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38The Faith of Luther and Pentecostalism
Olga ZAPROMETOVA, Moscov, Russian
«Theological Reflections» / Special edition «REFORMATION 500», 2015, р. 131-140. © O. Zaprometova, 2015
Olga Zaprometova graduated from Moscow State University in 1977, and finished her Ph.D. in Enzymology at the Bakh Institute for Biochemistry, USSR Academy of Sciences, in 1986. She completed the Christian Workers Programme, in Birmingham, UK in 1995, and later gained a B.A. (correspondence program of the Christian Life College; Chicago, IL), and a B.A. with specialization in Jewish History in 2012 (from the Open University of Israel); she also gained an M.Div. from the Church of God Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN, in 2000. She defended her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, specializing in Jewish Studies, at the Institute for Asia and Africa (Moscow State University) in 2011. From 1991 to 1995 she was Director of the Mission Possible-Moscow, and from 1995 to 1998 Director of the Christian Education Correspondence Program. From 1998 to 2008 she served as Аcademic Dean of the Eurasian Theological Seminary (ETS-Moscow). She currently lectures at the ETS-Moscow, St. Andrew's Biblical Theological Institute and St. Thomas Institute for Philosophy, Theology and History (Moscow, Russia). She is a participant in the international Reformed-Pentecostal dialogue (since 2014) and Lutheran-Pentecostal dialogue (since 2015).
We do not create God by our theology: it is because we actually encounter God that we try to understand what has happened and attempt to explain it theologically. We should also keep in mind that theology, which is usually expressed in statements, propositions, and creeds differs from spirituality, which is challenging contemporary scholarship by seeking a proper interdisciplinary approach to its sphere of study.[1] Faith is not just a matter of understanding God; rather, it is experiencing the real presence of the Holy One. The American Lutheran theologian Grace Adolphsen Brame points out the existence of two kinds of faith that can be defined as the "faith of the head" (belief or knowing about God) and the "faith of the heart" (trust or knowing God personal-ly).[2] The value of the charismatic experience in interpreting the texts of late antiquity is receiving more and more recognition, evidenced by the recent publications of the "Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity" section of the Society of Biblical Literature (2008, 2012).[3] The growing interest in "enthusi-
[1] See K. Waaijman Kees. Spiritualiteit. Vor-men. Grondslagen, Methoden, 2 vols. (Moscow: St. Andrews Biblical theological Institute, 2009).
[2] Brame G. Adolphsen, Faith, the Yes of the Heart (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1999), p. 52.
[3] The authors of these publications are working on the development of scholarly approaches to the conceptualization of various religious experiences. See C. Shantz, "Opening the Black Box: New Prospects for Analyzing Religious Experience", in C. Shantz and R. A. Werline (eds), EXPERIENTIA, VOLUME 2. Linking Text and Experience (Atlanta, 2012), pp. 1-15.
astic Christianity" worldwide and the emphasis it puts on spiritual phenomena as the basis of Christian faith invites us to search for the roots of such tradition in church history. This paper will argue that five-hundred years after the Reformation closeness to God for our secularized society is infinitely greater than mere creeds and philosophical proofs of God's existence. How does Pentecostalism relate to Protestantism in Europe? Being brought up in the Lutheran tradition, I chose for this study the faith of Martin Luther (1483—1546), which is expressed in his works, and in his attempt at the reformation of Church institutions through a deeper spiritual life and in his understanding of the Holy Spirit. Finally, I will try to prove that this faith was inherited by Pentecostalism.
Martin Luther
Turning to Martin Luther, we always have to keep in mind that his theology is bound up with his life, so that one cannot understand the one apart from the other. Entering the Augustinian monastery to prepare for death—to make himself agreeable in the sight of God—Luther gave himself to his vocation completely at the age of 21. From having been a devoted Roman Catholic, he had, through his meeting with Johann von Staupitz and his occupation with the Scriptures, been brought into sympathy with the Brethren of the Common Life[4] and with the German Mystics.[5] Luther's conflict with the Catholic clergy drew him into close relationships with a number of the German princes and this association led him gradually to the formation of the Lutheran Church.[6]
The starting point of theology for Luther was neither reason, nor experience: it was God's own action through the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. The solution for the problem of sin and grace or justice and love was found by the future Reformer when he was studying the Epistle to the Romans. Through that spiritual experience,
[4] This religious community established in the fourteenth century spread later throughout the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. The community members took no vows, but lived a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as far as was compatible with their state, some in their
own homes and others in community. They were forbidden to beg, but all were expected to earn their living by the labor of their hands; for the clerics this meant chiefly the transcribing of books and the instruction of the young. Their method of instructing novices is best known from The Imitation of Christ written by Thomas von Kempen (1380—1471). It was translated into Russian by the famous Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev, Professor of Russian literature at Moscow University, who served as tutor and adviser to the Russian emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II. See Foma Kempiiskii, O podrazhaniiKhristu (On the imitation of Christ), trans. from Latin by K. P. Pobedonostsev
(Brussels, 1993).
[5] Justo L. Gonzalez, A History of Christian Thought. From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century. Vol. III (Nashville: Abingdon Press. 1987), pp. 30-47. Among the most famous German mystics were Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) and Meister Eckhard (12601328). The image of Hildegard's awakening, known from her self-portrait, depicts her as a recipient of the Pentecostal fire; see Olga Zaprometova, "It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63): Experience and the Formulation of Theology," Revista Ecumenica Sibiu, 7 (2/ 2015): 8-19. See also http://sfmosaic.wordpress. com/2010/11/20/hildegard-von-bingen (29.12.2014). Recognized by contemporary scholars as a visionary, poet, composer, naturalist, healer, founder of convents and theologian, Hildegard was officially declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI and named a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
[6] Edmund H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church (London: Pickering & Inglis, 1934), p. 145.
which is well known, he realized that justice and love are interconnected in a mysterious way. For the great Reformer, faith was not just a matter of understanding God, but of experiencing the real presence of the holy/the Holy One. Faith that is the experience of God's presence, which trusts in God because it is certain it can depend upon God, is what Luther called "the yes of the heart."[7] This statement was spoken in a sermon Luther delivered six years before he died.[8]
When I believe from the heart that Christ did this for me, I receive also the same Holy Spirit that makes me entirely new. ... Then ... I do everything he desires of me, as Paul says in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ [who] strengthens me."[9]
The New Testament has numerous references to the coming of the Holy Spirit to us, among us, and into us; of Christ's life as our life; and of God within.[10] The emphasis on Luther's "yes of the heart" points to a security that comes only by one means: "the Holy Spirit is present and writes it in the heart."[11] In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther wrote, "God teaches us inwardly through the living instruction of his Spirit."[12] And even more:
No one can understand God or his Word if he has not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The action of the Holy Spirit has to be experienced, sustained, and felt, and it is by undergoing these experiences that one passes through the school of the Holy Spirit. If one has not gone through it, words remain no more than words. We can know God only through the work that he does in us.[13]
Brame underlines that we are not saved by our theology, nor are we saved by our spirituality: we are saved (healed, made whole, and freed from bitterness, fear, and arrogance) by the grace of the Holy Spirit.[14] In the Small Catechism, a book written for fathers to use in teaching their families at home, Luther gave his explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles' Creed in the most memorable words:
I cannot, by my own understanding or effort, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies ... the whole Christian Church on earth[15] (emphasis added).
[7] "Fides ist ein herzlich jawort, das drauff stirbt" ("Faith is the yes of the heart, a conviction on which one stakes one's life"), Martin Luther, "Sermon for the Sunday after the Feast ofthe Circumcision, January 4, 1540" "Weimar Edition" (WA), vol.49, p. 9. See: Brame, Faith, the Yes of the Heart, p. 171.
[8] Within a few decades after Luther died,
Lutheran theology moved in a direction that
ignored or slighted much of Luther's spirituality,
his personal, experiential relationship with God.
This move, according to Grace Brame, has
made a critical difference in the way we perceive
him now. Ibid., pp. 13, 17.
[9] Sermons of Martin Luther, ed. J.N. Lenker (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1905, 1995 ed.), 5:182. See: Ibid., p. 29.
[1°] Matt 10:20; John 3:8, 34; 6:63; 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 2:4, and many others.
[11] Martin Luther, "Sermon on Galatians 4:1-5," given January 4, 1540. See: Ibid., p. 43.
[12] Brame, Faith, the Yes of the Heart. p. 59.
[13] Luther, WA, 7:546; Quoted according to Brame. See: Ibid., p. 59.
[14> Ibid., p. 64.
[15] Ich glaube, daß ich nicht aus eigener Vernunft noch Kraft an Jesus Christus, meinen Herrn, glauben oder zu ihm kommen kann; sondern der
As was shown earlier, Luther insisted that Christ can be present in a believer and did not hesitate to use the concept of theosis/deification or divinization[16] (German: Vergöttlichung) in the same sense as it was used by the early Church.[17] The development of this concept owes its most decisive progress to Paul.[18] For Luther, faith was partaking in the existence of God that is possible due to the Holy Spirit and it is through the Holy Spirit's outpouring of the love of God upon a person, that that person becomes a means of transmission of the divine grace. This process, whereby through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit Christians become participants in the Kingdom of God, begins here in time and space, but it is not static or complete; rather it is an open-ended progression uninterrupted through all eternity.
Thus, faithful to his vocation and pastoral responsibilities, Luther wrote about the Spirit's enlightenment; he called his followers to become participants of the Kingdom of God; and to join the school of the Spirit. And here, before turning to Pentecostal-ism, we have to mention John Wesley (1703—1791), the Anglican minister and theologian who became the founder of a movement known later as Methodism. His encounter with God was inseparable from his later teaching on sanctification. Faith filled with love produced in a human being by God's grace is at the core of Wesley's theology, with the concept of sanctification at its very heart: "God whispers to us by his Spirit directly witnessing within us, and what our own hearts say to us as a con-sequence."[19] According to Wesley, who is sometimes said to be the grandfather of Pentecostalism, sanctification is the work of God's grace, not merely an expression of human ability:
It is the work of the Spirit by which God by grace seeks completely to mend the broken human condition, to bring our stunned lives to fulfillment, not partially,
Heilige Geist hat mich durch das Evangelium berufen, mit seinen Gaben erleuchtet, im rechten Glauben geheiligt und erhalten; gleichwie er die ganze Christenheit auf Erden beruft, sammelt, erleuchtet, heiliget und bei Jesus Christus erhalt im rechten, einigen Glauben (Berlin: Evangelischen Kirchen-Gesangbuch, 1974), p. 49.
[16] Theosis includes two complementary stages
of deification: the process towards deification
and the state of deification. Gregory the Theologian affirms that the first «stage of theosis» takes place in our current life, and the second
one will be accomplished in the age to come; now we have only a foretaste of theosis, but there is the eschatological theosis that is waiting for us at the «fulfilment of time», the one we will be able to enjoy fully. The way leading to deification is a human being's love for God as expressed in prayer and mystical experience, as well as in the fulfillment of the New Testament commandments. Although God still remains unknowable, inexpressible, unreachable, and invisible, prayer is primarily a meeting with the living God. O. Zaprometova, "Bitter and Sweet Tears: Exploring the Spirituality of the Eastern Church Fa-
thers in the Light of Post-Modern 'Enthusiastic Christianity' in Russia" in Mission and Postmodernities, ed. by Rolv Olsen (Oxford: Reg-num, REGNUM EDINBURGH 2010 Series), pp. 191-203.
[17] O. Zaprometova, "Experiencing the Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Reading of the Early Church Fathers: Part 2. Isaac of Nineveh and Simeon the New Theologian," JEPTA 30 (1/ 2010): 1-19.
[18] To share the "newness of life" (Rom 6:4) or to become a "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17, Eph 2:4-10) a person must be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29), etc. See: J. Gross, The Divinization of the Christian According to the Greek Fathers (Anaheim: A & C Press, 2002); pp. 82-83.
[19] Quoted according to Th. C. Oden, John Wesley's Scriptural Christianity: A Plain Exposition of His Teaching on Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), p. 230. The Wesleyan societies were intensive dia-logical processes, interacting, interpersonally encountering, exceedingly self-disclosing and personally open.
but wholly in a victory over all sin in this life, through a genuine renewal of all the redeemed powers of the believer.'201
Like Patristic tradition and Martin Luther, Wesley emphasized that likeness to Christ is achieved gradually by a process of conscious response to the calling of God (through the Holy Spirit) and acceptance of the grace offered by Him.
Pentecostalism
The Pentecostal Movement that places a great deal of emphasis on religious experience is now over a century old and is conceived as expanding in three waves: Pentecostals (or Classical Pentecostals), Charismatics/Neo-Pentecostals'211 and Neo-Charismatics or Independent Charismatics. There was no single founder of the movement and different scholars trace its origins to one place or to a series of spontaneous, explosive effects setting it off globally.'221 The Pentecostal message, defined by Steven Land as the integration of Holiness and Power, came with the experience of the Spirit (Acts 2), or in other words, with the spiritual encounter with the Divine. '231 The central emphasis of Pentecostalism is not religious truths as objects of abstract belief (or the "faith of the head" that was mentioned earlier), but is rather personal, first-hand knowledge (the "faith of the heart") of God. Its epistemology is described by Pentecostal scholars with reference to the Hebrew term yada (to know), which is generally "treated as knowledge which comes through experience."'241
Theologically, European Pentecostal denominations are defined by Jean-Daniel Plüss, a contemporary Swiss scholar, as "independent, sometimes radical, perhaps on occasion obstinate, grandchildren of the Reformation."'251 However, this is not the case worldwide. Due to different expressions of the Spirit experience in each cultural context it is possible to speak about "indigenisation" of the Pentecostal movement globally. '261 One of the best approaches to Pentecostal theology in my opinion was proposed by Paul N. van der Laan. This Dutch scholar introduces Pentecostalism as a paradigm shift in theological thinking. By suggesting the use of Pentecostal quadrilateral methodology (experiential, scriptural, prophetic, and intercultural) he proposed a new definition of Pentecostal theology as a "Theology of the Heart."'271
[2t" Ibid., p. 327.
[21] Christians affiliated with non-Pentecostal denominations, such as Anglican, Nonconformist, Catholic, or Orthodox, who receive charismatic experiences or those renewed in the
Spirit (1967-84).
[22' See: C. M. Robeck, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birth of the Global Pentecos-
tal Movement (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006; Spirit-Empowered Christianity in the 21st Cen-
tury, Vinson Synan (gen. ed.), (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2011); William K. Kay & Anne
D. Dyer (eds.), European Pentecostalism (Leiden: Brill, 2011); H. D. Hunter and N. Ormerod (eds.), The Many Faces of Global Pentecostalism (Cleveland: CPT Press, 2013); and others.
[23] S. Land, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), pp. 15-57.
[24] Ch. B. Johns and Jackie D. Johns, "Yielding to the Spirit: A Pentecostal Approach to Group Bible Study," Journal of Pentecostal Theology 1 (1992): 109-34.
[25] Jean-Daniel Pluss, "Pentecostal Theology and Protestant Europe" in European Pentecostalism, William K. Kay and Anne D. Dyer (eds.), (Leiden, 2011), pp. 294-311.
[26] Harold D. Hunter, "Introduction: Global Pentecostals are not 'Protestants' and are not 'Western'," in The Many Faces of Global Pentecostalism, pp. 1-5.
[27] P. N. Van der Laan, "Catching a Butter-
According to Latvian scholar Valdis Teraudkalns,[28] the Pentecostal message reached the Russian empire in 1907—1908 through different routes, mostly from Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.[29] Since the Reformation the main institutional form of Christianity in the areas mentioned was the Lutheran church. Being myself a descendant of Baltic Germans,[30] I will focus mainly on Eleanor Patrick, a missionary from the United Kingdom, who ministered in the Baltic region mainly among Germans at the beginning of the twentieth century. She experienced glossolalia for the first time in 1908 during the meeting in Hamburg with Alexander A. Boddy (1853— 1930), an ordained Anglican minister at All Saints' Parish Church, Sunderland, who was the main pioneer of Pentecostalism in Britain.[31] Later Patrick was connected with a mission in Frankfurt and in 1909 visited the Russian Empire: Revel and Dor-pat (now Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia), Riga and Dvinsk (now Daugavpils, Latvia), and Vitebsk (Belorussia). She reported on her successful mission to Boddy and the Pentecostal Missionary Union that was born in the vicarage in 1909. The "News from Miss Patrick" appeared regularly in the publications of Confidence, a magazine that did much to spread and stabilize the young movement until 1926.[32] It was a German baroness, a representative of the Baltic nobility, whom Patrick had met earlier at the conference in Sunderland, who invited the Spirit-filled missionary to preach in Dorpat (now Tartu). The movement started to grow and the believers in Revel were visited also by such a prominent Pentecostal preacher from Germany as Jonathan Paul (1853—1931).[33] In a short period of time Pentecostalism in Estonia became more influential than in Latvia and Lithuania. Baroness M. von Brasch,[34] who is known as the organizer of the meetings, the publisher of the monthly periodical To Heaven (1911—1916), and the sponsor of a building project for Pentecostals, may be given as an example of how the Baltic German nobility, influenced by Pietism,[35]
fly—The Identity of Pentecostal Theology," JEPTA XXIX (2009): 33-48.
[28] Professor of Theology and Church History, State University of Latvia, Riga. See: V. Teraud-kalns, "Pentecostalism in the Baltics: Historical Retrospection," JEPTA XXI (2001): 91-108.
[29] S. M. Robek, Azuza-strit: Missiia i probuzh-deniia (Azuza Street: Mission and revival), (Ale-ksandriia: Ezdra, 2011), pp. 351-389.
[30] Several generations of my forefathers after graduating from the famous University of Dorpat (now Tartu) were ordained pastors in Latvia (formerly Kurland) and Estonia.
[31] The son of an Anglican rector, Boddy studied theology in Durham and was ordained vicar. His influence in shaping the movement was fundamental. See: Neil Hudson, "The Development of British Pentecostalism" in European Pentecostalism, pp. 41-60.
[32] See: http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/ pensketches/boddya.htm [12.03.2015]
[33] Paul emerged as the recognized leader of
German Pentecostals in the early years. Pente-
costalism in Germany began in 1907 amongst evangelical believers who were greatly influenced by the Holiness Movement and the Welsh Revival of 1904 and the Fellowship Movement. Developed from Pietism, the Fellowship Movement created a unique expression of evangelical Christianity specific to Germany. The members of the Fellowship were normally committed members of the Lutheran Church but had a special emphasis on personal holiness, Bible study, and evangelism. See: Carl Simpson, "The Development ofthe Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in the Germanic Countries," in European Pentecostalism, pp. 61-83.
[34] See: http://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/ Stackelberg_nr_127 [16.03.2015]
[35] Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf (17001760) visited Revel in 1736 during one of his most successful journeys known later as the "triumphal course," and preached revival in the Oleviste church. See: http://www.go-east-mission.net/dateien/en/223_241209.pdf [19.03.2015]
contributed to the emergence of new religious ideas within the borders of the Russian empire.[36] It might be viewed as a repetition of the similar pattern a century earlier (in the nineteenth century) when part of the Russian upper class turned to Western evangelical thought which advocated religious freedom and a personal encounter with God.[37] As I have shown in one of my previous papers, at the end of the nineteenth century the rejection of religious dogmas as abstract structures and the desire to discover a universal layer of experience led many in Russia to withdraw from the official church.[38]
The seventh volume in the Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies series, entitled European Pentecostalism, to which I have referred already several times, was published by Brill in 2011. As the history and development of Pentecostalism in Europe begins in Scandinavia, it is a pity that in this extensive volume there is no chapter on the development of Pentecostalism in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the countries that were in the forefront at the birth of the movement and always had strong connections to their northern neighbors. Owing to the activity in Norway of Thomas Barratt (1862—1940),[39] the Pentecostal movement spread from the north towards the south. Due to the historical church context, rooted in the Reformation, such as Lutheran, Anglican and others, European Pentecostals prefer to "locate Pentecostal theology against the background of the Reformation and analyze it by the reference to Reformed themes."[40] The growth of nationalism and the crisis which the Lutheran church went through in the Baltics, together with the beginning of World War I, the revolution which led to the fall of the Russian empire and the formation of independent states were among the challenges the young movement had to face. Pentecostalism, which started as a unifying movement for European Christianity, soon experienced several splits within the national leadership, which followed the patterns of the earlier developments in the era of Reformation.
Let me turn your attention to the influence of the Pentecostal message on the later twentieth century history of the region. The influence of "the great Soviet awakening" that took place in the Oleviste church (Tallinn, Estonia) in the late 1970s was tremendous and is still awaiting a careful analysis. Tom Kraeuter, the American author of "The True Story the West Was Never Told," published in 2012, just a year after the Brill volume on European Pentecostalism, considers the "Tallinn revival" worthy to be put on a level with the major revivals of the twentieth century, such as
[36] For more on the issue see: Robek, Azuza Strit: Missiia i probuzhdenie.
[37] M. S. Karetnikova, "Russkoe bogoiskatel'stvo: Natsional'nye korni evangel'sko-baptistskogo dvizhenie" (The Russian God-search: National roots of the evangelical-Baptist movement), in Al'manakh po istorii russkogo baptisma (Almanac on the history of the Russian Baptist movement), (St. Petersburg: Bibliia dlia vsekh, 1999), pp. 3-84.
[38] O. Zaprometova, "The Conceptualization
of Religious Experience: From Solovyov to
Moltmann" in Russian Thought in Europe: Re-
ception, Polemics, Development, Teresa Obolev-itch, Tomas Homa, Jozef Bremer (eds.), Serii Humanitas. Studia Kulturoznawcze (Krakow: WAM), 2013, pp. 257-275.
[39] Thomas Ball Barratt, the British-Norwegian Methodist, considered "a father among all international leaders" of Pentecostalism. See more: http://www.revival-library.org/pen-sketches/oth_pentecostals/barratt.html [15.03.2015]
[40] W. K. Kay, "Editor's Response to Reviews on European Pentecostalism," JEPTA 32.1 (2012): 104-105.
Wales, Azusa Street, and others.[41] However, very few in Western Europe have ever heard this remarkable account. This publication is of special interest for scholars specializing in European Pentecostalism and its development. Several reasons are given by the author in answering the question of why this awakening began. Here are just the three of the list of probable answers offered: 1) it was the fulfillment of the prophetic word that was given at the end of World War II at a Pentecostal prayer meeting in Tallinn; 2) the Estonia of the former Soviet Union was a Western country, it was close to Finland and there was more freedom there than in the Russian heartland; and 3) it can be suggested that translation of the services into Russian welcomed not just locals but all those who needed an encounter with God, and multitudes led by the Spirit to see the mighty deeds of the Lord started to come from all over the Soviet Union.[42] It is important to learn a lot from those who are the primary sources as well. Rein Uuemois, to whom the book is dedicated, Arnold Turkin, the maintenance man at the church in the period of the awakening, Janis Ozolinkevics, who is nowadays the Church of God overseer/bishop of Latvia, are among those who were at the heart of the Oleviste awakening from the start and are still active in ministry today. For myself, as one of the eyewitnesses of the miraculous stories shared in the book, it was a special blessing to read the book and to go back to my first years within Pentecostalism. It was the only true revival I have ever experienced in my life.
At the same time we have to acknowledge that although the Pentecostal Movement is now over a century old, there is still a lot of criticism of the Full Gospel meaning.[43] Traditional churches often treat the Pentecostal/Charismatic experience with suspicion and emphasize the importance of the fruit of the Spirit as a universal test of the gift of the Spirit. Some contemporary scholars go so far as to question the search of Pentecostals for God. The Russian Orthodox scholar, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, when pointing to the special role of mystical experience in Christian life, does not wish even to discuss the mystical experience of groups that exist outside the official church.[44] According to Norman Gulley, an Adventist theologian, the danger of Pentecostalism is that in this movement, "Christians find themselves caught up in an experience opposed by, and beyond the safety of God's Word."[45] We have to acknowledge the fact that all over the world there is still much tension and distrust between established churches and their emerging counterparts that are often of Pentecostal/charismatic orientation. This is also true for Russia as evidenced by Oksana Kuropatkina.[46]
[41] T. Kraeuter, The Great Soviet Awakening: The True Story the West Was Never Told (Hills-boro: Training Resources, 2012).
[42 Ibid., pp. 87-92.
[43] For Pentecostals the Gospel message always includes the baptism of the Holy Spirit, pointing out that without it there is no fullness in preaching the good news.
[44] He calls the spiritual experiences of such
examples as Montanists "heretical" mysticism,
and claims that the main criterion for differentiating "true" from "heretical" mysticism is whether or not it conforms to the tradition of the church. H. Alfeyev, St. Simeon the New Theologian and the Orthodox Tradition (Moscow: Lovers of Church History Society's Press, 1998), p. 444.
[45] N. R. Gulley, Christ is Coming! A Christ-centered Approach to Last-Day Events, (Hager-stown, 1998), pp. 132-158.
It is important to analyze the recent turn of theological thought from its ontological and dogmatic way of perceiving religious experience (or the "faith of the head") to a personalistic one (the "faith of the heart"), and I believe the research of the Russian Orthodox scholar Mikhail Aksenov-Meerson is among the best available in contemporary Russia to show us that this turn follows the trajectory of contemporary philosophy and its interest in anthropology.[47] In his new version of the development of the Trinitarian paradigm, the Russian-American scholar has managed to bring together the traditions of the Church Fathers, German classical philosophy, and the personalism of Russian religious thought of the Silver Age. Through his research Aksenov-Meerson introduces a new concept, which he defines as the paradigm of love that is shared by both Western and Eastern theology. In his research he often refers to Jürgen Moltmann, considered by many to be one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, who proves that the experience of the Spirit is equivalent to the experience of fellowship (2 Cor 13:13), which means "opening for one another, giving one another a share in ourselves."[48] Moltmann challenges contemporary Christianity to "look for a third way, so as to discover God's love in the love between human beings, and the love between human beings in God's love," comparing Patristic and medieval traditions with modern European humanism.[49] According to Moltmann, after the hierarchichal church of God the Father, Christianity came to know the brotherly church of God the Son, and today we are experiencing the charismatic church of God the Spirit.[50] Thus, the future of Christianity may be seen in a Trinitarian experience of God which is inseparable from the idea of perichoresis,[51] derived from Patristic theology and incorporated into contemporary theological thinking.
Conclusion
Not everyone will agree with viewing Martin Luther as a proto-Pentecostal, but great value is to be found in his attempts at formulating theology based on his personal spiritual experience. The more Pentecostal and Charismatic theologians are introduced to the writings of the Church Fathers, among whom after the Reforma-
[46] See: http://www.sova-center.ru/religion/ publications/2006/12/d9729; http://www.dissercat. com/content/religioznaya-i-sotsiokulturnaya-samoidentifikatsiya-novykh-pyatidesyatnikov-v-rossii [29.12.2014].
[47] Mikhail Aksenov-Meerson (b. 1942), whose doctoral thesis "The Love Paradigm and the Retrieval of Western Medieval Love Mysti-
cism in Modern Russian Trinitarian Thought" was defended in 1996 in New York (Fordham
University, the Jesuit University of New York), started his research in the area of Russian religious philosophy while still in Russia in the mid-
1960s. M. Aksenov-Meerson, Sozertsaniem
Troitsy Sviatoi... Paradigma Liubvi v russkoi filosofii troichnosti (Kyiv, 2007).
[48] J. Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation, trans. by M. Kohl (Minneapolis 1994), p. 218.
[49 Ibid., p. 248.
[50] J. Moltmann, Sun of Righteousness, Arise! God's Future for Humanity and the Earth (London, 2010), pp. 25-27.
[51] Perichoresis (Greek)—'"penetration." This is a term used in the theology of the Trinity to indicate the intimate union, mutual indwelling, or mutual interpenetration of the three members of the Trinity with each other. See: Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1996), p. 207.
tion we may include Martin Luther and his predecessors, the more their language, and its symbolic means of theological expression is revealed to our contemporaries, and helps them in analyzing their own spirituality.
We may wish for better understanding of the challenges that spiritual movements such as Pentecostalism pose to the traditional churches. Contemporary theology seeking for new paradigms is trying to find a possibility to bring together the hierarchical paradigm (one God—one bishop— one community), the Christocentric paradigm (the unity of the church is established through the brotherhood of Christ), and the Charismatic paradigm (experiencing fellowship with God the Holy Spirit is binding people together), defined by Moltmann. However it is not cultural traditions or philosophies, but human beings that meet and share, ignore or enrich one another, clash and fight. That is why I would like to conclude this paper with the words of a song written by the contemporary Lutheran pastor Charlotte Hoglund: "Only Love is the Answer in this World full of Hate."[52] It is not just a matter of saying what we believe, but of living what we believe, by practicing it. Faith is what empowers us to dare to share what matters most with others who are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives.
Pentecostals and Charismatics are no longer "baby boomers;" the movements are getting older and have a lot to learn from their elder sisters and brothers-representatives of the historic churches. By turning to church history, to the experiences of Martin Luther recorded in his works, Pentecostals learn to analyze their own recent history. In its turn Pentecostalism may share its own "theology of love" and its emphasis of the centrality on Spirit-experience which is infinitely more important to our secularized world than creeds.
[52] https://soundcloud.com/gilbert-richards-1/ charlotte-h-glund-love-is-the [15.03.2015] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQlDF9q RF6g [6.09.2015]
