ABSTRACT
It is in the babble of isms that religious life best expresses itself, here the people have expressed their discontent with standard forms of religion and taken the reigns in their own hands. Ernest Sutherland Bates in his discussion of The Left Wing of the Reformation argues that it was mysticism that struck a new note in Protestantism and would later move beyond the bounds of religion into every walk of life. Pentecostalism may be best understood theologically as Pietistic spirituality. With roots in the German and English Protestant movements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Pietistic spirituality is concerned with a direct, inner experience with the Divine that transcends dogma or institutional religion. A final thought about Pentecostalism in particular and religion in general. Often overlooked in theological and theoretical discussions alike, Pentecostalism is thriving today, and religion is still with us, because for many people, it simply works.
