The Pentecostal and charismatic movements showed astonishing growth in the twentieth century so as to arrive at a total that is said to include at least 400 million people worldwide. The academic study of the Pentecostal and charismatic movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years, both as an element within contemporary religious studies and as a strand within the subject area of church history, going back to the early church. This student-friendly text is essential reading for students of Theology and Religious Studies, taking second or third year modules in Pentecostal studies. It is also of great relevance to students of sociology of religion, as well as cultural and historical studies of religion and religious movements. In addition to a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the subject, it offers useful resources such as suggestions for further reading, questions for reflection and a glossary of technical terms.

An accessible introduction to Black Theology, helping readers understand the inherited legacy of ‘race’, ethnicity, difference and racism, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of this movement.

Pentecostals have not sufficiently worked out a distinctively Pentecostal philosophy of art and aesthetics. In Pentecostal Aesthetics: Theological Reflections in a Pentecostal Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics, with a foreword by Amos Yong, Steven Félix-Jäger corrects this by reflecting theologically on art and aesthetics from a global Pentecostal perspective, particularly through a pneumatic Pentecostal lens. Félix-Jäger contends that a Pentecostal philosophy of art and aesthetics must comply with the global, experiential, and pneumatocentric nature of the Pentecostal movement. Such a philosophy can be ontologically grounded in a relativistic theory of art. Theological reflections concerning the nature and purpose of art must then be sensitive to the ontological foundations secured thereof. In this fashion, Pentecostals can gain ample insight about the Spirit’s work in today’s contemporary artworld.

Sociology of Religion is an increasingly popular component of courses in religious studies at undergraduate level. While most textbooks on the Sociology of Religion are written from a sociological background, this new student-friendly textbook aims to introduce the field and the subjects studied by sociologists of religion to students with a background in theology and religious studies.

Drawing upon the scholarship of eminent academics and practitioners in the field of Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, this anthology puts into the public domain theological and sociological literature that posits contemporary thinking in key areas of British Pentecostal and Charismatic thought. Contributors include: Professor Anne E. Dyer (Mattersey Hall), Professor William K. Kay (Chester University), Professor David Hilborn, (Moorlands College), Dr R. David Muir (University of Roehampton) and Dr Babatunde A. Adedibu (Redeemed Christian Bible College, Nigeria).

Starting from small numbers before 1914, the Pentecostal and charismatic movement now comprises nearly one third of the whole of the global Christian population. Scholarly accounts of Pentecostal and charismatic congregations in various countries have been written but this book does something new. It provides an interconnected account of Pentecostalism in Europe, something never before been attempted because of the diversity of languages spoken across the continent. This book shows how Pentecostalism spread from the north of Europe and how it fared during two horrific wars and under communist dictatorships. In doing so it provides new theological, historical and sociological information about Pentecostal churches in eastern and southern Europe, about the Catholic Charismatic Movement and about the state of western groupings.

'Ordinary theology' characterizes the reflective God-talk of the great majority of churchgoers, and others who remain largely untouched by the assumptions, concepts and arguments that academic theology takes for granted. Jeff Astley coined the phrase in his innovative study, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology, arguing that 'speaking statistically ordinary theology is the theology of God's Church'. A number of scholars have responded to this and related conceptualizations, exploring their theological implications. Other researchers have adopted the perspective in examining a range of Church practices and contexts of Christian discipleship, using the tools of empirical study. Ordinary theology research has proved to be key in uncovering people's everyday lay theology or ordinary dogmatics. Exploring Ordinary Theology presents fresh contributions from a wide range of authors, who address the theological, empirical and practical dimensions of this central feature of ordinary Christian existence and the life of the Church.