Several leaders in the early Pentecostal movement interpreted the outpouring of the Spirit at the Azusa Street Mission and other places as a sign that the Spirit would now unite Christians across the borders of denominations in a new Pentecost that concurs with the events of Acts 2 which led to the formation of the Early Christian Church. They did not actively pursue ecumenism, but expected it as a natural and spontaneous result of the Spirit’s work, carried by their primitivist and restorationist impulses. Instead of the other churches appreciating and accepting Pentecostal experiences as interventions by the Spirit, most main-line churches alienated and rejected Pentecostals as a heretical sect. Within one generation, Pentecostalists entered denominationalism and by the 1940s, in an upward social mobility surge, aligned themselves with some evangelicals with a biblicist-literalist hermeneutics. Today Pentecostalism has accepted that Spirit baptism did not bring the expected unity of the Christian church and entered into formal ecumenical relations with several international ecumenical bodies and para-church organisations. It is argued that an ecumenical impulse need to originate on grass roots level. Ecumenism will only succeed when the local assembly and its members become involved. This can be done, for example by building ecumenical relations with historical churches that experience a charismatic renewal, neo-Pentecostalist groups and African Indigenous Churches, especially those with a historical connection with Pentecostalism, and motivating assemblies to cooperate with assemblies of their denomination in instituting a regular worship service in a common language where members may fellowship together. The aim of such contacts would not primarily be to realise organisational unity, but mutual understanding and communication leading to cooperation and trust.

Peer review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript was subjected to a rigorous two-step peer review prior to publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher and/or authors in question. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the manuscript be published. Where the reviewers recommended revision and/or improvements to the manuscript, the authors responded adequately to such recommendations. Research JustificationIn this book, a critical engagement with theological education in Africa is offered. As the book originates from South Africa, it is presented from a South African perspective although contributors are situated accross the African continent and abroad. The common denominator is, however, that all contributers are, in some way or another, invested in theological education in Africa.The main contribution of this collaborative work is to be sought in the insights it offers on four main areas of theological education: a historical and current orientation on theological edcuation in Africa, some paradigm shifts in theological education in Africa, ministerial formation needs versus theological education challenges and a critical reflection on elective models and methods. This book presents an original and innovative research of scholars involved in theological higher education, as it is grounded in the respective fields of interest of each contributor. It contributes to a better understanding of the complex African theological higher education landscape, a complex landscape that is experiencing even greater challenges since the dawn of COVID-19, which is noted in the research findings.Methodologically, the work draws on a combination of methods, including literature studies, empirical work and, in some cases, sectional offerings from doctoral studies, as indicated in the various chapters.The centre target consists of scholars in the field of higher theological education in Africa. No part of the book was plagiarised from another publication or published elsewhere before.

Pentecostals' reading of the Old Testament

Pentecostal spirituality is defined as the integration of beliefs and practices into the affections that are themselves evoked and expressed by those practices and beliefs. This article investigates these practices and beliefs by examining pentecostal publications to define the most important constitutive elements of a pentecostal spirituality. The most important theological beliefs are justification by faith in Christ, sanctification as a second definite work of grace, healing as provided in the atonement, the premillennial second coming of Christ, and the baptism in the Spirit. However, when these theological beliefs are translated into pentecostal practice, it seems that their spirituality is essentially biblical, apocalyptical eschatological, missional, and affective. These elements are discussed in order to attempt to define the constitutive elements of a pentecostal spirituality.Pinksterspiritualiteit kan gedefinieer word as die integrasie van oortuigings en praktyke in die gevoelens wat deur daardie praktyke en oortuigings uitgelok en uitgedruk word. Die artikel ondersoek die praktyke en oortuigings deur na publikasies vanuit Pinkstergeledere te kyk ten einde die belangrikste samestellende elemente van ’n Pinksterspiritualiteit te definieer. Die belangrikste teologiese leerstellings is regverdiging deur die geloof in Christus, heiligmaking as ’n tweede besliste werk van genade, genesing as deel van die versoeningswerk, die verwagting van die premillennialistiese tweede koms van Christus, en die doop in die Heilige Gees. Wanneer die teologiese leerstellings in die Pinksterpraktyk vertaal word, blyk dit dat die spiritualiteit in wese bybels, apokalipties-eskatologies, missionaal en affektief is. Hierdie elemente word bespreek in ’n poging om die essensiële elemente van ’n Pinksterspiritualiteit te definieer.

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