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Church historians have long studied revivals, and this phenomenon has recently received renewed attention as a result of contemporary Western revivals. However, little interdisciplinary research within a theological framework has explored how revivals can lead to positive societal changes. The purpose of this article is to investigate this relationship from an Evangelical-Pentecostal perspective that draws on historical and organisational leadership studies. In part one, revival is defined theologically as a restoration of authentic Christian spirituality which consists of orthopathy, orthodoxy and orthopraxy. We then suggest a three-level quantitative conception of revivals as 1) individual renewal, 2) local revival, and 3) national awakenings. In part two, we study two particular cases, viz. the Haugean revival in the 1800s and the Norwegian Pentecostal movement in the 1900s, in order to identify key factors, mechanisms and conditions that may cause or prevent societal changes. In part three, we provide a tentative model that includes leadership and organisational perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to contribute with some analytical philosophical perspectives to Pentecostal theology and the contemporary understanding of Pentecostal experiences of God as 'mediated immediacy' to further specify these experiences' distinct contribution to systematic theology. A trend within Pentecostal theology is to emphasize how Pentecostal experiences are encounters that are theologically interpreted and related to specific beliefs. However, the amount of information and areas of theological knowledge from such experiences need more clarifications. Hence, in Part 1, the author presents four philosophical arguments why experiences of God can contribute to systematic theology with prima facie justified beliefs or theological knowledge. In Part 2, the author proposes that their distinct theological contribution can be specified as manifestation beliefs about God's doing and being towards a person that represent personal and relational knowledge of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to pentecostal research by arguing that applied phenomenology can enhance the understanding of pentecostal experience and enrich work with systematic theology by increasing the amount of relevant data. Phenomenology is especially appropriate for pentecostal theology and research due to the shared emphasis on embodiment, importance of experiences, consistency of appearances, and realism of phenomena. Despite this methodological fit, our systematic literature review reveals a lack of phenomenological works in the corpus of pentecostal studies, and we provide some considerations for integration and suggestions for further empirical research grounded in a phenomenological sensibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Wolfhart Pannenberg, systematic theology should aim at being as coherent as possible as a test of all its inherent truth claims. But what if two systematic theologies are argued to be coherent presentations of the Christian faith, yet include different and conflicting claims? This is a relevant question raised by Pannenberg's philosophical-theological method which he does not answer adequately. In this article, we will suggest a solution to the problem. We use resources in Rescher's and Puntel's philosophies for using and specifying an aspect of coherence called "cohesiveness", looking further into the strength of connections and their granularity. Cohesiveness and granularity cannot only be used as criteria for evaluating a systematic theology as a whole, but also for determining which elements are most important to integrate into systematic theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]