“The Pentecostal Church in China,” the Summer issue of ChinaSource Quarterly, is hot off the press. Robert Menzies served as the guest editor of this special issue of CSQ and he enlisted contributors Dennis Balcombe, Evan Liu, Zhang Li, Mark Barclift, and Hong and Esther Yang (see the Yang’s related blog,
https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/expecting-great-things-from-god/.)

A pdf of this issue is available on the website.

Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press has added three books for free downloads, including: Luke Wesley, The Church in China: Persecuted, Pentecostal and Powerful; Stanley Horton, Reflections of an Early American Pentecostal; and Chin Khua Kwai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar.

https://www.aptspress.org/

The following article – Robert Menzies, “Pentecostal Eschatology: Why Amillennialism is a Better Fit,” Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity 43.2 (2023), 118-132 – is an original manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in May of 2023, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/27691616.2023.2218908.

Pentecostal Eschatology: Why Amillennialism is a Better Fit 

by Robert Menzies

The eschatological perspective of our Pentecostal forebearers was shaped by a dispensational reading of the Bible.[1] This dispensational orientation formed the apocalyptic vision of the fundamentalist (or proto-evangelical) movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the crucible in which the Pentecostal movement was forged.[2]

[1] R. Menzies, The End of History: Pentecostals and a Fresh Approach to the Apocalypse (Springfield, MO: ACPT Press, 2022), 5-46.

[2] Timothy P. Weber, ‘Dispensational and Historic Premillennialism as Popular Millennialist Movements,’ in Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung, eds., A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to ‘Left Behind’ Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), Loc 542; Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostal and American Culture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), 251-52.

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Pentecost: Not Really Our Story Afterall? A Reply to Ekaputra Tupamahu

See Robert Menzies’ defense of the Pentecostal reading of Acts and the missionary enterprise in the newly published issue of Themelios.  To read, click on the link below:

Continue reading on Themelios

Where we are currently:

Percentage of people groups that are unreached in Asia:
73%

 

Percentage of the population in Asia that are not professing Christians
92%

 

% of Asian pop living in unreached people groups
59%

More Information:

The Asian Center of Pentecostal Theology (ACPT) was started in 2015 by Robert Menzies (Kunming, China) in conjunction with four contributing editors: Dongsoo Kim of Korea; Gani Wiyono of Indonesia; Lim Yeu Chuen of Malaysia; and Timothy Yeung of Hong Kong.
 

The ACPT seeks to strengthen the church in Asia by promoting Pentecostal theology, ministry, and experience in the region.  The ACPT seeks to be: A meeting place for a community of pastors and scholars committed to Pentecostal values and ministry; a digital library of books, articles, book reviews, and blogs that seek to bring clarity to the Pentecostal message, encourage the Church in its mission, and edify the body of Christ; a catalyst for research, writing, and publication of books and articles in Asia that address Pentecostal themes; a forum for discussion of topics relevant to Pentecostal theology and praxis, and for posting news about related events.

ACPT STATEMENT OF FAITH:

  1. THERE IS ONE GOD, ETERNALLY EXISTING AS THREE PERSONS: FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT.
  2. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD; THROUGH HIS SUBSTITUTIONARY, SACRIFICIAL DEATH ON THE CROSS, HE PROVIDES HUMANKIND ITS ONLY HOPE OF REDEMPTION.
  3. ALL BELIEVERS SHOULD SEEK THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH IMPARTS POWER FOR WITNESS AND SERVICE. THE BAPTISM OF BELIEVERS IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IS EVIDENCED BY THE INITIAL, OBSERVABLE SIGN OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES AS THE SPIRIT ENABLES.
  4. THE BIBLE IS THE COMPLETE AND ONLY WRITTEN WORD OF GOD. IT IS TRUSTWORTHY AND RELIABLE.

The Pentecostal movement is recognized around the world as a powerful and dynamic force impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people.  It is changing the face of the Christian church.  And in many nations, such as Korea, it is hard to overestimate its impact on the larger society.  Yet, in spite of all of this, many still do not see Pentecostals as having much to offer theologically.  It is a movement of experience, we are told, not doctrine.  Through this website and its content, we seek to challenge this faulty assumption.  Pentecostals have an important theological contribution to make to the larger church world and we want to make this fact know.

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