The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology

by Amos Yong

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2005

Overview

It is no secret that the Pentecostal movement has had an incredible impact on the shape of worldwide Christianity in the past century. It is estimated that Pentecostals and charismatics comprise approximately a quarter of Christians worldwide, and the numbers are only expected to grow, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These developments create a need for theologians and students to understand the theological framework of this burgeoning movement.

In The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh, Amos Yong develops a robust Pentecostal theology and, perhaps more importantly, brings this theology into dialogue with other theological traditions. Yong outlines a pneumatological approach to soteriology, ecclesiology, theology of religions, theology of creation, and the nature of God—particularly in regard to trinitarian formulations vis-a-vis oneness theology.

This is more than an introductory systematic theology, however. The first chapter provides a fascinating survey of worldwide Pentecostalism, examining how various theological issues and questions are being addressed “on the ground.” Further, the author argues that because of Pentecostalism’s global origins, its theology can be a great gift to Christianity at large, and he proposes that it can play a large role in shaping a truly global theology.

In the Logos edition, Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Develops a robust Pentecostal theology and compares it to other theological traditions
• Outlines a pneumatological approach to soteriology, ecclesiology, theology of religions, creation, and the nature of God
• Surveys the Pentecostal movement

Contents

• Introduction
• “Poured Out upon All Flesh”: Salvation, the Spirit, and World Pentecostalism
• “And You Shall Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit”: Toward a Pneumatological Soteriology
• The Acts of the Apostles and of the Holy Spirit: Toward a Pneumatological Ecclesiology
• “From Every Nation under Heaven”: The Ecumenical Potential of Pentecostalism for World Theology
• Oneness and Trinity: Identify, Plurality, and World Theology
• The Holy Spirit and the Spirits: Public Theology, the Religions, and the Identity of the Spirit
• The Heavens above and the Earth below: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Creation
• Epilogue

Top Highlights

“First, the ruah of God blowing across the primordial world and the breath of life given to ha adam provide insight into the interrelationality of the Spirit and the orders of creation. The Spirit is not contradictory to nature, as modernity would have it; rather, the Spirit infuses the world. The vivifying breath of God provides the ontological conditions not only for the relationality of the spiritual and the material dimensions of reality but also for the relationality of human beings as male and female (1:27) and of human beings with the natural world, with each other in community, and with the divine. Is this not suggestive for the more recent attempts to overcome the dualism between spirit and nature, long assumed in scientific circles?” (Page 281)

“The challenge for theology in the late modern world, with its scientific assumptions about the closed nature of the universe, is to make sense of the claim that human beings can experience the divine. In one sense, Gelpi’s metaphysics seeks to address exactly this question by ‘rethinking the relationship between nature and grace.’ Insofar as Peirce’s triadic and semiotic metaphysics overcomes the dualisms of the philosophical tradition, it also enables a reconsideration of the God-world relationship.” (Page 293)

“Because the Spirit has been poured out also upon the maidservants (hermanas), they have now been empowered to at least testify, if not prophesy.” (Page 40)

“Signs are not just things but relational functions.” (Page 285)

Praise for the Print Edition

Yong is one of a very few Pentecostal theologians today who are seeking to understand the relationship between Pentecostalism and global issues, and he is perhaps the only one to do so in a sustained manner. In this volume, Yong offers a Pentecostal perspective on ecumenism, world religions, and culture with a view toward developing a distinctively Pentecostal global theology. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his methodology and conclusions, Yong’s contributions cannot be ignored.

—Simon Chan, Earnest Lau Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Theological College, Singapore

The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh is an invigorating book. Reflecting upon global Pentecostal experiences and practices, Yong has taken his pneumatological imagination to new depths of insight in his quest for a more robust trinitarian theology. The result is a multiperspectival reformulation of Christian theology that allows fresh winds of the Spirit to blow through old doctrines.

—Dale T. Irvin, academic dean and professor of world Christianity, New York Theological Seminary

Yong is one of the most creative and promising of the young evangelical/Pentecostal theologians. He has an impressive command of the sources, indomitable energy, and a willingness to venture into new territory. This book, on a subject of increasing urgency to the whole Christian community, is his best to date. Yong is taken seriously within evangelical/Pentecostal circles and increasingly within Christian theology as a whole, so this book is sure to make a mark.

—Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard University

Product Details

• Title: The Spirit Poured out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology
• Author: Amos Yong
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2005
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Pentecostalism; Theology, doctrinal
• ISBNs: 9781441222732, 0801027705, 9780801027703, 1441222731
• Resource ID: LLS:SPRTPRDLLFLSH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:07:16Z

About Amos Yong

Amos Yong (PhD, Boston University) is professor of theology and mission and director of the Center for Missiological Research at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He is the author or editor of over two dozen books, including Spirit of Love: A Trinitarian Theology of Grace, Afro-Pentecostalism: Black Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in History and Culture (coedited with Estrelda Alexander), Science and the Spirit: A Pentecostal Engagement with the Sciences (coedited with James K. A. Smith) and The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology. Yong is a member of the the American Academy of Religion, the Christian Theological Research Fellowship, and the Society for Pentecostal Studies. He is also a licensed minister with the General Council of the Assemblies of God.