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

observes, this theory provides ‘an alternative to the Eurocentric model of writing
Pentecostal history with its center-to-periphery schema’. 118 With the help of
evidence from the life and writing of early Indian Pentecostals, Pulikottil argues
that from the initial period Indian Pentecostals rejected a Eurocentric
interpretation of Pentecostal history. 119 As discussed below, the ‘multiple
Jerusalems’ theory finds that many indigenous revivals have been left out in the
grand Euro-centric narratives, including the Indian revivals.
Secondly, the ‘many Jerusalems theory’ falls in line with the postcolonial
approach to historiography. As the postcolonial interpretation of history is a
‘history from below’ and ‘voices from the edges’, Pulikottil observes that such an
approach will help to ‘reconstruct history from the perspective of those who are
left out’ by traditional grand narratives and thus give them ‘their due place in
history.’ Therefore, he suggests that a postcolonial approach to history can be an
effective tool in Pentecostal historiography. 120
Thirdly, the ‘multiple Jerusalems theory’ qualifies the subaltern perspective of
history. 121 As Pulikottil observes, this perspective attempts to ‘rewrite the history
by focusing on those who were on the fringes and by reconstructing specific, local
and particular accounts’ of the story’ and it also provides space to ‘understand
118 David D. Daniels III, ‘Grasping the Global Reality: A Review of Allan Anderson’s An
Introduction to Pentecostalism,’ Pneuma 28, no.2 (2006): 276.
119 According to Pulikottil, the Indian reaction against such Eurocentricism in Pentecostal history
can be dated as early as 1955 in India. For further discussion, see Pulikottil, ‘East and West Met,’
19-21.
120 Pulikottil, ‘East and West Met,’ 5-8.
121 The term ‘subaltern’ was popularized by the Italian Marxist writer ‘Antonio Gramsci’ in the
1920s and 1930s to replace the most commonly used ‘proletarian class.’ See Clarke, Dalits and
Christianity, 6. This term has been brought to the fore of critical scholarship in India by Ranajit
Guha, G.C. Spivak and others, and the study is referred to as the ‘Subaltern Studies Collective.’
For a discussion on the same, see Sathianathan Clarke, ‘Subalterns. Identity Politics and Christian
Theology in India,’ in Christian Theology in Asia, ed. Sebastian C.H. Kim (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2008), 278-79.
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