The Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit: Revisiting Alston’s Interpersonal Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 112-130
Author(s):  
Steven L Porter ◽  
Brandon Rickabaugh
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Philosophical Investigation ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
William Alston ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Interpersonal Model

Of the various loci of systematic theology that call for sustained philosophical investigation, the doctrine of sanctification stands out as a prime candidate.  In response to that call, William Alston developed three models of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit: the fiat model, the interpersonal model, and the sharing model.  In response to Alston’s argument for the sharing model, this paper offers grounds for a reconsideration of the interpersonal model.  We close with a discussion of some of the implications of one’s understanding of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit for practical Christian spirituality.

The Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit in Christian Virtue Formation

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Steven L. Porter ◽  
Brandon Rickabaugh
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
William Alston ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Interpersonal Model

The Christian tradition envisions the third member of the Triune Godhead—the Holy Spirit—as central to a life of virtue. But just how does the Holy Spirit figure into virtue formation? William Alston developed three models of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit: the fiat model, the interpersonal model, and the sharing model. In response to Alston’s argument for the sharing model, this chapter offers grounds for a reconsideration of the interpersonal model. It closes with a discussion of some of the implications of one’s understanding of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit for practical Christian spirituality.

Experiencing the Spirit

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-79
Author(s):  
Simeon Zahl
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Temporal Specificity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit

This chapter argues that a constructive recovery of the category of “experience” in Christian theology is best accomplished through the lens of the theology of the Holy Spirit. Thinking about experience in terms of the work of the Holy Spirit helps specify what we mean when we talk about Christian “experience,” while also avoiding the problems that arise in appeals to more general concepts of “religious experience.” The chapter shows how a pneumatologically informed theology of experience draws attention to a problematic tendency towards abstraction and disembodiment in much modern systematic theology. It then argues that the work of the Spirit is likely to take forms that are “practically recognizable” in the lives of Christians in the world, exhibiting temporal specificity as well as affective and emotional impact, and that pneumatologies that cannot take account of such practically recognizable effects are deficient.

scholarly journals Indwelling without the indwelling Holy Spirit: a critique of Ray Yeo’s modified account

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Kimberley Kroll
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Jonathan Edwards ◽  
Modified Model ◽  
William Alston ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Direct Union ◽  
Spirit Christology

In 2014, Ray Yeo published a modified account of the Spirit’s indwelling in “Towards a Model of the Indwelling: A Conversation with Jonathan Edwards and William Alston.” Yeo utilizes a conglomerate of Two-Minds Christology and Spirit Christology to provide a metaphysical framework for his model which he believes offers a viable alternative to more traditional merger accounts like those of Edwards and Alston. After providing an overview of Yeo’s objections to the merger accounts of Alston and Edwards, I will summarize Yeo’s modified model. I will argue Yeo’s emphasis on the humanity of Christ in lieu of a literal, internal, and direct union of the Holy Spirit and the human person cannot alleviate the core metaphysical concerns which surface in all accounts of union between the divine and human.  Yeo’s misunderstanding of Two-Minds Christology leads him to deny the full humanity of Christ; a humanity upon which his entire account of the indwelling relies. Yeo’s modified model will be shown unsuccessful as an account of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit even if one accepts both his conception of Two-Minds Christology and his conditions for indwelling.

Spirit and Spirituality: Philosophical Trends in Late Modern Pneumatology

Pneuma ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. LeRon Shults
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Ongoing Task ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Late Modern

AbstractThis dialogue piece reviews some of the key developments in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in late modern theology that have contributed to the scholarly and practical integration of pneumatology and Christian spirituality. Shifts in the meaning and use of three concepts — matter, person, and force — have played a particularly influential role in these developments. These trends are illustrated in several recent pneumatological proposals. The final section outlines some new directions for the ongoing task of reforming pneumatology.

Wolfgang Vondey’s Structure for Systematic Pentecostal Theology

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Narrative Theology ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
Pentecostal Theology ◽  
Full Gospel ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
Spirit Christology

Wolfgang Vondey’s Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel is a tour de force in Pentecostal systematic theology. It is also the most articulate statement of the fivefold gospel’s power to explain the impulses of past Pentecostal spirituality and its constructive potential for future Pentecostal discourse. Combining both traditional and innovative systematic loci, Vondey’s project shows great promise for the enterprise of christologically oriented narrative theology. One looming question is whether the christocentrism of the full gospel can bear adequate witness to some of the details of Spirit christology. That is, can the full gospel, with its emphasis on Jesus actively bestowing the Holy Spirit on creatures, give proper place to Jesus passively receiving the Holy Spirit from the Father, without the full gospel’s structure undergoing fundamental transformation? While some ambiguities remain in Vondey’s attempts to employ both the full gospel and elements of Spirit christology in the same theological paradigm, he takes long strides towards integrating these two themes that have often competed with each other for space in Pentecostal theology.

scholarly journals Prayer, the encounter and participation, the experience: A Pauline exhortation towards a spirituality of prayer

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk G. Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Experience Of God ◽  
Daily Events ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

Numerous references to prayer occur throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. These prayers relate closely to particular circumstances and needs where the petitioner appeals to God, illustrating the importance of prayer as part of the dialogue and communication between God (in the image of a Father) and Israel and the Church (in the image of his children). This article investigates Paul’s contribution to this dialogue. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul exhorts (using the imperative) the Thessalonians to pray ‘constantly’ (ἀδιαλείπτως), an exhortation located in the last pericope of the epistle, between two other exhortations (imperatives) indicating time (‘always’) and space (‘all circumstances’). Paul thus uses two more exhortations (surrounding the exhortation, ‘pray constantly’) to define what he means by ‘constant’ (without ceasing) prayer. His conviction of this necessity leads him to offer himself as an example of ‘praying constantly’ when he writes to the community in Thessalonica. Prayers in Paul’s epistles focus on the existential needs of daily living, to stand firm against evil and the spiritual need to live pure and blameless lives (complete sanctification) until the parousia. Conclusions arising from Pauline textual references on prayer include: the experience of God is not limited to extraordinary events, but subsists essentially in ordinary daily events; the understanding of God’s participation in the lives of believers is not always obvious and comprehensible; the Holy Spirit enables believers spiritually to see, hear and understand God’s daily involvement in their lives; and, prayer for the believer facilitates spiritual experiences which provide continuous transformation for the one who ‘prays without ceasing’. The result, for Paul, of this form of dialogue and communication between God and his Church, is that regular prayer constitutes joy and thankfulness.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research relates to the disciplines of New Testament and Christian Spirituality. The focus is how to experiencing dialogue with the divine regularly every day. A specific mindset is needed to accomplish this; a mindset to see, hear and experience the divine in everyday life in the ordinary events in life.

Subject to Spirit: The Promise of Pentecostal Feminist Pneumatology and Its Witness to Systematics

Pneuma ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Janice Rees
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Intimate Relation ◽  
And Gender

Abstract The emergence of feminist Pentecostal studies poses a sharp challenge to both systematic theology and gender studies. The experiences of Pentecostal women, often in non-Western contexts, confront common assumptions regarding women’s ritual experience and the emergence of subjectivity. This paper will argue for an integration of insights from feminist Pentecostalism into the discipline of systematic theology. I explore the emergence of subjectivity in Pentecostal women in relation to the Holy Spirit and argue that a Pentecostal and feminist approach to pneumatology brings the critical elements together. This produces a clearer vision of the intimate relation between the doctrine of God and an embodied community of women (and men), thereby creating room within the systematic discipline to explore the boundaries of subjectivity itself.

Friedrich Schleiermacher: Pentecostal Friend or Foe?

Ecclesiology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Daniels
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Friedrich Schleiermacher ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Pentecostal Theology ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Academic Theology

Although it is rapidly growing worldwide, Pentecostalism is a relatively young Christian tradition and, in consequence, has not yet developed a thorough systematic theology. The most unifying aspects of Pentecostalism tend to be its emphasis on the Holy Spirit and its commitment to oppose what are deemed to be inappropriate and heretical theologies. While there are many theologies and theologians that Pentecostals resist, Friedrich D.E. Schleiermacher is almost universally opposed due to what Western Pentecostal theology views as his liberal, subjective, and academic theology. In this essay, I argue that these claims are misguided and that there is important common ground between Schleiermacher and Western Pentecostal theology, as seen through Schleiermacher’s theology on redemption, ecclesiology, and preaching. Thus Western Pentecostal theology can confidently adopt Schleiermacher as a theological ally, thereby allowing his theology to inform Pentecostal theology as it continues to develop.

Robert Jenson’s Pneumatological Contribution: An Engagement

Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192
Author(s):  
John W Hoyum
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Personal Account ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Narrative Frame

I argue that Robert Jenson’s pneumatology, as it is developed in his Systematic Theology, secures the personhood of the Holy Spirit by emphasizing the narrative and eschatological dimensions of God’s being. While Jenson successfully eludes the problem of abstraction implicit in many classic pneumatological approaches, I suggest that his reconstructed pneumatology fails to go far enough to personalize the Spirit in narrative concrescence. To push Jenson’s insight to a further, yet more salutary, extent, I enlist the pneumatology of Martin Luther, whose understanding of proclamation in word and sacrament provides an adequately historical, eschatological, narrative frame for a fully personal account of the Holy Spirit.

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