Pentecostal Public Theology in France: The Formation of a Classical Pentecostal Denomination’s Identity in Society

This chapter seeks to explain the absence of Pentecostal public theology in France. Through a history of the identity formation of a Pentecostal denomination, it examines the profound influence of French society’s radical and unique redefining of the place of religion in the form of French “laïcité.” After an account of the birth of the French Assemblies of God set against a mutating religious background following the upheaval of the relationship between state and church, the author draws on socio-historical analysis to show the development of a particular mindset among protestant minorities in a country that retained a Roman Catholic identity. In this context, Pentecostals became inward looking, isolating themselves from other denominations and relating to society solely through mission. The last two decades have, however, witnessed promising developments as Pentecostals have opened up, in the context of French Evangelicalism and as a religious minority, to their responsibility regarding the socio-economic and/or political concerns of French society.