Towards a Pentecostal, Postcolonial Reading of the New Testament

What is it about?

This work firstly sketches out a brief history of the early Pentecostal movement, noting its postcolonial origins - that is, the impetus within the movement toward radical freedom and equality against hegemonic oppression. It notes that the common factor seems to be the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Following this, it then briefly traces the Holy Spirit's role as a postcolonial agent of change through the New Testament, arguing that a postcolonial reading of the text is closely tied to early Pentecostal ideals.

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Why is it important?

To this point, very few have attempted to engage postcolonial thought or criticism with Pentecostalism. This represents just one early attempt to do so, and hopefully will begin a conversation about the nature of early Pentecostal thought, allowing Pentecostals to move beyond Western-dominated ideas.