Perceptions of Pentecostals

rapturefish said:

I wanted to gauge just how true that gap is by seeing whether the place things are in is true elsewhere and not just where I am in Australia. I also hope that some bridging could be done. My concern of late has been this gap and it burdens me that the army of God is not unified (in all its diversity) and marching as one for the cause of the Kingdom.

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This is an issue very close to my heart at the moment. There has been great division recently between the two camps in my city, a lot of accusations and vitriol. It is pulling apart the ministry of what was a united church completely.

rapturefish said:

Certainly I have benefitted from the grounding of the word in my previous Presbyterian church and others, and I do believe that this is good. From my own limited experience, the word is also well regarded in Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

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I still am a bible-bashing Presbyterian as well as a charsimatic, so I guess I am rather prejudiced, but I always though a mixture of straight, classical evangelical and charismatic made the best Christians... I particularly like the mix of baptist and mild charismatic, myself.

rapturefish said:

This means the word is referred to to extrapolate the principle, and then the principle is expounded upon rather than continual looking at a specific context of that word. I don't believe this is 'wrong' as such; indeed it has validity. But there are times I do miss a more contextualised approach to the word.

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Interestingly, the charismatic approach has a lot more in common with that of the puritans, who are so often assumed to be the ancestors of 'classical' evangelicals.

rapturefish said:

A majority of Pentecostals do not believe that one is not saved unless they exhibit some spiritual gift. There are some that do believe these things, but from these forums and others the common opinion from Pentecostals is that these are in the minority. I think that the record does need to be set straight on things like these; it is not uncommon for those groups outside

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I am sorry to say that I, as someone quite close to the inside, thought that too... I thought is was the (theological) dictionary definition of the between charismatic and pentecostal. What is the difference?

rapturefish said:

Pentecostals do believe the same gospel that evangelicals do; in fact one might be right in saying that they should also be included as evangelicals since they also believe in spreading the gospel as important.

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And they are better at it than everyone else. Classical evangelicals are barely expanding at all, often contracting, but it is pentecotals who have driven the huge increase in the worldwide church in the last feew decades. We all have something to learn from them, and I'd have certainly called them evangelicals anyway...

rapturefish said:

I do hope that something can be bridged in regard to Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism.

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Amen.

Magi