20th – early 21st century

Pentecostalism and the Renewed Interest in the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

In his concluding survey González calls Pentecostalism one of the significant events of the 20th century: it almost became a new confessional family but influences all confessions and has renewed attention to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and eschatology. At the same time the scope of theology widened geographically, confessionally and sociologically: by the early 21st century it was no longer a North Atlantic enterprise, and the younger churches ask whether their cultures can be a praeparatio evangelica, as Greek culture was for the ancient fathers. Pentecostalism and the theologies of liberation coincide in their emphasis on hope.