Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism

Abstract

During the past fifteen years, many scholars have b e n focusing their analyses on the origin and nature of the Holiness and Pentecostal m ove ents in the United States as well as worldwide. Under review here is one such study, Est relda Y. Alexander’s Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism. Raised in an urban, African American working-class community during the 1950s and 1960s, Alexander knew very little about her Christian heritage. But upon acquiring her doctorat e, she decided to investigate this topic with much vigor and passion. The outcome of her venture is this powerful and path-breaking volume that provides readers with a unique perspective on the history and impact of the African American charismatic Pentecostal movement. Specific ally, Alexander claims that the origins of this movement “not just for African American but fo r white Pentecostals as well lie within a robust African spirituality with its beliefs in a s upreme being, in the sacredness of creation, in the supernatural, in rituals of life and in ancestor ve neration” (p. 7). Furthermore, the author locates the inception of the movement within the African/Af rican American religious tradition during the enslavement period that contained a variety of vernaculars such as oral traditions, music, dancing, spiritual visions, and speaking in tongue. Finally, Alexander highlights the important roles of several nineteenth-century African America n Holiness ministers, played in this religious crusade, such as William Christian, Charles Price, and William J. Seymour and also seeks to illustrate how African American Pentecostalism has become a major force in the development of charismatic Christianity in America as well as inte r ationally.