Pentecostal Theological Education: Mapping the Historical Landscape and Reflecting on a Theological Future

Abstract

Pentecostalism has a mixed history with theological education. The movement has been shaped by a strong current of anti-intellectualism, but it has also established and supported training institutions from its inception. This article briefly maps out the historical development of Western classical Pentecostal theological education and proposes that many of the existing challenges and tensions have been caused by the movement’s uncritical adoption of Fundamentalist theological norms and a “pick and mix” approach to theological training. This has resulted in incoherences in Pentecostal education, and has also polarized academic theology and the work of the Holy Spirit. The article argues that a coherent Pentecostal theological education should be informed by Pentecostal philosophical determinants. After outlining Pentecostal metaphysics, epistemology and teleology, the article proposes seven theses for Pentecostal theological education in late-modernity. The educational vision that emerges is characterized by holism and a pluralistic Pentecostal hermeneutic.