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“Visions on the Battlefields”: Alexander A. Boddy, Early British Pentecostalism, and the First World War, 1914–1918 *
Author(s) -
LENZ DARIN D.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of religious history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9809
pISSN - 0022-4227
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9809.2008.00715.x
Subject(s) - vision , politics , eschatology , interpretation (philosophy) , state (computer science) , history , everyday life , phenomenon , variety (cybernetics) , first world war , world war ii , sociology , religious studies , political science , law , philosophy , anthropology , epistemology , ancient history , linguistics , archaeology , algorithm , artificial intelligence , computer science
This article investigates the relationship between religion and politics in the First World War by examining the work of Rev. Alexander A. Boddy, a Church of England minister and key leader in early British Pentecostalism. The article surveys a wide variety of responses to the war in Great Britain, but focuses, in particular, on how Pentecostalism shaped Boddy's distinctive understanding of events, especially his view of supernatural phenomenon, his attitude toward the nations involved, and his eschatology. The article explores how Pentecostalism, by focusing on signs and wonders in everyday life, contributed to an interpretation of state politics and world events that placed unique emphasis on determining the role of the supernatural in contemporary events that remains part of popular Pentecostalism today.