The President's Top 10 Books of Pentecostal Scholarship

In the early ‘70s I began researching theological literature as it related to two distinctive Pentecostal doctrines: (1) the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and (2) the continuity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As you can imagine, I came across some very good books as well as some stinkers, in both Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal categories. For your benefit, I have compiled my Top 10 list of the best books substantiating the Pentecostal position on these two issues. In 1987, I published a similar list in my book Praying in the Spirit (Chosen Books). Only three books that were in that list made it to this list, reflecting the tremendous strides that have been made in Pentecostal scholarship in the last twenty years. Here are my favorites:

1.  Empowered for Witness: The Spirit in Luke-Acts (Sheffield, 1991) by Robert P. Menzies
     (And its popularized version with Wm. Menzies, Spirit and Power, Zondervan, 2000)
1. (tie) On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Postbiblical Miracles
     (Sheffield, 1993) by Jon Ruthven  (the best on the continuity of the gifts)
3.  The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (Hendrickson, 1984) by Roger Stronstad
4.  Spirit-Baptism: A Biblical Investigation (Hendrickson, rev. 1987) by Howard M. Ervin
5.  Mighty in Word and Deed (Hendrickson, 1991) by James B. Shelton
6.  The Prophethood of All Believers: A Study in Luke’s Charismatic Theology
     (Sheffield, 1999) by Roger Stronstad
7.  Conversion-Initiation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Hendrickson, 1987) by Howard M. Ervin
8.  Spirit, Scripture and Theology: A Pentecostal Perspective (APTS Press, 1995) by Roger Stronstad
9.  Gift and Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today (Baker Academic, 2001) by Craig S. Keener
10. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 1993) by Jack Deere

Other worthwhile reads

Some of you would, no doubt, include one or more of Rodman Williams’s works on this list (such as The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today)—I wouldn’t argue with that. Other authors also come to mind: Harold D. Hunter (Spirit-Baptism: A Pentecostal Alternative), Charles E. Hummel (Fire in the Fireplace), Anthony D. Palma (The Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Perspective), Jim McNair (Experiencing the Holy Spirit), and even James Dunn (Jesus and the Spirit). Addressing prophecy, specifically, is Wayne Grudem’s The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today. Charismatics might prefer Thomas A. Smail’s Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians and Gerald Hovenden’s Speaking in Tongues: The New Testament Evidence in Context. On a practical level, it would be hard to beat Dennis and Rita Bennett’s The Holy Spirit and You.

Shorter works with punch

If I were listing shorter works, I would include Stronstad's Baptized and Filled with the Holy Spirit (2004), Anthony Palma's Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1999), Doug Oss’s contribution to Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (Zondervan, 1996), and Paul Elbert’s “Face to Face: Then or Now? An Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13:8-13,” (paper read at the 1977 SPS conference) [soon to be updated, expanded, and published by or for the Foundation]. Noteworthy older, shorter works include Wm. G. MacDonald’s Glossolalia in the New Testament (GPH, 1964) and Michael Harper’s Power for the Body of Christ (Logos, 1964).

More to come

The Top 10 List is, of course, in flux. I see a number of books on my bookshelf that I intend to read; any one of them may find its way on the list. They are: Tongues of the Spirit by Cyril Williams, Quenching the Spirit by Wm. DeArteaga, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts by Max Turner, Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit by McDonnell and Montague, The Kingdom and the Power by Greig and Springer, Gordon Fee’s God’s Empowering Presence, et al.

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