The pneumatological magna carta of Acts 2 has never translated into a fully liberating praxis for Pentecostal women in ministry. Scholars have given this problem limited attention, but their works do not adopt the perspective of pneumatology or engage feminist theology. In neglecting pneumatology, Pentecostals have ignored a methodological approach and a dominant orienting motif that is fundamental to their spirituality. In neglecting feminist theology, they proffer an incomplete solution that addresses anthropological paradigms to the exclusion of ecclesiological ones. After analyzing the historical and theological factors resulting in the present situation among American Pentecostal women in ministry, this book proposes a Feminist-Pneumatological anthropology and ecclesiology that address the problematic dualisms that have perpetuated Pentecostal womenâs ecclesial restrictions.
Lisa P. Stephenson, Ph.D. (2009) in Religious Studies, Marquette University, is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Lee University. She has published articles in Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Church and State, and Pax Pneuma.
Winner of the Pneuma Book Award 2013
"Stephenson demonstrates how drawing out Pentecostalismâs pneumatological impulse and then putting it into critical dialogue with current theological perspectives (in this case, Feminism) can constructively contribute to current theological concerns and church ministry practices. The importance of her book is attested by the fact that it was selected by the Society for Pentecostal Studies Editorial Committee to receive the 2013 Pneuma Book Award. [...] This book is a must read for theologians, students, and ministers interested in a substantial critique of Spirit baptism as simply an ecclesiastical function of empowerment, Pentecostal ecclesiastical polity addressing women in ministry, pneumatological (Pentecostal) feminist theology, egalitarian ecclesiology and anthropology, and a pneumatological methodology for theological praxis. I strongly recommend this work as a supplementary text for upper undergrad and graduate courses in Pentecostal and feminist theology."
Kenneth Archer, Southeastern University, in Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity Vol 5 no. 1 (2014).
Acknowledgements
Chapter One. Introduction
Part I
Setting the Stage: Historical Context
Chapter Two. Azusa and Beyond: An Account of American Pentecostal
Women in Ministry
Chapter Three. Looking Back, Going Forward: Contemporary Works on
American Pentecostal Women in Ministry
Part II
Dismantling the Dualism of Theological Anthropology: Male and Female
Chapter Four. Pentecostal Interpretations of Lukan Pneumatology:
Retrospect and Prospect
Chapter Five. The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: A Feminist-Pneumatological
Anthropology
Part III
Dismantling the Dualism of Ecclesiology: The People of God
Chapter Six. Contributions to Feminist Ecclesiologies: Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza,
Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Letty Russell
Chapter Seven. The Spiritual Community: A Feminist-Pneumatological
Ecclesiology
Chapter Eight. Conclusion
Bibliography
All those interested in women in American religious history, pneumatological theology, theological anthropology, ecclesiology, intersections between Pentecostalism and feminist theology, and theological resources to support women in ministry.