DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to introduce students to the history of the various Pentecostal, Charismatic, and related "Spirit Movements." Students will be guided in discussions related to a number of historiographical concerns, as well as to studies using a variety of disciplinary starting points (e.g., history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, etc.). The establishment of sources for the study of these movements, as well as issues that range from primitivism and restorationism, independence, institutionalization, and ecumenism will be covered.

Satisfactory completion of this course should enable students to (1) appreciate the historical contexts out of which these movements have arisen; (2) identify and assess the critical strengths and weaknesses of these movements; (3) demonstrate the contributions available to the whole Church through recognition of the areas in which these movements stand in continuity and discontinuity with the Church.

The course will meet once weekly for two-hour sessions of discussion and presentations. Students will be expected to participate in a day-long tour of early Pentecostal sites in Los Angeles on January 10 or 11.

Bartleman, Frank. Azusa Street. Logos International, 1980.

Beverley, James A. Holy Laughter and the Toronto Blessing: An Investigative Report. Zondervan, 1995.

Cox, Harvey. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century. Addison-Wesley, 1995.

Hollenweger, Walter J. Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide. Hendrickson, 1997.

Robeck, Cecil M., Jr. Unpublished Syllabus with "Readings in Pentecostal History."

Synan, Vinson. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Eerdmans, 1971; rev. 1977.

Wacker, G. Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture. Harvard Univ. Press, 2001.

Burgess, Stanley M., ed. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Zondervan, 2002.

Dayton, Donald W. Theological Roots of Pentecostalism. Frances Asbury Press/ Zondervan, 1987 or The Scarecrow Press, 1987.

Quebedeaux, Richard. The New Charismatics II. Harper & Row, 1983.

Regular assigned readings from the texts and the syllabus must be completed prior to class meetings. Students will be expected to engage in a major research project in which primary sources are sought out and integrated into a project, or a major paper that studies and evaluates one or more of these groups and its teachings.

Th.M. or Ph.D. student, or advanced M.A./M. Div. students with CH504, 505, or 506 and written permission of the professor.

Elective.