Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: American Pentecostalism, the 8:46 Moment, and the COVID-19 PandemicAs we, the editors, mapped out this issue, this was not the editorial we planned to write.That is because this issue of Pneuma is being published in the midst of two major social crises, largely unanticipated at the beginning of 2020, in which Pentecostal communities, along with the rest of the world, have found themselves: the racial awakening sweeping the United States of America and the global COVID-19 pandemic.These two events have exposed the fragility of most nations' institutions for social justice, their antiquated moral fabrics, pressings problems of aging and ailing healthcare systems, dangerous levels of social and economic inequalities, and sometimes just the simple lack of moral concern for one's neighbor.In the United States, these two events have unequivocally demonstrated the unacceptable level of suffering, discrimination, and vulnerability to death of minorities, especially African Americans.As an academic journal deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, anchored by love for all God's children, driven by a vision of equality of all races and peoples, and committed to human flourishing for all, we would like to remind the United States and all our readers that black lives matter.When we value black lives, which for centuries in America have not been considered important, then all lives of God's children will truly matter.American Pentecostalism, right from its inception, has struggled with the social-ethical implications of the gift of the fire of the Holy Spirit that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.William Seymour, the leader of the Azuza Street revival-a black man well-acquainted with racism and accustomed to being treated as a second-class citizen in his own country by the majority white population-declared that the most important indication of any life transformed by God's Spirit is the radical commitment to a racially inclusive community.Pentecost, he declared, "brings us all into one common family."America is yet to live up to this simple vision of Seymour.1
Source: Pneuma
Authors: Nimi Wariboko, Bill Oliverio
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3082645088