Academic Research

Peer-reviewed academic articles on Pentecostal theology, hermeneutics, and history.

Academic Research
The Oneness–Trinitarian Pentecostal Dialogue: Exploring the Diversity of Apostolic Faith
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Frank D. Macchia (Vanguard University)Published in: Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 103, No. 3 (July 2010), pp. 329–349 Abstract A significant global constituency of Pentecostal Christians seeks to preserve the apostolic faith precisely by rejecting the Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed and the Trinitarian dogma it supported. Macchia examines the dialogue between Oneness and Trinitarian Pentecostals — the…
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Academic Research
The Influence of the Azusa Street Revival in the Early Developments of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Mookgo Solomon KgatlaPublished in: Missionalia, Vol. 44, No. 3 (2016) Abstract Kgatla traces how the Azusa Street Revival shaped the early Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa through the missionaries John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch, both of whom had direct contact with William Seymour before travelling in 1908. They carried two defining marks:…
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Academic Research
“And the Signs Are Following”: Mark 16.9–20 — A Journey into Pentecostal Hermeneutics
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): John Christopher Thomas; Kimberly Ervin AlexanderPublished in: Journal of Pentecostal Theology, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2003), pp. 147–170DOI: 10.1177/096673690301100201 Abstract Within early Pentecostalism, Mark 16:9–20 shaped practice and proclamation to an inordinate degree: “these signs shall follow” served simultaneously as a summons to worldwide mission and as a litmus test for the authenticity of…
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Academic Research
William H. Durham and Early Pentecostalism
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Christopher Richmann (Baylor University)Published in: Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (2015), pp. 224–243DOI: 10.1163/15700747-03702018 Abstract In 1910 William H. Durham preached “The Finished Work of Calvary” and divided the young Pentecostal movement over the doctrine of sanctification — a rupture from which the Assemblies of God…
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Academic Research
Inventing Pentecostalism: Pandita Ramabai and the Mukti Revival from a Postcolonial Perspective
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Yan Suarsana (University of Heidelberg)Published in: PentecoStudies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2014), pp. 173–196 Abstract The revival at Pandita Ramabai’s Mukti Mission in Kedgaon, India, has gained wide currency as one of the birthplaces of global Pentecostalism — and it preceded Azusa Street by a year. Suarsana reads the episode from a postcolonial perspective…
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Academic Research
Pneumatology in the Digital Age: Reimagining the Holy Spirit’s Role in Trinitarian Theology
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Rendani C. Nthakheni; Ndidzulafhi MudauPublished in: African Journal of Pentecostal Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2025)DOI: 10.4102/ajops.v2i1.53 Abstract The authors argue that pneumatology has been quietly marginalised in contemporary Christian theology and practice, precisely as churches confront the technological and philosophical implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Drawing on historical-critical analysis, systematic theology and…
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Academic Research
A Sitz for the Gospel of Mark? A Critical Reaction to Bauckham’s Theory on the Universality of the Gospels
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Ernest van Eck (University of Pretoria)Published in: HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, Vol. 56, No. 4 (2000)DOI: 10.4102/hts.v56i4.1802 Abstract Richard Bauckham challenged the scholarly consensus that each Gospel was written for a particular believing community, proposing instead that the Gospels were composed for open circulation among all the churches. Van Eck tests that…
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Academic Research
Pentecostal Hermeneutical Reconsideration of the Longer Ending of Mark 16:9–20
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Marius Nel (North-West University, South Africa)Published in: Verbum et Ecclesia, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2020)DOI: 10.4102/ve.v41i1.2089 Abstract Early Pentecostals treated Mark 16:9–20 as authoritative, reading “these signs shall follow” as both a summons to worldwide mission and a test of the authenticity of Pentecostal experience. Nel accepts the manuscript evidence — the most ancient…
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Academic Research
Towards a Decolonial Hermeneutic of Experience in African Pentecostal Christianity: A South African Perspective
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Mookgo S. Kgatle; Thabang R. MofokengPublished in: HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, Vol. 75, No. 4 (2019)DOI: 10.4102/hts.v75i4.5473 Abstract The authors ask what it is about the hermeneutic of experience that makes abusive prophetic practice possible in some neo-Pentecostal ministries. Rather than dismissing experience as a hermeneutical category, they trace the problem to…
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Academic Research
Reimagining the Practice of Pentecostal Prophecy in Southern Africa: A Critical Engagement
ByRoger Oliveira de Mattos August 14, 2026August 21, 2026
Author(s): Mookgo S. Kgatle (University of South Africa)Published in: HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, Vol. 75, No. 4 (2019)DOI: 10.4102/hts.v75i4.5183 Abstract A critical engagement with the practice of prophecy in Southern African Pentecostalism, written from within the tradition rather than against it. Kgatle examines the commercialisation of prophetic ministry and the concentration of authority…
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