Spirit-Filled Protestantism: Holiness-Pentecostal Revivals and the Making of Filipino Methodist Identity
Ebook
Overview
In Spirit-filled Protestantism, Luther Oconer shows how holiness- and Pentecost-themed revival meetings called culto Pentecostal helped form the development of Methodism in the Philippines. He focuses on these revival meetings, their theological content, and the spiritual culture they helped perpetuate. The resulting narrative provides a rich rendering of both male and female American Methodist missionaries, their Filipino counterparts, and their followers that both celebrates and critiques them. Oconer also offers a unique perspective on Philippine Protestantism, which has often been dismissed for being too intellectual and formal. He defies the stereotype by demonstrating how culto Pentecostal revivals, with their emphasis on holiness and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, made Methodism the most innovative and successful of all Protestant denominations in the country prior to the Second World War. Accordingly, Oconer’s treatment explains why Methodism provided a fertile seedbed for the emergence of the Manila Healing Revival and, consequently, the rise of Pentecostalism in the Philippines in the 1950s. A long-awaited volume on the history of Methodism in the Philippines, Spirit-filled Protestantism allows us to discern why Pentecostal impulses continue to shape Filipino Methodist identity in the twenty-first century.
“This groundbreaking historical study broadens our understanding
of Methodism in the Philippines. Luther Oconer’s portrayal of
holiness revivalism in its social contexts illumines how the local
and the global intersected. It shows how Filipinos, women
missionaries, and other participants together crafted a vigorous
and influential faith. I recommend this book very highly, as a fine
contribution to the expanding field of World Christianity.”
—Dana L. Robert, Truman Collins Professor at Boston
University
“Luther Oconer’s book illuminates a hitherto unexplored side of the
history of Methodism in the Philippines—how it was influenced by
the culto Pentecostal. Hopefully, this new shaft of light
will bring about a more benign understanding of culto
Pentecostal as its misperceptions continue to cause cracks
among the rank and file of Filipino Methodists. At the very least,
Oconer’s scholarly treatise should drive a more cerebral
re-examination of the subject.”
—Reynato S. Puno, Former Chief Justice of the Philippines
“A profitable, engaging, readable, and well-researched tour through
the American holiness world, tracking the holiness/Pentecostal
witness to India and thence to the Philippines. Filipino
Methodism, Luther Oconer shows, was shaped and continues to be
leavened by the culto Pentecostal. A must read for
Methodists and especially United Methodists.”
— Russell E. Richey, Dean Emeritus at Candler School
“Oconer’s Spirit-Filled Protestantism is necessary reading
for those interested in the development of Protestantism as a
global phenomenon. This extremely engaging treatment traces the
development of Philippine Methodism in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. Oconer’s research recovers the historical and
theological roots of culto Pentecostal revivalist
missionaries, evangelists, and laity in the Philippines.”
—Dr. Scott Kisker, Professor at United Theological
Seminary
“In Spirit-filled Protestantism, Luther Oconer revises and
revitalizes the history of the arrival of American holiness
revivalism into the Philippine Islands via Methodist Episcopal
missionaries. Following revival practices and doctrines as they
made their way into the islands behind the American military and
alongside the larger colonial project, Oconer re-narrates a tired
and simplistic one-way story of western religious imperialism into
a stirring drama of pan-Pacific ‘Holy Spirit revival.’ Tracing the
movement and subsequent reconstructions of holiness thought,
practice, and performance through revivals in India that spread to
the Philippines, Oconer provides a full and convincing portrayal of
Filipino intellectual, emotional, and institutional engagement with
the religious offerings of the missionaries. This culto
Pentecostal, which Oconer argues opened the space for Filipino
participation in the global Pentecostal healing movement in the
1950’s, became the kernel for the development of Filipino Methodist
identities, practices, and schisms.”
—Morris L. Davis, Associate Professor at Drew University
Product Details
- Title : Spirit-Filled Protestantism: Holiness-Pentecostal Revivals and the Making of Filipino Methodist Identity
- Authors:
- Oconer, Luther Jeremiah
- Bundy, David
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Publication Date: 2017
- ISBN: 9781498203616
Luther Oconer is Assistant Professor of United Methodist Studies and Director of the Center for Evangelical United Brethren Heritage at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is an ordained elder from the United Methodist Church in the Philippines.