More Than Tongues Can Tell

Pentecostalism is often characterized as an ecstatic movement—centrally involving spirited worship, speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing—as well as an exclusivist one, primarily aligned with North American white evangelicalism. Yet there is a vibrant Black Pentecostal tradition stretching back more than a century that is both theologically complex and deeply grounded in an ethics of social justice.

In More Than Tongues Can Tell, Eric Lewis Williams dismantles prevailing notions of Pentecostalism’s anti-intellectualism and explores how social contexts shape theologies produced by marginalized groups in America. Through close readings of the work of four pioneering Black Pentecostal theologians—Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones Jr., Bishop Ithiel Conrad Clemmons, Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr., and Dr. William Clair Turner Jr.—Williams uncovers a theological vision marked by openness to diverse Christian and philosophical traditions alongside a deep commitment to liberation and egalitarianism. Situating these thinkers within African American religious history and the wider landscape of Pentecostal theology, the book reconstructs Black Pentecostalism’s coming of age in the twentieth century.

Foregrounding pneumatology as a site of theological creativity, More Than Tongues Can Tell challenges glossocentric frameworks that reduce the Spirit to ecstatic speech and demonstrates how Black Pentecostal theologians articulate a more expansive and socially engaged vision. The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of theology and African American and Africana religions, as well as practitioners within Pentecostal communities.

“More Than Tongues Can Tell is a groundbreaking exploration of Black Pentecostal thought. With scholarly rigor and creative insight, Williams uncovers the intellectual depth and theological liberality of Black pioneering theologians who defy stereotypes, revealing Pentecostalism as a dynamic spirituality committed to social justice, beloved community, and dialogue across various Christian and philosophical traditions. As essential reading, this book challenges and inspires us to envision Pentecostal theology’s role in shaping a just and compassionate world.”—Frederick L. Ware, author of Methodologies of Black Theology

“For more than a century, Black Pentecostals have garnered a global reputation for their distinctively spirited worship, but their progressive theological discourses have been largely overlooked. Anyone who is committed to the revitalization of Christian witness in the pursuit of social justice will appreciate Eric Williams’s analysis of the thought and influence of four pioneering Black Pentecostal theologians. Building on the contributions of Jones, Clemmons, Forbes, and Turner, this text illumines the possibilities for expanding the conversation to include Black women, the new African diaspora in the United States, and Caribbean scholars in the United Kingdom.”—Cheryl J. Sanders, author of Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture

“Dr. Williams’s book is a sparkling discourse of the critical tradition of African American Pentecostal theology. In its brilliance, it performs two acts of magic. The book in its very temporal present points to a future that will cast its shadow on the past. Then the same present retroactively affects the past. Williams does not just explain African American Pentecostal theology in new ways; he redefines it.”—Nimi Wariboko, author of The Pentecostal Principle: Ethical Methodology in New Spirit

“At a time of intellectual and moral crisis over the public witness of the Christian church, Eric Williams brings urgently needed moral clarity and hope. This book vividly presents the genius of Black Pentecostal theology, ethics, and practice. That tradition, rich in variety, offers a vision of spiritual identity that works to eradicate social evil while building beloved community. I am deeply grateful for this invitation to dialogue with four iconic thinkers in American Christianity. Students, teachers, religious leaders, and the public at large will be rewarded by what Williams calls the ‘theological generosity of Black Pentecostal thought.’”—Robert M. Franklin, author of Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities

Eric Lewis Williams is Director of the Office of Black Church Studies and Assistant Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. He is the coeditor of the T&T Clark Handbook of African American Theology.

African American Studies

History

           History of Religion

Religious Studies & Religion

           History of Religion