Fire From Heaven
by Harvey Cox
Book Review by Darold Morgan
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, 1995 o $24.00
This is an important book from an important American theologian. Whether or not you agree with Harvey Cox and some of his previous writings is unimportant in this setting. This Professor of Religion at Harvard University has directed his writing skills and perceptive insights toward one of the most unheralded developments in the world of religion-the phenomenal growth of Pentecostal Christianity.
Though Pentecostalism has been around for a long time, the twentieth century is the historical setting for its world-wide growth in such startling proportions. To ignore this "fire from heaven" is tantamount to hiding one`s head in the sands relative to major factors which, soon or late, will impact the totality of the Christian movement.
Professor Cox has been a student of this strange and erratic movement literally since his teen years. Out of this personal interest and additionally from an awareness of the importance of this movement from a theological perspective, he has produced a volume which is both genuinely sympathetic to these teachings and developments and frankly factual about the movement`s many shortcomings and errors.
The student of religion simply cannot and must not ignore "the vibrant, primal spirituality of Pentecostalism." The amazing statistics of Pentecostal growth mandate this study. From 1906 (the date of the famed Azuza revival in Los Angeles) until now, this movement has become the fastest growing religion in the world with more than four hundred million followers. Even more startling is Cox`s conclusion that they are gaining a minimum of twenty million new disciples annually. These are incredible statistics!
Cox`s book seizes our attention with numerical and geographical developments before he moves with his broad theological skills into the doctrinal and critical issues. For example, he predicts that it is not only possible but highly likely that the dominant religious force in South and Central America will soon be the various forms of Pentecostal Christianity. Sometime early in the next century, Pentecostals may well outnumber Roman Catholics-so rapid is their growth in this part of the world.
Similar growth is taking place in sub-Sahara Africa. South Korea could well be dominated numerically by this form of Christian faith and practice sometime early in the next century because of their rapid growth. There is one congregation in Seoul which may soon boast of one million members-the largest local church in the world! Add to these areas the vast expanses of the old Soviet Union where reports about Pentecostal Christianity are glowing. Even parts of China and Europe are reverberating with Pentecostal fervor. Interestingly enough, this book does not concern itself with charismatic expressions in the main-line denominations.
One of the most fruitful and readable parts of Cox`s book comes from his personal experiences with Pentecostal leaders and churches around the world. Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Seoul, Zimbabwe, Central America, Chicago, Harlem-are some of the sites which he has visited and from which he has drawn some of his insights. Not only is he a perceptive theologian, he is an interesting reporter who really enjoys being with people of all races and viewpoints. He is especially complimentary of the Pentecostals whose work in the tragically neglected inner cities around the world has been unusually effective. His comments about this genuine mission involvement in a most difficult field of service suggests why this church growth is continuing in the United States. Mainline denominations have all but abandoned the inner city, but there are great numbers of little and large Pentecostal churches that are thriving-worldwide-in these areas.
How and why these things are happening brings us quickly to the major strengths of the book. Cox names three key concepts of this international Pentecostalism-primal speech, primal piety, and primal hope. These chapters are essential to a basic understanding of the philosophy of Pentecostalism. Of course, there are the great standards in common with other Christian bodies. They accept the Bible as God`s Word. Jesus indeed is the Divine Savior and Lord. In spite of the negative publicity about moral behavior, resulting from the fall of their icons-Jim Swaggert and Jim Bakker, Pentecostals generally hold to very high standards of moral behavior. But when it comes to public worship and the debate between fundamentalism and experimentalism, it quickly becomes obvious that an extreme subjectivism is quite close to the norm wherever Pentecostalism is flourishing.
Reading this book will help in attempting to understand this unusual religious phenomenon which is really an electrifying development in our times. There are some encouraging signs that there is a maturing theological stance on the part of some Pentecostal leaders. Cox does us all a genuine service in commenting on the strange novels of Frank Perretti, the influence of Pat Roberson and R.J. Rushdooney and their much publicized dominion theology, often with a Pentecostal/charismatic tone. Far too many mainline evangelicals have embraced these highly effective communications ideas and techniques.
It may sound like Cox has attempted to cover too much of the waterfront, but one of the obvious strengths of his book is how all of this comes together in his efforts to help us grasp the significance of these worldwide trends related to Pentecostalism. Fire From Heaven should be required reading for us all.
