Pentecostal Theology and Its Impact

This assignment delves into Pentecostal theology, examining its core beliefs and practices. It analyzes the influence of Pentecostalism on aspects such as worship styles, leadership models, and social involvement within communities. The discussion highlights key theological concepts and their practical implications for Christians.

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Pentecostal Theology understanding of church
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Pentecostal Theology 2
A church is a sacred gathering whose objective is to glorify God for his goodness to the
humankind. Many believers have the differing understanding of the religion based on the biblical
statements and historical happenings that affirm their faith. It is estimated that since the
ascension of Jesus, there have been more than two hundred million denominations that emerged
to claim different faiths depending on their beliefs concerning the teachings spread by Jesus. As
a result, people are currently witnessing the presence of Catholic, Pentecostal, Seventh-day
adventurist among other churches that hold on to particular beliefs. In particular, the Pentecostal
believers seem to differ from other believers in the comprehension of the church. Basing the
argument on the discipleship of Jesus during his ascension, Pentecostal theology enjoys a
moment of exercising practices that other believers disregard in the fulfillment of their
understanding of church. Evaluation of Pentecostal belief in regards to their knowledge of the
church will prove crucial in the knowledge of the subject.
Pentecostal theology defines the church as a doctrine that is headed by God only. Such a
definition gains its roots from the fact that since the beginning, God has been the creator and the
caretaker of everything on earth. In addition, the aspect of believing that there is only one God
comes in to oppose the teaching of churches such orthodox and Catholic that up to date stick on
the support of Trinity. The Trinitarians believe in the presence of three gods; that is, God the
father, the son and the Holy Spirit1. It is faithful to the Trinity might be kicking logic in the sense
that during the old testament, God was acknowledged the more while in the new testament Jesus
was recognized as the son of God followed by God the holy spirit that guided disciples after he
ascended to heaven.
1 Gregory ,Hackett. Pentecostal leadership development: A seminar for the local church.
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, 2014. 33-41. Pg.37

Pentecostal Theology 3
It is worth noting that Pentecostal theology understands church as a forum guided by
mandatory baptism. Baptism is highly valued to the point of defining it as the pathway towards
salvation2. That is to say, no way someone can claim to have been saved if at all baptism has
been neglected. To add more weight to the same, baptism has to be achieved through full
immersion just the way Jesus was baptized while maintaining the saying “In Jesus name” and
disregarding “In the name of the father, son and the holy spirit” so that the element of one God
prevails.
The comprehension of the church by the Pentecostal divinity maintains speaking in
tongues. According to Pentecostal followers, speaking in tongues is put at the forefront, and it is
treated as an essential factor that confirms the manifestation of the Holy Spirit3. Unlike some
churches that hold the belief that the only way to the kingdom of God is through redemption.
Pentecostal holiness maintains that it is up to the individual to decide whether to be saved or
not4. Interestingly, they provide a green light on their teaching hinting that salvation can be lost
quickly; therefore, it has to be experiential and not just something to take for granted.
2 Bob L., Johnson and Rickie D. Moore. "Soul Care for One and All: Pentecostal
Theology and the Search for a More Expansive View of Spiritual Formation." Journal of
Pentecostal Theology 26, no. 1 (2017): 125-152. Pg. 141
3 Peter, White,. "Decolonising Western missionaries' mission theology and practice in
Ghanaian church history: A Pentecostal approach." In die Skriflig 51, no. 1 (2017): 1-7. Pg. 4
4 Grace Boateng, Owens. Understanding of Worship in an African Pentecostal
Congregation and Baptist Congregation in the Light of Biblical Perspectives: A Dissertation
Submitted to the Luther King House College Validated by the University of Manchester for the
Degree of Master of Arts in Contextual Theology. AuthorHouse, 2016.16-22. Pg. 19

Pentecostal Theology 4
The church is understood as an apostolic group of Christians that seek to maintain a high
level of modesty while observing holy mannerism. By humility is to mean that Christians have to
ensure that they act as good examples to others in the society as referenced in the biblical
teachings of God5. As for women, they are supposed to shun away from putting on makeups.
Furthermore, they are required to maintain their heads covered while men should follow suit in
keeping reasonable presentation. Under certain circumstances, Catholic churches seem to have
little or no concern on the believers such that they can join the mass in whichever mode of
dressing and makeups6. In their belief on sanctity, Pentecostals cite Hebrews 12:14 that hints
out”make efforts to live peacefully and holy with all people since, without sanctity, no one will
see God." Briefly, staying spiritually upright is all that a church is specifically seeking clarity
from Romans 6:10-1 that says, “Regard you alive to God in Jesus and dead to sin."
The logic behind the understanding of church by the Pentecostal faith is based on denying
infant baptism. Pentecostals support the presentation of children for blessing in remembrance of
the story of Jesus work concerning blessing young souls7. At the age of ten years, Pentecostals
believe that children can be baptized since that time they can tell the essence of water baptism.
5 Revd Dr Mark J., Cartledge, Testimony in the Spirit: Rescripting ordinary Pentecostal
theology. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2013.77-82. Pg. 80
6 Daniel J. Simmons, “They Shall Recover: Towards a Pneumatological and
Eschatological Understanding of the Atonement in Pentecostal Healing." (2015). 97-102. Pg. 101
7 May Ling. Tan-Chow,. Pentecostal theology for the twenty-first century: Engaging with
multi-faith Singapore. Routledge, 2016.77-79. Pg.78

Pentecostal Theology 5
The Pentecostal theology states that a church must portray the gifts of the Holy Spirit8. It is so
unfortunate that some denominations rarely employ the gifts of the Holy Spirit and ordinance in
their undertaking, an element that faces a lot of criticism from Pentecostals.
Displaying healing and expressing miraculous power are gifts of the Holy Spirit that
Pentecostals believe that they are supplements of a true church. Just the same, way Jesus used to
heal the sick, apostles should take heed on such and perform miracles9. It is expected that while
utilizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is a way of demonstrating the power of God. Just as Mark
16:17-18 says that “They will pull out evil and speak in tongues; they will take snake poison, and
it will not harm them; they will heal the sick, and they get well” Pentecostals observe keenly on
the application of ordinance and the gifts of the holy spirit.
Pentecostal theology condemns the use of sacraments in the remembrance of the body of
Christ. Instead, they hold ceremonies such as baptism and communion. The concept behind
objecting the taking of liturgy is that it does not represent the actual bread that Jesus shared with
his disciples on the day of Passover10. Evidently, the aspect of washing feet while joining the
gathering is treated as an essential practice that seeks to match the steps of Jesus in cleaning feet
8 Cheryl M. Peterson, “Theology of the Cross and the Experience of God's Presence: A
Lutheran Response to Pentecostal Wonderings." Dialog 55, no. 4 (2016): 316-323. Pg. 318
9 Isaac Oluwajoba, Abereijo, and Juliana Funmilayo Afolabi. "Religiosity and
Entrepreneurship Intentions among Pentecostal Christians." Diasporas and Transnational
Entrepreneurship in Global Contexts (2016): 233-237. Pg. 236.
10 Ann, Riggs, “Review of The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies." Quaker Religious
Thought 122, no. 1 (2014):1-13. Pg.10

Pentecostal Theology 6
for all his disciples on the eve of the last supper11. Ideally, Pentecostals do not have guts to
practice things that do not feature in the bible. Understanding of the church by the Pentecostals
has it that prayer cloths should be used to meets the demands of the needy as they humbly
portray their faith in God12. During the time of Paul, God was seen to work miracles through
aprons and handkerchiefs in such a manner that whoever believed in the healing and sanctity of
God would be healed and evil spirits driven away forever. Ideally, the aspect of distributing
clothes is associated with a significant moment of prayers and divine healing such that if all
persons apply it at the point of contact, all that they have requested is given to them.
The church must uphold latter rain to imply the outpouring of the holy spirit. The book of
Joel 2:23 points out clearly, that the people of Zion should celebrate for God had provided them
autumn and spring rains, showers that are righteous. The experiencing of other presence of the
Holy Spirit was regarded as latter rain or else next spring that is still practiced by Pentecostals up
to date13. Admittedly, the teachings of the last shower reveal the second coming of the Holy
Spirit that is about to happen soon as evidenced in the scripture. The provisions of Pentecostals
11 Chris EW. Green, “Prayer as Trinitarian and Transformative Event in Sarah Coakley’s
God, Sexuality, and the Self." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 26, no. 1 (2017): 16-22. Pg.21
12 Allan. Anderson, “The Pentecostal gospel, religion and culture in African
perspective." Pentecostal Theology in Africa 6 (2014): 159-163. Pg.162.
13 Robert P. Menzies, "The Nature of Pentecostal Theology: A Response to Velli-Matti
Kärkkäinen and Amos Yong." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 26, no. 2 (2017): 196-213. Pg.
211

Pentecostal Theology 7
understanding of church regard Jesus as the son of God14. In most case, various denominations
have emerged to claim Jesus as the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Pentecostal theology, such a
term might not apply to true Christian basing the argument on the fact that "Lord Jesus Christ” is
nowhere to be found in the New Testament. As a result, the only title to be given to Jesus is "The
son of God" as exclusively heightened in Romans1:1-3.
The fact of the matter is that Pentecostals comprehends that a true church preaches the
reality concerning the fall of man. God made man in his image, but that did not stop the man
from falling into transgressions that made him vulnerable to physical and spiritual death15.
Precisely, Pentecostal theology takes hold on a real church as that which preaches truth
concerning fall of man and spiritual ascension after end as depicted in Genesis 1:26 and 3:6.
In conclusion, Pentecostal theology understands church as a sanctified gathering that is
ruled by God alone. Again, Pentecostals claiming that such practices should not hold in the
church of God condemn the aspect of taking sacrament and child baptism. Arguably, every
movement and denomination has its way of interpreting the word of God. Briefly, the most
important thing is that all Christians should work towards serving the lord.
14 Saw. Oo, Tint Sann. "Factors that have influenced the attitude of Myanmar Assemblies
of God Churches toward social involvement and their implications in formulating a Pentecostal
theology of social concern in the Myanmar context." PhD diss., Prifysgol Bangor University,
2015.47-50. Pg. 48
15 Ibid.,(Pg. 27)

Pentecostal Theology 8
Bibliography
Abereijo, Isaac Oluwajoba, and Juliana Funmilayo Afolabi. "Religiosity and Entrepreneurship
Intentions among Pentecostal Christians." Diasporas and Transnational
Entrepreneurship in Global Contexts (2016): 233-237
Anderson, Allan. "The Pentecostal gospel, religion and culture in African
perspective." Pentecostal Theology in Africa 6 (2014): 159-163
Cartledge, Revd Dr Mark J. Testimony in the Spirit: Rescripting ordinary Pentecostal theology.
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2013.77-82
Green, Chris EW. "Prayer as Trinitarian and Transformative Event in Sarah Coakley’s God,
Sexuality, and the Self." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 26, no. 1 (2017): 16-22.
Hackett, Gregory. Pentecostal leadership development: A seminar for the local church.
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, 2014.33-41
Johnson, Bob L., and Rickie D. Moore. "Soul Care for One and All: Pentecostal Theology and
the Search for a More Expansive View of Spiritual Formation." Journal of Pentecostal
Theology 26, no. 1 (2017): 125-152.
Menzies, Robert P. "The Nature of Pentecostal Theology: A Response to Velli-Matti Kärkkäinen
and Amos Yong." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 26, no. 2 (2017): 196-213.

Pentecostal Theology 9
Oo, Saw Tint Sann. "Factors that have influenced the attitude of Myanmar Assemblies of God
Churches toward social involvement and their implications in formulating a Pentecostal
theology of social concern in the Myanmar context." PhD diss., Prifysgol Bangor
University, 2015.47-50
Owens, Grace Boateng. Understanding of Worship in an African Pentecostal Congregation and
Baptist Congregation in the Light of Biblical Perspectives: A Dissertation Submitted to
the Luther King House College Validated by the University of Manchester for the Degree
of Master of Arts in Contextual Theology. AuthorHouse, 2016.75-81
Peterson, Cheryl M. "Theology of the Cross and the Experience of God's Presence: A Lutheran
Response to Pentecostal Wonderings." Dialog 55, no. 4 (2016): 316-323.
Riggs, Ann. "Review of The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies." Quaker Religious
Thought 122, no. 1 (2014): 1-11
Simmons, Daniel J. "They Shall Recover: Towards a Pneumatological and Eschatological
Understanding of the Atonement in Pentecostal Healing." (2015). 97-192
Tan-Chow, May Ling. Pentecostal theology for the twenty-first century: Engaging with multi-
faith Singapore. Routledge, 2016.20-33
White, Peter. "Decolonising Western missionaries' mission theology and practice in Ghanaian
church history: A Pentecostal approach." In die Skriflig 51, no. 1 (2017): 1-7.