What Do I Mean By Pilgrim Theology? Part 1

In the strap-line beneath the blog title above, I have indicated that these posts are intended to be personal reflections on pentecostalism and pilgrim theology. So what do I mean by pilgrim theology?

First of all let me say that I was using this term before I came across a quite new handbook of Christian doctrine called  A Pilgrim Theology by Michael Horton. Although in browsing this book and knowing the 'stable' that Horton comes from, I suspect that I will disagree with him on quite a number of things, I do appreciate two emphases he highlights in his introduction. One is the communal and historically-aware nature of theology:

'To study theology involves entering a long, on-going conversation, one that we did not begin'

The idea of theology being a journey that has gone on for centuries and that must involve engaging with

Two Areas of Concern

When I first tried writing an ultimately un-posted critique of my pentecostal-charismatic experience, I realised that my frustrations, concerns and criticisms fell into roughly two broad areas. The first is what some refer to as revivalism, and for the second I use the admittedly complex catch-all term, fundamentalism. It is the second of these that I am most concerned with in my present theological pilgrimage, but let me first say a little about the first as I will no doubt return to it from time to time also.

Revivalism

By using revivalism in a critical way, I am decidedly not criticising belief in revivals (as sovereign moves of God) or commitment to spiritual vitality and an experiential-emotional dimension to our faith (as opposed to

The Place of Critical Reflection in Pilgrimage

I apologize for being so slow in starting to post here again. I have struggled to get back to this 'theological blog' after my 'fast' as quickly as I intended partly because of the busyness of the season and partly because I have been unsure exactly what step to take next. Having been clear in my last post on what I can celebrate from my pentecostal heritage, I actually wrote a long post on some of my frustrations, concerns and criticisms of it (theological and practical), but felt it was in danger of being too negative. It could almost seem that what I had given with one hand I was taking a way with the other (so I didn't post it). Then I thought more about my hesitancy.

I recognise that there is a challenge and a tension between honouring our heritage and idolising it. When I began to shift in some of my perspectives and beliefs a few years back, I remember praying to God to help