|
|
|
|
|
« Return
|
|
New center opens to study one of Christianity's fastest-growing movements
2003-066-5
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
|
[Episcopal News Service]
A unique center has been opened in the Netherlands to study Pentecostalism, one of the world's fastest growing Christian movements--and one which some members claim already accounts for more than one in four Christians worldwide.
Called the Hollenweger Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements and located at Amsterdam's Free University, the new center is a joint venture of the university's theology and social sciences faculties. It is named after Swiss Reformed theologian Walter Hollenweger, a respected pioneer in promoting contacts between the Pentecostal and ecumenical movements. 'Our purpose is not to spread the Pentecostal message, but to study Pentecostalism and its current worldwide expansion,' said the center's director, Andre Droogers.
Pentecostalism is a Christian renewal movement dating from the early 20th century marked by spontaneity in worship, and including such phenomena as speaking in tongues, prophesying and healing.
The launch of the Hollenweger Center comes about a decade after the Swiss theologian called on academic institutions in Europe to provide study facilities for Pentecostal students, declaring the absence of such facilities in Europe to be a theological scandal. The center was formally inaugurated at the end of February with a two-day symposium on 'Non-Western Pentecostalism in the Netherlands,' which drew about 70 participants.
In a keynote lecture, British academic Allan Anderson pointed out that of the more than half a billion Pentecostals world-wide, most come from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
|
|
|
|
|
|
