God, Suffering, and Pentecostals

God, Suffering, and Pentecostals
Author: Marius Nel
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2022-02-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 166673358X

Pentecostals emphasize that God is still the Healer of all illnesses, implying that God answers all prayers. What about those who are not healed? How do we explain suffering? Why does a good God allow suffering? Is God not powerful enough to prevent it? In this publication, the author reconsiders these questions from a Pentecostal hermeneutical perspective to develop a novel way to think about God’s involvement with suffering among people. His experimental theology speculates how a Pentecostal ethos accommodates a theodicy that acknowledges suffering and God’s involvement in people’s lives. Although the book is a theologically constituted attempt, anyone can follow and understand its arguments. It concludes with alternative views of suffering, evil, God’s loving attention to people, the doctrine of original sin, and Satan. The author also suggests some ways to respond to suffering.

Who is Present in Absence?

Who is Present in Absence?
Author: Pamela F. Engelbert
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2019-01-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532633548

What transpires when Classical Pentecostals pray for God to intervene within their suffering, but God does not? Traditionally, Classical Pentecostals center on encountering God as demonstrated through the relating of testimonies of their experiences with God. In seeking to contribute to a theology of suffering for Pentecostals, Pam Engelbert lifts up the stories of eight Classical Pentecostals to discover how they experienced God and others amidst their extended suffering even when God did not intervene as they had prayed. By valuing each story, this qualitative practical theology work embraces a Pentecostal hermeneutic of experience combined with Scripture, namely the Gospel of John. As a Pentecostal practical theological project it offers a praxis (theology of action) of suffering and healing during times when we experience the apparent absence of God. It invites the reader to enter into the space of the other's suffering by way of empathy, and thereby participate in God's act of ministry to humanity through God's expression of empathy in the very person of Jesus.

The Spirit and Suffering in Luke-Acts

The Spirit and Suffering in Luke-Acts
Author: Martin W. Mittelstadt
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2004-10-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780826471635

This work illuminates the tension between divine empowering and the neglected element of the work of the Spirit in contexts of opposition. This lacuna, not addressed in previous Pentecostal scholarship, is at the heart of Mittelstadt's exegesis. Thus, Jesus not only lives and ministers in the power of the Holy Spirit, but also experiences opposition and persecution as a man of the Spirit. Further, the Lukan Jesus not only transfers the Spirit to his disciples, but also anticipates a similar fate for his followers. Finally, Luke forecasts that this divine enablement of the Spirit, also available for future witnesses, brings with it a similar anticipation of the same rejection and opposition as was experienced by Jesus and the disciples. While Pentecostals owe a debt of gratitude for the pioneering work of Pentecostal scholars, this book furthers their efforts by exploring the implications of Spirit-led witness in Luke-Acts.

The New City Catechism

The New City Catechism
Author:
Publisher: Gospel Coalition
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Christian education of children
ISBN: 9781433555077

This modern-day catechism sets forth fifty-two questions and answers designed to build a framework to help adults and children alike understand core Christian beliefs.

A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy

A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy
Author: Stephen Torr
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2013-11-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1620328542

The response of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches to those suffering in their midst has generally been to seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit to bring about healing and transformation, or perhaps, education. But what happens when the suffering continues, it appears to be innocent and meaningless, and God seems to be absent? This study, drawing on Kevin Vanhoozer's "dramatic" approach to theology, argues that the way God calls us to "perform" as we seek to communicate with him amidst such situations is to lament, and to do so with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Rather than offering such an approach purely in opposition to the more "triumphalistic" responses common in Pentecostal/Charismatic theology and practice, this book seeks to show how a performance of lament is conducive to such theology and practice while acting as a much-needed corrective to certain aspects of it. What is provided here is therefore relevant reading for both scholars and pastors alike, particularly of Pentecostal/Charismatic church tradition, who grapple with the realities of suffering and the questions such realities produce.

Must Christians Suffer?

Must Christians Suffer?
Author: Kenneth E. Hagin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1982-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780892764044

This book puts an end to the confusion concerning suffering and shows Christians how to cope with trials while resting on the promises of God.

Why All People Suffer

Why All People Suffer
Author: Paul Chaloux
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1644134225

Suffering is one of the most challenging and inescapable mysteries of life ��� even for the innocent. Thinkers have long been vexed by the idea that a good God permits suffering, and it has been a stumbling block for many souls striving to live lives of faith. But what if we've been looking at suffering improperly all this time? What if, instead of serving as evidence against God, suffering represented the very proof of a loving God? In this transformative and enlightening book, Dr. Paul Chaloux ��� adjunct professor of theology at the Catholic University of America ��� demonstrates that suffering is not retribution from an angry, vengeful God but the saving action of a loving God who directs us away from evil and toward eternal joy in Heaven. Educated in his own ���school of suffering,��� Dr. Chaloux explains the four tasks of suffering that are essential in the economy of salvation and why, if suffering were t

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Christian Suffering

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Christian Suffering
Author: Kwang-Jin Jang
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2011-06-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1462016456

This research has focused on the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian suffering. A broad concept of suffering is excluded in the study. Of particular concern to this research is 'suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ'. Methods employed in the study are: narrative approach, dialogical approach and synthesis.

Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Restoration

Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Restoration
Author: Martin William Mittelstadt
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2010-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608991946

Although history is replete with tales of revenge, Christian forgiveness provides an alternate response. In this volume, Pentecostal scholars from various disciplines offer their vision for forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. The essayists offer long-overdue Pentecostal perspectives through analysis of contemporary theological issues, personal testimony, and prophetic possibilities for restoration of individual relationships and communities. Though Pentecostals remain committed to Spirit-empowered witness as recorded in Luke-Acts, these scholars embrace a larger Lukan vision of Spirit-initiated inclusivity marked by reconciliation. The consistent refrain calls for forgiveness as an expression of God's love that does not demand justice but rather seeks to promote peace by bringing healing and reconciliation in relationships between people united by one Spirit.

Is God to Blame?

Is God to Blame?
Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2003-09-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780830823949

Wrestling with the question, Is God to blame?, Gregory A. Boyd offers a hopeful picture of a sovereign God who is relentlessly opposed to evil, who knows our sufferings and who can be trusted to bring us through them to renewed life.