Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture

Grant Wacker, the Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Christian History at Duke Divinity School, wrote the foreword for the recently released Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture. This 263-page hardback volume is published by The Pennsylvania State University Press and edited by Lloyd D. Barba, Andrea Shan Johnson, and Daniel Ramirez.

In addition to Wacker’s foreword, the book includes a list of illustrations, acknowledgments, and an introduction titled “Remapping the History of North American Oneness Pentecostalism,” with contributions from each editor.

Ten chapters explore the variety of topics to which the subtitle alludes, offering insights on race, gender, and culture from the perspective of Oneness Pentecostalism as it developed from the early twentieth century. The author of each chapter is a scholar in the field whose academic qualifications are presented in a list of contributors on page 251.

Here are the chapter titles with the authors’ names:

  1. The Unresolved Issue: A Third-World Perspective on the Oneness Question, Manuel Gaxiola
  2. Evangelical Origins of Oneness Pentecostal Theology, David A. Reed
  3. Sounding Out Diversity in Pentecostal History: Early Oneness Hymnody, Daniel Ramirez
  4. Andrew D. Urshan: An Eastern Voice in Early Oneness Pentecostalism, Daniel L. Segraves
  5. The Dust District: Okies, Authority, and the Hard-Liner Transformation of California Pentecostalism, Lloyd D. Barba
  6. The Braziers: Three Generations of Apostolic Activism, Rosa M. Sailes
  7. Bossed and Bothered: Authority and Gender in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Dana Coleby Delgado
  8. Trust God to Provide for the Difference: The Economic and Opportunity Costs of Being Female and a Preacher, Andrea Shan Johnson
  9. Women in the Luz del Mundo Church: A Transnational Study, Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola
  10. Liturgical Spaces in Mexican Oneness Pentecostalism: Architectural and Spatial Dimensions, Daniel Chiquete

The volume concludes with a final offering by the editors titled “Navigating New Paths to Old Landmarks,” followed by a ten-page index.

The need for this work is captured in Wacker’s first paragraph:

“Four score and seven years ago” – or so it now seems – I wrote a long essay on “Bibliography and Historiography” for the landmark Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (1988). For a young historian wading into uncharted waters, it was, I hope, a useful effort. Yet looking at that essay today, I am shocked – though not really surprised – by the topics that I shortchanged. The most notable was Oneness Pentecostalism.

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Bits and Pieces ….

Pixabay at Pexels

As I mentioned in my post on February 15, 2023, I had the opportunity on February 26, 2023 to present a lecture on The Messiah in the Psalms to interested members of the general board of the United Pentecostal Church International. I posted a PowerPoint presentation including 135 slides to be sure all the information I wanted to share would be available to attendees. I’m leaving that presentation on my blog so anyone can make use of it.

Just as a point of interest, I noticed those who viewed my blog that day included people from the United States of America, Poland, Canada, India, Ghana, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Jamaica. Not only did viewers search the blog’s archives, they also looked specifically at posts titled “The Messiah in the Psalms,” “The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans,” “A Response to Calvin Beisner’s Explanation of Acts 2:38,” “Daily Wisdom 234: Proverbs 11:17,” “Another Look at ‘Delivering Up the Kingdom,’ “The Day I Wore My Suspenders to School,” “The Spirit of the Lord in the Minor Prophets,” and “The Encyclopedia Brittanica and Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ.”

Concerning Asbury University and my book Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography. Most readers of this blog probably have some level of awareness of the recent move of the Holy Spirit at Asbury University. I am thankful for the Spirit’s work wherever, whenever, and however it occurs. When we first heard what was going on in Wilmore, Kentucky, my wife Susan reminded me that there was a connection between Asbury and my book about Andrew D. Urshan. The connection is that the book is published by Emeth Press, a publisher of academic books. The book is included in the series known as The Asbury Theological Seminary Series in World Christian Revitalization Movements. “Emeth” is a Hebrew word. Its range of meaning includes firmness, trustworthiness, constancy, duration, faithfulness, and truth. If you are interested in checking out information about my book, you can do so at http://www.emethpress.com. The book is available also at pentecostalpublishing.com and amazon.com.

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