Authors:
- Contributes to the understudied areas of Petecostal and Charismatic studies, including leadership, politics, and public theology
- Offers the first English language study of Lewi Pethrus
- Investigates cases of renewal movements within Pentecostalism, an important subject for a movement within the revitalist tradition
Part of the book series: Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies (CHARIS)
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book investigates the life and leadership of Lewi Pethrus, a monumental figure in Swedish and international Pentecostalism. Joel Halldorf describes Pethrus’ role in the emergence of Pentecostalism in Sweden, the ideals and practices of Swedish Pentecostalism, and the movement’s turn to professional party politics.
When Pentecostals in the USA ventured into politics, they became allied with the Republican party, and later Donald Trump. The Swedish Pentecostals took another route: while culturally conservative, they embraced the progressive economic politics of the Social Democratic party. During the 2010s, they have also rejected the nationalism of the growing populist movement. Halldorf analyzes and explains these differences between Swedish evangelicals and Pentecostals on the one hand, and the Religious Right in the USA on the other.
Reviews
“This book is a compelling account of Lewi Pethrus’s life, ministry and witness. Halldorf shows how Pethrus, a singular and influential figure in Swedish Pentecostalism, developed his distinctive vision and practice and how it contrasts with many popular assumptions about how Pentecostals engage in culture and politics. Along the way, Halldorf portrays how Pethrus advocates for what are often seen as opposed, namely, integrating what it means to be modern with what it means to be Christian, the pursuit of personal holiness with campaigns for social justice, and spontaneous social movements with the slow work of building institutions. This book is an important contribution not just to the history of Pentecostalism but also to the growing body of Pentecostal political theology.”
—Luke Bretherton, Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, USA
“Joel Haldorf’s book is a sweeping analysis of the rise of Pentecostalism in Sweden. Lewi Pethrus’ life serves as a hermeneutical lens for interpreting Swedish Pentecostalism’s unique polis in the midst of the politics of a modern, mass society. Haldorf goes beyond the reductionism that is usually found in standard sociological categories. In doing so, he breaks new ground and helps the reader see the multiple dimensions of Pethrus’ larger than life personality. I was particularly fascinated by the last chapter, in which Halldorf traces the history of U.S. Evangelicalism and compares that to rise of the Swedish Evangelical movement, noting both similarities and stark differences.”
—Cheryl Bridges Johns, Robert E. Fisher Professor of Spiritual Renewal & Christian Formation, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, USA
Authors and Affiliations
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Stockholm School of Theology, Bromma, Sweden
Joel Halldorf
About the author
Joel Halldorf is Associate Professor at the University College Stockholm and docent in Church history at Uppsala University. He is a regular contributor to several newspapers and magazines in Sweden.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Pentecostal Politics in a Secular World
Book Subtitle: The Life and Leadership of Lewi Pethrus
Authors: Joel Halldorf
Series Title: Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47051-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-47050-0Published: 09 July 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-47053-1Published: 09 July 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-47051-7Published: 08 July 2020
Series ISSN: 2634-5854
Series E-ISSN: 2634-5862
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 286
Number of Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations
Topics: Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism, Christian Theology, Ecclesiology