a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

Pentecostals were so famous.’ 2 Thus, the dilemma facing many western
Pentecostals is whether to go with the growing global middle-class culture or to
maintain the ethos of early Pentecostalism, and this seems to be an ethical
challenge. Pentecostalism in most parts of the Majority World began in the
context of oppression, injustice and poverty. However, Hollenweger observes that
today Pentecostalism has become a respectable middle-class denomination in
many parts of the world, 3 and so it appears to want to move away from the poor
and ignore its social mission. Therefore, the dilemma before Pentecostals in the
Majority World seems to be whether to embrace and emulate western middle-
class culture, or to maintain its link with the poor. This challenge seems to be
ethical as well as missiological. Thus, global Pentecostals at large appears to be in
a missio-ethical dilemma. Third, this study may also provide an answer to this
dilemma through the development of a new and helpful contextual missiology of
the Spirit that has emerged from the current research on Pentecostalism in
Rajasthan. As discussed in chapter six, this new model is flexible as it is sensitive
to the particular cultural or local situation on the one hand, and to the national or
global situation of the movement on the other, and at the same time, recognizes
the influence of the Spirit experiences in shaping the theology of Pentecostals.
Furthermore, this thesis contributes to three major areas of research and academic
discussion. Firstly, from a historical perspective, it contributes to the history of
indigenous Christianity in India. Secondly, from a missiological perspective,
contextual missiology of the Spirit is proposed as a new (Pentecostal) model of
2 Harvey G. Cox, ‘Pentecostalism and Global Market Culture: A Response to Issues Facing
Pentecostalism in Post Modern World,’ in Globalization of Pentecostalism, 394.
3 Walter J. Hollenweger, ‘Crucial Issues for Pentecostals,’ in Pentecostals after a Century, 188.
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