Abstract: In just a century, the Pentecostal movement has become a numerical force in world Christianity and the largest movement in Protestantism. But there are many different movements recognised by scholars as ‘Pentecostalism’, and there is absolutely no uniformity among these movements. There is no single form of Pentecostalism, nor are there clear theological criteria by which it can be defined. Researchers wonder whether it is even possible to speak of global Pentecostalism as a single phenomenon. It is similarly impossible to define what Pentecostalism is without understanding how the movement originated. Until recently, the historiography of the movement has been based on North American history, but recent research has increased the complexity of defining Pentecostalism. This paper examines the following scholarly approaches to defining Pentecostalism: phenomenological, historical, sociological, theological, and global perspective approaches. These approaches do not exclude each other, but are interdependent and complementary. As a result, it is shown that through the ‘global perspective’ approach Pentecostalism can be defined as a global network movement. From the historical and theological approaches, it is revealed that Pentecostalism cannot be seen as a movement with a clear beginning in the USA or elsewhere, nor as a movement based on one particular theology. It is a movement in constant flux, whose followers' spirituality is expressed in a constant search for an “experience of the Spirit” and spiritual gifts. It is a movement that took several years and several different formative ideas and events to emerge, a movement that from its inception has had a global character. It is therefore best thought of as an early 20th century Protestant global networking movement with an emphasis on the ‘experience of the Spirit’ and the application of spiritual gifts.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to identify early and recent Pentecostal studies in the West and to highlight the main difference between them. Today there are more than 250 million Pentecostals in the world, and together with the charismatic movement there are more than 500 million. Having begun to spread in the 20th century, the movement claims to be the fastest growing religious phenomenon in human history. In attempts to interpret the phenomenon of the movement's growth, there have been several gradually emerging approaches: explaining the origin of the movement as supernaturally "coming from heaven"; searching for the origins of Pentecostalism in other Christian movements; presenting the emergence of the movement as the result of social and psychological factors such as poverty, marginalization, and the desire to escape from modern society; and the multicultural approach. The paper analyzes the works of Western historians and theologians of Pentecostalism since the second half of the 20th century. The result shows a turning point between early and late studies, namely that late studies aim to revise the history and include participants in the movement around the world, not just in North America, explore the contribution to the development of the movement of local ministers who have long remained in the shadow of Western missionaries, emphasize the diversity of ideologies and social influences that have shaped the movement. It also highlights three major contemporary areas of research: historical, characterized by studies of Pentecostalism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; theological, focusing on the development and shaping of theoretical theology as a result of the movement's institutionalization; and religious studies, practiced primarily from the perspective of the sociology of religion.