Profile

Allan Anderson was born in London but raised in Zimbabwe, completing his higher education and first theological appointments in South Africa. He was a Pentecostal and Baptist minister, principal of Tshwane Theological College and part-time researcher at the University of South Africa before joining Selly Oak Colleges as director of the Centre for New Religious Movements in 1995, becoming an honorary lecturer and then (1999) lecturer at the University of Birmingham. His main interests are in the areas of the history and theology of Pentecostalism in Africa and Asia. He is the author of four books on South African Pentecostalism, one on African independent churches, and two books on global Pentecostalism that have received international acclaim. His Introduction to Pentecostalism has been translated into Spanish and published in Madrid. He is also author of many articles, and he has joint-edited two collections on Pentecostalism. He is a founder-member of the European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism and serves on the editorial board of three academic journals. He has a high profile as an internationally well-known scholar.

Research

Allan's main research is in the areas of Pentecostal history and intercultural theology. He is currently working on history and theology of Pentecostalism in the global South. He has written seven monographs on African Christianity and global Pentecostalism, the latest being Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism (London: SCM & Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2007), An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge University Press, 2004), African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the Twentieth Century (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2001), and Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa (Tshwane: University of South Africa Press, 2000). He has edited (with Walter J Hollenweger) and written three chapters of a volume entitled Pentecostals After a Century: Global Perspectives on a Movement in Transition (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999). With Edmond Tang, he has edited a volume on Asian Pentecostalism entitled Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Asian Christianity (Oxford: Regnum & Baguio City, Philippines: APTS Press, 2005).  He is currently working on Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity

Postgraduate Supervision

• History, theology and missiology of Pentecostalism.
  
• Pentecostalism and contemporary cultures.

Select Publications

Books

Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism:
SCM Press, 2007, April 2007 Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, June 2007
More Information

ed. with Edmond Tang, Asian and Pentecostal : The Charismatic Face of Asian Christianity (Oxford: Regnum 2005)
 
An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge University Press, 2004)
  
African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the 20th Century (Africa World Press, 2001)
  
Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostals and Zionists/Apostolics in South Africa (Pretoria: University of South Africa Press, 2000)
  
ed., with Walter J. Hollenweger, Pentecostals After a Century (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999)

Articles

‘Spreading Fires: The Globalization of Pentecostalism in the Twentieth Century’, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 31:1 (January 2007), pp. 8-14.

‘Pentecostalism, the Enlightenment, and Christian Mission in Europe’, International Review of Mission 95:378/9 (July/Oct 2006), pp. 276-281.

‘The Azusa Street Revival and the Emergence of Pentecostal Missions in the Early Twentieth Century’, Transformation 23:2, April 2006 (107-118).

‘”To All Points of the Compass”: The Azusa Street Revival and Global Pentecostalism’, Enrichment: A Journal for Pentecostal Ministry 11:2, Spring 2006 (164-172)

‘Exorcism and Conversion to African Pentecostalism’, Exchange: Journal of Missiological and Ecumenical Research 35:1, 2006 (116-133)

‘Pandita Ramabai, the Mukti Revival and the Origins of Pentecostalism’, Transformation 23:1, January 2006 (37-48).

'The Dubious Legacy of Charles Parham: Racism and Cultural Insensitivity among Pentecostals'. Pneuma 27:1, 2005 (51-64).

‘The Origins of Pentecostalism and its Global Spread in the Early Twentieth Century’, Transformation 22:3, July 2005 (175-185).

‘Eroberung der Kontinente: Pfingstkirchen und charismatische Bewegungen verbreiten sich schneller als alle anderen Religionen’, Der Überblick 1/2005, March 2005 (26-31).

'New African Initiated Pentecostalism and Charismatics in South Africa’, Journal of Religion in Africa 35:1, 2005 (66-92) ISSN 0022-4200 ‘Towards a Pentecostal Missiology for the Majority World’, Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 8:1, January 2005 (29-47)