scholarly journals Managing an elusive force? The Holy Spirit and the anointed articles of Pentecostal prophets in traditional religious Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collium Banda
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
African Traditional Religions

The use of anointed objects among African Pentecostal prophets as instruments of taping the power of the Holy Spirit is analysed from a perspective of the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit and the use of magical charms in African traditional religions (ATRs). The main question answered in this article is the following: what does the use of anointed objects among African neo-Pentecostal prophets reveal about the underlying understanding of the Holy Spirit? It is argued that the use of anointed objects to tap into the Spirit’s power treats the Spirit as an elusive power that is controlled magically. It is further argued that in Africa, the use of anointed objects resonates with the use of magical charms in ATR. The Christian reliance on anointed objects is challenged by looking at some aspects of the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit. The significant contribution of the article lies in challenging African Pentecostals to relate to the Holy Spirit as a personal divine being instead of an elusive impersonal force that could be mastered only by anointed objects.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article uses the disciplines of systematic theology, ATRs and biblical theology to analyse the undermining of the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit among African Pentecostal prophets by their using anointed objects as instruments of conveying the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in believer’s life and activities.

Presbyterians, Religious Diversity, and World Religions

2019 ◽  
pp. 437-456
Author(s):  
Martha L. Moore-Keish
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
World Religions ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
African Traditional Religions ◽  
The Church

This chapter on Presbyterians, religious diversity, and world religions offers a few important caveats and then describes major themes in Presbyterian engagement of religious diversity: the sovereignty and freedom of God, the significance of Jesus Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, the nature of revelation, the role of scripture, and the church. It then walks through the five centuries of Presbyterianism, noting how Presbyterians have engaged with and interpreted the changing world of many religions, drawing from philosophical, theological, and historical sources. It briefly describes Presbyterian interaction with the particular religious traditions of Judaism, Islam, African traditional religions, and Hinduism. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of contemporary challenges and theological trajectories.

scholarly journals Towards an African Christian Theology of the Blood of Jesus Christ

2020 ◽  
pp. 214-222
Author(s):  
Stephen Z. Yashim ◽  
Emmanuel Umar
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
God's People ◽  
African Traditional Religions

This article proposes an African Christian theology of the blood of Jesus Christ which biblically explains and answers experiential questions raised in African historical and socio-cultural contexts. Through the process of conceptual analysis, articles on animal sacrifices in African Traditional Religions and articles in the theological fields of Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology are interrogated to propose an African Christian Theology of the blood of Jesus Christ. The proposed African Christian Theology of the blood of Jesus Christ posits that God acts on the basis of the vicarious shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ to incorporate believers into a Father-Child relationship that grants the believer access to a special divine benevolence. God’s benevolence is the means by which the believer experiences the transformative power of God that leads them to progressively experience improvements for their holistic well-being while anticipating the return of Jesus Christ to reinstate perfect holistic well-being for God’s people. Keywords: The blood of Jesus, Animal sacrifices, and African Christian Theology.

The Holy Spirit of God: An Essay in Biblical Theology

Pneuma ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Jacob Dodson
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
The Holy Spirit

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.

Luke's Understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Dialogues with the Reformed Tradition

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-101
Author(s):  
Robert P. Menzies
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Good News ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
Spirit Baptism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn this article, Menzies notes that Reformed theologians have tended to read Luke's writings in the light of Paul's epistles. As a result, their theological reflection on the Spirit has centered more on his work in the Word and sacraments, the 'inner witness' of the Spirit, and less on his mission to the world. Additionally, this methodology has encouraged Reformed scholars to associate the Pentecostal gift (i.e. Spirit baptism) with conversion and regeneration. However, through an examination of key passages in Luke-Acts, Menzies argues that Luke has a unique contribution to make to a holistic biblical theology of the Spirit. Luke's understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit is different from that of Paul. It is missiological rather than soteriological in nature. The Spirit of Pentecost is, in reality, the Spirit for others - the Spirit that compels and empowers the church to bring the 'good news' of Jesus to a lost and dying world. It is this Lukan, missiological perspective that shapes a Pentecostal understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Menzies concludes that the clarity and vigor of Luke's message is lost when his narrative is read through Pauline lenses. Luke has a distinctive voice and it is a voice the church needs to hear.

Martin Luther and the Holy Spirit

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lois Malcolm
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Theology ◽  
The One ◽  
The Trinity

Although often neglected in historical and theological studies of Martin Luther’s work, an understanding of the Holy Spirit undergirds his signal contributions to the history of theology and is essential to any case for his ongoing relevance to contemporary theology and practice. Drawing on biblical exegesis, Luther would reinvigorate the doctrine of the Holy Spirit he inherited from the Western theological tradition and from the Ancient Church. Nonetheless, he wrote in a variety of literary genres and in response to a range of issues. To address this linguistic and historical complexity, this article examines the role the concept of the Holy Spirit plays in his theology by providing readings of texts that have been influential on later appropriations of his work. In doing so, it focuses on two intertwined themes in his theology. First, it examines his understanding of the Holy Spirit in relation to justification—that is, the righteousness of God we receive as a gift by faith—looking at his early biblical theology and two especially influential texts, “The Freedom of a Christian” (1520) and his “Lectures on Galatians” (1535). Second, it discusses his portrayal of the Holy Spirit as sanctifier—that is, as the one who creates holiness or sanctification in us—in his most well-known catechisms, in the “Confession of 1528,” and in his “Lectures on Genesis” (1535) and “Sermons on John” (1537). Throughout, attention will also be given to his understanding of the Trinity, Word and sacraments, faith, hope, and love, and the themes of promise and gift. The article concludes with a sketch of historical work and a discussion of the influence of Luther’s pneumatology on later theology and current areas of research.

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.

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.

National Anglican Identity Formation: An African Perspective

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Michael O. Fape
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Contextualized Curriculum ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
African Traditional Religions ◽  
The Church

ABSTRACTAfrica played a prominent role in the formation of earliest Christianity not least in the persons of Cyprian of Carthage and Augustine of Hippo. The Anglican heritage is considered through the experience of the Yoruba people in south-west Nigeria through whom christian faith came to the rest of Nigeria. The Anglicanism which came to the Yoruba was evangelical through the Church Missionary Society, though a key role was played by liberated slaves from Sierra Leone. Contexts in which the gospel is proclaimed and the way it is expressed may change, yet the contents of the gospel do not. A contextualized curriculum thus includes key courses such as biblical studies and systematic theology. It also includes contextual subjects such as African traditional religions and Islam and Christianity. The Church of Nigeria has thus undertaken a thorough review of the curriculum to adequately represent this kind of contextualized theology.

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