Imagining the Future: The Origin, Development, and Future of Assemblies of God Eschatology

by Daniel D Isgrigg

Since the beginning of the Assemblies of God, the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ has featured prominently in their proclamation of the Pentecostal gospel. Many early believers passionately proclaimed by the Spirit, "Jesus is coming soon!" Yet in many churches today, teaching on the Second Coming of Christ has fallen into a period of neglect. Is the Assemblies of God losing its faith in "the Blessed Hope?"
Imagining the Future answers this question by exploring the development of Assemblies of God eschatological doctrines and their role as a central pillar of the fellowship's Pentecostal ethos. Through critical historical assessment, Daniel Isgrigg sheds new light upon existing assumptions about its dispensational orientation and the inherent incompatibility of that orientation with Pentecostal theology. Drawing from the deep wells of the past, Isgrigg uncovers a hopeful and Spirit-inspired eschatology that imagines the future for a new generation of Pentecostal believers.
"A thorough, comprehensive and complex analysis of the origin and development of the eschatological thinking in one of the largest and most important Pentecostal denominations in the world, Assemblies of God (AG). Isgrigg offers a fascinating, constructive proposal for a contemporary pneumatological eschatology building on the huge potential of the pneumatological imagination which leads into a consequent eschatological imagination, as the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the 'last days' and so the eschatological end is conceived as the future work of the Spirit." Corneliu Constantineanu, Ph.D. Professor of Pentecostal Theology, Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania
"This books stimulates much needed thought on eschatology within the AG and Pentecostal communities and be a blessing to both. Isgrigg combines thorough historical analysis with informed and insightful theological reflection. He writes clearly and with an irenic spirit. The result is a wonderful encouragement to the AG community to engage in much needed reflection on the contours, purpose, and impact of our eschatology." Robert P. Menzies, Ph.D. Director, Asia Center for Pentecostal Theology
"This fine and multi-layered study of American Assemblies of God shows how it has adjusted fundamental interpretations of its eschatology in the face of a changing world. This is a vigorous and expertly documented account that deserves to be widely read, not least because the church has a pressing need to revisit its expectations of humanity's future." William K Kay, D.D. Emeritus Professor, Wrexham Glyndwr University
"Isgrigg's meticulously researched and engagingly written monograph on eschatology in the Assemblies of God provides not only the first comprehensive historical and theological treatment of the development of AG eschatology throughout the movement's entire history, particularly as it relates to dispensationalism, but also makes the important theological contribution of an emphasis on pneumatological imagination, calling for both a renewed focus on and hopeful expectation for the Holy Spirit's work in eschatological signs. I highly recommend this book for ministers, scholars, and all who eagerly await the Blessed Hope." Alicia R. Jackson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Vanguard University

314 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2021

Reviews

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pentecostalism understood itself as an end-times revival from the beginning. Drawing on the language of Joel 2:23 (KJV), early Pentecostals distinguished between the “former rain” of Acts 2 and the “latter rain” of their own revival experiences. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a sign of the imminent return of Jesus Christ.

The Assemblies of God’s Statement of Fundamental Truths reflects the ongoing importance of eschatology to Pentecostals. Four of its 16 articles deal with end-time themes: “The Blessed Hope” (Article 13), “The Millennial Reign of Christ” (Article 14), “The Final Judgment” (Article 15), and “The New Heavens and the New Earth” (Article 16).

These articles demonstrate the Fellowship’s historic commitment to premillennialism, especially of the pre- and mid-tribulation varieties, though other views are allowed to a degree.

Advocates of premillennialism, including in the AG, have always been tempted to speculate about the end-time significance of current events, or even to set a date for the Lord’s return. Giving in to those temptations tends to cast doubt on the doctrine because the predictions never pan out. Embarrassed, other ministers who affirm premillennialism theologically begin to deemphasize it practically.

In Imagining the Future, Daniel Isgrigg asks, “How could it be that, for a fellowship that placed such a large emphasis on eschatology, the only options were either obsession or avoidance?”

To answer that question, Isgrigg surveys the development of AG eschatology in the Statement of Fundamental Truths, the Bylaws (especially the section on eschatological errors), and 100 years’ worth of articles in the Pentecostal Evangel. He concludes that the AG largely followed “the script of dispensational events” even as it “intentionally modified” that script to “fit their pneumatology.”

Rejecting cessationism was an obvious (and necessary) modification. Another was how the outpouring of the Holy Spirit changed the affective texture of end-times doctrine. Isgrigg explains this by comparing dispensationalist “signs” to Pentecostal “sighs.”

Dispensationalists looked for signs of the End, based on Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Mark 13) and related prophetic Bible passages. These signs were negative — war, famine, persecution, among others. They induced fear among Christians and a desire to escape.

By contrast, Pentecostals noticed the sighs (or groans) that the Spirit prays along with us in our troubles (Romans 8:22,23,26). These sighs are offered “in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (verses 20–21). Hope displaces fear, and the longing for liberation replaces escapism.

The contrast between dispensational signs and Pentecostal sighs is a matter of ideal types. In reality, Isgrigg concedes that AG theologians have vacillated between fearful signs and hopeful sighs throughout its history.

Still, the ideal is suggestive. After surveying the development of AG eschatology, Isgrigg offers a constructive suggestion about how to reframe Articles 13–16 in the Statement of Fundamental Truths as “images of hope”: “Each … will be explored as a pneumatological image expressed as an eschatological longing that is a characteristic of Pentecostal spirituality.”

Article 13 — our Blessed Hope for Jesus’ return — names our longing for “individual resurrection.” Article 14 deals with our hope for “earthly justice.” Article 15 expresses our hope for “cosmic justice,” in which God overcomes the devil and his curse. And Article 16 embodies the hope of “cosmic resurrection,” a new heaven and new earth. Reframed this way, AG eschatology neither frightens believers nor promotes escapism. It is hopeful and engaged.

Whether or not you agree with the entirety of Isgrigg’s analysis and proposal, Imagining the Future is useful for rekindling interest in Christ’s return and is recommended as such.

Book Reviewed
Daniel D. Isgrigg, Imagining the Future: The Origin, Development, and Future of Assemblies of God Eschatology (Tulsa, OK: ORU Press, 2021).

P. S. If you liked my review, please click “helpful“ on my Amazon review page.

P.P.S. This review appears in the spring 2022 issue of Influence magazine, as well as at InfluenceMagazine.com. It is cross-posted here by permission.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful book on the genesis and development of Assemblies of God eschatology. I think this book is a helpful resource for Pentecostals generally and A/G ministers specifically. Isgrigg points on the need for the A/G to have its pneumatology and eschatology align. I think his proposals are irenic and helpful while still desiring to stick to the truly fundamental aspects of the A/G's eschatological position. I hope that the Fellowship is able to use books like this one to truly have helpful conversations on eschatological topics. My personal hope is that we do not continually divide in unessential ways, but instead be united by the Spirit in our desire for the return of Christ.

[Jess Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une excellente étude sur le sujet.