The Pentecostal movement has been subject to some negative external assumptions. In this enlightening and challenging book, Cheryl Bridges Johns argues that, in fact, Pentecostals employ a powerful process of formation of catechesis, which has enabled millions of believers to own and articulate the Christian story. She engages dialectically with the work of Paulo Freire, a specialist in education among the marginalized. As well as looking more broadly at the nature of all catechesis, there is also an attempt to move beyond the rationalism found in a praxis epistemology.

The Pentecostal movement has been subject to some negative external assumptions. In this enlightening and challenging book, Cheryl Bridges Johns argues that, in fact, Pentecostals employ a powerful process of formation of catechesis, which has enabled millions of believers to own and articulate the Christian story. She engages dialectically with the work of Paulo Freire, a specialist in education among the marginalized. As well as looking more broadly at the nature of all catechesis, there is also an attempt to move beyond the rationalism found in a praxis epistemology.

This volume explores the nature of catechesis, in particular the process of faith formation within Pentecostalism, including a critique of the educational paradigm of Paolo Freire as a means of empowering the oppressed.

Christians tend to divide into three camps: evangelical, sacramental, and pentecostal. But must we choose between them? Drawing on the New Testament, Christian history, and years of experience in Christian ministry, Gordon T. Smith argues that the church not only can be all three, but in fact must be all three in order to truly be the church.

AndrT Droogers is Professor Emeritus of Cultural Anthropology at VU University, Amsterdam --

Though a variety of studies have treated individual sacramental practices in Pentecostalism, in this volume Daniel Tomberlin offers a full-length treatment of the theology and practice of Pentecostal sacraments. The study draws on the strength of decades of pastoral practice and significant experience as a theological educator in the formation of local pastors. Grounded in the conviction that 'encounter with God at the altar' is primary for Pentecostal worship, Tomberlin explores the Spirit as 'the Spirit of Grace' and the role of Christ and the Spirit in sacramental practices, before turning his attention to the individual sacraments of anointing with oil, water baptism, the Lord's Supper, and footwashing. Drawing on early Pentecostal literature, the writings of early Christian authors, and pastoral practice, Tomberlin goes on to contextualize each practice in Scripture. The volume concludes with an empirical study of the thoughts and practices of several Pentecostal pastors in order to assess the impact of this study on the life of the church.

In this classic book, leading Pentecostal scholar Steven J. Land offers a constructive and controversial interpretation, a 're-vision', of the Pentecostal tradition. As Pentecostalism approaches its centennial, Land argues that the early years of the movement form the heart, not the infancy, of its spirituality, and he emphasizes the crucial importance of its Wesleyan, Holiness and nineteenth-century revivalist-restorationist roots. Land's foundational study includes - an account of the relationship of spirituality and theology - a description and analysis of Pentecostal beliefs and practices - a demonstration of how these beliefs and practices are integrated into Pentecostal affections - a trinitarian definition of Pentecostal Spirituality, arguing that a passion for the kingdom of God is ultimately a passion for God Himself