Beyond the Evangelical Empasse
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"Doug Blanc is concerned about developing unity in contexts of diversity and desirous of establishing unity where disunity is present. Such aims are admirable and Biblical. In pursuit of these aspirations, he has carefully, and courageously, chosen to explore the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in order to determine if there is the possibility of consensus, and certainly dialogue, between groups of believers who initially appear to hold to very different perspectives with regard to this belief. In so doing, he identifies broader areas of belief that are shared by different believers that help to contextualize their views on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The process is marked by intellectual integrity, careful research methodology and an authentic and balanced critique throughout. It is scholarly and pastorally sensitive...and, even more importantly, has the potential of facilitating friendship, conversation, and the increasing appreciation of centrally important issues that can bring about relational healing, harmony, and wholeness."
-KEITH WARRINGTON (PhD, King's College, University of London) is Reader in Pentecostal Studies at Regents Theological College, Cheshire, England.
-KEITH WARRINGTON (PhD, King's College, University of London) is Reader in Pentecostal Studies at Regents Theological College, Cheshire, England.
This project provides American Baptists with a rationale for engaging with Pentecostal/charismatic (P/C) spirituality to inform a biblically adduced understanding of Christian experience. Under consideration is the biblical metaphor identified as 'Spirit baptism' or 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' (BHS). Though diversely understood in the movement and with varying degrees of emphasis, BHS is elemental to P/C spirituality. Although P/C spirituality is presented broadly in this study, the thesis will concentrate on the classical Pentecostal tradition and its BHS doctrine juxtaposing the American Baptist view. This thesis considers an aspect of the BHS debate hitherto unexplored. A thorough review of the relevant literature is conducted throughout the thesis to represent both points of view where appropriate.Rather than engaging the body of scholarly works to further explore the nature and function of BHS, the thesis will present a focused comparison of two opposing traditions for the purpose of achieving doctrinal consensus.This study contends that as evangelicals, American Baptists and P/C Christians are mutually committed to a personal conversion experience-based spirituality. The role of experience in American Baptist spirituality, though markedly less prominent than among Pentecostals, is none-the-less encounter-oriented and part of the tradition's heritage. This study further contends that American Baptists benefit from doctrinally engaging the P/C movement to inform spiritual experience via a biblically-adduced understanding of BHS. The result is a doctrinal construct which posits BHS as an eschatologically unique and unrepeatable corporate reception of the Spirit by the body of Christ on the Day of Pentecost, one that provides ongoing evidential charismatic equipping for Christian life and ministry. The significance of this once and for all completed corporate event to American Baptists is its relevance to personal encounter-oriented spiritual experience.Though a definitive text-based Spirit baptism inter-tradition consensus remains elusive, the path toward the target reveals a mutual appreciation for experiential encounters with God as its common ground.