Friday 12 November 2010

PNEUMA Review of 'Searching the Source of the River'

Diana Chapman's book, 'Searching the Source of the River' has been reviewed in the latest edition of Pneuma, The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (Pneuma 32 (2010), Book Reviews page 307).

Reviewed by Rev Dr. Pamela M. S. Holmes
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Diana Chapman' book is an important contribution to the recovery of the histories of ministering women within the Pentecostal tradition. Written in an easy-to-read style, it serves as a resource for popular audiences and basic degree or Bible College level students interested in a clearer picture of the early days of the movement. With few endnotes and only a Select Bibliography, its usefulness beyond the above mentioned audiences is limited even with the author's offer to supply further documentation upon request.


Nevertheless, it is an essential read as it reduces the paucity of women's history by gleaning from primary sources the stories of several imperfect, ordinary won1en including Catherine Price, Mary Boddy, Margaret Cantel, Lydia Walshaw, Carrie Judd Montgomery, Christina Beruldsen, Eleanor Crisp, Polly Wigglesworth, Margaret Scott, Mabel Howell and "missionary ladies." Following the historical examples set by the New Testament, early church, Montanists, medieval mystics, Anabaptists, Quakers, Methodists, and Holiness teachers, these women, fuelled by the Spirit, pioneered churches, led revivals, taught, preached, and ministered faithfully and sacrificially from 1907 to 1914 in the early years of Pentecostalism in Britain.


Furthermore, sandwiching these stories Chapman raises several important issues that the current Pentecostal and charismatic movements need to address in two provocative chapters entitled 'Bringing Hidden Things to Light" and "Running with the Flame." Now that this remembering and retelling has occurred, Chapman insists that the present generation act by incorporating these stories into its identity and practice rather than denying or dismissing their reality as some sort of anomaly. Using the metaphor of a River, Chapman suggests that, these women, closest to the source in the early days of the revival, dug wells unique to themselves from which many drank and flourished. While a later traditionally institutionalized, literally-biblically-interpreted, legitimated, and culturally conformed Pentecostal movement blocked those wells with boulders, now that those boulders have been identified, they need to be removed so that water can once again be drawn. Similarly, rather than continuing to capture water further downstream which has become polluted by man-made channels, the discontinuity with the past, which disrupted the Spirit-initiated and -inspired flow of the movement by allotting secondary or invisible status to women in comparison to that of men, must be avoided.


Now that women's contributions, considered by Chapman to have reflected the heart and mind of God, have been remembered and given their proper prominence, continuity with Pentecostalism's source and beginning can be reestablished and built upon. A necessary first step has being realized by Chapman as "Remembered women ... we honour you." The rest is up to others within the movement.

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Visit the 'Searching the Source of the River' page on pushpublishing.co.uk


Take a Look Inside 'Searching the Source of the River' on Amazon.co.uk


Download an eBook sample of 'Searching the Source of the River' from smashwords.com



Thursday 21 October 2010

Timeline of Paul's Ministry

Faith and Roger Forster's new book, Women and the Kingdom (PUSH Publishing, 2010), includes a chapter entitled 'Paul in Context', all about the background to Paul's life and ministry and background to the churches in Corinth and Ephesus. This chapter also contains a timeline of Paul's ministry, which is reproduced below.


It is a fascinating study to piece together Paul's life and ministry using the book of Acts, Paul's letters (especially Galatians 1-2), writings of the Early Church Fathers and external historical evidence. Using all these different sources you can create a timeline like the one above, but due to the paucity of references to specific historical events in Acts and Paul's epistles, most of the dates and the time intervals between events remain approximate.

The books of the New Testament were never intended as historical reference books - they had a far more important message to communicate. However, there are though a handful of events which allow us to frame some of the events of Acts quite accurately:
  • Acts 12 v20-23: The death of Herod Agrippa, which happened in AD 44/5
  • Acts 18 v2: Jews, including Aquila and Priscilla have been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius, placing Paul's trip to Corinth sometime after AD 49 (according to Suetonius)
  • Acts 18 v12-17: Paul was brought before Gallio, who was Proconsul of Corinth for one year from AD 51/52
  • Acts 24 v27: Felix, Governor of Samaria dies and is succeeded by Porcius Festus in around AD 59
  • Acts 28 finishes with Paul under house arrest in Rome, with no mention of the persecution under Nero that began after the Great Fire in AD64 indicating that Acts was completed before this date.
The likely writing dates of Paul's epistles are indicated based on internal references in the text to people, places and journeys compared to the events in Acts (not all Epistles are shown).

This is more than just an historical study or mental exercise - Acts and the epistles really come alive when you follow Paul and his co-workers on their journeys, understanding when they letters were written, why and what was going on in the world around them. Hopefully this timeline will encourage you to study Acts and the epistles together to get deeper into the word.