Books I Recommend Part 1: Pentecostal Theology

This series will a multi-part series. I don’t know how many parts there will in this series. There are some books I have read over the years that I have enjoyed that you might enjoy as well. This first post will look at books that will help you understand Pentecostal theology better regardless of whether or not you are a Pentecostal, of which I am.

Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible by Myer Pearlman

This book was first published in 1937. It was the first Pentecostal systematic theology book that I am aware of. It is still print today from Gospel Publishing House, which is the publishing arm of the denomination I belong to, the General Council of the Assemblies of God.

Foundations of Pentecostal Theology by Guy Duffield and Nathaniel Van Cleave

These two authors were members of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Foursquare for short. The Foursquare denomination is a Pentecostal denomination with its headquarters in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson. In fact, the church Sister Aimee started, Angelus Temple, in Los Angeles, is still standing today. It is the only book on Pentecostal theology that I have found that is not from an Assemblies of the God perspective.

Bible Doctrines: A Pentecostal Perspective by William Menzies and Stanley M. Horton

Menzies wrote the book and Stanley M. Horton later edited the book. It goes through the 16 Fundamental Truths of the General Council of the Assemblies of God and explains them. All Trinitarian Pentecostals will agree with what is in the book, as our teachings are pretty much all the same. It also has the 1916 Statement of Fundamental Truths in the book which was the first doctrinal statement the Assemblies of God came out with.

Systematic Theology: Revised Edition

This book is the current systematic theology of the Assemblies of God. It came out in 1994 and was republished in 2007. Most of the authors were teaching at Assemblies of God schools at the time the book was published, and some are still teaching today. Stanley M. Horton was the leading theologian within the Assemblies of God until his death at 98 years old in 2014. It is well past time for a new systematic theology book.

The Theological Roots of Pentecostalism by Donald Drayton

This book was written 1988. Drayton was a professor at the time at Northern Seminary, an American Baptist seminary near Chicago. I enjoyed the book and it’s a fair representation of Pentecostalism. It’s still in print and you can a new version of it on Amazon.

All but the last book can be found on Amazon Kindle. You can find all of them on Amazon and you can find the three books Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible, Bible Doctrines: A Pentecostal Perspective, and Systematic Theology: Revised Edition through the Assemblies of God website (ag.org).

My next post will be on the objections to sola fide.