Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is an easy-to-read, down-to-earth book with careful and thoughtful analysis. I enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it. The author points out the serious flaws of name-it-and-claim-it, get-rich-quick Pentecostals, and he also wrestles with the reasons why Pentecostalism might be appealing to so many people.
I think the comment about this book by Harvey Cox from Harvard Divinity School is exactly right, "When I teach about religion in the current world situation the most frequent question I get asked is, 'But why is Pentecostalism growing so quickly and in so many places?' I try to explain, but after reading this book my answer can now be much more complete and well grounded. This is the book that answers that question. It is fair, accurate, balanced, and written in an accessible style. No one seriously interested in the fastest growing Christian movement in the world can afford to miss it."
I also agree with Martin Marty from the University of Chicago, "I urge the reading of Paul Alexander's 'Signs and Wonders' as the second-best introduction to Pentecostalism, the first being 'being there,' moving as it does between technical subjects made comprehensible and obvious topics rendered subtly."
Finally, a helpful and critical review was written by Gregg Brekke, an editor at the United Church of Christ ([...]). Brekke had this to say, "Rather than a treatise on why you should become a Pentecostal or a defense of fringe religious behaviors, 'Signs and Wonders' is a careful explanation of how some Christians experience Pentecost - what they claim is God's presence through the Holy Spirit in everyday living.
Labels of fanatic, emotional and ecstatic often attributed to Pentecostals don't stick to Alexander or his writing. He is a scholar - and one who has struggled greatly not only with the perceptions and practices of Pentecostalism but with Christianity itself.
Alexander received his PhD in religion from Baylor University. He studied with famed Mennonite pacifist John Howard Yoder and was deeply influenced by the ethical arguments of Stanley Hauerwas. Along the way, he lost his faith in Christianity. For many years he described himself as a "Christian atheist" - ethically drawn to Jesus' teachings, but quite certain God didn't exist...."
I was raised in a Pentecostal church and I know the good and not-so-good (there's plenty of the latter, and Alexander doesn't avoid it at all). It's clear throughout the entire book that Alexander didn't write it to convince people to be Pentecostals, but if you keep an open mind the stories and analysis might stir you.
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Combining personal stories and sound scholarship, Paul Alexander, a young scholar with a Pentecostal background, examines the phenomenal worldwide success of Pentecostalism. While most other works on the subject are either for academics or believers, this book speaks to a broader audience. Interweaving stories of his own and his family's experiences with an account of Pentecostalism's history and tenets, Alexander provides a unique and accessible perspective on the movement.
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