Pentecostal Public Theology Engaged Christianity and Transformed Society in Europe

This is the first academic work to focus explicitly on Pentecostal public theology in Europe. Following a growing interest in understanding Pentecostal beliefs and practices with respect to the public sphere, this book shifts the focus of Pentecostal engagement with politics, society, and culture from the Global South and North America to Europe. This work also discusses themes such as Pentecostal public values, identity, nationalism, poverty, democracy, education, race, and political engagement in the context of European Pentecostalism. The book provides an historical overview by bringing together various European voices to discuss the current challenges and possible trajectories for Pentecostal public theology in a constructive fashion. With contributions from leading and emerging European Pentecostal and Charismatic scholars, this book is a must for scholars interested in understanding Pentecostal beliefs and practices in the public sphere in a European context.

1 Introduction: Towards a Pentecostal Public Theology in Europe.- PART I: Historical Studies on European Pentecostal Public Engagement.- 2 Pentecostal Public Theology in Sweden: From Prophetic Rejection to Political Reform and the Embrace of Catholic Social Teaching.- 3 Pentecostal Public Theology in the United Kingdom.- 4 From Marginalisation to Limited Public Engagement: An Account of German Pentecostalism.- 5 Public Practical Theology in a Secularized Country: The Situation of Dutch Pentecostalism.- 6 Pentecostal Public Theology in France: The Formation of a Classical Pentecostal Denomination’s Identity in Society.- 7 Pentecostal Public Engagement in the Context of Russian Religious and Cultural History.- 8 Italian Pentecostals in the Public Sphere — Carmine Napolitano.- 9 Pentecostal Public Engagement in Spain.- PART II: Constructive Proposals for Pentecostal Public Theology.- 10 Pentecostal Beliefs and Values: Exploring “Middle Axioms” as Public Theology.- 11 Pentecostal Public Reason: A Dialogue with Jürgen Habermas on Rationality, Religion and Democracy.- 12 Pentecostals, European Union and Nationalism.- 13 Identity, Communication and Acts 2: A Pentecostal Contribution Towards the Healing of a Fragmented European Society.- 14 Black Pentecostal Women: Intersectionality, Identity and Embodied Public Theology.- 15 Pentecostals and Immigration in Europe.- 16 Pentecostals and Poverty: A Spirited Engagement.- 17 Pentecostal Education.

Simo Frestadius is dean of research and executive director of the Institute for Pentecostal Theology at Regents Theological College, UK. He is also an ordained minister in the Elim Pentecostal Church and the chair of the European Pentecostal Theological Association (EPTA). 

Mark J. Cartledge is a practical theologian who has spent much of his academic career studying Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. A priest in the Church of England, he has moved between Church ministry and academic work. He is the principal of the London School of Theology, UK and a past president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.