The Spirit Renews the Face of the Earth is prolific pentecostal scholar Amos Yong’s edited collection of essays focusing on the intersection between science and a theology of creation. These collected essays were originally presented at the 2008 Society for Pentecostal Studies conference, held together with the Wesleyan Theological Society.

The essays are gathered into four categories: biblical interpretations, historical elaborations, theological explications, and contextual and disciplinary applications. Each section has its noteworthy entries.

The biblical interpretation section begins with a strong entry from Scott A. Ellington that explores the interplay between God’s panim (face) and ruach (spirit) in Psalm 104:29–30. Connections between face and Spirit are profound. Interestingly, Ellington claims that God’s panim is the “principal expression of God’s living-giving activity” (16) in Psalms.

The historical section focused more directly on the relationship between pentecostal theology and science, exploring the divine healing movement and fundamentalist perspectives on creation.

Part three gripped my attention the most. The three essays here by Shane Clifton, Matthew Tallman, and Peter Althouse focus directly on the environmental crisis and pentecostal ecotheology. The authors are direct and clear. Consider the boldness of Clifton:

[T]he failure to incorporate an environmental theology essentially entails the rejection of the claim that Pentecostals preach a “full gospel.” (126)

Amen!

The final section on contextual and disciplinary applications was a bit of a catch-all with articles on African hermeneutics, cognitive science, and pedagogy. Michael Tenneson and Steve Badger’s reflection on teaching creation and evolution to pentecostal students was particularly welcome. I plan on sharing this article with my own students in Introduction to the Old Testament. While all interesting, this section might better have been titled, “miscellaneous.”

The Spirit Renews the Face of the Earth is a welcome collection of articles on a topic that’s becoming more and more important.

Yong, Amos, ed. The Spirit Renews the Face of the Earth: Pentecostal Forays in Science and Theology of Creation. Pickwick, 2009.