and yet within this culture people have ceased to believe. 70 Theology then serves the purpose of the church in maintaining the message of the gospel in its life, praise and mission to the world. 71 Central to this gospel, and hence to theology, is the resurrection of Jesus who died. From this Christological gospel starting point Jenson proceeds to consider the normative value of Scripture and the triune nature of the God seen in the resurrection of Jesus. A focus on the gospel leads to a plentitude of theological thinking that, for Jenson, desires to get beyond the Protestant–Catholic divides. Pentecostals would benefit from further engagement with Jenson’s approach given their more distinctive focus on the Holy Spirit. Engaging with other approaches is often key on the journey of discovering particular identities and this will be the case for pentecostalism.
In short, understanding the gospel requires engagement with traditions of understanding of which the mission and systematic traditions have been touched on here. The relationship between the gospel and culture and the ways in which the gospel may shape theology are topics in need of further study.
Conclusion – A Limited Gospel?
The Full gospel originated in some of the late 19th-century evangelical thought, particularly within the Wesleyan Holiness tradition. It is being encouraged as a way of capturing pentecostal distinctives and shaping theology in the coming years. Particular stimulus for this has come from scholars at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN, notably Chris Thomas and Ken Archer. The question remains: is the Full gospel limited to such places and strands of classical Pentecostalism shaped by the Azusa Street inspired appropriation of evangelical holiness thinking? Archer argues not on the basis of personal testimony, pentecostal spirituality, the importance of the Full gospel to a number of pentecostal scholars, and his own work on hermeneutics, sacraments and ecclesiology. 72 Whilst he acknowledges that pentecostal scholars have chosen not to develop theology shaped by the Full gospel despite their appreciation of it, he takes this as an impetus to do more in this direction. On the contrary, it can be argued that scholars don’t fully utilize the Full gospel because it is found limiting. The argument could be taken either way but I find the latter more convincing. The category of ‘Full’ does not seem appropriate and yet we must not neglect the fact that the gospel is so central to pentecostalism that it cannot be left unrecognized. So there remains, to me, a tension in pentecostal scholarship in having to acknowledge but not develop a particular Fivefold understanding of the gospel.
Travelling beyond this tension requires further study in the nature of the gospel that pentecostals live and proclaim, and the present work gives pointers that contribute to this. Our study has suggested that central to pentecostalism is its variety, its expression in many cultures across the world, its motivating force for ‘many tongues.’ The multi-centred understanding of pentecostal origins resonates with this and encourages a wider appreciation of pentecostal traditions. 73 This is not to say that pentecostalism is so diverse that it is not worth trying to identify distinctives. Rather, it is to argue that we cannot arrive at those distinctives separate from the testimonies and cultural reflections that arise from pentecostal life in different contexts. Notable moves in this direction have come from testimonies related to Pandita Ramabai and the Mukti Revival in India. 74 Much more needs to be done in considering the nature of the gospel in such contexts. It may well be the case that local pentecostal identities are shaped by global processes including American Pentecostalism, as has been suggested. 75 Yet there are more processes involved than those traceable to Azusa Street and these need valuing if we are to speak about a ‘full’ gospel that embraces the ‘fullness’ of particular contexts and their appropriation of wider patterns of thought and action. To put it another way, it is not that the Full gospel is completely inappropriate but rather that it is limited and not truly full. We need to develop mature, holistic understandings of the gospel that draw on insights from a number of places.
The contextual nature of the gospel needs to be recognized, and thus the gospel does not stand directing all else but gets involved in the mess of life. For the gospel to be good news for people, they need to search the Scriptures, reflect on the teachings and experience the reality. Then gospel becomes testimony as it has for so many. Testimony is not usually neat and designed to meet our academic requirements, yet it is important to reflect on the contextualized gospel in our scholarship. This is the task of contextualization and I have argued that it involves not just translating gospel principles but entering this synthetic conversation between experience, the Scriptures and the traditions. Studies of such contextualized gospel would be of great benefit in more critically examining the place of the Full gospel. They would also be of benefit practically in setting pentecostals free to proclaim afresh the gospel in their contexts, inspired by the rich experience of others.
Our study has suggested questions about the nature of the gospel – as narrative or thematic. Clearly testimonies are narrative, as is much of the material in Luke-Acts, and it is worth pondering whether the gospel should be narrative or thematic in shape. The Full gospel presumes a move from narrative to thematic via an identification of the central narrative concerns. Yet narrative is in itself a suitable embodiment of the gospel and needs to be valued in itself. Also, in moving from narrative to thematic, care needs to be taken that nothing is lost, misread or read with frameworks not arising from the context. This is not to say that a thematic approach is inherently wrong but rather that it needs never to lose touch with its narrative counterparts. From our reflections it may be that for many pentecostals the gospel is a story that embodies the themes of overcoming evil, prophesy, worship, social transformation and the empowerment of all. These alone give pause to use of the Full gospel whilst still emphasizing the good news that pentecostalism can bring.
There is a pentecostal passion for the gospel that cannot be ignored. It is a gospel with which the Full gospel may resonate but it is often wider than that. There is a need to explore further how limitations might be removed in order for the gospel to be more clearly and powerfully lived and proclaimed to all.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank those who provided feedback on earlier versions of this work from the Society for the Study of Theology and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.