What is the nature and function of the Pentecostal/Charismatic gift of speaking in tongues? Charismatic Glossolalia aims to answer this question. Drawing on detailed observations and interviews with people who themselves speak in tongues, as well as survey data, Cartledge presents explanations on the meaning of this gift for both the participants and their churches. Cartledge argues that an understanding of the gift of speaking in tongues emerges as a symbol of divine-human encounter, especially associated with the context of prayer and worship and symbolising a sense of beauty, awe, power, intimacy and faith-building. In theological terms, speaking in tongues may be described as trinitarian, sacramental and as demonstrating an important feature of the Kingdom of God. An extensive literature review considers material from the New Testament, Pentecostal and Charismatic theology, and the behavioural and social sciences. This book offers a unique contribution to Pentecostal and Charismatic scholarship, as well as the emerging scholarly tradition of Practical Theology.

Speaking in tongues is a worldwide phenomenon that dates back to the early Christian church. Commonly referred to as "glossolalia," it has been the subject of curiosity and vigorous debate for the past two centuries. Glossolalia is both celebrated as supernatural gift and condemned as semiotic alchemy. For some it is mystical speech that exceeds what words can do, and for others it is mere gibberish, empty of meaning. At the heart of these differences is glossolalia's puzzling relationship to language. ​ Glossolalia and the Problem of Language investigates speaking in tongues in South Korea, where it is practiced widely across denominations and congregations. Nicholas Harkness shows how the popularity of glossolalia in Korea lies at the intersection of numerous, often competing social forces, interwoven religious legacies, and spiritual desires that have been amplified by Christianity's massive institutionalization. As evangelicalism continues to spread worldwide, Glossolalia and the Problem of Language analyzes one of its most enigmatic practices while marking a major advancement in our understanding of the power of language and its limits.

In The Charismatic Gymnasium Maria José de Abreu examines how Charismatic Catholicism in contemporary Brazil produces a new form of total power through a concatenation of the breathing body, theology, and electronic mass media. De Abreu documents a vast religious respiratory program of revival popularly branded as “the aerobics of Jesus.” Pneuma—the Greek term for air, breath, and spirit—is central to this aerobic program, whose goal is to labor on the athletic elasticity of spirit. Tracing the rhetoric, gestures, and spaces that together constitute this new theological community, de Abreu exposes the articulating forces among evangelical Christianity, neoliberal logics, and the rise of right-wing politics. By calling attention to how an ethics of pauperism vitally intersects with the neoliberal ethos of flexibility, de Abreu shows how paradoxes do not hinder but expand the Charismatic gymnasium. The result, de Abreu demonstrates, is the production of a fluid form of totalitarianism and Christianity in Brazil and beyond.

Pentecostals (traditionally) do not think theologically so much as do it practically. This book will present Pentecostal theology as well as the particular style of Pentecostal thinking and praxis that makes it different. Pentecostalism is not just distinctive because of its belief base but also because of the worldview it owns. The latter is based on a certainty that a religion that does not work is not worth much. Consequently, they look for expressions of life and vitality in their faith. These dominate, rather than an expression of the cerebral, though this is changing. Nevertheless, the sense of the immediate, the God of the now not the distant past, underlie how they do theology. Pentecostal theology tends to be seen through the eyes of people, not theologians; through the community, not traditions (though they have them); through their faith and worship, not ancient creeds. It is a theology of the dynamic, seen through the lens of experience. It is a functional theology that exists to operate; to incorporate an experiential dimension. Pentecostal theology does not operate as other theologies which often only detail a list of beliefs; it does this but also and (more) importantly, it explores them in the context of praxis. Thus, this volume incorporates praxis as part of the enquiry relating to theology.

In Narratives and Numbers: Empirical Studies of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity Mark J. Cartledge provides a rich set of essays on key themes in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, which one of the most vibrant expressions of religion in the world today.

Speaking in tongues (glossolalia) is a common spiritual phenomenon in the Pentecostal and Charismatic streams of the Christian church. Such Christians believe that when they speak in tongues they are communicating with God in a language that they have never learned--spiritual prayer language given to them by the Holy Spirit. This innovative volume seeks to enhance our understanding and appreciation of glossolalia by examining it from a range of different angles. Christian scholars from diverse academic disciplines bring to bear the insights of their own specialist areas to shed new light on the practice of speaking in tongues. The disciplines include: New Testament Studies--Max Turner Theology--Frank D. Macchia History--Neil Hudson Philosophy--James K. A. Smith Linguistics--David Hilborn Sociology--Margaret M. Poloma Psychology--William K. Kay A final chapter by Mark J. Cartledge seeks to show how all of these perspectives can work together and enrich a Christian appreciation of the gift of tongues.

Theological dictionaries are foundational to any theological library. But until now there has been no Global Dictionary of Theology, a theological dictionary that presumes the contribution of the Western tradition but moves beyond it to embrace and explore a full range of global expressions of theology. The Global Dictionary of Theology is inspired by the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to the Global South. But it also reflects the increase in two-way traffic between these two sectors as well as the global awareness that has permeated popular culture to an unprecedented degree. The editorial perspective of the Global Dictionary of Theology is an ecumenical evangelicalism that is receptive to discovering new facets of truth through listening and conversation on a global scale. Thus a distinctive feature of the Global Dictionary of Theology is its conversational approach. Contributors have been called on to write in the spirit of engaging in a larger theological conversation in which alternative views are expected and invited. William A. Dyrness, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Juan F. Martinez and Simon Chan edit approximately 250 articles written by over 100 contributors representing the global spectrum of theological perspectives. Pastors, theological teachers, theological students and lay Christian leaders will all find the Global Dictionary of Theology to be a resource that unfolds new dimensions and reveals new panoramas of theological perspective and inquiry. Here is a new launching point for doing theology in today's global context.