Abstract
With regard to Pentecostal ecclesiology, Dale Coulter (historical theologian at Regent University’s School of Divinity) has called to task theologians who have declared that little to no significant discourse has taken place. Coulter contends that this may be the case for those bodies within the Free Church wing of Pentecostalism, but it is not the case in terms of the episcopal wing of the movement.1 His argument, I believe, points to a larger issue that he does not address. For the most part, the Pentecostal tradition has been identified as an integral member solely of the Free Church tradition both by outside observers and by Pentecostal theologians themselves. For the purposes of this essay, “Free Church” is defined as a church body that holds a congregational polity paradigm. Under this kind of structure, a local congregation is solely responsible for the selection of its pastor and leaders, as well as for teaching, interpreting, and guarding the teachings of the Christian faith. In this chapter, I argue that grouping all Pentecostal denominational expressions into this category is an inaccurate depiction of a much broader and more diverse ecclesiological expression.
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Notes
Dale Coulter, “The Development of Ecclesiology in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN): A Forgotten Contribution,” Pneuma 29, no. 2 (2007): 58–85, 61.
Simon Chan, Pentecostal Ecclesiology: An Essay on the Development of Doctrine (Dorset, UK: Deo Publishing, 2011), 112.
A. J. Tomlinson, “Good Organization Is What It Will Take to Evangelize This World,” Church of God Evangel 5, no. 21 (May 23, 1914): 3.
A. J. Tomlinson, The Last Great Conflict (Cleveland, TN: Church of God Publications, 1910), 59.
Francis Sullivan, From Apostles to Bishops: The Development of Episcopacy in the Early Church (Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 2001), 62.
Richard Gaillardetz, Teaching with Authority: A Theology of the Magisterium in the Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997), 31.
Cecil Robeck, “An Emerging Magisterium? The Case of the Assemblies of God” Pneuma 25, no. 2 (2003): 164–215.
For an excellent treatment of the history of the term, see Yves Congar, “A Semantic History of the Term ‘Magisterium,’” in Readings in Moral Theology 3: The Magisterium and Theology, ed. Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick (Ramsey, NJ: Paulist Press, 1982), 297–313; Avery Dulles traces the historical development of magisterium in his book, Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith (Ave Maria, FL: Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University, 2007).
As quoted in Thomas Rausch, “Catholics and Pentecostals: Troubled History, New Initiatives,” Theological Studies 71, no. 4 (2010): 926–50.
Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2006), 102.
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© 2016 Elieser Valentin
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Valentin, E. (2016). Episcopacy in the Pentecostal Tradition. In: Chapman, M.D., Haar, M. (eds) Pathways for Ecclesial Dialogue in the Twenty-First Century. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-57112-0_8
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