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7. Questioning the Power of God Ultimately Threatens to Break the Operating Hermeneutical Circle of Any Community This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Signs, wonders and church growth Percy, Martyn William The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 -1- 'SIGNS, WONDERS AND CHURCH GROWTH" THE THEME OF POWER IN CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORKS OF JOHN WIMBER Martyn William Percy submitted for The Degree of Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies King's College, London 1993 -2- THESIS SYNOPSIS As a phenomenon, fundamentalism is commonly found in many of the world's major religions. It appears to have an enduring appeal and to be more than capable of surviving in the post-modern age, successfully adapting itself in different cultures, social climates and generations. Yet, biblical fundamentalism, as a complete system of belief, has not been systematically engaged with by theologians. Although useful and insightful critiques are available, they often do less than justice to the multifarious phenomenon of fundamentalism. This study is an attempt at a systematic engagement using insights from Social Scientists, most especially the work of Peter Berger and Stewart Clegg. A definition of fundamentalism is advanced. It is shown that what constitutes fundamentalism is not simply the beliefs, but the way in which they are held. Fundamentalism is a disposition, with controlling standards and structures. Heuristic-phenomenological methods are applied to a representative case-study, John Wimber, a sophisticated fundamentalist from the 'Revivalist Tradition'. The thesis holds that fundamentalism can only be properly understood in terms of power: how fundamentalists perceive the power of God, how they mediate it, organise themselves around it, reify it and assess its impact. It is suggested that fundamentalists access power via an inductive theological strategy, giving rise to a 'power circuit' or framework, that issues stability and unity to adherents via its controlling agents. Application of the heuristic methodology gives insight into Wimber's ideology, theology, Christology and pneumatology. It is useful in assessing his practical ecclesiology and missiology. Indeed, the phenomenology proposed can reveal the underlining ontology of God at work in fundamentalism generally, namely, a desire to assert the total omnipotence of God, which is accessible through controlling agents that are held to be indispensable and infallible. The concluding Chapters suggest that fundamentalists primarily emphasise God's being as power, and seek agencies that will reify that. This is held to be in sharp contrast to a more orthodox position, that would see God's ontology as being centred on love. - CONTENT S "SIGNS, WONDERS AND CHURCH GROWTH": THE THEME OF POWER IN CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORKS OF JOHN WIMBER Thesis Summary. .p. 2 Content s . p . 3 Key Abbreviations... .p.4 Acknowledgements.... .p.5 PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING FUNDAMENTALISM Chapter 1: p.7.......Fundamentalism as a Concern of Theology Chapter 2: p.56..... .Questions and Definitions Chapter 3: p.90......Power and Agency 1. Some Perspectives on Power from Social Science. 2. Reflections on Charismatic Authority as an Agent of Power. PART TWO: POWER RELIGION Chapter 4: p.138.....Power and Ideology 1. Worship as Ideology. 2. Some Structures in Hegemonic Ideology. Chapter 5: p.170.....The Power of God in Wimber's Theology 1. Wiinber's Inductive Approach. 2. How Divine Energy Empowers Individuals. Chapter 6: p.202.....Power in the Church 1. The Church as a Social Body. 2. Reflections on Authority. PART THREE: FUNDAMENTALISM AND POWER Chapter 7: p.234.....Wimber's Power Theology CONCLUSION p.275.....The Theme of Power and its Implications for Research into other Forms of Contemporary Fundamentalism. A Wiinber Directory p. 294 Select Bibliography p. 295 -'I - Key to Abbreviations used for maior works by John Wimber The Cross (tapes plus manual) SWCG I Power Evan gelism: Si gns, Wonders and Church Growth I (tapes plus manual) SWCG II Power Healin g : Si gns, Wonders and Church Growth II (tapes plus manual) Sp iritual Warfare [3 Volumesl (tapes plus manual) The Kingdom of God (booklet) Soy Songs of the Vineyard [2 Volumesl (books) Power Points (tapes plus manual) PE Power Evangelism (book) PH Power Healing (book) DSG The Dynamics of S p iritual Growth (book) -5- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to record my sincere thanks and appreciation to the following, for all their help and encouragement in the completion of this project: To Dr. Peter Clarke and Dr. Christoph Schwobel of King's College, London, who have acted as joint supervisors. They have both been a constant source of inspiration, motivation and enabling. Their generous and gracious tuition has been a most seminal form of guidance. The Staff at Cranmer Hall, St.John's College, Durham, who gave me the space for this project to begin, form and develop. Also to Professor Daniel Hardy, Director of the Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, for help and encouragement in the initial stages, and to Dr. Alan Suggate, Durham University. The community of St.Andrev's Church, Bedford, and their former Vicar, Canon Anthony Hulbert, who have loyally supported me in this work, and have expressed a constant interest in the progress of the project. Also to the members of the 'Cell Group' to which I belong, past and present, especially Anthony Bash, who has done much proof-reading. I must also mention Tyndale House, Cambridge, which has provided me with a base from which I could conduct the research. I am also indebted to the various Trusts and Bequests that have supported the project financially. I would particularly like to mention the Novell Rostron fund, the l.A. & E.C. Hall Trust and the Diocese of St.Albans. Alice Redfearn has cheerfully and patiently typed the manuscript from my scrappy notes and indecipherable writing. However, I am responsible for any mistakes outstanding. Lastly and primarily, my wife Emma, to whom this thesis is dedicated. Her confidence, encouragement and tireless enthusiasm have been enriching, illuminating and edifying. Her wholesome dedication to me and to this project has enabled this study to become a shared, joyous pilgrimage. Martyn Percy, Bedford, 1993. - Fart One Understanding Fundamenta1is -7- Ct[AP TEE ONE FUNDAXENTALISIE AS A CONCERN OF THEOLOGY a. Fundamentalism. The State of the Research Since the late 1970's and 1980's, the politicization of what some observers call the 'New Religious Right' has brought an end to the traditional theological neglect of fundamentalist movements. The maintenance of an uncialiectically critical stance over many years could no 1cner be sustained. a form of faith community once believed to be in its eath tnroas as actually alive and well in a variety of guises, and atractrg a large fo1lowin. However, the response of theology to the ccnt.emporary fundamentalist movement has not significantly deviated from thc ablishe pattern of either indifference or non-dialogica]. critiques. It is true of course, that theologians in general deal with fundamentalism more than they cd previously, but overall, their responses to the movement ha:e often been much less than studying it seriously or empathetically. For ample, tne majority of stuaies in the last two decades have either been historical analyses, focussing on the genesis and subsequent career of lundamentalism in the twentietn century', or more popular studies ccr.ducte by parsons on the margins of academic contexts 2 . Those tecloans '.ho have not taken this path have tended to respond to contamporar fundamentalism by focussing their interests on its politicized action , or on 'evang1icalism', in which fundamentalism and 'new evangelicalism' are often carelessly lumped together as a monolithic reality 4 . It is my contention that although there is much talk about fundamentalism today, there are few theological critiques that see the movement as a tradition in its own right. An empathetic, critical and systematic analysis of the movement is required, if the power and attraction of contemporary fundamentalism in all its various forms is to be properly understood and critiqued. Xy approach to the fundamentalist movement will therefore be significantly different from other works that cover the subject. The e.cale of the systematic problem before us can be appreciated if one briefly reviews some of the more recent critiques offered. The scope of this thesis necessitates that only a few approaches can be considered here. Nevertheless, I hold that these critiques are representative of the type of theological engagement contemporary fundamentalism has so far been subject to. I have divided these dissertations into four broad categories, which reflect the type of critique the author has attempted to execute. The categories are. U) Undialectical Interpretations, (ii) Sympathetic Readings, (1i) Theological-Descriptive methods, and (iv) Phenomenological Studies.
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