During Spring semester of 1996, I had the opportunity to take historical theology with Robert Webber. To hear him speak of the richness of the Orthodox tradition inspired me and began what has now been a quarter century of being enthralled with Orthodox history and spirituality, but never quite leaving my Wesleyan/Pentecostal tradition to walk that road myself. I continue to be intrigued if not yet convinced!
Emilio Alvarez has walked that road, which over the last years has led a burgeoning movement in Afro-Latino Pentecostalism that embraces the great tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy. In contrast with those like Peter Gillquist, who left their tradition behind to embrace Orthodoxy, Alvarez seeks the ancient without letting go the genuine richness of Pentecostal contributions.
He seeks (and in this book exhorts others to seek) a restored unity that comes from both directions: a new embrace of ancient practices by Pentecostals on the one hand, and an openness to the diversity of peoples and emphases by Orthodox and Catholics on the other. In holding onto Pentecostal distinctiveness while being formed by the great tradition in liturgy and other practices, Alvarez is explicitly linking with the broader paleo-orthodoxy movement, seeing this connection as being oriented by an ecumenism of the Holy Spirit that invites diversity within a wide, recovered unity.
In Pentecostal Orthodoxy, he begins by discussing paleo-orthodoxy in more depth, especially the contributions of Thomas Oden (no relation) and Robert Webber. Alvarez rightly sees this embrace of ancient links as a renewal movement within Protestantism, yet notes how narrow this movement has been in terms of overall diversity.
The question of diversity is the emphasis of his second chapter, showing how an integration of Pentecostalism and Orthodoxy provides a substantive liturgical, expressive ecclesiality that emphasises right passions (orthopathy) alongside doctrines and practices, while expanding its overall diversity. As this is a personal journey that feeds into his call for a movement, Alvarez shares his own embrace of Orthodox traditions in the third chapter, adding briefer biographies of a few fellow travellers on this road to show how his path may be still rare but definitely not unique.
Expanding on this in his fourth chapter, he succinctly shares the history of an organised movement of Afro-Latino Orthodox over the last century, moving from Azusa Street towards an ecumenical recovery of consensual exegesis, historic liturgy and sacramental spirituality. In this, he explains the complications of such an embrace by those within Pentecostalism and, on the other side, provides some strong critiques of misplaced appropriation of liturgical aspects that co-opts rather than fully appreciates their source and meaning.
In his last chapter, he shows how despite such complications, the work of the Holy Spirit provides an interpretive and enacted ecumenism distinct from twentieth-century approaches in emphasising unity ‘from below’ rather than organisational and political uniformity. As Alvarez writes, ‘Ecumenism of the Spirit is the intentional work of the Spirit at a grassroots level producing ecclesiological developments that bring cause for a greater manifestation of visible unity’ (p. 141). In this, Pentecostals become renewed in the historic work of the Spirit in liturgy and sacrament while they contribute to the wider church's recovery of spiritual manifestations and emphasis on dynamic transformative experience of Christ. It is, as Alvarez argues, ‘Spirit-led, grassroots, nonhierarchical, and grounded on ancient ecumenical teachings’ (p. 142).
Alvarez is not idealistic in his hopes, showing strong awareness of the barriers – both conceptual and organisational – of true mutual recognition and communion between Pentecostal and Orthodox traditions. Yet he invites those on both sides to better understand each other and no longer be constrained by differences or disagreements. In this way, he seems to share a Spirit-oriented mission similar to that which led those such as Eusebius Stephanou to reach out to Pentecostals from the side of Eastern Orthodoxy.
The challenge for me, even early on, was coming to terms with the primary audience for this text. As an invitation to Afro-Latino Pentecostals, it clearly lacks a strong inviting description of Orthodoxy – assuming the reader already is familiar with it – as well as tending to be more sympathetic to Orthodox weaknesses while strongly critical of Pentecostal misappropriations. I was likewise surprised to see how much Alvarez made use of conventional ecumenical perspectives and to avoid a deeper exploration of the Wesleyan/Holiness and Pentecostal resources as reflected in the history of these movements and the scholarship from recent decades. Likewise, while he does highlight in parts the Afro-Latino perspective he is bringing, the discussion seems curiously de-contextualised through much of the book.
As I reflected on my frustration about this, I realised his audience – understandably – really seems to be those most likely to engage this theme through a book published by IVP Academic. Thus, although it includes the Pentecostal perspective, it is primarily addressing the concerns of the Orthodox, Catholics and other ecumenical influencers. As such, it is indeed a very worthwhile introduction and invitation to further discussions that may lead to a form of unity that invites recognition of the Spirit's wider work among diverse peoples throughout history and throughout the world.
