In Charismatic Practice and Catholic Parish Life - the Incipient Pentecostalization of the Church in Guatemala and Latin America, Jakob Egeris Thorsen offers a detailed ethnographic and theological analysis of the impact of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on the Catholic Church in the region. Based on fieldwork, this interdisciplinary study examines how Charismatic practice and spirituality permeate both local parish life and the pastoral plans of the Catholic Church in Guatemala and Latin America. The Charismatic Renewal is the largest lay movement in Latin America and has a profound influence on the Catholic Church. This book analyses both the social and ecclesiological consequences of an incipient Pentecostalization of Guatemalan and Latin American Catholicism.

Over the past decades, Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity has arguably become the fastest growing religious movement in the world. Distinguishing features of this variant of Christianity include formal ritual activities as well as informal, experiential, and ecstatic forms of worship. This book examines Pentecostal-charismatic ritual practice in different parts of the world, highlighting, among other things, the crucial role of ritual in creating religious communities and identities.

Wesleyan churches, Pentecostal churches, and the modern charismatic movement trace their theological roots to John Wesley. Yet these groups have gone separate ways in interpreting the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, often regarding one another with suspicion or distrust.In The Divided Flame, Dr. Howard Snyder, a Wesleyan minister, calls Wesleyans and charismatics to reexamine how they parted ways. He finds that they still have a great deal in common theologically, and he proposes that this common ground should serve as a basis for dialogue."How does a Wesleyan dialogue with charismatic Christianity?" asks Snyder. "Rather than comparing our theology or practice point by point, we have chosen to address the central question that charismatic Christianity raises for us: In what sense is Christian experience, the church, charismatic? If the charismatic movement raises valid biblical questions for us--and it does--then it is more important to deal with those questions than merely to catalog the pluses and minuses of the movement."This book reviews the history of Wesleyan and charismatic thought, evaluating them in light of Scripture's norms for church life. A provocative study, The Divided Flame should bring fresh perspective to the controversy surrounding modern charismatic theology.

The rapid growth of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church has brought with it both controversy and confusion, and it has raised a number of important theological questions. Is it an authentic renewal movement? Exactly what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How should we understand the gift of tongues? What is prophecy? Does God really heal by supernatural means? One by one, Francis Sullivan takes up these controversial points in one of the most thorough theological investigations yet undertaken into the Catholic charismatic renewal. 'Charisms and Charismatic Renewal' is a scholarly analysis of this dynamic renewal movement for those who want to know more about its history, its theological and scriptural bases, its present impact on the church, and its probable future course.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997.