Christ-Centered: The Evangelical Nature of Pentecostal Theology

Pentecostals are often portrayed as emotional people who are driven largely by experience. In Christ-Centered, Menzies argues that this caricature misses the fact that Pentecostals are fundamentally "people of the book." Although Pentecostals encourage spiritual experience, they do so with a constant eye to Scripture. The Bible, and particularly the book of Acts, fosters and shapes pentecostal experience. Additionally, Pentecostals are defined by their emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At its heart, the pentecostal movement is not Spirit-centered, but rather Christ-centered. The work of the Spirit, as Pentecostals understand it, centers on exalting and bearing witness to the Lordship of Christ. Menzies develops these themes by examining the origins, biblical foundations, and missional orientation of the modern pentecostal movement. He concludes that, in spite of contradictory messages from some in fundamentalist pews and the pentecostal academy, Pentecostals are and have always been solidly evangelical.