| Howard M. Ervin | |
| Birth Date: | 21 September 1915 |
| Birth Place: | Saint Nicholas, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Memorial Park Cemetery Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Academic |
Howard M. Ervin (September 21, 1915 – August 12, 2009) was an American scholar and pastor.[1] He was a professor at Oral Roberts University until December 2006. He served on the faculty for 40 years and has been involved with the university from its inauguration in 1963.[2] Only Robert G. Voight has served, as of May 7, 2009, longer than Ervin at the faculty of Oral Roberts University.
Ervin was born on September 21, 1915, in Saint Nicholas, Pennsylvania.
Ervin earned a Th.D. from Princeton University. Ervin earned a BA and ThB from Easter Baptist Theological Seminary. He also earned a MA from the Asia Institute and a BD from New Brunswick Seminary.
Ervin was a pastor of an American Baptist congregation (Emmanuel Baptist Church, Atlantic Highlands, NJ) might sound odd when one observes his seminal works on manifestations of the Holy Spirit, which are still among the finest works on this topic today. His work in the field of the manifestations of the Spirit were honored in a special collection of essays.[3]
Ervin was one of the first to argue for a unique Lukan pneumatology. Ervin's thesis was ground breaking work for the area of New Testament studies that would lead to a whole field of New Testament studies in the area of Luke-Acts. Pentecostals have benefited greatly from these insights. As scholars like Roger Stronstad and James Shelton have added to this discussion, these men have also stood on Ervin's shoulders. Issues of subsequence, evidence and empowerment all find their particular support in the view of a unique Lukan pneumatology. This is the core of Ervin's arguments against the evangelical views of conversion-initiation and Pauline theology.[4]
Ervin was able to bring the Pentecostal message to believers from all traditions. Through his friendship with David du Plessis, Ervin was invited to participate in the Pentecostal-Roman Catholic Dialogues. Du Plessis ask Ervin to participate because he knew that Ervin could articulate the Pentecostal position theologically. During the years of 1979 to 1987, Ervin participated in the dialogues as a representative of the Pentecostal point of view. Ervin was not only a participant but he also was a presenter for the Pentecostal position in the dialogue in 1979 and 1987 on the subjects of hermeneutics and koinonia. This was historic considering that the steering committee voted in 1976 to only have Pentecostals serve as in the Pentecostal participants. Ervin's Pentecostal theology, his scholarly and formal communication style, and ecumenical beliefs made him the exception to the rule.[5]
Ervin's main contribution in scholarship has been to the area of Pneumatology. However, as already noted above, his ecumenical work should also not be neglected.
Catholics particularly respond to his