2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity

Rating:
Summary: Must Reading!
Review: I always wondered how the various denominations came about, and their relationship to one another. This book explains all of that and more. It fully refutes the idea that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were for the first centruy Church only. It also shows the pitfalls of human organization replacing the Holy Spirit in the Church. It details the rise of "professional" clergy, as opposed to those led and guided by the Spirit.

I so thoroughly am enjoying this book that I intend to buy additonal copies for some of my friends. While reading this book, I am also reading "The Purpose Driven Life". The combination is very convicting and enlightening. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I am. May God richly bless you.

Rating:
Summary: Must Reading!
Review: I always wondered how the various denominations came about, and their relationship to one another. This book explains all of that and more. It fully refutes the idea that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were for the first centruy Church only. It also shows the pitfalls of human organization replacing the Holy Spirit in the Church. It details the rise of "professional" clergy, as opposed to those led and guided by the Spirit.

I so thoroughly am enjoying this book that I intend to buy additonal copies for some of my friends. While reading this book, I am also reading "The Purpose Driven Life". The combination is very convicting and enlightening. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I am. May God richly bless you.

Rating:
Summary: 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity
Review: This book and its writer are first rate in scholarship and substance. The charisms of the Church community are not latter-day afterthoughts but spiritual gifts that have operated from the very beginning. Dr. Hyatt methodically traces the spiritual and historical roots of the baptism into the Holy Spirit and the associated manifestations, its excesses and abuses. Thought-provoking and well-written.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: This book brings much of the charismatic history of the church between two covers. Its not hard to read, but enjoyable. Hyatt not only takes us through church history but helps us see that God is alive and desires to move among His people. It births a desire in the reader to see a move of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Add To Any Christian Library
Review: This book I bought and read for my Principles of Revival class in bible school. I found this book EXTREMLY exciting and most times capivated by past people who made an extreme impact in Christianity.

I would recommend this book to ALL Christians. Eddie L. Hyatt I believe has brought to life those early Church Fathers. I found myself at times in a resturant reading away and taking my time because I didnt want to miss a thing.

A few of my favorites were: Jonathan Edwards, William Seymour, A.A. Allen, and of course John Wesley.

Rating:
Summary: History of Pentecostalism
Review: This book is eye opening and is not at all boring. Hyatt brings life to the history he presents. This book helps us see where we come from and opens our eyes to some of the key elements to past spirtual awakenings/revivals. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Academic Review
Review: This is a wonderful book that traces the miraculous moving of the Holy Spirit through the church age. The author has done a wonderful service for the church, and especially for the charismatic community. It brings together a lot of fascinating information into one place. The down side of this book is its heavy reliance upon secondary sources for quotations from primary sources. This makes further study very cumbersome, if not prohibitive. It also raises suspicions about the reliability of its conclusions. Not withstanding, it is a book that should be in every charismatic student's or pastor's library.

Rating:
Summary: Much too brief
Review: This is no more than a text that tries to prove that there has been charismatic phenomena all through history and that it didn't cease after the apostles died (which Warfield has claimed). The author does that by quoting people and texts step by step through history. As such, it is valuable in pointing one towards where to look for further study. However, that is all it does.

What I miss is two things. First, he does not argue very well. Just by quoting one does not prove much. I get the feeling he puts more that due into some quotes, especielly when he does not give the context. He does not manifest the critical attitude that should accompany all historical research. Second, I would have wanted much more reflection over WHY the phenomena became so scarce, why it re-appeared in some contexts yet not in others. Also, he finds the phenomena a lot in movements that have been considered heretical by the Church. But he declares them all more or less Not Guilty. But is it not probable that demonic instances of charismatic phenomena would have appeared in these sectarian minds? Hyatt interprets everything to his own benefit.

I am myself a charismatic, yet I believe in doing history with true honesty.

Finally, this is not a Church History. It is only interested in the charismatic issues through out 2000 years.