I’m partial to Robert Louis Wilken’s introductory observation in The Spirit of Early Christian Thought.
I am convinced that the study of early Christian thought has been too preoccupied with ideas. The intellectual effort of the early church was at the service of a much loftier goal than giving conceptual form to Christian belief. Its mission was to win the hearts and minds of men and women and to change their lives. Christian thinkers appealed to a much deeper level of human experience than had the religious institutions of society or the doctrines of the philosophers. In this endeavor the Bible was a central factor (xiv).
Wilken goes on to note that the early church “gave men and women a new love, Jesus Christ, a person who inspired their actions and held their affections” (xv).
In light of this, I believe it is safe to say that contemporary Pentecostals are doing a better job than the historic mainline churches of appealing to the “much deeper level of human experience.” Thus, in the wake of Pentecostalism we see personal change and congregational growth. But IMHO the Pentecostal-endeavor has failed to make the Bible a central factor.
Another of Wilken’s introductory observations is key: “What has impressed me the most is the omnipresence of the Bible in early Christian writings” (xvii). If the contemporary church can both (a) bear witness to her experience that the love of Jesus Christ has changed her and (b) make the Bible a central factor to that lifestyle of witness, then I believe we’ll see church growth and cultural transformation on par with the Early Church.