The Unfailing Stream: A Charismatic Church History in Outline

Rating:
Summary: A WORTH HAVING BOOK !
Review: Although with a slight emphasis given to Holy Spirit and His gifts, which cannot be said is unreasonable, this book is a real stream of Church History. A book that contains not only dry facts but reasons, feelings and details that can lead you to the heart of the matter. Dr David Allen's grasp of the subject is indubitable and proved by this book. If someone would like to learn the basics of Church History, should buy this easy-to-read book, which can guide to further study through the inclusive bibliography on each subject. We would be delighted to have more books from him!

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to do with Diogenes Allen
Review: First of all, the author is not DIOGENES Allen (whose books I recommend), though his name continues to be attached to the book's listing months after I attempted to have the error corrected. I mention that because I bought the book by mistake, and others might do the same. I did keep the book and read it, however. It is basically a popular history of Christianity from the standpoint of what the author calls Pentecostals and Charismatics. This is the "stream" of contemporary Christianity to which the author, a lecturer at the Assembies of God College in the UK, belongs. The book seems mainly to be aimed at others in that movement. It is a slim volume without much depth, and more than half of the book is devoted to the 18th through 20th centuries. The author is not pretending to write an academic history. His view is that the charismatic movements are the result of the Holy Spirit working to bring the faithful back to the path set forth at the original Pentecost and that God is directing the leaders of these movements and giving them the power to heal. The author's point that pentecostal-like movements have arisen throughout history is worth making, but I think his outlook makes him overestimate some of these movements, and it wasn't obvious to me that they were all praiseworthy. He does note some excesses. It is easy to imagine that some of the events in the twentieth century on which the author places great significance will turn out to be of minor importance. There is no denying the power of the pentecostal movement in Africa and other parts of the "Third World", but there is very little about that in the book, which ends up being largely concerned with charismatic denominations in Britain and the US. I'm only giving it two stars, but the book does have information and a bibliography that could be of interest even to those not in the author's movement. Fire from Heaven by Harvey Cox, though told a bit too personally for my taste, is a book I would recommend on modern pentecostal movements.