Daniel Castelo is author of the new book Pentecostalism as a Christian Mystical Tradition.

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People have different experiences and opinions regarding Pentecostalism, but one way to work through these is to ask the question: Is Pentecostalism new or old?

Outsiders to Pentecostalism might be inclined to say that it is a relatively new religious movement since its roots could be traced to the turn of the twentieth century, and it is marked by what could be perceived as aberrations or variances from “standard” Christian belief and practice. Pentecostal insiders could agree with the claim of newness in their own way and say that the Christian God was doing “a new thing” among this group of earnest seekers, given that Pentecostalism is often cast as part of an unanticipated worldwide revival.

And yet, some of these insiders might also say something that was very prominent early in the movement: that their experience was actually a demonstration of a “latter rain,” with the “former rain” taking place on the Day of Pentecost as reported in Acts 2. With such a so-called “restorationist” reading, these narrators might open the door to a kind of nuancing so that Pentecostalism is cast as new but also in continuity with something old. Furthermore, early on in the American Pentecostal movement, references were sometimes made to distinct persons and movements across Christian history so as to show that there was at least some continuity between what was happening in their day and what had occurred periodically in the story of the Church. Given that the Christian God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, the historical argument for continuity made good theological sense to them.

In my new book, Pentecostalism as a Christian Mystical Tradition, I wish to press this continuity angle by highlighting the possibility of thinking of Pentecostalism along Christian mystical terms. There are plenty of hurdles to overcome with such an approach, including just how one defines the terms “Pentecostalism” and “mysticism,” but my aim is to distinguish Pentecostalism in ways that account for certain features of its beliefs and common life that are not fully recognized by other designations.

In particular—and contrary to widely held opinion—a case can be made that Pentecostalism is not a form of Evangelicalism on the American scene. How could this be?

If one looks to various sources and materials from the classical Pentecostal witness, one can see that a certain strand of Pentecostalism stands in strong contrast with a certain strand of Evangelicalism in the US. The tensions show themselves in terms of how the Christian life is cast, how theological reasoning is pursued and cultivated, how Scripture is read, and at some basic level how the Christian God works and interacts with the world. When one reads how Pentecostals sometimes talk about these matters, one might find resonances with other, oft-ignored voices within the Christian tradition—these being the Christian mystics of the past.

Several scholars both inside and out of the movement have hinted at this connection, including Harvey Cox, James K. A. Smith, Daniel Albrecht, Dale Coulter, and others. Pentecostalism as a Christian Mystical Tradition attempts to develop this intuition along the lines of theological methodology (how theology is pursued), theological epistemology (how the Christian God is engaged and known), and how the Christian life is broadly conceived. At the heart of this vision is the interrelationship between spirituality and theology and the conviction that the encounter with the Christian God has the potential to transform and shape people thoroughly here and now.

Perhaps the most significant impediment to this vision would be Pentecostal accounts of Spirit-baptism. American Pentecostals have a specific understanding of this notion that puts it at odds with major Christian groups. Part of the difficulty here is that this understanding buys into a particular epistemology that stands at odds with other features of the Pentecostal witness. It is necessary to conceive of Spirit-baptism as something beyond a revivalist experience so as to be a mystical account of the Christian life that can be considered in terms of time, growth, and maturation. Here the argument of the book moves to prescriptive dimensions for the sake of the movement’s ongoing vitality.

Is Pentecostalism new or old? Plenty will say it is new, and good reasons exist for this. But that is not the whole story. Especially for those who are aware and appreciate the mystical tendencies within Christianity, some of these tendencies are at work among the Pentecostals and charismatics of today. And given how these forms of Christianity are flourishing across the globe, it may just be that God is pouring out God’s Spirit once again in a recognizable and time-honored way.

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Daniel Castelo is professor of dogmatic and constructive theology at Seattle Pacific University and Seminary. He is also co-author of Hosea (THOTC).