cover image Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism

Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism

Estrelda Y. Alexander. IVP Academic, $30 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-8308-2586-8

Alexander, pastor and an associate professor of practical theology at Virginia's Regent University, has penned an exhaustive history of black Pentecostalism from its origins at the Azusa Street Revival (in L.A.)in 1906 (overshadowed by a massive earthquake in San Francisco the same year) to its contemporary manifestations in the churches of T.D. Jakes, Atlanta's recently controversial Eddie Long, and prosperity gospel preacher Creflo Dollar. The details and nuances of the centurylong span the book covers come alive when familiar names are addressed, but significant portions of the exposition are tedious and difficult to read. Some of the preacher and leader profiles highlighted in the smaller branches of Pentecostalism are revealing, but the schisms between trinitarian and oneness doctrines, along with the repetition of the emphasis on speaking in tongues, make for overly dense theological analysis. For a charismatic movement with so many colorful characters, this massive volume is more encyclopedic than dynamic. It is, however, as important and thorough as it is difficult to read. (June)