ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which classical theoretical tools shed light on contemporary global religion. To assess classical arguments as they bear on global religion, it makes the connections explicit by briefly suggesting what plausible claims about global religion we might derive from each classical body of work. Next, the chapter shows how current scholars apply or extend each set of arguments. Rather than review the state of global religion in the abstract as a way to judge the merits of the respective claims, it focuses on a particular type of global religion – namely Pentecostalism, broadly conceived – for relevant evidence. The chapter discusses some of the strengths and limitations of the classical agendas. While noting several important caveats, specifically with regard to discontinuities in the 'global age', it suggests that the classics still offer powerful arguments that can inform the global study of religion by capturing at least some of the trajectories of global religion.
