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European Pentecostalism - Book Reviews

European 

Pentecostalism     

By

   William K. Kay

Reviewed by

   Various

European Pentecostalism is a 398-page book, which is the seventh volume in a series of 12 titled “Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies.” The series is published by Brill. The book is not exclusively a behavioural science text but part three included sociological perspectives.

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A review by Michael Wilkinson finds the book useful for sociology of religion researchers.

“Finally, the sociological and statistical coverage, while general, will be of value to sociologists of religion, especially those conducting current research on the movement. This material provides an excellent framework and background for current issues of migration, globalization, religious diversity, and cultural change.” (p . 130).

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In Paul Schmidgall’s review, he refers to data describing the scope of Pentecostalism in the Introduction by Anne Dyer with data from 2001. His comments reveal appreciation for Kay’s sociological perspective:

“In the sociological section, William Kay looks back into the past and identifies “the two world-wars and state-sponsored communism as the major factors which disrupted European Pentecostalism in the 20th century (389)” This is well taken, even if we must not forget, on the other hand that, Pentecostalism has also experienced tremendous growth under communist persecution and right after the two world-wars.” (p. 301).

Link to more books on  >> Pentecostal Studies

References

Kay, W. K. & Dyer, A. E. (Eds.). (2011). European Pentecostalism. Leiden: Brill.

Schmidgall, P. (2013). European Pentecostalism. Pneuma, 35(2), 300–302. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700747-12341339

Wilkinson, M. (2013). European Pentecostalism. Sociology of Religion, 74(1), 129–130. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srt001

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Pentecostal or Pentecostalism 


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