Cambridge Scholars Publishing African Pentecostalism and Eschatological Expectations: He is Coming Back Again!

The Pentecostalisation of African Christianity has been called the “African Reformation” of the past thirty years. African Pentecostalism is a diverse movement characterised by its emphases on Spirit baptism, divine healing, charismatic worship and eschatological expectations. This work investigates its eschatological systems in terms of its unrealised expectation of the second coming of Christ, and suggestions are presented for the movement to keep its eschatology at the heart of its impetus. This is accomplished through a hermeneutical awareness of the distinctiveness of Pentecostalism as a restorationist movement. Written for pastors, church leaders and believers, this book discusses the literalistic way of reading the Bible in most of the classical Pentecostal components of African Pentecostalism, supporting their premillennialist and even dispensational eschatological views. It suggests a new Pentecostal hermeneutics developed by scholarship in the past forty years, in line with significant elements of the way in which early Pentecostals read the Bible. This new hermeneutical awareness implies new and exciting ways of thinking about eschatology that will enrich and enlighten African Pentecostalism in its hope for the second coming of Christ. About the Author Marius Nel occupies the Research Chair in Pentecostalism and Neo-Pentecostalism at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and is a pastor of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. He holds doctorates in Practical Theology, Church History, Old Testament and New Testament and has published several books on Pentecostal hermeneutics.