The last two decades have witnessed the growing participation in theological dialogues of non-institutional (free church) movements. This poses a serious challenge to 21st century ecumenism, since ecclesial realities and internal diversity of these movements impede fruitful dialogue in the classical manner. The present volume addresses fundamental aspects of this challenge by a critical study of an exemplary case of such dialogues, the International Roman Catholic-Classical Pentecostal Dialogue (1972-2007). This unique study builds both on primary archival sources and on earlier research on the IRCCPD. After providing an ecumenical profile of the Classical Pentecostal dialogue partner, Creemers demonstrates how fair representation of the Classical Pentecostal movement has been pursued in the course of the dialogue. Next, he gives attention to the ecumenical method of the IRCCPD. First, the development of a dialogue method hinging on "hard questions" is traced, which has allowed a balanced theological exchange between the dialogue partners. Regarding theological method, it is demonstrated that both partners showed a willingness to experiment together by integrating sources of theological knowledge typically distrusted in their own traditions. In conclusion, the analyses are integrated in an overview of challenges and opportunities for dialogue with the Classical Pentecostal movement in the context of ongoing discussions on ecumenical method.

J. E. Hutton's superb history follows the Moravian Church from its earliest years as one of the earliest founding Protestant denominations, over the centuries as it developed into a mature Christian fellowship. Arranged chronologically, Hutton's history takes us first to the dawn of the Protestant Reformation in the fifteenth century. He details the fraught religious and political situation during the decades prior to the eventual split with the dominant Catholic order. We are introduced to the pivotal figures of the era, such as Peter of Chelci, Gregory the Patriarch and Luke of Prague. The political climate of Prague, Bohemia and the surrounding areas in which the Moravians lived is much-detailed. The pure, simple observance of Christ and his virtues united the Moravian movement - the essential devotion to Jesus and his gospel appealed to Christians, who yearned for community under a common banner and felt distant from the old order. Poland in particular proved a bastion for Moravian brethren.

Ashlee Quosigk explores the diversity of opinions within the largest religious group in the US - Evangelical Christians - on the topic of Islam. Evangelicals are often characterized as monolithically antagonistic toward Muslims. This book challenges that stereotype, exposing the sharp divides that exist among Evangelicals on Islam and examines why there is division. Drawing on qualitative research on two congregations in the US, as well as on popular Evangelical leaders, this book details the surprisingly diverse views Evangelicals hold on Muhammad, the Qur'an, interfaith dialogue, syncretism, and politics. This research is invaluable for providing a better understanding of what Evangelicals think, and why. This book also offers insight into why conflict exists and why Evangelicals differ, while advancing culture war theory and qualitative methods. Specifically, it explores differences in moral authority (assumptions that guide one's perceptions of the world) among Evangelicals and explains how these differences influence their views on Islam. The findings are relevant to religious relations worldwide as everyone appeals to moral authority, irrespective of their geographic location.

This book carries an ethnographic signature in approach and style, and is an examination of a small Brooklyn, New York, African-American, Pentecostal church congregation and is based on ethnographic notes taken over the course of four years. The Pentecostal Church is known to outsiders almost exclusively for its members' "bizarre" habit of speaking in tongues. This ethnography, however, puts those outsiders inside the church pews, as it paints a portrait of piety, compassion, caring, love-all embraced through an embodiment perspective, as the church's members experience these forces in the most personal ways through religious conversion. Central themes include concerns with the notion of "spectacle" because of the grand bodily display that is highlighted by spiritual struggle, social aspiration, punishment and spontaneous explosions of a variety of emotions in the public sphere. The approach to sociology throughout this work incorporates the striking dialectic of history and biography to penetrate and interact with religiously inspired residents of the inner-city in a quest to make sense both empirically and theoretically of this rapidly changing, surprising and highly contradictory late-modern church scene. The focus on the individual process of becoming Pentecostal provides a road map into the church and canvasses an intimate view into the lives of its members, capturing their stories as they proceed in their Pentecostal careers. This book challenges important sociological concepts like crisis to explain religious seekership and conversion, while developing new concepts such as "God Hunting" and "Holy Ghost Capital" to explain the process through which individuals become tongue-speaking Pentecostals. Church members acquire "Holy Ghost Capital" and construct a Pentecostal identity through a relationship narrative to establish personal status and power through conflicting tongue-speaking ideas. Finally, this book examines the futures of the small and large, institutionally affiliated Pentecostal Church and argues that the small Pentecostal Church is better able to resist modern rationalizing forces, retaining the charisma that sparked the initial religious movement. The power of charisma in the small church has far-reaching consequences and implications for the future of Pentecostalism and its followers.