This thesis aims to analyse the formation and development of Korean Pentecostalism from the perspective of a dynamic contextual theology that constructs the identity of Korean Pentecostalism on the basis on the healing of han. Chapter 1 surveys the institutional, traditional, cultural and historical origins and backgrounds to situate the study of Korean Pentecostalism. It then examines the hermeneutical categories of two important theologians, Ryu Tong Shik and Yun Seong Bum, who developed the concept of "indigenization" to its extremes and even deconstructed it theologically. In contrast minjung theologians did practically what in Ryu and Yun still remained a theological concept. They, however, in reacting against Western cultural concepts and oppressions were imprisoned by Western categories. A deepening and partly alternative to both of them is given by approaching a "dynamic contextual theology." The ground for this type of theology is laid by the description of its development in the next two chapters. Chapter 2 explores the historical formation and development of the contextual healing of han in historical perspectives (1880s-1940s) during the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Japanese occupation. Since the evangelical missionaries' brought an eschatological hope, Korean Charismatic Movement (1903-1907) is characterised as the healing of han. After that, the importance of the healing of han in the Charismatic development can be seen from three important examples, namely three pastors: Kil Seon Ju's eschatological healing, Kirn Ik Du's miraculous healing, and Yi Yong Do's cross-centred healing. It developed as a contextual healing movement, led by the "Holy Spirit," prior to the introduction of the divine healing ministry of the Pentecostal denominations. Chapter 3 elucidates the Pentecostal denominational development of the contextual healing of han after the Korean War (1950s-1980s). In particular, since the Pentecostal missionaries' brought divine healing, and the Yoido Full Gospel Church contextually developed through Cho Yong Gi's the threefold healing of han. Chapter 4 summarises the previous chapters and draws out critical implications of the results of this study. Korean Pentecostalism can be symbolised as a series of colours in the rainbow of worldwide Pentecostalism with creative, although not unproblematic dynamic contextual theologies in both historical and theological perspectives.

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Pentecostalism is on the rise in various parts of the world, particularly in Africa. Several studies have emerged in recent years that have attempted to explain the reasons for the movement’s proliferation. The focus of this thesis is on the Pentecostal revival in Nigeria, which, it is argued, can be seen as a new form of religious life that revolves around three central themes. The first is a new form of religious attitude that I describe as the Pentecostal experience that is generated by the ‘collective effervescence’. This experience is achieved through the rites and rituals of worship that consists in prayer, praise-worship and other forms of religious performance underpinned by feelings of spirituality. I argue that a consideration of the Pentecostal experience not only offers greater insight into the African religious attitude, but also marks an improvement on the religious experience theories of thinkers like William James. The second theme is the vehicle through which the Pentecostal experience is achieved: the body. The thesis discusses the role of the body and argues for its centrality to Nigerian Pentecostalism through its dynamic expressivity and sacred performance. The third theme of the thesis is the Nigerian Pentecostal approach to the scriptures. I contrast the oral aspects of African cultures with Western literary culture of the scriptures to argue that the dynamism of ecstatic performance that we find in the oral culture has informed the Pentecostal approach to biblical texts. Additional insights into these themes are provided by an ethnographic study of a Nigerian Pentecostal Church in London. The thesis also argues against the highly influential social deprivation explanation that has been advanced by a number of authorities. Overall it builds on existing studies of African Pentecostalism and breaks new ground in Pentecostalism scholarship.

The study investigates the origins and development of Pentecostalism in Ghana with special reference to the Christ Apostolic Church, the Church of Pentecost, and the International Central Gospel Church. The theological section explores the continuity and discontinuity between the movement's conception of salvation and the primal concept of salvation. Part A looks at the Akan cosmology, the Akan concept of salvation, and the political, economic and social history of the Gold Coast/Ghana. It also examines some twentieth century Christian renewal movements in Ghana. Part B probes into the historical development of Ghanaian Pentecostalism and the Life and Faith of the movement, using the Christ Apostolic Church, the Church of Pentecost, and the International Central Gospel Church as case studies. Part C examines the Ghanaian Pentecostal soteriology using the Prayer Camps as a case study. The author concludes that the search of the Pentecostals for salvation or abundant life, manifests a continuity with the Akan traditional religious aspirations: a search for Salvation in which health, prosperity, dignity, fertility, security, vitality, and equilibrium within the cosmos are dominant. It also manifests a radical discontinuity in its hostile stand against all traditional forms of supernatural succour. Aspect of the discontinuity between the two religious expressions is Pentecostalism's concern for the paradise beyond. A related interest in this study is the investigation of the influence of socioeconomic factors on the eschatological presuppositions and the evangelistic ethos of the Pentecostal churches. The evidence from the Ghanaian context has led us to the conclusion that the materials presented in this study do not corroborate the thesis that the expectation of the parousia declines in the older Pentecostal denominations as their economic circumstances improve. Our findings indicate that though the neopentecostals believe in the parousia, this has not featured prominently in their kerygma. This, we propose, is due to their avowed concern to address the existential issues facing Ghanaians. The evidence indicates that the Prosperity or Abundant Life Gospel as espoused by the neo-pentecostals, is an attempt to appropriate the biblical message of salvation to suit the contemporary socio-economic and religious experience of Ghanaians.

This thesis is an ethnographic description of the Charismatic movement in England as it is to be found in the mainstream denominations. It specifically focuses on the Baptist denomination and uses the life and faith of the Jesus Fellowship Church as a controlling example of a Charismatic group which sits on the boundaries of both denominational and Baptist life. It traces the history, social organisation and framework of understanding of the movement and then highlights the Charismatic practice known as a worship time. It argues that in worship Charismatics become individual axis mundi, or channels for the transitory presence of the sacred on earth. This thesis also traces evidence which suggests that Charismatics represent this transitoriness in their use of physical space to delineate the sacred. They base their use of this space around a model by which they also construct the shape of the universe and organise their social relationships. In the activity conducted in this sacred space Charismatics journey towards the sacred through the use of music, words and ideas which are built into a flow of feeling that moves towards a goal. This ethnographic description is based on the theoretical and methodological programme of cultural anthropologists such as Turner, Bell and Geertz who have emphasised the idea of ritual as a functional process and, in the case of the latter two, the creation of meaning by which to live as a fundamental basis for all social and cultural life. It does so in direct response to other understandings of the Charismatic movement which focus on issues of power and forms of social relationships by using a different theoretical and methodological programme.

This study is the most extensive treatment of Danish Pentecostal history to date. It is also the first case study of early European Pentecostalism focused on describing the hindrances to Pentecostal growth in this part of the world and the ways the movement responded to these. The otherwise successful Anglo-Norwegian preacher T.B. Barratt attempted but failed to make Copenhagen a hub of the fledgling Pentecostal movement from 1907, though the movement managed to penetrate a wide range of socio-economic strata there. The movement was hampered by a relative lack of existing minority denominations, along with rejection by Evangelical and Holiness leaders within the state church. Many Danish Pentecostals themselves undermined the movement's survival, by resisting any departure from its original, ecumenical, spontaneous state. They often pursued interdenominational, itinerant strategies- or travelled abroad as missionaries - rather than forming Pentecostal congregations as in contexts where the movement was more successful. When the inevitable institutionalisation happened, it was accompanied by a few years of dynamic growth, but ended in a debilitating schism. The difficulties imposed by the combination of aggressive secularisation and a monopolistic state church should not be underestimated. These may also help us understand contemporary religious minorities.

While there has been a long running debate concerning the relationship between the Christian faith and environmental attitudes and behaviours, the topic has been neglected empirically, especially in relation to qualitative research. This thesis addresses this gap and presents the results of fieldwork that included participant observation and forty in-depth qualitative interviews. The goal of this thesis is to present findings about the environmental attitudes and behaviours of four conservative evangelical congregations in North Wales, U.K., to further understanding about how Christian beliefs and interpretation of the Bible are formative in this process. To aid in this a modified ‘four voices of theology’ of Cameron et al. (2010) is used as an analytical template and to conceptualise results.

The Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU) commenced in 1909 as a non-sectarian Pentecostal faith mission with many similarities to the China Inland Mission (CIM), influenced by the links of its President, Cecil Polhill, as one of the illustrious Cambridge Seven missionaries. In 1924 it amalgamated into the newly formed British Assemblies of God (AOG), with a full merger in 1925. This thesis reconstructs the historical narrative of the PMU examining its theology and praxis. This thesis is not a descriptive biographical narrative of the PMU’s leaders and missionaries but a historiography exploring the PMU’s development in its original context based on information provided by primary sources. Other than one 1995 Masters dissertation, no research has been conducted specifically on the PMU. This research seeks to recover the lost voice of early British non-sectarian Pentecostal missiology marginalized by Protestant mission historiography and overlooked by Pentecostal historiographers focused on American or later periods of Pentecostalism. Pentecostal historiographies have interpreted the twentieth century global revival movement largely through the ‘latter rain’ motif as an eschatologically providential event, discontinuous with previous ecclesiastical history. Pentecostal mission historiography is still developmental, especially in the employment of an historical roots methodology as opposed to traditional providential approaches. This thesis argues that early British Pentecostalism, before the Great War, originated as a non-sectarian mission movement strongly linked to antecedent faith mission roots, demonstrating the necessity for Pentecostals to engage with broader research methodologies that challenge traditional perceptions of the emergence and development of Pentecostalism. The Great War was interpreted with an apocalyptic lens that increasingly shifted Pentecostal eschatological emphasis away from missional urgency towards speculative application of Biblical prophecy with early twentieth century events. The severing of the PMU from its faith mission roots during the Great War, through CIM policy averse to Pentecostalism, reinforced Pentecostal perceptions of eschatological discontinuity and the need of a distinctive denominational identity in the uncertainty of the inter-war period. The lifespan of the world’s first modern Pentecostal missionary organisation was relatively short but it encompassed three specific periods of British history: prior to the Great War, the Great War years and the inter-War years This thesis utilises these three distinct periods to provide a progressive narrative highlighting the challenges within the PMU’s developmental history from non-sectarian faith mission to denominational mission department. The missiological emphasis of early Pentecostalism, as exemplified by the PMU, provides an understanding of the Pentecostal global phenomena a century later. Early 20th century Pentecostal revivals occurring in various places could have resulted in Pentecostalism remaining a localised sect but its significance grew through its emphasis on missiological urgency with pneumatological empowerment. Contemporary British and global Pentecostalism cannot be explained without historiographical reference to its earliest missiological roots including the PMU.