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Pentecostal and Holiness Statements on War and Peace
Edited by Jay Beaman and Brian K. Pipkin
Foreword by Titus Peachey
Series: Pentecostals, Peacemaking, and Social Justice
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Many Pentecostal groups have forgotten their legacy of war resistance and doctrinal history opposing killing. To rectify this loss, we have catalogued Holiness and Pentecostal denominational statements on war and peace.
Numerous Holiness groups and virtually all early Pentecostal groups had some form of pacifist statement against war. This antiwar collection gives us an almost uniform picture of the early Pentecostal movement as largely pacifist in orientation. The commonality of these statements across both Holiness and Pentecostal movements is evidence they are a continuous group and not two separate movements. While their early doctrines opposed killing, many named in this book are now widely considered to be stalwarts of the Religious Right, or at least staunch supporters of Christian participation in war. Our hope is that this book will frame the official position of early Pentecostals on war and peace, and encourage Pentecostals today to reflect on their antiwar heritage.
Jay Beaman, PhD, is a sociologist and administrative faculty member doing research at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Pentecostal Pacifism (2009). pentecostalpacifism.com
Brian K. Pipkin, MAR, is assistant Managing Editor of Pax Pneuma: The Journal of Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice. He is the author of "The Foursquare Church and Pacifism" in Pentecostals and Nonviolence (2012).
"In this remarkable book Jay Beaman and Brian Pipkin demonstrate that the rejection of war was central to many early Holiness and Pentecostal Christians. This book will challenge the complacency of many of their heirs and remind us that nonviolence is the common heritage of many so-called evangelicals in the United States and around the world."
--William Kostlevy, Tabor College
"Reading this book will remind Pentecostals of their spiritual ancestors and what they did in favor of peace and justice, and it will remind non-Pentecostals that the stereotypes of 'social strike' and 'refuge of the masses' do not always adequately describe the life and mission of all Pentecostal believers and churches around the world."
--Dario Lopez Rodriguez, Gamaliel Biblical Seminary of the Church of God
"Being a conscientious objector to war and violence doesn't mean you are part of a unique community or an exclusive club, and CO is not simply the domain of the historic peace churches. Politics and other earthly pressures aside, being a CO to war and violence is what it means to be human. Thanks to Jay and Brian for this poignant reminder."
--Maria Santelli, Center on Conscience & War
See some reviews on the book by visiting these links:
Roger E. Olson review on Patheos.com:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/05/pentecostal-pacifism-a-lost-and-denied-tradition/
David Swartz reviews on Patheos.com:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/04/unexpected-sites-of-christian-pacifism-pentecostal-edition/
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/03/unexpected-sites-of-christian-pacifism-holiness-edition/