I WAS IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD‟S DAY‟: A PENTECOSTAL ENGAGEMENT WITH ...

293 Pages·2016·1.88 MB·English

„I WAS IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD‟S DAY‟:
A PENTECOSTAL ENGAGEMENT WITH WORSHIP IN THE APOCALYPSE

By

Melissa L. Archer

A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
School of Philosophy and Religion
College of Arts, Education, and Humanities
Bangor University
2013
ABSTRACT

This thesis undertakes the task of examining the theme of worship in the Apocalypse by means
of a narrative approach in an effort to make a contribution to a Pentecostal theology of worship
based on the Apocalypse. After a survey of the most recent scholarship on the theme of worship,
the methodological approach for the thesis is presented. The thesis employs a Pentecostal
hermeneutic that makes use of Wirkgungsgeschichte and narrative analysis. A detailed
examination of early North American Pentecostal periodical literature reveals the depth to which
the spirituality of early Pentecostals was impacted by their reading of the Apocalypse as a
liturgical text. A Pentecostal narrative hearing of the Apocalypse follows in which the theme of
worship is examined. The thesis culminates in an offering of overtures toward the construction of
a Pentecostal theology of worship based on the Apocalypse. The thesis concludes with
implications and suggestions for further research.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my profound gratitude to my family, my parents, and Ken‟s family for their
never-ending encouragement and support during the years that it has taken me to complete this
thesis. A word of thanks must also go to my church family at Woodward Church of God for the
role they have played in providing spiritual nurturing and nourishment for me and my family. To
my thesis supervisor, Dr. John Christopher Thomas, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for
seeing in me things I could not see, for providing gracious and patient guidance through every
step of the thesis, and for sharing his considerable wisdom and expertise. My fellow Bangor
University PhD students – especially, Larry McQueen, Chris Green, Jeff and Karen Holley,
Randall Ackland, O‟Dell Bryant, and Steffan Schumacher – have provided great feedback,
support, and friendship during this journey. My colleagues at Lee University, Pentecostal
Theological Seminary, and, now, Southeastern University have all been a source of personal
encouragement and support.
This work would never have come to fruition without the love and encouragement of my
husband, Ken. Thank you for always believing in and encouraging me. You are my inspiration.
To our sons, Trent and Tyler, who have never known a time in their lives when one or the other
of their parents were not in school, thank you for your unwavering love and understanding. It is
to my children, Trent and Tyler, and Tyler‟s wife, Christina, that I lovingly dedicate this thesis. It
is my prayer that you will continue to follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

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CONTENTS
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv
Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. viiii
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
I. The Task .................................................................................................................................. 1
II. Structure and Flow of the Argument ...................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1
The Role of Worship in the Apocalypse: A Survey of Modern Literature ................................. 1
I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
II. Worship in the Apocalypse ................................................................................................ 1
III. Hymns in the Apocalypse ............................................................................................... 11
IV. Revelation 4-5 ................................................................................................................. 19
V. Additional Worship Scenes .............................................................................................. 24
VI. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................. 30
Methodology: A Pentecostal Reading Strategy ........................................................................ 30
I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 30
II. Origins of Pentecostalism in North America ................................................................... 31
III. Pentecostal Hermeneutics ............................................................................................... 35
IV. Wirkungsgeschichte ........................................................................................................ 42
V. The Use of Narrative Analysis ......................................................................................... 47
VI. Overtures Toward the Construction of a Pentecostal Theology of Worship .................. 51
VII. Summary ....................................................................................................................... 52
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................. 53
Effective History: The Apocalypse in Early Pentecostal Literature ......................................... 53
I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 53
II. Wesleyan-Holiness Publications ...................................................................................... 53
III. Finished Work Publications ............................................................................................ 78
IV. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 94
CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................. 96
Liturgical Narratives: Hearing the Revelation of John ............................................................. 96
I. Prologue (1.1-8) ................................................................................................................. 96
II. ejn pneuvmati – „On the Lord‟s Day‟ (1.9-3.22) ............................................................. 103
III. ejn pneuvmati – „In Heaven‟ (4.1-16.21) ........................................................................ 138
IV. ejn pneuvmati – „In the Wilderness: Babylon‟ (17.1-21.8) ............................................ 201
V. ejn pneuvmati – „On a Mountain: New Jerusalem‟ (21.9-22.5) ...................................... 218
VI. Epilogue (22.6-21) ........................................................................................................ 224
CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................... 234
Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Worship in Light of the Apocalypse ............................... 234
I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 234
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II. What the Apocalypse Reveals About Worship .............................................................. 236
III. Summary ....................................................................................................................... 261
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 266
I. Contributions of this Thesis ............................................................................................. 266
II. Suggestions for Further Research................................................................................... 267
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 269
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ABBREVIATIONS
Early Pentecostal Periodicals
AF The Apostolic Faith
CE The Christian Evangel
COGE The Church of God Evangel
LRE The Latter Rain Evangel
TBM The Bridegroom‟s Messenger
TP The Pentecost
WE Weekly Evangel
WW Word and Witness

Other

ABD Freeman, D.N. (ed.), Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols; Garden City: Doubleday,
1992)
ACNT Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament
AJPS Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BNTC Black‟s New Testament Commentaries
BTCB Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible
BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBR Currents in Biblical Research
DPCM Burgess, S.M., et al. (eds.), Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic
Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988)
EPPET Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology
IVP InterVarsity Press
IVPNTC IVP New Testament Commentary Series
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JEPTA Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JPT Journal of Pentecostal Theology
JPTSup Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTS Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series
LXX Septuagint
NCCS New Covenant Commentary Series
Neot Neotestamentica
NIBC New International Biblical Commentary
NIGTC New International Greek New Testament Commentary
NIDPCM Burgess, S.M., and E.M. van der Maas (eds.), The New International Dictionary
of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).
NovT Novum Testamentum
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NTS New Testament Studies
PTMS Princeton Theological Monograph Series
SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers
SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
TDNT Kittle, G., and G. Friedrich (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
(trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley; 10 vols; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-1976)
WBC Word Biblical Commentary Series
ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

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INTRODUCTION

I. The Task
As a fourth-generation Pentecostal born and raised in a pastor‟s home, I have two very distinct
childhood memories that center on the Apocalypse. The first is that my initial experience of
Spirit-baptism came during a time of prayer that closed a small group Bible study led by my
father on the topic of the four horses in the Apocalypse (Rev. 6.1-8). The second is the distinct
experience of terror I felt when our church watched a movie titled A Thief in the Night about the
idea of missing the rapture.1 I can still hear the haunting lyrics to the movie‟s theme song, „I
Wish We‟d All Been Ready‟, by Larry Norman as well as see myself as a young child hiding
behind the couch whenever I happened to come home from school to an empty house. I was sure
I had missed the rapture and been „left behind‟. This second experience, coupled with the
Dispensational understanding of Revelation with which I, like many North American
Pentecostals, grew up made me afraid even to read the Apocalypse! It was actually not until I
took a graduate course on the Apocalypse that I began to discover the worship embedded in the
book. It is that course that began my journey that has led me to this thesis. This study is a
Pentecostal narrative reading of the Apocalypse that examines its theme of worship. The results
of the narrative reading will then be put into conversation with Pentecostalism to offer proposals
for a Pentecostal theology of worship based on the Apocalypse.
II. Structure and Flow of the Argument
This study begins in chapter one with a survey of modern scholarly literature related to the theme
of worship in the Apocalypse. The review is divided into four sections: 1) The theme of worship
as a whole; B) The worship scenes; C) Revelation 4-5; and D) Additional worship scenes.
Because no monograph has yet to appear on the theme of worship in the entire Apocalypse, this

1 The movie was produced in 1972 (I was six years old) as the first in a series of movies written by Russell S.
Doughten. I later saw its sequel, A Distant Thunder, produced in 1978. The third and fourth installments of this
series (which I did not see) were Image of the Beast (1981) and The Prodigal Planet (1983). The more recent Left
Behind series of books and movies has introduced a new generation to the distinct Dispensational reading of the
Apocalypse.
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survey focuses on periodicals, book chapters, and monographs written on individual texts related
to worship.
Chapter two lays out the methodology for the study. In this study I will engage
Pentecostalism through a brief overview of North American Pentecostalism as well as
Pentecostal hermeneutics. Further, I will employ Wirkungsgeschichte as a way to discover how
the worship in the Apocalypse influenced early Pentecostals as attested in the early Pentecostal
periodical literature. Narrative criticism is briefly introduced as a method conducive to
Pentecostals, given the orality of Pentecostalism as well as their conditioning to view Scripture
as story. Finally, this study makes overtures for the construction of a Pentecostal theology of
worship based on the findings of the reading.
Chapter three is a careful reading of the early Pentecostal periodical materials, following
the model established by Kimberly E. Alexander and built upon by Larry R. McQueen and Chris
E.W. Green.2 A variety of periodicals from both the Wesleyan-Holiness and Finished Work
streams of the tradition covering the time span of 1906-1916, a decade traditionally viewed as
the heart of the Pentecostal tradition, are mined for their effective history as to how the worship
practices of early Pentecostals was influenced by the worship found in the Apocalypse.
Chapter four consists of a sustained narrative reading of the Apocalypse with a focus on
the theme of worship. In addition to the prologue and epilogue, the text of the Apocalypse is
divided according to the four ejn pneuvmati phrases. Emphasis is placed upon how the text might
have been experienced by John‟s implied hearers without any assumptions about what they
would or would not have known pertaining to his perceived sources.3 In each section of the text,
the presence of liturgical elements and their role in interpreting the narrative will be explicated.

2 K.E. Alexander, Pentecostal Healing: Models in Theology and Practice (JPTS 29; Blandford Forum: Deo
Publishing, 2006); L.R. McQueen, Towards as Pentecostal Eschatology: Discerning the Way Forward (JPTS 39;
Blandford Forum: Deo Publishing, 2012); C.E.W. Green, Toward a Pentecostal Theology of the Lord‟s Supper:
Foretasting the Kingdom (Cleveland: CPT Press, 2012).
3 In this thesis, I am operating with the following presuppositions: The implied author of the Apocalypse is
someone named John, who is likely a prophetic figure familiar to the Johannine community and known to the
implied audience, the seven churches of Asia identified in Rev. 1.11. It was written sometime in the late first
century, possibly under the reign of the emperor Domitian. It shares affinities with other apocalyptic literature and
contains numerous allusions to and echoes of Old Testament scripture. Because narrative criticism focuses on the
story being told rather than the reconstruction of historical events, the sources behind John‟s work are at best only
theoretical.
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Chapter five is devoted to offering overtures for the construction of a Pentecostal
theology of worship based on the central tenants concerning worship derived from the narrative
reading of the Apocalypse. It is hoped that this chapter will encourage Pentecostals and others to
re-discover the Apocalypse as a rich resource for liturgy.
The thesis concludes with contributions made by this study as well as suggestions for
further research.

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