The Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity examines all aspects of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity movements, focusing on their historical and worldwide development. It contains 135 entries contributed and signed by scholars from international universities and institutions, with expertise in such fields as theology, religious studies, Pentecostal studies, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and intercultural studies. The Encyclopedia explains the concepts, practices, and sociology of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements in a clear, accessible manner. It presents an extensive portrait of what is at times called "the new face of Christianity" and offers an analytical, scholarly examination of a vital aspect of modern religion, one that spans cultures and continents.
The expanded, updated edition of a classic reference source--the comprehensive survey of the status of thje world's largest religion in 238 countries. Many tables, charts, diagrams, maps, photographs, and a rich text present a unmatched look at 33,800 Christian denominations, 12,000 dioceses, 5,000 missions, and other groups--all -set against a detailed historical, political, social, cultural, demographic, background.
How and why is Christianity's center of gravity shifting to the developing world? To understand this rapidly growing phenomenon, Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori spent four years traveling the globe conducting extensive on-the-ground research in twenty different countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. The result is this vividly detailed book which provides the most comprehensive information available on Pentecostalism, the fastest-growing religion in the world. Rich with scenes from everyday life, the book dispel many stereotypes about this religion as they build a wide-ranging, nuanced portrait of a major new social movement.
This multifaceted and up-to-date encyclopedia is sure to be of interest to pastors and church workers of all confessions, equally so to students, scholars, and researchers around the world who are interested in any aspect of Christianity or religion in general. The first volume contains 465 articles that address a comprehensive list of topics.
This book explores the deep and abiding human need for contemplation, for coming to terms with and standing in awe of the nature and character of the God revealed in the Scriptures. When so much is wrong in the world, when our lives are troubled by so many threats, both real and imagined, we must learn to look to God and to see all things, including ourselves, in the light of who he is. A life of faithful contemplation begins to free us from the bad desires, false expectations, and corrupting illusions that bind us against our will and keep us from the fullness promised in the gospel.
"The Oxford History of Christian Worship is a comprehensive and authoritative history, lavishly illustrated, of the origins and development of Christian worship up to the present day. Following contemporary methods in scholarship, it attends to social and cultural contexts and examines the worship traditions from both Eastern and Western Christianity, ancient and modern. It offers a chronological account, while encompassing spatial and confessional variations, from Baptists in Britain to Roman Catholics in Mexico, from Orthodox in Ethiopia to Pentecostals in the United States, from Lutheran and Reformed in Europe to united churches in India and Australia. The material details of Christian worship, such as music, architecture, and the visual arts, are considered within specific cultural contexts throughout the volume as well as studied thematically in individual chapters."--BOOK JACKET.
Early Americans have long been considered "A People of the Book" Because the nickname was coined primarily to invoke close associations between Americans and the Bible, it is easy to overlook the central fact that it was a book-not a geographic location, a monarch, or even a shared language-that has served as a cornerstone in countless investigations into the formation and fragmentation of early American culture. Few books can lay claim to such powers of civilization-altering influence. Among those which can are sacred books, and for Americans principal among such books stands the Bible. This Handbook is designed to address a noticeable void in resources focused on analyzing the Bible in America in various historical moments and in relationship to specific institutions and cultural expressions. It takes seriously the fact that the Bible is both a physical object that has exercised considerable totemic power, as well as a text with a powerful intellectual design that has inspired everything from national religious and educational practices to a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors to our nation's politics and foreign policy. This Handbook brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview--rich with bibliographic resources--to those interested in the Bible's role in American cultural formation.
The Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity explores the fastest growing movements in Christianity, with numbers second only to the Roman Catholic Church. While "peoples of the Spirit" have appeared throughout Christian history, their real growth has occurred over the past century. Because of their late emergence, they are the continuing subject of religious and social science research. The volume is separated into these categories:?Pentecostals: those who belong to a classical pentecostal denomination, such as the Church of God in Christ, the Assemblies of God, and the International Church of the Four Square Gospel.?Charismatics: those who belong to mainline Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, and Presbyterian, who share with classical pentecostals similar worship styles, spiritual experiences, and an emphasis on "life in the (Holy) Spirit."?Neo-charismatics: a catch-all category that comprises 18,810 independent, indigenous, postdenominational denominations and groups that cannot be classified as either pentecostal or charismatic, but share a common emphasis on the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, pentecostal-like experiences (not pentecostal terminology), signs and wonders, and power encounters. In virtually every other way, neo-charismatics are as diverse as the world's cultures they represent.The articles in the encyclopedia were developed around a set of themes, including the origins of the various branches and traditions of Pentecostalism; cultural and theological diversity; ecumenical relations with the broader Christian world; conflict between Pentecostals and charismatics; the sociology of Pentecostalism, including the role of women and the place of the poor; and the impact of past and present political and economic conditions on these movements.This volume is a companion to another volume in the Religion & Society series, the Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism edited by Brenda Brasher. Although the two movements separated early in the twentieth century, they are often confused. Side by side, these two volumes explain the differences between these two major religious movements of the contemporary world.
It was born a scant ninety-five years ago in a rundown warehouse on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. For days the religious-revival service there went on and on-and within a week the Los Angeles Times was reporting on a "weird babble" coming from the building. Believers were "speaking in tongues," the way they did at the first Pentecost recorded in the Bible?and a pentecostal movement was created that would, by the start of the twenty-first century, attract over 400 million followers worldwide. Harvey Cox has traveled the globe to visit and worship with pentecostal congregations on four continents, and he has written a dynamic, provocative history of this explosion of spirituality?a movement that represents no less than a tidal change in what religion is and what it means to people.
