rifying and wonderful to behold. Empirical theology is a little like this and
the theologian needs to know when to engage or to step back. Otherwise,
there is always the possibility that he or she might receive a “kicking”!
Finally, I have offered a brief refl ection on my personal experience as a
scholar and a theologian, committed to historic Christianity, pentecostal
spirituality (with a small “p”) and the use of empirical research methods
in the context of academic theological discourse. 22 This approach most
naturally fi ts within the broader domain of practical theology, and in this
disciplinary context it can no longer be ignored. A number of my doc-
toral students working in Pentecostal and Charismatic studies have already
completed research projects using this methodology, and a number are
in the pipeline. I look forward to many more students “getting with the
program” and contributing over time to the study of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Christianity from the perspective of academic empirical theol-
ogy, even if they call it practical theology. The future is bright: the future
is both pentecostal and empirical, at least it is in my neck of the woods!
NOTES
- Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in 1 Corinthians (Washington:
University Press of America, 1982); Bruce Yocum, Prophecy: Exercising the
Prophetic Gifts of the Spirit in the Church Today (Ann Arbor: Servant Books,
1976). - Johannes A. van der Ven, Practical Theology: An Empirical Approach
(Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1993); for a discussion of his work in terms of
hermeneutics, see Chris A.M. Hermans and Mary E. Moore, eds.,
Hermeneutics and Empirical Research in Practical Theology: The
Contribution of Empirical Theology by Johannes A. van der Ven (Leiden:
Brill, 2004). - Van der Ven, Practical Theology , 109.
- “Charismatic Prophecy,” Journal of Empirical Theology 8.1 (1995):71–88.
- Also see my other publications relating to hermeneutics and method:
“Empirical Theology: Towards An Evangelical- Charismatic Hermeneutic,”
Journal of Pentecostal Theology 9 (1996): 115–126; “Practical Theology
and Empirical Identity,” European Journal of Theology 7.1 (1998): 37–44;
“Empirical Theology: Inter- or Intra- Disciplinary?,” Journal of Beliefs &
Values 20.1 (1999): 98–104; “Practical Theology and Charismatic
Spirituality: Dialectics in the Spirit,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 10.2
(2002): 107–124; Practical Theology: Charismatic and Empirical
Perspectives (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2003; reprinted by Eugene, OR:
264 M.J. CARTLEDGE