Revisiting Pentecostals' Theology and Practice of Divine Healing

This book traces the development of the doctrine of divine healing across the Pentecostal movement's first century, arguing that its roots lie in nineteenth-century holiness and faith-healing currents, Pietism, and the First and Second Evangelical Awakenings. Using South African Pentecostalism as a focused case study, it reconstructs the early movement's fervent emphasis on faith healing and follows shifts in proclamation and practice. The first section charts how Pentecostal hermeneutics and ethos shaped expectations of miraculous restoration, while subsequent chapters propose an alternative theology that broadens and re-grounds divine healing beyond earlier emphases. Rather than locating healing solely in Christ's atoning death--interpreted through Isaiah 53 and New Testament citation--the book situates healing in the full economy of God's redemptive love: Christ's resurrection and the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit. This theological reframing acknowledges the limits of human understanding and the uneven realization of biblical promises: healing does not always occur, believers still struggle with sin, and humanity remains under the temporary effects of the fall. Emphasizing God's unique, personal engagement with each individual, the work cautions against rigid formulas or prescriptive rules for divine action, advocating a humble, theologically nuanced posture toward healing.