jepta 2001 21 - European Pentecostal Theological Association

The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, Vol. XXI, 2001
in the initial evidence or not. However, it could make a difference whether they
practise dealing with Creation in a more spiritual manner as part of their active
sanctification.
The second challenge is the imbalance in world trade. This trade produces too
many refugees and victims. The police will not be able to hold these people
outside the frontiers of Europe. This will create worldwide social unrest. Since
Pentecostals are now in leading positions in the chemical and pharmaceutical
industries, in the military, in industry, in the banks and in the universities, their
voices will begin to count in the future. Why should they belong to those who
destroy God's creation
The third challenge that I see is of a theological nature. What type of theological
method, what manner of doing theology corresponds to Pentecostal spirituality.
How Pentecostalism will respond to these challenges is at the moment wide open.
On a personal level, although you began your life as a Pentecostal, you left the
denomination; what do you feel is your relationship to mainstream
Pentecostalism
I do not know anybody who could convincingly define what "mainstream Pentecostalism"
i9. Is it French Pentecostalism with its co-operation within the French
Federation of churches or is it Dutch Pentecostalism with its attempts to move its
Bible College not only into geographical vicinity of one of the universities, but
also by integrating it partly into the university Is it Finnish Pentecostalism with
its director of the Bible College being paid by the state and his involvement in the
Roman Catholic/Pentecostal dialogue Is it British Pentecostalism with its rather
loose definition of "Spirit baptism" or is it Swiss Pentecostalism that shies away
from all contacts with Catholics, universities and anything which smells of
ecumenism Of course, most Pentecostal denominations believe themselves to be
mainstream, but that is sheer propaganda. The Pentecostal policeman who
tortured Frank Chikane in South Africa thought that he was mainstream because
he was in line with the dominant apartheid regime in South Africa. Nowadays,
probably most Pentecostals will not see Frank Chikane as being representative of
mainline Pentecostalism. Since Pentecostals do not have a central authority to
decide on who is "mainstream" and who is not, the question seems unanswerable.
As to my personal relationship, 1 always wanted to be a theologian for and with
Pentecostals. Since that was not possible within Swiss Pentecostalism (although
that is changing too), the Lord provided a platform for me within the WCC and
within certain European universities, where 1 trained a considerable number of
Pentecostal theologians. 1 helped them to be taken serious in the universities and
within the WCC. With time, this has also been recognised by Pentecostals who
invite me to address them regularly. I even received "A Life Time Achievement
Award" for my research from the US Society for Pentecostal Studies. The
Pentecostalism, Past, Present and Future
Interview with Walter Hollenweger by Neil Hudson
ceremony took place at the headquarters of the US Assemblies of God, Springfield,
of all places. As to my personal convictions, it is by now probably clear that
together with many Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal scholars, I feel that many of
their propositional statements are to be found wanting. However, Pentecostal
theology is changing so rapidly now, at least on the academic level, that I do not
want to stress this point.
As in all churches, the denominational hierarchies are way behind their scholars.
But that is not only a problem within Pentecostalism.
Globally, Pentecostalism has become a southern-hemisphere religion. What
does that mean for the development of Pentecostal scholarship in the future
What do you feel will be the emphases that this shift will introduce into
mainstream European Pentecostalism
Firstly, the times of European Pentecostal missionaries in the Third World are
over. Third World Pentecostals are better missionaries and evangelists in their
own culture than any European. The sooner Pentecostal mission societies realise
this, the better. Secondly, Pentecostal missionaries must concentrate on Europe,
on the masses of people who know nothing of Christ. But they must also
evangelise the institutions in Europe such as our big commercial enterprises and
our universities that act as if there was no God, even if some of their leading
managers are believing Christians.
Thirdly, in Paris, there are hundreds of African Pentecostal congregations. The
same is true for Belgium, England, Germany, Holland and even Switzerland.
Many of these immigrants are not Muslim but Pentecostal Christians. So far, the
relationships between these "exotic" Pentecostals and European native
Pentecostals are very weak; practically non-existent. The historical churches in
Europe seem to be much better in establishing contacts. Perhaps a Pentecostal
mission society or a Pentecostal missiologist can explain why that should be so
The second generation of these immigrant Pentecostals will appear in our
universities. They will become leaders not only in their immigration communities
(and evangelise them); they will also become partners of the State, the
educational institutions and the media. That will shake European Pentecostals!
All of a sudden, black and brown Christians will represent European
Pentecostalism in public, because white European Pentecostals in general choose
to remain 'invisible'. Already, the only Pentecostal member church of the
Conference of European Churches is a black British Pentecostal Church. With a
few exceptions, Pentecostal member churches in the WCC are Third World
Churches; many of them African. It is therefore not astonishing that the public in
general will identify Pentecostalism with non-white Christianity.