Over the past fifty years Brazil's evangelical community has increased from five to twenty-five percent of the population. This volume's authors use statistical overview, historical narrative, personal anecdote, social-scientific analysis, and theological inquiry to map out this emerging landscape. The book's thematic center pivots on the question of how Brazilian evangelicals are exerting their presence and effecting change in the public life of the nation. Rather than fixing its focus on the interior life of Brazilian evangelicals and their congregations, the book's attention is directed toward social expression: the ways in which Brazilian evangelicals are present and active in the common life of the nation.

Covers the 435-year history of the faith, life, and culture of Anabaptists in Europe and Mennonites throughout the world. Presented are people, movements, and places in their relation to Mennonites.

This Encyclopedia was jointly edited by historians and scholars of the Mennonite Church, the General Conference of Mennonites, and the Mennonite Brethren Church. More than 2,700 writers contributed articles.

Volume V includes updates on materials in the first four volumes plus nearly 1,000 new articles edited by Cornelius J. Dyck and Dennis D. Martin.

This is an examination of the background to the gift of tongues in the light of Old Testament prophecy. In this book, Hiu firstly examines the background to the gifts of tongues and prophecy with a comprehensive assessment of the historical evidence, both primary and secondary, finding that tongues is a uniquely Christian phenomenon. Hiu then demonstrates that 'New Testament prophecy' is best considered as a direct extension of Old Testament prophecy. Hiu moves on to define and describe the functions of both tongues and prophecy in the New Testament which subsequently provides a clear base from which to seek a coherent understanding of the context and intent of Paul's regulations in "1 Cor" 14.26-40. Attention is then focused on the socio-religious context of the known New Testament churches to determine if these regulations are applicable in non-Corinthian congregations. This ties in with a wider debate in Pauline scholarship surrounding whether Paul's intent was for Corinthians to be only addressed to the church at Corinth or whether he intended it to have a secondary audience also. Finally, Hiu draws the conclusion that Paul's regulations in "1 Corinthians" are aptly applicable in all known New Testament churches and that the Corinthian situation is not unique. The natural inference is thereby that these regulations may be considered further in application to Christian churches in a contemporary setting. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches, "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. "European Seminar on Christian Origins" and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".

Inward Baptism analyses the theological developments that led to the great evangelical revivals of the mid-eighteenth century. Baird Tipson here demonstrates how the rationale for the "new birth," the characteristic and indispensable evangelical experience, developed slowly but inevitably from Luther's critique of late medieval Christianity. Addressing the great indulgence campaigns of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Luther's perspective on sacramental baptism, as well as the confrontation between Lutheran and Reformed theologians who fastened on to different aspects of Luther's teaching, Tipson sheds light on how these disparate historical moments collectively created space for evangelicalism. This leads to an exploration of the theology of the leaders of the Evangelical awakening in the British Isles, George Whitefield and John Wesley, who insisted that by preaching the immediate revelation of the Holy Spirit during the "new birth," they were recovering an essential element of primitive Christianity that had been forgotten over the centuries. Ultimately, Inward Baptism examines how these shifts in religious thought made possible a commitment to an inward baptism and consequently, the evangelical experience.

At its best, all Christian worship is led by the Holy Spirit. But is there a distinctive theology of Pentecostal worship? The Pentecostal church or the renewal movement is among the fastest-growing parts of the body of Christ around the world, which makes understanding its theology and practice critical for the future of the church. In this volume in IVP Academic's Dynamics of Christian Worship (DCW) series, theologian Steven Felix-Jager offers a theology of renewal worship, including its biblical foundations, how its global nature is expressed in particular localities, and how charismatic worship distinctively shapes the community of faith. With his guidance, the whole church might understand better what it means to pray, "Come, Holy Spirit!" The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship-including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more-to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.

"Can anything orthodox come from Pentecostalism?" This recasting of Nathaniel's familiar question from the Gospel is a fair summary of many modern Christians' assessment of the Pentecostal tradition. Yet in recent years, a growing number of Pentecostals have been turning afresh to the ancient, creedal Christian faith. Bishop Emilio Alvarez has himself been at the forefront of this movement. In Pentecostal Orthodoxy he introduces the phenomenon, and extends the project of paleo-orthodox ressourcement (associated with scholars such as Thomas Oden and Robert Webber) to include orthodox expressions within Pentecostalism, particularly his own Afro-Latino Pentecostal movement. This book is a manifesto of sorts, promising not only to open up the possibility of a genuinely orthodox Pentecostalism, but to reframe modern ecumenical dialogue as well.

California, long a Mecca for eccentric cults, has also hosted more than its share of unusual and unorthodox Christian evangelists and sects. From pre-Gold Rush days to the 21st Century, visionaries seeking to revive or transform the Faith have flocked to California's shores, or have emerged from its environs as native sons and daughters. Their often-idiosyncratic crusades have influenced not only Golden State history and culture, but Christianity as a whole. California Jesus tells the little-known yet fascinating stories behind the people and groups that populate Californian Christendom, including: * The Children of God -- Born on the Huntington Beach boardwalk, this "Jesus People" hippie-ministry turned to prostituting its members and molesting its children in the name of Christ * Bebe and C. Thomas Patten -- married evangelists, these Oakland-based Pentecostal preachers scammed penniless Okie immigrants and major banks alike for millions * Joe Jeffers -- a renegade Baptist minister who started a murderous religious war between his followers and a rival's, made headlines in lurid L.A. sex scandals, and claimed that "Yahweh" had stashed several billion dollars for him in the constellation Orion * The Metropolitan Community Church -- Gay L. A. evangelist Troy Perry challenges homophobia with a hugely controversial, and much-attacked sect that ministers Christ's love to sexual "outsiders" * Church of the Holy Family -- film-star Mel Gibson's schismatic, secretive Malibu parish, which claims to be literally more Catholic than the Pope * Holy Mountain -- a huge, bizarre, ever-growing folk-art monument in the Imperial Valley desert built by an aging drifter to glorify God's love, that's now become an international tourist destination * And many, many more! Filled with captivating anecdotes about the state's most colorful and controversial Christian pastors and sects, and accompanied by many rare photos and illustrations, California Jesus illuminates this absorbing yet little-discussed aspect of both state history and culture, and the Christian experience. Believers and doubters alike, as well as anyone interested in the Golden State's unique spiritual heritage, will find this work hard to put down.

Joseph Smale was a catalytic figure in the church life of los Angeles, leading many towards the 'Promised land' of Pentecostal blessing in 1905-1906; although his subsequent experiences led him to retreat from the burgeoning Pentecostal movement. Joseph Smale (1867-1926) was one of the central figures involved in the chain of events leading to the 1906 Azusa Street revival in los Angeles. This study presents the diverse influences which impacted Smale - formative years in Britain, growing up in Cornwall and Somerset amid a rhythm of Wesleyan revival; reformed theological training under the tutelage of C.H. Spurgeon in London; migration to the united States; plus hard experiences in the 'school of anxiety' - which were all precursors for Smale's influential role as champion of Pentecostal revival. Smale's leadership will resonate with every church leader who prays for revival and longs for more Holy Spirit power experimentally. Furthermore, his story is also educative for those contending with some of the more problematic and 'untidy' aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic experience, involving painful power struggles, hurts, abuse of freedom, spiritual excesses and so on. Smale's 'Moses' designation and biography still have relevance for the church in the present day.

Latter-day Saints have a paradoxical relationship to the past; even as they invest their own history with sacred meaning, celebrating the restoration of ancient truths and the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, they repudiate the eighteen centuries of Christianity preceding the founding of their church as apostate distortions of the truth. Since the early days of Mormonism, Latter-day Saints (LDS) have used the paradigm of apostasy and restoration in their narratives about the origin of their church. This has generated a powerful and enduring binary of categorization that has profoundly impacted Mormon self-perception and relations with others. Standing Apart explores how the idea of apostasy has functioned as a category to mark, define, and set apart "the other" in Mormon historical consciousness and in the construction of Mormon narrative identity. The volume's fifteen contributors trace the development of LDS narratives of apostasy within the context of both Mormon history and American Protestant historiography. They suggest ways in which these narratives might be reformulated to engage with the past, as well as offering new models for interfaith relations. This volume provides a novel approach for understanding and resolving some of the challenges the LDS church faces in the twenty-first century.

Why, when traditionally organized religious groups are seeing declining membership and participation, are networks of independent churches growing so explosively? Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, The Rise of Network Christianity explains the social forces behind the fastest growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled "Independent Network Christianity" (INC). This form of Christianity emphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural, including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in "spiritual warfare" against demonic spirits, and social transformation. Christerson and Flory argue that large-scale social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized by networks rather than traditionally organized congregations and denominations. Network forms of church governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today's unstable religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory argue that as more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more oriented around practice than belief, more shaped by the individual religious "consumer" and that authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather than institutions.