Marginal Christianity

Tongues of Fire The tongues of fire and the speaking the gospel to all the visitors to Jerusalem in their own languages obviously grab every readers attention and interest in Luke’s Pentecost account. We considered some of resonances of fire for Jewish hearers in the first post in this series on “Word, Wind, and Fire.” What resonances, however, would the proclamation of the gospel is all the different languages represented in the crowd have for them? First, we need to notice that the “crowd” present at this event is Jewish visitors to Jerusalem for the  festival not all Gentile nations. Pentecost is an inner-Jewish event though certainly with significance for the wider world of nations. Too often, we apply it directly to the nations but a careful reading of Acts constrains us at this point. The “all flesh” of Joel’s prophecy that Peter uses to interpret what is happening (Acts 2:17) refers to the indiscriminate outpouring of the Spirit on all Jews not on every human bein...

by Wes Granberg-Michaelson 05-26-2015 | 9:27am           It's a new form of Christianity,” explained Opoku Onyinah, “now also living in the West.” He’s the president of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, and also heads the Church of Pentecost, begun in Ghana and now in 84 nations. Onyinah was speaking at a workshop on “How Shall We Walk Between Cultures,” and explaining how African Christianity is interacting with postmodern culture. It was part of Empowered21, which gathered thousands of Pentecostals in Jerusalem over Pentecost. Molodec / Shutterstock.com   I’ve found this idea intriguing. Pentecostalism, especially as it is emerging in the non-Western world, is a postmodern faith. Often I’ve said, “An evangelical wants to know what you believe, while a Pentecostal wants to hear your spiritual story.” Perhaps it’s an oversimplification. But Pentecostalism embodies a strong emphasis on narrative and finds reality...